Buy Forums Users!

If you are starting a forum, the trick is building an active userbase. I have been to so many NEW forums, where there are only a few users posting topics, and I don’t dare join. People want an active group to converse with. In walks Forum Shock… for a small fee, they will help you kick start your new forum. For roughly $200, they will get 20 members to post hundreds and hundreds of posts! Not a bad idea.

Does site hosting affect Google rankings?

A question I was wondering today, as I am considering switching to HostGator.com. Nakul answers this question quite well on his blog at SEO Today.

Hosting should not be the largest concern you have in an SEO program, but there are certain exceptions to that. Hosts can be penalized by Google for content reasons, and this may affect your site’s performance. It is also preferable to look for individual IP address so that risk of index removal is minimized. Another thing that can be inferred is that sites hosted by free web hosts may not rank highly at Google for the most competitive keywords because of the obvious reason that free sites are mostly prone to depleted content. In a nutshell, you must be thorough in picking your web host and always clarify all issues before selecting one. These small considerations can make you safe for your further plans toward search engine optimization.

Who the hell is Seth Godin?!

FEATURED BLOG: Seth Godin’s Blog

SETH GODIN is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change.

Godin is author of five (no, it’s six! [no it’s SEVEN Free Prize Inside was published in early May, 2004 and All Marketers Are Liars.
was published in 2005) books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. It also appeared on the New York Times business book bestseller list.

Unleashing the Ideavirus is the most popular ebook ever written. More than 1,000,000 people downloaded the digital version of this book about how ideas spread. Featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Industry Standard and Wired Online, Ideavirus hit #4 on the Amazon Japan bestseller list, and #5 in the USA.

SOURCE: The post that introduced me to Seth.

…and you can really get to know Seth, in this video presentation he does.

TOP 10 Open Source Sites, Applications, and Lists!

Info
1. http://www.opensource.org/
2. http://www.opensourcewindows.org/

Apps
3. http://gallery.menalto.com/
4. http://www.wordpress.org
5. http://www.opensourcecms.com
6. http://www.sourceforge.net
7. http://www.openwebdesign.org

Lists
8. http://technorati.com/tag/Open+Source
9. http://www.alexa.com/browse?&CategoryID=217479
10. http://www.blinklist.com/tag/Open%20Source/

OK… fine..

11. http://www.software-pointers.com/en-content-opensource-tools.html

Adios Popie!

I know this is off topic for Yolk Smoke, but I felt it would be helpful to see our human side… and know real people are behind this site.
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Family & Friends-

Popie, the last living grandfather to Charis (my wife) and I (NORTH, the author of YolkSmoke), passed away last night at 3am, surrounded by family in his home. He was 86 years old, and we are all thankful he lived such a long, prosperous life. The lucky guy enjoyed over 20 years of retirement! I thought I would share this moving experience with you, and I hope it finds you well… no need to reply.

All the best,
NORTH

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Ernest “Popie” Gomes (1920 - 2006)
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Popie is quite a legend to me. He met his sweetheart Mary Beatrice Silva, when she was 16 in Hawaii, while she lived on a separate island than he did. He fell in love with her, and waited for her to become old enough to marry. Their marriage lasted 56 years, and they somehow raised 5 sons together! Popie was a steelworker, built hundreds of restaurant kitchens across the country, some of which I’m sure you have eaten in, including Disneyland, every Sherri’s restuarant, Rolling Pin Donuts, and many more. To know Popie was to know the nicest, soft spoken Hawaiian man you could ever meet. He was a well-balanced, very strong man, who demonstrated to me how peace of mind can be acquired from simple things, such as maintaining an incredible garden. A quality that I’ve seen reflected in his five sons, in particular Lyle, my father-in-law, who I spend the most time with. Charis told me she remembered visiting on days when he was so wrapped up in his garden, that Grandma would crank open the window and yell “Baboose! Get up here for dinner”. Baboose meaning jackass in Portuguese/Hawaiian. HAHA!!

Even at 86 years old, Popie and Grandma would strum yukele’s together singing Hawaiian songs. He always had something funny to say to make you laugh. I recall several times being overly-stressed with life, only for Popie to stroll in the room in his very magical way, speaking not a single word, yet somehow exuding a certain calmness that would wash the pains of life away… not unlike the soothing strum of a yukele over the sounds of the ocean!

The attached photograph is one my favorites of Popie taking over the BBQ, after I completely burned a batch of chicken drumettes blacker than black! Popie laughed and said, “Let me show the secret grandson.” His secret was to keep the BBQ open (not closed as I did), and consistently flip the drumettes one at a time for 30 minuutes. Patience… and they were damn good!

Popie was mostly unconscious for the last 18 hours of his life. It was quite an experience when the priest read him his last rites, telling him to go to God, and Popie’s only great grandchild, our 2 year old son Foster, walked over by the priest, stood up on his tip toes next to the bed, and reached up to hold Popie’s hand. The entire room lit up in tears. It was a bit confusing to Foster to see everyone crying. I picked him up, so we could say our goodbyes, and I could take him home. The room of 15 family members was very silent at this point, and Foster, who Popie loved to call “my lil’ Hawaiian Cowboy”, just started singing joyfully and quite loudly, “Goodbye Popie, I wuv you Popie!!” We all laughed at his innocence, while crying for his ignorance, as Foster kissed Popie on the face, for what he did not know would be the last time.. and, of course, the little angel kept joyfully singing “Popie, Popie, Popie.. ” as I carried him out the door. It is believed that Popie could hear us, but just could not speak to us, and so while it was intense to have our two year old present, it was what we know Popie wanted.

It was funny when Popie went though, because he had told us a week ago that when he goes, he is going to just say “Adios”, and just be gone… and at 3am on Friday March 17th, 2006, he did just that! Popie suddenly sat up a bit, and let out, “AHHHHHHDDDD”, and he was gone. Popie’s highest virtue in life was to give to those he loved, so much that he made certain that his very last breath was his final gift of goodbye to us all.

Here’s to you big man! May you rest in peace, and know that your spirit lives on in those of us that were so fortunate to have known you!! Thank you for showing me your way, which I hope to endure someway, someday. You were a blessing to this world, and will never be forgotten.

ADIOS POPIE!!

Register Your Domain with DMOZ!

I’m learning a lot about SEO over at SEO Chat, and have found that registering your domain/site with DMOZ potentially has some 4000 benefits?!

Q: How long after I am listed in DMOZ should I start to gain the benefit of the “4000″ new links?

A: It usually takes close to a month for your listing to show up in Googles Directory which is the most common asked about one. Then to gaine the full benefit it many times takes 1 - 2 years to fully propogate. This is a good way to make sure all links realize their full potential as that slow growth is something that Google seems to like.