AntiProtester blog - The Autonomist

Enough Hours to Drive You Mad

2012-01-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

The EU Working Time Directive has been proven to be as flimsy as the paper it is written on, not least for those self employed within the transport industry.

The Working Time directive was is also known as the 48 hour week, and was brought in an attempt to regulate a standard working week.
In the past people worked a 7 day week, then a 6 day, or a Monday to Friday and Saturday morning.
These days times have moved on, many enjoy 35 hour weeks, and the act covers every profession except for workers if the job is: Where you decide your own work pattern, like perhaps a CEO, or a Minicab Driver Job, servants in private houses or a sea transport worker. So, what about Taxis drivers? Well, there are 4,600 'self-employed' minicab drivers in London, UK. It comes as no surprise then that these workers are often putting in 12-16 Hour shifts, 6 or 7 days a week.

London PCO Driving Jobs for example should certainly be regulated, as bus drivers cannot work over a certain number of hours, or like truck drivers who use a tachograph to record hours behind the wheel.
A Minicab Driver in London will typically work a 65 Hour week, taking home close to £800 (top end) or around £500 for the bottom end of the scale.

It might sound a lot, but for many the profession offers up pay equivalent to Minimum wage.
Have you thought when picking calling your Covent Garden Minicab or from London to your home that the driver may make less than £10 for the hour spent weaving in and out of congested roads?

At firms like London Taxi company 'Addison Lee', drivers are obliged to pay over £400 in fees for Car, Radio and Insurance - all to Addison Lee sister companies - for the privilege of driving for the company.
In the old days paying over the odds for a Taxi Elephant & Castle after a night out at Ministry of Sound has long gone. Richard Langholme of Vauxhall Minicabs points out that the Mayor of London regulates all Cabs via Transport for London and encourages Londoners to stay legal, pre book and use a PCO Private Hireor local taxi service.

Full-time London minicab drivers usually work a couple of shifts a day, starting in the morning rush hour, then coming back out on call for the evening shift which is anything from 6pm until 3am. The hours are unsociable, Bank holidays, early starts and late finishes are not uncommon.
Of course, all these obligations come without any rights as an employee, which is the standard for almost all cab firms in London.

It's a new year, it's a new life

2011-09-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

For the Jewish Rosh Ha'Shana, I want, first off to say I am hoping and praying the current unbearable scenario surrounding the Palestinian state shall come to an end soon. These people deserve their own land, as any other people do. On the other hand, it is not up to them to decide anything regarding the Jewish territories. They must acknowledge their neighboring countries, and treat them respectfully. They should base their economy upon relations with the Arab countries around them, rather than try to (yet again) completely rely on Israel. There must be peace established between the two states, but that doesn't mean anything else much - they shouldn't remain isolated from the world, and should have proper ways where they can reach out... but it is Israel's self-born right to cease integrating them into Israeli-based projects. They should find their way in life.

Else than that, I wanted to remind everyone that Christmas is coming soon, and Xmas is the time where you'll be spending more on gift than ever before.
If you are looking for the "default gift" then you should definitely try sites like Fragrance that helps you decide which specific perfume you'll be buying your loved one, and where to buy it so Christmas will not consume a part of your savings (like it usually does). You can try to go always for Creative Christmas Ideas but if you're wife comes throwing you out of the staircase, don't point any fingers at me. I know I am going for normal fashion/clothing/beauty gifts as I always do.

Happy Rosh Ha'Shana! Stay safe.

Silo 18 Develops New X-Bingo Software

2011-09-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Silo 18 is a company based in Norwich that develops internet bingo software platforms. The company has spent the past eighteen months developing a new bingo platform that’s going to run on the X-Bingo platform. XBingo is owned by Mandalay Gaming Holdings and based out of Gibraltor. Right now XBingo is only open to bingo players in the UK, but the company wants to move into new international markets as soon as possible.

The software is brand new (and actually similar to the big brother bingo site) , but it has already been beta tested by thousands of bingo players through Facebook. Social media has played a huge role in making sure that the software has been tested thoroughly before being released to the public. When a new bingo platform is released there is usually a period of time where bugs need to be worked out, but Silo 18 is confident that the majority of bugs have already been fixed during the Facebook beta testing process.

XBingo and Silo 18 decided to partner up because the owners know each other. Silo 18 decided to build the new bingo platform for the X-Bingo platform because the owner of Mandalay wanted to differentiate XBingo from other bingo sites. XBingo was also restricted to operating in the UK only, but that’s no longer going to be the case. Right now the company is trying to roll out the new XBingo software in Canada and there are plans to open in Australia and other European countries. Xbingo are in the process of building an application for mobile bingo sites which can be used across all platforms such as android and iphones interfaces.

