Great Scott I was talking with Julian Chadwick of PDXPipeline this Monday about the tools he uses for search engine optimization. We recorded a podcast that will be posted Monday night on Hazelnut Tech Talk. However I wanted to pass on some of the information he gave me regarding the SEO plugins he uses for Firefox. I’d like to review the SEO Quake, as it has been very useful to me. Basic Information There are a few baseline pieces of baseline information that any SEO beginner. One of these is Page Rank, or Google’s consideration of what a given page is worth. Page rank varies from site to site, and there are a number of factors that contribute to pagerank. One of them is the amount of websites linking to a given website. This is called ‘inlinks’. One can find out this information by going to Google and entering the string “link:http://www.yoursite.com”. The amount of links from a site to you website show up differently in Yahoo! Search vs. Google search vs. MSN. Obtaining this data takes a while without a good tool to help you find it. There are additional metrics one can find about a site, such as the page rank, sitemap, alexa rank, and whether the site has been indexed in search engines or not. Site indexing is different from checking inlinks. If the pages of your site are not indexed by search engines, it is difficult for searchers to find them. Making sure your website has a sitemap and submitting it to Google Webmaster tools is an essential baseline step in the SEO process. You can generate an .xml sitemap for free by using the free tool provided at XML-Sitemaps.com . SEO Quake for Firefox SEO Quake is a plugin that adds another layer of information on top of your brower’s basic information. Instead of having to search for inlinks, the inlinks are displayed right on top of the site for you. You can also choose what information you want displayed about the site. There are plenty of options (accessible from preferences) that allow you to view any information you want about the page you’re on. There are Yahoo! inlinks, links to domain, Alexa rank, Page Rank, inlinks from MSN, compete rank, sitemap, and the robots.txt file, just to name a few. Using SEO Quake rocks. It’s super-customizable and generates a ton of rich information without the need to click. Plus, you can click on the information and download into a spreadsheet or text document for later use or data analysis. Highly recommended. Download This is a link to the download site for SEO Quake . Again, it is only available for Firefox browsers, so if you aren’t using Firefox (which you most undoubtedly should), then you’ll be missing out. Resources Thanks to Julian Chadwick for mentioning this plugin. You can check out Julian’s site at PDXPipeline or follow him on Twitter @pdxpipeline . For more information on SEO, Julian and I both recommend SEOMoz.org , a Seattle-based company providing an extremely comprehensive database of resources and tools for beginner, intermediate, and advanced SEO specialists. Try the free Trifecta tool on your site for starters. ——– Amber Case is a Cyborg Anthropologist from Portland, Oregon. You can follow her online @caseorganic . More... Less...

I have been testing out the latest nightly alpha (yes, do not replace your Firefox install with this) installation of a future concept browser based on Firefox called Minefield . Having tried this on two of my 64 bit Ubuntu installs, I am shocked at how much quicker this is loading websites than Firefox proper. Based on what I have been hearing, this is a browser truly taking advantage of the 64 bit architecture. So those of you using Vista/XP 64 might want to check this out as well. I am curious if it is loading with the same kind of speed I am seeing here. What I am using to produce instant page load times. OpenDNS FiOS (20 down/20 up) A 64 bit OS The latest nightly build of Mindfield from Mozilla Words cannot express how fast this is. Dare I say this is arguably faster than Opera? Nothing concrete by me to substantiate this, but based on just quick comparisons, yes, Minefield “feels” faster by a fair margin. And if you are using 32 bit Windows (OS X in general) or Linux, you will find that Flash works well. Windows users, here ya go . Ubuntu 64 bit Linux users, just browse - chances are you already have Flash installed already. So in the end, is this a browser I would use daily? No, it is not even beta yet and loading some pages creates stability issues. This said, I am amazed and impressed at the speed provided. I am truly, impressed. More... Less...

