Comments for Construction Informer http://constructioninformer.com Construction News Views Interviews Commentaries Downloads and More Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:37:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 Comment on Taming Construction Blog Spam by Mark http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-1107 Mark Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:53:38 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-1107 Google's blogger system is pretty good about managing the spam issue. First, they actually initiate processes to shut down blogs which look 'spammy'. This seems to occur when the number of backlinks reaches a certain threshold; the blog is suddenly disabled, put on hold, and you need to submit a request for a manual review. Shortly after this happened with my blog, it seems its search engine rankings skyrocketed (achieving the SEO 'dream' of number one placement with the intended keywords). Secondly, I have noticed only limited comment spam, perhaps one or two a month, that make it through the blogspot's own filters and controls -- usually the type of fake positive comments described above. These never are published, using the blog's moderator function. As things progress it is harder and harder to game the system (though players still try). Patence and reasonably good content help and in the long term are always the best approaches. Google’s blogger system is pretty good about managing the spam issue.
First, they actually initiate processes to shut down blogs which look ’spammy’. This seems to occur when the number of backlinks reaches a certain threshold; the blog is suddenly disabled, put on hold, and you need to submit a request for a manual review. Shortly after this happened with my blog, it seems its search engine rankings skyrocketed (achieving the SEO ‘dream’ of number one placement with the intended keywords).
Secondly, I have noticed only limited comment spam, perhaps one or two a month, that make it through the blogspot’s own filters and controls — usually the type of fake positive comments described above. These never are published, using the blog’s moderator function.
As things progress it is harder and harder to game the system (though players still try). Patence and reasonably good content help and in the long term are always the best approaches.

]]> Comment on Markets of Smoke and Mirrors by DCraig http://constructioninformer.com/2008/09/30/markets-of-smoke-and-mirrors/#comment-1068 DCraig Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:52:14 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/?p=621#comment-1068 That poll item is a Word Press plug-in that you can download for free at http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/. There is also an accompanying widget that will place the polls in your sidebar. It's a really well designed polling item and as long as you have WP you should be able to integrate it fairly easily. Although it is free there is usually a link on it once installed that will let you donate something to the creator. I've tried at least four other poll items but this one seemed to have worked out the best for me. That poll item is a Word Press plug-in that you can download for free at http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/. There is also an accompanying widget that will place the polls in your sidebar. It’s a really well designed polling item and as long as you have WP you should be able to integrate it fairly easily. Although it is free there is usually a link on it once installed that will let you donate something to the creator. I’ve tried at least four other poll items but this one seemed to have worked out the best for me.

]]> Comment on Markets of Smoke and Mirrors by Ritchie http://constructioninformer.com/2008/09/30/markets-of-smoke-and-mirrors/#comment-1067 Ritchie Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:06:50 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/?p=621#comment-1067 Although I came here by pure chance. I found myself reading a political opinion on a construction board. It was very INFORMING. Thank you for your insight. I agree 100 %. I am also very intrigued about the polls you have on the side bar as that is exactly what I want for my site. Could you please send an email or post here how you acquired that and if it is free or if you are paying for it? Thanks again and look forward to your next posting. Although I came here by pure chance. I found myself reading a political opinion on a construction board. It was very INFORMING. Thank you for your insight. I agree 100 %. I am also very intrigued about the polls you have on the side bar as that is exactly what I want for my site. Could you please send an email or post here how you acquired that and if it is free or if you are paying for it? Thanks again and look forward to your next posting.

]]> Comment on Career and Tech Education Bolstered by Online Options by Beth http://constructioninformer.com/2008/09/12/career-and-tech-education-bolstered-by-online-options/#comment-679 Beth Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:49:53 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/09/12/career-and-tech-education-bolstered-by-online-options/#comment-679 Thanks for the mention. We're excited by the possibilities of our new partnership with the Washington State Board. You should know that Elluminate also offers a free 3-person virtual office for those who want to begin experimenting with online collaboration. It has all the features of our flagship product, and you can use it as long as you like. For more information, visit www.getvroom.com. - Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication Thanks for the mention. We’re excited by the possibilities of our new partnership with the Washington State Board. You should know that Elluminate also offers a free 3-person virtual office for those who want to begin experimenting with online collaboration. It has all the features of our flagship product, and you can use it as long as you like. For more information, visit http://www.getvroom.com.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