The main focus of XBingo is to be ready to open to the US market - something which would be amazing for public relations departments of all online gaming companies if gaming in the US becomes regulated. The company is waiting for the gaming laws to change in the United States before they roll out the new software in the USA. Silo 18 did an excellent job building the software, as it looks incredible. There are also lots of unique social features included on the software such as being able to invite friends to the bingo game you’re playing and much more.

XBingo definitely has an excellent bingo platform now, but it’ll be interesting to see how they do in the countries they plan on opening up to in the future. There are lots of bingo sites available in every country already, so it’ll be interesting to see how XBingo plans on marketing their new platform to players. Right now players that are allowed to join XBingo will be able to claim a huge 300% sign-up bonus to try out the new bingo games.

Cookie Monster Commeth

2011-09-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

All you need to know about the EU e-Privacy Directive
In the past it was sufficient to inform users that cookies were used, however this change requires explicit consent from users for each and every cookie used – permanent, session, and ‘super cookies’ must all be accounted for.
The change applies to all computers and terminal equipment that track via cookies. So computers, phones and any type of browser based application must comply.
While the UK offered a grace period, Ireland has given an interpretation of EU Directive where all tracking cookies are forbidden. Now it is for companies to find a seamless technical solution for meeting this requirement.

For brevity visit this EU Cookie Law website where the solution is in place. Not the accordion drop down which asks for your consent. In the past this website might have chosen to hide the cookie tracking information in their terms and conditions, with a claim that users had been “informed”.
All websites by May 26 2012 are directed to comply with the new EU Cookie Legislation.
The law has been on a backburner for a year since passing into UK Law on May 26 2011, with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) laying down a one year grace period to comply, will be statute from 2012 – or face a fine of up to £500k.
While this all sounds heavy and legal-like the reality is a much more technical issue: How will you gain consent from your users for every cookie dropped on their machines?

What happens on 26th May 2012?

The date is significant as all websites hosted, or operated in the UK must comply with the Information Commissioners Office instructions by this date – after May 26 the ICO will begin enforcement of the cookie law.
Opt-Out to Opt-In – Why?
The change is seen as a move to get users explicitly consent, while commentators note the change is likely to thwart 3rd party tracking, building profiles based on cookie sharing and permanent “zombie cookies” such as flash based reigniting cookies which have become the cookie du jour for serious marketers due to how these cookies avoid detection of browser cookie deletion. More on Zombie Cookies here.

Who is exempt from the change?
Strictly speaking no one, however where the use of cookies is “Strictly necessary” to the user consent is not needed. Say for instance, when a cookie is session based and used for calculating an iCommerce shopping cart. In short, where the integrity of a user experience is lost while performing session based activities.
The exception is narrow and should be treated as such. As a rule of thumb, all cookies need consent from May 26th 2011, but with a delay to the cookie law enforcement of the rule is now from May 26 2012.

Cookie Law and Google Analytics
Surprisingly GA is a first party cookie, but is not “strictly necessary” and to that end must be consented before dropped on a user’s machine.
What has yet to be seen is if the suggestion that a Browser solution can be applied. This would mean granting consent to all cookies at browser level. A ‘once and for all’ type of consent, rather than site by site, application by application.
This would solve the issue of The EU Directive for Google Analytics cookies which are found on 85% of the top websites including NT Times, Financial Times, Mashable, Techcrunch....and even MSN!

If I use Google Analytics should I expect trouble?
The EU Legislation says: "The government's view is that there should be a phased approach to the implementation of these changes. In light of this if the ICO were to receive a complaint about a website, we would expect an organisation's response to set out how they have considered the points above and that they have a realistic plan to achieve compliance. We would handle this sort of response very differently to one from an organisation which decides to avoid making any change to current practice. The key point is that you cannot ignore these rules.
Types of Google Analytics Cookies
Globally and in the European Union member states Google sets the following cookies

utma Cookie
This is a a persistent cookie – and does not automatically delete unless it expires. Typically the expiration is 2 years in the future.. Tracks visitors (first visit (unique), last visit (returning). Used for iCommerce www.icommerce.co.uk
will also register the “Days and Visits to conversion” information.

utmb Cookie & utmc Cookies
These are the ‘twins’ of Google Analytics and both need to be present to function correctly. This is because utmb and utmc calculate length of visit. These are the least “serious” of Google Analyrics cookies.

This is a session based cookie.

utmz Cookie
Cookie utmz tracks HTTP Referrer details such as the type of referrer (Google or PPC), direct, social, mobile or PC or sometimes unaccounted visits like ‘bots’. Using HTTP Referrer utmz will note the referring keyword and geo information of the visitor.

