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UK Zeitgeist 2008

The fastest rising search terms in the UK

iPlayer
Facebook
iPhone
Youtube
Yahoo Mail
Large Hadron Collider
Obama
Friv
Cam4
Jogos

The most searched terms in the UK

Facebook
BBC
YouTube
eBay
Games
News
Hotmail
Bebo
Yahoo
Jobs

Most searched politicians in the UK

Gordon Brown
David Cameron
Barack Obama
Tony Blair
Sarah Palin
John Mccain
George Osborne
Alistair Darling
Boris Johnson
Nicolas Sarkozy

Fastest rising recipe searches in the UK

cupcake
meatballs
rocky road
crumble topping
eaton mess
pork belly
rhubarb fool
lemon posset
honey comb
beer batter

Fastest rising finance-related searches in the UK

icesave
hot uk deals
natwest
hmrc
hbos
money saving expert
halifax
barclays
rbs
lloyds tsb

The hottest tickets of the year in the UK

Oasis
Leonard Cohen
AC/DC
The Ashes
Steve Coogan
SOS
Oliver
Gladiators
Tina Turner
Nickleback

- Source: Google Zeitgeist 2008 Home page

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As djlosh at TapTheHive.com points out, Google retains all rights of content usage published through its browser:

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

Source: Google Chrome EULA

Update: Apparently their EULA was in beta too and the offending text has been changed!

To monitor the entire feed, simply hit the “Monitor with ZapTXT” in the RSS menu on the top right.

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To just monitor new comments on a specific post, click on the “Monitor comments with ZapTXT” in the post meta date menu on the top right.

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Have fun

All images are copyright © Twitter.com. I list them here for your convenience only!

Twitter 404 File Not Found Error:
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Twitter 403 Permission Denied Error:
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Twitter 500 Server Error:
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Twitter Maintenance Message:
[photopress:maintenance.gif,full,left]

That’s all I’ve found so far. Let me know if you find any more

BTW. I’m a twitterer too now. Why not follow me around a bit?

The future really is bright, if not with a slight orange glow. Want to play the latest game? Watch the latest movie? Listen to the coolest tracks? But are too fat to nip down to the shops? Fear not, just download it straight to your computer and save more than calories! But then there’s the catch…

All but a very few of those brave new online download retailers offer their goods to non-USA citizens. iTunes music store being one thorn in my eye. But there are others. Check out the all new BitTorrent.com site, now with fancy music and video downloads. But it’s for USA folk only

I understand it’s because of rights issues and licensing. To be honest I think it’s because US companies simply don’t care too much for markets outside their homeland. To be fair, there are new download services – like musicload.de in Germany for example – outside the US of A but they only carry crappy old content and it always lacks the original language or quality.

While we are on the topic of downloading legal content (for a change), what’s up with the whole numbers anyway? AACS used stupid software to protect their goods, serves them right. It’s comparable to a careless shop owner who sleeps at his desk only to discover people freeloading on his merchandise, and complaining about it. How do you want to sue over 700,000 16 year old PFY’s across the world?

Until those large corporations realize that they are about 100 years behind the times and that we live in a truly global village, i doubt that people will stop damaging their bottom lines (no pun intended).

First, find a niche that you want to exploit like online TV, css web design or equipment news. Then get a free website from sites like WordPress.com or Blogger.com and start filling it with content.

Hunt around the bloggosphere to find sites offering the content you need and hopefully won’t notice you are stealing theirs and passing it off as your own. Just grab either the posts feed or why not just grap the entire category? Then tell your RSS parser (WordPress already has the ability to import syndicate build-in) to take the feed and display its content on your website.

Add a little style and play around with the feed data. For example, you may want to remove the original author and originating website. Also be sure to remove any backlinks to their site otherwise they will get a trackback and be alerted to your actions. Or leave them, so you can tell them you just liked their site and wanted to provide free advertising to them.

Now to the really interesting part of getting something for nothing. Sign up with textbased ad sites like Google Adsense and surround your content with ads. Add a few digg.com or other social networking buttons, submit and wait for people to visit your site and click those banners!

And you are done

A not so nice example can be found at joostvideos.blogspot.com where you can find a multitude of other peoples content (especially videos) like my post on the free joost invites I gave away last week. Enjoy and remember to send me a cheque for my share of your advertising profits.

