Day 107: SBI bubbles web-site to the top

I have not written anything on this blog for sometime because I've been busy constructing a new web-site called www.short-stories-help-children.com.

Back in November of 2006 I came across an opportunity to acquire an existing web-site that had a strong following in the Greater Toronto Area. I made my proposal, and then set out to locate software or a service that would help me design a portal to direct traffic to the viable components within the prospective web-site.

I soon discovered Site Built-It from SBI. With it I could construct the portal I needed to target the web-site, but I had not acquired it yet. What to do? I chose to study Site Build-It as deeply as I could, check referring sites et cetera until I decided I had better get my feet wet. Then I figured.. 'Why drive traffic to a failing local website when I could talk to the world'. I picked an albeit competitive arena in short stories but with a slant to use short stories as a tool for helping children. It has become a layman's guide for parenting and child development. Consequently, I left the local web-site idea alone.

The SBI web-site can be found at SiteSell.com. The founder, Ken Evoy, made various claims like a 100% unconditional guarantee... that your site would get into the Top 3% of world-wide web-sites, as far as Alexa goes... and that SBI 'over-delivers'. All typical marketing hype, to be sure. Or was it?

Well, the 'over-delivers' aspect is evident even before you purchase the inexpensive web-based service. I was able to access the training tutorials before spending a dime, and I was hooked. The amount of expertise and the crafting of the message and techniques are outstanding and you soon feel that the knowledge you acquire is worth far more than the small fee. It truly over-delivers.

The guarantee is moot since the over-delivery of information, technology , and advice is seemingly limitless. Anyone claiming that guarantee would simply be mean, spiteful and be the kind to blame someone else for their failures.

And as for the Top 3% promise...well, as of this morning, my 107 day old site has made it to an Alexa ranking of 560,220. That effectively puts it into the Top 1% . The work needed to get there wasn't a walk in the park, but that's not the claim. The service provides the tools and the search engine optimization expertise to support all of your efforts... but you will learn. And you will get excited. I promise.

Third one's a charm

For Katey Sagal that is. The news today is that the ex-co-star on Married.. with Children has had her third baby at the age of 52. I know that's no record but isn't anybody concerned over this.


We know the median age of North America's population is climibing by about one year per year, the last I heard being 39. And, like all other stats moving in a bad direction, this will likely accelerate. So what does this tell us?

Well, first, in about 10 years, half of our population will be over 50. Is that a senior citizen yet. No, then OK, let's say in another 6 years after that, half will be over 60! Happy?

That means that by the time Katey's new baby is able to enter the workforce (if celebrity kids ever do that) his or her tax dollar contributions will have to support an enormous population of seniors requiring health benefits.

We knew years ago that our (Canadian) pension plan was sorrily lacking in foresight. Well, I suspect there will soon be little or no hope for it. Our government's answer is to open the doors to immigrants from countries busting at the seams. Unfortunately that has held the minimum wage down, and raised expenses in our health care system due to fraud.

Bandaids everywhere and it will have to stop, before Katey #3 starts flippin' burgers.

A bug by any other name

There will be more of these unfortunately, but it's all part of life. The new super-bug, or bacterial infection, is called Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or CA-MRSA for short.

It is a bacteria that has mutated over the years to now be even more resistant to anti-biotics than it once was. If you've read any of my earlier articles you may recall that I was once afflicted with the flesh-eating disease. And the CA-MRSA can develop into that if not treated soon enough.

CA-MRSA is not an epidemic but outbreaks have occurred in more and more communities where people might share towels, locker rooms and the like. Originally, found mostly in hospitals, the infection often appears as a growing boil on the extremeties. Basic personal hygiene is your best defense. It it transmitted by touch.

In the big picture, this is not to alarm anyone. It is to keep reminding you that the smallest of enemies may be the most powerful. And they are getting stronger day by day.

Nice Timing

Do you think this is supposed to come as a big surprise? GM set to detail shift to fuel-saving technology.



People have known for decades that the big auto makers could have embarked on meaningful efforts to curtail the use of fossil fuels, even more, that they may have actually squashed several entrepreneurial attempts at new technologies by buying them out and storing the ideas in their vaults.

No, it's no surprise that after a good shake-up in the stock market, coincident with the environmental conference and all the media hype about global warming that one of the big guys would leap at the opportunity.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if the timing is right, let's be sure to look like a hero. Well you're not fooling us!

Lights out

And so it begins. Out of Nairobi Kenya, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist has come up an idea to counter the effects of greenhouse gases said to cause global warming. The notion is that by adding certain pullutants high into the atmosphere, typically sulfates, the earth will reflect more of the sun's heat, allowing the climate to cool.

Now, that in itself sounds a little ironic, since pollutants have been blamed thus far, but I draw your attention to a sentence hidden deep in the article Scientists say pollution may be helpful. Tom Wigley, a senior U.S. government climatologist said "a temporary shield would give political leaders more time to reduce human dependence on fossil fuels". Remember, the U.S. rejected the Kyoto deal.

What happens when you allow more time for something? You use it up! And the U.S. is the biggest user. The other problem, a complex one, is the long term effect this remedy may have intermixed with the gases already present, and the inevitable build up in concentration.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it; but if you broke it, screw it up some more!

