For Halloween this year and with the Phillies playing in game 3 of the World Series, I thought it would be appropriate to carve a pumpkin that meant something. While watching the game, we’ll have this pumpkin lit up and next to the TV to give the Phillies that little bit of mojo and propel them to a 2-1 series lead over the Yankees tonight. Go Phillies!!!

Let me know what you think of this and leave me a comment below!

I was going through my Google Alerts the other day looking to see if there were any hot topics that might be worth reading or writing about when I spotted them. 4 blog posts and 2 or 3 related articles at the bottom of a particular alert on a particular topic. What caught my eye was that all of them were blogspot.com domains. Really? There are dozens of good quality blogs about the topic that post regularly and I couldn’t believe that only blogger sites made the cut for the alert, though it was a Google Alert so they might be a little biased. Maybe it was a slow day in the blogging community.

Immediately after looking at the first one, the red flags went up. Spam Blog! Built entirely for AdSense, there were ads all around the content, but not in the content of the postings so I decided to read. After reading the first sentence, I could tell that this was one of those blogs that was pieced together by some spam bot, but overall it was somewhat readable and kind of made sense. Still, I knew it to not be 100% genuine and I closed that tab in Firefox. On to the next.

Lo and behold, the next one looked almost exactly like the first. Same site design, same topics, nearly the same ads in the same places. Great! 2 for 2 on spam. On to the next. Wow, 3 for 3 on spam blogs! Again, almost the same exact blog with different pieced together content about the same topic. I clicked on the fourth and I wasn’t surprised to find that this one was just like the previous three. All four of them had different sub-domains hosted on blogspot.com, with very similar content existed and then I noticed that this one linked to one of the previous 3 that I had seen.

I decided to take a closer look at this last one. At the bottom of every posting was a series of three links. They weren’t tags or categories, just text links to other blogs that looked exactly like the previous four, with slightly different, but similar content. I started going through the links, opening up different tabs for each site and grew more disgusted every time I clicked on a link. All in all I discovered nearly 50 blogs that looked exactly alike in design, layout, and footer text and all of them were cross-linked to each other. The topics varied somewhat, but it was clear when reading the posts that the content was pieced together or stolen with missing words in sentences and odd words in strange places.

How could Google allow this on their own platform? They claim to approve websites that get accepted into the AdSense program based on their Quality Guidelines, before that site can place their first ad. I’ve seen spam sites built for AdSense before and have seen my share of spammy blogs on Blogger, but this was different. To have so many sites linked to each other, clearly built for nothing more than manipulating the blog alerts and generating advertising revenue. Yet, Google turns a blind eye to this type of behavior, why? Because they are profiting from the advertising being generated. I guess Blogger gets a free pass on ignoring the webmaster guidelines.

What does this tell us about Google? That’s it’s not OK to spam and manipulate our search results, unless it makes us money too. It makes you wonder what else they might allow into the SERPS, or how their algorithm actually works. Do those websites that pump the most money into AdWords get a bonus in the organic SERPS too? How much of a bump do AdSense sites get in the SERPS? I’m wondering how many other spam-blog-networks are out there just like this one. My guess is there are more than many of us realize.

To say the least I was very disappointed when I found this, particularly when I use Google’s services all the time. Tools like Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Google Alerts and AdSense. They build great tools and services that help people and website owners make the most out of the web and I have no problem with them making money, but it is bothersome to see these spammy sites so blatantly ignored so they can make a little more money.

For the second straight year the Philadelphia Phillies are going against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series for the right to go to the World Series. Last year the Phillies beat the Dodgers in 5 games to advance, but this year the Dodgers are a better team, but then again so are the Phillies. I think the Dodgers will give the Phillies a better run this year, but my pick is Philly in 6 games, especially if Hamels pitches the way we know he can. With Lee pitching great and the offense ticking along the way it is, if the Phillies get a few strong outings from the starting pitchers and have the bullpen come through in the clutch, the Phillies will advance.

I’ll admit the Dodgers scare me a little; they have a good offense that can pack on the runs with good pitching too. The Phillies pitching will have to be better than it was against the Rockies for them to advance. The same goes for LA however. If their pitchers don’t pitch well, the Phillies will jump all over them and that’s what I’m hoping for.

Game time is 8:07 on Thursday! Go Phillies!

Here are some photos from the Ducks-Flyers game at the Wachovia Center in Philly, where I took my son for his birthday. The Flyers lost 3-2 in a shootout with Teemu Selanne scoring all 3 goals for the Ducks, including the only goal in the shootout. The Ducks scored with 16 seconds left on the clock in the 3rd with the goalie pulled and the extra attacker. They got a nice fat rebound and Selanne was there to bang it into an open net. Unfortunately, new Flyer Chris Pronger was the closest Flyer to him and Selanne had snuck in behind him. Pronger did score a goal however and the power play looked good again. We got to see Richards’ goal up close and it was a beautiful shot – I didn’t capture it on the iPhone however. Still a good game by the Flyers, they played well and had energy, outplaying the Ducks in my mind for much of the game. Watching Getzlaf and Selanne play and seeing former Flyers Lupul and Sbisa up close again was fun as well.

My son made a sign that we made at home and tried to get the camera guys attention, along with help from people in section 109, but we unfortunately didn’t get on the screen or on TV. Should I have slipped him a $20 or something?

Enjoy some pics from the game, taken with an iPhone so some aren’t the best quality. Click for full size image:

Pregame view from our seats:

About to face off to start the game:

1st period action:

2nd period action:

Face off in the 2nd period:

Flyers on the PK:

Tried to get a decent shot of Pronger:

Face off to start the 3rd:

Briere and Carter skate to the bench:

The closest thing to a fight all night – surprising with these 2 teams:

Anaheim goalie, Jonas Hiller – one for the Ducks fans:

Welcome to my website about, well, me!  I am the Director of Information Technology at a law firm where I run the IT department and manage the firm’s online presence including website development and SEO. I enjoy writing quite a bit and am currently in the process of getting my first book published which involves a fantasy world that I have created and developed since my early teen years. I also thoroughly enjoy hockey – I play it, I watch it, I live it and am an avid Philadelphia Flyers fan. I watch all the NHL games I can though and enjoy a few other teams in the league, but no one tops the Flyers and the 2009-2010 season is our year. The Hockey News thinks so: Three Reasons the Flyers Will Win the Cup.

This blog will mostly be about my writing and the computer work I do, while showcasing some of my online work and being a central hub to some of the things I do and love. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable stop for some and provide some interesting reading.

That’s all for now!