1. Top 10 Lists

   Let’s face it, the only reason for putting up Top 10 lists is to drive quick traffic to your blog. Why? Because you are lazy and cannot concentrate for more than a short sound bite. In fact, i shall make this into a podcast for the activity handicapped

2. Cool Pictures / Videos

   “Oh no! Seen this thing? It’s sooo fracking cool. Digg me now.” C’on peeps. Enough already. There’s a gazillion things out there and if even the most basic deformation of a potato or Dorito crisp send shivers of excitement down your spine, you should have yourself locked in a nice comfy room with no windows and lot’s of cushions. Stepping outside your door might kill you with excitement. Be forewarned.

3. Social Networking Sites

   Whether it’s plain-old I’mSpaced or Ringed-in, what’s the point of a thousand sites trying to network everyone? The features are the same: spam farms for 10 year olds. IMHO they should all be bought by Google today and made into something useful. Everyone could have a proper website and .. oh wait!

4. PFYs discovering life outside their 10sqft dorm room

   As shocking as it may be to under-educated poor North American teenagers, but there’s a whole planet out there (/me points to behind west and east coasts)! America is not representative of people on this world, neither do they horde all the gold or have discovered law making. Here’s a shocker for you:

   North America was re-populated a few hundred years ago by outcasts adventurers from Europe (just off the east coast) and enterprising young men and women from the far east (that’s actually just west off LA). As a bonus I throw in the fact that they weren’t even the first people to live on the great plains – there were people there before them. They were called native North Americans.

5. USA World Domination

   Kinda goes with the previous rant entry. What’s up with people always trying to conquer the world? Can’t we just learn from all the failed attempts before and abandon the idea altogether? Who is next? I ponder Antartica hasn’t had a go yet.. .

6. Political Commentary

   I love the fact that the Internet is so free anyone can say anything these days! Meaningful or otherwise (the latter mostly), everyone feels they should have a go at politics. Just a shame nobody votes anymore.. .

7. Death, Destruction and Hype

   That one is actually quite disgusting. Whenever people die, get maimed or manage their 10th head-shot in a row there’s the obligatory media hype. Big, bold headlines, supported by a strap line so OTT everyone is scared instantly into voting to give up their freedom to secure it. Makes no sense. People see reports of mass murder in a far flung place, send aid Dollars and vote on new legislation making sure that those poor people will still have something to suffer from in case of the next L!VE Aid concert.

8. How to design a website

   I think everyone knows how to do a website today. Or let me put this in another way, they should. The web has been here for a long time now and all the website designing tools make it virtually impossible for people to venture off the path of good taste. Whenever you give people advice, they listen, nod a lot and then go off to do the exact opposite anyway. If someone tells me they’ve designed their own site I always ask two things:

   a) How long did it take you, and
   b) Was it any fun

   Because if it took them less than a couple of hours, chances are they have no idea why they are having a site anyway. Also, if it was fun it sure as heck couldn’t have been done professionally, right?

9. Rapid (Rabbit) Web2.0 Trashlications

   “Uhh, look it goes zoom zoom!” Yeah, but no – why? Visual interface effects are there for one reason, and one reason only: to aid the user.

   Everyone seems to be able to get their next killer app out of the door before even the basic concept is finalised. Let alone planned out and thought through. Yes, I agree that it is great to put ideas into working prototypes – but please not forget all those failed and over-venture-capitalised enterprises of the late 90′s. There’s a reason why so few are still around: they actually sat down and thought about whether that half-arsed idea they had last night down the pub would actually work.

10. Plagiarism 2.0 – Content-theft driven websites via RSS

    RSS feeds are a wicked tool. No, really RSS feeds are a thing of evil. Everytime someone sits down and writes / designs / creates something and publishes it through an XML data exchange file, ten scammers get made. Now it’s real easy to create wholesome portal websites with someone else’s content. Just register a domain and parse what ever feeds apply, slap some ads on it and bang: a free golden goose! Time to buckle down those feeds.. .

If you’ve read thus far and have no idea how you got here, I suggest PANIC! So digg me while you do.. .

“So long and thanks for all the fish.“

If you want to participate in the project, or just want to know how you can make a difference I suggest you head over to energyrace.com and subscribe to their RSS feed.

People from outside the USA are encouraged to get in touch and let him know you care.

Jay also blogs about using “compact fluorescent bulbs” (CFL) and their great energy (money) saving potential. To which I can proudly attest! I’m using CFL exclusively in my flat and compared to my previous electricity bills I’ve already made the money back I “invested” in them. At IKEA over here they are actually quite cheap.. oh and they last for donkeys.

