Money Making Secrets

The company posted an article from Google Fellow and Engineer Amit Singhal on its public policy blog. It stemmed from “a debate” about fairness in search published by the Wall Street Journal. Singhal talks a bit more about Google's secrets and competition: 



"Making our systems 100% transparent would not help users, but it would help the bad guys and spammers who try game the system. When you type "Nigeria" you probably want to learn about the country. You probably don't want to see a bunch of sites from folks offering to send you money . . . if you would only give them your bank account number!"



"We may be the world's most popular search engine, but at the end of the day our competition is literally just one click away. If we messed with results in a way that didn't serve our users' interests, they would and should simply go elsewhere—not just to other search engines like Bing, but to specialized sites like Amazon, eBay or Zillow. People are increasingly experiencing the Web through social networks like Facebook. And mobile and tablet apps are a newer alternative for accessing information."



Singhal also says that Google reveals more about its ranking factors than any other search engine, and offers more tools to webmasters to take advantage. 



Sullivan appears to think the list should be published, without revealing how factors are actually measured, but Schmidt says even the list would reveal too much.

Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today:

Hats off to Ron Conway. Angel investor Ron Conway, whose prolific portfolio has included Google and PayPal, wrote a scathing e-mail to the super angels involved in what's now being referred to as "Angelgate," and, yes, TechCrunch got a hold of it. When Michael Arrington crashed a secret meeting of angels this week and later wrote that they could be conspiring to cap startup valuations, he mentioned that "a couple of the attendees are saying they were extremely uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going." Apparently, a partner at Conway's investment firm, David Lee, was one of them. In the e-mail, Conway calls fellow investors "driven by self serving factors around ego satisfaction and 'making a buck.'" He goes on to basically kick ass and takes names ... or rather, drops names. He writes that some fellow investors' actions are "despicable" and specifically calls David McClure out for blogging about the ordeal and causing "embarrassment" for Silicon Valley. Conway also defends David Lee, saying he was "uncomfortable with both gatherings." Conway drives the point home, writing that he wants to disengage, with all the e-mail recipients. "Lets agree to disagree and not have to even engage in any idle chit chat or discussion of any sort….ever." Wow.

Ciao to unlimited data? Verizon recently announced that it expects to start charging wireless customers on the amount of Internet data they use. Robert Chang, writing for the The Wall Street Journal, notes that "the wireless industry has struggled to balance the increasing demand for data capacity with unlimited plans that limit how much revenue carriers can generate from their subscribers." In other words, corporations like Verizon are having a hard time squeezing pennies from the unlimited monthly data plans. The announcement follows Apple's decision to halt sales of unlimited data plans to new customers, and replace it with two service plans that have monthly caps. Customers who go over their limits are charged. But could Verizon be shooting itself in the foot by reducing smartphone Internet use, which could be potentially tapped for revenue streams itself?

Is Obama's small business program falling on deaf ears? The $30 billion in federal lending the president pledged yesterday was supposed to aid struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to grow and hire new workers. But what if businesses don't want the money? Today the AP reports feedback from a number of small businesses and community bank that show reluctance to participate due to concerns about expansion and heightened scrutiny. "We have taken a strategic decision not to have our primary regulatory, the government, also be a partner in our bank," said William Chase Jr., CEO of Triumph Bank in Memphis. Many businesses have also frozen plans to expand since the recession in 2008, and don't intend to borrow until customers and revenues grow as well. Additional fears arise from the strings attached to TARP funding, when participating banks had to later cut dividends to shareholders and limit compensation. While the government has promised fewer regulations this time around, many still balk at the program's ability to change the rules at any time.

Five myths about Facebook. As The Social Network premieres in New York, and Facebook does damage control in Silicon Valley, David Kilpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World writes in the Washington Post about common misconceptions. Before you get too excited, remember, these are myths, not secrets. Example: "Facebook keeps changing to help sell advertising." Sure, there are tweaks over the use and display of personal data, but it's more about staying nimble than pleasing advertisers, Kilpatrick writes.

Need a job? Just text it. Fast Company reports on Assured Labor, a MIT offspring company that connects low-income job-seekers with employers over mobile SMS. The employment service, created by Harvard and Sloan School of Management students, launched in Mexico this week. Check out what the company's founder and CEO has to say here.

U.S. seeing rising discrimination complaints from Muslim employees. Even before the dispute over the planned construction of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan erupted, more and more Muslim workers were filing religious discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The New York Times reports. "Although Muslims make up less than 2 percent of the United States population," the Times writes, "they accounted for about one-quarter of the 3,386 religious discrimination claims filed with the E.E.O.C. last year." The Times says that Islamic groups expect the 2010 numbers to set a new record. Complaints range from verbal taunts from co-workers like "terrorist" and "Obama," to employers prohibiting Muslim women from wearing head scarves.

The classy way to handle rejection. On his blog, venture capitalist Fred Wilson has some advice for any young company dealing with the anger and frustration of being turned down by investors. Rather than sending an expletive-laced e-mail to the firm that turned you down, Wilson says it is better in the long run to handle the rejection with class. "You need to thank the investor for taking a look," he says. "You need to keep the relationship intact for the next time you want to raise money." Wilson admits that it isn't easy to maintain composure after being told no, but he says, "I always make myself feel better by saying to myself 'this deal is going to be huge and the best revenge will be when they are kicking themselves for saying no.'"

More from Inc. magazine:

Get this delivered to your inbox.

Follow us on Twitter.

Follow us on Tumblr.

Like us on Facebook.

robert shumake

The Hockey <b>News</b>: Fantasy Pool Look Column: Fantasy Pool Look: Late <b>...</b>

Looking to pick up a producer in the late-rounds of your draft? The Dobber has a few suggestions.

Apple TV: Good <b>news</b> and bad - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech

Apple TV: Good news and bad. Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt. October 6, 2010 10:57 AM. "The hobby is a hit!" declares one analyst, but a head-to-head review gives the nod to Roku. Photo: Michael Copeland. "Apple TV is selling out across ...

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: &#39;Transformers 3&#39; is Now &#39;Transformers: The <b>...</b>

He's been talking about filming it for years, but now Kevin Smith is finally able to reveal the first image from his new film,

robert shumake

The Hockey <b>News</b>: Fantasy Pool Look Column: Fantasy Pool Look: Late <b>...</b>

Looking to pick up a producer in the late-rounds of your draft? The Dobber has a few suggestions.

Apple TV: Good <b>news</b> and bad - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech

Apple TV: Good news and bad. Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt. October 6, 2010 10:57 AM. "The hobby is a hit!" declares one analyst, but a head-to-head review gives the nod to Roku. Photo: Michael Copeland. "Apple TV is selling out across ...

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: &#39;Transformers 3&#39; is Now &#39;Transformers: The <b>...</b>

He's been talking about filming it for years, but now Kevin Smith is finally able to reveal the first image from his new film,

robert shumake

The company posted an article from Google Fellow and Engineer Amit Singhal on its public policy blog. It stemmed from “a debate” about fairness in search published by the Wall Street Journal. Singhal talks a bit more about Google's secrets and competition: 



"Making our systems 100% transparent would not help users, but it would help the bad guys and spammers who try game the system. When you type "Nigeria" you probably want to learn about the country. You probably don't want to see a bunch of sites from folks offering to send you money . . . if you would only give them your bank account number!"