This cookie is permanent and last 6 months. It is a heavy weight and provides much of the information we use each day in Google Analytics, not least for conversion tracking information like source, medium, keyword to attribute the info to a Goal Conversion.

utmv Cookie
This cookie is not always included by GA, but is dropped on a machine when segmentation, retargeting or data experimentation is set up. Google utmv Cookie lasts ‘forever. It is a persistent cookie. Utmv and utmz in tandem do much of the legwork around ad retargeting capabilities.

The takeaway: Act If you have.....
1 Any Terminal equipment, application or websites hosted in the United Kingdom or EU targeting users in those territories
2. Any Terminal equipment, application or websites hosted in the United Kingdom or EU targeting users in outside territories
3. Any Terminal equipment, application or websites hosted in another country targeting the United Kingdom or EU users.
4. Any Terminal equipment, application or websites hosted in another country using a CDN or proxy in the United Kingdom or EU to serve content..

Read the full text of the The European Commission's Directive of Privacy and Electronic Communications 2002/58/EC (known also as the e-Privacy Directive or Cookie Law www.cookielaw.org)

Civil casualties in Lybia

2011-08-05T03:33:00.000-07:00

August 5th 2011 - Two young children whose only crime was residing too close to Moammar Gadhafi residence were buried yesterday. The world stands silent, as the all honor-able goal justifies all necessary means. Following that, one may ask where the line is drawn? when does collateral becomes unbearable? Why are the children of Lybia, Iraq or other places that were trampled by aggressive US/NATO, any different than children anywhere else on the globe.

US residents and politicians, European population and leaders, for the first time in your phony life, become completely honest with yourselves. Next time you protest against injustice in some remote location on the other side of the globe, take a deep look at the mirror, and come to realize that we are all basically the same. We do whatever we feel is necessary to ensure our own safety. Each one of us, the so-called western people, shares a common responsibility - we knowingly supported an army that killed children. These army-men were nothing more than our heralds, our protectors, the ones brave enough to perform the action - but we were the ones cheering for justice, for revenge.As such, we are not longer allowed to critic nations who do the exact same thing, anywhere.

I'm at Wimbledon 2011 - New Balls Please!

2011-06-30T01:34:00.001-07:00

So I'm in sunny Wimbledon, SW19, London - having flown over to watch the Federer vs Tsonga match yesterday. I don't really do tennis very often - I'm a rugby man at heart (waiting for the rugby world cup and Champions league odds to go live so that I can bet the farm on the All-Blacks!)

Anyway, Wimbledon. Where to start? We were treated to a thrilling centre court game, and a bit of an upset with Frenchman Tsonga's killer serve eliminating world #3 Roger Federer from the 2011 Wimbledon Championship - after Federer had a 2 set lead. Unlikely result with the final score favouring Tsonga - 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 (stay current with all scores at Wimbledon on tennis-results.org)

I'm betting on the wimbledon men's final as I do every year - this time I think it's gotta be Tsonga or Nadal (probably the latter - but he's had a foot injury - so anything can happen).

Aside from the tennis itself - I've yet to see one of these legendary Wimbledon streakers. If nobody does it by the final I guess I'll have to pay £3000 for a ticket and do it myself! Stay tuned - you may see me streaking on centre court in 3D! New balls please! Not bingo balls either! :)

Payoneer and Clickbank

2011-05-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since ClickBank affiliate network has proudly announced that would start a collaboration with payoneer. It has too long, and many CB affiliates suffer from it! Clickbank follow their own announcement and make it happen. It can help us affiliates and can help clickbank in attracting a far broader audience.

My own new project

2011-05-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

Hey - I started recently writing for perfume store reviews and made a first template of a website. What do you think of it? I think it can be a great comparison between all perfume stores.

Cya soon!

Cheltenham Festival is here again

2011-03-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

In Horseracing in the UK, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest and most prestigious meeting in the national hunt race calendar. Over £500 mill is wagered during this week of races, and prizes are second only to the Grand National. Of course it's a great day out for the family too I am assured!

So lucky old me has been fortunate enough to win tickets for the cheltenham festival tomorrow (thorough a caption competition - perhaps my luck changed because my only ever previous claim to being "lucky" was winning a Ski Holiday, it's next month!) - so I'll be heading to Cheltenham on the train and hopefully we'll have a sunny day to to accompany my free beer tab!

Expect a trip report and some pics of sweaty horses in a subsequent blog post! Horses , odds and anything to do with and sportsbetting is an alien world to me, however I do like a good day trip [and free beer!] and I'll try anything once!

Are children nowadays smarter

2011-02-24T04:12:00.000-08:00

I have been hearing a few opposite opinions in regards to the intelligence of todlers and children nowadays. Some researches claim that the quick penetration of technology has made children smarter as there's much more information accessible for them, whilst other claim that automation of some processes makes various parts of the brain numb.

