What do most American teenagers, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama have in common? They have profiles on MySpace, the world’s largest — and, often, most controversial — social networking site.

And what, might you ask, would I have in common with former Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX)? As it turns out, he has a blog, too. According to his site, he believes that “[blogs serve] as an important tool in breaking through the liberal MSM clutter.” Although it seems that DeLay leaves the reader to decide which definition of MSM he’s using, the very existence of his site makes an important and profound statement. The Web is changing — and, for that matter, has already changed — American politics forever.

Moving On from Traditional Media

Over the past decade, the Web has exploded in popularity, and few would argue that it hasn’t largely changed how Americans seek out information. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, nearly 70% of our population — that’s 205,327,000 people — have access to the Internet. That figure is up from 19% in 1997, and 9% in 1995.

Even in the mid-nineties, it seemed inevitable that advocates and politicians alike would eventually find themselves presenting their arguments on what was described by many as a truly democratic medium. Some would argue that the real political power of the Web was first harnessed in 1998, with the advent of the now predominantly Democratic political action group and Web site MoveOn, which would ultimately enjoy a level of controversy and success like none that had come before it.

During the 2000 U.S. elections, MoveOn managed to raise over $2 million, with an astonishing average contribution size of $35. The organization had, with its unlikely success, played a key part in the revolution of small donor fundraising.

A “Daily” Dose of Punditry

Despite the success of left-wing progressive organizations, the conservative right would not sit idly by. Their pundits had become a dominant force in other mediums, such as talk radio and television, and they were eager to see what this new, dynamic medium had to offer them. As they would discover, the Web would bring them in touch with large, undiscovered, and even unexpectedly international audience demographics.

WorldNetDaily, which claims itself as a “free press for a free people,” is also the 75th most popular Web site, according to Alexa. MoveOn and Tom DeLay’s site, which are also mentioned in this article, are the 23,288th and 508,686th most popular, respectively. WorldNetDaily, which includes opinion pieces from self-proclaimed “far right” commentators like Ann Coulter and Chuck Norris, is clearly a force to be reckoned with. DailyKos, one prominent left-wing competitor, ranks in at 3,436.

Even veteran news anchors cautiously recognize the power of the Internet. Dan Rather, who recently appeared as a panelist on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, said, “You cannot claim to be a well-informed citizen and only look at the Internet. But, I don’t think you can be a well-informed citizen anymore and not look at the Internet.”

Exploiting the Web

Dan Rather was wise to imply a sense of caution. For many users, the Web has quietly become an authoritative source for information. Politicians are keenly aware of that, and have taken a crash course in manipulating the Web to their benefit. Wikipedia, an extremely popular collaborative volunteer encyclopedia, has attracted a sizable amount of their attention.

In 2006, Wikipedia management revealed that many political articles, including a good number of political biographies, had been vandalized by partisan U.S. Congressional staffers. In the case of Republican Senator Norm Coleman, his Wikipedia entry described him as having been a “liberal” during college. The word “liberal,” interestingly, was changed to “activist.” Information about Coleman’s voting record, which had coincided with President Bush’s about 98% of the time in 2003, was also stricken from the record. Part of the deleted text had also observantly noted that Coleman was a self-described moderate.

Of course, this Wikipedia trickery wasn’t limited only to members of the Republican Party. It was found that the entry for Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, had also been modified. Harkin once falsely claimed to have flown combat missions in northern Vietnam, and later recanted. One paragraph in his biography, which described the incident in detail, disappeared without a trace.

Building a Social Network

Wikipedia isn’t the only popular site that political figures have found useful. MySpace, whose social networking community now has well over 67 million registered members, is also a target. Although MySpace is known for having a sizable teenage audience, the site’s impact on the adult population shouldn’t be discounted, either.

