Today people are more connected to the Internet than ever before. That may sound obvious, but the numbers are truly staggering. Every day, Google receives around 500 million search requests. Approximately 110 million unique websites are in operation—and more than 1 trillion URLs.
The challenge for owners of businesses big and small is to be found in this enormous haystack, and the solution is search engine optimization, or SEO. An effective SEO campaign puts a website at the top of a search engine's results, ensuring that it is seen and visited by a large audience.
SEO is a vital part of modern advertising, but too often smaller businesses focus solely on traditional marketing techniques—at the cost of converting customers on the Web. This is unfortunate, since practically any small business can run at least a basic SEO campaign with modest investment.
Here are some tips that can help your company stand out and get noticed by potential clients and customers:
Use keywords relevant to your business when creating your title tags
The title tag is the phrase that shows up in the blue bar at the very top of a viewer's browser window. While many people never read them—or even know that they're there—they are incredibly important to search engines ranking websites. For example, if you are a florist in Boston, rather than writing title tags for your business name, use important keywords that a potential customer may use in a search, such as "Boston florist" or "Boston flowers." Encourage back links
If your company donates to charities or has strong business relationships with other companies, encourage them to provide direct links to your website. Links leading back to your website will help its page rank.
Create and manage social profiles Sites such as Facebook, Yelp, and LinkedIn are changing the way people relate to companies and brands. Creating and maintaining pages for your company on these sites can develop your brand, help your page ranking, and influence the way people view your business
WASHINGTON: Google is great at burying powerful features in its deceptively simply applications and tools. Search, Docs, Gmail - if you're like millions of others around the world, you use at least one of these tools on a daily basis. What features are you missing? Read on to learn about a few.
Search You're probably working too hard when you use Google's search engine. First, if you regularly conduct a search for a specific topic or term, let Google do the work for you.
Google Alerts (http://google.com/alerts) allows you to schedule a search for a specific term or concept and have the search results sent directly to you. You can determine the type of search results that are sent to you, the frequency, and even the quality. Results can be sent either to one of your email addresses or to a feed.
The Alerts service is perfect for those who conduct daily searches, say, for the latest sports news or scores. And once your alerts are set up, it's easy to manage them or remove them if they're no longer useful to you.
When you do have to use Google the old-fashioned way, avail yourself of the productivity-enhancing features of Google's keyboard shortcuts enhancement, part of Google Labs' 'experimental search' project.
You can activate keyboard shortcuts simply by visiting http://www.google.com/experimental and clicking 'Join this experiment' under the 'Keyboard shortcuts' heading.
Once you do, your keyboard will take on new life when you're using Google. You'll be able to move from one search result to the next simply by pressing the letter J on your keyboard, and pressing O or Enter will open the currently selected result.
The forward slash (/) character will move you back to the search box from any position, and the Esc key will take the cursor out of the search box. Give it a try - the keyboard is always faster than the mouse.
Docs If you're still not sure what cloud computing is all about, log on to Google Docs (http://docs.google.com) and find out. The Internet-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation app, and drawing program that are the core of Google Docs might not rival the best of what you'll find on your desktop, but they're good enough for most tasks.
Even better, regardless of whether you use Docs for typical office tasks, take advantage of the free storage space provided by Docs to back up, store, or share files of any type, regardless of whether they've been created by Docs applications.
Just click the Upload button on the main Google Docs page, and you can upload and store up to 1 gigabyte (GB) worth of files of any type. Convert your files to be compatible with Google Docs, and you can store even more. For 5 dollars per year, you can purchase an additional 20 GB of storage for files of any type.
And if you find yourself using the Docs apps themselves, keep in mind that you can easily download your files to work on them when you're not online. From the Google Docs main screen, select the files you want to download, click the 'More actions' button, and from the list of choices that appear, select Download. In the resulting dialog box, you can select the format in which to download the docs - including Microsoft Office-compatible formats - and move them to your local hard drive.
Gmail It's hard not to like Gmail, the most popular free web-based e-mail service. A huge amount of storage, good spam filters, keyboard shortcuts, and powerful search are just a few of the features that make it difficult to have only one Gmail account. But some of the most innovative and exciting Gmail features are buried in the 'crazy experimental' section of Gmail's configuration menu. Open Gmail, and click the Settings link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. From the resulting Settings screen, click the Labs link. From there, browse the dozens of add-on features available.
Among the most interesting: Canned Responses, which allows you to save and automatically send pre-written responses to certain types of e-mail messages; Default 'Reply to All,' which makes replying to all recipients of a message the default action when you click Reply; Inserting Images, which makes it easy to insert pictures into your e-mail messages; and Undo Send, a feature that's perfect for anyone who has ever sent an e-mail message only to regret it moments later. Spend some time scanning the dozens of 'crazy experimental' Gmail features to see what kinds of insane productivity enhancements you can add to your e-mail routine.