I personally think both are right. The humankind is ever-eveloving. The men of today, in the western world, has no need for certain skills that previous generations have wielded. So, the adaptive human brain makes room and leaves one aptitude out in order to improve others.

Today's children aren't more , or less intelligent, they are just different.

Destructive earthquake hits NZ

2011-02-24T03:56:00.000-08:00

If you have been residing or travelling Mars in the last few days or month you must have not heard of the earthqake that shook the southern Island of NZ. There over 100 reported confirmed deaths and it is expected that it would end up being much more than that.

I have been reading about the sad, sad, incident in many small-scale websites which were opened for comments and I was absolutley shocked that many religious fanatics claim that it's god wrath hitting upon those who were unloyal - a punishment for blashpemy, so to speak.

I have very little respect to preachers and even less to those who abuse such unfortunae situation to spread hate. I thought that these people wield harmony, carrying messiah's message of being more humane towards one another - but this people prove again that they are doing it for a sole purpose - getting more suckers to join the circle, that could preach to others and abuse their misfurtune.

Omg Omg - I finally won something: A Ski Holiday!

2011-02-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Although I am very lucky and happy in my life, I don't feel like I am particularly "lucky" at contests, raffles, draws and the like. I used to make an okay living as an poker player player (my biggest win about $12,000), but i wasn't particularly lucky. The only thing I ever won in my life was a TURKEY when i was 6 (my mother put my name on a raffle ticket, and my number came in).

Anyway, last year I went on a last minute ski holiday, joined the mailing list of the company offering the holiday etc, and today I got an email saying i won their end of season free ski trip in their raffle. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I had already planned a trip to the beautiful city of Prague, so this is an extra holiday for nothing! Love it!

So I'm off to France in April to stay FOR FREE in a luxury last minute ski deal with full board, 3 meals a day, as much wine as you can drink at dinner time, and free flights/accommodation too. Really looking forward to dusting off my ski-gear to get some boarding done in les Alpes. The resort has some top class facilities and is a popular family ski holidays destination.

Photography to follow! :)

Romania is now a center for trafficking, says CNN

2011-02-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

This news items speaks about trafficking in Romania and was selected one of the top articles in their Europe section. I agree with the choice and could honestly say that one of a few articles that deals the bold truth in the eye and says what is a rather well established fact for years - that Romania is currently an intersection between the east and west of Europe and is the #1 trafficking capital of the world.

Did facebook take Muybarak down?

2011-02-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

I heard some opinions (this is a selection of a few) about what was the role of Facebook in the latest happenings in Egypt. I think the internet as a whole allowed people to communicate and they have done so priorly to the Facebook times. Sure Facebook was the tool but I am certain forums and local sites written in Arabic could claim to have at least the same affect.

Twitter to warn professional athletes

2011-02-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

CNN says Twitter has recently sent out a warning toward professional EPN athletes. That's a rather self-righteous and somewhat overly P.C as far as I see it. It's an internal UK football organization thing and nothing to do with Twitter. People mock others everyday and no one else gets warned.

UK Law firm tries to extort random internet users

2011-02-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

It has been reported that a UK law firm has sent a mass email to internet users claiming they will "sue them" for downloading pornographic content. I was pretty shocked when I read this news:
a. Thinking pornography is completely legit.
b. Amazed that some UK firm has the nerve to extort innocent people, who are most likely porn users like most of the adults on this planet, and probably don't want the whole neighborhood to hear about that.

I would say this is one of the harshest forms of extortion. These people should sit in jail for a long time.

The JCpenny incident - NYtimes and Google harm JCpenny

2011-02-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

The NYtimes published an article about unethical methods of SEO (search engine optimization) and basically called out JCPenny who used such methods.

First off, as an expert in the web marketing industry I have to say: most sites use such methods to increase their visibility. This is nothing unusual, really.

The fact NYTimes decided to call out JCPenny and practically force Google to react seems a bit odd to me. They could have chosen almost any other website on the internet and show it does correlate with Google's webmaster guidance, but they chose JCPenny and even monitored how Google will harm them as a response to the article that was submitted to the head of the spam team Matt Cutts.

My bet is that they hold a secret interest to do so.The big retail stores that compete with JCPenny have probably earned millions just in the last months since JC dropped in ranks. Like always - in business, no one does anyone favors for free.

Is Google buying twitter?

2011-02-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Numerous people that hang around the webmaster world forum have claim that Google is currently "sniffing around" to see if Twitter is up for purchase.

After Orkut has miserably failed (you might have not even heard about it being Google's social network) - they now aim at the world 2nd largest social network and one of the top 5 trafficked sites in the world. This makes perfect sense to me and I concur it would be a wise move upon Google's business development team.

