50 Famous Faces on Google Plus

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Stacey

famous people on google plus

Google is determined to make a success of Google Plus. With increased integration of the platform into search engine results and businesses and celebrities beginning to get behind it, you’d be hard pressed to bet against it. In fact, just last week, Google announced that Plus has more than 90 million registered users with 60% logging in daily and 80% weekly.

Not bad for just 7 months!

Of course, it has a long way to go before it catches up with Facebook (800 million) and Twitter (300 million but approx. 120 million active users). But it is the fastest growing social networking platform to day. I love it, personally. You’ll find me on Google Plus here. But more interestingly, here are 50 famous people you’ll also find on G+ with personal accounts or pages.

50 Celebs on Google Plus

Just in case you want to get all these folks in your Circles in one quick click, I’ve created a Circle and shared it. You can find that here.

10. Soulja Boy

11. Sean Kingston

12. Kim Kardashian

13. David Cameron (boo)

14. Lewis Hamilton

15. Andy Murray

16. Snoop Dogg

17. Ed Sheeran

18. Cristiano Ronaldo

19. Sergio Ramos

20. Alicia Keys

21. Selena Gomez

22. 50 Cent

23. Mike Tyson

24. Pitbull

25. Richard Branson

26. Erin Andrews

27. Usher

28. Enrique Iglesias

29. T-Pain

30. Mark Cuban

31. Floyd Mayweather

32. Justin Timberlake

33. Dalai Lama

34. Shakira

35. Alyssa Milano

36. Jeri Ryan

37. David Guetta

38. Kelly Rowland

39. Adam Sandler

40. Hugh Jackman

41. Mariah Carey

42. Lance Armstrong

43. Dolly Parton

44. Charlie Brooker

45. Mark Wahlberg

46. LeBron James

47. Nick Cannon

48. Taylor Swift

49. Paul Oakenfold

50. Dwight Howard

Feel free to leave any others in the comments!

Posted in Google+ | Leave a comment

Why SOPA is a Steaming Pile of Shit

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Stacey

sopa

I’m not in the USA, so not immediately affected by the widely reported SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). However, as someone who believes the biggest strength of the Internet is the freedom of information, I’m disgusted that such a move could even be a remote consideration in a 21^st Century and supposedly democratic, developed nation.

Warning: Rant commences here.

What is SOPA?

Aside from being a steaming pile of dog shit, you mean? SOPA stands for ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ and is a proposed bill that claims its intention is to crackdown on online copyright infringement. The USA has historically struggled to clamp down on non-US websites promoting the sharing of pirated digital content. Pirate Bay is a prime example. SOPA is, so they claim, the solution.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) protects copyright already to a limited degree. This is how that would work:

Random Youtube user uploads a copyrighted video
Copyright holders issuer a ‘takedown notice’ to Youtube
Youtube informs the user, in a timely fashion, and the user can appeal… or (as is more frequently the case) just not bother
Youtube is in no trouble whatsoever because they responded on time
Should the user disagree, it could potentially go to court. Though this is relatively rare on a site of the scale of Youtube.

The problem with the DMCA? Websites outside of the USA can just completely ignore them and it’s pretty difficult for anyone to do much about it.

SOPA is being touted as the solution (I would be inclined to agree if ‘solution’ were synonymous with ‘steaming pile of dog shit’). This makes the site hosting the content (for example, Youtube in the above example) more accountable for the content. It would also mean that:

US Search engines like Google.com would not be allowed to link to (thus return them as results for a query) any ‘flagged’ sites.

US Payment services such as Paypal wouldn’t be permitted to process payments to such sites.

ISPs would potentially have to block users from visiting such websites.

So, What’s the Problem?

Well, this is where opinion is divided. Some would say it’s a great solution to a clear problem. Others would concur with me… I refer you once again to the title of this blog post as to what my opinion was.

