Could this send your blog rank through the roof?

Every blogger wants the hits to be high and there's quite a few ways of making sure that your content ranks highly in Google too. A good post can see a massive spike in passing traffic but also repeat visits as well so imagine my interest when I came across this post.

The blog claims that by adding a few lines of text to your blog, the traffic and linkbacks will increase thanks to the laws of mathematics.

I couldn't resist giving it a go although I wonder firstly if it will work or not, and secondly, whats the pont in having artificially high figures if it does work?

I ended up justifying it by arguing that if your blog is more popular, then your material can be seen by a wider audience. In fact, you're doing everyone a favour!

Anyway here's the bit that's needed and if you'd like to include this on your blog, then simply copy the text below and paste it into your blog. Needless to say I will keep you posted.

Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!



Viralink

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When I receive a ping back once you have added the Viralink to your site I will add your link to this grid, and each person who copies the grid from here will also link to your site!

Rules
Only 1 link per person (i.e don't hog the viralink!)
Please don't tamper with other peoples url's
Enjoy!

*****EDIT****

I have been reliably informed that this isn't working on my site so please DON'T try to use it from here, you will be wasting your time.

Instead, Here's a site with all you need to know about this post, hopefully you will have more luck with it than I did :-)

Slow GPS sat lock on the N95?

Now the N95 may be the best mobile on the market at the moment, but many people are struggling with sluggish GPS fixes. It seems that the phone doesn't lock onto the sats as quick as people would like and although I experienced a slightly different problem related to the GPS setup, I did come across an interesting post which seems to offer some advice as to speeding up acquisition time on the handset.

If you'd like to check it out, you may do so on Ed Parson's blog which is here. Good luck and by disabling the network lock option under GPS settings, my phone does seem a little quicker...

Has the Apple gone sour?

Today has been one of the busiest days for techno-geeks the world over. The initials WWDC may not mean much to most, but to Apple aficionados, it one of the most important days in the diary.

If Apple corp were to release an 'on this day in history' The World Wide Developers Conference keynote speech from CEO Steve Jobs would include such delights as the original iMac (WWDC 1998), the PowerMac G5 (WWDC 2003) and of course the various versions of Apple's crowning glory, the iPod.

It based on this kind of hype and cult-brand-status that anyone who is remotely interested in Apple products can be forgiven for holding out high hopes for the day as far as gadgets and gizmo's go. In previous years, Steve's near-evangelical keynote has hit my credit card hard and I was expecting the same this year. Maybe an update to the iLife software and the aging iMac desktop? As the lights dimmed, I pulled up my laptop and prepared to want...

As it turns out, I was left wanting. Steve's keynote didn't lack enthusiasm or even the odd 'boom' here and there (I counted over 40 back in '03), what it did lack though was err... products. In fact I basically counted 2, the iPhone which isn't out here in the UK for ages (and isn't HSDPA compliant) and the upcoming operating system 'Leopard' which looks OK but doesn't flick my switches like laptops and desktop computers.

And that was about it... I was shocked and saddened (now there's two words you don't see together often!) with the lack of any 'real' products or upgrades. No iMac upgrades, no iPod upgrades, instead news that the beta software development is going ahead as planned and that the iPhone will also launch in the US in two weeks, where it will undoubtedly do well.

It also looks like I wasn't the only one to find this keynote 'lacking', as Steve bowed out, Apple's share price also seemed to be exiting-stage-left, with a 3.45% drop in value. It seems that the markets were also hoping that Steve would have more than a mobile phone and a CD up his sleeve. Alas! He didn't!



So as the dust settles, my hopes that the last poor keynote from Jobs was a one off were dashed and to add insult to injury, he even used his "one more thing" section to announce that apple are now coding software for PC'! What is the world coming to?

My life thru the lens of a mobile phone

***Click the title to go to http://paulhurst.vox.xom***

As past of a blogging experiment into both methods and equipment used for the modern day bloggers, I have just started a new moblog.

rather than another place to write about things, this new blog concentrates on the world through the lens of my mobile phone. There's little to read but lots of pictures and videos to watch instead.

I suppose its a reflection on blogging technology and practice itself. As it stands, there are blogs out there that read like a personal journal and other that read more like a newspaper column and they are both largely centred around text. This is because visual media generally requires more effort to produce and upload.

As in my last post though, thats all about to change. the new handsets from Nokia at least, allow blogging integration straight from the camera app which means with an extra button press, your content is uploaded to your blog or flickr account. Couple this with more flexible data tariffs on mobiles and an ever widening internet 'hotspot' in our towns and cities and the result is a much more integrated lifestyle between people and their online blogs or second lifes, or whatever.

Its this kind of thing which has driven me to experiment. I wonder how my life will change if I am able to maintain a moblog without carrying a laptop round to coffee shops. I wonder what impact this record will have on my own understanding of who I am and what I do and even how I interpret events and emotions around me.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many must a constantly developing and evolving online journal be worth? I'm about to find out.

Web ' n' Walk - True internet on the go from T-Mobile

This post may look no different to you than any other but the way in which it has been written is a first for me.

I am writing this on my laptop while connected to a high speed 3.5g T-Mobile line via my mobile phone. This offers near-broadband speeds over the same network that carries mobile phone calls.

In turn, the phone is then 'bluetoothed' to my laptop and 'hey-presto' full internet access anywhere where there is a mobile phone signal.

Now this technology isn't really that new but what is new is the way in which mobile companies are opening their networks to flat-rate data pricing rather than per-megabyte pricing. This means that for a flat rate, you can use the internet sevices on your phone handset (or laptop computer), as much as you like.

This is all very similar to the dial up revolution when the cost became fixed rather than per minute pricing. Some analysts cite this as the 'tipping point' for internet uptake, even above broadband introduction.

In any case, this type of service will become more and more popular and it won't be long before all of the mobile providers have a similar flat-rate scheme. At the moment its T-Mobile and 3 that are leading the way with this here in the UK, in fact an Orange rep freely admitted to me yesterday that no-one could touch these networks for data price plans at the moment.

It stands to reason when you think about it, that as the handsets become more and more capable, then the cost for fast,reliable internet via mobile platforms must contine to improve and become cheaper too. My new Nokia N95 handset takes full advantage of internet access by offering a sophisticated browser, media service and even GPS map download service, all of which is done automatically via the mobile network.

And for bloggers such as myself, all this is very good news indeed. Not only is it getting easier and cheaper to blog on the move, the technology is getting more sophisticated too. Take Flickr for example, When I take a pic on my phone handset now, I can instantly upload it to flickr for inclusion on this blog, I don't even need to bluetooth files anymore.

To be fair, We shouldn't be surprised when things like this improve on a consistent basis and I don't usually bat an eyelid myself. Occasionally though, something comes along which radically alters the way in which we work and operate though and for me, This flat rate service from T-Mobile is quite a defining moment.

Ps. for any users who use mac laptops, you'll be pleased to hear that its fairly easy to get everything working with the N95. Even though the mac isn't officially supported,you'll find everything here that you need to get up and running. My thanks to the blog author for writing such a great set of instructions.