No, I did not misspell "cool" in the title of this post. The word "cuil", pronounced "cool" according to the founders of the new Cuil search engine, is an old Irish word for knowledge. And also according to Cuil, they have launched "the world's biggest search engine." A tall claim to make, this new search engine available now at cuil.com is nothing more than an interesting curiosity, at least for now.
Started by "ex-Googlers", Cuil has received an incredible amount of press not just in the tech world, but also in the more main stream press. Their own press release starts with:
"Cuil, a technology company pioneering a new approach to search, unveils its innovative search offering, which combines the biggest Web index with content-based relevance methods, results organized by ideas, and complete user privacy. Cuil (www.Cuil.com) has indexed 120 billion Web pages, three times more than any other search engine."
The validity of their claims, both in terms of size and innovation, remain to be seen. As for size of the search engine, Google no longer publishes the size of their content database - so it's not that easy to verify Cuil's claim. As for innovation, other than a cool looking and very simplistic (ala Google) interface, it's hard to tell but I am skeptical. I do know that for the websites that I support, my client websites, few seem to be "indexed". Even our own website, ActionOnline.cc, does not come up. True, I've not submitted it - BUT, if someone is going to make a claim about being the biggest search engine, one must first figure out a way to make sure that the little sites (the ones people are going to search to "see" if they really are bigger) are at least there! By the way, how did they decide what to include in their index? I wonder if they "Googled" a bunch of sites and started there!
But credibility aside, what is most interesting to me is not whether or not they are "better" (they clearly won't be for quite some time) but instead that they can "be anything" at all! In a world where Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo's search business because their combined market share is so small that they still trail "WAY" behind Google, a couple of ex-google people managing to get VC money to build a new search engine is just amazing to me. Microsoft, with all it's mightly millions in cash cannot get this much attention nor build a decent search engine - but a few googlers can? What does that say about the state of Microsoft and Yahoo?
Make no mistake, Google's dominance is NOT at all threatened by this new search engine, but Microsoft and Yahoo definitely are and their respective executives should take notice and react quickly.
Hey, here's an idea for Steve Ballmer of Microsoft: buy Cuil! I am sure they'll take a lot less than $33 per share and they certainly can't have any hugely inflated egos about their greatness! Or do they?
Google and other search engines will now index FLASH websites - let the race begin - but not the kind of race you think!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Google (and other search engines) announced a few weeks ago that they would not spider and index the content of flash files (flash websites). You can read the Google press release for the business explanation, but suffice it to say that apparently Adobe has made available to them the tools to spider and parse out the contents of FLASH. The specifics of how Google will handle this are covered in another document on the Webmaster Blog called Improved Flash indexing. If you are a web programmer, you definitely want to read the details of this very important announcement.
But if you are not a programmer, like most people out there, news of this new feature may lead you down a treacherous path. Why? Because just the fact that Google will now spider flash does not actually mean that flash is the best way to build a website. Don't get me wrong, flash components in a website - when used in support of a good website message - are very powerful, but "flash for the sake of flash" or flash to conceal the fact a website has no clear purpose and no unified message is not.
So, at least before - "everyone" knew that Flash was bad for websites (as least as far as Search Engine Marketing was concerned). Now, the race is on for clients who will not understand what this means and insist on the "all flash website"!
On the SEM side, my opinion is simple: tread lightly. There is not enough empirical data on how well the Adobe algorithm works - and how flash is impacting (positively or negatively) on sites that use it. However, on the USABILITY side, my opinion is unchanged. Flash is a tool, among many, all to be used in an effective balance in order to convey an effective message and a positive user experience on the web. The extent to which any one tool is used more than another is largely dependent on the website's message and audience.
Of course, the debate is going to continue. Bruce Clay, Inc (www.bruceclay.com) has come out somewhat against the "all flash website" and a colorful debate is evident on the many postings in support and against their article (see: Don't Build Your Web Site In Flash.)
For more reading on this topic, visit the Google Webmaster Central Blog.
But if you are not a programmer, like most people out there, news of this new feature may lead you down a treacherous path. Why? Because just the fact that Google will now spider flash does not actually mean that flash is the best way to build a website. Don't get me wrong, flash components in a website - when used in support of a good website message - are very powerful, but "flash for the sake of flash" or flash to conceal the fact a website has no clear purpose and no unified message is not.
