Robert Somerville (aka GuruBob) is a full-time Internet Marketer and Co-creator, Strategist and Head of Research and Development for the Thirty Day Challenge (30DC).
Well...the day has nearly arrived when the Apple iPad is about to go on general availability in the US. The tech forums and feeds abound with stories not only about the iPad itself (generally the reviews are good to excellent) but also about the myriad of iPad apps that are either about to be released or due to arrive very soon.
On the app front, the landscape is changing so fast it's hard to keep up but Gizmodo has published a good list of essential iPad apps.
For myself, I will be vicariously watching the adventures or Paul Colligan and Ed Dale as they undertake Operation iPad. It is a very exciting time rioght now in Tech and I can't wait to get my hands on an iPad and begin to intergrate it into my daily life.
Well, the Academy Awards have come and gone and the film that took out the major awards (Best Film and Best Director) went to the previously little known - The Hurt Locker.
I had seen this film some time ago, it having been talked about extensively by Mark Kermode from BBC Five Live's movie podcast. I enjoyed it immensely as I do like war films and there have been only a few really good films about the Iraq war.
The Hurt Locker is a character study focussing on a bomb disposal team and reveals in a group of people living on the edge how important personality and integrity are to the survival of the group. Of course this is a group of men in war time so the testosterone level is high which makes the direction all the more masterful given that this film was directed by a women - Kathryn Bigelow. Her Best Director gong was a just reward.
While I think The Hurt Locker is a very good film, I'm not sure it was the best film of the year and the filmgoing audience supports that. In America it only took $20,000,000 at the box office prior to The Oscar's and in some countries it looked as though it would be a straight to DVD film before the Oscar Buzz happened.
My personal favourite for Best Picture and Best Director was Inglourious Basterds (and Quentin Tarantino) but it didn't have the momentum at this time of the year as it did when it was released. Avatar took out the awards it should have (Visual effects and art direction) but just being the highest grossing film ever doesn't give it a lock on the awards. Avatar is a must see for the ground breaking cinematography and effects. Time will tell if it's 3D wizardry marks the shake-up in the movie industry that some are suggesting.
I've put a trailer for The Hurt Locker below if you haven't seen it yet.
Absolutely you need an autoresponder...building a list and forming a relationship with your community is the most important thing you will do online. There are several capable autoresponders but the one we use is Aweber. Pick one and become expert in using it!
What have you noticed about Formspring.me SEO performance so far? Yahoo seems to love it from what I'm seeing.
Eric, I agree about Yahoo and I have also noticed my Formspring page appearing in Google for my main keyword "gurubob" as well despite the fact I have built no links to the page. If you have a need to offer a Q & A feature for your site I would recommend Formspring as a solution at this stage.
