Richard Farrar's Blog

The Internet Monthly is a monthly podcast featuring 20 or so short Internet related articles, tips and tricks and a regular search engine of the month feature.

In this month’s issue you can find out how to nominate your favourite new Web site for the Hollywood Crunchies and learn why this is the perfect time to volunteer your services at Wikipedia.

You can also find out how get your share of land from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and why your plot won’t be in Ambridge or Argleton, but could have excellent broadband services no matter how remote it is, and the best search engine to find your first seeds or start a new green business.

This podcast is derived from a monthly newsletter published by Zen Internet and recorded and produced by Silicon Bay. The podcast is reproduced by kind permission of Zen Internet.

This Month’s Podcast

The Internet Monthly – December 2009:

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Or, download: podcast_dec09.mp3 [19’ 51”, 9.1MB]

This Month’s Articles

This month’s edition of The Internet Monthly podcast contains the following articles. A list of links associated with each article are included for reference:

1. CRUNCH TIME – The Hollywood Crunchies Awards; the technology Oscars 
   • crunchies2009.techcrunch.com
2. GRAND CHRISTMAS FOR WEB SALES – Higher online spending on individual products  
   • www.internetretailing.net/2009/11/25-of-consumers-now-happy-to-spend-1000-or-more-on-a-single-product-online
3. BRITISH MARKETING NETS PROFITS – UK companies successful at online marketing 
   • www.xitimonitor.com/en-us/web-marketing-stakes/campaigns-september-2009/index-1-2-4-178.html?xtor=11
4. BRITISH BING – Microsoft’s Bing optimised for UK searches
   • www.discoverbing.co.uk
   • www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2253135/microsoft-launches-bing-uk 
5. SPREAD YOUR PPC – Don’t spend it all with Google  
   • www.findresolution.com/2009/11/paid-search-not-one-horse-town.html
6. GOOGLE PRODUCT SEARCH – Goggle Commerce Search for online shops 
   • www.google.com/commercesearch
   • www.google.com/commercesearch/gcs_features_video.html 
   • www.betterwalking.com
7. POINT OF SALE BONUS – Goggle checkout boosts search rankings  
   • www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y09/m11/i05/s01 
   • www.auctionbytes.com/cab/cab/abn/y09/m11/i04/s02 
8. GEOCITIES UNPLUGGED – Closing for business after 15 years   
   • resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/comment/0,1000002985,39860596,00.htm 
   • geocities-closing.com 
9. LAST CALL FOR SLOW WEB PAGES – Google to rank faster web pages higher 
   • econsultancy.com/blog/4973-load-time-coming-soon-as-a-google-ranking-factor
10. ACCENTUATING ANCHORS – Jump straight to the point of interest on a web page  
    • www.seobythesea.com/?p=3083
11. JUMPING OFF THE PAGE – Augmented reality with Robert Downey Jr.  
    • www.esquire.com/the-side/augmented-reality
12. WIKIPEDIA WOBBLE – Editors wanted  
    • online.wsj.com/article/SB125893981183759969.html
13. RIVER COTTAGE LANDSHARE – Get your own allotment
    • landshare.channel4.com/how-it-works
14. PHANTOM VILLAGE FOUND ONLINE – Cartographic conundrums   
    • www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6474746/Mystery-of-Argleton-the-Google-town-that-only-exists-online.html
    • maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Argleton&cr=countryUK%7CcountryGB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
    • www.opengeodata.org/2008/04/01/copyright-easter-eggs 
    • www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/wallpaper/index.shtml 
15. HIGHLAND BROADBAND – Rural broadband gets a boost 
    • www.tegola.org.uk 
    •  www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00npwh0
16. CHROME FAILS TO SHINE – Google’s operating system not impressing 
    • www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp 
    • www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/why-chrome-os-will-fail-big-time-287?page=0,1 
    • www.engadget.com/2009/11/19/googles-chrome-os-revealed
17. FIREFOX FUNDING – Competitor is a major investor
    • blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=27670
18. FEEDING GOOGLE – Google using RSS feeds to index new content 
    • googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/10/using-rssatom-feeds-to-discover-new.html
19. GOOGLE ON A ROLL – Soft, smooth and highly absorbent 
    • www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/20/google-toilet-paper-found_n_365433.html
20. DUBLIN SEARCH FINDS EURO CASH – Social networking search offering 
    • www.heystaks.com
21. SEARCH ENGINE OF THE MONTH – Horticultural search 
    • www.ibotanika.com

This podcast is sponsored and reproduced by kind permission of Zen Internet Limited. The music on the podcast was provided courtesy of Will Tang.