Archive for the 'Misc.' Category

Feb 07 2008

Posted by CyberCelt under Blog Events, Did You Know, Misc., Reviews

IZEARanks for Bloggers Only

Anyone who blogs knows about the smack-down given to bloggers by one of the major search engines in December, right before Christmas. Three of my blogs that were page rank 4 reduced to page rank 0. Nothing else changed. The amount of traffic to my blogs remained the same, including the traffic sent by the search engine responsible for the problem.

The folks at IZEARanks developed their own ranking system, based on unique visitors and pages views. You now have an alternative for blog ranking based on data. Your blog rank is compared nightly to the ranks of other bloggers all over the world. So, you now may have IZEARank versus Page Rank, Alexa Rank or comSCORE Rank.

This means real data is used instead of esoteric ranking algorithms, tool bar extrapolations or proprietary database magic. No one will be able to strip IZEARank from your blog.

How Do I Sign Up for Real Rank?

Go to IZEARanks.com

  1. Register for IZEARanks;
  2. verify your email address;
  3. add your blog to the IZEARanks system;
  4. get the IZEA tool kit code (javascript);
  5. add IZEA tool kit code to your blog;
  6. return to IZEARanks to get the blog claim code (javascript);
  7. add blog claim code to your blog;
  8. return to the site and claim your blog.

Screenshot of IZEARanks account page

If all is well, you will see a screenshot like the one above with green check marks. That all it takes to get started! In 24 hours, you will have IZEARank. You may add the ITK and claim code to all your blogs as I have done.

IZEA Ranks screenshot
Above is a screenshot showing IZEARank. You may also see unique visitors and page views by using the drop-down menu. You will notice the green trend line, showing that blog rank is increasing over a week. You may adjust the time-line by using the light-bulb at the top of the page.

Simple, easy and accurate. That is IZEARank.  Now, we can all get back to blogging.

2 Comments »

Dec 12 2007

Posted by CyberCelt under Family Fun, Misc.

Ice Skating in Texas?

Ice skating in Texas? Yes, we have ice rinks, hockey teams and more. Below are just some of the ice rinks you will find as you travel to Texas.

Texas Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks

Whole Foods Rooftop Plaza (PDF)
525 N Lamar
Austin, TX 78703
512-476-1206

Whole Foods Market Inc. has a rectangular 1,800-square-foot ice skating rink on its second-floor outdoor rooftop plaza in downtown Austin.
(Temporary 11/23/07-1/1/08)

Eisbahn
Marktplatz
Main Street and Adams Street
Fredericksburg, TX
(Temporary 11/23/07-1/6/08)


Texas Indoor (Year Round) Ice Skating RinksAerodome Ice Skating Complex
8220 Willow Place Drive North
Houston, TX 77070
281-84-SKATE

Americas Ice Garden
700 North Pearl Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
214-720-8080

Arctic Wolf Ice Center
400 Holleman Drive E.
College Station, TX 77840
979-693-3900

Chaparral Ice Centers of Austin, Texas
14200 IH35 North
Austin TX 78728
512-252-8500
-and-
2525 Anderson Lane
Austin TX 78757
512-451-5102

Dr. Pepper StarCenters
Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (Duncanville, Euless, Farmers Branch, Frisco and Plano)

The Ice & Golf Center at Northwoods
17530 Henderson Pass
San Antonio, TX 78232
210-490-9550

Polar Ice Galleria
Galleria Mall, Level 1
5015 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77056-5621
713-621-1500

Space City Ice Station

18150 Gulf Freeway
Friendswood, TX 77546-2722
281-486-7979

All the ice skating rinks above have public skating schedules. There are many of ice skating clubs and private skating associations if you are interested, please click here to visit Golden Skate website.

Tags: , ,

No Comments »

Dec 07 2007

Posted by CyberCelt under Charity, Misc., Music

Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert

This concert is being held in Southern California. Not many of us here in Texas will make it in person, but you can catch the live webcast in the AT&T Blue Room. The concert is for two great causes and features top bands. Happy Holidays!

KROQ Almost Acoustic ChristmasDecember 8 and 9, 2007
530 pm PST
AT&T Blue Room

Click to get more information or to watch the LIVE webcast in the AT&T Blue Room. Webcast features bands like Linkin Park, Angles and Airwaves, Muse, Feist, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse, Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion, Paramore, Silversun Pickups, Rise Against, Spoon, Serj Tankian and The Shins.KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas benefits local children’s charities.

December 8: AL WOOTEN JR. HERITAGE CENTER Provides a safe after-school environment for hundreds of kids in South Central LA.

December 9: PARA LOS NINOS Helps to bring more than 5,000 families out of poverty and give their kids a brighter future.

Tags: , ,

No Comments »

Aug 14 2007

Posted by CyberCelt under Misc., Skywatching

* Stars * Meteors * Stars

We journeyed out to Lockhart State Park for two nights to see the Perseid showers. I thought we would have better luck out in the country than close to San Marcos where we live.

However, I did not count on the city lights of Lockhart being so bright, nor did I consider that the airport would have a rotating search light shining up at the sky all night long. There were just enough clouds that when the light hit them, they glowed and blocked night vision except for directly overhead.

Despite the lights, we did see a great many Perseid meteors at about 4 am on Monday morning. Not as many as I would have liked, but they were beautiful. Streaking across the sky, sometimes two at once, we were “ooohing and aaahing” for hours.

On Tuesday morning, the meteor count was less, but still amazing. Mars was bright red and rose with the meteor shower. I was hoping for the meteor- a-minute that a dark sky would show, but it was not to be.

Next time, I will just have to go west into the desert.

Tags: , , ,

2 Comments »

Jul 26 2007

Posted by CyberCelt under Did You Know, Misc., Remember, Scuba/Snorkel

Dive the Legend

The Texas Clipper ship will become artificial reefThe Texas Clipper

Texas Parks and Wildlife will reef the USTS Texas Clipper in August 2007. She will lie seventeen miles east of the South Padre Island jetties in 134 feet of water. The wheel house and cabins will reach to the 50-70 feet depth.

Commissioned as the USS Queens in 1944, the ship served as a troop transport during World War II, and was decommissioned in 1946. From 1965 to 1996, the USTS Texas Clippper served students and sea cadets at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

This will be a fitting end to a fine ship. Scuba divers will be there when it goes down and back again within months to check on it. In time, barnacles, corals, sponges and clams will cover the ship surfaces. Then small fish and crabs will appear. Soon the larger fish will appear as the ship becomes a world class artificial reef.


Dive the Legend - The Texas Clipper - Dive the Legend

Tags: , ,

No Comments »

Next »

Bad Behavior has blocked 799 access attempts in the last 7 days.