"We may be the world's most popular search engine, but at the end of the day our competition is literally just one click away. If we messed with results in a way that didn't serve our users' interests, they would and should simply go elsewhere—not just to other search engines like Bing, but to specialized sites like Amazon, eBay or Zillow. People are increasingly experiencing the Web through social networks like Facebook. And mobile and tablet apps are a newer alternative for accessing information."



Singhal also says that Google reveals more about its ranking factors than any other search engine, and offers more tools to webmasters to take advantage. 



Sullivan appears to think the list should be published, without revealing how factors are actually measured, but Schmidt says even the list would reveal too much.

Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today:

Hats off to Ron Conway. Angel investor Ron Conway, whose prolific portfolio has included Google and PayPal, wrote a scathing e-mail to the super angels involved in what's now being referred to as "Angelgate," and, yes, TechCrunch got a hold of it. When Michael Arrington crashed a secret meeting of angels this week and later wrote that they could be conspiring to cap startup valuations, he mentioned that "a couple of the attendees are saying they were extremely uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going." Apparently, a partner at Conway's investment firm, David Lee, was one of them. In the e-mail, Conway calls fellow investors "driven by self serving factors around ego satisfaction and 'making a buck.'" He goes on to basically kick ass and takes names ... or rather, drops names. He writes that some fellow investors' actions are "despicable" and specifically calls David McClure out for blogging about the ordeal and causing "embarrassment" for Silicon Valley. Conway also defends David Lee, saying he was "uncomfortable with both gatherings." Conway drives the point home, writing that he wants to disengage, with all the e-mail recipients. "Lets agree to disagree and not have to even engage in any idle chit chat or discussion of any sort….ever." Wow.

Ciao to unlimited data? Verizon recently announced that it expects to start charging wireless customers on the amount of Internet data they use. Robert Chang, writing for the The Wall Street Journal, notes that "the wireless industry has struggled to balance the increasing demand for data capacity with unlimited plans that limit how much revenue carriers can generate from their subscribers." In other words, corporations like Verizon are having a hard time squeezing pennies from the unlimited monthly data plans. The announcement follows Apple's decision to halt sales of unlimited data plans to new customers, and replace it with two service plans that have monthly caps. Customers who go over their limits are charged. But could Verizon be shooting itself in the foot by reducing smartphone Internet use, which could be potentially tapped for revenue streams itself?

Is Obama's small business program falling on deaf ears? The $30 billion in federal lending the president pledged yesterday was supposed to aid struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to grow and hire new workers. But what if businesses don't want the money? Today the AP reports feedback from a number of small businesses and community bank that show reluctance to participate due to concerns about expansion and heightened scrutiny. "We have taken a strategic decision not to have our primary regulatory, the government, also be a partner in our bank," said William Chase Jr., CEO of Triumph Bank in Memphis. Many businesses have also frozen plans to expand since the recession in 2008, and don't intend to borrow until customers and revenues grow as well. Additional fears arise from the strings attached to TARP funding, when participating banks had to later cut dividends to shareholders and limit compensation. While the government has promised fewer regulations this time around, many still balk at the program's ability to change the rules at any time.

Five myths about Facebook. As The Social Network premieres in New York, and Facebook does damage control in Silicon Valley, David Kilpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World writes in the Washington Post about common misconceptions. Before you get too excited, remember, these are myths, not secrets. Example: "Facebook keeps changing to help sell advertising." Sure, there are tweaks over the use and display of personal data, but it's more about staying nimble than pleasing advertisers, Kilpatrick writes.

Need a job? Just text it. Fast Company reports on Assured Labor, a MIT offspring company that connects low-income job-seekers with employers over mobile SMS. The employment service, created by Harvard and Sloan School of Management students, launched in Mexico this week. Check out what the company's founder and CEO has to say here.

U.S. seeing rising discrimination complaints from Muslim employees. Even before the dispute over the planned construction of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan erupted, more and more Muslim workers were filing religious discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The New York Times reports. "Although Muslims make up less than 2 percent of the United States population," the Times writes, "they accounted for about one-quarter of the 3,386 religious discrimination claims filed with the E.E.O.C. last year." The Times says that Islamic groups expect the 2010 numbers to set a new record. Complaints range from verbal taunts from co-workers like "terrorist" and "Obama," to employers prohibiting Muslim women from wearing head scarves.

The classy way to handle rejection. On his blog, venture capitalist Fred Wilson has some advice for any young company dealing with the anger and frustration of being turned down by investors. Rather than sending an expletive-laced e-mail to the firm that turned you down, Wilson says it is better in the long run to handle the rejection with class. "You need to thank the investor for taking a look," he says. "You need to keep the relationship intact for the next time you want to raise money." Wilson admits that it isn't easy to maintain composure after being told no, but he says, "I always make myself feel better by saying to myself 'this deal is going to be huge and the best revenge will be when they are kicking themselves for saying no.'"

More from Inc. magazine:

Get this delivered to your inbox.

Follow us on Twitter.

Follow us on Tumblr.

Like us on Facebook.

robert shumake

The Hockey <b>News</b>: Fantasy Pool Look Column: Fantasy Pool Look: Late <b>...</b>

Looking to pick up a producer in the late-rounds of your draft? The Dobber has a few suggestions.

Apple TV: Good <b>news</b> and bad - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech

Apple TV: Good news and bad. Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt. October 6, 2010 10:57 AM. "The hobby is a hit!" declares one analyst, but a head-to-head review gives the nod to Roku. Photo: Michael Copeland. "Apple TV is selling out across ...

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: &#39;Transformers 3&#39; is Now &#39;Transformers: The <b>...</b>

He's been talking about filming it for years, but now Kevin Smith is finally able to reveal the first image from his new film,

foreclosure search

Folks, check this out!

 

 

http://www.usagold.com/goldtrail/archives/another1.html

ANOTHER ( THOUGHTS! ) ID#60253:

All: I ask you, why did the world go off the gold standard in the early 70s? You have an answer, yes? For all the problems this created, could the countries not just revalue gold upward, to say $300 ( back then ) ? What was the real reason the world entered a period of "freely traded" "managed gold"? "

This question has more impact on the gold market of today than it did then! In days past, it was held as good knowledge that the US stopped gold backing to protect the dollar and keep gold from leaving to other shores.

But, in the same time frame, all central banks did sell gold to all persons, even the US. All treasuries held gold and dollars as reserves. To what end did the world financial system gain with the dollar off gold backing, and then allowed to "dirty float" against all currencies? Would the world not have been better off to find gold revalued to, say $300 and then begin a "dirty float"? Noone would have lost, and the inflation would have , at best, not have been worse!