]]> Comment on EPA’s Granite and Radon Statement Nothing New by Huligar http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/28/epas-granite-and-radon-statement-nothing-new/#comment-620 Huligar Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:16:44 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/28/epas-granite-and-radon-statement-nothing-new/#comment-620 As you are probably very aware, there have been on-going accusations that have been consistently made against natural granite products having the ability to cause cancer, because of the high levels of radon that they have been said to produce. These accusations have been going on for quite a while, and it is time to put them to rest. Who better to accomplish this, than professionals who strive to ensure the safety, as well as the satisfaction of all customers? The National Stone Restoration Alliance is ready to put accusations to rest. Josveek Huligar, a proud member of the NSRA is willing to conduct a very important test in his own home. This is a test that can ultimately change the world of granite, as we know it. Huligar plans to have the very slab of granite, which was said to be ‘hot’ and to have contained radon, installed in his own home. The entire process will be on camera no less, for the entire world to see. Before the slab of granite is to be installed, samples will be taken, and the air will be tested in the home, as described by the EPA, and then sent to be evaluated by AirChek ( www.radon.com ), to check for traces of radon and radiation. When this test is complete, the granite will be installed, and then his home will be tested once again to check the levels of radon and radiation. You can monitor this entire process yourself on a public web cam at www.nsraweb.com The slab being used for this test has been provided by Mr. Tim Scarlata of Atlantic Granite & Marble ( www.atlanticgranite.com ), located in Rochester N.Y. After searching extensively to find the perfect slab for the test, Scarlata was able to locate two slabs of granite that did in fact produce higher than normal readings of radiation. Atlantic Granite & Marble will also be fabricating and installing the counter top while on video for the public to view. There have been some individuals who have spent large amounts of money on not only the installation of natural granite in their homes, but then they have turned right around and paid tons more money in having the granite removed because of the scare that has been put on society with the radon issues. Huligar, being in the business of ensuring customer satisfaction and quality, also takes this issue very seriously, because the health and well being of his customers are at stake. He plans to do everything possible to ensure the continued safety and reliability of NSRA customers. You could certainly be seriously hurt, or even killed if granite were to fall on top of you, but at this time, this is the only way that has been proven to cause harm to anyone. It is the believed that the radon scare is nothing more than marketing strategies, and it has done exactly what it was intended to do, and that is cause fear of using granite in the general public. Huligar and associates of NSRA do not believe this to be true. However, he knows how important it is for the public to see that he stands behind the good name of The Natural Stone Restoration Alliance and their objective to supply clients with the natural beauty of stone, and that every effort will always be taken to do so in a safe manner. To further put the publics mind at rest, solutions to any unfavorable characteristics have already been found. This test is vital to the natural stone industry, and Huligar is ready to stand up to the test to prove that granite is not harmful to the general public. People need to be able to see these accusations called upon. The Natural Stone Restoration Alliance (NSRA) has already done their own research, and released their information that looked at both past and present studies, as well as the marketing strategies used by manufacturers that birthed the scare of radon in the home. The findings of this research are quite simply that levels of radon have no significant difference when granite has been installed in a home. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of letting unproven fears cost you hundreds of dollars, find out the truth yourself by watching the web cam at Natural Stone Restoration Alliance | Home, and let this door be closed once and for all. Viewers can also comment on the research that is being performed at http://www.nsraweb.com/forums/news-5/live-testing-kitchen-radon-before-granite-9010.html The set up and testing of the hot slabs starts 9/6/2008 at 10am. The test will be ending September 8, 2008 @ 6:15 Web Site: http://www.nsraweb.com/forums/news-5/live-testing-kitchen-radon-before-granite-9010.html As you are probably very aware, there have been on-going accusations that have been consistently made against natural granite products having the ability to cause cancer, because of the high levels of radon that they have been said to produce. These accusations have been going on for quite a while, and it is time to put them to rest.

Who better to accomplish this, than professionals who strive to ensure the safety, as well as the satisfaction of all customers? The National Stone Restoration Alliance is ready to put accusations to rest. Josveek Huligar, a proud member of the NSRA is willing to conduct a very important test in his own home. This is a test that can ultimately change the world of granite, as we know it.