@Jay = How about an “Invite Friends” referral button or code to include on my blog? Using the ?referrer=user for now but not sure whether that actually adds people referred to you to my profile. Also, I think you trackbacks aren’t working

BTW. Referrals as in concerned people, not money! This is not about affiliation folks – just plain caring *g

The big players believe in set-top boxes and video stores online. There are already a lot out there and so far my experience with them has been a bit of a let down. Think of an online video store where you can rent movies and series (i.e. Discovery Channel) at extraordinary prices. I bet it won’t be long before they ask us to coffer up for “Pimp My Ride”! Some of the online retailers work with Windows Media Center but the experience is cumbersome and it’s too expensive to use for more than perhaps the odd movie on the weekend.

So what does the other side look like?

Joost has a sleek interface which takes a little getting used too but it’s remarkably fast! Video quality is also very good considering it starts almost quicker than a YouTube clip but can be viewed in full screen on your TV. The only two things missing are remote control support (so it can be a true TV / cable box replacement) and content I want to watch.

The latter is quite an important point since no matter how good the technical side, without content I want to watch it’s no use to me. So who is going to provide it? Joost is looking to sign up more TV content from people like Endemol (Big Brother, game shows, reality TV..) and you. You read that right, you. If you happen to sit on a bunch of broadcast quality goods and need an audience, get in touch with them.

However, unless I can watch my favorite shows – like Lost, 24, BSG, Scrubs.. – I’m not going to be using it much. What’s the best solution for people like me then? Simple, if you are outside the USA or UK stick to RSS feeds for your Torrents. It’s not the preferred way, and I would be more than happy to either endure some Ads or even pay for a season ticket, but until there’s something useful out there that’s the only way.

Or is it? Thank god for iTunes and their season tickets! Oh wait, that’s for folks in the USA only (again)

So what are you gonna do?

read more | digg story

To cut a long and interesting story short, people will be able to enjoy high quality TV content on their computers using established P2P technologies (like those of Kazaa, Limewire, etc and Skype) where users interconnect to share data quickly. Joost, as the project is now officially known, has already got backing from two major TV players in Endemol (producers of “Who wants to be a millionaire”, “Big Brother” and most of the shows on TV these days) as well as Warner Music.

I suggest you read more about it on their blog or on The Register. Also, why not give it a whirl to see it for yourself and register as a beta-tester? If you are a content producer it might be a good idea to talk to them now while they are still in beta and are looking for fresh new content too! Enjoy… .

Links:
- Joost Blog
- The Register article on Joost
- DV Guru post on Joost

If you decide Xing/openBC is for you, please register using the links in this post or directly via http://www.xing.com/go/invita/6444175 Many thanks in advance

Oh, the site is called http://www.meebo.com/ btw.

Snakes on a Plane, the new movie with Samuel L. Jackson, has created a lot of buzz online even before it was made. Bands like The Arctic Monkeys came to light because people on MySpace’s spread it through word of mouth by recommending them to their peers. Spencer Kelly writes that you cannot pay bloggers to push a product without loosing their credibility, which although true is not entirely correct. Many underground marketeers, especially brand strategists employ bloggers and key people in the groups the brands target. They have done so long before the Internet gave us blogs, podcasts and social networks. They are doing so carefully however, as not to destroy what they seek to build.

You simply cannot just pay someone to promote your product or brand but you can sponsor events, websites and integrate consumers into their brands definition. By empowering people to openly criticse your brand and dealing with this feedback constructively you can build strong, well respected brands with a large community following. You don’t “pay” community leaders to advertise, you just give the communities what they are interested in. Be it servers to play their games, help organise on/off-line events with them or simply create products and services they want, the way they want it.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/5304892.stm

If you are interested in the evolution of independent broadcasting on the Internet or want to find out more about this new trend, then I strongly suggest you visit these fine sites:

Video Blogging Links:

• Akimbo – Subscribe to several vlogs, in addition to its other video-on-demand programs
• VloggerCon – Video Blogger conference in New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles
• Y! Video Blogging Group
• VlogDir – Video blog directory site
• WatchThis – Annoucements and recommendations of interesting feeds
• WikiPedia entry on vlogs
• CreativeCommons License

Let’s say the device was a Sony MZ-N707 Net MD Walkman and I was looking for drivers and software to use it with my PC. Let’s say that over the years Sony has failed to understand what its customers were telling them: Your websites are dreadful and your service stinks! Although I doubt that you can get clearer than that, it would probably help to actually follow in my footsteps.