According to research conducted by comScore in late 2006, 34.8% of MySpace viewers fell within the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic, whose younger members are known for their remarkable political zeal. Only competing social network Facebook.com, with 42.6% of its visitors falling within the same demographic, made a better connection. More surprisingly, about 40.6% of MySpace’s visitors were between 35 and 54 years old.

Political figures have quickly realized that they can reach millions of potential voters on MySpace alone, and that their MySpace “friends” will put their own social connections to work as well. MySpace “friendships” are viral, and tend to spread like wildfire. Barack Obama has 76,783 friends on MySpace, and each friendship translates to another set of connections. Those 76,783 friends might have hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions — of their own connections, with many at least somewhat predisposed to Obama’s politics.

Video Killed the Political Star

The viral nature of the Web, of course, transcends MySpace. Video footage, whose popularity around the Web grew exponentially alongside sites like YouTube, has never been easier to distribute or watch.

YouTube allows users to broadcast their own video footage to millions of potential viewers, and has quickly become one of the Web’s most popular resources. And, if you were to ask Google, they’d tell you it’s worth a lot of money. After all, they paid $1.65 billion (in stock) to acquire the service in 2006. At the time, YouTube had only been online for about 21 months.

In addition to advertisers and guerrilla filmmakers, politicians have also taken their respective messages to YouTube. One video, which savagely mocks Hillary Clinton, has already gained over a million viewers. Although many presume that the video was intended to boost interest in competing Democratic candidate Barack Obama, the video could very well have been designed by somebody in a different political party, whose intention might have been to discredit the Democrats altogether. Here on the Web, it’s impossible to tell, and that anonymity is often used to create a political advantage.

Conclusion

If you’re an American voter, this is one place where your political orientation doesn’t matter. It’s clear that the Web will have an important role in your candidate’s strategy for the upcoming U.S. election. As you browse, keep in mind that key strategists in both of the dominant parties are using the Web to gain votes, including yours.

Special Thanks

Lauren from MySpace, who bravely allowed me to use her picture in this article. You Barack!

In just ten short years, the Internet has evolved considerably.

Over the past decade, Google has risen to power as the most dominant search engine, the dot-com bubble was born and ultimately burst, Microsoft Internet Explorer usurped Netscape, and Macromedia — wait, they’re part of Adobe now — Flash has become commonplace around the Web. Here in the United States, most of us moved from k56flex and X2 (competing standards for near-56k modem connectivity, if you don’t remember) to cable and DSL. In this article, I’ll touch on the progress we’ve made, as well as some of what could lie ahead.

Accessing the Internet

In 1997, the “mobile Web” that we enjoy today was in its infancy. A number of services, including the now-defunct and largely forgotten AirMedia Live, offered users wireless delivery of news and information within set subscription categories. In the case of AirMedia Live, users placed a small receiver on their desk, and connected to the Internet (via modem, presumably) when they wanted to view an entire story.

Other providers, such as Ricochet, allowed us a quick glimpse of our wireless future. Ricochet’s wireless mesh network provided Internet connections at a speed of up to 128 kb/s when the fastest cellular connection would have been less than a mere 10 kb/s.

Today, following the advent of wireless fidelity, mobile access cards, and even mobile Web browsers, it’s easy to stay connected. In 2017, perhaps we will witness a resurgence of mesh networks in the form of municipal wireless fidelity (wi-fi), which could provide everybody with inexpensive or free Internet access.

If that’s not the case, then we can expect the definition of broadband to change altogether. Verizon FiOS, a fiber-optic Internet service, already offers connection speeds of up to 30 megabits per second. Additionally, a new high-speed cable standard would support downstream speeds of up to 160 megabits per second.

Wafer Thin Computing

Ten years ago, pundits everywhere were predicting the emergence of the thin client. While they did come along eventually, it turned out that there were few advantages to using them. With the growing ubiquity of development techniques such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), maybe the truth is that our computers are indeed slowly evolving into thin clients.

