marți, 18 noiembrie 2014

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


How To Spend The Winter Living In A Camper Van

Posted: 18 Nov 2014 02:33 PM PST

These people in Yukon, Canada decided to insulate their camper van with hay and wait out the winter in there.


















50 Nicaraguans Try To Save A Beached Whale

Posted: 18 Nov 2014 12:14 PM PST

This huge 18-meter (59 feet) humpback whale washed ashore Popoyo beach on Friday morning in the city of Tola. 50 local residents got together to try to get the whale back in the ocean but unfortunately it just wasn't enough. 

Nicaragua's southern Pacific coast sees a lot of humpback whales and dolphins at this time of year. The average humpback whale weighs about 79,000 pounds.















via dailymail

Leslie Smith's Ear Explodes At UFC 180

Posted: 18 Nov 2014 11:39 AM PST

Jessica "Evil" Eye hit Leslie Smith in the wrong spot at UFC 180. As you're about to see, her ear has practically fallen right off. Graphic!
















Meanwhile, All Over the World

Posted: 18 Nov 2014 11:12 AM PST

"Meanwhile" photos from all over the world.
















Seth's Blog : "This will blow over"

 

"This will blow over"

Your employees notice when you take action. And when you don't.

When a storm hits your company, the instinct is to wait it out, to seek shelter, to work to set an agenda, not to let the outside world set it for you.

And sometimes this works. But even if the storm passes, your employees remember. They remember the standard you've set and the way things are around here.

Every time we give someone the employee of the month parking space for perfect compliance, or fire someone for creating a culture of disrespect, we send a message.

Action or inaction are both forms of leadership and standard setting.

       

 

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Illustrated Guide to Advanced On-Page Topic Targeting for SEO

Illustrated Guide to Advanced On-Page Topic Targeting for SEO


Illustrated Guide to Advanced On-Page Topic Targeting for SEO

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:30 PM PST

Posted by Cyrus-Shepard

Topic n. A subject or theme of a webpage, section, or site.

Several SEOs have recently written about topic modeling and advanced on-page optimization. A few of note:

The concepts themselves are dizzying: LDA, co-occurrence, and entity salience, to name only a few. The question is "How can I easily incorporate these techniques into my content for higher rankings?"

In fact, you can create optimized pages without understanding complex algorithms. Sites like Wikipedia, IMDB, and Amazon create highly optimized, topic-focused pages almost by default. Utilizing these best practices works exactly the same when you're creating your own content.

The purpose of this post is to provide a simple framework for on-page topic targeting in a way that makes optimizing easy and scalable while producing richer content for your audience.

1. Keywords and relationships

No matter what topic modeling technique you choose, all rely on discovering relationships between words and phrases. As content creators, how we organize words on a page greatly influences how search engines determine the on-page topics.

When we use keywords phrases, search engines hunt for other phrases and concepts that relate to one another. So our first job is to expand our keywords research to incorporate these related phrases and concepts. Contextually rich content includes:

  • Close variants and synonyms: Includes abbreviations, plurals, and phrases that mean the same thing.
  • Primary related keywords: Words and phrases that relate to the main keyword phrase.
  • Secondary related keywords: Words and phrases that relate to the primary related keywords.
  • Entity relationships: Concept that describe the properties and relationships between people, places, and things. 

Keywords and Relationships

A good keyword phrase or entity is one that predicts the presence of other phrases and entities on the page. For example, a page about "The White House" predicts other phrases like "president," "Washington," and "Secret Service." Incorporating these related phrases may help strengthen the topicality of "White House."

2. Position, frequency, and distance

How a page is organized can greatly influence how concepts relate to each other.

Once search engines find your keywords on a page, they need to determine which ones are most important, and which ones actually have the strongest relationships to one another.

Three primary techniques for communicating this include:

  • Position: Keywords placed in important areas like titles, headlines, and higher up in the main body text may carry the most weight.
  • Frequency: Using techniques like TF-IDF, search engines determine important phrases by calculating how often they appear in a document compared to a normal distribution.
  • Distance: Words and phrases that relate to each other are often found close together, or grouped by HTML elements. This means leveraging semantic distance to place related concepts close to one another using paragraphs, lists, and content sectioning.

A great way to organize your on-page content is to employ your primary and secondary related keywords in support of your focus keyword. Each primary related phrase becomes its own subsection, with the secondary related phrases supporting the primary, as illustrated here.

Keyword Position, Frequency and Distance

As an example, the primary keyword phrase of this page is 'On-page Topic Targeting'. Supporting topics include: keywords and relationships, on-page optimization, links, entities, and keyword tools. Each related phrase supports the primary topic, and each becomes its own subsection.

3. Links and supplemental content

Many webmasters overlook the importance of linking as a topic signal.