For a limited time and while supplies last, order the Oral-B Triumph Professional Care 9400 Power Toothbrush for as low as $65.99 (up to 53% off!) Get $50 off a future Amazon.com purchase when you spend $139 or more on any combination of eligible Braun and Oral B personal care products offered by Amazon.com , including this item. Here’s how (restrictions apply). Electric toothbrush clinically proven to improve oral health, creating a brighter and healthier smile Advanced FlossAction brush head penetrates between teeth Different brush modes Built-in timer provides feedback on when to change brushing locations Includes charging base station and travel case I own and use one and it’s fantastic. My teeth never felt so clean. The built in timer with optional alerts ensures that I spend the right amount of time brushing amount all my teeth. Get the Oral-B Triumph Professional Care 9400 Power Toothbrush with Two-Day shipping for FREE or Overnight shipping for $3.99 with Amazon Prime or get FREE Super Saver Shipping on qualifying orders over $25. Pricing, rebates, free super saver shipping, and other promotions may be subject to availability and restrictions. More... Less...

Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, and Best Buy Co., Inc. have announced that in response to huge demand for Bethesda’s award-winning upcoming game, Fallout 3, there will be midnight openings at Best Buy stores across the country the evening of October 27. Best Buy customers at select stores in the Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago metropolitan areas will be among the first to play one of the most anticipated videogames of the year. “Fallout 3 has been a labor of love for the team at Bethesda and we can’t wait to get the game into the hands of consumers,” said Todd Howard, Game Director for Fallout 3. “We’re looking forward to celebrating the launch of Fallout 3 with the fans.” The Fallout 3 team’s hometown Best Buy in Rockville, MD will serve as the flagship location of the midnight events, with special festivities including game kiosks, giveaways, contests and a live broadcast from the event with DC 101 FM. Game director Todd Howard will be on-hand along with other key members of the development team to sign copies of the game and chat with fans. In addition to the Rockville event, 11 Best Buy stores across the country will be hosting special midnight sales events. Midnight sales event lines will begin forming at 3 pm local time, October 27 at the following Best Buy locations: Washington, DC area Rockville, MD - 1200 Rockville Pike Tysons Corner, VA — 8449 Leesburg Pike New York Area New York, NY — 44th And 5th Westbury, NY — 1100 Old Country Rd. Los Angeles area Glendale, CA — 2909 Los Feliz Blvd. Pasadena, CA — 3415 E. Foothill Blvd. Chicago area Chicago, IL. — 1000 W. North Ave. Downers Grove, IL — 1432 Butterfield Rd. Dallas area Plano, TX — 2800 N. Central Expy. Fort Worth, TX — 6750 West Fwy. Minneapolis area Roseville, MN — 1643 Country Rd. B2 Richfield, MN — 1000 W. 78th St. Fallout 3 will be available on store shelves and online in North America on October 28, in Europe and Australia on October 30 and in the UK on October 31. Developed at Bethesda Game Studios — creators of the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion — Fallout 3 is slated for release on the Xbox 360video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows. Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Set more than 200 years following a nuclear war, you can create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of Washington, D.C. however you choose. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and other dangers of the Wasteland. Hailed as one of the most anticipated games for 2008, Fallout 3 has already won numerous awards including Best of Show from the official Game Critics Awards at E3 2008 and a perfect 10 out of 10 from Official Xbox Magazine. Fallout 3 (XB360) Fallout 3 Fallout 3 (XB360) Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition Fallout 3 Collector's Edition Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition Fallout 3 Collector's Edition Fallout 3 for PC Fallout 3 Collector's Edition The Fallout - Raglan 3/4 Sleeve T-Shirt Fallout 3 Collectors Edition for PC 20 Boy's Fallout Bicycle - Dynacraft Atomic Age Classics Vol 3 - A-Bombs, Fallout & Nuclear War (1940-1965) More... Less...

The folks over at GM have finally found the battery for their new electric car called the Volt. The contract between GM and LG Chem plus another with Compact Power, Inc. will hopefully make the volt a reality. GM has been working on its concept car which now will hopefully have the energy necessary to propel the vehicle’s electric motor. GM states that the Volt should be able to go about 40 miles per charge. Some people are concerned that electric cars may tax our electrical grid and use power we need to light our homes. But it seems that there should be alternatives to increase the amount of electricity that we produce using alternative energy sources. Comments welcome. Source . More... Less...