Tonight I am going to dinner with my fiance Michelle, a few friends and some family for my brother in-law Kevin’s 40th birthday. My sister mentioned we were going to Central Steakhouse in New Haven. I read some decent reviews on the place and will be giving my own when I get home or first thing in the morning. I have never done a review before but know I love some steak; medium rare is my choice for cooking.

From Yelp…

Carlene of Albany, NY

For the food, the price is generally around $25-30 per entree.  I had the NY Strip steak and it was very good.  My side of asparagus was super salty, so ask them to hold the seasoning if you’re sensitive to sodium.  Other than that, our salad, salad dressing, and the homemade bread were all delicious.

I want to see what the ambiance is supposedly like if I have to wear these dress pants and shoes.

UPDATE: Don’t have to dress up. My fiancee spent 2 days shopping and hours of getting ready for nothing. I am sure we are going to have fun. Later!!!

• Food:

• Ambiance:

• Service:

• Prices:

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Teeth Whitening Makeover 2012

I received an email from Kathleen at Topdentists.com. In it she writes…

Hi,

I thought you and your beauty obsessed readers would be interested in our “Who Makes You Smile” photo contest.

As you and the readers of tonyandjohngarcia.com know, for many great beauties their smile is their trademark–think Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, Christie Brinkley. So we think this contest and the chance to win a professional teeth whitening session with our Top Dentist in New York City (and more) would really interest them.

The contest goes from now until February 24th. In addition to the big NYC grand prize, there are daily prizes and chances to win teeth whitenings in selected local areas!

I don’t know where the “beauty obsessed reader” thing came into the equation but… after reading this I thought it made sense to get the word out there about it. I hope I am able to provide the winning visitor and make someone a bit happier.

Show off your smile, send in the pic for the “Who Makes You Smile” photo contest from Topdentists.com. Get an all expense paid trip with a friend to New York City. You get $1,000 in spending money, too with a professional photo shoot to finish it off. Like they say here for the state lottery, “You can’t win if you don’t play”.

You got until February 24th 2012!!!

You’re welcome Kathleen. I hope this helps just a little bit.

Origami Freaks go shirt shopping in Lawrence, Kansas (Photo credit: EricGjerde)

No I am not looking for a date or trying to catch some attention. My picture isn’t here. I could be a dwarf with an attitude or an obese guy sweating and dripping grease from a cheeseburger on my keyboard. I don’t care about sexy. I am what I mentioned above, everything. I wake up in the morning, take a shower, brush my teeth, make my coffee, smoke a cigarette (I know I shouldn’t) and wait for my fiancee to handle her business and I am off to work.

My girl, too is pretty good. A little makeup and she is on her way. Her brother on the other hand is the complete complete and complete opposite. He lives to think he looks good. To himself he is the sexiest thing on the planet and there is nothing wrong with that. I want to understand. If that is what him and millions of other men across the globe think is cool then so be it. At the same time become a paid model, an actor, even an extra. Learn how to sing, become a wedding singer at least. Take advantage of that sexy and all the time it takes for you to “look” that way.

Showers can take an hour. Hair? 30 minutes. Clothes? Takes a while.

In the end we’re talking a couple of hours and more to get out of the house. Again if that is considered cool so be it. Just know fellas that you are getting none of that time back. You could actually do all of that stuff in a lot less time but for some reason there has to be a “process” you all seem to follow. I have watched you guys spray tan, shave your arms and legs, even wear make up and pink shirts. The pink shirts I could leave alone but the other stuff and the list I could type here but won’t is a bit much to me.

The funniest thing I get out of the vanity in men is when they put all the time into it but actually are the only people for countries around who see it. All the money spent on products like hair spray, dyes, shoes, pants, shirts and all types of “cool” clothes not to mention the gas needed to get to all of the stores and we’re talking a small fortune saved if you just bought some Irish Spring body soap, Suave shampoo and conditioner and shopped at TJ Maxx or Kohls. For those who don’t know the stores I mentioned just think of the stores in your area that sell unwanted name brand items from big name stores.

