Central Perk

luni, 10 februarie 2014

Damn Cool Pics

Top 10 Deadliest Horror Villains [Infographic]
Staying in a Capsule Hotel in Tokyo
Marius the Giraffe Killed at Copenhagen Zoo

Top 10 Deadliest Horror Villains [Infographic]

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:44 PM PST

Top 10 Deadliest Villains listed by Kill Count. Find out how many kills your favorite scary movie villain has had.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Via buycostumes

Staying in a Capsule Hotel in Tokyo

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:10 PM PST

One guy stayed at a Tokyo capsule hotel for a week. Some Japanese people who lost their jobs live their for months or even years.

Lobby

Look at this inviting and warm lobby. You buy a ticket out of the vending machine on the left to stay the night.

706

After going up an elevator I made it to the 7th floor. The entire floor is basically a hallway with these small square holes stacked 2 high on each side. I was on the bottom.

No real door

I hope no one on my floor snores (spoilers: they did).

Inside

This is from the inside looking at the door. Note the spacious closet and ventilation fan.

Amenities

My legs for scale. The tv took ¥100 coins to watch it but I just assumed it didn't work. And don't be fooled by the window... it was bolted shut.

Marius the Giraffe Killed at Copenhagen Zoo

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:54 PM PST

Sorry for these pictures, but it has to be seen. A Copenhagen zoo in Denmark killed a young giraffe named Marius with a bolt gun and fed its meat to the lions Sunday, saying the animal was "unwanted." Marius was given its favorite meal of rye bread by a keeper – and then shot in the head by a vet. The death of Marius, an 18-month-old giraffe considered useless for breeding because his genes were too common, was followed by his dissection in front of a large crowd, including fascinated-looking children, prompting outrage and protests around the world.

Copenhagen zoo carried out the killing despite a small group of protesters at the gates and an international petition which garnered more than 27,000 signatures, as well as offers from several zoos to rehouse the creature. Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, which offered to take Marius, said it was saddened to learn of his fate. The animal was killed with a bolt gun so that its meat could eaten, which would not have been possible if anaesthetic had been used.

When a storm of protest broke over the news that the giraffe was to be killed – the small gene pool among European zoos meant there was a risk of inbreeding if it was allowed to reproduce – the zoo posted a detailed justification on its website. It explained that as part of an international programme, only unrelated animals were allowed to breed: "When breeding success increases, it is sometimes necessary to euthanise." The zoo also said that giving Marius contraceptives would have had unwanted side-effects and represented poor animal welfare, and that there was no programme for releasing giraffes into the wild.

Here is the Facebook page of the killer zoo

Warning! Graphic images

Photo: Marine One, You're Clear to Land

Featured

Photo: Marine One, You're Clear to Land

President Barack Obama arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One following a trip to East Lansing, Mich., Feb. 7, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nofollow

Posted: 09 Feb 2014 03:15 PM PST

Posted by Rob.Toledo

"Nofollowdation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous marketing plot we have ever had to face."
â€" General Jack D. Ripper, Dr. Strangelove (slightly modified)

This was me a few years ago:

Get a link to my site

Highlight link to my website

Right click > view selection source

"DANGIT!!! Nofollowed!!!"

My dreams completely shattered; how would I ever explain this to my boss? That initial excitement and celebration had now faded, as I sulked deeper and deeper into my chair, disgruntled, believing that all my work had amounted to nothing.

To try and prevent such a travesty from every happening again, I went on a crusade. Before outreaching to a site owner or editor, I would double and triple check their sites to make sure external links weren't nofollowed, and if they were, I would cast the site off, never to be considered again.

But over time I noticed how thinking in such a way created a really interesting and perverse incentiveâ€¦

How many times have you searched "write for us" [insert blog niche] knowing that it greatly increases the odds that you will get a dofollow link? I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with that; plenty of great contacts to be made by doing so. But if you check the "writer guidelines" page for sites that actively are looking for guest authors, you'll likely notice a common theme: "We allow one dofollow link in the author bio."

In this day and age, this should now be setting off an outreach siren (or at least putting up a yield sign). It's certainly time to be critically analyzing where we are getting links to our sites and making proper assessments as to whether or not the value exists.

When I was first starting out, I would salivate over the possibility of any link I could get my hands on, thinking "Wow, the opportunity for a real published DOFOLLOW link, now that's what I'm talking about! Surely my rankings will rule supreme!"