Here’s my biggest issue with it:

It’s CENSORSHIP. In fact, it’s censorship of the highest order. It’s the type of censorship that takes place in Dictatorships!

Why should Google de-index a website because it’s infringing copyright?

Google shouldn’t be responsible for policing the web! Nor should Youtube, an ISP or Paypal!

Nobody is saying that copyright shouldn’t be protected. But there are better ways to go about it than by making it the job of major search engines and providers to police the web.

Explicitly holding a search engine accountable for removing all the ‘naughty’ websites from its index is a lazy way of trying to solve the issue.

User generated content and the sharing of information freely across the web by millions of different people is what makes the Internet what it is. If Youtube had to manually check every single upload for copyright infringement before upload would it be the size it is? No! Expecting Google and other major sites not to share certain information is like expecting the news channels not to feature stories that aren’t nice! Get a grip!

It’s the responsibility of content creators to respect copyright. Nobody else. And censoring the Internet will not make those intent on copyright infringement any less likely to continue offending. What it will do is to open the door for censorship of the Internet.

What next? The burning of books because we don’t like the content. Hmmm… where’ve we seen that before?

SOPA

Posted in News, Youtube | Leave a comment

5 Footballing Funnies on Youtube

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Stacey

funny football videos youtube

I like football. I also like Youtube. I also like people falling over and funny things on the Internet. All this, of course, adding up to the question: Why the Hell have I not posted a collection of Youtube’s finest football funnies before?

Let me put that right with 5 of the most entertaining football videos that Youtube has to offer.

The Campest Referee Ever

A long time favourite of mine… I only wish we had referring like this in the Premier League. It would certainly brighten up those rainy Saturday nil nil draws.

Zenden’s Awkward Dance

One of my favourite things about the world cup in 2010 (clearly not England’s performance) was watching some of the Ghanaian team celebrate their goals. Forget ripping your shirt off and punching the air… these players celebrate in style with some quality dance moves. Not long after this, Asamoah Gyan scored for Sunderland against Chelsea in the Premier League and shared his moves in celebration.

That wasn’t what was funny… the funny bit was watching Boudewijn Zenden try to dance with him. An awards moment he will probably wish, for the rest of his life, had never happened.

Keiron Dyer and Lee Bowyer’s Fisticuffs

Fisticuffs on the football field isn’t exactly all that rare. But full blown handbags at dawn between two player on the same team is not all that common… Lee Bowyer and Keiron Dyer followed in the footsteps of their Newcastle predecessors Graeme Le Saux and David Batty when they got into it on the footie field.

Fighting isn’t big and it isn’t clever, of course. But watching them go at each other like a pair of teenage girls arguing over a Justin Bieber poster really does amuse me.

Player Forces Opponent to Punch him in the Face!

This really is as weird as the title suggests. No explanation can do this as much justice as the video…

A Beach Ball Scores Against Liverpool

No need to add anything further to this other than… LOL!

Posted in Youtube | Leave a comment

15 Internet Marketing Blogs I Don’t Go a Week Without Reading!

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Stacey

15 Internet Marketing Blogs I Don’t Go a Week Without Reading

I’m a bit of a compulsive blogger – not just in terms of writing on my own blogs but in guest writing on a whole host of others as well and in reading!! I have a ton of blogs on various readers but don’t necessarily get to catch up with them all every single day. My weekends though contain at least an hour dedicated to catching up on 15 in particular that I simply can’t go a week without reading:

SEOMoz

More of a daily read, really, but SEOmoz is essential reading for the SEOs, social media-ers and general internet marketing geeks out there.

SEOMoz Blog – SEOMoz Twitter.

Search Engine People

Again, more of a regular read. This is one I contribute to on occasion. It’s made up of contributions by lots of people working in SEO and various other elements of internet marketing all over the world. The different perspectives make this one a very worthwhile read.

Search Engine People Blog – Search Engine People Twitter.

Google Inside Search

I read this because something is changing all the time in Google. Major changes are announced here.

