Adam Ok Dot Net | EMarketing and Gadgets | SEO Expert

Moving from Talk Talk to O2 broadband

2009-07-15T12:56:00.004+01:00

I have not been updating my blogs for a while. No! I haven't been struck down by Swine flu. It's because I don't have any Internet access at home right now. Hopefully that will change tomorrow when I get reconnected to the net again with 02 broadband. It''s been really hard and I sometimes wonder how we managed without any Internet access in the past.

I have been with Talk Talk for a while. They are now the UK's largest resident broadband provider and second overall behind BT. Not surprising because they are the cheapest. The broadband connection came free with the telephone line. Even though, I had actually called them the worst broadband provider in the past, their service had improved tremendously. However, even though it was cheap, we were looking for a more reliable internet service provider.

Initially we were thinking of Virgin broadband and their claims of super-fast cable braodband connections were really tempting. However, after reading customer reviews on various sites, we finally decided on O2. Apaarantly O2 has the most satisfied customers in the whole of UK. First of all we had to change to a BT line which was activated last Friday. On the same day, we were in the Coventry city centre and decided to get a Pay-as-you-go O2 sim card. This is because the Internet connection is cheaper if you are a O2 customer (good marketing).

Anyway while we were there we noticed that we could actually sign up and get the O2 router in the shop. Moreover they were having a broadband promotion as well and we won't have have the initial two months free plus a discount on the initial sign up fee.

At first it looked like we were outside their normal coverage area and would have to pay more for what they call the "O2 Home Broadband Access package" but when we got home and called up to activate the connection, we actually found out that they were going to extend their coverage area, meaning that we won't have to pay for the alternative Broadband Access package and there would be no problems moving down to the lower rate (I sincerely hope so).

Will be posting about my initial experiences with O2 broadband tomorrow.

Attitude towards blogs - Pilot survey

2009-06-28T16:35:00.006+01:00

My doctoral research looks at the factors influencing consumer's attitude towards Blogs and I really need your help.

Right now I am carrying out my pilot study and I would be highly obliged if you could please spend a couple of minutes to complete the online survey.

This survey should take you less than 15 minutes to complete and your answers will be treated as strictly confidential. Please be assured that the data obtained will be used for the purpose of this research only.

Please Click Here to take the survey

If you have any concerns about completing this survey or more generally about my study, you may contact me via email: ahoklah@gmail.com
One lucky winner stands the chance of winning a £10/ Amazon.com voucher.

The winner will be announced here on this blog. He or she will also be contacted by email if provided.

Thanks for your help!

Extreme rugged laptops

2009-06-24T13:17:00.006+01:00

My wife left her Fujitsu laptop unattended a couple of days ago. I saw my my son playing with it and carried him off before he could do any damage - or so I thought. My wife later discovered that Windows wouldn't load up and there was an error warning on the screen.

I noticed that there was some moisture between the keys - it was either milk or my son's saliva. After shutting off the laptop immediately, I took some tissue and cleaned up as best as I could. Left it to dry for a couple of hours and after a small prayer, put in back on.

Was really happy when the old familiar Windows XP symbol came up (Yes! it's a 3 year old laptop). However, my joy didn't last long. My wife soon discovered that several of the keys didn't work any more. I haven't had time to open it up and see if the damage is permanent and got shocked when I saw the cost of replacing the keyboard. I am just hoping that a nice thorough clean up will do the job and save me a lot of money.

Anyway, this really made me envy those who have laptops with spill proof keyboards and I will make it a requirement next time I buy a laptop. Going through the net I came across some of the reviews about Panasonic's famous Toughbook laptops. The Forbes team has taken testing to the limits by using a CF-30 as a dart board, giving it to a tiger to chew on and later to an elephant who threw it around. They finally use it for target practise by shooting it with a Ruger Mark III .22 pistol.

Panasonic Toughbook CF-30

The most amazing thing is after all the torture that the laptop booted up and they could still access the test file on it. Read the report here "The Tiger-Resistant Laptop".

I want one.

The new iPhone 3G S

2009-06-20T01:56:00.004+01:00

The latest verion of the iPhone went on sale yesterday. This is the third version featuring a totally new operating system. It comes with a faster processor, bigger memory and improved camera (3 megapixel ) as well.