In the end vanity in men is what helps many of them feel good in life. It is something they look forward to no matter how much their friends have learned to hate going to the nightclub with them or their girlfriend has learned to just meet them at the restaurant. Go ahead and feel good about yourselves. Just don’t think you are better than someone else. Confidence is cool. Being an egotistical idiot is another thing. Don’t come around me.

I am out of here. Guys remember that your time is valuable. Those around you wouldn’t mind seeing you a bit more before going to school or heading to work. Thanks for stopping by.

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Hello again people. I work on the internet on a daily basis for an SEO company. (7 years exactly today) I don’t necessarily handle the SEO portion of things but rather the implementation of work done by our crew for clients covering industries around the world. In the 7 years I have been doing this I have gone from building a website with a wyziwyg editor to building sites from scratch. I will never say I am an expert but if someone asks if something as possible a few ticks out of my realm I go for it. I know it sounds cocky but I have not failed once.

The point of this post has to do with dealing with the web developers of websites I have to have access to in order to do my work. In most cases I am usually only inputting meta data, images, content articles, creating pages for custom articles, town pages and other promotional material associated with our  work.

Again, in most cases I am only dealing with the owner of the website. If there is someone behind the scenes the owner is the boss and that’s it. Then there are the few but too many cases of web developers having utterly (CON 1) complete control over a client’s website; from hosting to website files on the hosted server. I can ask the owner questions about material I feel any website owner should know or at least have on file close by only to find out they have NO idea at all on the status of their websites.

As a “programmer”, “web developer”, “webmaster” or whatever you want to call what I do I understand the importance of keeping a grip on all of my web properties. I would never just hand over control of any of my sites to just anybody, and not you. Of course if I did and something happens I feel I didn’t do of course the 1st thought goes to you; whether I am wrong or not.

In my position I have to alter code put together by other people who still have a hand in the website. Though I work in SEO, my experience working with websites has me fixing templates, adding custom forms, fixing WordPress themes and those of countless other platforms, working in Photoshop, creating and maintaining slideshows and tons more. All of that is nothing to me but to the guy looking to make a buck I come and do things quick, to the point and in most cases free. The company I work for is aggressive when it comes to working a client’s campaign. Waiting on a developer to add anything can take forever.

I did not go to school for anything I do. I picked up an HTML book 7 years ago and have been running with it ever since. Once you figure out HTML is the base to just about all languages, learning or being able to work with the other languages becomes easy. My background is “Blue Collar”; moving companies, construction, appliance deliveries and everything physical. I notice most programmers are very sensitive about their work and I have come to understand that. Having to listen to them bitch or say one thing to me and something totally different to their “client” is nuts.

There are some cool developers out there that I have dealt with. My thing is keeping the relationship open at all times between myself and the person responsible for the website I am to work on. The shortcuts provided by the open relationship allows for easy sailing for our work and a great return when things start moving along from an SEO standpoint.

What do Good Relationships Bring?

• It makes it easy to work when we HAVE to deal with more than one person. No?
• The educational aspect is great for myself at least. I am always trying to learn something new to keep with the ever-changing landscape.
• Future jobs for the original site developer. We don’t want to do the web stuff, we’re SEO guys. lol
• Future clients for ourselves through the developers portfolio. Watching us do our work offers an inside look to the hard and quality work we provide.

Those are my views completely. I am an easy going guy unlike most people I have met that work with the internet on a daily basis. I can see where it can take over a persons mind for a moment in a day but to live everyday damn near depressed, ready to complain, causing others around them to feed in or feel the same way is what is messed up. I live knowing everyday is a new day, yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet. Enjoy it. Check out a local web design company in Lifetiled of Wallingford, CT. Great guys to work with. I work with them on a weekly basis for the most part.

“everyday is a new day, yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet”

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Watching the New England Patriots for the past 10 years you think they would have won a few more Super Bowls. This Super Bowl Forty Six on February 5th 2012 showcases a man from a popular family of quarterbacks; Eli Manning. Again in the Super Bowl ready to try and show up the man many make out to be invincible, another Superman; Tom Brady.