You have your antivirus updated, browser version is latest, and don't browse porn or other so-called dangerous sites. So you are sure you are safe online. Not really! Though the above things definitely help you in guarding against cyber crime, they do not ensure 100% safety. The increasing proliferation of business activities on Internet has also made it a haven for criminals. Sohphos released a report that aims to debunk some of the biggest common myths relating to safe Web browsing. Here's what you may think 'safe' is really not 'safe' on the internet.
Web is safe as I've never been hit by malware
If you are among those who still believe that you have never been under malware attack, read this. According to the Sophos report, many web users may not even know if they are under constant malware attack. The attacks are designed to steal personal information and passwords or use your machine for distributing spam, malware or inappropriate content without your knowledge.
Only porn sites are dangerous
If you think only porn and gambling sites are home to hackers, here's a reason to worry. According to the report, the majority of infected sites are websites that you trust and visit almost daily. The report says, hijacked trusted sites represent more than 83% of malware hosting sites.
Only naive users get hit by viruses
Being a computer expert is not a sure shot formula to prevent you from falling victim to any cyber attack. Many attacks happen silently without any user involvement. According to the report, malware from drive-by downloads happens automatically without any user action, other than visiting the site. Therefore, it doesn't matter what level of computer expertise you may have.
I can only get infected if I download files
For those who assume that only downloading content makes them vulnerable to cyber threats, need to get facts checked. The report says, most malware infections now occur through a “drive-by” download. Hackers inject the malicious code into the actual Web page content, then it downloads and executes automatically within the browser as a by-product of simply viewing the Web page. The malware is typically part of a professional exploit kit marketed and sold to hackers that leverages known exploits in the browser, operating system or plug-ins to infect the computer and download more malware. And this happens without a user having to do anything other than visit a hijacked Web site.
Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer
There is no fool-proof browser that can prevent you from falling prey to hackers' trap. The report highlights, all browsers are equally at risk because all browsers are essentially an execution environment for JavaScript, which is the programming language of the Web and therefore used by all malware authors to initiate an attack. In addition, many exploits leverage plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat reader software, which runs across all browsers. Although the more popular browsers may get more publicity about unpatched exploits, it's the unpublicized exploits you should be most concerned about.
Lock icon in the browser means it's secure
When the lock icon appears in the browser, many of us believe we are opening a secure site. This is because the lock icon indicates there is an SSL encrypted connection between the browser and the server to protect the interception of personal sensitive information. However, the report says it does not provide any security from malware. In fact, it's the opposite because most Web security products are completely blind to encrypted connections: it's the perfect vehicle for malware to infiltrate a machine. There have been many cases where hackers emulate bank, credit card sites complete with spoofed SSL certificates that are difficult for a user to identify as fraudulent.
Lock icon in the browser means it's secure
When the lock icon appears in the browser, many of us believe we are opening a secure site. This is because the lock icon indicates there is an SSL encrypted connection between the browser and the server to protect the interception of personal sensitive information. However, the report says it does not provide any security from malware. In fact, it's the opposite because most Web security products are completely blind to encrypted connections: it's the perfect vehicle for malware to infiltrate a machine. There have been many cases where hackers emulate bank, credit card sites complete with spoofed SSL certificates that are difficult for a user to identify as fraudulent.
Guwahati, Jan 26 : The North East Students' Organisation (NESO) has reiterated the demand for Special Constitutional Status for the Northeast to ensure the protection of indigenous people of the region.
On the eve of the Republic Day, NESO in a statement released to the media, mentioned that keeping aside four main subjects - External Affairs, Defence, Currency and Transport - the Centre should give more powers to the states.
According to the NESO, such a step was necessary to protect the rights of the indigenous people to land and resources at a time when they face serious threats from the presence of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
Favouring a truly federal structure for the benefit of the indigenous people of the region, NESO said that all possible steps must be taken to ensure that their identity is protected.
Striking a similar stance, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad has also called for better protection of the rights of indigenous people when it comes to land and resources.
Children wave the Tricolour through a mustard field in Sivasagar on Tuesday.
Guwahati,Jan 26 : A bomb blast damaged rail tracks in Dima Hasao, suspected militants opened fire on a bus injuring three persons in adjoining Karbi Anglong and explosives were recovered in Kamrup and Baksa districts today, signalling the return of trouble to the two hill districts and compounding security concerns on the eve of Republic Day. The occasion has been boycotted by six outfits, including Ulfa.
