Udipi Charlotte

Archive for November, 2009

According to the trends of the real estate industry, the prices of land rise and fall sharply in special context of the surrounding facilities. All through history, price of a particular land area shot up when the areas around the place were developed.

Even the investors looking for lucrative returns from investment in real estate regard the available facilities in a place as the most important factor to decide its value.

Role of facilities

Whether you purchase land for building homes or for official purposes, the main consideration while taking a decision is most often the surroundings along with the kind and number of faculties available.

For instance, when deciding on a location for homebuilding, you will be more interested if the place in question is in close vicinity with main utilities like schools, parks and health centers.

Similarly, when deciding on a lot in order to develop it commercially, you will want to be sure that all the required facilities and infrastructural requirements are available close by.

However, all this holds especially true if you intend to develop the place as a tourist spot.

Charlotte County, Sports and Recreation

The Charlotte County area of Florida is perhaps one of the best examples where the land was appreciated at a high rate due to the vast range of facilities available.

Though the Charlotte County is also famous for many of its other attractions, yet the main recreational activity of the place is sports, in its various forms.

To begin with, the Charlotte County area is known as a golfer’s dream, having some of the finest golf courses of the region. In addition, there are great spots for fishing along the wonderful coastline. You can spend hours catching all types ranging from tarpon to mackerel, trout or snook.

The area of Charlotte County is also home to a number of national chain restaurants and retail stores.

The above factors have led to the Charlotte County area being regarded as one of the most favorable places to invest in the present.

How to gather information

In case you are interested in procuring some information regarding the vacant lots in Charlotte County, the best way is to be registered at one of the local real estate offices. You can also go through the advertisements in your local newspapers on a regular basis.

As another alternative, you can also research the internet for some suitable options. You will find that there are many websites that give a detailed list of all the vacant lots in Charlotte County, along with the main attractions.

One of the biggest reasons why many organizations are not doing even simple things to help people find their websites in search engines is they simply don’t understand how search engines work. This article is intended to explain the basics of how search engines work and in the course of doing so shatter some search engine myths and help you understand what you can do to help people find your website in search engines.



What is a search engine?

The first to step to understanding how search engines work is to understand what a search engine is. The simplest explanation is that search engine is a tool for finding things online. There are many different types of search engines but they can be put into two major categories…

Human-Powered Directories

The first “search engines” were not actually search engines as we think of them today, but searchable directories of websites organized by hierarchical categories. A site is added to a directory when the website owner fills out a submission form on the directory’s website requesting their site be included in the directory and include their website’s title, description, URL (web address), and category. A moderator later reviews the site and if it meets the directory’s criteria a listing for that site is added or activated. The original Yahoo was originally a human-powered directory, and directories like Open Directory Project continue on today.

The downside of the human-powered search engine is that it only includes websites that have been submitted to it, which means you may not find what you’re looking for especially if it’s a new web page. The other downside from the directories’ point of view is that reviewing every site submitted is very labor-intensive and costly. I know because my company’s “search engine”, OurChurch.Com’s Directory of Christian Websites, like almost all church/Christian “search engines”, is a human-powered directory.

Crawler/Spider-Powered Search Engines

The next generation of search engines has programs which actively seek out new sites and read them into their indexes. These programs are called crawlers, spiders, robots, or bots. All of largest and most popular search engines today are of this type, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.

The rest of this article is focused on how these crawler/spider-powered search engines work because more than 99% of searches are done on this type of search engine.

The Crawler

As mentioned above, the first part of a search engine is the crawler (AKA spider, robot, and bot). The crawler reads pages into the search engine raw database of every page the search engine crawler has read. Some important things to know about crawlers…

1) Search bots periodically reread every web page in their database. Why does this matter?

• You don’t have to do anything when you change your site. If your site is already listed in a search engine and you make changes to your website, search engines will eventually update their information.

• You do have to be patient. The frequency of re-crawling varies depending on the search engine, the importance of your site (as determined by the search engines), and how often you update it. It could take a day or it could take more than a week.

2) Search bots follow links on the pages that have already been crawled in order to find new pages. Why does this matter?

• If you add a new page to your website or create a new website, it’s important to add a link to it on a web page that is already in the search engines.