So, at least before - "everyone" knew that Flash was bad for websites (as least as far as Search Engine Marketing was concerned). Now, the race is on for clients who will not understand what this means and insist on the "all flash website"!
On the SEM side, my opinion is simple: tread lightly. There is not enough empirical data on how well the Adobe algorithm works - and how flash is impacting (positively or negatively) on sites that use it. However, on the USABILITY side, my opinion is unchanged. Flash is a tool, among many, all to be used in an effective balance in order to convey an effective message and a positive user experience on the web. The extent to which any one tool is used more than another is largely dependent on the website's message and audience.
Of course, the debate is going to continue. Bruce Clay, Inc (www.bruceclay.com) has come out somewhat against the "all flash website" and a colorful debate is evident on the many postings in support and against their article (see: Don't Build Your Web Site In Flash.)
For more reading on this topic, visit the Google Webmaster Central Blog.
2008 Search Engine Space and the "Era of Google"
The search engine space has always been incredibly dynamic and 2008 is no exception. Long are the days of Yahoo dominance in the US with Google continuing to slowly but steadily leapfrog way ahead of the others.
The current (as of 7/15/08) state of affairs is that there are a few major search engines and then everyone else. The current players with their market shares as of June 2008 are*:
Google with 78%
Yahoo with 12%
MSN and Microsoft Live with 5%
AOL with 3%
Ask with 1%
Others with combined at less than 1 % of the search share
(*source: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/)
Better yet, as you read this post, you can check the current share by visiting the Market Share website by Net Applications. I can almost guarantee that if you are checking this months after I wrote it, the landscape will be MUCH different.
What does this all mean to the average website owner? It means that Search Engine Marketing is here and it needs to be a very important part of your overall marketing strategy.
The current (as of 7/15/08) state of affairs is that there are a few major search engines and then everyone else. The current players with their market shares as of June 2008 are*:
Google with 78%
Yahoo with 12%
MSN and Microsoft Live with 5%
AOL with 3%
Ask with 1%
Others with combined at less than 1 % of the search share
(*source: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/)
Better yet, as you read this post, you can check the current share by visiting the Market Share website by Net Applications. I can almost guarantee that if you are checking this months after I wrote it, the landscape will be MUCH different.
What does this all mean to the average website owner? It means that Search Engine Marketing is here and it needs to be a very important part of your overall marketing strategy.
iPhone 3G Launches - How it went for me!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Last year, I held off getting the iPhone right away - fearing long lines and a crazy experience. Besides, who "waits in line" to get a phone, right? So, I waited about 1 week last year and then bought my "iPhone v1" without as much as a wait. I took it home and within a few hours of using that phone, I was hooked - proclaiming it the BEST SMARTPHONE I had ever used (I was a huge fan of the Palm Treo line up until iPhone). I was especially impressed with the touch screen keyboard which I just could not believe worked as well as it did, better than the physical keyboard on my old Treo. Quickly, my old Treo became a thing of the past and I walked away from "third party applications" that I thought I could not live without - all for the better experience.
Now, 1 year later, here we are - an even better device with access to AT&T's fast 3G data network and version 2.0 of the software (which now adds third party applications among other much needed features.) I want one and I want it on the very first day I possibly can have it!
I scoped out the 5 AT&T stores near me. I decided early on I wanted an AT&T store instead of an Apple store. My rationale was simple. This time around, the activation is in store... and Apple personnel have never had to activate phones. They may have been very well trained and have a great system - but Apple staff have never activated phones - no matter the training. I was going to play it safe and go straight to the "Evil Empire". I ultimately picked the store that was the most "out of the way" which for me was in Wellington, Florida.
I arrived at 5:45 AM and was number 27 in line. Not terrible at all considering that the first 4 or 5 folks had camped out overnight. Everyone else had arrived early in the AM. By 7:00 AM, AT&T staff were handing out water bottles (this is Florida and it's hot here). They also started passing out the "iPhone checklist" which almost everyone on line found quite helpful. I had seen it online, but most people there had not.
Promptly at 8:00 AM the doors opened and the process began. By 8:00 AM, there were probably 50 more people behind me in the line. The store was very well organized - bringing in only enough people at a time to feed a customer to each of 13 registers.