Anything I say here and the outcome of the game would be totally coincidental if anything I mention in fact happens.

I have watched both Eli and Brady progress through the last quarter of the season. The Patriots are on a 10-game win streak and you have the Giants with not only a star quarterback but a sick receiving core and a highly capable defense that covers everything with a madness their offensive teammates are very thankful for.

That is not to say the New England Patriots are hurting on defense. Like many know, throughout the regular season the Patriots’ D was questionable. Brady was able to go over 5,ooo yards passing because of the many high-flying games incurred; many blame on the defense.

Here we are now and the Patriots’ defense has held their own against tough opponents. This past weekend the Baltimore Ravens had their chances. To me all 4 championship games this weekend were defensive masterpieces on all sides. I don’t really want to mention the Denver game. Tebow can do big things in his future. It just wasn’t going to start against Tom Brady and the Pats.

Watching the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers the way they did gave the younger Manning more of my attention. (not that it matters) The general consensus is that the Giants stunned the defending Super Bowl champs Green Bay Packers. Why couldn’t it have just been because Manning & co. were confident and had it in them the whole time to surprise all of those who weren’t New York Giants fans. Sounds good right?

Now it is time for me to give my pick on who I believe is going to win Super Bowl XLVI coming up on February 5, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium. You get Tom Brady and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots (13-3 reg. season) against Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants (9-7 reg. season).

“Drum Roll Please….”

I have to go with Brady and the Patriots this time around. The last time they met luck played a major roll in the outcome, not that it won’t this time. I am in no way downplaying the athleticism and capabilities of today’s athletes but sometimes the stars align in ways they usually wouldn’t. Manning and the Giants are fully capable of upsetting New England fans. I am from the Northeast and will be happy with whomever wins. Not being a gambler is a Plus, too.

Who do you think is going to win Super Bowl Forty Six? Notice I didn’t mention 2007?

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I had a blast shoveling yesterday and have a bit more to do today. The funny thing is the kids are sitting in the living room watching movies. If I am going to be shoveling they are going to be cold playing in the snow. I am kidding.

My uncle Nutcase is going up to the New England Patriots game against the Baltimore Ravens. The weather people say it is 16 degrees here. I can only imagine what it is going to be like in the stadium. He says he has his choice of being indoors or out with the box seats the casino hooked him up with. I would rather watch it on TV and will.

What is it like where you and your family are here in Connecticut? If you find this post, let us know what’s going on in your neck of the woods. Thanks for checking us out.

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Kids today and for generations to come will no longer really care to visit an arcade when the technologies used today basically envelop the player into realistic worlds traveled using real life mechanics through a joystick. As an adult I want to say I envisioned the progress I have seen BUT definitely can’t.

I have met a few people in their mid-twenties who admittedly cannot live without the internet. When it comes to gaming only the most recent and most popular game titles and systems are recognized.

The title of this post though has more to do with the fact that gaming in general has helped many families overcome struggles associated with “alienation” issues with kids to adults, kids to kids or even adults to adults. The fact that video games of today can suck a player subconsciously at least for a little while into these games allows for relationship building on a whole new scale.

Very easily through playing team oriented games or even games where both must be competitive with the other relationships can be built; “want to play again?”, “wait Dad, let me get a drink.”

I am definitely an advocate for keeping kids outside and showing them that staying off the couch is a good thing. At the same time for those families that are into the technology thing I believe and suggest taking advantage of what you have in your hands so regularly. Get the family together, your friend or your significant other. Figure what system may be right for you. Then go about figuring what games you like and can play together. Of course we all want our alone time to play but this is about togetherness for all involved.

I am not the best writer but I mean what I say in this post. I have my stepdaughter and her uncle playing Black Ops now on the PS3. We all play and have a blast. My stepson plays the Xbox with my son, they like NBA 2K12, Both step kids love to play the dancing games together on the Wii. Point is there is a lot of love through video games.

I hope it is the same for you in your household. If it isn’t, think about some of the things I mentioned. Maybe it can get you all together over there. Take care.

