Category Archives: technology

Are Alexa site statistics accurate and reliable?

Posted on by

No, in fact, they are a terrible indicator of how good or bad a sites traffic is. I would even go so far as to say they are made up (that how unreliable they are). Just yesterday I had someone tell me they saw my site stats on Alexa. I had to explain how those stats were not real and should be used for nothing…unless of course your goal is to have rank on Alexa. Most of us in the SEO world would laugh at these stats but there are those that are not familiar with the process so I figured I would explain. So here is why (and this is a direct quote from Alexa):

“The traffic data are based on the set of toolbars that use Alexa data, which may not be a representative sample of the global Internet population. To the extent that our sample of users differs from the set of all Internet users, our traffic estimates may over- or under-estimate the actual traffic to any particular site…Generally, traffic rankings of 100,000 and above should be regarded as not reliable. Conversely, the closer a site gets to #1, the more reliable its traffic ranking becomes.” Source

So what does that mean? It means that Alexa can only track websites data from people who are using the Alexa toolbar on their browser. Do you use the toolbar? I know I never have. You have to manually install it, it does not come with your browser and its just bloatware. Alexa reminds me of the app on facebook that tells me who has viewed my profile. That app can only track people who also have the app installed – making it useless because no one installs those apps just like no one installs the Alexa toolbar. So who does install the Alexa toolbar? Internet marketers, that’s who. They install it and then visit their sites many times from different ip addresses which then increases their rank. And in order to track mobile stats users again need to download/install the toolbar.

So is there a way to get accurate website data? Yes, but it involves having access to your own server and installing software on it. That way you are tracking data directly from your server, usually via CGI, not some toolbar that you hope others have on their web browser. One example is AWstats.

Try to a SEO experts… If your business is searching for a proven, boutique and specialist SMG Melbourne Agency small enough to care, and one that represents growth motivated small to medium businesses

Anyway, thats my rant on these types of stats, for more info visit:

Alexa

wikipedia on Alexa

Here is a test of Alexa vs real stats

An article about why these stats are useless

Spotify Review

Posted on by

Here are my thoughts on spotify….

What is spotify?

It is a music service that you can use on your computer, mobile phone, or tablet. There are two main features. One is a radio. The second is a playlist where you choose any song and then you can play that song. The service is free on your computer. The radio service is free on your phone/tablet but you need to pay $10 a month to have access to your playlist and offline listening.

Radio service thoughts.

The radio is fine, but it is just like Pandora. I think Pandora has the market cornered here so I could really care less for this service. If you are looking for an alternative to Pandora then this service is great I guess. And this service is free on all devices, but then again so is pandora.

Playlist service thoughts.

The playlist idea is pretty cool. I like that its free on my PC. I do not like that you have to pay for it on your phone/tablet though, even if you are using wifi. I figured out that if I just bought all the songs I like from like amazon or itunes, I would actually spend less than the $10 a month spotify fee and actually own the mp3s. So why pay the $10? Well I wont. Like myself, I would imagine that most people already have most of their favorite songs on their computer, so that 1 new song I like every few months is not worth paying the spotify fee for.

How do I think spotify could improve and move forward?

The only way spotify is going to survive is if they make that playlist feature free. I personally am probably only going to use spotify on my PC. For phone/tablet radio I already use Pandora. I would switch to spotify if it were free. Essentially spotify would make money from me if they had ads on their free playlist service. Instead I will hardly be using the service. There is just too much competition from similar playlist services like Google and Apple which dominate the mobile market for spotify unless their service becomes free.

Adobe: Web standards match 80 percent of Flash features

Posted on by

Not very informative but interesting nonetheless: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57464545-93/adobe-web-standards-match-80-percent-of-flash-features/

Essentially this is nothing new. HTML5 can do a lot of what Flash does but that 20% is big, because they are the high end interactions and gaming features which is what Flash is intended to do anyway. As I tell my students, at this point in time, you need to know Flash and its going to be long time before its gone so get used to developing in it and clients requesting it/needing it. I also tell them to start learning javascript because eventually it will be the future but at this point HTML5 is too new and its going to a long transition between Flash and HTML5. Additionally, Adobe appears to be the lead developer for HTML5 so you will more than likely continue to buy your authoring tools from them. Also remember that Adobe Air allows one to publish Flash Apps on iPhone and iPad.

