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Visualizing a balanced link profile

Link building is one of those challenging subjects that carries a lot of technical undertones. It's a subject that often requires some explanation, depending on the audience, as to why it is so important to begin with.

The importance of building links to a site is something that SEO (search engine optimization) practitioners understand all too well. It's not just a quantity thing, but a qualitative measure. Links aren't just a conduit for traffic; they serve as an important signal to search engines. Of course, it is the significance and understanding of this signaling that often steers … Read more

Say bye-bye to link buys

With Google's recent crackdown on Web sites the sell PageRank--which really means selling links--a new era has begun for backlink building. In Google's eyes, links coming into a given Web site from external, quality sites increases that site's PageRank, and therefore its standing in the search engine's eyes. Until recently, there were many sites that had quality in Google's eyes (in other words, they had great PageRank) and also sold links. Anyone could get a piece of that good PR for a price.

Google is now actively lowering the PageRank of sites that deal in … Read more

LinkedIn opens up to developers...mostly

I use LinkedIn quite a bit. I've found that it serves a very effective purpose (something that can't always be said for more chatty social-networking sites like MySpace): recruiting. I've done all my Alfresco recruiting through LinkedIn, and have ended up with excellent employees and no recruiter fees. Zippo.

Now LinkedIn in opening up its platform to outside developers, in an effort to compete with Facebook. The timing couldn't be more opportune, as LinkedIn offers something that the other social-networking sites don't: a place for professionals to get work done, rather than throw poo at each others' "walls," as the New York Times reports:

The move is one of several LinkedIn is making, including launching a beta version of a redesigned home page, to keep its less flashy but more business-minded contacts network site vibrant alongside rivals MySpace and Facebook. LinkedIn said it wants to be a hub for business information.… Read more

LinkedIn debuts developer platform, revamps home page

Business social network LinkedIn has given itself a New Year's makeover a few weeks early: the site has announced a home page redesign and new features, and has simultaneously launched a developer program that it calls "InApps."

For LinkedIn, which says that it recently passed 17 million user accounts, this move comes at a time when some observers are saying that business social networks are about to take off in a big way. The redesigned home page has not gone fully live, but is now accessible to logged-in LinkedIn members on a beta page. Included among the … Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

Here's some of the backlog from a virus-induced hiatus that knocked me out for a couple days.

PhotoAcute Studio. Leading super-resolution technology for better photos. PhotoAcute's product description: "It increases image resolution, removes noise without losing image details, corrects image geometry and chromatic aberrations and expands the dynamic range." PhotoAcute Review. Uwe Steinmuller's testing of super-resolution software that combines multiple images into one. Lightroom Journal: Lightroom 1.3.1 and Camera Raw 4.3.1. Lightroom update fixes Nikon D100 and Olympus E-3 compatibility problems, tweaks SKD's FTP export module. New Lightroom Galleries--O'Reilly Digital Media Blog. … Read more

Don't expect News Corp. to buy LinkedIn any time soon

Recently, a number of conflicting rumors have been spinning around over media mogul News Corp. potentially wanting to fork over as much as $1 billion for business-oriented social network LinkedIn. Would it sell? Would it really cost that much? Or is it all a load of misinformation?

I met with LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye on Monday while he made the rounds at an NYC press tour, and the company's official comment on the LinkedIn rumors is, well, no comment. However, while speaking about the projected growth of the company from its status as a partner in Google's OpenSocial initiative … Read more

Start page in a box: Symbaloo

My dad is a staunch user of MyHQ, which lets you organize your bookmarks in little clusters of text links. While it's highly functional, the service hasn't been updated since mid-1999. Regardless, the big draw is its simplicity, portability, and near-instant load time, which is where Web start pages can really shine over standard browser bookmarking systems.

I've taken a look at quite a few of these sites over the past year, and one I think is good enough to pass my Dad's test is Symbaloo, which like MyHQ is incredibly simple to set up. It also runs fast. Instead of going the route of showing you a live page preview, a la Opera's Speed Dial or Only2Clicks.com (review), Symbaloo lets you organize a smattering of your favorite links in a giant, rectangular grid. Depending on your display resolution, Symbaloo will scale itself to fit, along with providing quick and easy identifiers like site logos or icons to help you organize your links visually. In the center of it all is a search box that can be replaced with about two dozen various search tools that sit beside your bookmarks. You also can manually add more from a provided directory.

In addition to search tools and bookmarks, Symbaloo has a page that puts together links of the top news stories on Yahoo and MSNBC. While this isn't an entirely novel concept in and of itself, the way it's been implemented with stories getting real estate depending on their suggested importance is neat. It reminds me a lot of AOL's Mgnet news service, which launched in July, although with less usefulness considering the stories aren't coming from your saved bookmarks

… Read more

Rumor: News Corp. in buyout talks with LinkedIn

Here's a little something to chew on along with your Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie. TechCrunch UK is reporting an "unconfirmed rumour" via a "well-placed" and "reliable" source that the LinkedIn social network is in talks with News Corp. about a possible buy out in January 2008.

That, of course, would put both LinkedIn--considered a sort-of MySpace for the grown-up business set--and MySpace itself under Rupert Murdoch's same corporate entity.

LinkedIn, an increasingly competitive player in the social media market, recently started allowing its members to upload a photograph to accompany their … Read more

Wii Zapper: Hands-on review

If you grew up with a Nintendo Entertainment System in your house, then you no doubt remember the Zapper, the gray (or bright orange) light gun that let you shoot at ducks, bulls-eyes, and banditos. After almost 20 years, Nintendo has brought the Zapper, at least in name, to the Nintendo Wii. It's available in stores today for just $20, and it includes a free game, Link's Crossbow Training.

Instead of a light gun, the Wii Zapper is a simple gun-shaped plastic shell that houses the Wii remote and nunchuk attachment for use in certain shooting games. Simple, … Read more