But I learned quickly this was a ridiculous way to think about what we're trying to actually accomplish as online marketers, and I would really encourage folks to start thinking differently about their true objectives.

So what to do?

Eliminating a site from a prospect list just because it nofollows links is focusing far too much on the minimal value one link provides. I would argue that in any online marketing campaign, nofollows not only have a place but should be sought after as part of the overall strategy.

To be clear, I'm not talking about trying to maintain some healthy ratio of link types in a site's profile; I'm talking about actively pursuing nofollows with the intention of gaining the benefits they bring almost entirely unrelated to organic search.

Some examples:

In the first image below, you will see the referral data (or lack thereof) from a placement where the website I wrote for allowed me to link to my website in the author bio section.

You're reading that correctly, in case you're wondering. An article on a decent site sent exactly zero referral traffic to my blog. This isn't uncommon.

I know what you might be thinking. "But Rob, surely the link in and of itself still has value! And isn't that what a good outreacher should be targeting in the first place? The almighty link!"

I agree that links will likely always have their place, but I have started thinking a lot about why search engines value links, and it changed the way I target placements. The reason a link has value is because it is used to cite a source or refer readers to external resources and information. If the readers of a site aren't actually ever clicking this link, then why should search engines give it any value?

I'm not saying we're there yet, but wouldn't doubt it's only a matter of time.

Here's another example, where we gave a blogger a product to review, the links in the article were appropriately nofollowed to adhere to search engine guidelines:

The links in the article sent some fantastic traffic that hung around on the site, visiting multiple pages as well as talking about the product in the comments of the article and on social. In the top-right corner you can see that the blogger ran a giveaway for the product as well, resulting in increased engagement on all of the website's social channels, creating buzz for the product.

In the long term, who would you rather work with? The first example or the second?

These are not unique examples. I have noticed an upward trend where nofollow links can often times present the absolute best and immediate return when proper site metrics are measured.

So what's the takeaway here?

This is going to sound a little funny, so hear me out. You can be a bit reckless with nofollow. Here's why:

You don't have to worry about breaking search engine guidelines, and countless bloggers are happy to take your money or products to promote your brand or service to their audiences (ones that might otherwise have little interest in working with you).

In other words? You can become an advertiser overnight!

To be clear though, I'm not recommending you just go after promoted content type posts; those tend to have little value. Focus on how you can use your contact's influence and audience in a more engaging way, and respectfully "pay to play." The creative possibilites are often endless.

The lines between digital advertising and marketing are continuing to blur, and incorporating a "nofollow strategy" into your marketing efforts can easily prove fruitful when proper analysis is applied. Treating bloggers more like business owners is a far more respectful way to work with their audiences to build brand awareness. And if this two-way partnership continues to grow, there is certainly an opportunity to create an influential brand ambassador, one of the most powerful things we can hope for.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Seth's Blog : Uninformed or ignorant?

Uninformed or ignorant?

Uninformed is a temporary condition, fixed more easily than ever.

Ignorant, on the other hand, is the dangerous situation where someone making a decision is uninformed and either doesn't know or doesn't care about his lack of knowledge.

The internet lets us become informed, if we only are willing to put in the time and the effort. That's new--the ability to easily and confidently look it up, learn about it, process it and publish to see if you got it right.

Alas, the internet also creates an environment where it's possible to feel just fine about being ignorant. It's easier than ever to live in a silo where we are surrounded by others who think it's just great to not know.

"Ignorant" used to be a fairly vague epithet, one that we often misused to describe someone who disagreed with us. Today, because it represents a choice, the intentional act of not-knowing, I think it carries a lot more weight.

The more I think about this, the more I'm aware of just how ignorant I've chosen to be. Not a happy thought, but a useful wake-up call.

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duminică, 9 februarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Shop on Amazon by Taking Pictures of Items with New "Flow" App: Big Deal or Not?

Posted: 09 Feb 2014 06:05 PM PST

See an item in a grocery store or general merchandise store and want to add it to your shopping cart if Amazon has it cheaper? Amazon's new "Flow" app allows you to do just that.

MarketWatch reports You can now shop on Amazon by taking photos.

Amazon's app for iPhone this week added "Flow," an image recognition tool designed to allow consumers to add a product to their shopping cart by merely pointing their phone's camera at it.

