Eventually Google Product Search (formerly known as Froogle) will be a fully integrated part of the search results. Currently product search is accessible in ways pointed out by the screenshot below.

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Seriously though, I just bought a new Samsung 40″ 1080P LCD and I have no good shows to watch, or any true 1080 content for that matter. I think I need to make the leap from streaming downloaded movies ( I have an addiction) to my xbox media center, to buying (dare I say) true HD content.

This is what I was shown as accurate historical market share for Microsoft. I will say that from what I have heard from Microsoft, they are in online advertising for the long haul. They have many new things coming out and I am really intrigued by several of them. They should continue to see a rise in market share from current changes, but they have yet to integrate the cornerstone of their company, software. I mean Jesus (not literally), the possibilities are endless if they can integrate it properly.

If Live search can be correctly and cleanly integrated into Office, hell just Word alone, it would be a huge boost for them. Can you image the ability to select a portion of text in your word document, right click, and hit search. It would then interface directly into Live’s search results and provide results for the text you selected. That is just one option for implementation, even just a search box in the toolbar area would be a huge improvement for them. I wonder why something like this wasn’t included in the release of office 2007?

Now obviously, I have not taken into account legal ramifications of bundling search in with Microsoft’s products. I am not a legal expert, or really even that knowledgeable about monopoly laws, but I am sure Microsoft could find a way around them. It seems to me that the next large battlefield for search juggernauts will be search integration.

Having a good host makes troubleshooting and fixing problems much easier.  Especially a host with good customer service.  I have been through a lot of different hosting account, most all of them shared, and experienced some of the best and worst hosting.  I like my current host a lot, NationVoice, and have also liked using West Host in the past.  Unfortunately in this instance, I caused the problem and it took me a long while to fix it.  I am not very good at PHP, but I make do.

If you are in the market for PHP Web Hosting, Make sure you check out Mckremie.  I have heard some good things about them from other people.  You can find more about Mckremie here.

This is the picture that made #1:

Quick Facts on my Digg Post here. These numbers are total numbers to date starting from the day it was submitted to Digg, August 16th.

92,470 Pageviews and 81,224 Unique Views (just for the How to get Fired from Dairy Queen Picture)

2:23 Average Time on Page (I am surprised it was this high)

Ever wonder what a #1 article on Digg looks like in terms of analytics? Here is what my Google Analytics looks like:

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*Per Jon West’s need for me to specify, when I say #1, I mean #1 across all topics or top of the top 10 list.

The study had some other interesting findings, these same women with breast implants are more likely to die from smoking, drug or alcohol abuse than women who do not have breast implants. It is definitely worth the read.

Cornell University did a study of 397 search queries to determine eye tracking patterns for Google results. They used undergraduates students to perform searches in areas related to movies, travel, music, politics, local, and trivia. The picture below is a representation of the results they found.

While this study only covers organic/natural results, not paid, and does not include anything past the first page, I don’t think it would be an outlandish assumption to say that these trends also hold true for those two areas as well. It is obvious from this heatmap image, how important rankings are and specifically being “above the fold”. I would be very interested to see Cornell repeat this study after a few years and see if there is a pattern change of how users look at search results. Maybe users would become accustomed to seeing “spammy” results at the top of the page for certain queries and start to naturally shift focus to lower results. Or, the results could be similar. Anyway, its food for thought.

Link to original study

Mirror For Digg. Original is here

Digg Mirror, Original posting on Digg is here

I have been watching Entourage since the middle of season 2, it is currently halfway through the 4th season, and it only seems to get better. Kevin Dillon (plays Johnny “Drama” Chase) and Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold) make the entire show. Piven (who won an Emmy in 2006 for the role as Ari) and Dillon are both nominated for 2007 Emmys in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category, and they both deserve it. If you have not seen the show - watch it, if you are behind in the episodes - catch up, and if you do watch it regularly - I’ll give you a cookie. The show is hilarious and entertaining. They are like South Park in a sense that they will make fun of and use just about everyone in their shows, especially in Ari’s one liners.

In light of a recent management scandal at HBO and The Sopranos going off-the-air, they really need to keep Entourage around (The Wire too for that matter) to make sure their programming stays top notch. Also, tip of the hat to Drama For President since it is the best and just about only non-HBO resource on Entourage. The site used to do a really good job on posting rumors and spoilers last season, they have been slacking some this season, but nonetheless, it is a really good site.

Use Your Credit Card
In this day in age, it doesn’t make sense to use anything other than a credit card to make purchases. Today, Credit Card companies are offering every type of reward under the sun to attract new customers. The best thing to do is to take advantage of these offerings and get rewards for purchases you would normally make. After graduating college, I did research into which type of credit card(s) I should apply for and here is what has worked for me — cash back cards. I think cash back cards are the way to go. I don’t fly enough to get use out of a flyer miles card, not to mention paying an annual fee for a card is usually not a good idea. Currently I carry 2 credit cards, an American Express Blue card and a Bank of America Financial Rewards Visa; both are cash back cards. In 2006, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, rated the AMEX Blue the best personal credit card on the market. If that isn’t good enough, it looks pretty damn cool. With this card, you can get up to 5% cash back on gas, grocery, and pharmacy purchases. I get a 1% back flat rate on my BofA Visa. I try to stick to the AMEX wherever possible, then use the Visa if someone doesn’t accept AMEX. The best way to maximize credit card rewards is to stick to 1-2 credit cards, and use them as much as possible. The more cards you have, the less rewards you can accrue usually. Depending on your spending habits, you could receive as little as $50, or as much as several hundred dollars back in a given year.

Start an Online Savings Account
Online savings accounts have become a very popular model, particularly the ones from ING and HSBC. The great thing about online savings accounts are that they offer much higher interest rates than traditional accounts (comparable to money market rates, sometimes higher) and are FDIC insured (unlike money market accounts). Currently, HSBC offers a 5.05% online savings account and ING Direct offers a 4.5% online savings account. How much is your savings account making? Odds are that it is with your local bank and you are making MUCH less than this. I have recommended the HSBC account to several friends and it has worked out very well for them. At 5.05%, that is a lot off free money you could be receiving.

Contribute to a 401k
While contributing to a 401k alone will not give you free money, there are tax breaks however, most every company today offers a matching program. People should always pay themselves first, which is why everyone should force themselves to contribute to their 401k to the point that it receives the max contribution from the company. Assuming you can afford it, many would be surprised as to what they can cut out of their life in order to be able to participate in a 401k (alcohol would do it), everyone should be receiving this free money.

Refer a Friend to Your Bank
Most every bank is offering a reward for referring new customers. The rewards range anywhere from $25 to $50. How do you refer a friend? Try to find a friend that is moving and switching banks, or merely looking to switch banks, and then have them list you as a referrer when they sign up at your bank. Easy money.

Refer a New Hire at Your Company
Have a friend looking for a job? Refer them to your company. Most good companies offer employee referral bonuses. I know that at one of my jobs, my employer was offering anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for employee referrals, and in some cases much more for highly skilled employees. There was a rumor going around at this job that a girl, straight out of college, referred several friends from school and made enough to buy a new car. Not that I am advocating this, but many people use craigslist to find and refer employees.

You can pick and choose which of these you want or can implement, but these are 5 easy ways to make several hundred, or several thousands dollars extra a year. Let me know if any of these have or do work for you.