Only to live another day

A story today out of the University of Utah, tells of a new potential pain killer.

It comes from the venom of the Conus regious cone snail and compounds from it are said to have been effective in treating pain in terminal cancer patients. Unfortunately, we likely wouldn't see drugs derived from this for up to 10 years.

'Unfortunatley'? Not to sound mean, but really. How long should we keep terminal cancer patients (alive and) pain free. To what end? I don't know anyone in this terrible predicament, and perhaps I would be offended if I did. However, this is yet another example where technology is seemingly driven to prolong life regardless of any possible downside.

If pain didn't serve a useful purpose in nature, it wouldn't exist in the first place.

Just right-click

One of the many phrases the computer age has put upon the lay person. I are not one so it amuses me to no end how an entire culture has evolved in a relatively short period of time. With respect to computer use, I figure the general public can be categorized in four ways.

First, the techno-weenies. They not only use the computer in their day to day work, but probably do all of their own maintenance, installing what they need, have utility programs to keep everything running smoothly, eat at their desk, and maybe shower once in a while.

Second, the gamers and browsers. For them, the computer is a tool that owes them something and using a word-processor or spreadsheet is as tough as it gets. This group is untrainable, and must upgrade a computer simply because it has collected so much unruly junk.

Next, we have the I dunno's. Those who say they know nothing about computers and are mostly right, but are at least humble. Unfortunately, as is stated time and again, they profess to be unable to learn about them as well.

Lastly we have the innocents. Those who don't own one, can't use one and don't care to. Unfortunately for them they still pay their Sears bill at the store and can barely handle an ATM. They are, however, happy! They never got sucked in. No passwords to remember, no metal boxes in the basement that can't be thrown out, no spam, no disconnects, no viruses, and no tennis elbow.

Yes, computers are amazing. My career has revolved around them, and software, so I often wonder what the world would be like without them. It was, after all, only one short lifetime ago that they didn't exist.

You Can Run...

I wrote this in May of 2002. Enjoy.

The great apes gave rise to mankind
I can easily make this thought mine.
As Darwin would say, the strong surely stay
As the weak will be left far behind.

Note the raptor's physique, the bird and its beak.
See how well they intertwine.
If the comet had not, the birds would have bought
Freedom from man as we dine.

We find ourselves at the top of the chain
Mocking a world of gambles and gain.
Take heed lest yee think, man not be on the brink
Of near death by a lesser brain

We toyed with our planet,
Wasting much of it's granite,
But never feeling the pain
Of a creature so small
That within us all
Its effects will drive us insane.

In the Same Vein

Further to What a gas, you might figure, so why tell the story. OK it's predicated on the notion that perhaps I shoudn't have been so lucky.

Had it not been for three varieties of anti-biotics being pumped into me 24/7, I would surely have died a horrible death. These wonder drugs kept me alive to live another day, but is this right?

Our world is over-populated as it is. We put helmets on kids so they can ride bikes. We drink bottled water and have air-bags in our cars. And AIDS... another time. We prolong life only to crowd our living space and mis-treat the elderly.

Anti-bacterial soap and similar products. Don't buy them. They kill bacteria that's good for us and force mutations on the bad bacteria, enabling them to become even stronger. Now a youngster's immune system can't even handle a peanut! Let them swim in the lake and play in the dirt (like we did), if it doesn't kill them immediately, it might make them stronger.

From what I've been told, already our collective ability to make new anti-bacterial agents to fight ever more resistant bacteria, is dwindling.

Technology may help us live longer but eventually may spawn a super-bug that could wipe us all out in days or weeks.

What a gas

Everyone has some bacteria swimming around in the back of their mouths. And sometimes a sore throat can turn into a not so minor strep throat. That can be treated easily.

That is if the bacteria are well behaved. If the little gremlins get loose, look out! Such was my turning point in July of 1994. The day after working several hours in the backyard I forced myself to go to a local clinic, feeling quite dizzy. After a blood test and Tylenol, the doctor dismissed me suggesting I might have Mononucleosis. That evening, my son roused me from a nap only to discover that my mords were wixed, and I was white and clammy. We then discovered I could no longer walk.

Once in emergency and after being seen by two doctors, I blacked out. Apparently, a visiting doctor then took an interest and, after seeing an ominous rash on my back, called the CDC in Atlanta. The diagnosis... Necrotizing Fasciitis, sometimes called Group A Strep Toxic Shock Syndrome, or the Flesh Eating Disease!

In 1994, at least, I learned that only 1 in 7 physicians are able to diagnose the disease. Moreover, it's very often fatal, not so much because the bacteria kills you outright, but because of the treatment. Many will succumb to the effects of massive doses of anti-biotics, long before any surgery can ever take place.

I was lucky in that my heart was strong, so they say. Also I came out of the hospital two weeks later intact... no amputations. Not everyone is so lucky.

We cannot control the behaviour of bacteria that runs rampant, but we can do things to prevent our immune systems from being compromised, which makes us susceptible to such rare infections.

In the grand scheme of things, did this technology contribute to me having a better life? or just a longer one?