The problem with such move is that Google would integrate social signals from Twitter into the search results, i.e: twits mentioning websites will be counted as links and improve a website's visibility. That is currently being practiced already by Google to some extent, but when they gather the full data from Twitter, results will be changed dramatically. Millions of website owners who have not been focusing on Social media effort will have their assets harmed, at least to some extent, and even if they were doing some Facebook promotions - it will not be credited as much as twitter. That could and should cause an immigration from the love-able and much better Facebook towards dull, uninteresting, Twitter.

harassment is no joke

2011-02-12T07:04:00.001-08:00

Two days ago I heard a story that kept me up all night. A friend's of mine daughter opened her Facebook account, at the whooping age of 7, and added her classmates and family there. So far so good. It has vastly improved her reading skills and her parents were very pleased she uses the internet for something bit more advanced than "create your online Barbi" apps. After a few days in, she received a message from an adult whom she doesn't know who started interrogating her and trying to acquire some details off of her (these were not disturbing questions in the sexual sense of the word, but still - make you suspect what this 30 year old adult has to do with her).

Her dad called me, the online wise and I referred him to Online reverse trace.info - where you can find someone's details and phone # with a simple search (it involved a few dollars to register there, nothing too expensive when it comes to your daughter's protection anyhow). He found the person, who was foolishly using his real name, and called him by phone - facing him with what he just found. Needless to say, the person had no good explanation, and he was so terrified that he promptly removed her off of his friends list. Problem solved but this still scares the hell outta me.

Obama showing how brilliant of a self marketer he is

2011-02-08T03:31:00.000-08:00

Obama speaks "openly" in foxnews and showing once again he is the master when it comes to promoting himself and his administration. He has done a bold move, spoke openly and in his usual, charming, manner... once again, you can say a lot about his acts or lack of action as a president but no one will take these skills from him.

Instability in Egypt

2011-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Looks like the veteran president Mubarak is going home or at least is being called by the people of his nation to step off the stage and make room for a new, real democrat (in the sense of being of supporter of Democracy and not being a member of one party or the other).

The thing is that such scenarios are abused by people of interest that have deep rooted desire to reign the country. The ones that fulfill such desires are usually the ones that offer a quick and non realistic solution. The ones that are supposedly representing the nation. Extremist like the national socialist party in Germany of the 1930's, or Muslim extremists in nowadays world (same as happened in Iran).
These are Muslim that will turn away from the states in terms of national affairs, will support terrorism against Israel and wouldn't keep the borders somewhat safe upon their part of it. These are Muslims that use religion as a devastating bargaining chip in the game of politics.

Should anyone interfere with Egypt's domestic affairs - I strongly believe we must, even if we will be acting against the will of the people, which is morally the most important factor there is, we will find ourselves in a world that consists of more blood shed which opposes another human right - the right to live in a peaceful way.

The greater good is just a theoretical, rhetorical term - it's OUR (the western countries residents) good that should come into being right now.

The richest nations poverty rate

2011-01-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

This great article speaks about the measurements the USA, the world's richest country, used to define poverty. No one seems to find the logical flaw in that statement. The world's richest country in the year of 2011 should be MEASURED by the amount of poverty in it, and not the other way around!
A country that is still in process of regulating a proper health insurance program for its citizens, raises some questions in regards to its advancement.

About the article itself - 70 years ago the world people would've said that in nowadays world poverty exists only in Africa, and not even that since most of the world, including the western world has experienced hunger in some form. Poverty in such form does not exists in the USA, according to my knowledge, but I think the bar should be set at what the average US citizen can afford himself - debts, properties and income should determine poverty and it should be handled in a way it would cease to exist within 5 years, because such things are within the power of the "world's richest nation".

Anti Protester

Website dealing with..

2011-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

I came across this article about the big brother on bbc and was wondering, what you, the reader, feel about well respected websites (I hope this blog will become one somewhere in time) publishing pieces on... let's just say... minor and shallow issues.

I personally think that major websites should focus on their main core business, or deal with other business that seem a bit more "respectful" or somehow similar in content. If I add gambling posts in my blog, will its prestige wear off to some extent)?

Google results diversity fail in sports betting

2011-01-26T06:12:00.001-08:00

I wanted to place a bet the tennis the other day, so I googled to find the best tennis betting odds for the Nadal / Tomic match. I must say I expected some diversity in the search results - there are thousands of excellent sports / betting resources available online, and when I submit a query to google, I expect to see at least 8 different web-sites to show up on page one for my query.

The result of Query

Google personalizes everyone's searches, sure - but letting one entity rank in 80% of the spots for a given query seems is a fail. The site in question is served via a number of similarly branded domains, but with different ccTLDs.

“We want diversity of results. This is something we talk about a lot internally and believe in. We want there to be variety of sources and opinions in the Google results. We want them in personalized search to be skewed to the user, but we don’t want that to mean the rest of the web is unavailable to them.”