In July last year, I had listed the Apple iPhone 3G shortcomings. They have clearly listened to their customers and the new phone now has a cut and paste capability. It also allows users to send MMS and take videos with the phone as well. It's quite funny because I have been doing these with my mobiles for ages.

The iPhone can now be used as a modem as well by connect it to your laptop using a USB cable or bluetooth. Again something that I have been doing for quite sometime. Read my old post 'Using the 3 Skypephone as a modem'.

Anyway, the truly innovative feature is the Compass app which comes inbuilt and I am wondering who's going to use it.

Connection problems using IE

2009-06-18T01:23:00.008+01:00

I normally use the Firefox browser to access the net. A couple of minute ago I went to my blog using Internet explorer, just to see if it displays correctly and I was shocked to see the site go off and a warning appear. My blog is hosted with Blogger and I assume that this is a specific problem related to Blogger as I don't have problems with other blogs hosted elsewhere.

The error warning is given below:

On clicking the "More information" button, I get the following:

Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:

•Internet connectivity has been lost.
•The website is temporarily unavailable.
•The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
•The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the website's domain.
•There might be a typing error in the address.
•If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click Tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

I have no idea what is causing this problem and am not sure whether this is affecting my visitors who use IE as well.

Anybody facing a similar problem?

Update:
Pushing the Followers widget to the bottom the sidebar seem to have solved the problem.

Nokia E72 unvieled

2009-06-15T14:17:00.007+01:00

Nokia has unveiled the E72 at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore today. This is a slight improvement from the successful E71. Besides featuring a full QWERTY keypad, the smartphone has a 5 megapixel camera and includes A-GPS and compass with integrated maps. Though I don't have the dimensions, it looks quite slim.

It also has faster internet access at 10.2Mbps connections over HSDPA and comes with a 3.5mm audio jack.

It is expected to ship in the third quarter of this year at an estimated retail price of €350 before taxes and subsidies.

Top Entrecard droppers for May 2009

2009-06-15T00:35:00.001+01:00

This is the list of the top Entrecard droppers on my blog for the month of May.

Thanks a lot guys.

When egos on the web collide

2009-06-13T11:22:00.005+01:00

Just watched Leo Laporte telling off Mike Arrington on YouTube. I learnt about it from Tim Jennion's blog.

I don't necessarily agree with the language used but I think that Leo is right to be pissed off. I mean I wrote about the Palm Pre on my blog as well. If I had received a review copy, I would have done a better job reviewing it.

I have received review copies in the past including the 3 USB Dongle and to say that this would make you biased is totally out of line.

Makes Mike sound like he's having a case of sour grapes.

Anyway, here's the video:

SEO Expert UK

2009-06-11T12:18:00.007+01:00

While going through some of the profiles on Twitter, I realised that every 3rd person is either an online marketer or self-proclaimed SEO Expert. I say self-proclaimed because a search on Google for the names for several of these guys (and some companies) doesn't even show up on the first results page.

BTW, for those who didn't know SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and refers to the art and science of improving volume or quality of traffic to your site from search engines.

Anyway, you can't be an SEO expert if your names doesn't even show up on Google - the most popular search engine in the World.

Moving on, according to Google, apparently I am the #1 SEO Expert in Coventry. However, I was curious as to who was on top of the charts for the key words 'SEO Expert UK'.

#1 was http://www.seo-expert-services.co.uk/
#2 was http://www.misterweb.co.uk/ &
#3 was http://www.nikkipilkington.com/

So, these are the top 3 SEO experts in the UK (according to Google).

I noticed that all of them had the keywords in their website title (the one that comes out on the top of your browser) and that all three sites were companies involved in search engine optimisation.

It would be really interesting if a freelancer like me suddenly got on the top of the results for the keywords.

Anybody up for the challenge?

Palm Pre phone available in the US

2009-06-07T02:47:00.006+01:00

The Palm Pre phone which was unveiled at the CES in January, is now available in the US on the Sprint network at $199.99. This is Palm's answer to the Apple iPhone.

The 3G phone has a 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320x480 resolution HVGA display. One of the things I really like is the fact that this phone has a QWERTY keyboard.

Running on the new Palm webOS, features includes a built-in GPS and 3 megapixel camera with LED flash. It also supports several media formats and also comes with wireless connectivity .

The phone is slightly smaller than the Apple iPhone with the following dimensions:
Width: 59.5mm
Height: 100.5mm
Thickness: 16.95mm

It weight 135 grams.

