A Good Month

Half the World Away

Thanks to Google Page Rank I'm giving myself a vacation. My corporate blogs and Half the World Away got their first "ranking" by Google. Escalade Love ranked highest with 4 while Auto Mechanic got 3 and Ridin' Dirty getting a 2. Now were getting some authority and all this hullabaloo about the algorithm wouldn't change the fact that PR is PR. Furthermore, my sites are well on their way on achieving incentives. Quite a good month really.

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So yeah. I'm going surfing.... WOHOOO!!!

Google Power

Google is the shiznit. They can glorify and condemn all without repercussions. You wanna know why? Simple, they're Google and for me, currently, they are the Internet. Simmer down Web 2.0 folks. You'd hate me for saying this I know, but here's my stand. There will come a time when everyone of us will only need Google.

Intergalactic

Web search service, is now the realm of Google. As of August this year, the $6.1 billion global search engine company is the most used search engine with a 53.6% market share. Now that's half of everything else. That's a lot of users.

What else? Oh, Google Mail, News, Video, Maps, Groups, Product Search (still on the beta stage), uhm what else.. there's a lot more. Oh okay, Google Earth wherein satellite powered mapping search can zoom in on your head's bald spot. Definitely not basic. And how about the social media sites that the company bought? YouTube, Blogger, Jaiku, Picasa and a whole lot of technologies are on the list.

Now let's talk about more outstanding stuff. With all those applications basking in popularity, there's something more Google wants. Basically, the aim is to kick Microsoft's ass off the software kingdom. There you go Mr. Gates.

"As Google rapidly rolls out new products, the company best known for its wildly popular search engine is muscling into the software giant's turf, including its stronghold: the computer desktop."

-The Associated Press

This was actually yesterday's news. Of course Google would eventually win this turf war. What has Microsoft given to us anyway? Microsoft Office and Windows Media player was all I ever needed. No doubt, Google can deliver better service. So it may happen soon. Sooner than we think.

Search engines are the core business of the industry I work for and as far as Google is concerned, they are the primary focal point. Many of us, especially the SEO experts, would continually find ways of working around the structure. But the thing is, Google is erratic in the most inexplicable way. So no matter how much we research, things can change as drastic as overnight. Efforts can and will be deemed futile.

Domination is the keyword here. But personally, this ain't negative. Perhaps Google is the way all should follow and whatever they do, they could only do better. Let's just be there and have a clear view of the developments. And if ever things would go overboard, we'll find ways to kill the robot.

PIERCED

I got my lip pierced the other day. Not much thought given, cold steel on my lips just feels appropriate. So in stills, let me walk you thru the ordeal I've undergone. But before you scroll down, be warned that the images you are about to see are visceral and haunting. Definitely not for the faint-hearted...

kiss kiss bang bang

"Lord, satanist ata sya. Help me po."

Tj: "Dude, this is not how it said in Wikipedia."

Beelzebub: "What the fuck is Wikipedia?"
Tj: "It's an online encyclopedia that enables it users to modify erroneous information."

Beelzebub: "I will pierce your throat and leave you bleeding to death if you won't shut up."
Tj: "My bad, my bad. Here sir, take my cellphone."

Cold steel, insert here.

finish product


Yeah dude I'm like so extreme and hardcore pare!

To be honest, it really didn't feel painful. You'll certainly feel the pierce upon contact, but that's all. It's no different from an ear pierce. The pain deviates as seconds go on. If anybody of you is strong enough, just like me, contact artist Joey @ 0921 7265471.

So, yeah. I'm now the emo kid with a pierce. Very mature of me. Anyway, skin and body art are alternative ways of expressing one's self. Although I don't need much, a lip pierce could serve as reminder. Wounds tell of pain and anguish. Inevitable as time does tell, wounds heal and grief is forgotten. But like wound self afflicted, I relinquish mine and forever never forget.

Half the World Away - Blog Analysis

It had just occurred to me that I have now more readers than what I had than say, two months ago. At first, all I wanted was to write and only a handful of people knew that I have a blog. Then after some time, after countless trying hard to be poetic posts, statistics show that I do gained steady readership and the fact that more and more new visitors are dropping by everyday. Honestly and without self-gratification, I can say that Half the World Away is somehow doing well. People come and people read. Yay me.

Funny how ironic it is that I don't optimize my blog. Yeah, I could conceptualize and execute an auto mechanic blog which is getting popular in the global blogosphere yet I really don't do the same pratice here. Well, personal blogs shouldn't be marketed. Popularity isn't everything. Readership is.

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So okay, now I'll show you how is it exactly that visitors land on my page. Keywords, ladies and gents, are all that matters here. Forget links. Content is what I strive for.