Truly, I tell the reason for this action. The US oil companies knew that the cheap reserves were found. The governments knew this also. The only low cost oil reserves in the world at this time were in the Middle East, and their cost to find and produce was very low. It was known, that, in time, ALL oil would come from this land. As much higher US dollar prices were needed to allow exploration and production of other reserves, worldwide. But, how to get crude prices, up, when the Gulf States were OK to pump and produce in exchange for "gold backed dollars"? I will not name the gentlemen that brought this thinking to the surface in that era, but it was discussed. It was known that oil liked gold. It was known that "local oil" would be used up without higher prices. What if, the US dollar was taken off the gold standard, and gold was managed "upward" to say, $208 per ounce? The dynamics of the market would force oil to rise and allow for much needed capital to search for the higher priced oil that was known to exist! The producers would find shelter in gold even as the price of oil was increased in terms of a now "non gold dollar"! Price inflation would rise, but gold and oil would also increase. The dollar would continue to be used as the only payment for oil, and in doing so replace gold as the backing for this "reserve currency". All would be fair.

The war in 1973 and the Iran problem did make markets "overshoot", but all did work to the correct end. The result was "a needed higher price for a commodity that was, as reserves, in much over supply by the wrong countries"! It was known that the public would never have accepted this "proposition" as fair. To this end, we have come.

-->

• 
  If you don't want to understand the different
  by Tbone
  




• 
  Nice read until I got to the cyrillic font??????? nt
  by pilgrim
  




• 
  NRA protects gunowners
  by expatuae
  




• 
  Class Act
  by reaganiterepublicanresistance
  




• 
  Why?
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Gotta say, love the O'Donnell witch ad
  by tngal
  




• 
  Athieists Are Very Theological
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Me Neither
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Just a thought
  by jeanms
  




• 
  Some thoughtful connections here
  by civil_truth
  




• 
  PPP did a poll of this district for Kos too
  by scarlos
  




• 
  Scary
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  If they get a bailout they are just Pravda
  by Beaglescout
  




• 
  Well, I'd say Uncle Charlie needs more minding...
  by acat
  




• 
  Kudos to Doug Hoffman
  by rdelbov
  




• 
  Reading posts like yours makes me wish...
  by Ron Robinson
  




• 
  I agree, but...
  by IronDioPriest
  




• 
  If the annual deficit were to go to $0the interest rate spike that you mention would likely be avoided
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  Inteligent response...not.
  by rasvar
  




• 
  What is the status of Miller/Murkowski?
  by fbks
  




• 
  Profound words, Repairman, profound.
  by penguin2
  




• 
  Several others who would do well by following your lead Mr. Hoffman.
  by tngal
  




• 
  Depends on you define "savings"
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  Umm, maybe because they're a lobbying group, and therefore are partisans, of a sort?
  by acat
  




• 
  Doug Hoffman is a patriot
  by karenmartin
  




• 
  It's a Brave New World out there...
  by harling
  




• 
  Neil, I think of it more like...
  by RedBeard
  




• 
  So you are against paying down the debt
  by Death_of_the_Donkey
  




• 
  She also opposed the make-my-day-better law.
  by NightTwister
  




• 
  Remember
  by banzaibob
  




• 
  Well Done, Sir!
  by chipbennett
  




• 
  No surplusses are surplusses
  by Neil Stevens
  




• 
  Nature Naturally Abhors Cities
  by wolfgang
  




• 
  We know where the bridges and viaducts are...
  by acat
  




• 
  Surplusses are fiction until
  by Death_of_the_Donkey
  




• 
  He was a Dem before he became a Repub
  by AnnaD
  




• 
  Of course, scotch is something good :) nt
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  No we can't all agree on that
  by Neil Stevens
  




• 
  His head's still in the barf bag
  by peg_c
  




• 
  Agree on Imam Obama sans TOTUS (idiot board)
  by peg_c
  

robert shumake

Why diversity turns into conformity in online <b>news</b>: An interview <b>...</b>

If you talk to any of the number of young academics who occasionally contribute to the Lab, it's likely the name Pablo Boczkowski will come up sooner rather.

The Best Tweets About Twitter&#39;s CEO <b>News</b>

But the masses have been tweeting up a storm about Twitter's CEO news. By far the best tweet is the one that Dick Costolo himself sent a year ago, foreshadowing the news -- likely unknowingly -- when he first became COO. ...

Exclusive: I have some big <b>news</b>... | Ausiello | EW.com

You may need a hug after you read this. Or I may need one. Sources confirm to me exclusively that… I just made pretty much the most difficult decision of my ...

robert shumake

Why diversity turns into conformity in online <b>news</b>: An interview <b>...</b>

If you talk to any of the number of young academics who occasionally contribute to the Lab, it's likely the name Pablo Boczkowski will come up sooner rather.

The Best Tweets About Twitter&#39;s CEO <b>News</b>

But the masses have been tweeting up a storm about Twitter's CEO news. By far the best tweet is the one that Dick Costolo himself sent a year ago, foreshadowing the news -- likely unknowingly -- when he first became COO. ...

Exclusive: I have some big <b>news</b>... | Ausiello | EW.com

You may need a hug after you read this. Or I may need one. Sources confirm to me exclusively that… I just made pretty much the most difficult decision of my ...

robert shumake

Folks, check this out!

 

 

http://www.usagold.com/goldtrail/archives/another1.html

ANOTHER ( THOUGHTS! ) ID#60253:

All: I ask you, why did the world go off the gold standard in the early 70s? You have an answer, yes? For all the problems this created, could the countries not just revalue gold upward, to say $300 ( back then ) ? What was the real reason the world entered a period of "freely traded" "managed gold"? "

This question has more impact on the gold market of today than it did then! In days past, it was held as good knowledge that the US stopped gold backing to protect the dollar and keep gold from leaving to other shores.

But, in the same time frame, all central banks did sell gold to all persons, even the US. All treasuries held gold and dollars as reserves. To what end did the world financial system gain with the dollar off gold backing, and then allowed to "dirty float" against all currencies? Would the world not have been better off to find gold revalued to, say $300 and then begin a "dirty float"? Noone would have lost, and the inflation would have , at best, not have been worse!

Truly, I tell the reason for this action. The US oil companies knew that the cheap reserves were found. The governments knew this also. The only low cost oil reserves in the world at this time were in the Middle East, and their cost to find and produce was very low. It was known, that, in time, ALL oil would come from this land. As much higher US dollar prices were needed to allow exploration and production of other reserves, worldwide. But, how to get crude prices, up, when the Gulf States were OK to pump and produce in exchange for "gold backed dollars"? I will not name the gentlemen that brought this thinking to the surface in that era, but it was discussed. It was known that oil liked gold. It was known that "local oil" would be used up without higher prices. What if, the US dollar was taken off the gold standard, and gold was managed "upward" to say, $208 per ounce? The dynamics of the market would force oil to rise and allow for much needed capital to search for the higher priced oil that was known to exist! The producers would find shelter in gold even as the price of oil was increased in terms of a now "non gold dollar"! Price inflation would rise, but gold and oil would also increase. The dollar would continue to be used as the only payment for oil, and in doing so replace gold as the backing for this "reserve currency". All would be fair.

