Car Logo Ripoffs from Around the World.

The Chinese have long been known for their ability to duplicate products and technologies in record time and bring them to market faster and more cheaply than any established manufacturer could ever dream. But whereas we may only see the Chinese as the great product knock-off  artists that they are, we often overlook other countries’ abilities when it comes to the fine art of the R&D (Rip-off & Duplicate) as is demonstrated by these fine car logo creations from around the world (but mostly China).

BMW (Bavaria) vs.  BYD (China).

Lamborghini (Italy) vs. Arash (UK)

Mazda (Japan) vs. Haima (China)

Aston Martin (England) vs. Hyundai Genesis (Korea)

Toyota (Japan) vs. Changan(China)

Toyota (Japan) vs. Jincheng, (China)

Toyota(Japan) vs. Xiali (China)

Toyota (Japan) vs. Merry (China)

Infinity (Japan) vs. Chery (China)

Infinity (Japan) vs. Suzhou (China)

Infinity (Japan) vs.  Huaxiang (China)

Mercedes (Germany) vs.  BAW (China)

Oldsmobile (USA) vs. Mahindra (India)

Oldsmobile (USA) vs. First Auto Works (China)

Subaru (Japan) vs. Jiangnan, (China)

Pegaso (Spain) vs. Carlsson (Germany)

Jeep vs. Geep (The Philippines)

Top 200 Biggest Box Office Bombs. Wost movies with respect to Box Office Gross.

The big movie houses are always quick to tout their latest celebathonic box office hits, never do they ever speak of those movies that were “Box Office Bombs”. By definition a Box Office Bomb is a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue recovered by the movie studio (especially with reference to U.S. gross – as several times movie studios sell international distribution rights to other companies.)