Scientists Invent Mind-Reading System That Lets You Type With Your Brain

Posted on by

Looks like we are one step away from the Matrix. There are so many things that could be done with this and not just cool tech stuff but helping those with brain injuries or in comas and such. I really cannot wait until this is developed and widespread although I feel that this technology is many years away from being ready for prime time.

“Researchers have invented a mind-reading system that, for the first time in history, allows any person to type words and phrases letter by letter, just by thinking. It all occurs in real time, without moving a single muscle or uttering a single word. This is an amazing invention. Not only it will help anyone with serious motor disabilities, but it could potentially affect all of us in an amazing way. ”

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5922208/scientists-invent-mind+reading-system-that-lets-you-type-with-your-brain?tag=science

What happens to cell phones when there is wifi everywhere?

Posted on by

So what will happen to cell phones when there is wifi everywhere? Here is my prediction: No more cell or data plans from verizon, att, sprint, tmobile, etc. Instead we will buy the devices directly from manufacturers such as Apple, Google, Samsung, HTC, etc and use them just as we are now. I am not quite sure we will actually have phone numbers but may instead use Skype services and simply just use our usernames. If I were skype I would certainly be trying to make sure they are the preferred method of communication when this happens because I am sure both apple and google will promote their video/voice communication services. However since skype is cross platform, it could be the best. But just imagine, no more contracts or monthly fees….it would be awesome!

New generation streaming, not downloading music

Posted on by

I just read this article on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/tech/web/music-streaming/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

It makes sense. Why download music anymore? There are so many good streaming services out there like Pandora and Spotify that downloading and owning music is almost a waste of time. I have Pandora on my computer and phone. So when I workout, I can turn on my favorite radio station and listen rather than creating a playlist on my iPod. My generation grew up with CDs then when I was 18 or so, Napster changed everything and we could create ‘mix’ CDs. Next iPod allowed us to download mp3s. Now it looks as if we are moving into a generation of streaming music due to cell phone data and very available wifi. Here is a little timeline of how this all happened:

1890s – Jukebox
1920 – radio becomes widely available with KDKA in Pittsburgh
1925 – records go on sale
1933 – FM radio
1964 – cassette tapes
1966 – 8 Track
1979 – Cassettes overtake 8 track and Sony Walkman introduced
1982 – CDs introduced and in 1988 they surpass sales of tapes
1990 – mp3 born
1995 – streaming music introduced
1999 – Napster
2000 – Pandora Radio
2003 – itunes
2008 – Spotify

Where is speech recognition going?

Posted on by

I saw this article on Mashable and thought it was worth comment:

Speech recognition software has been around for a long time. I have been using Dragon Naturally Speaking since the late 90s. The software is pretty awesome and during my undergraduate years was able to speak the first draft for most of my papers (I would have to go in to correct the mistakes after the first version). I also found this software extremely helpful when I had to transcribe videos in both corporate and educational settings. To transcribe, I would listen to the speech and talk as they were talking. It was a very quick way to transcribe.

Currently I use speech recognition for two things on a regular basis: talking to my car and my phone. I have the Ford Sync system on my car. So whenever I want to call someone I tell my car to call them. Then I speak to the person through my speakers. It is very useful. Then on my phone I speak to my Galaxy Nexus for many of my texts.

How accurate is speech recognition? Honestly, I notice no improvements since the late 90s when I started using it. It is somewhere around 90% (guess not a true stat). If there is noise it is even worse. I have also noticed that it just does not like the way some people talk. I talk very clear and so it works for me. I have also noticed that accents do not seem to affect it, it’s more about the clarity of the persons voice.

So will speech recognition get more popular? Well it has with SIRI. However, are people still using SIRI? Many of my friends found it annoying after the honeymoon period. That does not mean it is not useful. I do see it becoming more popular as people adapt to the idea of speaking to their computers or phones. However, it is still not perfect and I am not sure it will ever be as we just do not have the technology for perfect AI at this time, so until then the mistakes may turn off users.

Article: http://mashable.com/2012/05/29/where-speech-recognition-is-going/