Services like Amazon S3 are already providing developers with the option to store and retrieve data as objects from any computer with an Internet connection. Imagine replacing your file system with an object cache that could be accessed from nearly anywhere in the world, on any computer.

The way we publish content will change, too. Perhaps media files will simply exist as pointers (not unlike symbolic links) to other caches maintained by their publishers. Instead of a massive hard disk drive, your computer might contain a relatively small solid state disk, which would provide it with only the information required to establish an Internet connection. Your iPod wouldn’t even need to store your favorite Pink Floyd album; instead, it would be streamed from your network cache.

Although it might sound like a decent idea, especially with the amount of bandwidth behind it, a configuration such as this would open the door to further ethical questions. For example, who would your data belong to, exactly? Would you have any privacy at all?

But storage isn’t the only thing that’s still evolving. Applications are, too. Imagine a world where you license software on a monthly basis, and you will have a good idea of where we might be headed. While you won’t need to patch your software anymore, the publisher will have a lot more control over what you can do with it, and at what cost. A decade from now, Valve’s Steam might very well be seen as the Ricochet of Web-based application publishing.

Something to Talk About

I’m frequently told that everything old is new again. It’s definitely true for telecommunications, which enjoys a special kind of irony. The technology that once empowered us to access the Internet is slowly becoming dependent on it. I am, of course, talking about the gradual emergence of Voice over Internet Protocol.

Is it possible that, in 2017, the mobile phones that we carry today will have evolved into Internet conduits, complete with software that enables them to act as soft phones? Instead of providing the actual voice service, perhaps Verizon might offer only a network connection, and the user would then choose from a number of services not unlike today’s Skype. While such progressions might seem inevitable, it’s also important to remember that our telecommunications providers are notoriously adverse to change.

Driving Forces

In 1997, GPS-based navigation systems were optional on certain fine automobiles, such as the “cost no object” Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which had offered it as a feature since late 1995 (picture). An earlier version, which did not use the Global Positioning System, had been offered in Japan as early as 1993 (picture).

Today, navigation systems are offered as options by many manufacturers, on almost every type of car imaginable. Most of these, however, use information stored on physical media to display and calculate your route.

A decade from now, it’s likely that your navigation system will require some kind of network connection, enabling it to update map information dynamically. Volkswagen recently collaborated with Google to produce a navigation system that features Google Earth integration, which allows for the display of a 3D, photorealistic view of your location, as well as the terrain around it. Mercedes-Benz is working on another system that will allow their vehicles to communicate with a network of other cars, providing a dynamically generated, real-time overview of road conditions.

You might find this information, as well as overlaid traffic and weather conditions, displayed on your navigation system in 2017. Further, don’t be surprised if either some or all of it is retrieved from a Web service.

Web 3.0

If you’re a Web developer, you might already be groaning. However, in ten years, the Web will be a completely different animal. Sure, you will occasionally run across 20-year-old static table-based layouts, but they will be markedly different from the beautiful, scalable layouts that might finally become commonplace in 2017.

With any luck, the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format will find its place on the Web, allowing design elements to scale without the distortion found in today’s GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Perhaps SVG, with its support for interactive scripting, will also compete directly with Flash. If you have a browser that supports SVG, such as modern versions of Mozilla Firefox, visit this page for an example of how SVG could potentially replace it altogether.

Of course, in 2017, Mozilla Firefox might also look entirely different. The AJAX development technique is poised to change the way browsers are built, requiring that changes be made to a number of fundamental elements, including the manner in which page-to-page navigation is handled. In 2007, most AJAX Web applications break browser navigation in a way that is highly noticeable to the end user.

While I’m on the topic of Mozilla, they already offer a framework for application development that runs on top of a portable core. Knowing that Google and Mozilla have formed a close relationship over the past few years, I can’t help but wonder how this technology might eventually be used, and by whom.

Conclusion

In the past ten years, we’ve gone from Geocities to MySpace, although few people would consider that progress. Nonetheless, our ambitions have driven the Internet far in just a decade’s time.