Sorted by % Gross of the Budget

Title	Year	Budget	U.S. Gross	% of budget
Zyzzyx Road	2006	$2,000,000	$30	<0.1%
Scorched	2003	$7,000,000	$8,000	0.10%
D-Tox	2002	$55,000,000	$79,161	0.10%
Freaked	1993	$12,000,000	$29,296	0.20%
The Bridge of San Luis Rey	2005	$24,000,000	$49,981	0.20%
Nomad	2007	$40,000,000	$79,123	0.20%
My Big Fat Independent Movie	2005	$3,000,000	$4,655	0.20%
The Hottie and the Nottie	2008	$9,000,000	$27,696	0.30%
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn	1998	$10,000,000	$45,779	0.50%
Manderlay	2006	$14,200,000	$78,378	0.60%
Mini’s First Time	2006	$6,000,000	$49,034	0.80%
No Good Deed	2003	$12,000,000	$181,600	1.50%
Idiocracy	2006	$30,000,000	$444,000	1.50%
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker	2006	$40,000,000	$659,210	1.60%
Southland Tales	2007	$15,000,000	$275,380	1.80%
Ride with the Devil	1999	$35,000,000	$630,779	1.80%
Lolita	1997	$58,000,000	$1,060,056	1.80%
The Game of Their Lives	2005	$20,000,000	$375,750	1.90%
Head	1968	$750,000	$16,111	2.10%
Love’s Labour’s Lost	2000	$13,000,000	$299,792	2.30%
A Sound of Thunder	2005	$80,000,000	$1,900,451	2.40%
The Statement	2003	$27,000,000	$765,637	2.80%
Monument Ave.	1998	$11,000,000	$333,760	3.00%
Until the End of the World	1991	$23,000,000	$829,625	3.60%
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	2006	$60,000,000	$2,208,939	3.70%
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland	1992	$35,000,000	$1,368,000	3.90%
Pirates	1986	$40,000,000	$1,641,825	4.10%
The Adventures of Pluto Nash	2002	$100,000,000	$4,411,102	4.40%
The Caveman’s Valentine	2001	$13,500,000	$687,194	5.10%
Waterloo	1970	$25,000,000	$1,400,000	5.60%
Cats Don’t Dance	1997	$60,000,000	$3,566,637	5.90%
Swept Away	2002	$10,000,000	$598,645	6.00%
Cassandra’s Dream	2008	$15,000,000	$973,018	6.50%
Monkeybone	2001	$75,000,000	$5,000,000	6.70%
Stay	2005	$50,000,000	$3,626,883	7.30%
Town & Country	2001	$90,000,000	$6,810,050	7.60%
Slow Burn	2007	$15,500,000	$1,237,615	7.90%
Heaven’s Gate	1980	$44,000,000	$3,484,331	7.90%
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale	2008	$60,000,000	$4,775,656	8.00%
The Oh in Ohio	2006	$5,000,000	$418,689	8.30%
Bee Season	2005	$14,000,000	$1,180,560	8.40%
Basic Instinct 2	2006	$70,000,000	$5,946,136	8.50%
Cradle Will Rock	1999	$32,000,000	$2,899,970	8.70%
A Dirty Shame	2004	$15,000,000	$1,339,668	8.90%
Dirty	2006	$3,000,000	$274,245	9.10%
Bloodrayne	2006	$25,000,000	$2,405,420	9.60%
September Dawn	2007	$11,000,000	$1,066,555	9.70%
The Stupids	1996	$25,000,000	$2,415,593	9.70%
The Molly Maguires	1970	$11,000,000	$1,100,000	10.00%
Can’t Stop the Music	1980	$20,000,000	$2,000,000	10%
Steel	1997	$16,000,000	$1,710,972	10.70%
Cutthroat Island	1995	$92,000,000	$10,017,322	10.80%
One Night Stand	1997	$24,000,000	$2,618,335	10.90%
Gigli	2003	$54,000,000	$6,068,735	11.10%
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	2000	$76,000,000	$6,814,720	11.14%
Inchon	1981	$46,000,000	$5,200,986	11.30%
The Boondock Saints	2000	$6,000,000	$683,000	11.40%
Undiscovered	2005	$9,000,000	$1,069,318	11.90%
Hurlyburly	1998	$15,000,000	$1,798,862	12.00%
Extreme Ops	2002	$40,000,000	$4,835,968	12.10%
Thunderbirds	2004	$57,000,000	$6,880,917	12.10%
The Rescuers Down Under	1990	$27,000,000	$3,499,819	12.50%
Zabriskie Point	1970	$7,000,000	$900,000	12.90%
All the King’s Men	2006	$55,000,000	$7,221,458	13.10%
Detroit Rock City	1999	$15,000,000	$2,005,512	13.40%
Shanghai Surprise	1986	$17,000,000	$2,315,683	13.60%
Bicentennial Man	1999	$100,000,000	$8,234,926	14.10%
Dudley Do-Right	1999	$70,000,000	$9,974,410	14.20%
D-War	2007	$75,000,000	$10,616,869	14.20%
FernGully: The Last Rainforest	1992	$24,650,296	$3,549,338	14.40%
Flash Gordon	1980	$35,000,000	$3,934,030	14.50%
Lucky You	2007	$50,000,000	$7,355,993	15%
Lucky Numbers	2000	$65,000,000	$10,014,234	15.40%
The House of the Spirits	1994	$40,000,000	$6,265,311	15.60%
Fantasia	1940	$2,280,000	$361,800	15.90%
Death to Smoochy	2002	$50,000,000	$8,364,691	16.70%
Arthur and the Invisibles	2006	$86,000,000	$15,132,763	17.60%
Once Upon a Time in America	1984	$30,000,000	$5,321,508	17.70%
North	1994	$40,000,000	$7,138,449	17.80%
Meet the Deedles	1998	$24,000,000	$4,308,981	18.00%
Glitter	2001	$22,000,000	$4,273,372	18.10%
Osmosis Jones	2001	$75,000,000	$25,120,662	18.10%
Newsies	1992	$15,000,000	$2,819,485	18.80%
Femme Fatale	2002	$35,000,000	$6,630,252	18.90%
Raise the Titanic!	1980	$36,000,000	$7,000,000	19.40%
Dune	1984	$45,000,000	$6,025,091	19.50%
Soldier	1998	$75,000,000	$14,623,082	19.50%
The Black Cauldron	1985	$44,000,000	$4,180,110	19.60%
Jetsons: The Movie	1990	$10,900,000	$5,029,640	19.60%
Jade	1995	$50,000,000	$9,795,017	19.60%
Cool as Ice	1991	$6,000,000	$1,193,062	19.80%
Holy Man	1998	$60,000,000	$12,069,719	20.10%
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	1988	$40,000,000	$8,083,123	20.20%
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever	2002	$70,000,000	$14,294,842	20.40%
The World’s Fastest Indian	2005	$25,000,000	$5,128,124	20.50%
The Scarlet Letter	1995	$50,000,000	$10,382,407	20.80%
The Alamo	2004	$107,000,000	$22,414,961	20.90%
Mad City	1997[27]	$50,000,000	$10,541,523	21.10%
Nothing But Trouble	1991	$40,000,000	$8,479,793	21.20%
A Good Year	2006	$35,000,000	$7,459,300	21.30%
Flyboys	2006	$60,000,000	$13,082,288	21.80%
Around the World in 80 Days	2004	$110,000,000	$24,008,137	21.80%
The Postman	1997	$80,000,000	$17,593,391	22%
Alexande	2004	$155,000,000	$34,297,191	22.10%
Rock-a-Doodle	1992	$11,600,000	$2,603,286	22.30%
The Four Feathers	2002	$80,000,000	$18,306,166	22.50%
Pathfinder: Legend of the Ghost Warrior	2007	$45,000,000	$10,232,081	22.70%
Gods and Generals	2003	$56,000,000	$12,882,034	23%
Stealth	2005	$138,000,000	$31,704,416	23.00%