• If a web page that is already in the search engines has a link to your new page or new website, you do not need to submit a request to the search engines to crawl the new page or website, though it may still be worth doing just to be sure your website will be found quickly.

3) Some search engines have forms you can submit to request a website be crawled. Why does this matter?

• If you have a new website and no sites link to it, search bots will not be able to find it. In this case, submitting a form to the search engine requesting your site be listed or indexed can get it into search engines.

• Because human-powered directories do not have search bots/crawlers, to be listed in them you must submit a request form.

The Ranking Algorithm

Some time after a web page has been crawled by the search bot or crawler, the search engine then processes or indexes the page to determine what search words and phrases the page is relevant to as well as how relevant that page is compared with other web pages for those phrases. During this processing the search engine looks at many different factors including how many times each word and phrase occurs on the page, which words are in headings or bold, the domain name of the site, filename of the page, the pages that link to the page, and many more.

Exactly which factors a search engine looks at and how they’re weighted is called the search engine’s search ranking algorithm. It’s like the search engine’s “secret sauce.” Each search engine’s algorithm is different and each is a heavily guarded secret.

Why does this matter?

• There is time between when your site is crawled (or recrawled) and when it is processed or indexed. So, it can take as little as a few hours to many days or weeks before changes to your website may produce changes in its search rankings.

• Because each search engine’s ranking algorithm is different, a web page can be #1 in Google but #20 in Yahoo for a particular phrase.

• Because each search algorithm is a heavily guarded secret nobody outside of a few select engineers at each search engine knows exactly how much each particular factor weighs into the rankings of each search engine. But, people who spend their professional lives helping sites rank better in search engines have gained very good idea as to what factors matter most.

• Because the search ranking algorithms look at text, headings, and other elements on a web page, changing things on the web page can change where that web page appears in the search results.

• Search ranking algorithms look at factors outside of a web page, such as the age of a website and links to the web page. So, there are other factors which you may have less influence over.

The goal of every search engine is to display to the user the information or websites the user is looking for. In other words every search engine wants to provide the best, most relevant results. As a result, search engines are constantly improving their algorithms and including new factors which they think will produce better search results. Why does this matter? As search algorithms change, so will your website’s search engine rankings.

The Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

The crawling of websites and indexing of web pages are constantly going on even when no one is searching. The last part in the search process is part that you’re probably most familiar with – the actual search. You type in a word, short phrase, or question, and the search engine displays a list of websites.

That list of websites is called the search engine results page and sometimes referred to as the SERPs.

If you do a search and look at the SERP, you’ll notice two columns. Above the right column it says “Sponsored Links.” These are paid advertisements. The companies and organizations listed here pay a fee to Google for each person who clicks their ad, so they’re often referred to as Pay-Per-Click or PPC ads.

In the left column are the unpaid search results also sometimes called the organic results or natural results. These are the websites the search engine believes are most relevant to the search phrase that was queri
ed. Sometimes search engines also display sponsored links in the left column above the natural results or will even place a block of pay-per-click ads in the middle of the natural results. Sponsored links are always labeled, though not always very clearly.

Why does this matter?

From the searcher’s perspective, there is nothing wrong with clicking on a paid link. You may find what you’re looking for there. But it’s important to be aware of which websites paid to be in the results and which are there naturally.

From the web administrator’s perspective, it’s important to understand there are two opportunities to get to the top of the search engine rankings, through natural results and by purchasing pay-per-click advertising.

Help the Search Engines

With a better understanding how search engines work, you can make better decisions about the marketing of your website though search engines. Search engines need your help to find your website and to know what words and phrases it’s relevant for. Give them the help they need. That’s where search engine optimization comes in, but I’ll get to that on another day.

My Favourite Food and where I eat it…

My “incomplete” and “passé” Value For Money GOOD FOOD GUIDE for Eating Out in Mumbai

By

VIKRAM KARVE

A Trencherman’s incomplete Good Food Guide to eating out in South Mumbai and Pune

I love good food.

And I love walking around searching for good food. So I set off on my frequent ‘food walks’ searching for good food.

Let me share with you, dear fellow foodie, some of my favourite eateries.