- Google product manager Johanna Wright

hopefully Google and other search engines will plug this problem (by stripping out domains owned by the same entities, with same / very similar content but on different CCTLDs.

Fragrance tips & utilization

2011-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Some fashion magazines like Fashion.com and AskMen and personal pages like Squidoo women fragrance allow us to get information where it's already mashed up in way we can easily feed ourselves with it, and digest it deeply into our stomach.

I represent as certain part of the population which is actually very pleased with it. We want to remain quite fashionable and dress according to society's recommendations, but we hardly want to spend energy and focus on building up a unique flavor. All fragrances smell nice to me, I would buy anything someone would tell me. In that sense, this articles, especially ones combined with a buy-now link.

Some lists like This best skincare products 2011 helped me compile an easy list with several clicks and provided me with items that would keep some grooming. I don't care for specific brands and I don't read the reviews. I'll buy whatever, and I'm proud of it. I can afford it because I know when I am going to buy and I am NOT TEMPTED to buy anything while being online for other purposes.

Anti protester

Muslim refugees in Thailand

2011-01-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

Cnn reports that there are 67 refugees from Mianamar who arrived by boats to Thailand, claiming they are escaping persecution in their homeland.

Thailand is now in a process of checking how to act according to international rules, but what really happen there? Thailand is far from being a western country, and even those - the US, western Europe and other rich entities around the world refuse to accept immigrants and shows little tolerance towards refugees.

It is a sad fact but countries are still driven from self centered motives and do not provide the proper shelter for the people who need it more than everyone.

Barack Obama's innovative approach on YouTube

2011-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

US president Barack Obama replies to YouTube.com members' requests and questions on a periodic basis and proves he is truly an innovative and a new president to the US in more than one way. The race and age issues has been spoken of in many occasions already and nothing much has to be said about it, but the approach that he is showing and the fact he is pushing towards a new world of direct communication with the voter proves he is truly a remarkable change from the prior person who held the same position.

I sense this is more of a PR trick than anything else, because thousands of questions are processed into a questionnaire or an interview, and somehow I feel the harsh question that the person typing from home can ask, or claims he can make, will not pass the heavy censorship. So we are getting the same answers we get on TV in a different media.

Is this a marketing approach more than anything else? I surely do think so.

Anti Protester

Russian suicide bomb

2011-01-25T01:06:00.000-08:00

The suicide bombing in the Russian airport has been covered from every possible angle during the latest 24h in the media. It's a very sad occasion but unfortunately not rare within Russia, and in general. Suicide bombings are difficult to cope with, hard to avoid and very taxing in terms of damage. Nothing takes more lives than carrying an explosive to a major airport, and thanks god that it wasn't a bigger, or a more powerful, bomb. If there is little to no security in that airport like claimed by experts (where were they before it ticked off? )... it could have been much worse.

The thing is that if you keep the moral aspects aside, and you look at things from the point of view of the oppressed party, the one that feel it has been treated unjustly, and you understand how strong are the motives and how important is the cause, you can almost relate to suicide bombers. From their part it's ALWAYS a wise decision to say something aloud using this life devastating method. Other means aren't quite as useful and not attract the media as quickly.

In order to handle people with extreme point of views, fundamentalists, people who ignore the moral point of view and claim that the cause makes it right, we have to take extreme measures to fight them. They are willing to spare their lives in order make their point, and we have to put such a harsh punishment in such a scenario that would persuade them otherwise.

There's only one soft spot in every man's belly, especially one who feels he is doing something for the good of his family, people or nation. You have to make sure they know that if they do it, their group, their family and their people are going to suffer. A bombing made by Chechnyan groups (it's probably the case) should end up in retaliation of Russia, bombing Chechnya with very little mercy. They should know that bombing 10 Russian citizen equals a retaliation where 1,000 are murdered in return, with the same aggressive, beast-like manner.

It's not just. It's not even close to it. But this is what reality taught us, you can only fight fire with fire.

The Anti Protester

Free people records search, is that so

2011-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.zabasearch.com/ is one of the top ranking sites for public records search terms and that is because of it's age and incredible amount of ingoing links which Google search algorithm counts (the number of referring sites that vouched for website). While in reality this site provide a rather non-existent "free search" and refers users to another website where they have to pay a membership fee for their records search.

Now, I gotta be sincere here. I have site of my own like Public records searches that do request a membership fee (my site is referring to a program with 4 days of REAL free trial, but let's put that aside). I can understand why a company that provides a certain data would require fee for the provided info. I can understand that the company pays $x,xxx per month to a company that supplies the data to it, and there must be some kind of a business model where it's worth the while of the company to provide a certain service.