At 8:45 AM, I was called in. I walked up to a register and explained I had an iPhone 1 and wanted to upgrade. The AT&T rep then grabbed my old phone, swapped SIM cards, punched in a thin or two into the computer, offered me some accessories and 20 minutes later I left the store with my shiny new iPhone 3G ready to make calls. The process there at the store could not have been easier - but of course, I ended up waiting 3 hours - some of it, in the warm Florida heat.
Overall? Not too terrible - IF you were there early and had some patience.
You can see pictures on my Facebook page.
Now, 1 year later, here we are - an even better device with access to AT&T's fast 3G data network and version 2.0 of the software (which now adds third party applications among other much needed features.) I want one and I want it on the very first day I possibly can have it!
I scoped out the 5 AT&T stores near me. I decided early on I wanted an AT&T store instead of an Apple store. My rationale was simple. This time around, the activation is in store... and Apple personnel have never had to activate phones. They may have been very well trained and have a great system - but Apple staff have never activated phones - no matter the training. I was going to play it safe and go straight to the "Evil Empire". I ultimately picked the store that was the most "out of the way" which for me was in Wellington, Florida.
I arrived at 5:45 AM and was number 27 in line. Not terrible at all considering that the first 4 or 5 folks had camped out overnight. Everyone else had arrived early in the AM. By 7:00 AM, AT&T staff were handing out water bottles (this is Florida and it's hot here). They also started passing out the "iPhone checklist" which almost everyone on line found quite helpful. I had seen it online, but most people there had not.
Promptly at 8:00 AM the doors opened and the process began. By 8:00 AM, there were probably 50 more people behind me in the line. The store was very well organized - bringing in only enough people at a time to feed a customer to each of 13 registers.
At 8:45 AM, I was called in. I walked up to a register and explained I had an iPhone 1 and wanted to upgrade. The AT&T rep then grabbed my old phone, swapped SIM cards, punched in a thin or two into the computer, offered me some accessories and 20 minutes later I left the store with my shiny new iPhone 3G ready to make calls. The process there at the store could not have been easier - but of course, I ended up waiting 3 hours - some of it, in the warm Florida heat.
Overall? Not too terrible - IF you were there early and had some patience.
You can see pictures on my Facebook page.
Virtual PC and its arsenal of files - how to manage your MS Virtual PC files.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
I have blogged about using MS Virtual PC for development purposes and in the few years I've been using this technique, I have convinced many developers to try this it. You can search this BLOG for "Virtual PC" and see what I've said before. I use this very technique still to this day and I use VPCs almost every day. My only consideration these days is weather or not I'll be moving to alternate tools than Microsoft VPC, for instance, Parallels or VMWare, both of which are excellent products in it of themselves. However, that's a topic for another post for sure.
Today I want to talk about a seemingly obvious topic related to MS VPC that apparently is not so obvious to the average VPC user. This topic came from a customer of mine who recently sent an interesting question. This customer has been successfully using virtualization to simulate "TEST" environments before they rollout production updates to a mission critical application. Virtual PC has worked very well for them and it has saved them a bundle in hardware costs and licenses - not to metion the headaches it has saved them from by bing able to test their "new releases" without affecting their core business. Nontheless, his question was along the lines of "How do I backup a Virtual PC" so that I can "drop" any changes to it and start from scratch. It occurred to me that a review of the files that VPC uses was probably the best way to answer his question.
In VPC, there are various files:
.vhd – is the “Virtual Hard Drive”. This is the largest and most important file for VPC. It can be as much as 16GB in size (the MS VPC maximum single drive size). In essence, this is like an IMAGE of a computer’s drive similar (though not compatible with) Acronis Image or Norton Ghost. You may have more than one VHD to suit your needs, with each “mounted” on the VPC as a separate hard drive (this is a way to get around the 16GB limit – to have an operating system drive and also a “data” drive.) By the way, this file can grow to 16GB but only in NTFS drives capable of such a size. In FAT32 drives, files can only grow to 4GB... so, VPC automatically creates numbered files, each of no more than the 4GB limit. In this case, the files are named .vhd for the first file, and .v01, v.02, etc. for the additional files. See the VPC specs from Microsoft for more specifics. For the purposes of this post, though, I will just refer to the .VHD as a single file, but keep in mind it may actually be more than one file.
.vmc – is the “Virtual Machine Configuration”. This is the details of “how” the VHD should run (how much ram, what resolution, on what network, supporting audio, etc). This file is akin to your “computer hardware” but is a throw away and can easily be recreated if you have a good VHD file.
