Petey's
Pipeline E-zine
Issue #33
June 19, 2006
Contents
Business
First To SEO or not to SEO . . . that is the Question!
Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
The Case for Hemp Legalization: Renewable
Fuels
Write Thinking Commonly Confused
or Misused Words (Part IV)
Business
First (Editorial)
To
SEO or not to SEO . . . that is the Question!
Like
the technology that makes doing business on the Internet possible,
methods for conducting, advertising and promoting Internet businesses
change with alarming frequency. Just when you think you've got
everything figured out, everything changes and you find yourself
starting over, scrambling to compete against other Web business
owners who, for the most part, find themselves in the same boat.
Trying to do business online brings a whole new level of meaning
to the term "rat race."
Nowhere
is this truer than in trying to maintain a top Google page rank.
Back in the day, it was enough to incorporate meta tags into
your Web site's source code, add some keyword-rich text to your
Web pages, and exchange links with a few relevant Web sites.
Do it the way Google wanted it done and you were good to go.
I know this to be true because that's exactly what I did to
get the Perfect Text Web site, of which Petey's Pipeline E-zine
is an integral part, into 1st, 2nd, 8th (through a 2nd-party
Web site). 12th, 22nd and 28th positions, for selected keywords,
in the Google page rank system.
But
that was before December of 2003, before Google switched to
its current method of ranking Web pages. After Google changed
its methodology, Perfect Text could not be found among the top
200 Web sites.
It's
been about a year since I redesigned the Perfect Text Web site,
which had a Google PR3 rank at the beginning of the project.
Today, despite having added more than 60 pages and 130 new link
partners to the site, Perfect Text still does no better than
a PR3. It's also worth noting that when I did a Google search,
today, using the same set of keywords and keyword phrases that
I always use, Perfect Text didn't turn up on the first ten pages
of results. Last week, it came up #67.
There
was a time when I felt comfortable telling my readers how to
go about optimizing their Web sites to achieve good search results.
After all, I'd done it myself, and I felt confident that anyone
could do the same. But that's no longer true. I'm no longer
sure what it takes to succeed with the Google search engine.
For
now, I have other things—at times, I would argue better
things—to do with my time than to chase after Google's
every whim. To me, it's simply not worth the time, effort and
aggravation, especially when Google (or any other search engine,
for that matter) has the power to change the rules whenever
it wants to.
Google
will either come back to me or it won't; a top page rank is
no longer one of my highest priorities. I've closed the book
on SEO, having chosen to devote most of my time to writing and
editing. However, if SEO is important to you, let me recommend
Jill Whalen, of HighRankings.com,
and Danny Sullivan, of Search
Engine Watch. They're two of the best SEO experts currently
plying the trade.
• • •
For
an occasional fix of insight and opinion, read Petey's Pipeline
Blog. Check it out at http://peteys-pipeline.blogspot.com/.
Feel
free to respond to blog postings at any time. Whether you agree
or disagree, your thoughtful, carefully considered comments
are welcome. However,
anything suggestive of a temper tantrum, psychotic episode or
hysteria will be deleted.
Running
a spelling check on your text before making posts is strongly
encouraged. Perfect Text, Petey's
Pipeline E-zine and Petey's
Pipeline Blog exist, in part, to make all of us better writers.
Let's not defeat that purpose by being hasty or becoming careless.
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
The
Case for Hemp Legalization: Renewable Fuels
by Phil Hanson
In
a future where fossil fuels have run out, people will depend
on renewable resources to power their existence. Renewable fuels,
primarily biodiesel and ethanol, can be derived from any number
of organic sources, including algae, hemp, corn, soy beans,
rapeseed, peanuts, jojoba, kudzu, wheat and oat straw, switchgrass,
lawn clippings, rendered animal fats—virtually any organic
matter with high oil or cellulose content.
Of
the renewable options, algae seem best suited as a feedstock
for biodiesel. Studies indicate that specially designed ponds
flooded with sea water, covering 10 million acres of desert,
could produce enough biodiesel, annually, to replace all of
the fossil fuel currently used in the U.S. An analysis of research
data shows it to be cost-effective, but more research needs
to be done to determine environmental impacts.
Cannabis
hemp, with its high concentration of cellulose, is an ideal
feedstock for cellulosic alcohol production. A prodigious producer
of biomass, hemp yields more than four times as much cellulose
per acre in annual rotation over 20 years than would the same
acreage were it planted with trees.
Unfortunately,
hemp lags behind other plant species in terms of technological
and scientific research. Banned by the U.S. Government under
the flimsiest of pretexts, hemp was effectively removed from
the free market economy—a condition that's persisted
for nearly 70 years, much to the detriment of the environment.
Regardless
of what crops provide the feedstock for biodiesel and cellulosic
alcohol production, it all boils down to a matter of economic
incentives. Growers will favor crops that return the highest
amounts of money in relation to the amounts of money, time,
energy, and other resources invested in order to grow them.
Ethanol
producers will justify their use of particular feedstocks according
to a slightly different set of criteria. Availability is a big
factor, as are unit cost (including transportation) vs. unit
yield, market demand and market prices.
Manufacturers
that use various plant byproducts will also help determine which
plants become the preferred sources of feedstock for biofuels
production. Their criteria will be essentially the same as that
of ethanol producers, but might include plant versatility as
an additional deciding factor.
Cannabis
hemp seems well situated to compete favorably on a level playing
field in open markets providing that the necessary research
can be undertaken within a reasonable time frame. This, of course,
depends on the people who can most benefit from hemp legalization
(almost all of us) overcoming ignorance of and aversion to marijuana
and speaking out, with one voice, on behalf of cannabis hemp
legalization.
When
the people lead, politicians will follow.
Copyright
© 2006 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Write
Thinking
Commonly
Confused or Misused Words (Part IV)
Often,
when writers confuse word meanings due to similarities of spelling
or sound, they unintentionally use the wrong word. The resulting
misuse of a word introduces ambiguity and confusion into one's
writing and calls the writer's credibility into question. You
can avoid these embarrassing mistakes by becoming familiar with
the words that frequently cause problems. Learning the spelling,
meaning and accepted usage of these commonly confused and misused
words will make you a better, more credible writer.
Here
are some new examples to raise your level of expertise:
allusion
(an indirect reference) His remark was an allusion to
corporate malfeasance.
illusion
(an optical misinterpretation, a wrong idea) The magician's
trick was a clever illusion.
• • •
anxious
(having a degree of anxiety or fear) The student pilot appeared
anxious when the flight instructor told him to take the
controls.
eager
(joyful anticipation) The class valedictorian was eager
to give her speech.
• • •
avenge
(implies a moral intention to right a wrong) He swore to avenge
the assassination of his brother's character.
revenge
(inflicts punishment for insult or injury) She vowed to get
revenge against her attacker.
• • •
complement
(refers to things that work well together) A full complement
of tools will make the repair job easier.
compliment
(praise) She accepted the compliment with humility and
grace.
• • •
eminent
(distinguished or prominent) An eminent actor and former
race car driver, Paul Newman is co-owner of the Newman-Haas
Racing Team.
imminent
(about to happen) An eruption of Mt. Merapi seems imminent.
• • •
precede
(to go before) A motorcycle escort will precede the funeral
procession.
proceed
(to go on or continue) The military convoy will proceed
directly to the staging area.
Copyright
© 2006 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
The
articles appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information
believed to be true at the time of publication.
Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher
assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or
efficacy of any information, products or services that are submitted,
advertised or rendered by contributors to Petey's Pipeline E-zine.
While we make every effort to screen out scam artists and bogus
offers, you should still do your homework. Caveat emptor!
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