Most of them are in South Mumbai, near Churchgate, where I lived for six of the best years of my life, a few (where mentioned) are in Pune which is my home town and where I stay now. Read on.

It’s my very own Vikram Karve’s Value For Money Good Food Guide.

I’ve walked there and eaten there. It’s a totally random compilation. I write as I remember and I may have missed out some of my favourites but I’ll add them on, in subsequent parts, as and when memory jogs me and also keep adding new places I discover during my food walks and trails. Also it’s quite outdated as I enjoyed these food walks in the early years of this decade more than five years ago Dear Reader, do let me know if these delightful places still exist and whether the food they serve is still as lip smacking delicious as it was then. And most importantly, Dear Fellow Foodies, please comment and add your favourite eating joints to this list and also your experiences of the eateries mentioned. Vada Pav – CTO Vada Pav (Ashok Satam’s Stall) alongside the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) at Flora Fountain ( Hutatma Chowk). Or at Sahaydri at Churchgate. In Pune, the ubiquitous Joshi or Rohit or Siddhivinayak Vadewale but their vadas are not as crisp or zesty as Mumbai’s CTO vada. Misal Pav – Vinay Health Home in Girgaum . Walk down Marine Drive, cross the road near Taraporewala Aquarium, take the lane between Kaivalyadhama Yoga Centre and Ladies Hostel ( it’s called Income Tax Lane), cross the railway overbridge, walk straight on Thakurdwar Road, cross Girgaum (JSS) Road, walk a bit and Vinay is to your right. In Pune try Ramnath on Tilak Road or Bedekar in Narayan Peth or the place opposite Garware (MES) College on Karve Road. Kheema Pav – Stadium. Next to Churchgate Station. Kyani at Dhobi Talao. Good Luck near Deccan Gymkhana Pune. Seekh Kebabs – Ayubs (Chotte Mian). Take the lane to the left of Rhythm House Music Store at Kalaghoda and let your nose guide you. Or else head for Bade Mian near Regal or Sarvi at Nagpada. Sadly there seems to be a dearth of authentic value-for-money kabab joints in Pune, unless you want to head for the high-falutin Barbeque Nation in Kalyani Nagar. I remember enjoying Seekh Kababs at a quaint old world eatery called Olympia on East Street located in an old style bungalow which seems to have disappeared and metamorphosed into a multistorey building. Jeera Butter – Ideal Bakery. Kandewadi, Girgaum. And try the sugarcane juice at Rasvanti next door. Chicken Stew ( Kerala Style), Malabar Paratha, Mutton Korma, Fish Curry and Appams – FountainPlaza. In the lane off Handloom House. Fort. [Brings back nostalgic memories of Ceylon Bake House in Ernakulam Kochi (Cochin )] Chicken Biryani – Olympia, on Mumbai’s Colaba Causeway, is my all time favorite. Also the Tandoori Chicken Biryani at Baghdadi and the the exquisite delicately flavoured one at Delhi Darbar and the zesty one at Stadium Churchgate. In Pune it’s Dorabjee & Sons restaurant on Dastur Meher road off Sarbatwala Chowk in Pune Camp or Goodluck in Deccan. I like the Biryani at Blue Nile near GPO and George on East Street too. Mutton Biryani – Shalimar. Bhendi Bazaar. I like the Chicken Chilly and Raan – it’s exquisite, like Karim’s of Delhi. And I love the Tikka Biryani at Noorani. In Pune Tiranga. Dabba Gosht – Delhi Darbar, Grant Road or Colaba, and Noorani Tardeo. In Pune try Sadanand at Baner. Malvani Cuisine – Sachivalaya Gymkhana Canteen. Opposite Mantralaya. Nariman Point. Bombil Fry, Pomfret masala, Kombdi (Chicken) Vada and Lunch Thali. Gomantak Cuisine – Sandeep Gomantak. Bazargate Street. Fort. White Chicken, Dabba Gosht, Chicken Masala and Khaboosh Roti – Baghdadi . Near Regal. Off Colaba Causeway. Nihari – Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Darbar. Near Metro. Nalli Nihari – Noor Mohammadi . Bhendi Bazaar. Berry Pulao – Brittania . Ballard Estate. Puri Bhaji – Pancham Puriwala. Bazargate street. Opposite CST Station (VT). Kolhapuri Cuisine – I go to ‘Purepur Kolhapur’ at Peru Gate Sadashiv Peth in Pune for authentic Kolhapuri Pandhra Rassa, Tambda Rassa and Kheema vati. In Kolhapur it’s Opal. Gulab Jamun – Kailash Parbat. 