Hi all,
OK, this is a digest update because I haven’t been blogging for a while.

First off, this blog is now running of Wordpress 2.5.0. A review coming up in a few days.

Second, I’m right now attending MMSC, Manipal. Its a New Media conference, and I’m here to catch the finer points of my favourite field. Also to publicise Blogathon India.

Third, BarCampBangalore6 is coming up, and planning on attending it. Need to rush from Manipal back to Bangalore for that.

Fourth, something huge (hopefully) is going to happen in the Indian blogosphere - Blogathon India. Check out the website, and please participate

Will try to live blog for these events. But meanwhile, check my twitter : http://twitter.com/neogarfield

Peace!

Hi all!

I’m posting a wonderful video on blogging made by Vineet, for a Pune Indibloggers meet. The video throws a lot of light into the beliefs of a blogger, why a blogger blogs, his/her emotions, and so on… I hope dear friends, that you’ll enjoy it…

I Blog, Therefore I Am. I Am the Blog. - video powered by Metacafe

Cheers Vinni!

Technorati Tags: i am the blog, i blog therefore i am, blogging, video, blogger, identity

(image copyright Facebook SuperWall App)

Hello dear reader!

I wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year 2008!

Mohan

Technorati Tags: new year

Hi all,
    Alexa (www.alexa.com) is a search engine, website directory and rankings website powered by Amazon Inc. It was started in 1996 and it received favourable response, and held its state as one of the most used search engines, globally.

    But, in the last few years, Google grew to be the behemoth it is now. Google’s technology, power, speed and accuracy overshadowed all others. It put prominent search engines like MSN and Yahoo into developing mode. But Alexa, had neither the resources or the brains or the patience. So they simply shifted their focus, and tried to cash in on the next best thing. Ranking websites and providing stats, while being notoriously profit based.

    Controversy after controversy follows Alexa. But today, their rankings are used by advertisers and many others to define the quality of the website, fully knowing that Alexa is incorrect, and baseless.

    There aren’t many articles on the internet which provide you information on Alexa, and how to influence Alexa rankings. A few existing articles are notoriously incorrect, and is based on profit making, rather than service providing.

    Thus, I decided to feature a 3 post series on Alexa. Christened “The Alexa Code”, this 3 part series will help you to understand what is Alexa, why Alexa is incorrect and baseless, and methods to improve your Alexa rank in legal as well as twisted( ) methods.

    The articles will deal with the following topics(links will be added when the articles are published) -

1) What is Alexa? What are Alexa rankings? What are the rankings based on?
2) Why is Alexa biased, incorrect and baseless? But then why is it used? How will it help me?
3) How can I improve Alexa rankings? Alexa plays dirty, so can I play dirty with Alexa? What are the “twisted” means to improve Alexa rankings?

    You can expect these articles in the days to follow. By the time you’ve read all three articles, I expect you to be competent in Alexa technology, their rankings system, why they’re baseless, and how to efficiently “tweak” and manipulate the Alexa rankings.

    So watch out for PART I of the 3 part series… Coming soon…

Technorati Tags: alexa, rankings, the alexa code, improving alexa ranking

Hi all,
    I was looking through my site stats yet again today(after a period of 2 days)… As usual, the Blogging India stats were between 650-750 visitors daily (a bit low since I hadnt posted for a couple of days). But the BlogForPeace stats which were usually at 900-1000 daily had spiked up to 3200!!! AND I hadnt posted for a while too!

    What was going on? It took me just a second to visit my “Referrers” page, and found a Czech blog was linking to Blog For Peace. I’m not fretting. It was a PR7 blog with an Alexa of 465… Why was such a high profile blog linking to me? I decided to check it out…

    I had to work hard to drown a groan! They had done an article about a leaked Harry Potter book(weeks after I’d said that the leak was false, and that it was a fan fiction), and they had read the article on Blogging India about the “leaked” version.

    If you remember, I had posted the file on the hosting account for BlogForPeace, and so the Czechies thought that it was actually posted on BlogForPeace, ignorant of the fact that I was the author of both the blogs, and that I had posted it on my other account since it was fatter with lots more bandwidth available.

    Thus, about 2500 visitors thronged BlogForPeace to see what it was all about, and spent hours searching for “leaked Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows” on the site search… Poor dudes…

    Apparently, the Czech blog also linked to Dr. Mike’s Steak Dinner blog who also felt a slight pinch -  a rise in visitor count by about 1200. He posted a post about how “Harry Potter was controlling” his blog. Thankfully, his blog was hosted by WordPress, and thus he didn’t have to feel the bandwidth pinch…

    Such incidents make you wonder why a renown blog does such articles without proper research. Dear reader, if you are a blogger, this is a lesson to be learnt. Never do an article without proper research, or else people might start cursing you for nothing…

Technorati Tags: better blogging, harry potter, leaked, wasted bandwidth, stat hike

Technorati Tags: better blogging, harry potter, leaked, wasted bandwidth, stat hike