Read more about the phone on the Palm website.

First Commentator:
Daisy

Hooked on Spymaster

2009-06-01T02:00:00.004+01:00

While going through Twitter recently, I noticed that one of the top trending keywords was #spymaster. Found out that Spymaster is an online game for Twitter which is now on private invite only beta.

The game works like this:

First of all you choose which spy organisation you would like to join - I choose MI6 naturally. You then carry out tasks and earn money and gain experience. As you gain more experience, more challenging tasks (with higher rewards) are unlocked.

You can buy items such as guns from the Blackmarket and finally carry out assassinations. you can even open a Swiss Bank account.

I am not sure but I think this is the first Twitter based game and if you are on Twitter, you might think twice before signing up. I am warning you - it is really addictive.

First Commentator:
Azwan

Web host ratings

2009-05-27T23:17:00.004+01:00

I had blogged about a Web hosting review site some time ago which had received considerable interest from my readers. it was no surprise considering the fact that there are so many providers around each claiming to give you the best value for your money. Well, recently I came across Webhostingrating.com, another site that rates web hosting providers.

On the main page, they have provided a list of 10 top best web hosts based on independent customer web hosting rating. According to the list the top web host is InMotion Hosting, followed by Awardspace.com and Web Hosting Pad. Here they have a "thumbs up" rating system with InMotion Hosting receiving 5 "thumbs up".

As your business or traffic gets bigger ultimately people move into dedicated web hosting. Their dedicated web hosting page lists two providers, namely, InMotion Hosting and iWebFusion Technologies LLC. Only InMotion has received 5 thumbs up while the later is unrated as yet.

If you are looking for a good web host, I would definitely recommend going through this site.

Why people don't follow you on Twitter

2009-05-21T00:44:00.007+01:00

Having been on Twitter for quite a while, I was looking at ways to increase the number of my followers. However, while doing so I found out several mistakes that people make on Twitter that turns away others from following them.

Some of them are listed below:

Not having a profile photograph.
Not having a profile description.
I know some people are really concerned about their privacy and blah, blah but if you are, then you shouldn't be on any social network.
Someone who has no updates.
Someone who doesn't have a profile photograph, description or updates.
I am surprised that this guy had over 200 followers without even making a single update.
Someone who keeps tweeting links to "get rich quick" schemes.
Someone who uses abusive language.
A good way to lose existing followers as well.

Can you think of other reasons why you might not follow someone on twitter.

UPDATE: Unlike what some people seem to think, the guys at Twitter are scanning the Twittersphere for funny activity. Clicking on some profiles will take you to this page:

First commentator:
Walski69

Top 10 Entrecard droppers for April

2009-05-04T23:35:00.002+01:00

Time for some link love.

Thanks for the drops.

Airfree P80 - Futuristic looking air purifier

2009-05-01T14:48:00.006+01:00

This is a different type of gadget I am going to review here - an air purifier.

I made the decision to buy an air purifier after our family had a bad case of flu running around (Don't worry, it was long before the swine flu). I don't think any of our kids is allergic to pollen but we don't want to risk it.

The first one was a bargain I grabbed at the local Lloyds pharmacy. It has a ioniser and a filter. However my wife was not really satisfied and we finally decided on the Airfree P80 after a bit of searching on the web.

We bought it from the Breathing Space site for £199.

I was initially sceptical about it's claims of being "The World's safest and most tested air purifier" and I was wondering how it purifies the air without using any filter. However, reading the reviews on various sites convinced us that it was the right choice.

As soon as we received it, I took it out of the box and started it up. It has a nice futuristic design which makes it look like something out of a Dr. Who series. At first I was surprised that it was so silent. Unlike the other one which makes a right racket. I could feel clean and slightly warm air coming our of the top vents.

The air purifier works by passing air through a heated ceramic core incineration chamber which kills all germs and cleans air that passes trough it. It also has a pleasant blue light which is actually quite soothing at night.

It may be my imagination but we sleep better at nights and the air in the house seems fresher when ever we enter the house.

The Airfree P80 has definitely been one of our best investments so far.

First Commentator
Melayu Boleh

Web hosting review site

2009-04-25T00:22:00.006+01:00

I have had a number of people interested in setting up their own blog come to me for advise. Most want to have a commercial blog with their own domain names. The the question of web host comes up. This is where I have trouble recommending any suitable host. Most of my blogs are hosted with Blogger and I am not even sure whether the hosts I am presently using are offering me the best value for money but I am stuck with them because of various reasons.