Dispur has issued fresh alerts to all district headquarters in view of growing threats from subversive groups to disrupt normal life.
Police sources in Haflong said the blast occurred when a Lumding-bound goods train with 16 wagons was slowly trundling over railway bridge number 292, about 200 metres long, around 12.30pm when the explosion rocked the area. The bomb was a crude one placed under the track a few minutes before it exploded. There was, however, no casualty.
The blast, the second of its kind in the last two days, comes less than a day of the withdrawal of the 100-hour Dima Hasao district bandh — called by the NC Hills Indigenous Students’ Forum demanding the bifurcation of the district — after a meeting between the Dima Haso administration and student leaders. The bandh started on January 21.
Hours earlier, the newly floated Karbi Peoples Liberation Tigers fired on a Dimapur-bound bus inside Deopani reserve forest of Bokajan subdivision in Karbi Anglong district around 5.30am, 30 minutes after the start of the 36-hour district bandh called by the rebel outfit.
Bokajan police said two persons, including 11-year-old Disaid Masai and Neikho Angami, were seriously injured in the attack. Bus driver Ino Singh was also injured by glass shards. The site is 35km from Bokajan subdivision.
The injured were rushed to two separate hospitals in Dimapur. This is the second such incident in the border subdivision in the last three days. On Sunday, suspected Kuki militants gunned down a Kuki ginger trader.
A joint team of security forces recovered a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) from near a bridge at Parakuchi village near Rangiya in Kamrup district. Police suspect the IED, weighing more than 2kg, was planted by Ulfa militants. Explosive experts later defused the bomb.
The recovery comes a day after Ulfa warned that “Indians” would have to suffer if any more Assamese youth were killed by security forces.
The Northeast Frontier Railway cancelled the Avadh Assam Express till January 31 on security grounds.
In Tamulpur, a 7kg explosive packed inside a polythene bag, including 3kg RDX, was recovered from a Tamulpur-Rangiya bus at Bogajuli in Tamulpur subdivision of Baksa district.
Shillong, Jan 25 : The Meghalaya government has launched a sustainable-power project called 'Light a billion Lives' (LaBL) to provide solar light for villages at Mawsynram village in East Khasi Hills District.
Meghalaya has become the second state in the North East after Assam to implement such a unique project.
The introduction of the project was spearheaded by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in order to supplement power deficit that the state is facing.
The introduction of the project was to provide solar light for villages in rural areas as an alternative clean source of energy.
The 'Light a billion Lives' project is being run by three multi purpose cooperative societies.
The Registrar of sooperative societies in collaboration with TERI and the Bethany Society would also implement the same project in the southern slopes of War Jaintia area of Jaintia Hills. The project would be managed by other two cooperative societies.
Meghalaya's registrar of cooperative societies F R Kharkongor said the project involved the setting up a solar charging station (SCS) at the cooperative society level, with cost effective and easily installable solar photo-voltaic cells, along with 50 solar lanterns.
The three cooperative societies that took the lead in Mawsynram included the Lamjingshai Progressive Cooperative Society, Pyndensohsaw, Mawlongbna Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Mawlongbna and Mawteibah Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Mawteibah.
According to the Chairman of Mawlongbna Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Lurshai Tohtih, the demand to use the solar lanterns for domestic and commercial purposes in the area is high and it would increase in the rainy seasons in view of villagers facing electricity problem.
The total cost of the project was estimated at Rs 1.45 lakh.
While Rs 95 thousand was borne by TERI, Rs 25 thousand was financed by Meghalaya Cooperative Society and Rs 25 thousand each by the three other cooperative societies.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- To most Westerners, the idea of paying someone to stick little scoops and tweezers into their ears is downright unnerving. To Vietnamese, it's an art.
Though the procedure may sound like torture, men line up day in and day out to experience this unorthodox probing. It's part of the country's pampering culture and is offered in corner barbershops, the oases where Vietnamese while away hot afternoons with luxurious shampoos, relaxing shaves and facials. But it's the picking that elicits moans of ecstasy.
Many returning Vietnamese-Americans head straight to these barbershops, or "hot tocs," after disembarking from long United and EVA Air flights at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
"It brings a lot of happiness," said Silicon Valley resident Nguyen Tuong Tam, who always heads to a hot toc upon arriving in this city, also known as Saigon. He likens a good ear picking to good sex. Indeed, fans of ear picking gleefully talk about "ear-gasms."
There is a spot near the ear drum that, when touched the right way, "tingles," said 26-year-old ear picker Nguyen Thi Le Hang. "For one person, it may just be a tickle. For another person, it's a mind-blowing experience."