The Invasion	2007	$65,000,000	$15,055,795	23.20%
Red Planet	2000	$75,000,000	$17,473,245	23.30%
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	2001	$137,000,000	$32,131,830	23.30%
Blood and Chocolate	2007	$15,000,000	$3,526,588	23.50%
Get Carter	2000	$63,600,000	$14,967,182	23.50%
Santa Claus: The Movie	1985	$50,000,000	$5,647,160	23.80%
Snoopy Come Home	1972	$1,000,000	$245,073	24.50%
The Last Castle	2001	$72,000,000	$18,208,078	25.30%
3000 Miles to Graceland	2001	$62,000,000	$15,738,632	25.40%
The Lost City	2005	$9,600,000	$2,484,186	25.90%
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	2003	$60,000,000	$6,874,477	26%
Hudson Hawk	1991	$65,000,000	$17,218,080	26.10%
Slither	2006	$29,500,000	$7,802,450	26.40%
Redline	2007	$26,000,000	$6,881,022	26.50%
Looney Tunes: Back in Action	2003	$80,000,000	$21,600,585	27.00%
Rollerball	2002	$70,000,000	$18,990,542	27.10%
Hart’s War	2002	$70,000,000	$19,076,815	27.10%
Hard Rain	1998	$70,000,000	$19,819,000	27.70%
EDtv	1999	$80,000,000	$21,431,897	28.00%
I Know Who Killed Me	2007	$12,000,000	$3,400,000	28.30%
Screamers	1995	$20,000,000	$5,711,695	28.60%
Beloved	1998	$80,000,000	$22,852,487	28.60%
The Hoax	2007	$25,000,000	$7,164,995	28.70%
Alone in the Dark	2005	$20,000,000	$5,178,169	28.90%
The Fountain	2006	$35,000,000	$10,144,010	28.90%
The Island	2005	$122,200,000	$35,799,026	29.20%
Battlefield Earth	2000	$73,000,000	$21,471,685	29.40%
Connie and Carla	2004	$27,000,000	$8,085,771	29.90%
Speed 2: Cruise Control	1997	$160,000,000	$48,068,396	30.00%
Titan A.E.	2000	$75,000,000	$22,753,426	30.30%
The Transformers: The Movie	1986	$5,000,000	$1,779,559	30.40%
The Pagemaster	1994	$13,670,688	$4,188,399	30.60%
Hollywood Ending	2002	$16,000,000	$4,839,383	31.50%
The Condemned	2007	$23,000,000	$7,327,940	31.80%
Solaris	2002	$47,000,000	$14,970,038	31.90%
Josie and the Pussycats	2001	$22,000,000	$4,562,455	32%
Hoot	2006	$15,000,000	$4,889,754	32.50%
Moonlight Mile	2002	$21,000,000	$6,835,856	32.60%
Ed Wood	1994	$18,000,000	$5,887,457	32.70%
Terminal Velocity	1994	$50,000,000	$16,478,900	32.90%
Jakob the Liar	1999	$15,000,000	$4,956,401	33.00%
Happily N’Ever After	2007	$47,000,000	$15,589,393	33.20%
The Bonfire of the Vanities	1990	$47,000,000	$15,691,192	33.40%
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada	2005	$15,000,000	$5,027,684	33.50%
Crash	1996	$10,000,000	$3,357,324	33.60%
Treasure Planet	2002	$140,000,000	$38,176,783	34.80%
U Turn	1997	$19,000,000	$6,633,400	34.90%
K-19: The Widowmaker	2002	$100,000,000	$35,168,677	35.10%
Tom and Jerry: The Movie	1992	$3,560,469	$1,225,912	35.30%
Windtalkers	2001	$115,000,000	$40,911,830	35.60%
Memoirs of an Invisible Man	1992	$40,000,000	$14,358,033	35.90%
Ishtar	1987	$55,000,000	$14,375,181	35.90%
Kingdom of Heaven	2005	$130,000,000	$47,396,698	36.50%
Doogal	2006	$20,000,000	$7,417,319	37.10%
The Legend of Bagger Vance	2000	$60,000,000	$11,516,712	37.20%
Grindhouse	2007	$67,000,000	$25,037,897	37.30%
The Chipmunk Adventure	1987	$6,804,312	$2,584,720	38%
The 13th Warrior	1999	$85,000,000	$32,694,788	38.50%
Judge Dredd	1995	$90,000,000	$34,694,000	38.50%
Wing Commander	1999	$30,000,000	$11,576,087	38.60%
The Majestic	2001	$72,000,000	$27,796,042	38.60%
The Avengers	1998	$60,000,000	$23,322,832	38.90%
Wyatt Earp	1994	$63,000,000	$25,052,000	39.80%
Dragonfly	2002	$75,000,000	$30,063,805	40%
Daylight	1996	$80,000,000	$32,885,565	40%
Catwoman	2004	$100,000,000	$40,202,379	40.20%
Code Name: The Cleaner	2007	$20,000,000	$8,135,024	40.70%
The Whole Ten Yards	2004	$40,000,000	$16,323,969	40.80%
From Justin to Kelly	2003	$12,000,000	$4,922,166	41.60%
The Core	2003	$74,000,000	$31,111,260	41.80%
The 6th Day	2000	$82,000,000	$34,543,700	42.10%
Lions for Lambs	2007	$35,000,000	$15,000,115	42.90%
Zathura	2005	$65,000,000	$28,045,540	43.10%
Thirteen Days	2000	$80,000,000	$34,566,746	43.20%
Driven	2001	$72,000,000	$32,616,869	44%
Body of Evidence	1993	$30,000,000	$13,273,595	44.20%
Return To Oz	1985	$25,000,000	$11,137,801	44.60%
Lords of Dogtown	2005	$25,000,000	$11,273,517	45.10%
Showgirls	1995	$45,000,000	$20,302,961	45.10%
The Black Dahlia	2006	$50,000,000	$22,545,080	45.10%
The Island	1980	$22,000,000	$10,000,000	45.50%
Sorcerer	1977	$22,000,000	$10,000,000	45.50%
Home On The Range	2004	$110,000,000	$50,030,461	45.50%
New York Minute	2004	$30,000,000	$14,045,006	46.80%
The Iron Giant	1999	$48,000,000	$23,159,305	48.20%
The Country Bears	2002	$35,000,000	$16,990,825	48.50%
Son of the Mask	2005	$84,000,000	$17,018,422	49.40%
Meet Joe Black	1998	$90,000,000	$44,606,335	49.60%
Little Nicky	2000	$80,000,000	$39,442,871	49.70%
Freddy Got Fingered	2001	$15,000,000	$7,098,549	49.80%
Super Mario Bros.	1993	$42,000,000	$20,915,465	49.80%
P2	2007	$8,000,000	$3,995,018	49.90%
Once Upon A Forest	1993	$13,000,000	$6,500,000	50%
Legend	1985	$30,000,000	$15,502,112	50.50%
Zodiac	2007	$65,000,000	$33,080,083	50.90%
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	2007	$35,000,000	$18,317,151	52.30%
Chasing Liberty	2004	$23,000,000	$12,195,626	53%
Happily Ever After	1993	$3,299,382	$1,756,050	53.20%
Howard the Duck	1986	$30,000,000	$16,295,136	53.30%
Mars Attacks!	1996	$70,000,000	$37,754,208	53.90%
The Wiz	1978	$24,000,000	$13,000,000	54.20%
The Cotton Club	1984	$47,000,000	$25,928,721	55.20%
Heathers	1989	$2,000,000	$1,108,462	55.40%
Welcome to Mooseport	2004	$26,000,000	$14,470,947	55.70%
Laws of Attraction	2004	$32,000,000	$17,871,255	55.90%
Mighty Joe Young	1998	$90,000,000	$50,632,037	56.30%
Quest for Camelot	1998	$40,000,000	$22,717,758	56.80%
King Arthur	2004	$90,000,000	$51,882,244	57.60%
Last Action Hero	1993	$85,000,000	$50,016,394	58.80%
Cleopatra	1963	$44,000,000	$26,000,000	59%
The Next Best Thing	2000	$25,000,000	$14,990,582	59.90%