On the Web, the new ubiquity of the blog has made news distribution viral, and perhaps unstoppable. AJAX has altered the way we seek information, and might ultimately be remembered as a stepping stone to a far more comprehensive platform.

We’ve even witnessed the first war in which people — not just politicians and reporters, but ordinary citizens — from every side have been heard on a platform that has given them equal footing, for better or worse.

Now, let’s see what the next ten years bring.

Related Stories

Ian Lamont, the senior online projects editor for Computerworld.com and writer of I, Lamont, wrote me with a link to his essay, Meeting the Second Wave. It provides an examination of how the Internet will likely impact mass media over the next 10 or 15 years. If you enjoyed reading this article, then you should definitely check out Ian’s essay as well.

PHP, or PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a versatile Web programming language that stands behind some of the world’s largest Web sites. While the designers of the language have been the target of criticism pertaining to both security and usability, PHP has nonetheless evolved into one of the most extensible and popular languages powering the Web today.

Here are six of the PHP classes, extensions, and libraries that no developer should be forced to live without!

ADOdb

http://adodb.sourceforge.net/

For development work that involves the use of a database, ADOdb is a must. This fast, mature, and portable database abstraction library provides much needed coherence, especially for those who have standardized on PHP 4. ADOdb includes support for MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, among many others.

Tip: Replace the standard MySQL functions in PHP 4 with ADOdb. You’ll thank yourself later.

Mcrypt and Mhash

http://www.php.net/mcrypt and http://www.php.net/mhash

These interfaces, which I’ve decided to present collectively, provide excellent support for strong encryption and various hash algorithms through Mcrypt and Mhash. Although both extensions were technically included with PHP until version 5.3.0, many installations of PHP are compiled without support for them, and relatively few users seem to be aware that these outstanding development tools exist.

Tip: Use these extensions to easily replace several broken or obsolete algorithms that are supported natively by PHP.

PHP-Imagick

http://pecl.php.net/package/imagick

It’s no secret to many PHP developers that the integrated support for GD has a number of serious limitations. ImageMagick is frequently regarded as the most comprehensive and powerful image manipulation suite, but many PHP developers are unaware that support exists for it. As it turns out, an extension by the name of PHP-Imagick provides an excellent alternative to the integrated GD functions.

Tip: Use PHP-Imagick to avoid roadblocks — for example, lossy thumbnails — when working with high resolution images.

PHPMailer

http://phpmailer.sourceforge.net/

As far as the mail() function is concerned, “quirky” is a vast understatement. Many critics and developers alike would argue that PHP allows you just enough rope to hang yourself and your users.

Fortunately, an alternative e-mail class exists in the form of PHPMailer, and it provides very clean, refined support for electronic mail. Its feature set includes SMTP redundancy, SMTP authentication, support for HTML, support for embedded images, and much more.

Tip: Combine PHPMailer with Smarty (see below) for a powerful e-mail template system.

SAJAX

http://www.modernmethod.com/sajax/

AJAX, short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a buzzword that describes a method by which interactive Web applications are created. It takes advantage of the XMLHttpRequest object, which allows an application to push or request content without refreshing the page.

Due to small variations in how the XMLHttpRequest object has been implemented by the various browser manufacturers, it can be tedious and time-consuming to roll your own AJAX implementation. Fortunately, SAJAX provides a straightforward framework upon which to build an AJAX application, saving precious development time.

Tip: Keep in mind that there are caveats to AJAX. For example, it’s easy to break browser navigation or make your application inaccessible to search engine spiders, so use it with caution.

Smarty

http://smarty.php.net/

It’s always best to separate your code from your content. Smarty, one of the best template engines for PHP, is built to serve that purpose, as well as many others.

It provides an excellent framework upon which to standardize your templates. Additionally, with its advanced support for caching, Smarty often proves itself more efficient than the competition. If you’re thinking about rolling out your own template engine, consider saving yourself some time by adopting Smarty.

