Speed Matters With Google
I love it when I read an article which actually leads me to learn something. Search Engine Land reports today that Google now includes page speed as a factor when ranking your site. How important a factor speed is, isn’t yet determined.
As much as possible, I’ve always tried to keep page speed as quick as possible. What you might not notice on a broadband connection, your visitors on dialup or slow satellite connections sure will.
I’ve done some web design in the past so I’m tend to remember to pay attention to things like optimising graphics or trying to keep them to a minimum. On most of the blogs I have, I avoid using pictures unless there is a value added element to them. I know, some of the gurus will tell you to use pictures on most of your posts.
So, how do you find out what your page speed is like? This article will point you to resources that Google offers in their webmasters toolkit which includes a plugin for Firefox which will analyse your page speed.
Even without page speed being a ranking factor. Think about your visitor’s experience. If they have to wait around too long for your site to load, they better really love you or they are going to move on to something they can get to sooner.
visit the Patti Network News to see where else I’m writing.
Assam Tea
Assam tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is a black tea grown in Assam, India. It has a distinctive malty flavour with a bold and invigorating character. It is a particular favourite for use in breakfast teas like English Breakfast tea & Irish Breakfast tea. Assam tea produces a beautiful ruby-amber hue.
The Assam region is in the valley of the Brahmaputra River. Its sandy soil, rich with the nutrients of the floodplain and the climate varying between cool, arid winter and hot humid rainy season produces almost ideal conditions for the Assam tea bush. It has a very lengthy growing season making the region one of the most prolific tea producing regions in the world, yielding some 1.5 million pounds of tea annually.
The long growing season produces two harvests of tea each year. The ‘first flush’ is picked in late March. The ‘second flush’ is picked later and is more prized for its “tippy tea”, named for the golden tips that appear on the leaves. The second flush, tippy tea is sweeter and more full bodied, thus considered superior to the first flush.
Discovery of the Assam tea bush is attributed to Robert Bruce, a Scottish adventurer, in 1823. Bruce reportedly found the plant growing wild in Assam while trading in the region. He noticed local tribesman brewing tea from the leaves of the bush and arranged with the tribal chiefs to provide him with samples of the leaves and seeds, which he planned to have scientifically examined. Robert Bruce died shortly thereafter.
In the early 1830s Bruce’s brother, Charles sent some leaves from the tea bush to Calcutta for examination. The examiners determined the busy was a variety of tea and different from the Chinese tea. Soon the British started making inroads into the Assam area. Tea seeds were imported from China as they were believed to be the superior variety. These seeds crossed with the local seeds and produced a hybrid bush which proved to be the suitable for their climate and terrain
As with any tea, to brew a perfect pot you need to start with cold water. Let the tap run for a few minutes before filling the kettle. Bring the water to a boil. Fill a ceramic or china teapot with hot tap water and let site for a few minutes. My mother used to always insist on the first bit of water from the kettle being used to warm the kettle.
As soon as water begins to boil, remove the kettle from the burner. Discard the warm water from the teapot and add tea leaves to the empty teapot. For Assam tea, figure on 1 teaspoon (1 g) of tea leaves per cup (240 ml) of hot water. Pack the leaves loosely into a tea ball if desired. Pour boiled water over tea leaves into teapot. Let steep 3 to 5 minutes, and pour through a strainer, for loose tea leaves, into individual cups.
Assam tea is full-bodied and merges well with cream, milk, or lemon. If sweetener is desired, honey or sugar may be added prior to adding milk. Stir until dissolved.
Police Background Check System Broken?
The Toronto Star today is reporting that a little noticed move by the RCMP last December to comply with provisions of the Privacy laws has resulted in breaking the police check system. Anyone who has volunteered in the community, particularly in positions dealing with children, will be familiar with having a police check done.
The check is supposed to insure that the volunteer is free of any criminal past which would endanger the people the volunteer is working with and the organization they are volunteering for. In some instances volunteers undergo multiply checks as a single check can’t be shared with other agencies.
They are a routine nuisance for honest people in the belief that they will catch those who should not be anywhere near vulnerable clients, especially children. Not only are pedophiles who have been pardoned, some 887 sex offenders in 2009-10, shielded from discovery in these checks but now those who have been convicted are as well.
With the changes, a police check will return a report either there is no record or their ‘might’ be a record. That can leave organizations in a dilemma over how to respond. Either they take on a zero tolerance of any records, or possible records, policy or they attempt to get to the bottom of the situation.
The government needs to make provisions to the privacy laws which allows the police to report sexual offences, especially those against children. In view of the number of sexual offenders already granted pardons, the government needs to unseal those records as well.
An individual convicted of a sexual offence against a child should never ever be allowed to hide from that fact. I’m not advocating the public announcements of an offender’s presence but I’m most definitely advocating if they should attempt to get anywhere near programs involving children the leadership of those programs need to know without a doubt who they are dealing with.
No quarter for pedophiles, ever. They don’t change their ways. Society has to do everything in our power to keep them away from children. One abused child is too many.
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