1st Pasta Lane. Colaba Causeway. Rasgulla – Bhaishankar Gaurishankar . CP Tank. Khichdi – Khichdi Samrat. VP Road . CP Tank. Vegetarian Thali – Bhagat Tarachand. Mumbadevi. Zaveri Bazar. I like the Bhagat Tarachand on Laxmi road in Pune too. And of course, Samrat, Churchgate, Rajdhani and Golden Star. In Pune it’s the authentic Shreyas on Apte Road and Satara Road, Panchami on Satara Road and Durvankur on Tilak Road. Not to forget my favorite Mayur on East Street and Deccan on Jangli Maharaj Road and Sukanta at Deccan. Navrattan Kurma – Vihar. JT Road . Shanker Jaikishan Chowk. Opp Samrat. Churchgate. Veg Burger and Chicken Cafreal Croissant – Croissants. Churchgate. Or Burger King at the end of East Street in Pune. Tea while browsing books – Cha-Bar. Oxford Bookstore. Churchgate. Just a refreshing cup of Tea, Irani style – Stadium. Churchgate. Goodluck, Pune. Ice Cream – Rustoms, Churchgate and Bachellor’s, Chowpatty (green chilli ice cream). In Pune Ganu Shinde and Kawre on Laxmi Road. Or Gujar Mastani House on Satara Road near City pride for the unique delicious thirst quenching Mastani. Pav Bhaji – Lenin Pav Bhaji Stall. Khau Galli. New Marine Lines. Near SNDT. Sardar, Tardeo. Sukh Sagar , Opera House. Jalebi – Pancharatna Jalebi House . Near Roxy. Opera House. Milk Shakes, Juices and uniquely flavoured ice creams like Green Chilli Ice Cream – Bachellor’s. Opposite Chowpatty. Stuffed Parathas – Samovar. JehangirArtGallery. Chaitanya, opp FergussonCollege, Pune Grilled Meat, Sizzlers and Steaks – ong>Churchill. Colaba Causeway. Sundance, Churchgate. Sassanian, near Metro. Alps, behind Taj,Kobe and Sizzlers - The Place on Moledina Road next to Manney’s in Pune. Sea food – Anant Ashram. Khotachiwadi. Girgaum. And so many places around Fort – Mahesh, Apoorva, Trishna, Fountain Inn, Bharat, Ankur. In Pune Srishti and Nisarg. Non Veg Multi Cuisine – Jimmy Boy near Horniman Circle Apple Pie and Ginger Biscuits – Yazdani Bakery. Cawasji Patel Street. Between PM Road and Veer Nariman Road. Fort. Cakes – Sassanian Boulangerie. 1stMarine Street. Near Metro. Buns, Breads and Pastries – Gaylord Bake Shop. Churchgate. Falooda – Badshah. Crawford Market. Shalimar, Bhendi Bazar and their branch in Pune East Street. Curds – Parsi Dairy. Princess Street. Sandwiches and Rolls– Marz-o-rin. Main Street. MG Road. Pune. Chole Bhature – Monafood. Main Street. Pune. Darshan, Prabhat Road Pune. Shrewsbury Biscuits , Cheese Papri and Choco-Walnut cake– Kayani Bakery. East Street . Pune. Mutton Cutlet Curry, Kheema Pav, Biryani, Tawa Ghosht – Good Luck Pune Veg Cutlet – Swagat Dadar TT Mumbai and Vaishali Fergusson College Road Pune Macaroons – Pasteur Bakery Main Street MG Road Pune Lamingtons, carrot cake, patties, samosas, cakes, soy milk – Spicer Bakery shop, Spicer College, Aundh Road and their outlet off Main Street in Camp Veg Patties - Hindustan Bakery Pune The mere thought of Shrewsbury biscuits and Lamingtons evokes in me a sensation I cannot describe. I am feeling nostalgic and am off to Pune – for Shrewsbury at Kayani, wafers at Budhani, Sev Barfi at Bhavnagri, Amba Barfi and Bakarwadi at Chitale, Mutton Biryani and Dhansak at Dorabjee, Misal at Ramnath, Kachori at Apsara, Sizzlers at The Place, Pandhra Rassa at Purepur Kolhapur, Batata Wada at Joshi Wade Wale, Mango Ice Cream at Ganu Shinde, Mastani at Sujata, Burgers at Burger King, Gujar and Kavare, Bhel at Saras Baug, Canal, Kalyan and Kalpana Bhel,  and on the banks of Khadakvasla lake, Pithla Bhakri, Kanda Bhaji and tak on top of Sinhagarh Fort, Chinese at Kamling. [Oh, No, sadly Kamling has closed down so I'll go across to the end of East Street to the East End Chinese takeaway next to Burger King. And Latif too has metamorphosed into a takeaway]. And guess what? The moment I reach Pune, I’ll walk across the station and enjoy a refreshing Lassi at Shiv Kailas. And then walk down in the hot sun to Main Street. One thing I’ll miss is the non-veg samosas at erstwhile Naaz on the West End corner at the entrance to Main Street. The good old Naaz and Kamling are two places I really miss. Good Luck in Deccan and Blue Nile and George in Camp still go strong and their Biryani is as good as ever. But what’s happened to Sunrise, I wonder? The place is demolished; has the café been relocated? Of course there is Nisarg for Seafood, Mainland China for authentic Chinese, Soul to stir your culinary soul and many lovely places springing up all over Pune. Now I am busy discovering [and rediscovering] interesting eating places in Pune.