The task: Find drivers and software for the Sony MZ-N707 Net MD Walkman to record CD’s on to MD using your Windows XP PC and Sony’s website(s).

As you’ll no doubt find out very quickly, non of the main Sony sites wants to deal with you and rather refers you by means of new window to a sister site. Once you’ve finally arrived at a local site (in my case UK) that deals with Sony’s mobile consumer electronics, you think you’ve just spent the last hour wading through mud. The last mile doesn’t look too bad and it should be plain sailing from here on. Select downloads, model, software… oh crap, what’s that? You click on Sonic Stage and you’ll get a list of support questions, pages of it! All I wanted was a download

When you read through the texts you’ll probably find the link to the actual software but I just could not bear making myself so upset I start to swear, curse and beat up my keyboard. That’s Sony for you. Be it online or in real life (i.e. service / support hotline), Sony sucks. Some of their products may be great but if you dare to look for support or service you will quickly find you are on your own.

Tip: Adam L suggest using the basic Real player to bypass Sony’s malware using this nifty function:

[quote]In Real Player go to ‘Burn/Transfer’ then ‘Add New Device’ and select ‘NetMD’[/quote]

Although this trick might work fine for some it’s still troublesome as RealPlayer is a real pain the behind too. Take my advise and record using the mic/line input or digital input through your computers sound card. You’ll have to edit your tracks manually (i.e. title, etc) but it’s easier and quicker than messing about with Real or Sony malware!

Related Links:

• Sony Home Page (one of the many)
• Discussion, Suffering and Tips

Fist there were blogs (aka web-logs, journals) that started an independent publishing revolution. Then there was podcasting, a way to distribute your own radio show via your blog, and radio on demand was born. Now we are beginning to see the future of television through home grown videos posted on blogs and distributed via Bit Torrent peer-2-peer software. Independently produced, decentralised and free television on demand is coming and it is not surprising to see the professionals running for cover. Citizens are taking the power of global broadcasting into their own hands.

All you need to start your own TV on demand channel is a blog, a webcam or other video recording device and broadband Internet connection. Record your works, then publish it on your blog and a Bit Torrent tracker. The benefits are clear to everyone that wants to enjoy fresh new content at their convenience or make their voices heard.

A lot of wanna-be citizen journalists, musicians and filmmakers are already using the Internet to bypass traditional media and go straight to their audiences computer screens, without ad breaks, TV schedules or censorship. The audience itself determines what to watch, at what time and indeed on what playback device (i.e. their mobile phones during the commute to work).

Promotion of this content happens by word-of-mouth and through search engines primarily, although some more business minded broadcasters are using the cost effectiveness of Google’s AdWords keyword and traditional banner advertising too. Especially niche groups, people in countries with strict media control and mainstream audiences around the world are all taking the opportunity to watch fresh new content that speaks their language and is not regulated by governments or corporations. This new form of television is finding more and more followers and with lower costs of video and computer equipment, the higher availability of broadband Internet access, there seems to be only one way to go: upwards, fast.

TV professionals are beginning to find themselves surrounded by successful amateur producers in all fields. Indie Internet productions range from news items, and documentaries to music videos, games shows in garages and feature length films. Although this form of television is relatively new and tiny by comparison, new content is finding its way online daily and as word-of-mouth spreads the good news, it is gaining more audiences quickly.

In my humble opinion the future of on-demand television is here today and I am looking forward to watching it grow and prosper as corporations and governments are struggling to understand what is going on. They will surely complain about how this form of independent television is ruining their shows and threatens to destroy quality, professional programming as we know it. Governments will try to exert control and censorship in order to prevent content deemed inappropriate from broadcasting messages that may be contrary to their views. We will probably see the whole P2P discussion flare up again and go to the next level. This time however it is seemingly unstoppable and unless they keep up, they will loose out in a big way.