The war in 1973 and the Iran problem did make markets "overshoot", but all did work to the correct end. The result was "a needed higher price for a commodity that was, as reserves, in much over supply by the wrong countries"! It was known that the public would never have accepted this "proposition" as fair. To this end, we have come.

-->

• 
  If you don't want to understand the different
  by Tbone
  




• 
  Nice read until I got to the cyrillic font??????? nt
  by pilgrim
  




• 
  NRA protects gunowners
  by expatuae
  




• 
  Class Act
  by reaganiterepublicanresistance
  




• 
  Why?
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Gotta say, love the O'Donnell witch ad
  by tngal
  




• 
  Athieists Are Very Theological
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Me Neither
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  Just a thought
  by jeanms
  




• 
  Some thoughtful connections here
  by civil_truth
  




• 
  PPP did a poll of this district for Kos too
  by scarlos
  




• 
  Scary
  by Repair_Man_Jack
  




• 
  If they get a bailout they are just Pravda
  by Beaglescout
  




• 
  Well, I'd say Uncle Charlie needs more minding...
  by acat
  




• 
  Kudos to Doug Hoffman
  by rdelbov
  




• 
  Reading posts like yours makes me wish...
  by Ron Robinson
  




• 
  I agree, but...
  by IronDioPriest
  




• 
  If the annual deficit were to go to $0the interest rate spike that you mention would likely be avoided
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  Inteligent response...not.
  by rasvar
  




• 
  What is the status of Miller/Murkowski?
  by fbks
  




• 
  Profound words, Repairman, profound.
  by penguin2
  




• 
  Several others who would do well by following your lead Mr. Hoffman.
  by tngal
  




• 
  Depends on you define "savings"
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  Umm, maybe because they're a lobbying group, and therefore are partisans, of a sort?
  by acat
  




• 
  Doug Hoffman is a patriot
  by karenmartin
  




• 
  It's a Brave New World out there...
  by harling
  




• 
  Neil, I think of it more like...
  by RedBeard
  




• 
  So you are against paying down the debt
  by Death_of_the_Donkey
  




• 
  She also opposed the make-my-day-better law.
  by NightTwister
  




• 
  Remember
  by banzaibob
  




• 
  Well Done, Sir!
  by chipbennett
  




• 
  No surplusses are surplusses
  by Neil Stevens
  




• 
  Nature Naturally Abhors Cities
  by wolfgang
  




• 
  We know where the bridges and viaducts are...
  by acat
  




• 
  Surplusses are fiction until
  by Death_of_the_Donkey
  




• 
  He was a Dem before he became a Repub
  by AnnaD
  




• 
  Of course, scotch is something good :) nt
  by JSobieski
  




• 
  No we can't all agree on that
  by Neil Stevens
  




• 
  His head's still in the barf bag
  by peg_c
  




• 
  Agree on Imam Obama sans TOTUS (idiot board)
  by peg_c
  

Making Money

• 
  

  
  Minecraft is Making a Lot of Money
  

  
  
  
  130 Comments
  
  | Sep 28, 2010 7:30pm CST
  

  
  Minecraft, that indie-game that people are making computers in, is making a lot of money for creator Markus "notch" Persson and his three co-workers. ...

  
  



• 
  

  
  Minecraft Currently Free-to-Play, Fan-Made Trailer is Awesome
  

  
  
  
  58 Comments
  
  | Sep 20, 2010 5:40pm CST
  

  
  [Update 6PM]: Due to load problems with the Minecraft servers, the game's developer is currently unable to process new account registrations or verify...

  
  



• 
  

  
  Minecraft Team Expands, Accepting Job Applications
  

  
  
  
  27 Comments
  
  | Sep 15, 2010 6:20pm CST
  

  
  
  
  Minecraft, the innovative indie game of collaborative creation (or destruction), has doubled its development team... from one to two. Well, maybe ...

  
  

Yet Another Study Shows Musicians Making More Money

from the well,-look-at-that dept

We've made the argument repeatedly that saying unauthorized file sharing is hurting the music business lacks evidence. Instead, what we've seen, over and over again, is that more money is pouring into the music business, more music is being produced and (most importantly) that more musicians who embrace this new world are doing better than they would have otherwise. Now, we've pointed to research in the UK, Sweden and the US that have all shown aggregate growth for the music business, with some of the numbers suggesting more money going directly to musicians, rather than gatekeepers.



The latest study, highlighted by TorrentFreak takes a similar look at the Norwegian music market to show very similar findings and (of course) that musicians are, indeed, benefiting:



Like the UK and Swedish studies, this study, covering Norway, found that the aggregate amount going to the industry is up slightly (4% in real terms), mostly thanks to live shows more than making up for the decline in music sales (it's important to note that these researchers appear to have modeled their research on both the UK and Swedish studies, and made only slight changes, which they explain (and justify) in the report. The key finding is that musicians appear to be making significantly more these days than in the past:

Total artist revenues have gone from NOK 208 million in 1999 to NOK 545 million in 2009, which is an increase of about 162%. Excluding state subsidization, the income from 1999 to 2009 has increased with NOK 229 million, or 147%....



According to this, Norwegian artists have seen an increase in all four of their income sources during the past eleven years. This goes contrary to the common belief that artists have seen a decline in income because of the digitalization of the industry.



The loss of record sales because of consequences of the digitalization of the industry has not affected the Norwegian artists in the same brutal way as it has the record companies. Artists earn in general 20% or less from record sales, and a decrease in record sales would most likely be compensated by an increase in one or more of the other three income sources.

Now, it's worth pointing out -- as I learned when I attended Nordic Music Week last year -- that the Norwegian music industry is heavily subsidized by the government, which is one of the four revenue streams discussed above. However, that only represents about 30% of artist revenue in 2009. The largest single component -- again similar to what we've seen elsewhere -- is live revenue, which continues to grow. Even if you exclude state subsidies, the report found that Norwegian artists doubled their income in the past 11 years:

Adjusted for inflation, total artist revenue has gone from NOK 255 million in 1999 to NOK 545 million in 2009, an increase of about NOK 290 million or 114%. Excluding state subsidizations, the increase has changed from NOK 192 million to NOK 386 million, which is an increase of NOK 194 million or 101% This goes to show that the artists themselves, as a group, have seen tremendous more growth than the industry as a whole.

And, yes, there are more musicians out there to split the pie, but the growth rate in the industry has increased more quickly than the growth in musicians.

Since the total number of artists in 1999 and 2009 are available to the authors, it is possible to calculate an average income from music for artists in Norway. With 3200 artists in 1999 the average income from music would be about NOK 65 000. With 4100 artists in 2009 the average income from music is about NOK 133 000, creating an increase of NOK 68 000 or 105%. Adjusted for inflation the income has increased with from about NOK 80 000 to NOK 133 000, an increase of NOK 53 000, an increase of 66%.