Flow—as its name suggests—aims to make it as seamless as possible to shop. MarketWatch carried out its own "showrooming" with the app. Scanning a three-bottle package of the hair growth serum Rogaine, Flow immediately found the item on Amazon for $43.85, 30% cheaper than the $62.99 price in a Duane Reade store. Russell Stover Pecan Delights—a heart-shaped box of chocolates just in time for Valentine's Day—were $8.99 online, $1 cheaper than in Duane Reade. "This trend will take some time to grab hold," says retail analyst Jeff Green, "but it's an ingenious idea."

Flow can scan millions of items, according to Amazon, but it won't work with older iOS versions and it's not yet available on Android. The feature will replace "Snap It" as an image recognition search feature on the Amazon iPhone app (iOS7 and above). iOS5 and iOS6 customers will still be able to use Snap It for visual product recognition. "Scan It"—which just scans bar codes—remains unchanged. However, Amazon pitches Flow as something to use at home—rather than as a price-comparison tool in stores. "In some ways, Flow replaces the kitchen white board or chalk board where most families keep their growing list—only this way you don't accidentally forget the shampoo," the spokeswoman says.

Retail experts are divided over its usefulness. "This strikes me as the lazy man's shopping robot," says Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org. "If you can't even type in the name of the product, give me a break. Most people in a supermarket are not going to take a picture of a Cheerios box, and then leave the store to go to a competitor where it's 20 cents cheaper," he says. And it's not appropriate for big ticket items like TVs, he adds. It's rather gimmicky, according Rick Singer, CEO of GreatApps.com, but he still regards it as a good tool to compare prices at your local store to those on Amazon.

Big Deal or Not?

The CEOs of ConsumerWorld and GreatApps panned the idea. To be sure, few care if they can save a dime on a box of cheerios. But saving nearly $20 on Rogaine is very worthwhile.

Dworsky says it's not appropriate for big ticket items like TVs.

He is not looking far enough ahead. If it isn't appropriate now, it soon will be, perhaps incorporating the barcode features of "Scan-It".

Deflationary Pressures

It's easy to visualize where this technology is headed: An app where you click on a product and all the places where you can buy it turn up, complete with prices, Amazon, or wherever.

The price deflation pressures of such a device are immense. People like bargains, and if they think a store is not offering enough of them, they will shop elsewhere.

That's a big deal. And it will further pressure price margins across the board at all box retailers.

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

French Airline Pilots Call Month Long Strike in May to Protest Law Prohibiting Pilot Strikes

Posted: 09 Feb 2014 10:55 AM PST

The French airline union, SNPL, has called for a month-long strike beginning in May. It's main objective is to repeal the Diard Law which limits the right of airline pilots to strike.

Via translation from Les Echos:

An unprecedented month-long strike is the motto launched today by SNPL, the main union of French airline pilots. SNPL calls for a national strike on May 3 to 30. The union gave a final warning to the government regarding several subjects of discontent, but the main target is the Diard law limiting the right to strike by cabin crew.

The Daird Law, passed in 2012 requires airline personal to individually declare strike intent at least 48 hours before the commencement of a strike. The law allows airlines to arrange for minimum service and avoid a buildup of stranded passengers at airports.

PATCO Solution

The way to deal with this strike is easy. France desperately needs something along the lines of Ronald Reagan's PATCO Play.

The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a United States trade union which operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following a strike which was broken by the Reagan Administration. The 1981 strike and defeat of PATCO has been called "one of the most important events in late twentieth century U.S. labor history.

On August 3, 1981 the union declared a strike, seeking better working conditions, better pay and a 32-hour workweek. In doing so, the union violated a law that banned strikes by government unions.

Ronald Reagan, declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Only 1,300 of the nearly 13,000 controllers returned to work.

On August 5, following the PATCO workers refusal to return to work Reagan fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life (this ban was later rescinded by President Bill Clinton in 1993).

The proper response to any illegal strike in France, the US, or anywhere else, is to fire everyone involved.

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

Seth's Blog : 'Refresh' four weeks later

'Refresh' four weeks later

Remember that controversy you couldn't say close enough to? The one where breaking news, updated comments, emails flying back and forth had you at the edge of your seat?

Now, four weeks later, you're no longer even checking to see what's new.

Is it that the crisis changed or your need for reassurance did?

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luni, 10 februarie 2014

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics

Photo: Marine One, You're Clear to Land

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nofollow