Stumbled across something awesome today!

While reading through my InstantGuruBlog page, I ran across this awesome product called Search Automator. The price is right and it has a very high "convenience quotient" for what it does. Just go to the site and watch the demo video. It's awesome if you spend alot of time searching for stuff like I do.

Screwed by Google?

Apparently, Google is doing something different because all my sites that were on page 1 of the search results are now way down in the listings. All my top searches that were on page 1 are now on page 8 or lower. Products like Yubisaki Pillow, LeanLife PM, Deception Cream, OHT Peptide 3, Tsunoni, Amazing Kitchen Machine, Trugenix Hoodia, Green Tea 300 and more... all simply vanished from page 1 or 2. I think it's time to start buying some adwords. :-(

Something I shoulda posted earlier

Someone sent me this awesome Christmas Greeting the other day that I should have posted here immediately. Anyway, it's here now.

So, how was your Christmas?

I got some cool stuff for Christmas (ok I'm a 40yr old who likes toys, what can I say?) but the one most worth mentioning here is this Cool Flying Saucer Thingy. It was a huge hit with the kids. Another cool thing I got was a Star Wars Chess Set, which took a little getting used to.

Speaking of good movies...

I just can't seem to get away from martial arts for some reason. Kung Fu Hustle to date is my favorite kung fu movie of all time. Before that it was Jet Li in Hero. Before that it was Iron Monkey (the 1993 VHS version with original fight sounds), and that was my favorite for many years. The DVD version of Iron Monkey had the fighting sounds toned down to be more like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and in my opinion that small change made the fight scenes seem much less powerful. Another favorite of mine is Jackie Chan's City Hunter, based on the Anime TV series.

Some cool stuff I found today

While aimlessly browsing the web today, I ran across two really cool sites...

• The Name Decoder - Just check it out. It's cool.
• Untitled States - Cool signs. You'll get it when you go there.

Also, the Name Decoder thing is a great example of monetizing a fun site (if you're into internet marketing, anyway). I will start looking for ways to exploit web-based graphics generation as well.

Martial arts revisited

I was thinking about kung fu, karate, etc. and got to thinking about when I was taking Shotokan classes under Sensei (now Master) Hawk Frazier in the late 70's and early 80's. The thing I remember most about Sensei's class was how well we did in tournaments. We would take home trophies in every category. It got to the point where other schools would leave as soon as they found out we were competing because they knew they didn't stand a chance. Some schools even tried to get us banned! Anyway, I did a search on google for "hawk frazier" and lo and behold, I found the results of some tournaments in New York. Master Hawk is still cleaning house at the tournaments. Use your browser to search for "Hawk" and you'll see his students in the top 3 of almost every category. Some categories show two students (first and third place, for example). The man is still awesome, even in his 60's.

Martial arts, anyone?

I ordered a DVD called Wing Chun - Science of In-Fighting from ebay (I absolutely love ebay, as you'll quickly realize) not expecting much more than a little entertainment and some video of real masters performing the style. However, it turned out to be much more than a demonstration. Sifu Wong Shun-Leung, teacher and classmate of Bruce Lee, teaches and demonstrates many of the basic techniques of Wing Chun. Anyone with formal martial arts training will quickly recognize the power of Sifu Wong's technique. It is an amazing demonstration of the simplicity and effectiveness of Wing Chun. And you can even learn the basic style too!

A google search for Wing Chun video clips reveals several web sites with videos. I have seen a few of them and there are some pretty impressive practicioners of the style out there these days.

Welcome!

Welcome to the AME Labs blog! I promise to try to keep my postings interesting and either informative or at least funny. Bookmark this page and visit frequently.

Tony Manso
AME Labs