A search on Google for web host will give you thousands of results and it can be really confusing with everyone claiming to be the best. After doing some research I found out about Webhostinggeeks.com, a web hosting review and rating site.

On the main page they have listed the top 10 Web Hosts of 2009. According to the site, the top web host is Inmotion, followed by JustHost and WebHostingPad respectively. All three have been given 5 stars rating.

You might find the various categories useful, if you have some specific requirements in mind - for example, Unix hosting. However, what I really like about this site is beside their own reviews, you can read reviews and ratings given by other independent users which give you a better idea and allows you to make a better informed choice.

First Commentator
bokjae

Fake Halifax site

2009-04-18T16:50:00.005+01:00

Scammers are at again. Recently received an email claimed to be from Halifax.

The text went like this:

From: "secure@halifax.co.uk"
To:
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:08:34 -0400
Subject: An unauthorized account activity.
Dear Halifax Member,

An unauthorized account activity claim was recently filed against the following transaction:

Transaction Date: 15 / April / 2009
Transaction Amount: $44,00 USD
Your Transaction ID: 46U64120SC849601T
Buyer's Transaction ID:34A33092GU990703J
Case Number: HH-373-249-603

To complete our investigation, you must provide additional information within the next seven days.

Please log in to your Halifax account and verify your details

You will have the opportunity to enter any details or information regarding this case which will help Halifax investigate the matter fully.

Thanks for your cooperation through this process. We are continuing to work to ensure that Halifax is secure for all users.

Sincerely,
Halifax Review Department

Copyright © 1999-2009 Halifax. All rights reserved.

The thing is I don't have a Halifax account and the link url was so crazy that I had to laugh: http://www.halifax.co.uk.gay-together.nl/update.secure.halifax.online/index.htm
(Note text in bold)

Clicking on the link led me to this:

The actual site looks like this:

First Commentator
Seemu

Bye Project Wonderful

2009-04-10T22:07:00.004+01:00

Some of my loyal readers have asked me why I don't have the Project Wonderful ads on my blog any more.

Well, a few days back I received emails from them telling me that my ad boxes on two of my blogs including Adamok.net, have been deleted.

According to them: "During a routine review of our publishers, this ad box was found to be violating our Terms of Service and/or failing to meet our publisher standards, and was therefore removed from our network."

Emailed them back and found out that the reason they deleted my account was because my blogs carried sponsored posts. When I pointed out that this blog had not carried any sponsored posts for ages, they referred to my disclosure policy which states that I'll accept paid reviews on my blog.

They refunded my left over funds ($0.44) and that's the end of it.

Reviewing the performance of the Project Wonderful ads, I have to say it was quite disappointing and it is not a case of sour grapes. The total revenue from the ads on my blogs was negligible. I also tried advertising on a couple of blogs but the result was quite disappointing and this made me think twice before investing more advertising money with them.

Makes me wonder whether the real reason they removed me was due to the fact that I was not a good customer - not spending enough.

Have any of you guys tried Project Wonderful out? Would love to hear your views.

First Commentator
|1f34|-|1r3

Google PR reinstated

2009-04-07T22:44:00.004+01:00

It was Kai Lo who first brought it to my attention. I hadn't even realised it but my blog PR is now back to 3 again.

It's been quite sometime since I got Google-slapped and I had recently sent in my reconsideration request to the Google guys.

Really happy that they have reconsidered and that my "evidence of good faith" was enough.

Thanks guys.

Hopefully traffic to my blog will increase now.

First Commentator
|1f34|-|1r3

Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition now in the UK

2009-03-29T13:54:00.006+01:00

I lot of my regular readers have been complaining that I have been doing too many posts on Twitter and want posts on gadgets. Well I have to follow what my readers want.

Forget about the iPhone, just check out the specifications of the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition.

Touch display: It features a 2.8”QVGA AMOLED full touch display with a slide-out keypad as well.
Camera: Has an autofocus 8MP rear-mounted camera with x4 Digital Zoom and dual LED flash, which supports face detection and geo-tagging.
Video: If you like taking videos with your phone, well the Tacco Ultra takes 30f/s VGA and even has it’s on-board editing software. You can even add subtitles.
Connectivity: Supports HSDPA connections of up to 7.2Mb/s, Edge and quad-band GSM.
GPS: As well.