Google Inside Search Blog

SEO Smarty

A really insightful blog featuring the occasional contributor post as well as the post of SEO blogger extraordinaire, Ann Smarty.

SEO Smarty Blog – SEO Smarty Twitter

Search Engine Journal

Another blog contributed to by many different authors. I always find that useful for obtaining differing perspectives on various elements of search.

Search Engine Journal Blog – Search Engine Journal Twitte

Search Engine Watch

Posts here include a lot on SEO, plenty on social, local and mobile as well. Very varied and updated regularly.

Search Engine Watch Blog – Search Engine Watch Twitter

Tecmark Blog

Ok, ok, being the most frequent conteibutor to this blog, I am perhaps a little biased. But nonetheless, I happen to think it’s rather good

Tecmark Blog – Tecmark Twitter

Search Engine Land

This is another blog that takes the approach of multiple authors on various disciplines within Internet Marketing. A very up to date blog, incredibly quick to respond to updates in search engines and other related news.

Search Engine Land Blog – Search Engine Land Twitter

Dave Naylor

A UK based search blog by multiple users again. Contributors here are never afraid to share their own opinions, which makes for really great reading.

Dave Naylor Blog – Dave Naylor Twitter

Soshable

A very much social media focussed blog, updated incredibly regularly. Always a worthwhile read.

Soshable Blog – Soshable Twitter.

The Viral Garden

Unfortunately, this is only updated around once a month now. So although I check every week, there aren’t as many updates as I might like. Nonetheless, one to watch.

The Viral Garden Blog – The Viral Garden Twitter

The Social Media Examiner

As you might have guessed from its name, this is very much focussed on social. Frequent updates and great content. These guys frequently use case studies in highlighting examples of what they write about too.

The Social Media Examiner Blog – Social Media Examiner Twitter.

Problogger

Probably the best known blog on blogging and certainly one of the very first. There are frequent guest contributions and all manner of topics are covered, from social to search all geared towards driving traffic to your site and keeping it there to conversion.

Problogger Blog – Problogger Twitter.

Top Rank Blog

A largely SEO focussed blog that covers topical areas of search. Lots of resource posts on here and again a multiple author approach.

Top Rank Blog – Top Rank Blog Twitter

Peter Handley’s Blog

A more recent discovery via the wonder that is Twitter. Pete is a UK based search marketer. It was updated this week after a few months of blogging silence – come on, Pete! Give us more updates!

Peter Handley’s Blog – Peter Handley’s Twitter

I’ve undoubtedly missed a whole host of awesome internet marketing blogs here so feel free to leave them in the comments!

Posted in Blogging | Leave a comment

Destruction is Good – And Other Lessons Learnt from iPhone Gaming

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Stacey

I am addicted to my iPhone. Having been an iPhone user for 2 years now, each time a new model is released, I’m there waiting for it on launch day. Judge me if you like, I don’t care

One of the best things about the latest 4S (other than the awesome camera) is that the improved processor and graphics make gaming an even better experience.

But just in case you now have visions of me wasting hours playing iPhone games and achieving nothing valuable from it, allow me to share with you the very valuable life lessons that I have learnt from iPhone gaming.

Destruction is Great

angry birds destruction

Angry Birds rewards destruction. The more you can smash to smithereens the more points you get. The more points you get, the more chance of achieving the coveted 3 stars. The more levels in which you can achieve 3 stars, the more you can flash your phone around smugly and applaud yourself brashly in the presence of other Angry Bird gamers.

Yes, I am easily amused.

When Someone Threatens to Step on Your Daffodils, You Should Decapitate them with an Axe

axe in face

I love Axe in Face. A very witty and addictive game. And the incredibly important and valuable life lesson I have learnt from this game is that when someone threatens to step on your daffodils, the logical thing to do is to throw an axe at them with a view to decapitating them.

It’s probably a good thing that I don’t actually keep daffodils.