.vsv – is the “Virtual Saved State”. If you have chosen to “suspend” your VPC (similar to the HIBERNATE of a notebook), this is the “hibernation” file which has the contents of RAM and everything else VPC would need to restore your virtual machine in the same exact “state” as you left it – with running programs, logged in, etc. This is also a throw away file (to some extent) except that if you loose it or delete it you’ll have to “turn on” your VPC again (similar to turning on your hardware) and any open documents, etc you may have left in an “unsaved” state would now be lost.
Furthermore, let’s draw a distinction between the “saved running state” and the “hard drive state”.
The first, saved running state, means what programs are loaded into memory and what other operations your computer is “in the middle of” when you choose to suspend it (hibernate). You can save it all you want – BUT – I I’m not sure it’s very useful if the contents of the VHD change much. I suppose if the VHD has changed substantially (like for instance, if you’ve un-installed software) the VSV may not even be “valid” and may cause the VPC to crash. One note, you would literally have to make a copy of the VSV file somewhere other than where your VHD is stored because the minute you “resume” your VPC, this file would be used to recreate the environment and removed!
The second is the hard drive state (as represented by a VHD). This is the data and programs (including the registry) installed on the VM. You can definitely back up this file to “recover” a VPC in a completely different state (with a certain version of software, for instance). As a matter of fact, I have SEVERAL images of VHD files that are ALL the EXACT installation of Windows XP at various states: (1) Windows XP as originally delivered by MS, (2) Windows XP with SP1, (3) Windows XP with SP2. I also have a Windows XP SP2 versions with IE6 and another one with IE7. These are ALL copies of the original VHD file (in separate folders to keep things organized and less confusing) and to which I have used a running VPC to apply different updates and installations of software.
So, to backup a VPC so that one can "go back" to a clean state, you want to make copies of the VHD files, move them around into a folder structure that works for you and then fire away various VPCs as you need to in order to apply (or test) whatever you need to. I often use a “throw away” VHD to test suspect software or items that I’m unsure about.
One final note, just because you are running a Virtual PC does NOT exclude you from properly licensing software. Different software programs and operating systems have different restrictions on how you may use them and install them, including on virtual PCs. Please check with your software vendor to verify that you are complying with any and all licensing requirements.
Today I want to talk about a seemingly obvious topic related to MS VPC that apparently is not so obvious to the average VPC user. This topic came from a customer of mine who recently sent an interesting question. This customer has been successfully using virtualization to simulate "TEST" environments before they rollout production updates to a mission critical application. Virtual PC has worked very well for them and it has saved them a bundle in hardware costs and licenses - not to metion the headaches it has saved them from by bing able to test their "new releases" without affecting their core business. Nontheless, his question was along the lines of "How do I backup a Virtual PC" so that I can "drop" any changes to it and start from scratch. It occurred to me that a review of the files that VPC uses was probably the best way to answer his question.
In VPC, there are various files:
.vhd – is the “Virtual Hard Drive”. This is the largest and most important file for VPC. It can be as much as 16GB in size (the MS VPC maximum single drive size). In essence, this is like an IMAGE of a computer’s drive similar (though not compatible with) Acronis Image or Norton Ghost. You may have more than one VHD to suit your needs, with each “mounted” on the VPC as a separate hard drive (this is a way to get around the 16GB limit – to have an operating system drive and also a “data” drive.) By the way, this file can grow to 16GB but only in NTFS drives capable of such a size. In FAT32 drives, files can only grow to 4GB... so, VPC automatically creates numbered files, each of no more than the 4GB limit. In this case, the files are named .vhd for the first file, and .v01, v.02, etc. for the additional files. See the VPC specs from Microsoft for more specifics. For the purposes of this post, though, I will just refer to the .VHD as a single file, but keep in mind it may actually be more than one file.
.vmc – is the “Virtual Machine Configuration”. This is the details of “how” the VHD should run (how much ram, what resolution, on what network, supporting audio, etc). This file is akin to your “computer hardware” but is a throw away and can easily be recreated if you have a good VHD file.
