As if you needed any further reason to be super careful about what you say and do on any publicly viewable website (sexting is out), the EFF has released some documents that show how law enforcement and other governmental agencies are trained to use social media sites like Facebook and Google Street View to research and investigate people. And before you get your dander up, it’s all very legal, because all of the information that they are using is publicly available.
The IRS should be commended for its detailed training that clearly prohibits employees from using deception or fake social networking accounts to obtain information. Its policies generally limit employees to using publicly available information. The good example set by the IRS is in stark contrast to the U.S. Marshalls and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Neither organization found any documents on social networking sites in response to EFF’s request suggesting they do not have any written policies or restrictions upon the use of these websites.
So, if you’re going to do something that is possibly illegal, it’s best if you kept your mouth shut about it on social media sites. Explaining how you exploited a loophole and “found” an extra $10,000 tax return is likely not a very good idea in the first place. Now, we know Big Brother is watching.
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I was just reading this: Chile Quake moves city more than 10 feet over at CNN and couldn’t help but share.
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked the west coast of Chile last month was violent enough to move the city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west and the capital, Santiago, about 11 inches to the west-southwest, researchers said.
10 feet! Can you imagine? We all walk through our lives with certain preconceived ideas. One of those would be the location of our home town. Sure, 10 feet isn’t much, but it’s an entire town! And it’s 10 feet further to the west than it was before!
And if that isn’t enough to blow your mind, read this:
NASA scientists have also credited the quake with shifting the Earth’s axis enough to create shorter days. The change is negligible, but still worth noting: Each day should be 1.26 microseconds shorter, according to preliminary calculations. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.
Yep. Now it’s affecting the length of the day and the rotation of the earth.
Gives me a whole new realization of how powerful earth quakes can really be. And makes me glad I live in a relatively fault free, earthquake free zone.
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Everybody has ‘em. Little relationship nuggets that they swear by that lead to happiness and utopia. (Nevermind that they are invariably flawed.) And just like dating, SEO and marketing have some rules that are better lived by.
- The Grass is Always Greener: Remember that hot twitter star (@lisabarone) that you had your eye on? How your infatuation got in the way of your relationship? Then, when the relationship was over, that star wasn’t so bright? Sometimes it’s better to be focused on what you’ve got rather than the hot new thing.
- It Still Pays to be Nice: Unless you really are the leather wearing, Harley riding, Marlboro Red smoking, bad boy of marketing, it still pays to be the nice guy on the block. Nobody likes an a$$hat. No doubt, there is money in blackhat, but white/gray hat is still the right thing and will get you further. Besides, do you want to be looking over your shoulder all the time for the father with the shotgun?
- Chocolate Helps: Just because you’re the nice guy doesn’t mean that a little bribery isn’t in order now and again.
- Cut Your Losses: Sometimes the relationship is just doomed. Sometimes, no matter what you do, the two of you are just not meant to be together. And, while it probably is a bit taboo in dating, selling your site is an option.
- Pay Attention: Sitting at your PC and gaming all the time is a surefire way to get dumped. It’s also a good way to not get anywhere, and not sell anything.
Treat your business like a good date and you’ll have success most of the time. Remember though; Sometimes it just isn’t a match. Until you decide that, put your full effort into the relationship and make it bloom!
I’ve been using my Blackberry for almost a full year now and for the majority of that time, I’ve been using an application called twitterberry to access my twitter stream. It works, but has some major failings for me. Most importantly, it doesn’t allow for multiple twitter accounts. Not that big of a deal for [...]
Jonathan Volk just released a GREAT primer on Affiliate Marketing.
It’s also FREE, so check it out:
http://www.jonathanvolk.com/affiliate-marketing-guide/
If you couldn’t make it to Maui (or are not spending $5k/month on Google yet) no worries.
Perry is releasing a DVD version of Ultra-Advanced Adwords Seminar in Maui, but for a limited time only. Don’t worry this is WAAAY cheaper than the $5,000 you’d have to fork over to attend the Seminar.
ALSO, as a reader of my blog you’ll get a $100 discount.
Here’s a sneak peak at who’s speaking in Maui:
- Richard Stokes, president of AdGooRoo.com – Lessons from spying on Google
- Amit Mehta, co-founder of PPC Classroom – Affiliate Marketing
- Shelley Ellis, Zen Master of the Google Content Network
- Glenn Livingston of Rocket Clicks – Adwords Strategies
- Rob Sieracki of Rocket Clicks – Adwords Strategies
- Jonathan Mizel on Media Buys – Paid Traffic Sources OUTSIDE of Google
- Bryan Todd and Drew Bischof on Facebook advertising
Disclaimer : Yes, I’ll receive an affiliate commission if you buy through my link.
Like many of you out there, I turned Google Buzz on the second I was able to give it a go. When Google releases a product, it’s a bit like when Apple releases something new. Everybody lines up around the block and camps out for days on the concrete to get their hands [...]
I’ve heard Jamie Oliver’s name once or twice, but usually related to his cooking shows. I don’t know that I have ever actually seen any of them. He was recently at TED and gave an amazing presentation on Obesity and the actions that he is taking to fight it.
(*note: The video is a bit larger [...]
Part of the reason that it’s been so awfully quiet around here is that I’ve been struggling a lot with coming up wih content. When I first began writing here, it seemed easy. And in fact, it usually was. Now? Not so much.
What changed? Me. I think. I used to be ok with trolling around [...]
Check out this HILARIOUS video my good friend Peter Dunbar put together:
LOL