Several well-known Google search patents and early research papers describe analyzing a page's links as a way to determine topic relevancy. These include both internal links to your own pages and external links to other sites, often with relevant anchor text.

Google's own Quality Rater Guidelines cites the value external references to other sites. It also describes a page's supplemental content, which can includes internal links to other sections of your site, as a valuable resource.

Links and Supplemental Content

If you need an example of how relevant linking can help your SEO, The New York Times famously saw success, and an increase in traffic, when it started linking out to other sites from its topic pages.

Although this guide discusses on-page topic optimization, topical external links with relevant anchor text can greatly influence how search engines determine what a page is about. These external signals often carry more weight than on-page cues, but it almost always works best when on-page and off-page signals are in alignment.

4. Entities and semantic markup

Google extracts entities from your webpage automatically, without any effort on your part. These are people, places and things that have distinct properties and relationships with each other.

• Christopher Nolan (entity, person) stands 5'4" (property, height) and directed Interstellar (entity, movie)

Even though entity extraction happens automatically, it's often essential to mark up your content with Schema for specific supported entities such as business information, reviews, and products. While the ranking benefit of adding Schema isn't 100% clear, structured data has the advantage of enhanced search results.

Entities and Schema

For a solid guide in implementing schema.org markup, see Builtvisible's excellent guide to rich snippets.

5. Crafting the on-page framework

You don't need to be a search genius or spend hours on complex research to produce high quality, topic optimized content. The beauty of this framework is that it can be used by anyone, from librarians to hobby bloggers to small business owners; even when they aren't search engine experts.

A good webpage has much in common with a high quality university paper. This includes:

  1. A strong title that communicates the topic
  2. Introductory opening that lays out what the page is about
  3. Content organized into thematic subsections
  4. Exploration of multiple aspects of the topic and answers related questions
  5. Provision of additional resources and external citations

Your webpage doesn't need to be academic, stuffy, or boring. Some of the most interesting pages on the Internet employ these same techniques while remaining dynamic and entertaining.

Keep in mind that 'best practices' don't apply to every situation, and as Rand Fishkin says "There's no such thing as 'perfectly optimized' or 'perfect on-page SEO.'" Pulling everything together looks something like this:

On-page Topic Targeting for SEO

This graphic is highly inspired by Rand Fishkin's great Visual Guide to Keyword Targeting and On-Page SEO. This guide doesn't replace that canonical resource. Instead, it should be considered a supplement to it.

5 alternative tools for related keyword and entity research

For the search professional, there are dozens of tools available for thematic keyword and entity research. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but contains many useful favorites.

1. Alchemy API

One of the few tools on the market that delivers entity extraction, concept targeting and linked data analysis. This is a great platform for understanding how a modern search engine views your webpage.

2. SEO Review Tools

The SEO Keyword Suggestion Tools was actually designed to return both primary and secondary related keywords, as well as options for synonyms and country targeting. 

3. LSIKeywords.com

The LSIKeyword tool performs Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) on the top pages returned by Google for any given keyword phrase. The tool can go down from time to time, but it's a great one to bookmark.

4. Social Mention

Quick and easy, enter any keyword phrase and then check "Top Keywords" to see what words appear most with your primary phrase across the of the platforms that Social Mention monitors. 

5. Google Trends

Google trends is a powerful related research tool, if you know how to use it. The secret is downloading your results to a CSV (under settings) to get a list up to 50 related keywords per search term.

What are your best tips for creating semantically rich, topic focused content? Let us know in the comments below.


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Seth's Blog : Of course it's been done before

 

Of course it's been done before

John Koenig calls it vemödalen. The fear that you're doing something that's already been done before, that everything that can be done has been done.

Just about every successful initiative and project starts from a place of replication. The chances of being fundamentally out of the box over the top omg original are close to being zero.

A better question to ask is, "have you ever done this before?" Or perhaps, "are the people you are seeking to serve going to be bored by this?"

Originality is local. The internet destroys, at some level, the idea of local, so sure, if we look hard enough we'll find that turn of a phrase or that unique concept or that app, somewhere else.

But no one is asking you to be original. We're asking you to be generous and brave and to matter. We're asking you to step up and take responsibility for the work you do, and to add more value than a mere cut and paste. Give credit, definitely, but reject vemödalen.

Sure, it's been done before. But not by you. And not for us. 

       

 

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luni, 17 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Grubergate: Obama Caught Lying About Obamacare at G20 Summit, Kerry Provides the Proof

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:34 PM PST

The "Grubergate" scandal will just not go away.

For the background to this story and a startling video clip, please see my November 11 post, Obamacare Architect Explains "Stupidity of American Voter" Needed to Pass ACA.

Video clip shown below.



At the recent G20 conference, a reporter asked Obama to explain his role, what he knew, and the role of Jonathan Gruber. When the heat is on, politicians do what they do best: lie.