.vsv – is the “Virtual Saved State”. If you have chosen to “suspend” your VPC (similar to the HIBERNATE of a notebook), this is the “hibernation” file which has the contents of RAM and everything else VPC would need to restore your virtual machine in the same exact “state” as you left it – with running programs, logged in, etc. This is also a throw away file (to some extent) except that if you loose it or delete it you’ll have to “turn on” your VPC again (similar to turning on your hardware) and any open documents, etc you may have left in an “unsaved” state would now be lost.
Furthermore, let’s draw a distinction between the “saved running state” and the “hard drive state”.
The first, saved running state, means what programs are loaded into memory and what other operations your computer is “in the middle of” when you choose to suspend it (hibernate). You can save it all you want – BUT – I I’m not sure it’s very useful if the contents of the VHD change much. I suppose if the VHD has changed substantially (like for instance, if you’ve un-installed software) the VSV may not even be “valid” and may cause the VPC to crash. One note, you would literally have to make a copy of the VSV file somewhere other than where your VHD is stored because the minute you “resume” your VPC, this file would be used to recreate the environment and removed!
The second is the hard drive state (as represented by a VHD). This is the data and programs (including the registry) installed on the VM. You can definitely back up this file to “recover” a VPC in a completely different state (with a certain version of software, for instance). As a matter of fact, I have SEVERAL images of VHD files that are ALL the EXACT installation of Windows XP at various states: (1) Windows XP as originally delivered by MS, (2) Windows XP with SP1, (3) Windows XP with SP2. I also have a Windows XP SP2 versions with IE6 and another one with IE7. These are ALL copies of the original VHD file (in separate folders to keep things organized and less confusing) and to which I have used a running VPC to apply different updates and installations of software.
So, to backup a VPC so that one can "go back" to a clean state, you want to make copies of the VHD files, move them around into a folder structure that works for you and then fire away various VPCs as you need to in order to apply (or test) whatever you need to. I often use a “throw away” VHD to test suspect software or items that I’m unsure about.
One final note, just because you are running a Virtual PC does NOT exclude you from properly licensing software. Different software programs and operating systems have different restrictions on how you may use them and install them, including on virtual PCs. Please check with your software vendor to verify that you are complying with any and all licensing requirements.
AT&T Releases details on the upcoming iPhone launch
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
AT&T finally released details today on the plans available for the new iPhone 3g as well as the process to follow for the purchase and activation. This time around, unlike last year's iPhone launch, phone activation will be done IN-STORE. AT&T is still holding to the date of July 11, 2008. They are now saying that iPhone sales will begin at 8AM local time! The 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199 and the 16GB iPhone 3G will be $299 (both with a 2 year AT&T contract - of course).
Read AT&T's release on the details of the upcoming iPhone 3G.
They even have a fairly decent iPhone page with lots of information at http://www.att.com/iphone.
They also have some videos, one for existing AT&T customers and another for new AT&T customers.
Finally, read the "Getting iReady" iPhone 3G checklist to help you decide which plan and features you'll want.
You may wonder if I'm getting one. I'm not sure yet... the "in-store" thing just sounds a bit crazy, but you never know. I may just be one of those people getting up at 4AM and going to stand outside my local AT&T store. Who knows... Yes, I have access to the 2.0 software for my old phone, but the 3G and GPS are really compelling reasons to migrate. Especially the 3G because with my "old" iPhone (which uses the EDGE network) I cannot browse and talk at the same time. So, being able to talk and use data (which the 3G version does allow) is also a very compelling reason to upgrade.
Finally, from Apple, here is their iPhone 3G Guided Tour.
Stay tuned...
Read AT&T's release on the details of the upcoming iPhone 3G.
They even have a fairly decent iPhone page with lots of information at http://www.att.com/iphone.
They also have some videos, one for existing AT&T customers and another for new AT&T customers.
Finally, read the "Getting iReady" iPhone 3G checklist to help you decide which plan and features you'll want.
You may wonder if I'm getting one. I'm not sure yet... the "in-store" thing just sounds a bit crazy, but you never know. I may just be one of those people getting up at 4AM and going to stand outside my local AT&T store. Who knows... Yes, I have access to the 2.0 software for my old phone, but the 3G and GPS are really compelling reasons to migrate. Especially the 3G because with my "old" iPhone (which uses the EDGE network) I cannot browse and talk at the same time. So, being able to talk and use data (which the 3G version does allow) is also a very compelling reason to upgrade.
Finally, from Apple, here is their iPhone 3G Guided Tour.
Stay tuned...
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