Chopping Fruit is Better with a Machete

fruit ninja

You don’t see tidy little kitchen knives in Fruit Ninja. Oh no. The slicing action you see simply has to be that of powerful fruit killing machine of a machete slicing through pineapples and making it look easy!

I did suggest to my boyfriend that he might want me to chop the fruit for a smoothie this morning. I gave him my best fruit ninja impression as well, before he patted me on the shoulder and suggested I should just sit down.

Somehow, I can’t imagine anyone will be buying me a machete soon.

See, my iPhone gaming time is valuable. It teaches me lessons I absolutely would have learned any other way!

Posted in iphone | Leave a comment

Google Swaps Swearing for Kittens!

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Stacey

I’m quite a fan of Google’s ‘What do you Love?’ tool. You type in something you love and Google returns results for you from all verticals – images, patents, 3D sculptures and so on.

Here’s an example with puppies (mostly because I love puppies… they’re so cute and fluffy and schnuggly and… anyway, I digress).

what do you love google

Google Swaps Swearing for Kittens

But if what you love is a swear word? What if you genuinely really do love ‘shit?’ Well, Google doesn’t want to show you all the wonderful things on the web about shit. No, no. In fact, Google chooses instead to replace your search for ‘shit’ with one for ‘kittens.’ Because that, of course, is the nearest thing to it?

wdyl google

Oh, and it throws in a rainbow at the top for good measure in a way that almost says, ‘Watch your language now. Have a rainbow and calm down. Ooooh look at the kittens.’

British Swearwords

However, given that my level of personal maturity has not yet exceeded that of your typical 11 year old, I was only too pleased (all in the name of experimentation and awareness of course) to find out if any slip through the filters. Some do indeed slip through. For example this little gem as discovered by my colleague, Dan.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Why Siri Would Make a TERRIBLE Boyfriend!

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Stacey

Here in the UK, Siri comes equipped with a very ‘serious’ sounding British male voice. But despite being well spoken and almost coming across intelligent at times, I can’t help but conclude that Siri would make an appalling boyfriend. Here are three reasons why (aside from the fact that Siri is not a real man, of course):

Siri is Not Funny!

I like funny guys. My other half, Micky, is quite witty on the odd occasion and I have a not-so-secret crush on Peter Kay! So I was disappointed to find that my new male companion, Siri, is about as funny as toothache on a hangover.

Siri is Secretive

When men avoid answering what should be simple questions, it means one of two things: they have a job that involves murdering people and you cannot possibly know about it or they’re married and do not want you to ever know about it! I think Siri is a secret assassin and, well, I can’t be bothered getting involved with someone who is involved in something so complex.

Siri is Cold and Unloving

It took me 24 hours to tell Siri I loved him. I told him all sorts of personal things about myself. He asked me who my Mother was and I answered honestly. He knows where I live, what I do, who I call, who I text…. Yet when I express any emotion to him, he’s cold, indifferent and unloving.

And he doesn’t get why I think he’s an arsehole.

Posted in iphone | 2 Comments

5 Ways Big Brands Irritate me on Twitter

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Stacey

Thanks to @ecomsam, @mmhemani, @jellyfishagency, @j6_design and @seosherlock for your input when I asked on Twitter yesterday ‘What’s the one thing a big brand could do on Twitter to make you UNFOLLOW them?’

I really embrace big brands and organisations using Twitter. I think it’s an incredibly effective way for them to enable their clients to get advice and assistance and to build relationships with their clients or potential clients.

But, unfortunately, not every brand gets it right.

I follow many well known brands on Twitter but there are certain things that some of them do that make me unfollow them instantly. Here are 5 ways in which big brands irritate me on Twitter.

Following Nobody

I don’t expect everyone I follow to follow me back in much the same way that I don’t follow back everyone who follows me. But I get frustrated with brands who follow nobody. And the reason is that social media is, in my opinion, about listening as well as speaking. If a brand follows absolutely nobody, that’s a clear indication that they’re not there to listen and they’re only there to talk!