What I cannot understand or comprehend is why having a deceitful title and description can help the company. Sure, more people click this result in Google expecting to see something which is clearly not there.
This is marketing 101 in my opinion - explain your future users what they are going to get in your website. Don't be subtle and use a very positive adjectives to describe your services but there's no need to promise something which you cannot keep.

Anti Protester.

Use of steroids in sports - is it still a debate really?

2011-01-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

NBCnews sports section is putting a so-called serious question to a public debate. Should the authorities come after steroids in sports where there are already presumed steroid users in the hall of fame.

I have to ask, are you for real? Is this some kind of a joke? This is a great, comprehensive article, but the details laid in it aren't precise. According to my knowledge and understanding, everyone still do use steroids. They use off-seasons to "bulk up" 10lbs of muscle. That's not exactly a normal pace for acquisition of further muscle. This is 8 week cycle of mild steroids in low dosages. Nothing is sure in life but life and death, and we are talking about professional athletes, but I would seriously doubt they wouldn't use such an advantage which is UNDETECTABLE. Once you are off cycle, you use some natural Testosterone boosters and go steadily and strongly back into the game, cleaner than ever.

I am in favor of using steroids in an open manner. These are drugs that brought us best of our human accomplishments in sports. An open and wise use would risk only those who want to sustain such risk for their professional, well deserving, athlete careers.

Let people decide what they are going to do with their bodies.

The Anti Protester.

The Nigerian scam

2011-01-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

This is an open question for the readers - how many of you had a supposed or even several supposed rich Nigerian uncles who inherited all of their belongings to you, a person whom they never met or shouldn't have any blood connection too.

Wise people would assume something is awfully wrong with such scenario and would dump it straight into their junk box, but some people, I can assume elders and perhaps people who just break into the virtual world. ScamBusters is a really great site and has written a very good piece about it. You'd be surprised to know how many people fell into this scam.

Anti Protester.

Google's localized results - I am afraid to say but I hate it!

2011-01-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Google started building a firm base of her algorithm based on a certain idea in mind - people like localized results. People searching for pizza would prefer pizza delivery services in their area, and if we could improve that and show them exactly where it is, we will earn a whole lot more and improve our search results.

Based upon that concept the organic search results changed dramatically (some during mayday update). Google maps were added, as well as Google's places and more.

It's a pretty simple concept. In first glance, it seemed perfectly logical to me. Then I started looking for queries in English (because local results usually SUCK) in google.com, with my non American IP. The average, non experienced, user would not know how results change when your IP-detected Google still has results according to his automatically picked language.

These results are absolute spam. Strong English sites are mere shadows of their original local, site. Some sites build by locals, hosted on the a local host, rank despite their low quality content. Also people who has mediocre English sites and linked to it from their network of local sites do well. Who will remain out? all the relevant results of course.

Mr Cutts, for your attention.

Anti Protester.

Google's fight with spam

2011-01-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

Barry Schwartz Wrote in his site searchengineland.com that Google has an improved algorithm to fight web-spam. I am watching the SERPs closely recently and I have noticed that there are less of a non-relevant results but still it seems like a futile fight. Matt Cutts, the head of Google's Spam-fight group and a senior speaker for the company has provided the amazing data that 80% of the new webpages to be found by Google's crawler (/spider) is content which posses of a low value.

Spam is only common in certain, sometimes dark, areas of the web, where a lot of big money is. There's a very low likeliness that it would be found someplace else and especially for information queries in most fields. So, since the web-spam group of Google consists of 1000's of people, why wouldn't they go manually over the top results and sort it out a little. I was assuming they are doing just that, but I am proved to find it's the other way around. Superb results that use to be in Google's first page are now gone, replaced by direct domain names with low quality content (a rewrite of generic templates of such sites, on most cases).

Using English when it's not your mother tongue

2011-01-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

Why would someone not use his natural, from-birth, language to convey what he has to say, and instead would revert into the usage of English?
Some Americans, Brits and Aussies find offense when someone is using "their" language for their needs. "Let them use a language that they are completely fluent at", is often used in such debate.

Well, as you might have noticed from the content of this blog, I don't possess of perfect English. I try to perfect it from day to day but it would still never be quite the same where the daily usage is of another language (won't tell you where I'm from because then you would assume, wrongly if I may say, that I am biased in my opinions).

I am using English to reach a larger audience. The internet has given us, the artists an opportunity to convey our words to a larger audience, given we are putting the right marketing strategies into being.

I chose English for you, my readers. I come with added values, vast understanding of the online marketing business, been around and know plenty. I come with a platform dear friends, I come with revolutionary ideas and if you don't like it, you can just hop to other great sites that I am fond of, using this ------> sidebar . They all are written by fluent writers, believe me.

Israel Palestine leaked documents

2011-01-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

The UK BBC reports that the Palestinians deny that the leaked documents are indeed true.