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I am not an expert and don’t claim to be. Anything written by Tony Garcia is purely my opinion. I stress, Research to all. Anything I mention can be argued.

Why do people do this you ask? What goes into how you pay for having a blog post written about your company or organization? Search engine optimization companies, webmasters and website owners alike are looking for a few different things when attempting to purchase what I call Blog Links or Pay for Posts. The biggest reason for those paying for the service at least in my experience is page rank.

Here are a few….

• Traffic expected (If you are on a highly popular blog your link may get clicked BUT there’s traffic and then there is how many people actually purchase something after the click)
• Google Pagerank (It obviously costs more depending on the number. YES people pay for it. There are many Blog Review companies that allow pure JUNK blogs into their database BUT they have high page rank.)
• Alexa Rating (Believe it or not. If you could tell me why it is so important to some let me know.)
• Quality of Content (Not many seem to pay attention to it, there are many Blog Review companies that allow pure JUNK blogs into their database.)
• In another post I will get more in depth.

I don’t want to name any companies here but can say that in many studies I have seen where it can help certain industries when looking for better placement for specific keywords. Local search seems to be the popular choice when strategizing the use of paid links through blog posts. There are budgets I have heard of in the 10s of thousands per month. We can bet there are many that pay much more.

Is it beneficial in the Long Term? I wish I could say definitively but I can’t. IF someone out there does say they know positively, Good for them. The page rank thing is only good for however long the writer(s) of the blog update with new posts. In most cases the posts were gone within 4-7 days. Of course there are those that last a bit longer or a bit shorter in terms of time.

Of course we have to assume that the more popular blogs are ‘spidered’ a bit more in turn giving any, if not all pages a lot of pull in terms of rankings and page rank in the long run. I personally am not into the practice of paying for blog posts with links. I have my own blogs obviously and have relationships with various contributors for other blogs I have.

The popular choice is getting as many nice page rank links as possible for the lowest amount possible (in terms of dollars) in no way thinking about or caring about where posts are placed or from where the search engines are finding their links. Whatever though, if it floats your boat and you believe it helps I can’t tell you it isn’t. For the little guys out there I would just try to get a bit more time at the computer working on my own SEO. Start a link campaign of your own, create a sitemap, write some good content, change up the stale tags you have going and things can Start moving.

Pay for Posts; would you do it?

The new website; Stumpbusterllc.com is up and running. The new logo says it all. With easy navigation, big pictures, a cool slide show and an elegant overall design. Included are individual pages for the towns of North Haven, Wallingford, Cheshire and Hamden in CT. Woody and his crew primarily work in these communities.

There is and will be more individual pages showcasing past and recent jobs in chronological order; from start to finish. Get information about the different Connecticut tree services offered by Stumpbuster LLC., see them At a Glance from the homepage, check them out on Twitter and Facebook or follow their soon to be regularly updated blog connected directly to the website.

Woody has been in the tree services game for over 25 years. His expertise and dedication to customer care and satisfaction will come out of him as he talks to you during the first visit. Depending on the service you need; stump grinding in Cheshire, North Haven tree pruning or yard makeover in Wallingford. Woody will make sure to guide you on the best but least expensive path while not taking away from what Could Be. You’ll get a free estimate, too.

Be sure to check out the new website; Stumpbuster LLC. Like them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter. Woody will be updating the blog and his social media accounts as much as he is able. He would love to hear from you, too. Contact them with your opinions, suggestions, like or dislike. A Hamden Tree Services company.

Stumpbuster LLC
Woodward Harding (Woody)
cell: (203) 824-0000
office: (203 288-8733)
44 State Street
North Haven, CT. 06473

The former CEO is best known for his uncanny ability to produce and sell some of the highest selling mobile electronics in the world including things like the Ipod, Iphone and the Ipad. He also helped make Apple Inc. the world’s largest technology company surpassing Microsoft.

I am sure there will be more news out there soon.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs: you will surely be missed by millions of people across the world.

Updated Steve Jobs News