Build a free PC

Many consultants and people in shops won’t explain that it is perfectly possible to build a free Windows PC nowadays – with all the required software being free (with the exception of Windows itself). Of course, it depends on what you want to do with the PC, but generally a machine built on open source software is perfectly adequate for most tasks.

ZoneAlarm firewall

Clamwin Anti-virus for anti-virus protection

OpenOffice for documents and vector drawings, or Inkscape for vector graphics if you already have MS Office and don’t want a large download

GIMP for bitmap graphics manipulation

Thunderbird for e-mail

Firefox for web browsing

NVU for web-page creation

AVG Version 8 warning

Like 80 million Windows users, I had AVG Ver 7 installed happily on my Windows XP PC. The software was free, functional and unobtrusive. From the end of this month this version will stop being updated, according to the software itself, and therefore an upgrade to Ver 8 is required.

My experience with Ver 8 to date has not been pleasant, and I can no longer recommend the AVG package as an anti-virus solution to my clients. The problems started after installation, when bringing up Windows Explorer ground to a halt, and a number of virus warning screens appeared. The software was taking over the machine with it’s checks, to the point of making it no longer function. The final straw occurred when I booted up Google search in Firefox – usually the fastest results on the Net, only to find that every result had a painfully slow anti-virus check being carried out alongside it – visibly destroying the display. This can be switched off in Tools->Add-ons, but the software didn’t even ask me if I wanted it included.

This release is a prime example of unnecessary feature-creep, and goes to show that you can make a mistake and lose your user base. I hope they correct the software, although it currently looks too bloated to make any modifications without a radical change in direction. Until this is fixed I am recommending the open source ClamWin Antivirus that seems quite limited in comparison but appears functional and doesn’t push itself onto you.

Sometimes the anti-virus industry appears to use scare tactics. The chances of clicking on a virus-laden link on Google are low if you take the common-sense approach of only clicking sensible looking links.

HP Photosmart C7200 not connecting error

This was on Windows XP, and the Vista machine didn’t have a problem.  The wireless printer had connected through to the wireless LAN, but the XP machine was not detecting the printer and there was no particular error.

It turned out to be the Windows XP firewall that was the problem.  When I switched off the firewall the printer connected.  In the time I had on-site I couldn’t find how to open the Windows firewall to that specific network, so I installed another firewall instead and left the Windows firewall open.

Improving a search engine’s ranking on Google

Many people assume that a search engine by it’s very nature attracts users. However, if you own a new search engine you have to market that engine to your target audience. You can gain users through advertising, word-of-mouth, PR, link exhanges, or SEO (search engine optimization).

SEO on a search engine can be done in two ways.

• You can target your homepage by aiming to meet searchers on the main engines looking for your type of search engine e.g. ‘real-estate usa search engine’
• You can redistribute your content in a useful fashion to the main engines

We used the latter method to multiply out traffic to our local shopping site. It is in Google’s interest to have quality content from a smaller search engine merged in with it’s data-set, and they even make this service possible with Google Sitemaps. However care needs to be taken that there is still some added value in the method of searching once a user comes from Google’s page onto your own, or else none of the users will return to your engine, or even worse – you will be considered a spammer purely after advertising money.

Google’s webmaster tools provides an XML format to submit up to 50,000 URLs in one file, and more can be submitted by spreading your data-set across multiple files. It can take a few months for Google to index this quantity of pages.

The principle involves selecting a number of query terms from your data-set (in our case it was product names)

http://YOUR_SEARCH_URL?q=red+hat

http://YOUR_SEARCH_URL?q=garden+fork

The title of these pages needs to be relevant to the query terms. The descriptions of the products on your results pages will then be indexed on Google, and anyone finding you will be introduced to your engine as a second tier results page.

It is best if there is a call to action to modify the search using your more specific search facility.

Note: I feel a careful decision needs to be taken before embarking on such an effort. There are many people using this sort of technique to introduce a page of adverts which people then click through on. It needs to be for a genuinely unique set of data that is actually useful for an end user.

SEO Christchurch, New Zealand – exploring directories

When it comes to search engine optimization we are often looking for a ‘quick fix’. I have just finished working in a UK business where we were bombarded with calls from companies claiming to “take you to the top spot on Google”. They achieved this by having a broad directory that had managed to become well placed for certain key terms. They were then selling that place semi-exclusively for a fee.

What makes their directory any more relevant in Google’s eyes than a well optimized individual page? I would predict that the number of in-bound links into their directory have built up over time, meaning that individual pages are highly placed. But – a word of warning – is the relevancy of the page suitable for your entry? Be careful of ‘guaranteed number of enquiries’ claims. The claim that we had was well over the top, and as such we instantly lost trust in the firm. Ask for the keywords and the directory name and explore the results for yourself once you are off the phone.

It will be interesting to determine if this type of market has been exploited in New Zealand as well.

A search engine optimization firm will usually take a different approach, and work with you to explore your target market (keywords), and how you might reach that market. A good summary of the area is available on Wikipedia, and points out the difference between white-hat and black-hat optimization. The decision to optimize any site can be a moral one – ask yourself ‘is this page genuinely useful for this type of search’ before creating it.

This blog is a research project in and of itself. My findings will be reported here as I explore search engine optimization, having come from a background in search engine development.  The blog is being written from Christchurch, New Zealand so comments from locals are particularly welcome.  Due to the nature of a blog, I know you can find this page.