When I lived near Aundh, I liked the multi-cuisine Polka Dots at Parihar Chowk for it’s Roasts and Shepherd’s Pie, Chicken Teriyaki, and Puddings, Season’s and Sarjaa for family dining, a few down-to-earth takeaways and Maharashtra Café near Bremen Chowk look promising, Diwadkar for Misal and vada pav, Spicers for Lamingtons and cakes et al, Babumoshai for roshogullas and lavang lata, Shiv Sagar for Pav Bhaji, and the usual Udipi fare, a place called Thomson in Navi Sangviwhich serves non veg Kerala cuisine, Delhi Kitchen which I’m planning to try but did not venture into as it was deserted (crowded ambience and busy rapid turnover are the leitmotif of a good eatery), Diwadkars for Bhel, Vada Pav, Misal and Mann Dairy for a delicious lassi. I food walked in Aundh and was thoroughly disappointed. Of course, there are so many upscale posh places in KP and Kalyani Nagar, and swank all day multi-cuisine cafes like MoMo near the IT Park in Hinjewadi, but then here we are talking about those unique down-to-earth popular eateries which define the place and are frequented by the earthy hungry trencherman rather than the sophisticated connoisseur.

In Aundh I noticed that there are all the usual fast food pizza and burger joints, some high-falutin restaurants and a few nondescript commonplace characterless eateries serving run of the mill stuff; but sadly there are very few authentic value for money down-to-earth no nonsense Spartan eateries around here where I can relish genuine cuisine to my heart’s delight. But that was more than two years ago and things may have changed, hopefully for the better. Now, far far away, in the back of beyond, amidst green hills, lakes and forests, I can only nostalgically reminisce about my “good old foodie days” and relish those sumptuous delicacies in my mind’s eye; and once in a while head for Pune to satisfy my gastronomical cravings.

Dear fellow foodies, please do send in your comments and let us know of your foodie adventures and discoveries so I can keep updating.

Meanwhile I keep exploring Pune for good food and shall soon come out with my very own authentic food guide to eating out in Pune.

After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating! I eagerly await your comments and recommendations and details of all your favourite eating places and your favourite food and where you eat it and I will certainly explore those foodie joints and include them in my updated revised food guide. Happy Foodwalking…! Happy Eating…! An excerpt from my book APPETITE FOR A STROLL

VIKRAM KARVE