In the glorious subject of content, here the keywords used to discover

Half the World Away

the tool

Nice. People type in "what is web marketing" and found me. That's good, a little professional and career-driven. Alright, "TJ Cafuir" is being searched and I'm currently ranked 8th in Google for "Half the World Away". Nice. Now let's see what else random visitors used for their searches.







#9 What the?! I hate koreans? Sheez.. Im no racist! Must be the Anger Management post. Ok, maybe I'm a little defensive to our nationality in terms of status and place in the asian demography but then again, its just opinion. I don't go on and generally hate people.

#10 I wanna drown. People go to google and type "I wanna drown". Now that is depressing. The ill-depressed found my site and perhaps shared my sentiments. Hey, I was depressed but I never turned to the web for suicide tutorials. It's like, "hey I wanna die now but let's just see who else also wants to... hmm... ah Tj Cafuir."








#15 is just so weird. Articles about ears?!!! Why would I write about that? Why would anybody come here for that? I'm not sure about certain content but I definitely know that I never wrote anything about ears. Well, come to think of it, I did post the lyrics of Urbandub's Fallen On Deaf Ears during the time when my lovely romance was on World War 2. Is that it? Whatever it is, its very weird.

#16 Bullying grade 6. I didn't bully kids when I was in elementary. I was just the class clown. I did hustle for a few coins though pambili ng marvel cards and sago't gulaman but that was it.

#17 Conclusion about sex?!!! I have no idea know how the hell I attracted personalities with identity crisis, but just for the sake of it, let me tell my conclusion of it. Sex is how I drive women crazy. *wink. hehe.





Ghosts. Look for the paranormal and you'll end up in my blog. Hmm, I did tell a story once. Quite haunting really.









#38 Top emo bands. I've been typecast as an "emo kid" lately. Emo emo emo. Heck, well if you're looking for music listen to my favorite "emo" bands. Play Circa Survive and Finch on my Lastfm widget. Just click the forward button till you get to the songs.

Similar to #15, # 39 is also plain loony. Let me see, from the word database that is my twisted mind, the very word that I would describe "foosteps" is... SNEAKY.

#40 You're half the world away. That one's actually right. I am Half the World Away.

# 41 Last and definitely the worst. Zan Efron. Pucha, sino si ZAN Efron? Minsan na nga lang wrong spelling pa. People, it's Zac Efron and the only reason I mentioned him in this blog is because we have the same hairstyle. And just to clarify things, I am a fan, but I've never seen ANY of his movies. Why would I? I have tons of classic Hollywood films on queue.

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Once, a friend told me that her friend reads my blog religiously, and also that another friend's friend in the Visayas bookmarked my blog. I'd like to think that I'm getting cult following. Great. Additionally, some of the people at the office who I haven't got the chance to get acquainted with even sent me instant messages telling me how good of a writer I am and that they find my blog deeply interesting. Cool. My blog is like music. Many worship pop, but few revere in the alternative. I cater to the latter.

So yeah whatever. Here's to more visitors. Weird or not weird.

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P.S.




Now this one's really EMO. Huhuhu... :p

RUSH!

Okay. There's more to SEO than keyword research, meta tags and description, link building, social engineering and everything googly-goo. Being an "apprentice" for about a month a half now, I honestly admit that I'm still in a sponge-like state wherein I try to soak up every thing and disperse knowledge in god-like SEO execution. Uhm, I meant peasant-like. No, maggot-like.

Speaking of gods, October 9-10 will be the dates of the 1st ever Philippine Search Engine Marketing Conference to be held at the Grand Ballroom of Hotel Intercon.

Super. Mr SEO Book Aaron Wall will be the main guest speaker along with the great SEM specialists of the country. I'm so proud that I'm working for the Macalua, my boss and basketball mentor (suck up), and with Pink SEO cutie Rhiz (suck up). Both will be speakers at the convention. Our SEO group is supposed to be there but unfortunately we have work on the said dates. Anyways, even if we got those days off I'm pretty sure some of us won't even be near Hotel Intercon. Man, the event ticket costs 8k plus! Ouch.

It's all good really. Marc said that he'll bring Aaron Wall to our company personally. Yeah, this is how we roll. Right now I'm already thinking of what I'm gonna say to him. "Oh Aaron. Yeah you must've recognized me when you entered. I'm "the" TJ Cafuir of Half The World Away. My adsense earnings are zero and the blogosphere hates me. Any tips?"

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I'm such in a good mood today, I don't know why. Must be all the reggae music I listen to. Actually, I'm in a rush. I'm uber focusing on work and on our next basketball game 2 weeks from now. I swear I'll rally traffic for my websites and there'll be no more cursing and throwing of the ball to someone's face. These things I shall do, so help me Aaron.