Related Links:

• CommonBits.org is a free community directory for political multimedia
• Be the Media: the state of the public webcasting platform
• open4all Wiki entry on P2P TV
• open4all P2P TV Resource and Listings
• Portland Phoenix Article on P2P TV
• Blog on P2P TV
• WindyCityTV.com Free Indie TV Channel

Online piracy, much like spamming, cracking and ID theft are ripe these days and the big corporations are struggling to keep up with what is going on. As expected they first ignore the situation, then fight it and in the end join it. Yes Napster has had a personallity make over but names, brands and all that is holy in the real world has no meaning in our brave new wild west. Napster, just as an example, was great. Then it was destroyed and – wonder and marvel – replaced by three new breeds. Each taking a slightly different approach and continuing where Napster left off. The same with our beloved Bit Torrent system, although Bit Torrent isn’t another Napster as such but a very effective way to share large files (i.e. Linux distributions or your latest promotional video).

Where Cisco likes to speak of their “self-defending network”, the online piracy community likes to talk of evolution and survival of the fittest. What one needs to understand is that there are few main players, hiding deep underground (or next door in your block of flats) and they are highly organised. We are not talking about a small group of kids ripping the latest DVD, but a business like organisation that copies and distributes the latest blockbusters on a massive industrial scale.

The Internet in its current form allows for people to hide and the only way to effectively track them down is through good old fashioned detective work, offline. People make mistakes, people talk too much, and people can be careless and greedy. That’s usually why police find them out but not particularly because they do a very good job. In fact the international police forces are pretty bad and it’s not their fault. Lack of funding, training and a general lack of understanding their foes is the cause. The primary reason being the people in charge (politicians for example) don’t care and don’t know what the fuss is all about anyway.

The common Internet user and pirated file abuser are the ones that get caught usually and are presented to the rest of the unknowing public as “told you so” or “see how great we are” cases. Arresting a 16 year old kid for sharing the latest Shrek movie with his mates is hardly new, much less a serious offence. It’s plain stupid and just shows how little the folks running big corporations understand and care.

Instead of ignoring and then trying to beat the pirates they should have done what the FBI, CIA, BND, etc have been doing for ages with crackers: hire them and let them define new distribution methods. Apple used its sideliner cloak to bypass the majors and run to the top of online music distribution with a perfect delivery and playback system (iTunes and iTunes Music Store). The same will eventually happen with movies and TV, once more people have broadband connections and content producers begin to realise that they are about to be overtaken by indie film producers selling their goods online to an ever growing audience.

Online piracy and is distribution channels are run by geeks, people with a very good understanding of what can be done. Born problem solvers and people with little or no respect for old fashioned, out dated thinking of sluggish, capitalist corporations. They will find ways around the latest copy protection, ISP port blocking or privacy disabling chips. They have done it before, they will keep doing it and there is nothing governments, police or corporations can do about it.

They can pass laws, they can get lucky, and they can even hire some key people or lock them away. But there are millions of consumers out there that are fed up with nannying politicians, giving up their right to privacy and having their requests for more usability go unheeded. People want to enjoy content wherever, whenever and preferably without being ripped off.

I admit to downloading the latest 24 or Battlestar Galactica episodes via Bit Torrent. Why? Because I want to watch the program and hate to wait till my local channel decides it wants to air it. Does that mean the producers will loose their last shirt? No, of course not. I wouldn’t watch it if I weren’t enjoying it. And when I enjoy it I usually want to watch it again and have the DVD collection.

Imagine Sky would enable me to watch what ever I wanted whenever I wanted for a little charge of course. Would I be likely to subscribe? Absolutely. TV advertising is so passé anyway, the world is changing and the advertisers better had found a new way to promote their products because in the future there will be no regular TV schedule, but one that I control.

The Internet can be quite daunting for people that happen not to have grown up with it. Even people that use it every day only have a very dim idea of what this beast is and what it is capable of doing for them. Users, as people are often known as on the Internet, tend to stick to what they know and usually what they’ve started with. Sites like Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com are the primary starting places. Not forgetting all those AOL.com users of course, which are trapped in the nice virtual world within the virtual world of our world.

AOL was my starting point also (apart from BBS and Usenet) and I never appreciated its usefulness until I started helping people with using the Internet and computers in general. AOL presents the user with a very simplified portal to the Internet and tries to make things easier. Which it does, however it’s not the real Internet! It’s AOL’s view of the world and unless you venture out a little using the web-browser to Google around, you are seeing only a very narrow picture.

The best tool for finding what you are looking for without a doubt is Google.com. If you are looking to buy or trade it’s eBay.com. If you are into all-out mall shopping, go to Amazon.com. If you want news use news.google.com that grabs all the stories, locally and globally, without human intervention and gives you a good overview of what’s happening around you. If you are looking for information and reference use Wikipedia.org, the world’s largest human edited encyclopaedia. Want a word definition? Use Dictionary.com. It’s easy really, if you know where to look.

