Archive for April, 2007

Thanks to David Airey for introducing me to a plugin that will remove the “nofollow” tags from my wordpress blog here at the WVb.

Here is what he has to say about it:

For those of you with your own blog or website, it goes without saying that you want to improve your Google page rank. You want to be easily found so you can reach a wider audience.

A very easy way to do this is by leaving a comment on my blog with your website or blog URL added to the optional ‘website’ field in the comment form.

The vast majority of blogs don’t allow this, mainly because their blogging software has “rel=nofollow” automatically added to comment URLs. Initially this was to combat spam, but with today’s spam protection I rarely get any spam comments through. So I’ve implemented a nice little plugin that removes the “nofollow” code, because I want to give you every reward I can for your valued comments and help generate more discussion.

I used the first plugin that he recommended. The plugin is called “DoFollow“. It’s very easy to implement. Just upload the plugin and activate. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

If that particular plugin doesn’t take your fancy, there’s always the Semiologic DoFollow plugin for WordPress. Alternatively, check out Andy Beard’s definitive list of all things DoFollow. Andy has been championing the DoFollow campaign for some time now.

Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal also gives these 13 Reasons Why NoFollow Tags Suck.

Do you use WordPress to power your blog? Let us know what you think of this and if you’ll be installing it too. An easy way to get some link love from the WVb!

5-9-07:
Just a small update here. If you want a nice dofollow icon to add to your sidebar, or anywhere else on your blog, be sure to check out Randa Clay Design. There are some great icons there!

The standard German pronunciation of Dr. Seuss’s name is “zoice” (like “voice”). (BBC)

Men and women can recall more than 70 per cent of emotional words like love, kiss and passion after they’ve been spoken into their left ear, but only 58 per cent with the right.
(news.independent.co.uk)

Women over 50 with a long history of migraines do better on memory tests than women of the same age with no such history. (aan.com/press)

“Divorce reduces a person’s wealth by about three-quarters (77 per cent) compared to that of a single person… And people who get divorced see their wealth begin to drop long before the decree becomes final.”
(researchnews.osu.edu)

A person with an IQ of 101 earns $202 to $616 more per year than someone with an IQ of 100. However, IQ has no impact on actual wealth, i.e. the difference between a person’s assets and their debts.
(tinyurl.com/3363ys)

It is possible to make a cellphone call from the summit of Mount Everest (it is now in sight of a Chinese base station). Rod Baber is attempting to become the first person to do so. His expedition is being sponsored by Motorola.
(computerworld.com.au)

It takes more brainpower to spell an irregular word like “yacht” than a phonetic word like “blink.”
(NewScientist.com)

Thursday is Martin Z. Mollusk Day. Similar to Groundhog Day, it involves placing a hermit crab on a beach and checking to see if it casts a shadow. If the crab sees its shadow, summer will supposedly arrive one week early.
(njmonthly.com)

When crabs are stressed, their legs and claws fall off.
(hermit-crabs.com)

“Hermit” crabs travel in packs of up to a hundred.
(hermit-crabs.com)

Prince, playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynn. They are playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” before the induction of George Harrison.

Prince is without a doubt one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Unfortunately for him, I don’t think most people even realize that he plays.