NetVibes Digital Life Aggregator

So I discovered NetVibes today. Ok so I didn’t so much discover (as in Christopher Columbus) it, because I’ve known about NetVibes for some time now, but I made the switch from IGoogle(and Google reader) as my DLA/homepage over to NetVibes. NetVibes is a free Digital Life Aggregator, that allows you to organize your entire online life( for the most part) into tabbed pages. Everything from email to blogs to comics and games. Why, might you ask, would such an avid supporter of the googleverse make such a fundamental digital-life change? Well for what I have lost in one click access to all my various google accounts/apps and tools I have gained in recouped time and ease of use. So here are some of the things that made me switch:

Thing number 1: Visual appeal

The flexible layout ie. 2/3/4 column options make visually much easier to canvas all your feeds in a manner that saves time and space. It truly allows you to get all you information at a glance. Plus there’re just more things that can be optimized to better your experience.

Thing number 2: It’s like Google reader and Igoogle smashed into one app.

Netvibes’ layout and navigation is more like igoogle (on steroids), but the functionality and depth of information is more like google reader. Most widgets display up to the last 25 posts from an rss fee, whereas igoogle only allows you a measly 9.

Thing number 3: Sharing stuff

Incidentally, that’s how I first leart of NetVibes, through an invite which included the invitor’s setup for a particular tab. Yes, I was able to, with one click, start using a presetup netvibes page inclusive of cool widgets and feeds already setup by my friend who invited me to test it out. By the way, here’s a link to try net vibes out: http://www.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?preconfig=126efb5c739f8468139e69206b4fe46d

Thing number 4: It’s portable

If one day I decide NetVibes isn’t for me anymore, I can pack up my digital belongings via OPML and move on the the next DLA. Google has been touting the coming of this feature for a long time, but I am yet to see it. Incidentally, had they already done this, it would have made the switch to NetVibes a lot less time consuming.