Check out the review by Mobile Choice:

I have no idea about the Talk time and Standby times though. They are not given in their website either.

Update: Found out that on the 3 website that it has a Talktime of 240 mins, Standby time of 350 hours. You can get it from them for free for £30 per month on a 18 month contract.

First Commentator
Ruben

Twitter and I

2009-03-21T22:39:00.006Z

I can hear some people groaning "not another twitter post again!".

Anyway, just found out that Twitter - the fast growing micro blogging site, celebrates it's 3rd birthday today (you didn't know that, did you). Surprisingly, there was nothing about it on their blog. I guess all of them are busy twittering.

I also found out that I am the 3rd top twitterer in Coventry. At least that's what Twitter grader says.

The fact that I have 592 followers as of today is really amazing. It was only 300 just 2 weeks ago.

Follow me on Twitter @admutum

First Commentator
Azwan

Google Street View now live in the UK

2009-03-20T01:12:00.006Z

Just found out yesterday morning that Google Street View is now available for most major cities in the UK on Google maps. This means that we would be able to view 360º street level images.

To get Street view all you have to do is pull the Yellow man on the left hand side of Google maps to your desired location on the map.

This is how our street looks like on it.

Spent nearly an hour exploring Coventry and other cities here in the UK. I find it quite exciting but I am sure there will be people who see this as an invasion of their privacy.

First Commentator
East Coast Life

Does Google PR matter?

2009-03-18T22:44:00.008Z

Blogger Kai Lo left me a comment on my last post "New advertising policy". According to him I am impatient and he pointed out that my blog has a Google PR 0. It's quite funny because his own blog has a PR0 as well and he actually wrote a post about it saying "not to put too much emphasis on pageranks".

Anyway, I decided to write a blog post as a reply to his comments.

Well Kai, I have been blogging since September 2003 and started this blog in 2006. Since then, the Google PR of this blog has seen it's fair bit of highs and lows and the highest it ever went was a PR3. Read "Google PR updates and my blogs".

I got Google slapped in early 2008 when my PR dropped to 0 and has remained there ever since.

As to the question whether Google PR matters, I have to say "Yes!".

Traffic from Google is now lower and I have had to find other ways to increase traffic to my blog. A few potential advertisers pulled out when they realised that the PR of my blog is 0. Just shows how much importance that people pay to it. I haven't carried a sponsored post for ages but I still do carry affiliate links as well as Google adsense.

It might come as a surprise to many people that among all my blogs, this has the highest traffic per month. It also has the lowest Alexa rank (248,431 as of today - the lower the better) .

All of my posts are indexed almost immediately (advantage of hosting with Blogger) and my blog also ranks high for a number of key words. For example, try 'seo expert coventry' in Google search.

So Kai, as you can see, I am actually quite patient but you are right about one thing though - many advertisers do look at the PR of a blog.

First Commentator
Kai Lo

New advertising policy

2009-03-16T02:39:00.004Z

I offer different types of advertising on my blog, namely:

1. Text link ad on the side bar - A key word with link to a desired url
2. Button ad (125 X125) on the side bar linked to a desired url
3. Paid reviews (minimum 100 words or more).

The first two types of ads are usually for a duration of one year while the paid review will remain on my blog as long as the advertiser want them to and as a result will cost more.

A number of advertisers have showed an interest in advertising on my blog and I have had good business relationships with a few.

However, some advertisers have left a bad taste in my mouth. As a show of good faith, I used to put up links even before I received payment. Now I have to change that policy because of a couple of guys. Some guys didn't pay after I had put up the ads and the worst part is that they didn't even respond to my email queries.

All you have to say is that you have changed your mind and I will just remove the ads. But to keep quiet after the agreements and the ads have been put up is completely wrong, unprofessional and unethical. Many of these are so called "SEO companies" representing big clients. I am drawing up a list of these black sheep and might post them up here in the future.

From now on, I will be following a policy of payment first, ads later.

First Commentator
Kai Lo

Tweets on your Facebook updates

2009-03-15T20:12:00.003Z

A couple of guys noticed that my latest tweets also show up as my latest updates on my Facebook profile and was wondering about that.

Well, it's simpler than you think. All you have to do is add the Twitter application on Facebook. Once you have done that, all your tweets (apart from @ replies) will show up on your profile updates.