Overall, the results, like those in Sweden and the UK, seem to clearly debunk the repeated claims from recording industry folks (and some musicians) that artists are somehow suffering under this new setup. Now, there may absolutely be cases where artists who fail to adapt are struggling, and there's no doubt that some labels that failed to adapt are struggling -- but there's increasingly little evidence that the overall music industry or artists as a whole are suffering. All of the evidence seems to suggest that it's not file sharing that's a problem at all. More money is going into the music business. The only problems are from those in the industry too stubborn or too clueless to adapt to capture the money that's flowing in.

27 Comments | Leave a Comment..

Monday Morning Breakfast &amp; Baseball: Roster <b>News</b> - Twinkie Town

Here's what's making news in Twinkie Town on Monday, October 4.

Midterm election results could mean bad <b>news</b> for climate change <b>...</b>

Dem-originated energy legislation, including cap and trade, may be on life support under a GOP House majority.

This Week&#39;s Health Industry <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

Decisions on several major drug treatments are expected.

eric seiger eric seiger

• 
  

  
  Minecraft is Making a Lot of Money
  

  
  
  
  130 Comments
  
  | Sep 28, 2010 7:30pm CST
  

  
  Minecraft, that indie-game that people are making computers in, is making a lot of money for creator Markus "notch" Persson and his three co-workers. ...

  
  



• 
  

  
  Minecraft Currently Free-to-Play, Fan-Made Trailer is Awesome
  

  
  
  
  58 Comments
  
  | Sep 20, 2010 5:40pm CST
  

  
  [Update 6PM]: Due to load problems with the Minecraft servers, the game's developer is currently unable to process new account registrations or verify...

  
  



• 
  

  
  Minecraft Team Expands, Accepting Job Applications
  

  
  
  
  27 Comments
  
  | Sep 15, 2010 6:20pm CST
  

  
  
  
  Minecraft, the innovative indie game of collaborative creation (or destruction), has doubled its development team... from one to two. Well, maybe ...

  
  

Yet Another Study Shows Musicians Making More Money

from the well,-look-at-that dept

We've made the argument repeatedly that saying unauthorized file sharing is hurting the music business lacks evidence. Instead, what we've seen, over and over again, is that more money is pouring into the music business, more music is being produced and (most importantly) that more musicians who embrace this new world are doing better than they would have otherwise. Now, we've pointed to research in the UK, Sweden and the US that have all shown aggregate growth for the music business, with some of the numbers suggesting more money going directly to musicians, rather than gatekeepers.



The latest study, highlighted by TorrentFreak takes a similar look at the Norwegian music market to show very similar findings and (of course) that musicians are, indeed, benefiting:



Like the UK and Swedish studies, this study, covering Norway, found that the aggregate amount going to the industry is up slightly (4% in real terms), mostly thanks to live shows more than making up for the decline in music sales (it's important to note that these researchers appear to have modeled their research on both the UK and Swedish studies, and made only slight changes, which they explain (and justify) in the report. The key finding is that musicians appear to be making significantly more these days than in the past:

Total artist revenues have gone from NOK 208 million in 1999 to NOK 545 million in 2009, which is an increase of about 162%. Excluding state subsidization, the income from 1999 to 2009 has increased with NOK 229 million, or 147%....



According to this, Norwegian artists have seen an increase in all four of their income sources during the past eleven years. This goes contrary to the common belief that artists have seen a decline in income because of the digitalization of the industry.



The loss of record sales because of consequences of the digitalization of the industry has not affected the Norwegian artists in the same brutal way as it has the record companies. Artists earn in general 20% or less from record sales, and a decrease in record sales would most likely be compensated by an increase in one or more of the other three income sources.

Now, it's worth pointing out -- as I learned when I attended Nordic Music Week last year -- that the Norwegian music industry is heavily subsidized by the government, which is one of the four revenue streams discussed above. However, that only represents about 30% of artist revenue in 2009. The largest single component -- again similar to what we've seen elsewhere -- is live revenue, which continues to grow. Even if you exclude state subsidies, the report found that Norwegian artists doubled their income in the past 11 years:

Adjusted for inflation, total artist revenue has gone from NOK 255 million in 1999 to NOK 545 million in 2009, an increase of about NOK 290 million or 114%. Excluding state subsidizations, the increase has changed from NOK 192 million to NOK 386 million, which is an increase of NOK 194 million or 101% This goes to show that the artists themselves, as a group, have seen tremendous more growth than the industry as a whole.

And, yes, there are more musicians out there to split the pie, but the growth rate in the industry has increased more quickly than the growth in musicians.

Since the total number of artists in 1999 and 2009 are available to the authors, it is possible to calculate an average income from music for artists in Norway. With 3200 artists in 1999 the average income from music would be about NOK 65 000. With 4100 artists in 2009 the average income from music is about NOK 133 000, creating an increase of NOK 68 000 or 105%. Adjusted for inflation the income has increased with from about NOK 80 000 to NOK 133 000, an increase of NOK 53 000, an increase of 66%.

Overall, the results, like those in Sweden and the UK, seem to clearly debunk the repeated claims from recording industry folks (and some musicians) that artists are somehow suffering under this new setup. Now, there may absolutely be cases where artists who fail to adapt are struggling, and there's no doubt that some labels that failed to adapt are struggling -- but there's increasingly little evidence that the overall music industry or artists as a whole are suffering. All of the evidence seems to suggest that it's not file sharing that's a problem at all. More money is going into the music business. The only problems are from those in the industry too stubborn or too clueless to adapt to capture the money that's flowing in.

27 Comments | Leave a Comment..

Monday Morning Breakfast &amp; Baseball: Roster <b>News</b> - Twinkie Town

Here's what's making news in Twinkie Town on Monday, October 4.

Midterm election results could mean bad <b>news</b> for climate change <b>...</b>

Dem-originated energy legislation, including cap and trade, may be on life support under a GOP House majority.

This Week&#39;s Health Industry <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

Decisions on several major drug treatments are expected.

eric seiger eric seiger

foreclosure agents

If you want a nice 8-minute primer into how the foreclosure fraud crisis works, here’s a video from Rep. Alan Grayson, complete with four real-world examples. He talks about a man who was foreclosed on when he didn’t have a mortgage and paid cash for the home; a home that had two foreclosure suits against it because both servicers claimed ownership of the title; a couple foreclosed on over a contested $75 late fee; and a story that sounded a lot like the ones from my HAMP series, only in the end the servicer used forged documents to claim ownership of the title.

Grayson takes us back to the very beginning of this crisis, during the housing bubble, where runaway mortgage sales and poor record-keeping led to confusion over title ownership on the part of the servicers. “The banks simply digitized mortgage titles into a privatized system, called the Mortgage Electronic Registry System (or MERS). And it did the transfers by trading Excel spreadsheets among the banks and trusts, rather than endorsing the notes as required by their own contracts, by state real estate law and by IRS rules.”

This was basically the original sin. Users of the MERS system did not make the proper procedures to own the notes, and according to Grayson, in 45 of the 50 states, they lack the legal right to foreclose. “Servicers are basically guessing that they have the right to foreclose when they do foreclose,” he says. This led to the foreclosure mills and the robo-signers and all the fraudulent activities and forgeries that we have seen.