Here's proof, in a second video clip published on November 16.



Please play the first and second video. They are short and easy to understand.

Gruber commented twice (at least) on the "stupidity of the American voter". Now Gruber calls his statements "speakos", verbal typos.

Anyone believe that? Anyone believe Obama?

Regardless, it's too late. Obamacare passed and now (like it or not) we are stuck with it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

"Mystery of the Unexpected" Explained; Japan Slides Into Recession Yet Again; Blue Ribbon Panel in Review

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 01:04 PM PST

With two consecutive quarters of contracting Gross Domestic Product, Japan is officially back in recession. GDP shrank 1.6% annualized.

Unadjusted for price changes, the Japanese economy contracted an annualized 3 percent, the Cabinet Office said.

None of this was "expected". We will explore "why" in a moment. First consider some headlines.

Bloomberg: Japan Unexpectedly Enters Recession as Abe Weighs Tax.

Wall Street Journal: Japan Falls Into Recession. GDP Declines 1.6%, Setting Stage for Delay in [Another] Sales-Tax Increase.

Time: Japan Sinks Into Recession (Again).

Time Reports ...

An unexpected contraction in quarterly GDP shows that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's radical economic program is badly broken. GDP in the quarter ended September shrank by an annualized 1.6% — far, far worse than the consensus forecasts. That followed a disastrous 7.3% contraction in the previous quarter. Speculation in Japan is that the bad results will push Abe to call a snap election only two years after taking office.

Financial Times: Sales Tax Tips Japan Back Into Recession

Financial Times Reports ...
Japan is poised for a snap election after its economy tipped into a technical recession, increasing the odds that prime minister Shinzo Abe will delay plans to raise the country's sales tax next year and appeal for a fresh mandate.

Monday's preliminary data for the period between July and September was far worse than markets expected, showing the economy shrank 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter on an annualised basis. Analysts had expected growth of 2.2 per cent.

The dip is a blow for "Abenomics", the most ambitious attempt to revive Japan's economy since it fell into stagnation two decades ago.
Expectation vs. Reality

  1. Expectation: Last quarter's huge plunge was a one-time affair.
  2. Expectation: 2.2% growth this quarter.

Instead, Japan's economy shrank 1.6% and last quarter was revised lower from negative 7.1% to negative 7.3%.

Blue Ribbon Panel in Review

Flashback August 31, 2013: Japan Seeks to Hike Taxes then Waste Money on Stimulus to Make Up for Decline in Spending.

My comment: "When you cherry pick a panel, and the panel has a pre-determined outcome, the answer always comes out the way you expect. Thus Abe's blue ribbon panel concluded tax hikes won't hurt. And for good measure, if by some chance they do, the panel suggested wasting those tax dollars on stimulus. Good grief!"

Flashback April 30, 2014: Japan Output and New Orders Decline at Fastest Pace Since 2012; Abenomics in Review

My Comment: "Abenomics said Japanese stimulus efforts would offset tax hikes. I disagreed. Although one month is not proof, Markit reports Japanese Output and New Orders Decline For First Time in 14 Months Following Tax Hike."

Flashback September 8, 2014: Japanese Economy Contracts Bigger than Expected 7.1% in 2nd Quarter; Really Bad Theories

My Comment: "By now it should be pretty clear that Abenomics is a complete failure. Abenomics did not spur lending, investment, hiring, or wage growth. It's one touted 'success' is that prices have gone up. And for cash-strapped consumers facing higher taxes, that alleged "success" is actually a disaster."

In September, I also commented on "really bad theories".
Really Bad Theories

"Theoretically, there should be no impact from the consumption tax increase on corporate spending or long-term corporate planning, but a large number of Japanese corporations seemed to see a large impact from the hike on final demand," said Junko Nishioka, an economist at RBS Japan Securities in Tokyo.

Good grief. Nishioka has theories, but they are as sound as a home foundation in a swamp. Here's an easy to understand explanation.

Eight Point Explanation

  1. Japan's sales tax increased from 5% to 8%.
  2. Wages did not go up.
  3. Consumers have 3% less money to spend.
  4. Consumers with less money, spend less.
  5. Businesses faced with a slowdown in consumer spending reduce future plans.
  6. Abe plans to hike the sales tax again and businesses know that as well.
  7. Business sentiment sours.
  8. Japanese demographics are such that businesses already have substantial worries.

What is it about those eight points that economist Nishioka fails to understand?
Mystery Explained

Why all of this is so "unexpected" is an apparent mystery. Sales tax hikes do not spur the economy, no matter how much of it government wastes. And it should not take a genius or an 8-point synopsis to figure that out.

So why was this news so "unexpected" in nearly every quarter? I have two answers.