Thing number 5: Netvibes supports igoogle widgets!

At least so they claim, and we all know how “support” for a 3rd party format can be. Up until writing this posted, I hadn’t tested the feature, but it does exist.

Thing number 6: They’re going social with Netvibes Ginger.

Yes, now it will be a whole lot easier with NetVibes Ginger (now in testing) to share all this wonderful “Funtastimation” that you’ve amassed in all new ways.

So why doesn’t Google just make one even more killer app like Netvibes?

My guess is: 1. They’re working on it and/or 2. The same internal structure which has led to Google’s great success where people take ownership of projects that are their own ideas can sometimes lead to political/bureaucratic slowdowns when it comes time for the company to change direction, shutdown, or merge projects especially if those project leaders have become more influential in the company . and/or 3. We’re so big and have so many things going on right now that this is the least of our issues. Plus, what is a “netvibe” anyways? Who knows. My point is, give Netvibes a chance, you might just like it.

Rf.

The 10 Most Expensive Cell Phones in the World

With all the hoopla surrounding the Iphone (and its fluctuating pricetag) one might might be lulled into thinking that the Iphone is the be-all and end-all in the world cell phones. The truth be told though, the Iphone is more like the Corvette of the cellphone industry, relatively expensive to the average consumer, but in the bigger picture, it’s a cheap horsepower contender and drop in the bucket when compared to these high rolling entrants into the world of cellphones. And yes, the top cellphone contender is more expensive than the Mercedes Maybach, the Ferrari Enzo and the Bugatti Veyron!

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10. Prada phone by LG

Price: $780

The Prada phone by LG just narrowly edged my personal favorite, the Gold Striker Gold 24-carat Iphone to make the list. At just 1.2 cm thick, the Prada phone, like the Iphone, has no buttons and is operated solely by way of the touch screen.

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9. Porsche Cellphone by Sagem

Price: $1,600

Designed by Porsche, but engineered and manufactured by France-based Sagem, the Porsche handset is currently available in Britain, Dubai and other oversees markets. The phone is expected to make its U.S. debut in 2008 possible through Porsche Dealerships.

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8. Mobiado Professional EM

Price: $2,200

Made from ebony wood, hard-anodized aluminum and titanium, Nokia driven Mobiado Professional EM handsets are individually unique due to the variations in wood patterning per instrument. It features a 1.3 MP camera, music playback and an FM radio.

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7. Gresso Black Aura Collection

Price: Up to $13,000

Gresso boastfully claims that its Black Aura cellphones are 200 years old – due to the age of the African Blackwood on each phone’s case. Black Aura series ranges from $6,500 to $13,000 with the most expensive featuring an 18-carat gold front panel.

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6. Diamond Iphone

Price: $41,000

The diamond iPhone boasts an impressive 420 diamonds at a total weight of 5.65 carats set in 18K white or yellow gold. It can also be ordered in white, black or pink sapphires. The phone, by UK blingmeister general Amosu, at a blustering $41,000 is sure to not make any “Will it blend” videos anytime soon.

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5.Vertu Signature

Price: Up to $81,000

Vertu, a subsidiary of Nokia, claims that it took expert craftsmen some three years of training to learn to make their phones. This classic, the Vertu Signature, contains 943 diamonds on its bezel and 48 more on its keypad, each set in place by hand in Switzerland.

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4. VIPN Black Diamond Smartphone

Price: $300,000

The creation of Swiss manufacturer VIPN, the titanium construction known as the “Black Diamond” is a one of a kind actually a 1 of 5 to be exact, and for generously shelling out 300,000 big ones, you get a Quadband phone with WiFi and Bluetooth, a 2 inch 256K TFT screen, 4MP camera, VOIP and 2 huge diamonds.

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3. Bucheron for Vertu Cobra

Price: $310,000

Parisian jeweler House of Bucheron linked up with Nokia subsidiary Vertu on this limited-edition series of eight cobra phones, which include a two-carat pear-cut diamond, a one-carat round diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies totaling 21 carats. Vertu phones also link up to a special concierge service with information about travel, entertainment, restaurants and events. Other Vertu phones sell between $4,350 and $81,000.

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2. The Diamond Crypto Smartphone

Price: $1.3 Million

Designed by diamond encruster extraordinaire Peter Aloisson The Diamond Crypto Smartphone is sometimes quoted as the World’s most expensive cell phone (depending on exchange rates). Russian firm JSC Ancort has developed a Windows CE-based smartphone ready for Aloisson’s bejeweling that employs “powerful encryption technology” to “provide secure protection of information against kidnapping, technological blackmail, financial racketeers and corrupted state officials” — sounds like marketing speak for a password-protected wallet app. Of course, with its $1.3 million price tag and 50 diamonds (10 of which are blue) you might start to have more trouble with mugging than with technological blackmail.