This fraud really is catching up with the servicers. The New York Times reports today that the system has seized up, which they plausibly see as a positive:

What's not to like about the Summer of Recovery? Like, dude, the recession ended eons ago.

By an 8 point margin, independents who voted for Obama oppose his tax hikes

The [Center for Data Analysis] found that the Obama tax hikes would:

• Destroy an average of 693,000 jobs every year through 2020.

• Drain $726 billion from disposable income, $38 billion from personal savings, and $33 billion from business investments.

• Raise taxes on the 55% of all joint filers earning more than $250,000 who run small businesses that employ others.

• Cost the average non-farm small-business owner $3,500 more in taxes.

• Cost the 49% of all seniors with income below $250,000 $525 in additional dividend taxes.

• Cost the 25% all seniors with income below $250,000 $742 in higher taxes.

Now that's the kind of change you can feel in your nether regions!

Certainly, America's business leaders are feeling more comfortable with the Obama administration as...

Insider Selling Outpaces Buying By Over 290-To-1 In Past Week

...for the week ended September 17, corporate insiders bought $1.4MM in shares in a whopping 7 different companies. This was just marginally offset by sales of $441MM in 98 different companies, a ratio of 290 to 1 of stock notional sold to bought. But wait: this is GREAT NEWS: last week the ratio was 650 to 1! So this is a huge improvement and certainly yet another reason for today's rally... for those wondering just who is orchestrating today's move higher, please let us know if you find out.

And last but not least:

It would appear that certain foreclosures by major, major institutions may have been fraudulent... and, thus, invalid, which could really, really screw things up

Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage unit told brokers and agents to halt evictions tied to foreclosures on homeowners in 23 states including Florida, Connecticut and New York...

...At least one (and perhaps more) "inside officers" in various law firms filed thousands (and maybe tens of thousands) of affidavits they did not read and thus could not have attested to.

...This practice appears to not be limited to one law firm. In fact, it may be basically the entire "foreclosure industry" that was involved in this.

...This is likely to derail many foreclosures - at least from a standpoint of time. It may also void some of them and force them to be re-litigated. This will have a SEVERE impact on loss severities - at minimum....

...If the time has passed to be able to make reasonable corrections to these so-called "ministerial errors" (and it probably has) then the impact on MBS holders who happen to have the "hot potato" in non-agency securitizations could be catastrophic...

In plain English, some reports indicate that thousands of foreclosures could have been performed without the appropriate documentation. Which could make them, ehm, invalid.

Which would make some of the investment vehicles derived thereof (like mortgage-backed securities or MBS), ehm, difficult to value.

SELL!!!!!!!!!

The WORCESTER PARK Blog, Surrey ¦: Sky <b>News</b>

"I came out of my front door this morning to see a VERY low flying BA jet passing over Trent Way - just seen on the news that it had to make an emergency landing after just 10 minutes. Never seen one that low even though we're used to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Last Look: Style <b>News</b> You Might Have Missed (PHOTOS, POLL)

Welcome to the Last Look, where we round up the Style scraps that didn't make it to our news page this week. Click through and catch up on what else happened since Monday!

bench craft company rip off
bench craft company rip off

The WORCESTER PARK Blog, Surrey ¦: Sky <b>News</b>

"I came out of my front door this morning to see a VERY low flying BA jet passing over Trent Way - just seen on the news that it had to make an emergency landing after just 10 minutes. Never seen one that low even though we're used to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Last Look: Style <b>News</b> You Might Have Missed (PHOTOS, POLL)

Welcome to the Last Look, where we round up the Style scraps that didn't make it to our news page this week. Click through and catch up on what else happened since Monday!

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

If you want a nice 8-minute primer into how the foreclosure fraud crisis works, here’s a video from Rep. Alan Grayson, complete with four real-world examples. He talks about a man who was foreclosed on when he didn’t have a mortgage and paid cash for the home; a home that had two foreclosure suits against it because both servicers claimed ownership of the title; a couple foreclosed on over a contested $75 late fee; and a story that sounded a lot like the ones from my HAMP series, only in the end the servicer used forged documents to claim ownership of the title.

Grayson takes us back to the very beginning of this crisis, during the housing bubble, where runaway mortgage sales and poor record-keeping led to confusion over title ownership on the part of the servicers. “The banks simply digitized mortgage titles into a privatized system, called the Mortgage Electronic Registry System (or MERS). And it did the transfers by trading Excel spreadsheets among the banks and trusts, rather than endorsing the notes as required by their own contracts, by state real estate law and by IRS rules.”

This was basically the original sin. Users of the MERS system did not make the proper procedures to own the notes, and according to Grayson, in 45 of the 50 states, they lack the legal right to foreclose. “Servicers are basically guessing that they have the right to foreclose when they do foreclose,” he says. This led to the foreclosure mills and the robo-signers and all the fraudulent activities and forgeries that we have seen.

This fraud really is catching up with the servicers. The New York Times reports today that the system has seized up, which they plausibly see as a positive:

What's not to like about the Summer of Recovery? Like, dude, the recession ended eons ago.

By an 8 point margin, independents who voted for Obama oppose his tax hikes

The [Center for Data Analysis] found that the Obama tax hikes would:

• Destroy an average of 693,000 jobs every year through 2020.

• Drain $726 billion from disposable income, $38 billion from personal savings, and $33 billion from business investments.

• Raise taxes on the 55% of all joint filers earning more than $250,000 who run small businesses that employ others.

• Cost the average non-farm small-business owner $3,500 more in taxes.

• Cost the 49% of all seniors with income below $250,000 $525 in additional dividend taxes.

• Cost the 25% all seniors with income below $250,000 $742 in higher taxes.

Now that's the kind of change you can feel in your nether regions!

Certainly, America's business leaders are feeling more comfortable with the Obama administration as...

Insider Selling Outpaces Buying By Over 290-To-1 In Past Week

...for the week ended September 17, corporate insiders bought $1.4MM in shares in a whopping 7 different companies. This was just marginally offset by sales of $441MM in 98 different companies, a ratio of 290 to 1 of stock notional sold to bought. But wait: this is GREAT NEWS: last week the ratio was 650 to 1! So this is a huge improvement and certainly yet another reason for today's rally... for those wondering just who is orchestrating today's move higher, please let us know if you find out.

And last but not least:

It would appear that certain foreclosures by major, major institutions may have been fraudulent... and, thus, invalid, which could really, really screw things up

Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage unit told brokers and agents to halt evictions tied to foreclosures on homeowners in 23 states including Florida, Connecticut and New York...

...At least one (and perhaps more) "inside officers" in various law firms filed thousands (and maybe tens of thousands) of affidavits they did not read and thus could not have attested to.

...This practice appears to not be limited to one law firm. In fact, it may be basically the entire "foreclosure industry" that was involved in this.

...This is likely to derail many foreclosures - at least from a standpoint of time. It may also void some of them and force them to be re-litigated. This will have a SEVERE impact on loss severities - at minimum....

...If the time has passed to be able to make reasonable corrections to these so-called "ministerial errors" (and it probably has) then the impact on MBS holders who happen to have the "hot potato" in non-agency securitizations could be catastrophic...

