SEO Analysis site

Just got to know about yet another SEO Analysis site. Go over to SEOSiteCheckup.com, type in your site URL. It will automatically analyse your site and provide recommendations to enable (in their words) "your site to load faster, rank higher for search terms, and attract more visitors". And it's totally free.

Here's the report for my blog. Quite detailed as well.

I was quite impressed by the speed of analysis as compared to some other sites I have tried out. I am already aware of some of the problems given in the recommendations but unfortunately I won't be able to implement them all. I have reading up on ways to add a site map and may have found a solution finally.

Thanks for the info Rachel.

Sony OLED digital TV

Get ready for the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV - another major innovation from Sony. Having the model number: XEL-1, it is an industry first. Many industry experts predict that it will soon replace the LCD and plasma screen technologies.

Coming back to the TV, the display panel is only 3 mm thick (or should I say thin) and weighs only 1.9 kg. Though I haven't tested it out yet, reviews say that the picture quality is amazing - unlike anything we have seen before.

You can now buy the XEL-1 for $2,499.99 on the Sony Style online store. However, Engadget reports that it is available for a lower price at $1748 at Sam's club.

Dell's smallest and greenest PC

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The Studio Hybrid is one of Dell’s newest offerings and is their smallest desktop. You can change the sleeves on the PC, which are available in 6 different colors or Bamboo. I wish it had come out earlier.


However, the selling point is not the colours or it’s performance but rather it’s green credentials. According to Dell, Studio Hybrid is their greenest consumer desktop PC.

Like all small computers, there will not much room for upgrades involving addition of extra hardware.

Prices of the Dell Studio Hybrid start from £399.

Cuil - Search engine different from Google

There's a new search engine in town. It's called Cuil (pronounced cool) and calls itself the world’s biggest search engine. So far, that's not exactly true but they might give Google a run for their money soon, looking at the way things are going. According to their info page, they search as three times as many web pages as Google.

Unlike Google where search results are based on link popularity, Cuil bases it's results on content analysis. Another difference with Google is Cuil promishes complete privacy to the searchers - something that a lot of people will definitely find attractive. As for the design, it is similar to Google in the sense that it's rather simple without any clutter. However, it has a dark background as opposed to Google's white background.

Anna Patterson, part of the husband-and-wife team that founded the company, used to work with Google. She was the architect of Google’s large search index, TeraGoogle, which was launched in early 2006. She is also noted for having created the world's biggest search engine index (at that time) consisting of 30 billion pages using information from the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Her husband, Tom Costello is the CEO of the company.

Other related links:
- Former Googleers unveil Cuil, a new search engine
- Cuil Challenges Google With Privacy

Getting an IT certification

Have been quite frustrated the past few weeks. All my applications for jobs I really like, have all been unsuccessful. It looks like I am going to be stuck doing some part time teaching in the University and some odd jobs with lousy pay. Of course I am hoping that things would get better after I get my PhD but that's so far off and right now my financial status isn't that great.

The last job interview I had gone for was for the post of Search Engine Optimisation Specialist in a multinational company based here (Yes! that's an actual job position). I couldn't believe it when I didn't get the job as I was sure that I had convinced them that I could do the job. I am still not sure why I didn't get the job but I have a strong suspicion that the fact that I don't have a IT background had something to do with it. Almost everything I know about computers and IT are self taught apart from some short course I take from time to time.

Everyone tells me that the job market is not so good right now. However, looking at the various job ads I receive in my email inbox from the various job agencies, tells me that it is not exactly true for the IT sector. There are loads of jobs out there, especially those looking for networking professionals. A number of these jobs require some form of certification or the other. Among the most widely respected IT certification programs available is a Cisco certification. The quality of these programmes offered by Cisco means that the various certifications are highly valued by organisations Worldwide. This in turn translates to lucrative and rewarding jobs. I have to admit that I am seriously tempted. If it means that I will be getting a £25k- 30k per annum job, I might even put my studies on hold.

Scour search engine

Just found out about Scour a new search engine with a difference. You get results from Google, Yahoo! and MSN search on one page and you get to vote and comment on the results. Thus, you become part of a online social network. Best of all you are awarded points for your activity on the site, which can be redemmed later for Visa gift cards.

Scour originally started off as Aftervote.com, a search engine with an AJAX backbone. The new brand name - Scour, came about after it was was acquired by Internext media, owner and operator of the ABCSearch Network.

Right now it is still in Beta and I am looking forward to see how it does.

Now you can blog in Melayu

Good news for all my Malaysian friends- Blogger is now available in Bahasa Malaysia (BM). This is a sign of recognition for all the Malaysian bloggers out there.

I am not really sure how this works whether it makes any difference because BM also uses the normal Latin alphabet. A lot of people have been blogging in BM for a long time. However, this might make it easier for some newbies who are not really familiar with the Blogger interface.