If you’re getting into photography, you might have already noticed some of the limitations that you must work around to use your digital camera on a daily basis. Most “consumer” and “prosumer” cameras lack manual adjustments, and their small sensors might prevent you from taking quality pictures in anything but ideal conditions. Modern digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are able to overcome those disadvantages, as well as many others. For the enthusiast, there has never been a better time to buy one.

There are more options, and they aren’t quite as expensive anymore.

Not long ago, a good digital SLR would have necessitated an expense of a few thousand dollars. Today, with an increased demand for single-lens reflex cameras, it’s much easier to get your hands on an outstanding machine. Online vendors now offer the Canon Digital Rebel XTi ($653, body only), Nikon D70s ($777, includes 18-70mm kit lens), and Sony DSLR-A100 ($800, includes 18-70mm kit lens) for well under $1,000. Make sure you pick up a high capacity CompactFlash card, such as the Sandisk 4 GB Extreme III, and a spare battery. You’ll find that both are essential accessories on an extended shoot.

Sensor size matters.

What good is a 10 megapixel compact digital camera if it produces grainy, unusable images? Sensor sizes, described further in photographer Sean McHugh’s excellent writeup, can directly affect the outcome of your photography. Cameras with larger sensors — including, of course, most digital SLRs — typically produce less noise, even at relatively high ISO speeds.

Wear different lenses for different occasions.

You wouldn’t wear a bathing suit to a fine restaurant, so why restrict yourself to the monotony of a single all-around lens? With a digital SLR, your lenses are each part of an interchangeable system, which allows you to select the lens that is best suited for your particular application. And, when you finally decide to upgrade your SLR camera body, you’ll be capable of transferring your lenses.

Shoot in RAW and adjust your picture later.

Most compact and enthusiast digital cameras can shoot in JPEG, but few are capable of shooting in RAW format. In fact, Canon recently deleted that very feature from a number of their compacts. While JPEG is suitable for high resolution imagery, RAW format captures more information and offers photographers the ability to go back at a later time to adjust properties such as contrast, exposure, and white balance, all without sacrificing image quality.

Seeing as I’m one of two lead developers for subVariance, I’m well aware that a good number of artists read this blog. If you’re an artist, then this entry is for you.

Maybe you’re a photographer. Maybe you’re a painter. No matter what your specialty, it’s likely that you’ve worked hard to create your art, perhaps with the intention of seeking little more than attribution from others. But, as many of you are already painfully aware, it’s easy to take art from the Web and claim it as your own. Here are a few quick — and, hopefully, useful — tips to help prevent it from happening to you.

Never upload anything you wouldn’t want subjected to unauthorized duplication.

If it’s your masterwork, don’t upload it. No matter what steps you take to prevent others from duplicating your work, it can be stolen. As long as it’s in a format that can be read by a computer and displayed on a monitor, it will be possible to create a duplicate, even if it isn’t perfect. The MPAA and the RIAA, notorious for their easily foiled copy protection and litigious behavior, could save a lot of money and time by taking stock in this simple rule.

Be weary of art forums and sites like MySpace.

While it’s often tempting to display your work in a community, there are also times when your willingness to share will be exploited. For a good example of this, look no further than deviantART, an online art community whose management was once known to frequently license the artwork owned by their users. At one time, their user agreement entitled them to relicense your submissions to third parties without necessarily requiring your consent. This should underline the importance of thoroughly researching any art community before you join it.

There are still many art sites whose managers are ethical. At subVariance, for example, we have a clear policy that prevents us from using your work for any purpose other than displaying it on your behalf. Don’t settle for a site that could lay claim to your art at a later date.

Add a watermark.

It doesn’t need to be especially obvious. In fact, a subtle transparent watermark can be time-consuming or altogether impossible for most people to remove. A small logo, your name, and your URL will prove to be more than sufficient in most cases.