In plain English, some reports indicate that thousands of foreclosures could have been performed without the appropriate documentation. Which could make them, ehm, invalid.

Which would make some of the investment vehicles derived thereof (like mortgage-backed securities or MBS), ehm, difficult to value.

SELL!!!!!!!!!



bench craft company rip off

The WORCESTER PARK Blog, Surrey ¦: Sky <b>News</b>

"I came out of my front door this morning to see a VERY low flying BA jet passing over Trent Way - just seen on the news that it had to make an emergency landing after just 10 minutes. Never seen one that low even though we're used to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Last Look: Style <b>News</b> You Might Have Missed (PHOTOS, POLL)

Welcome to the Last Look, where we round up the Style scraps that didn't make it to our news page this week. Click through and catch up on what else happened since Monday!

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

The WORCESTER PARK Blog, Surrey ¦: Sky <b>News</b>

"I came out of my front door this morning to see a VERY low flying BA jet passing over Trent Way - just seen on the news that it had to make an emergency landing after just 10 minutes. Never seen one that low even though we're used to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Last Look: Style <b>News</b> You Might Have Missed (PHOTOS, POLL)

Welcome to the Last Look, where we round up the Style scraps that didn't make it to our news page this week. Click through and catch up on what else happened since Monday!

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

The WORCESTER PARK Blog, Surrey ¦: Sky <b>News</b>

"I came out of my front door this morning to see a VERY low flying BA jet passing over Trent Way - just seen on the news that it had to make an emergency landing after just 10 minutes. Never seen one that low even though we're used to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Last Look: Style <b>News</b> You Might Have Missed (PHOTOS, POLL)

Welcome to the Last Look, where we round up the Style scraps that didn't make it to our news page this week. Click through and catch up on what else happened since Monday!

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

internet marketing

Your awkward family photos already make for hilarious comedic relief on the popular blog Awkward Family Photos. Beginning today, those photos will also score you at least 33.3% off your next family vacay to Orlando and potentially much more, as Virgin America has partnered with the meme blog to promote its upcoming new service to Orlando.

Virgin America is encouraging families to upload their most awkward photos to Awkward Family Photos (AFP) for a chance to win four roundtrip tickets to anywhere the airline flies. Submissions will be accepted via AFP and Virgin America’s Facebook Page through Oct 5, at which time the 20 most uncomfortable finalists will be selected and put to a public vote.

AFP voters will decide on the winner of that prize, but one California entrant will also be handpicked by Virgin America and AFP to win an Orlando family getaway including flights and accommodations. “The winners will be whisked in style from Los Angeles onboard Virgin America’s celebratory flight and greeted on arrival in Orlando at a red carpet welcome party hosted by Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson,” according to the announcement.

The grand prizes are enticing, but even if your family’s awkwardness is not the most awkward of all (perhaps a good sign), you can still get the 33.3% family discount (for parties of three to six people) on a Virgin America Orlando flight. The same discount applies to Awkward Family Photos lookie loos who vote on their favorite submissions.

Prizes aside, the Virgin America Orlando promotion is quite interesting given the airline’s unorthodox choice for a contest partner. Instead of a Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter or class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook-driven campaign, Virgin America is opting to partner with a niche blog for a specialized purpose.

AFP, like many other many meme-oriented blogs and viral sensations, survives by making money through advertising, online stores and book sales. When Internet users vote with their attention, a meme is born. Virgin America appears to see opportunity in affiliating their brand name with an online pop culture phenomena, potentially paving the way for more big brand meme partnerships to come.

At the end of the day, the AFP photo contest is an interesting twist to social advertising and promotion norms that celebrates and supports class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet memes — what an awkwardly appropriate way to launch a new city.

Image courtesy of Awkward Family Photos

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Ten years ago, we identified ourselves online with handles, and anonymity ruled the web. It was not unusual to correspond with “Jetsfan77″ or “HikingGirl_06.” The idea of having all your information attached to your name — your real name — seemed crazy. As we’ve moved away from handles, using our legal monikers has ushered in an era of more authenticity and accountability on the web.

And as distinguishing your identity across the web becomes increasingly important, it has also become increasingly difficult. With almost 30% of the world’s 6.7 billion person population using the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet today, there are bound to be many of them who share the same name.

There are 149 other “Sarah Kesslers” on Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. Twenty-six of us have Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter accounts, 93 of us use MySpaceclass="blippr-nobr">MySpace, and 78 of us are Linkedinclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn. Staking out digital territory across the web, needless to say, has been difficult. And my name isn’t even among the most common.

In a world where almost 80% of hiring managers Googleclass="blippr-nobr">Google job candidates, it’s important to make sure that the people looking you up find you and not someone else with your namesake.

This importance became clear to Pete Kistler when he figured out that he was being turned down for jobs because he shared a name and age bracket with an ex-convict. To help others like him, he started Brand-Yourself, a personal online reputation management service. We caught up with the site’s Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Ambron for his advice on staking out an online identity when there’s competition for your name.

1. Register Available Domain Names

Domain names are important. So important, in fact, that a largely abandoned WordPressclass="blippr-nobr">WordPress blog that uses my name in the title is currently the first search result for my name.

Ambron says that claiming your domain name is the first and most important thing that you can do to make yourself more visible in a Google search. Claim your name on whatever domains are available. Even if you don’t plan to use yourname.co, .info, .net or .mobi, you’ll be preventing other people who share your name from using those domains to compete with you for search result status.

“Google loves the domain name,” Ambron says. “It’s a powerful indication that site is going to be about you.”

2. Mention Yourself on Your Website

It might feel weird to talk about yourself in the third person, but labeling your website’s tabs with your name can give you an advantage in search results.

“This is called keyword density,” Ambron says. “When Google spiders index a site, they look to see how often certain words are used to determine what the site should rank. If your content never mentions your name, how will spiders know it’s about you?”

Even though you might be thinking, “of course it’s [your name]’s bio. Who else’s bio would be on my site?” it’s important to use your full name so that search engines recognize that the site is about you when someone searches for your name.

3. Link to All of Your Content

“ considers each link to your site a vote for the site,” Ambron says. “Google has gotten pretty smart, so where those links come from is very important. The more reputable links are better votes. A vote from CNN is better than some site you made that you just linked to yourself.”

Fortunately, as an individual, there are an abundance of opportunities for you to create links to your site from reputable sources in the form of profiles. A vote from your friend’s website might not count for a lot, but a vote from Facebook will be counted as much more reputable.

Sign up for as many directories and social sites as possible, and make sure to link them all together. One tip that Brand-Yourself advocates is to locate profiles where your name is still available. You can also locate and reserve your name across the web using one of these websites.

“Even if you don’t plan on using all those social sites, and there are plenty of them, it’s good to grab them up,” Ambron says. “It’s good that you’re keeping someone else from using them with your name and contributing to their results.”

4. Create Content and Get Social

“Google loves updated content,” Ambron says. “And the fastest way for an individual to have updated content is to have a social profile that they use.”