One big tip for a wealth of information and discussion in general is Usenet, which is a rather unknown backwater of the Internet and has been in existence from the very early days. It’s like a cross over between a message board and email discussion list and has over 90,000 “newsgroups” carrying chatter about everything imaginable! Try groups.google.com for a nice introduction and dive into Usenet.

Now that we’ve got our resources covered let’s look at what the Internet is and what it can do for you in more detail.

The Internet in essence is a huge bunch of computers connected via telephone lines. The computers carry all sorts of data, which is shared between them. Computers are capable of many things today and can be found everywhere. From your home computer to mobile phones and TV set-top boxes. Soon your fridge and washing machine will be connected too, enabling you to do things you never thought you could do without. With all that connectivity and communication potential the question arises as to what the average business owner or mortal human can get out of it.

Most small business owners want to get customers and more money. Most people want to find goods, services and information or simply communicate with their peers as conveniently and cost effectively as possible.

There are now more innovations and service providers for the latest thing you can do using a computer and the Internet than you can easily shake a multi-story car park at. Users become baffled and either end up paying for something that doesn’t give them what they need or not using the whole thing altogether.

If you run a business or offer a service as a freelancer there are easy and mostly free ways to get started. Sell (almost) anything you like to a global audience, using the largest market place on Earth: eBay.com. It’s very affordable, easy and you don’t need your own homepage. In fact eBay provides your with a free “about me” page and – if you want – your own little shop. A free email account that came with your Internet connection, a credit card to make payments with and bank account will suffice to set up shop. They also do a great job to help you get things done without having to learn much new or employ somebody for. There is a large number of people living on eBay quite literally, making more money than you do with a shop in the high street. Did you know that eBay is one of the largest economies, with a turnover of over a trillion dollars a year (Source: Forbes.com)? Mind boggling.

If you are a freelancer and looking to offer your services, get a little homepage up to promote yourself with. Consider the Internet offers you a more cost effective way to advertise than classified ads in your local paper. Also, more and more people are using the Internet (or Google for that matter) to look for a service or product these days. However, there are markets that prefer traditional methods and don’t use the Internet as much, so investigate before investing time and money into a web-presence.

If you choose to go on the Web I suggest you get your own domain name and email as it looks much more professional than a free email and website address. Most web hosting providers offer you low cost packages including your own domain name, email and tools to get a professional looking page up within no time. I recommend 1&1 (oneandone.com) since they are one of the global leaders in that field. However, their service and support sucks but the low prices and relative ease of use makes up for that. If you don’t want to take the plunge with your own domain, just get a free email account from GMail – mail.google.com, please email me for free invites – and a free website from Blogger.com. Blogger.com is a free web-log (aka blog, journal) site, which is nothing more than a simple way to get a webpage up without the steep learning curve or any impact on your wallet.

When you have your own page up, either on Blogger.com or eBay.com, submit it to the world’s largest human edited Internet directory: DMOZ.org. It’s absolutely free and will help you get into the search engines. If you want more, just Google for a more specific web-directory to your liking and all should be good. Don’t expect to be number on the search engines though. That is an altogether different matter and needs a specialist to help you get the results you want.

Marketing yourself on the Internet successfully is not magic but beware of those SEO (search engine optimising) providers and software! Most of them are utter rubbish, a waste of money and can have the adverse effect you desire. You have two options: One is to spend a lot of time reading up on all the information about how to become number one. The other is to invest your money carefully with someone who specialises in Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization and can deliver a return on investment within a comparatively short period of time (1-2 months for initial results and on-going maintenance if you want to stay on top).

Look out for small businesses and freelancers with good references, a track record and without large promises on how they can make you number one for 9.98 in just 48 hours. The big question with Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation is not whether you can be number one on Google but for how long and for what keywords/phrases? Also, will it make a positive difference to your bottom line? A dedicated marketer will make sure you get results that bring in the business you want and stay on top of the search engines for longer.

If you are just a regular Jon or Jane and want to use the Internet to share ideas and make new friends, I recommend participation in newsgroups (Usenet – groups.google.com) and if you have more to say, a blog (aka web-log, journal). Using Blogger.com to create your own little website for example links you to such useful (free) services as Flickr.com, the online photo album and lot’s more.