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1. The GoldVish Le Million

Price: $1.45 Million

Guinness World Records certifies this GoldVish phone as the most expensive in the world–1 million euros, or about $1.45 million. The odd-shaped device is made out of 18-carat white gold and features 1,800 diamonds totaling 120 carats. A Russian businessman bought Le Million for his wife last September at a luxury goods fair in Cannes, France. Don’t have a spare million for this made-by-request gadget? Geneva-based GoldVish has plenty of expensive phones in its lineup, including models with gold plating and diamond-studded cases.

Top 100 Organically Ranked Domains

Well, once more, being the curious loveable lover of long lists that I was lead in search of the top performing websites in search engines. Well, after searching vigorouusly, I found that very data, presented using a great customizable webscraper called Velocityscape. Velocitscape appears to have a suite of powerful data gathering tools. Definitely worth the download of the demos at least. Spyfu, for example – an Alexa style web data repository – is powered by Velocityscape macros. I will strive to keep this data updated and repost it every now and then.

Rank Domain Total Organic Results

1 yahoo.com 1549769

2 ebay.com 1519410

3 amazon.com 1467135

4 wikipedia.org 1215115

5 about.com 738624

6 blogspot.com 728314

7 craigslist.org 711328

8 google.com 696807

9 findarticles.com 596109

10 answers.com 546739

11 bizrate.com 466304

12 shopping.com 462951

13 msn.com 434465

14 epinions.com 432106

15 microsoft.com 407068

16 amazon.co.uk 375818

17 nextag.com 336002

18 dealtime.com 303313

19 aol.com 299166

20 nih.gov 298090

21 youtube.com 280754

22 cnet.com 273855

23 imdb.com 259333

24 pricegrabber.com 257717

25 myspace.com 230585

26 mysimon.com 207543

27 nytimes.com 199216

28 geocities.com 197176

29 bbc.co.uk 192336

30 howstuffworks.com 178672

31 citysearch.com 175972

32 wordpress.com 174319

33 techrepublic.com.com 171745

34 freepatentsonline.com 165903

35 webshots.com 164529

36 ebay.co.uk 153907

37 alibaba.com 149448

38 ezinearticles.com 148469

39 ciao.co.uk 145855

40 jstor.org 145088

41 springerlink.com 141290

42 gc.ca 136163

43 thefreedictionary.com 134824

44 hp.com 132846

45 typepad.com 129271

46 ingentaconnect.com 129202

47 ibm.com 129081

48 tripod.com 126243

49 sun.com 126182

50 ecnext.com 126127

51 dmoz.org 124947

52 business.com 123069

53 tripadvisor.com 121692

54 eurekster.com 117020

55 patentstorm.us 116787

56 topix.net 116694

57 ieee.org 114765

58 elsevier.com 114098

59 cduniverse.com 114064

60 amazon.ca 113650

61 ign.com 113454

62 softpedia.com 111212

63 flickr.com 110112

64 careerbuilder.com 110050

65 squidoo.com 108716

66 harvard.edu 106433

67 sourceforge.net 105462

68 cnn.com 103743

69 spyfu.com 103389

70 go.com 102925

71 superpages.com 102675

72 blackwell-synergy.com 101140

73 mit.edu 98210

74 qarchive.org 96697

75 netscape.com 95423

76 ca.gov 94173

77 stanford.edu 92956

78 ebay.ca 92815

79 apple.com 89621

80 apache.org 88423

81 allexperts.com 88333

82 zdnet.com 85424

83 berkeley.edu 84356

84 freedownloadscenter.com 84299

85 oxfordjournals.org 83961

86 ed.gov 82396

87 angelfire.com 80485

88 rhapsody.com 80417

89 britannica.com 79801

90 sortprice.com 76734

91 bizjournals.com 76642

92 nasa.gov 75681

93 usatoday.com 74114

94 inist.fr 73984

95 findlaw.com 72954

96 washingtonpost.com 72928

97 city-data.com 72896

98 associatedcontent.com 72867

99 barnesandnoble.com 72670

100 psu.edu 71307

Last updated 9/1/07. Data is based upon 370,681,167 search results on 1,891,375 keywords across 7,513,090 domains. This data is for entertainment purposes only. I am not responsible for the accuracy of this data.

Memoirs from SES San Jose 2007: Swag review – The Good, The Bad and What The?!!

SES San Jose 2007
So SES San Jose 2007 is over and done with and it was in one word…Awesome! It was my second SES but my first in San Jose. The experience at San Jose’s Search Engine Strategies is an incredible one. The intangible yet palpable cloud of knowledge and industry insight was extraordinary. Whether it came from industry leaders or my SEM peers, information and answers were always on tap. Just knowing that I was getting the best, most efficient strategies in the industry direct from the horse’s mouth as well as the most intelligible guesses as to the future of search engine marketing made the pricey conference fee well worth it. Or, maybe I was just star-struck, at least as star-stuck as one can get in the search industry. I mean, I met Marissa Mayer from Google, I made Matt Cutts chuckle and I got to a chance to one-on-one about link baiting with Rand Fishkin from SEOMoz…all totally awesome!

