Stories, news, and other notable items from the past week:

Two star links:

• Sarah found this post that gives an extremely 101 take on blogging and found it to be exceptionally amusing, though I'll note that not everyone out there knows as much as us genius web marketers. I'm sure that people like my mom, who have barely even touched a computer, would find the article useful.

Three star links:

• Itola Tech News' article examines the difficulty of online advertising. With a far lower retention rate than television ads and a much higher ignorance rate, the article compares online advertising to casinos--sure, some people hit it big, but the vast majority lose money or make very little.
• The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recently donated $3 million to Wikipedia, making it more "financially secure" as the site strives to hire more editors and improve its overall quality. [Insert SEO groans here.]
• Would you pay $35 to see a movie in a theater with "40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking"? I dunno, I like paying $9 for sticky floors, caloric popcorn and Milk Duds, and broken seats.
• This outrageous video from the 1930s explores what clothing would look like in the year 2000. I wish more people spoke like the old timey narrator.
• Okay, I swear I'm not an alcoholic (especially after last week's recap shenanigans), but this tabletop tap idea is absolutely awesome.
• 24/7 Wall St. provides a list of the 25 most valuable blogs. Hey, check it out, Search Engine Land is tied for 15th on the list.
• More proof that paid links can bite you in the ass: Dave Naylor posted about how he got dinged for paid links from six months ago. Ouch.
• Kevin Kelly tests Adobe Acrobat 8's ability to display ads alongside a PDF in view mode, which yields fairly interesting results.
• Yahoo Buzz stats are available; unfortunately, Buzz is still in private beta.
• In his "Snidely Whiplash of SEO" post, Ian Lurie amusingly counters some of Michael Martinez's "real advice from bad SEOs" points.
• Okay, this is downright creepy. Now I'll have to wear pants while watching TV. And forget about nose or wedgie picking...

Four star links:

• Rishil authored a guest post on Ann Smarty's blog, SEO Smarty, about the downside of the new search within a search feature. His post got a brief mention in the New York Times. Way to go, Rishil and Ann!
• Wil Reynolds gives the finger to the "content is king" mantra and says that without on-page SEO, your content alone isn't gonna cut it.
• Guy Kawasaki provides some tips on the art of sucking up. You know that everyone's done it at some time or another, so you might as well study up on these the next time you need to bug someone for a favor.
• Jay Weintraub compares Google to a socialist state and shares some horror stories regarding account suspensions and general bullying.

Five star links:

• Rand came across High Scalability, a great resource devoted to helping you build scalable sites. Check out some of their posts for some good tips.

YOUmoz entries:

• Being Matt Cutts for 30 Minutes. Brent D. Payne empathizes with Matt Cutts after stepping into his shoes to solve an SEO problem.
• Questions on Attention Equity, Tools, Pitching SMX/SES, and Trends in Search. Bookworm SEO addresses various topics in this post, including how best to measure attention equity, developing an SEO tool, pitching grey hat sessions to SMX and SES, and search trends.
• The Shortcomings of the Long Tail. HannahS talks about how bidding on long tail terms in her paid search campaigns yielded disappointing results for her niche job board client.
• Chicks Don't Dig Analytics, So Don't Toss Out the TV Just Yet. Smcilreavy shares his passion for analytics over television, and pines for a woman who digs analytics as much as he does.
• The Boston Consulting Group Matrix -- Revisiting Marketing Models. Rishil revamps the BCG matrix into a search marketing matrix. It's a good resource to check out.
• Searchme - A Look Under the Bonnet. RichardBaxterSEO takes the Searchme search engine for a test drive.
• Will SEO for Stock Options. Slingshotseo asks about the morals, ethics, and legality behind being an SEO consultant and investing in your clients'  stocks, such as using social media to push up negative news and short sell the stock.
• Why Should You Get Your Site Reviewed? RenB talks about the benefits of site reviews and what sort of structure your site should have.

Best of YOUmoz:

• Sean Maguire provides us with an amusing early April Fool's Day post, The True Origin of Google. He goes above and beyond with his illustrations and in-depth "history" of how Google was formed.

New events added to the Events Calendar:

• Webdagene 2008 September 18-19 in Oslo, Norway. Webdagene 2008 is Norway’s first search marketing focused event. The conference focuses on online marketing, usability, and web development

New additions to the SEOmoz Marketplace:

Featured job postings:

• Search media strategist for Microsoft in Seattle, WA
• SEM specialist and web manager for LowerGear in Scottsdale, AZ
• SEO and PPC specialist for Visible Technologies in Seattle, WA. Once again, Todd Friesen (aka Oilman) is doing some hiring, so this job presents a fantastic opportunity to work with one of the best SEOs in the world.
• Lead generation for Diamond Price Guru in Alexandria, VA
• SEO manager/search analyst for Onward Search in Wisconsin
• Full-time SEO position for JRDunn.com in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Featured companies:

United States/North America:

• Aloha! Digital Marketing in Milwaukee, WI
• Onward Search in Wilton, CT
• JRDunn.com in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (they're not an SEO company, but they need a full-time SEO)

UK/Europe:

• Design-Ecommerce.com in the UK
• SEO Italy in Rome, Italy

Featured resumes:

• Nedim Sabic is an SEO currently working in Germany. Aside from doing SEO, he is well-versed in information design and usability, and he is experienced in Joomla.
• Semen Kerzhnerman is currently looking for employment. He has experience as an SEO manager and is skilled in analyzing traffic and analytics, competitive research, usability, link building, and more.