Link Building - Effective, Authentic SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is about lifting the website of your choice up the search engine rankings. Link building is one method of doing this authentically, thereby building trust as well as getting more hits.

You Can Make A Difference: MEPs Will Debate Copyright Law on 10/10/17. Write To Them.

On 10th October 2017, the JURI (Legal Affairs) committee in the European Parliament will vote on future copyright law. You have the ability to influence their vote on the five issues they will be debating this Tuesday.

Freedom Of Speech: When The Chickens Come Home To Roost

The shocking events that took place in Charlottesville last week have been interpreted in a number of ways. For some, it's a case of the chickens coming home to roost. If we ban hate speech, they reason, it'll go away. If we punch Nazis, they will go away, right? Oh, dear.

If you're easily offended, hit the back button. I won't be pulling my punches.

Is Violence A Patriarchal Thing?

This post was going to be about Brock Turner, rape culture, and how social attitudes help shape the minds of people who carry out such heinous deeds, but the Orlando shootings just changed its direction. I've realised that the violence inherent in rape culture is not confined to rape culture; violence or abuse to "correct" behaviour extends to anyone or anything that challenges the norms of our patriarchal society. Let's take a closer look.

**Warning: I do NOT pull my punches. If you're particularly sensitive or easily offended, hit the back button now.**

Gawker: $140M Judgement Stands; Bankruptcy, Auction To Follow

After some considerable debate about privacy and freedom of the press I've come to the conclusion that whatever way you cut the freedom cake, the one with the knife gets the biggest slice every time. This is because activist litigator Peter Thiel has finally got what he wanted: gossip blog Gawker has been brought to its knees. What does this mean for privacy and freedom of the press?

Oracle V Google: "API Is Property"

Oracle and Google are back in court fighting over the API used in Google's Android operating system. The implications are huge; allowing copyright on API effectively puts a tollbooth on innovation and any item with Java code in it is vulnerable to charges of infringement. Can you imagine the consequences? I can. Let's take a closer look.

How Your Web Presence Affects Your Reputation

I've had arguments with various people about what makes or breaks the reputation of an individual or group. Given my personal experience I'd say, hand on heart, it's conduct, i.e. what you actually do. That said, other factors play a part and tonight I'm going to look at the role played by your web presence.

Windows 10: I'd Think Twice Before Considering Upgrading If I Were You

Windows 10 has been getting mixed reviews. Some say it's the best OS Microsoft have ever made while others decry it as malware with a pretty face. I've held off on commenting on it till the hue and cry died down. Now I'll tell you what the fuss is about and why I decided not to go ahead with the upgrade.

EU Takes A Swipe At Google - But Why?

The EU Commission has a bit of a gripe with Google over its size and reach, and is currently in the throes of taking it to court on anti-trust grounds. But why? Other internet provision services exist, right?

The Ripoff Report Shakedown Service: Holding Your Reputation To Ransom

There is nothing I despise more than online bullies who use shady tactics to squeeze vulnerable people. Trolls usually only want to have a laugh at your expense, then move on. But Ripoff Report wants your money. This my experience of how they operate.

Can You Trust Consumer Review Sites Like Pissed Consumer?

Given my recent experiences of consumer review sites you could forgive me, I'm sure, for giving them no more credibility than a public toilet wall. That said, Techdirt has a lot of good things to say about Pissed Consumer that has got me thinking again about their value to the internet and online life in general. Let's take a closer look.

It's Official — I'm Not A Criminal Mastermind On The Internet, Or Anything

Well I've had a tweet, an email, and I've confirmed it with a nice chap via 101 from from Greater Manchester Police over the phone: I'm not under investigation for stampeding cattle through the Vatican extortion, theft, and crimes against nature, etc.

Counter-Speech On Trial: When Slanderers Strike

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Well we all know what I think about speech and counter-speech where freedom of expression and my personal experiences are concerned. Today I've got a perfect example of negative speech and its consequences for individuals and groups: some nutbucket is attacking me online using Twitter to share "reviews" that "he*" has posted on Complaints.com, Pissed** Consumer, Ripoff Report, and Yelp. He's even trying to get me sacked from my job.

Happy New Year 2016: Lessons To Learn, Battles To Fight

Happy new year, everyone. I'm writing this post with a mix of hope and fear: hope that we will finally turn the corner and avert the threat of sinking deeper into a police state poisoned by fracking and suffering from economic and environmental woes and fear that apathy will keep us on our current course. Here's a round-up of 2015 as I experienced it along with some projections of what this year will bring.

Do People Who Do Dodgy Things Have A Right To Get Them Forgotten?

We all do things at some point in time that, on reflection, we wish we hadn't. And there are times when someone's opinion of our conduct differs from our own perceptions thereof.  Let's be honest here, it's funny when people go all King Canute and order the tide to stop coming in* only to end up with wet feet, particularly when they do it on the internet. The attempts of one Dr. Janice Duffy of Adelaide, Australia, are a case in point.

Plagiarism: A Pirate Response

I'm not a big lover of copyright and think the laws we have are extreme and unfair. That said, it's not right when some random toerag, who does not deserve the honour of being linked here on my blog, wholesale copies my posts and reposts them on his own blog to populate it with content that he hasn't produced himself, that's not on.

Blogger's Ban Binned: Why That's A Good Thing

I first learned about the proposed Blogger ban on sexually explicit content on Techdirt, my go-to site for tech news. I was somewhat concerned for the future of On t'Internet at the time because I sometimes write about the culture wars. Controversial subjects tend to come up in my posts which could have led to my being obliged to put the e-quivalent of a brown paper bag over the site by setting it to private.

The Ten Web Design Commandments

And lo, it came to pass that word came to Wendy Cockcroft of the advent of Web 3.0. An angel of the internet came down and declared, "Blessed art thou, Wendy, for thou hast sought out the web design blogs of knowledge of good and evil, and hast partaken thereof. Now take down these ten commandments of web design and development, and go forth into the world and preach them unto the multitudes."

Five Free Tools To Improve Your Website

Anyone who makes a living from working online knows the importance of regularly checking their stats and acting on the clues they give. Below are some tools I've found to improve my site's performance.

SEO No-Nos: Five Ways To Lose Me At Hello

I get a lot of emails from companies offering me SEO services. Sometimes I respond to them. A professional approach will at least get you time of day. Here are five mistakes SEO service providers have been making with me.