But enough about the people, great sessions and info at SES San Jose, my more detailed summaries will come in later blogs. Right now I am talking about those unsung heroes of conferences like SES, the foot soldiers of brand equity: Chochkies…a.k.a. leave behinds a.k.a. promotional products, premiums etc. etc. Though we oft take these small stars of the business world for granted, sometimes these knickknacks drive entire industries…for example the pharmaceutical industry spends several millions per year to produce effective leave behinds that keep their drugs top of mind for doctors, especially prior to the availability to them of the mainstream media. So in honor of the creative minds who used their brain juice to work extra hard for brands… here is my review of the chochkies from the exhibitors at SES San Jose 2007.

T-Shirt review.
There was an abundance of T-shirts. T-shirts are always a great. Everyone uses them and of course they’re awesome for branding – think Nike, Versace, Fubu etc. My favorite was, of course, the Google Dance shirt. The creative (artwork) was good…it was in association with an event (great branding and relevance)…and frankly it was cool looking, and will be doubly so once I get back to MCO. Other T-shirts worth mentioning came from LinkWorth – one of the only booths that you HAD to give them your contact info (via badge scan) to get one – hey, if your paying good money for your promotional items…turn them into lead generators. GenieKnowsGames.com also gave away T-shirts at their mondo display complete with freeplay video games. My T-shirt lust also led me to discover Moniker.com, a forward thinking Domain Asset Management company…I like forward thinking companies – heck! I like the words “forward thinking”.

What the ??!!
The What the Heck award goes to Findology‘s little Findology watch-a-ma-call-it (molecule). I have no idea what it does…but it’s cool looking when arranged in a line on their exhibit table. The downside of this marketing piece is that you don’t do anything with it so after a few days of looking at it, mine will probably eventually find the trash. I guess Findology is a science best understood by those who practice it (ha I kill me!)

Water bottles.
Ah water bottles, colorful, plentiful and mostly boring. But we can always use more. Water bottles offer lots of real estate for brand and tend to be something that people keep around and reuse, so though not the sexiest of chochkies…they can provide good bang for buck. I did get one cool one though on a private tour of Google (but that’s another blog entry :).

That’s cool.
I haven’t had so much fun with two magnets since elementary school. ABC search‘s noisy, disruptive spinning magnet things were fantastic…I even almost got put out of a session before it started just because they could possibly be potentially disruptive..lol! Oh yeah! Also, I loved Hakia‘s totally novel “Search Music”. It was music composed and performed by members of staff at the search engine. They all seemed very proud of this piece at the booth…and rightfully so…I could easily see this charting well on Billboard’s ethno-techie-world-ambience genre!

Best of Show.
A lesson in relevance, and relevance really is what search is all about. Superpages.com a business directory and local search engine owned by Idearc Media Corp. out of Dallas, Texas. So for Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2007, they gave away a very comprehensive Survival Kit and guide to the city of San Jose. Kudos to the Superpages.com marketing team and forward-thinking executives who approved what I’m sure was a fairly costly and well branded leave behind piece. It included an offline paper version of their mapping technology (it’s great…you have to see it), hand sanitizers, key rings, a flashlight and other small useful items plus a (complete) 2007 Zagat survey. For their great effort and execution, they get from me a keyword rich backlink: yellow pages maps directions.

Others worth mentioning…

The light up bouncyball from ClickPath. My 2-year-old daughter has already gleaned hours of fun from this gadget.

MP3 Player speakers from Island Data. I just wish there was more about their brand included on this piece – like a tag line &/or website.

A USB jump drive I got from Google (on my tour of the campus).

The moral of today’s story?
1. The best leave behinds are those that are most relevant to the event and to your audience!
2. Not all link baiting needs be online…as a matter of fact, if you want a link back to your website, send me your best chochky, T-shirt or whatever and I will review it and give you a backlink to your site.
mailto: Ryan Weidman, 7450 Sandlake Commons Blvd., Orlando, FL 32819.

The 15 Most Iconic Cars from movies

Well being the lover of lists that I am, I put together my picks for the 15 most iconic cars from the movies. Feel free to let me know how you feel about my list…what would you add or take away?

15. Lamborghini Countach from Canonball Run
This was the first time I really noticed the Lamborghini…what a car!

14. BMW Z3 from Goldeneye
It was our first chance to see the new Beamer and what a showing it was. (NB. video is not from the movie)

13. Eleanor from Gone in Sixty Seconds
I don’t know what Nicholas Cage was talking about but lots of people would consider themselves lucky to have a car like that.