Over Self-Promotion

Of course Twitter is a great way to make people aware of new products or services, updates or anything of that nature. But if a brand is Tweeting several times a day and it’s only ever self promotion, rather than any engagement, then I’ll unfollow.

Never Tweeting

What’s the point in having a Twitter account if you never, ever update it? Answer: there isn’t one. Don’t bother!

Ignoring Questions or Comments

This is just ‘#plainrude’ to quote @ecomsam (still want to get that hashtag trending!). I understand some company’s reluctance to deal with customer service requests by Twitter, but there’s no excuse for not responding to questions even just to refer the user to the right place to ask these questions (a customer service link or number). Failing to respond to comments and questions that need a response really, really irks me

Auto-Tweeting Only

If all they’re doing is automatically Tweeting blog updates or stuff like that, I’m just not interested. I think automatically feeding relevant website updates to Twitter is great – but ‘manual’ updates are necessary too. That’s again part of the listening and speaking. Social media shouldn’t be entirely automated. It defeats the object!!

Over to You!

What do big brands do on Twitter that gets on your nerves?

Posted in Twitter | Tagged brands, social media, twitter | Leave a comment

Visually Infographics

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Stacey

I LOVE visual.ly. If you’re as obsessed with infographics as I am at the moment (dear, God, I do a good job of portraying myself as someone who never gets out… I do though, honest), then you’ll love the site.

Here’s my Twitter infographic I generated on the site. I’m quite offended that it thinks I’m less than 20% interesting. Wonder if this is in any way related to my self-confessed infographic obsession

Posted in Random Thoughts, Twitter, visually | 3 Comments

Twitter Spammers Make me Want to Gauge Out my Eyes with Teaspoons

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Stacey

I like Twitter. That’s for a few reasons really – networking, finding out news about the Digital Marketing Industry (ok, ok, I’m a geek) and, I confess, finding out what certain celebrities are up to.

But I do not like spammers. No sooner does something become popular than a host of people set on ruining it for the rest of the world turn up plastering their spammy links offering cheap prescription anti depressants, viagra or adult services all over the place. And it seems they are no longer content at just posting these links on their own Twitter profiles. Oh no. Now they’re @ mentioning everyone who mentions certain keywords. Unfortunately those keywords aren’t just restricted to words that you might prefer to avoid anyway. Example…. ‘iPhone,’ is now a word where, every single time I mention it, I am quickly offered ‘free iPhone 4s’ by people calling me ‘sexy.’ The same people are posting shortened URLs (that I no longer ever click on) that I am sure probably go to a site that would make my browser declare that I am in imminent danger and should leave immediately.

Let me give you an example. Tonight I posted a complaint (for a change) about websites that look like crap on my iPhone. It was literally just a minute before I had a response:

So apparently the scantily clad Karlyn thinks I’m sexy – so sexy in fact that she wants me to have a free iPhone 4.

I have two issues with this.

1 – I already have an iPhone and am about as likely to click on that link as I am to go on holiday to Libya this week.

2 – I can’t help but think the scantily clad Karlyn might not be who (s)he wants people to think (s)he is.

And just in case I was remotely at risk of thinking I was special and that Karl(yn) really did think I was sexy and wanted me to have a free iPhone 4, I double checked his/her Twitter page.

Sniffle. It seems I am not the only one.

No. I’m not the only one. In fact, neither is her boyfriend. She’s quite proud of the fact that she has a different one in every country. How many countries are there again? That seems like a lot of boyfriends.

Anyway, this is one of a dozen or so of this type of @ mention this week. Of course, you ca spot them a mile off so you do just ignore them. But I have push notifications on my iPhone for mentions on Twitter and it’s very disappointing to hear my little iPhone telling me I have notifications and then discovering they’re spam.

Don’t these people have something (ANYTHING) better to do?!

/rant over.

Posted in Twitter | Leave a comment