Huligar plans to have the very slab of granite, which was said to be ‘hot’ and to have contained radon, installed in his own home. The entire process will be on camera no less, for the entire world to see. Before the slab of granite is to be installed, samples will be taken, and the air will be tested in the home, as described by the EPA, and then sent to be evaluated by AirChek ( http://www.radon.com ), to check for traces of radon and radiation. When this test is complete, the granite will be installed, and then his home will be tested once again to check the levels of radon and radiation. You can monitor this entire process yourself on a public web cam at http://www.nsraweb.com

The slab being used for this test has been provided by Mr. Tim Scarlata of Atlantic Granite & Marble ( http://www.atlanticgranite.com ), located in Rochester N.Y. After searching extensively to find the perfect slab for the test, Scarlata was able to locate two slabs of granite that did in fact produce higher than normal readings of radiation. Atlantic Granite & Marble will also be fabricating and installing the counter top while on video for the public to view.

There have been some individuals who have spent large amounts of money on not only the installation of natural granite in their homes, but then they have turned right around and paid tons more money in having the granite removed because of the scare that has been put on society with the radon issues. Huligar, being in the business of ensuring customer satisfaction and quality, also takes this issue very seriously, because the health and well being of his customers are at stake. He plans to do everything possible to ensure the continued safety and reliability of NSRA customers.

You could certainly be seriously hurt, or even killed if granite were to fall on top of you, but at this time, this is the only way that has been proven to cause harm to anyone.

It is the believed that the radon scare is nothing more than marketing strategies, and it has done exactly what it was intended to do, and that is cause fear of using granite in the general public. Huligar and associates of NSRA do not believe this to be true. However, he knows how important it is for the public to see that he stands behind the good name of The Natural Stone Restoration Alliance and their objective to supply clients with the natural beauty of stone, and that every effort will always be taken to do so in a safe manner. To further put the publics mind at rest, solutions to any unfavorable characteristics have already been found.

This test is vital to the natural stone industry, and Huligar is ready to stand up to the test to prove that granite is not harmful to the general public. People need to be able to see these accusations called upon.

The Natural Stone Restoration Alliance (NSRA) has already done their own research, and released their information that looked at both past and present studies, as well as the marketing strategies used by manufacturers that birthed the scare of radon in the home. The findings of this research are quite simply that levels of radon have no significant difference when granite has been installed in a home.

Do not let yourself fall into the trap of letting unproven fears cost you hundreds of dollars, find out the truth yourself by watching the web cam at Natural Stone Restoration Alliance | Home, and let this door be closed once and for all. Viewers can also comment on the research that is being performed at http://www.nsraweb.com/forums/news-5/live-testing-kitchen-radon-before-granite-9010.html

The set up and testing of the hot slabs starts 9/6/2008 at 10am.

The test will be ending September 8, 2008 @ 6:15

Web Site:
http://www.nsraweb.com/forums/news-5/live-testing-kitchen-radon-before-granite-9010.html

]]> Comment on Documented BIM Advantages Tell Savings Story by Recognizing the benefits of Building Information Modeling -- Construction Software Blog http://constructioninformer.com/2008/08/28/documented-bim-advantages-tell-savings-story/#comment-561 Recognizing the benefits of Building Information Modeling -- Construction Software Blog Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:10:16 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/08/28/documented-bim-advantages-tell-savings-story/#comment-561 [...] Documented BIM Advantages Tell Savings Story — This is a real-world example of how the uses of BIM saved a construction firm more that $800,000. (Construction Informer Blog) [...] [...] Documented BIM Advantages Tell Savings Story — This is a real-world example of how the uses of BIM saved a construction firm more that $800,000. (Construction Informer Blog) [...]

]]> Comment on Taming Construction Blog Spam by Matt http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-245 Matt Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:41:15 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-245 @John Funny that you are talking about spam and your comment has the name of your blog 3 times and the url twice, one of which is an actual link. @John
Funny that you are talking about spam and your comment has the name of your blog 3 times and the url twice, one of which is an actual link.

]]> Comment on It’s All In The Details by Pawel http://constructioninformer.com/2008/08/07/its-all-in-the-details/#comment-141 Pawel Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:12:28 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/08/07/its-all-in-the-details/#comment-141 Hey! I happen to be this CM student. Just want to say that Duane's answer for my question was great. Thanks again, Duane! Hey! I happen to be this CM student. Just want to say that Duane’s answer for my question was great. Thanks again, Duane!

]]> Comment on Taming Construction Blog Spam by John Rainone http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-133 John Rainone Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:45:14 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/07/24/taming-construction-blog-spam/#comment-133 Duane - Your blog entry hits the nail right on the head. I can't tell you how much spam we deal with here daily on the MorganSullivan Executive Search Blog. The only tactic I have found works consistently is to always be aware. I take the time - all be it not because I always want to - to look through each comment and approve or deny it based on its content. It may be time consuming as I said, but it is a necessary evil! John Rainone Project Operations Manager MorganSullivan, Inc. JRainone@MorganSullivan.com http://www.MorganSullivan.com Duane -

Your blog entry hits the nail right on the head. I can’t tell you how much spam we deal with here daily on the MorganSullivan Executive Search Blog.