Make it lossy.

If you’re a photographer, don’t upload your high resolution original. Use Adobe Photoshop or a similar application to create a low resolution version for public display on the Web. A 600 x 400 pixel image will obviously be less suitable for printing than a 3456 x 2304 pixel image. Additionally, should you decide to use a watermark, it will be more difficult to crop out at a lower resolution.

JavaScript and other browser-based solutions to this problem don’t exist.

It’s not unlike installing a steel door and deadbolt on the front of your house, but tearing down the fence and removing your back door at the same time. Although a JavaScript solution might work in some browsers, it can be circumvented by attacks as simple as pressing the Print Screen key. More sophisticated measures, such as those implemented at Flickr, can also be defeated in about thirty seconds.

The cemetery is all that’s left of this rural 19th century town located in the vast Texas Hill Country.

It’s an almost disconcertingly quiet place, and it showcases the rare kind of serenity that is only vaguely disrupted by a passing car on the highway or the anxiously shrill call of a bird. The sign depicted in my photograph marks the cemetery, proudly informing passersby that it has been around since 1881.

I’ve had quite a number of people ask me how I manage to stay connected, despite my ostensible addiction to traveling. I am, for example, writing this particular article as I sit in the strikingly rustic lobby of a Marriott resort near Austin. Just 15 years ago, what I’m doing today wouldn’t have been possible. Of course, technology has changed dramatically since then, and it is now possible to remain attached to the real world from any place you might decide to roam.

If you’re a serious traveler, then it’s a good idea to own a seriously mobile laptop computer. Japanese imports, especially those svelte gadgets offered by companies like Dynamism, are usually the best suited for this purpose. My personal laptop is an ultralight Sony TX series, which weighs in at well under three pounds and follows me almost everywhere I go. It comes with the added benefit of having a ten hour battery life, making it especially useful in the car, on a plane, or anywhere else an electrical connection might not be available.

But what good is a mobile computer without an Internet connection? Despite the fact that almost any laptop built today is going to have support for 802.11b/g/n (i.e., Wi-Fi) connectivity, there isn’t a Starbucks on every street corner just yet, and public networks are still relatively scarce in rural areas. As a result, a large number of wireless providers are now offering mobile broadband cards that can be used in conjunction with your laptop computer. An unlimited access plan usually runs about $50 per month, and provides you with near-broadband connectivity. There is one caveat: Latency, sometimes over 500 ms, will prevent you from playing certain video games or using services (SSH, for example) that mandate a low-latency connection.

In addition to my laptop computer, I also carry a Palm Treo smartphone, which allows me to accept calls and read new e-mail while I’m on the road. In addition, my bundled data plan offers unlimited Internet connectivity, which I sometimes use to check my favorite Web sites. The Treo can also be used as a wireless modem (see PdaNet) with some carriers, removing the need altogether for a mobile broadband card. It should be noted that this gadget still has a number of show stopping problems, however, and should not be depended on as a universally reliable device.

The availability of this technology might prompt you with one final question. Do you want the real world to follow you on your travels? While some people — myself included, apparently — don’t seem to mind it, others still do. If you think that you might be one of those people, then it could be best to simply disconnect and enjoy life.

Search engine optimization, also known as the inevitable cat and mouse game between search engine algorithms and those finding ways to increase their search engine rankings, has been responsible for the creation of a multi-million dollar niche industry. At one time, it was relatively easy to increase your rank by exploiting obvious vulnerabilities in the methodologies employed by the search engines. Now, following the advent of Google PageRank and similar “intelligent” search algorithms, it has evolved into a highly sophisticated, expensive affair.

It’s true that there is a large and diverse market for the services offered by search engine optimizers. Many of the world’s largest brands depend on them to increase search engine clicks, as being the first result for a popular query can have a very noticeable impact on revenue. If you are a popular hotel chain with a Hawaiian resort, then you would certainly want to be the first result for “hawaii hotel” on Google. It makes good business sense.

