An eclectic IT career: Mayo Takeuchi

After winding down from what still feels novel but is actually BAU (business as usual) for me today, I read an article which includes this passage: In testing for the ads, Google mentioned clickthrough rates were significantly higher than the previous 2/3 line sitelinks. One would argue that is hardly surprising givent he[sic] real estate that these new ads take up, and that in itself presents more interesting scenarios to SEO’s[sic] who are already under pressure with many of the changes Google has made to its search results set. Further more[sic] these results bear many similarities to those of the sitelinks already in place within organic search results. More real estate to PPC which this undoubtedly will mean, should mean yet more traction for PPC results, and less visibility on organic results potentially resulting in the following scenario - More advertisers using PPC as organic visibility is being throttled - Competition within both PPC and SEO significantly increasing

Since joining a few weeks back, I've seen quite a few blog posts and articles (such as this one ) crop up about how best to use Pinterest , which I would succinctly describe as a visual social bookmarking service.  It's still in invitation-only mode (if you'd like an invitation, feel free to contact me for one), it allows for users to: Create collections of bookmarks ("boards"). Boards may be assigned a category, which others can then search for and browse through. Boards can be either solely editable by oneself, or contributed to by other users, whom one can specify by name. Boards may be "liked" via Facebook plugin. Add bookmarks as represented by either images and videos, either found anywhere online (publicly accessible), or via upload. At the time of pinning, one can use Facebook and/or Twitter to share out the pin. Comment on any pinned items. "Like" and "re-pin" items. Follow all of or a subset of other users' bo

If you haven't read about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or the Senate version, PIPA, today's blackouts (of prominent sites including Wikipedia) may have surprised you. Courtesy of the Oatmeal , which is also blacked out today, here's an animated graphic that humourously (and effectively) demonstrates why this legislation should be stopped: For a more serious (but concise) look, here's an infographic about SOPA . Finally, from today,  Forbes' interview with Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) about SOPA and why he opposes it.

Thanks to Google+, I first learned about a service called IFTTT ("if this then that").  They provide a very simple interface where the registered user can set up tasks. Each task consists of selecting a channel (such as Craigslist, Delicious, Instagram and many other social utilities), where a trigger event from said channel results in an action on a target channel. For instance, one can set up an email to be sent to one's account when the local forecast calls for snow. Or in my case, I've set up a task that tweets a customized message of thanks when I'm re-tweeted or followed. Possibly the most powerful channel that's available on IFTTT is the "Feed". Any RSS feed URL can be used as a trigger. This means that I can now consider leaving networkedblogs, on which I currently rely to syndicate new blog entry notices to Facebook and Twitter. I'd also like to review all my feed subscriptions, and see what else I'd like to automate. Thinking al

Over the lifetime I've spent living in various Western countries, I've noticed the predilection for media and individuals alike to focus on retrospection around this time of year: that is, reminiscing about the various events and experiences that one associates with the prior year. In direct contrast to this, it's my understanding that  in Japan, it is customary to have 忘年会  which, paired with  the 新年会 (which occurs after the  正月三が日 - first three days in January - timeperiod), encourages the forgetting of the prior year through much carousing and imbibing. This year was particularly unforgettable to those with ties to Japan, however, and I've seen social media statuses speaking to the importance of remembering the disasters that have befallen my cultural homeland. The fallout - both metaphorical and literal (environmental, economic, political, and emotional) - will be palpable for decades, if not centuries, regardless of any desire the world may have to forget. P