In fact, the ear has a G-spot, said Dr. Todd Dray, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center-Santa Clara. "The skin in your ear is super thin -- it's paper thin," he said. "It's very sensitive. And there are a lot of nerves that converge in the ear."
That explains why some customers have been known to blurt out, "Will you marry me!" Ear pickers usually ignore such exclamations as they would words of endearment from a drunk.
Just as a shampoo in Vietnam is more than washing hair -- it's also head massage, shoulder massage and a refreshing facial -- ear picking is more than cleaning the ear. It helps reduce the tensions of living in the bustling, horn-honking metropolis of 9 million people, fans say.
Though the practice is mostly popular among men, some Vietnamese women enjoy regular ear pickings, too.
"Everybody is afraid the first time -- but after, it's, 'Oh my God!' " said Katie Dang, a 20-something singer who spends time in the United States and Ho Chi Minh City. "The men do a very good job. But the women are better. They have the magic hands."
Ear picking has long been practiced in Vietnam and other Asian countries. And a few Vietnamese barbershops in San Jose have quietly offered the service. But in recent years, practitioners in Vietnam have elevated it beyond simply removing ear wax to an experience on par with massage, said Hien Nhan, a former Californian who owns Lido's Spa in Ho Chi Minh City.
Those offering the service range from a guy with a chair along a busy street to air-conditioned barbershops with several ear picking specialists and shops where the staff wear alluring uniforms. A picking and a shave can cost as little as $2, plus tip.
It's not uncommon for ear pickers to give a customer Vietnamese coffee or tea before he settles in. He then reclines in a barber chair, tilting his head to one side. The ear picker, frequently a young woman wearing a head lamp, begins to gently probe.
"Some people like it really soft, others like it to hurt," ear picking proprietor Nhan said. "It's like a massage."
After scooping up some ear wax, she scrapes it onto the customer's hand as a way to show off her handiwork. The tools include a tiny razor to shave hairs, a miniature shovel-like device to scoop up wax, tweezer-like objects to scrape the inner ear and little cotton balls on sticks that are twirled inside the ear to tickle the skin. The overall effect is so soothing it's not uncommon for customers to doze off.
The procedure, ear pickers say, takes about a week to learn but months to perfect. Those who become highly skilled develop a following.
Ear pickers ply their trade with a mix of intense concentration and flirtation -- one reason men often don't want girlfriends or wives to know about their ear experiences. Frisky ear pickers sometimes blow into customers' ears. There are stories of customers leaving wives for ear pickers and a life of in-home ear pleasure.
But all this ear fun can have unintended consequences.
Ear specialist Dray cautions against unsafe ear picking. If implements are reused without being sterilized -- which is common in many shops -- customers can be exposed to a variety of viruses and even Hepatitis B, though that's relatively rare, he said. Too much ear picking can leave ears dry and itching. And if done improperly, ear picking can pack wax deeper into the ear, causing an infection called otitis externa, or swimmer's ear.
"It's like smoking or drinking beer," said Truong Phung, a 44-year-old professional who visits a bare-bones barbershop every two or so weeks. "Some of my friends say it's not safe, but I still come here. They do it without any license or insurance. If something bad happens to you, I don't know what they could do."
Dray, however, said the risks from ear picking can be greatly reduced by a few simple precautions.
"If you bring your own instruments, and you have found someone who is good at it," he said, "go for it."
Colin Firth looks set to crown the best year of his career to date after landing an Oscar nomination for his role in The King's Speech.
The actor is odds on to add to his Best Actor Golden Globe for his portrayal of George VI and is one of a handful of Brits who have got the nod in the shortlist for this year's prestigious Academy Awards.
The £9million film he starred in meanwhile about a monarch with a stammer could go on to collect the film world’s biggest prize.
Crowning glory: The King's Speech has six nominations with Colin Firth in the running for Best Actor
Of the other Brits set for success, Firth's co-star Helena Bonham Carter will be joining him at the ceremony to present the 83rd Academy Awards as she has been nominated for Best Actress In A Supporting Role and Danny Boyle has been given a Best Director nod for 127 Hours.
Firth's The King's Speech co-star Geoffrey Rush has also been nominated for Best Actor In A Supporting Role with Tom Hooper up for Best Director.
Other movies doing well in the standings include the Cohen brothers' remake of True Grit with 10 nominations, as well as The Social Network and Black Swan.
The Best Actress field looks set to be a battle between Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, who already landed the Globe for Best Actress In A Musical Or Comedy, and Natalie Portman, who bagged the Globe for Best Dramatic Actress
OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2011 SO FAR
BEST FILM
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are Alright
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges - True Grit Robert Duvall - Get Low Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network Colin Firth - The King's Speech James Franco - 127 Hours