  1. Economists are the most optimistic lot on the planet. They believe what they want to believe.
  2. The average economist also believes in Monetarist and Keynesian fairy tales.

Japan is living proof of the absolute stupidity of Abenomics (a combination of Keynesian and Monetarist stupidity), yet academia, let by economist Paul Krugman concludes "Japan did not do enough".

Apparently, debt to the tune of 250% of GDP fighting deflation was not enough. 500% would not have been enough either, for obvious reasons.

But don't expect any Keynesian or Monetarist clowns to admit that. They will never stop believing in fairy tales.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

"Debt Trap" Nonsense; Eurosceptics on Rise; Demise of the EU: "Soon There Won't be a Europe" Says Telegraph

Posted: 17 Nov 2014 11:08 AM PST

Eurozone Breakup Coming

Telegraph writer Jeremy Warner moans Soon, There Won't be a Europe to be Part Of.

"It's not a question of in or out, but of whether Britain can avoid the flames of destruction," says Warner.

On that I certainly agree. In general, Warner has the "what's happening" part correct has but his synopsis of what to do about things is exactly the same tried-and-failed Keynesian and monetarist clatrap the Telegraph always sponsors.

Warner's nonsense culminates with "It is an economic truth pretty much universally acknowledged that you cannot deflate your way out of a debt trap, yet it seems entirely lost on the eurozone high command."

Europe is really attempting deflate? Really? In what alternate universe?

Debt Trap Nonsense

The entire notion there is such a thing as a "debt trap" is a Keynesian-sponsored fallacy.

The facts of the matter are simple:

  1. Central bank Monetarists in conjunction with Keynesian fiscal fools created the "debt problem" with absurd inflationary policies.
  2.  
  3. Now that debt-bubbles have burst, Jeremy Warner, like his Telegraph counterpart, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and multitudes of writers and academics, expect the same polices that created the debt problem to cure it!

Attempts to inflate out of alleged "debt traps" are nothing more than absurd can-kicking exercises that defy common sense. Japan is real-life proof.

Rise of the Eurosceptics  

Let's leave the "why" and the "what to do about things" aside and instead focus on Warner's perception of what is happening right now on the eurosceptic front.
Across the continent, traditional centrist politics are in a state of meltdown. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Spain, where a radical Left party that didn't even exist 10 months ago is now topping the polls. Ill-judged attempts by the Rajoy government to use the crisis as a means of strengthening Madrid's grip on the country have meanwhile reignited Spain's centuries old centrifugal forces. It's not just the Catalans who threaten to break away.

What goes for Spain is just a proxy for Europe as a whole, where attempts to impose fiscal discipline from the centre have resulted only in growing public alienation and anger. In France, the polls are led by an anti-European crypto-fascist with a Left-wing agenda that makes even the disastrous François Hollande look moderate.

In Italy, the only viable alternative to the beleaguered Matteo Renzi is a professional comedian, Beppe Grillo, with no apparent policies at all, or few that make any sense. Even in Germany, the protest vote is fast gaining momentum. As with Ukip, Alternativ für Deutschland has taken off like a rocket since it widened its appeal from the single purpose of bringing back the beloved Deutschmark to an anti-immigrant, law and order, agenda.
Brainwashing Messages and Fake Tories

In the Telegraph comment section, "Richard N" offers this accurate assessment of what Warner wrote.
To say Grillo's party doesn't have any policies is just stupid: he is expending most of his time and energy - very noisily - on getting a referendum on Italy leaving the euro.

He says that Italy's desperate financial straights are due in large part to being in the euro. That is a policy - and an eminently sensible one for Italy.

As for Le Pen being a crypto-fascist - that's an equally stupid thing to say. She is a left-wing nationalist - it's that simple.

You guys at the Telegraph do the same thing as the fake eurosceptic MPs in the Tory party - mouth the eurosceptic stuff - but inject the EU's brainwashing messages in between the lines, to attack those new political parties which threaten the power of the incompetent, power-hungry goons running the EU.
Keynesian and Monetarist Silliness

Actually, its not just brainwashing efforts by the EU, but also by central banks, politicians who want more taxes and more spending, academics like Paul Krugman, and monetarists such as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Harvard professor Greg Mankiw.


Status Quo is Dead

Aside from the ad hominum and personal attacks, Warner has the eurosceptic trend correct. His conclusion is also accurate:

"The European Union is failing. Whether we are in or out scarcely seems to matter any more. In imagining it does, many of our leading businesses and politicians are woefully behind the curve. Something will eventually emerge from the wreckage. But whatever it is, it won't be the status quo."

Indeed. Something will emerge from the inevitable wreckage, and it will not be the status quo.

On one hand, that's encouraging. However, I must warn: never underestimate the propensity of central bankers and politicians to make matters worse, with Keynesian and Monetarist fools cheering every step of the way.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com