It’s also true that there are good (if you’re reading this, Erik, you’re one of them) and bad (black hat) search engine optimizers. Good search engine optimizers use the tips in this list as part of their overall strategy, while bad search engine optimizers try to “game” the system — in this case, search engines like Google — to provide fast results. If anyone tells you that they can produce results in a week or two, forget about them. Legitimate search engine optimization often takes months to produce results, and the use of poor judgment can cause your site to disappear from the search engines altogether. Look no further than BMW for a shining example of that.

While these tips aren’t for everybody, they might very well save you some time and money. If you already have a search engine optimizer, see how many of these they have implemented. The items in this list are all things that a good search engine optimization firm should know and put to work for their clients on a regular basis.

1. Whenever you can, use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to separate content from presentation.

This tip addresses one of the largest mistakes made in Web development today. Google and many other search engines reward “clean sites,” or those whose owners continuously make an effort to meet accessibility guidelines. In some cases, you can seriously undermine your own efforts by using a heavy table-based layout, as search engines will have a hard time determining what is part of your content, and what is part of your design.

2. Don’t Flash your audience.

While Adobe Flash is often useful for delivering rich multimedia presentations, that content is extremely difficult for most search engines to decipher. Sometimes, it can’t be deciphered at all, and won’t do anything to increase your visibility on the Web. If your navigation is part of a Flash movie, search engines might not even know some parts of your site exist. In other words, when Flash isn’t kept on a tight leash, it will work against you. For a good example of how to work with Flash and degrade gracefully for search engines, look no further than Mercedes-Benz.

3. Long, unmemorable URLs don’t work in your favor.

This is especially true in the case of complex dynamic Web applications. Fortunately, these types of URLs are becoming less necessary, as more Web developers are now ditching them with the assistance of server-side solutions like mod_rewrite. Shorter URLs also result in a more usable site. In the case of auction giant eBay, for example, http://www.ebay.com/login would represent a vast improvement on the current login URL, http://signin.ebay.com/ws2/eBayISAPI.dll?
SignIn&ssPageName=h:h:sin:US&ru=http%3A//www.ebay.com/.

4. If you can’t navigate your site, neither can the search engines.

Each of your pages should have a clean, clear menu. If you use a JavaScript-based drop down solution, make sure it is not actually rendered by the script. You should be able to navigate your site with JavaScript completely disabled in your browser. Son of Suckerfish represents an outstanding way to have your cake and eat it, too.

5. Search engines still appreciate a little direction.

While meta tags are less relevant than they used to be, it’s still good to publish a meta description for each page, which can contain keywords and key phrases that your audience members are likely to search for.

6. Give everything some meaning.

You should always have a title tag for each page, as title is arguably the most important tag of them all. Your title tag should include some phrases that are very relevant to the content of the page, and those phrases should be lightly interspersed throughout the page content. Also, it’s not a bad idea to make the most important keywords and key phrases part of your actual URL. In the case of this article, for example, it’s search-engine-optimization. Finally, don’t forget to organize the structure of your content with header (e.g., h1, h2, h3) tags.

7. Start a blog.

Search engines love bloggers, and there is no easier way to generate both revenue and traffic. It’s also a great way to build interest in any products you might be selling, as well as to establish yourself as an authority in your field. If you’re familiar with a subject, tell others what you know!

(Read my article, Six Tips for Successful Blogging, for a little more information about it.)

8. Start building links.

Sometimes, it’s as easy as e-mailing the Webmaster of a particular site. Other times, you might need to pay a directory. The number of quality sites that link to yours is often the largest metric by which your site is judged. If you have Mozilla Firefox, consider installing the Search Status extension. It will provide you with Alexa and Google PageRank information as you browse a site. As a general rule, you should spend the most time pursuing sites with high PageRank values. Links from sites on established (i.e., old) and educational (i.e., .edu) domain names usually result in a greater benefit.