The only tactic I have found works consistently is to always be aware. I take the time - all be it not because I always want to - to look through each comment and approve or deny it based on its content. It may be time consuming as I said, but it is a necessary evil!

John Rainone
Project Operations Manager
MorganSullivan, Inc.
JRainone@MorganSullivan.com
http://www.MorganSullivan.com

]]> Comment on What’s Going on With Women In Construction? by Leah http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/07/whats-going-on-with-women-in-construction/#comment-92 Leah Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:34:41 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/07/whats-going-on-with-women-in-construction/#comment-92 I found your article interesting and thought provoking. I must add that there is a relatively large uncountable number of women working in the trades. Like myself, who worked on small residential crews spanning 30 years, the greatest access to jobs in construction for most women can be the local contractor. And their numbers are impossible to track. It would be interesting to see the number of women who are becoming contractors in the building industry...maybe this is the draw that is siphoning them away from the trenches? Leah Burton womenstoolshed.com I found your article interesting and thought provoking. I must add that there is a relatively large uncountable number of women working in the trades.

Like myself, who worked on small residential crews spanning 30 years, the greatest access to jobs in construction for most women can be the local contractor. And their numbers are impossible to track.

It would be interesting to see the number of women who are becoming contractors in the building industry…maybe this is the draw that is siphoning them away from the trenches?

Leah Burton
womenstoolshed.com

]]> Comment on What Is Going On Here? by Bari Lee http://constructioninformer.com/what-is-going-on-here/#comment-34 Bari Lee Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:14:46 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/?page_id=47#comment-34 I can feel the pain. Our blog was on typepad and we knew we had to move to wordpress to take advantage of the features and use a better address (www.seidesigngroup.com/blog) connected to our main website. We moved over with a new custom design at the end of April. It was hard work and we lost our pagerank, but hope to get it back up next time Google updates the ranking. Overall, we are very pleased with Wordpress, and wish we had done it sooner. I can feel the pain. Our blog was on typepad and we knew we had to move to wordpress to take advantage of the features and use a better address (www.seidesigngroup.com/blog) connected to our main website. We moved over with a new custom design at the end of April. It was hard work and we lost our pagerank, but hope to get it back up next time Google updates the ranking. Overall, we are very pleased with Wordpress, and wish we had done it sooner.

]]> Comment on Rounding Up Rugged Tablet PCs by Pages tagged "rugged" http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/29/rounding-up-rugged-tablet-pcs/#comment-19 Pages tagged "rugged" Thu, 29 May 2008 21:38:36 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/29/rounding-up-rugged-tablet-pcs/#comment-19 [...] tagged ruggedOwn a Wordpress blog? Make monetization easier with the WP Affiliate Pro plugin. Rounding Up Rugged Tablet PCs saved by 5 others     peter101wentz bookmarked on 05/29/08 | [...] [...] tagged ruggedOwn a Wordpress blog? Make monetization easier with the WP Affiliate Pro plugin. Rounding Up Rugged Tablet PCs saved by 5 others     peter101wentz bookmarked on 05/29/08 | [...]

]]> Comment on Discovering Where Your Business Fits in a Changing Economy by JRainone http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/14/discovering-where-your-business-fits-in-a-changing-economy/#comment-17 JRainone Wed, 14 May 2008 15:23:12 +0000 http://constructioninformer.com/2008/05/14/discovering-where-your-business-fits-in-a-changing-economy/#comment-17 It is during such times that the case for strategic planning with a realistic/cohesive set of objectives and goals becomes clear. Assessing where you are at and where you are going as compared with this plan, and being flexible enough to tweak this as necessary, is crucial to any firm's survival, especially in the market place many firms find themselves having to contend with currently. John Rainone Project Operations Manager MorganSullivan, Inc. http://www.morgansullivan.com/executive-search-blog/ It is during such times that the case for strategic planning with a realistic/cohesive set of objectives and goals becomes clear. Assessing where you are at and where you are going as compared with this plan, and being flexible enough to tweak this as necessary, is crucial to any firm’s survival, especially in the market place many firms find themselves having to contend with currently.

John Rainone
Project Operations Manager
MorganSullivan, Inc.
http://www.morgansullivan.com/executive-search-blog/

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