One easy way to make sure your blog is always updated, for instance, is to integrate your Twitter account’s RSS feed. Every time you tweet, you’ll update your blog and improve its prominence in search results.

“If you have a blog post that you put on your site, Facebook and Twitter, and five people Like it and share it,” Ambron says, “that’s five credible links from Facebook and from Twitter to your site.“

Do you have a digital doppelganger who has caused confusion in your life? Tell us about it in the comments below.

More Personal Branding Resources from Mashable:

- 7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web/> - 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online/> - 5 Ways to Clean Up Your Social Media Identity/> - HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on YouTube/> - HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, carrollphoto, fitzer

For more Social Media coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Mediaclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Media channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

A Teary Emanuel Gets Dead Fish At White House Send-off - Political <b>...</b>

At the 8:30 staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room this morning, departing chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was given a gift by Council of Economic Advisers chair Austan Goolsbee: a dead Asian carp. Political Punch Blog.

How to be a data journalist | <b>News</b> | guardian.co.uk

Data journalism trainer and writer Paul Bradshaw explains how to get started in data journalism, from getting to the data to visualising it • Guardian data editor Simon Rogers explains how our data journalism…

ScribbleLive plans to reinvent the <b>news</b> article | VentureBeat

Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat in ...

eric seiger do skin and vein center

Your awkward family photos already make for hilarious comedic relief on the popular blog Awkward Family Photos. Beginning today, those photos will also score you at least 33.3% off your next family vacay to Orlando and potentially much more, as Virgin America has partnered with the meme blog to promote its upcoming new service to Orlando.

Virgin America is encouraging families to upload their most awkward photos to Awkward Family Photos (AFP) for a chance to win four roundtrip tickets to anywhere the airline flies. Submissions will be accepted via AFP and Virgin America’s Facebook Page through Oct 5, at which time the 20 most uncomfortable finalists will be selected and put to a public vote.

AFP voters will decide on the winner of that prize, but one California entrant will also be handpicked by Virgin America and AFP to win an Orlando family getaway including flights and accommodations. “The winners will be whisked in style from Los Angeles onboard Virgin America’s celebratory flight and greeted on arrival in Orlando at a red carpet welcome party hosted by Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson,” according to the announcement.

The grand prizes are enticing, but even if your family’s awkwardness is not the most awkward of all (perhaps a good sign), you can still get the 33.3% family discount (for parties of three to six people) on a Virgin America Orlando flight. The same discount applies to Awkward Family Photos lookie loos who vote on their favorite submissions.

Prizes aside, the Virgin America Orlando promotion is quite interesting given the airline’s unorthodox choice for a contest partner. Instead of a Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter or class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook-driven campaign, Virgin America is opting to partner with a niche blog for a specialized purpose.

AFP, like many other many meme-oriented blogs and viral sensations, survives by making money through advertising, online stores and book sales. When Internet users vote with their attention, a meme is born. Virgin America appears to see opportunity in affiliating their brand name with an online pop culture phenomena, potentially paving the way for more big brand meme partnerships to come.

At the end of the day, the AFP photo contest is an interesting twist to social advertising and promotion norms that celebrates and supports class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet memes — what an awkwardly appropriate way to launch a new city.

Image courtesy of Awkward Family Photos

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Ten years ago, we identified ourselves online with handles, and anonymity ruled the web. It was not unusual to correspond with “Jetsfan77″ or “HikingGirl_06.” The idea of having all your information attached to your name — your real name — seemed crazy. As we’ve moved away from handles, using our legal monikers has ushered in an era of more authenticity and accountability on the web.

And as distinguishing your identity across the web becomes increasingly important, it has also become increasingly difficult. With almost 30% of the world’s 6.7 billion person population using the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet today, there are bound to be many of them who share the same name.

There are 149 other “Sarah Kesslers” on Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. Twenty-six of us have Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter accounts, 93 of us use MySpaceclass="blippr-nobr">MySpace, and 78 of us are Linkedinclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn. Staking out digital territory across the web, needless to say, has been difficult. And my name isn’t even among the most common.

In a world where almost 80% of hiring managers Googleclass="blippr-nobr">Google job candidates, it’s important to make sure that the people looking you up find you and not someone else with your namesake.

This importance became clear to Pete Kistler when he figured out that he was being turned down for jobs because he shared a name and age bracket with an ex-convict. To help others like him, he started Brand-Yourself, a personal online reputation management service. We caught up with the site’s Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Ambron for his advice on staking out an online identity when there’s competition for your name.

1. Register Available Domain Names

Domain names are important. So important, in fact, that a largely abandoned WordPressclass="blippr-nobr">WordPress blog that uses my name in the title is currently the first search result for my name.

Ambron says that claiming your domain name is the first and most important thing that you can do to make yourself more visible in a Google search. Claim your name on whatever domains are available. Even if you don’t plan to use yourname.co, .info, .net or .mobi, you’ll be preventing other people who share your name from using those domains to compete with you for search result status.

“Google loves the domain name,” Ambron says. “It’s a powerful indication that site is going to be about you.”

2. Mention Yourself on Your Website

It might feel weird to talk about yourself in the third person, but labeling your website’s tabs with your name can give you an advantage in search results.

“This is called keyword density,” Ambron says. “When Google spiders index a site, they look to see how often certain words are used to determine what the site should rank. If your content never mentions your name, how will spiders know it’s about you?”

Even though you might be thinking, “of course it’s [your name]’s bio. Who else’s bio would be on my site?” it’s important to use your full name so that search engines recognize that the site is about you when someone searches for your name.

3. Link to All of Your Content

“ considers each link to your site a vote for the site,” Ambron says. “Google has gotten pretty smart, so where those links come from is very important. The more reputable links are better votes. A vote from CNN is better than some site you made that you just linked to yourself.”

Fortunately, as an individual, there are an abundance of opportunities for you to create links to your site from reputable sources in the form of profiles. A vote from your friend’s website might not count for a lot, but a vote from Facebook will be counted as much more reputable.

Sign up for as many directories and social sites as possible, and make sure to link them all together. One tip that Brand-Yourself advocates is to locate profiles where your name is still available. You can also locate and reserve your name across the web using one of these websites.

“Even if you don’t plan on using all those social sites, and there are plenty of them, it’s good to grab them up,” Ambron says. “It’s good that you’re keeping someone else from using them with your name and contributing to their results.”

4. Create Content and Get Social

“Google loves updated content,” Ambron says. “And the fastest way for an individual to have updated content is to have a social profile that they use.”

One easy way to make sure your blog is always updated, for instance, is to integrate your Twitter account’s RSS feed. Every time you tweet, you’ll update your blog and improve its prominence in search results.

“If you have a blog post that you put on your site, Facebook and Twitter, and five people Like it and share it,” Ambron says, “that’s five credible links from Facebook and from Twitter to your site.“

Do you have a digital doppelganger who has caused confusion in your life? Tell us about it in the comments below.

More Personal Branding Resources from Mashable:

- 7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web/> - 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online/> - 5 Ways to Clean Up Your Social Media Identity/> - HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on YouTube/> - HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, carrollphoto, fitzer

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