I would assume that this amount of documents, published by a respectable network like Al Jazeera, is not likely to be made-up.

Can we learn something from this strong denial? We most certainly can. The split governmental situation we see in Gaza, where both parties have their own "areas of effect" and none can claim that they make up the calls is leading every process to a dead end.

If the prime minister or his surroundings don't feel like disclaiming such details, because they obviously fear the public reaction, it means that the offer wasn't valid from the very first moment. Like past agreement that has been made with the reigning party in the west bank and the Gaza strip, this one was bound to fail as well, and Israel was wise by not getting sucked into such a redundant proccess.

AntiProtester.

AnitProtester is back alive

2011-01-24T07:17:00.001-08:00

The Antiprotester blog, which was abandoned for quite a while now, is back AT LARGE. This blog will deal with political issues, religious and spiritual issues as well as website reviews and promotional posts (one has to make a living, doesn't he).

Please note, this blog is not owned by the previous owner who is, as far as I can tell, a well known journalist. I will not be using any of the content he made. If you are looking for him it is suggested you search Google in order to find his main, still active, website.

I hope your stay here will be enjoyable.

The Anti Protester

Adopting the Perfect Pet

2011-01-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

Congratulations! You've made the decision to bring some pet-love into your home. However, there are a lot of different pets for you to choose from. Choosing the perfect pet for your home, lifestyle and preferences is extremely important. Here are a few things to consider which will help you to choose the perfect pet.

What's Your Schedule?

One of the first things that you want to consider is the amount of time you will be able to devote to caring for your pet. Some pets require time-intensive training, and may need several hours to spend with you each day. Other pets only require minimal interaction, and for you to keep their feeding/water dishes filled.

How Old Are Your Children?

Children are a huge factor when it comes to choosing the perfect pet. Younger children may not be responsible enough to handle certain pets responsibly. For example, some small rodents may bite small children if they aren't handled gently. Some pets, such as reptiles, can become seriously injured if they are subject to rough handling at the hands of a child. For younger children, stick with pets that aren't easily injured, and won't bite when provoked. For older children, you will have a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to choosing the perfect pet.

How Big is Your Home?

Some pets will require a significant amount of room in order to be happy. For example, many people don't realize that at the very minimum, they may need at least 200 square feet for each cat in their household. Small pets that are kept in cages will not require much space, though you may need to give them a bigger cage so that they get enough exercise.

Does Anyone in Your Home Have Allergies?

Allergies are a huge factor for many people when they're choosing the perfect pet for their home. Many people mistakenly believe that they are allergic to the “fur” of animals. In fact, pet allergies are most commonly caused by the dander of certain pets. Dander is the dry microscopic particles of skin that are shed by many pets on a regular basis. Since dander is so small and light, it can cause immediate and long-lasting reactions in people with allergies. If someone in your home has an allergy to pets, consider adopting a pet that won't produce allergic reactions (such as a reptile or amphibious pet).

Jamaican Patois - is it a language

2010-01-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

A lot of linguistics and other so called experts claim that the Jamaican tongue is hardly a language but, as most Americans claim, is a "bad English".

Well, I have news for you guys. Non-standard doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong or askew, it's just what it is - another language with high similarity to Americanized English (which Brits claim is "bad English" as well).

The Jamaican patois is currently revolving and that's why there's very little documentation of it. Some parts of the great Island speak in a lingo which is very much different from other parts, but that's the nature of languages. I wouldn't know much when a Brit from the country-side will open a discussion with me, not to mention Irish-men.

Sites like Jumieka.com(That's how Jamaica should be written in Patois) are a rare pearl that shows you that Patois is a real language with grammatical rules and all the other related aspects.

Build your free webpage

2008-01-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have been recently asked by many people where they can start building their personal page or business page. I was a bit shocked from the question, living in the online world for so long and disregarding the average person low knowledge and understanding of the internet. If you do own a business do yourself a favor and learn some online marketing. It will do you well, it doesn't matter what's your business.

Here are a few great suggestions for opening your first page :

Squidoo is great, easy to use, great community, excellent for SEO and always my favorite pick. This platform BlogSpot is a great choice as well. Powered by Google, loved by Google easy to use, but yet the blogs look... well see for yourself.
Other options include the freebie Weebly or Webs.

If you are business owner, or even just the average American person (Wiki's list of household income in the states) - you can afford yourself.

A. Sparing some hours and learning basic HTML.
B. Learning how to install wordpress (it's automatic in some hosts just with a click o a mouse).
C. Buying a domain (.info costs 2$ a year, a .com is around 11).
D. Buying a hosting plan (another 4$ a month).

Within 10 hours and $10 a month you can make yourself a website. From there, it's up to you how much you improve it.