9. Most SEO software hurts more than it helps.

There are a number of companies that produce software designed to increase your ranking and automate the overall search engine optimization process. However, most of these applications do very little to increase your ranking, and can actually have a negative effect if you’re caught using them. Some things are best done manually, and search engine optimization has been known to fall in that category.

10. Update regularly.

The better search engine bots monitor your site for updates, and frequently updated sites are often considered to be more relevant. After all, few people turn to the Web for outdated material, and the search engines are designed to produce relevant results. The search engine designers know that newer content is usually up-to-date, and therefore more relevant. See #7 for a good way to continuously produce up-to-date content.

It’s no secret that I love to travel, especially by car. It’s only appropriate that I share some of my favorite roads, and I’m going to start with one of the most beautiful coastal highways in the United States.

California State Route 1, formed in 1934, is perhaps one of the ultimate scenic highways. While this incomparably photogenic road stretches nearly 550 miles from Leggett to San Juan Capistrano, there is one particular area that you shouldn’t miss. It is an area known as the Big Sur Coast Highway, and it offers stunning panoramic views of lush, rugged terrain running adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. If you own a cabriolet or a roadster, this is the place to be.

The journey begins just south of Monterey, near Carmel Highlands. Folklore has it that the area was originally settled by Scottish sailors, who would have certainly noticed the uncanny resemblance which the terrain bears to coastal Scotland. Today, real estate in Carmel Highlands is among the most expensive in the United States, and it won’t take you long to figure out why.

If your car takes diesel, you’ll want to refuel in Monterey before starting your trip, as you won’t find much in the 95 miles between Carmel Highlands and Cambria. And, unless you have a satellite phone, you will also want to make all of your calls beforehand. Decent reception is nearly impossible to find on the Big Sur Coast Highway.

Although you wouldn’t want to take any calls while staring at such beautiful scenery, anyway, you will want to keep your eyes on the road. This stretch of Route 1 is a serpentine drive, occasionally without any barriers that would normally prevent you from finding yourself exploring the Pacific Ocean in a leaky submarine. That said, plenty of areas exist where you can pull off of the road for a better look, and I would recommend doing so frequently.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending a day or two exploring this area, as it’s likely that few other places in the United States — perhaps even around the world — are quite like it. This memorable and surreal journey ends as Route 1 heads inland near San Luis Obispo, where signs of civilization serve as a stark contrast to the pristine, relatively untouched beauty of Big Sur Coast Highway.

If you’re unfamiliar with history, the following post may contain spoilers.

It made $70,000,000 last weekend and is now ranked as the 156th best film ever made at IMDb, but I found myself comparing 300 directly to Braveheart and Gladiator as I watched it. That’s usually a terrible sign, and could arguably underline how emulative 300 actually feels.

Ultimately, I found that it wasn’t even nearly equivalent to either of those films. Unlike the fictionalized Battle of Sterling that was depicted in Braveheart, there wasn’t anything emotional about it. Once the Battle of Thermopylae began and the bodies started to pile up, it felt completely like a video game. While it was obvious that these 300 Spartans enjoyed a very special bond, the director of the film never allowed the viewer to feel it. For a film whose very signature was gore, 300 was remarkably sterile.

Of course, the scenery was often very beautiful. On the other hand, seeing as the film was created almost exclusively in a virtual environment, how couldn’t it have been? The final scene, oddly enough, felt predictable and slightly ridiculous. I thought that the film should have ended with the arrows falling on the Spartans, as that particular scene was much more compelling than what followed it.

Despite those criticisms, 300 was a watchable film, and it would probably make a highly impressive video game. However, I didn’t love it, and I will be strongly disappointed if 300 is remembered as one of the best films of 2007. While it is full of stunning (and often grotesque) technical achievements, it simply doesn’t deliver as a genre piece.