12.”Black Moon” from Black Moon Rising
Nothing is more Rad than a super-futuristic 80’s sports car.

11. Bumble Bee from The Transformers Movie
Because we all wish to be blessed with such an awesome babe magnet!

10. Lightening McQueen from Cars
Loveable, NASCAR, Disney, Pixar, kids…all the great ingredients for marketing magic (minus the cute puppies)

9. Blues Brothers Police Car from The Blues Brothers
How much did this scene cost to film this scene?

8. Eco 1 from The Ghostbusters movies
A converted ambulance…what genius!

7. Christine from Christine
To this day I still get antsy whenever I see a Plymouth Fury…especially in Red.

6. Ford Gran Tourino from Starsky & Hutch
Back when Ford stood for great american cars, rather than “Fix or Replace Daily”. One of my favorite TV shows ever, I watched Starsky and Hutch religiously (in re-runs) as a kid. If this were a TV car list this would be way higher.

5. The General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard
It took me years before I realised that there really was no common technology that would allow you to flip a switch and make your car jump. That Dodge Challenger has one of the most awesome sounding engines ever.

4. Bandit 1 from Smokey and The Bandit
Oh I long for the days when beer haulin’, basset hound having, Trans Am driving movie heroes meant top spot at the Box Office.

3. The Batmobile from Batman
When batman first came out, I thought this was the most incredible vehicle ever (next to K.I.T.T of course :).

2. Herbie from The Lovebug
Back when men were men and cars were living ’63 Volkswagen Beetles.

1. DMC-12 from Back to the Future.
Time circuits on, flux capacitor fluxing…Engine…D’ oh! I guess that’s one reason why De Lorean never quite made it commercially the first time.
(Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, Deloreans are back in production in Houston)

Honorable Mention:
K.I.T.T. The most awesome car to hit the big or small screen :) and my personal favorite.
(So..hurry up with the Knight Rider movie already!)

Mini Coopers from the original Italian Job – starring Michael Caine.
Stuntmen back in the day were pretty daring…especially without the fancy remote control systems and CGI we have today.

The Mustang GT fastback from Bullitt
One of the earliest and most influential car chase scenes of the movies came from Bullitt.

09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 dies tragically after Idol disappointment!!

At 1:00am tonight the body of 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 was found in his Silicon Valley home. Earlier this evening, 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 was voted off of the hit Fix network show, Yodel Idol and in a tragic turn of events, was allegedly later electrocuted at his home by a short circuited trackball while trying to book a cheap vacation for his family to Orlando to go see the M-O-U-S-E. Ironically, the trip was supposed to lift spirits after the disappointing showing at the Yodel Idol polls.Reports suggest that the hex had hidden his suffering with bouts of Tourette’s Disorder from family, friends and fans. Orlando-Florida.net understands that the violence of his Tourette’s twitches had rendered his home a veritable danger zone as the contents of his home lay in dissaray. 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 is survived by his wife ___ and daughter Digh, now doomed a sad future of corporate prostitution and pain.

Funeral arrangements for 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 will be announced as they are made available.

Great places to generate SEO backlinks

Backlinking is at the heart of search engine optimization. Search engines essentially interpret each link back your website as a “vote” for your site with respect to importance on the world-wide web. “Votes” from websites that are seen as more important are more valuable than websites that are less important.

So I found a list of websites that will allow you to create backlinks.

Below is a list of sites to which you can submit articles that contain backlinks to your websites.

These lists are provided by on Mr. SEO – a website with GREEAAT SEO resources.

In the beginning was the search engine.

SEO is not magic! It tends to be looked on as this magical power that certain of us have been gifted with…that at the wiggle of a nose a website is commanded to the lofty heights of the top of the SERPS (Search Engine Results pages). In reality, at the most basic of levels, search engines are machines. They are subject to a set of defined rules. Like any sport, first learn the rules and then train yourself to win within those rules.

So for today…here is a link to the a great compilation of Search Engine ranking factors (mainly for Google)

Google ranking factors

Also, here’s a link to Matt Cutts’ blog. Who is Matt…Matt’s the very candid and verbose googler in charge of Google’s Webspam team. In other words, if Google’s SERPs were a horse, Matt would be Mr. Ed’s mouth :) A great blog to keep up on.

Matt Cutts

Todays TIP: Educate Yourself. READ. READ. READ.

Find good, reputable training, whether it’s a proven blog, self-help cds or training seminars. I used Brad Fallon’s CD’s Stomping the Search Emngines as a start. They really explain the basics of SEO I think that anyone even thinking of trying SEO from scratch should buy and listen to these cds. He gives very practical applications for a lot of the technical stuff. Hey covers everything from selecting a business to promote in search engines to practical methods of going out and getting backlinks. CAUTION: These CDs are 2 years old and some of the practical aspects of his stuff may be a little dated, but the theories will probably hold true for years to come….However it is still and excellent starting point. 

RF