One of my distractions for the past couple of years has been playing Series of Tubes. This is a networking puzzle gadget by Wei-Hwa Huang that can be be added to a Google personalised home page.

Series of Tubes can also be played at
http://weihwa-puzzles.appspot.com/gadgetpage?g=series_of_tubes.

The Pieces – head, cross, tee, elbow & straight

The Series of Tubes game board consists of a number of squares in which there are tubes [, , & , ] and heads []. There are four types of tube – a cross [] which connects to the four adjacent squares, a tee [] which connects to three adacent squares, a straight [] and an elbow [] which both connect to two adacent squares.

Make all the users happy!

At the start the pieces are in random positions and one (tube or head) is coloured green.

Any piece that is rotated so that it is connected to a green piece also turns green.

The object of the game is to “Make all the users happy!” That is to rotate pieces until there is a pathway between all tubes and they all turn green.

Options – wrapping, size, marking yellow

Series of Tubes also has a number of additional options or features.

By default the pieces at the edge of the board only connect to adjacent pieces. For example any straight piece at the edge of the board has to run along that edge (as in the completed puzzle above). However there are options that allow for games in which the top edge of pieces at the top of the board can join to the bottom edges of pieces at the bottom of the board, and similarly for left and right edges. This is called wrapping.

The size of the board can also be altered. My current favourite is a 25 by 25 board with wrapping on both top-bottom and left-right.

As an aid to solving the puzzle, the background of individual pieces can be turned yellow.

Strategies

While my current favourite game is 25 by 25 with wrapping, I’ll illustrate strategies on a 10 by 10 game with wrapping.

Identify “fixed” pieces

There are four situations in which the correct orientation of pieces can be determined without reference to the orientation of any other piece.

Crosses are fixed

Crosses can not be rotatated, so their orientation is fixed.

Straights perpendicular to two heads

All pieces must be joined to all other pieces, so an arrangement of pieces consisting of one or more straight pices with a head at each end is invalid. Consequently if there are two heads with only (one or more) straight pices between them, then all of those straight pieces must be perpendicular to to the line joining the two heads.

Head with heads on 3 sides

The rotation of any head that is surrounded on three sides by other heads is fixed.

Combination heads & straights

The fourth case is a combination of the second and third cases. The rotation of a head is also fixed if it is surround on three sides by heads or by straights that are fixed because they are between the head in question and another head.

Rotate adjacent pieces

Once pieces who’s orientation is fixed purely due to their nature or location on the board has been determined, it is possible to determine the orientation of some adjacent pieces.

Straights adjacent to fixed pieces

The orientation of any straight adjacent to a fixed piece can be determined. It is either:

1. parallel to the fixed piece if that piece has no opening adjacent to the straight, or
2. perpendicular to the fixed piece if the fixed piece has an opening adjacent to the straight.

Adjacent fixed pieces with matching number of openings

If the fixed pieces adjacent to a piece have the same total number of openings on their adjacent sides as that piece has, then the orientation of that piece can be fixed. That is the orientation of:

1. a head adjacent to a fixed opening;
2. an elbow (or straight, if not already fixed by application of the previous strategy) adjacent to two fixed openings; or
3. a tee adjacent to three fixed openings

can be fixed.

Semi fixed elbows

The orientation of an elbow adjacent to one fixed opening is semi-fixed in that it can not have an opening opposite the fixed opening. Consequently any strategies that require no opening can be applied to the piece on the opposite side to the fixed opening. Equally any tee adjacent to wall (a fixed piece with no opening) is semi-fixed in that it must have an opening opposite the wall. Consequently any strategires that require an opening can be applied to pieces on the opposite side to the wall. This strategy can also be applied to a chain of adjacent elbows.

Tee with back to wall

Any tee adjacent to a wall, that is a fixed piece with no opening facing the tee must face away from that fixed piece.

Fixed elbows

Any elbow that is in a corner between two fixed pieces can be fixed. It will either be between:

1. two openings, in which case it will face the two openings; or
2. two walls, in which case it will face away from the two walls; or
3. a wall and an opening, in which case it will face the opening and away from the wall.

Adjacent fixed openings

Where there are adjacent openings on fixed pieces and those openings are joined by a fixed path, then the orientation of the two pieces adjacent to those openings can be fixed. Elbows and tees will face way from the other opening, because if the faced the other opening they would join (if the other piece were an elbow or tee), or leave an un-joinable opening (if the other piece were a stright or head). This is because loops and open ends are not permitted. We alrady have strategies for heads or straights adjacent to the openings.

Corridors

Once a fair number of pieces have been fixed, corridors of unfixed pieces one piece wide are sometimes formed. When they do, and there is an end to the corridor, then all the pieces in the corridor can be fixed. Also if there are two heads in the middle of an open corridor then they can be fixed (as they can not face each other) and every piece in both directions down the corridor from these two can be fixed. [This later case not illustrated.]

Repetition

In this example the solution can be found by repeating these strategies until all pieces have been fixed.

Other strategies

Other strategies [which were not needed in this example], include:

Multiple heads aginst a wall

Where several unfixed heads are in a line adjacent to a wall (fixed pieces with no openings), then the heads in the middle must face away from the wall.

Heads in a corner

Where two adjacent unfixed heads are against a wall, and one of the heads is in a corner between two walls, then the one in the corner must face away from the walls and the other head.

Semi-fixed elbow and two heads

When an elbow is semi-fixed to a head and one option is to join the other end of the elbow to another head, then this position is not valid, so the elbow must point in the other direction.

Adjacent fixed pieces with matching number of closed sides

If the number of closed sides of fixed pieces adjoining a piece is equal to the number of closed sides that piece has, then the orientation of that piece can be fixed. [This strategy was suggested to me by Lars Huttar. It is the opposite of the "Adjacent fixed pieces with matching number of openings" strategy (which is a generalisation of "Fixed elbows a.") and this strategy is a generalisation of "Fixed elbows b."]

Multiple Solutions

Some games have multiple solutions. In most cases this occurs when four or six adjacent pieces can be placed in different positions and still produce a valid solution (all users happy).

In other games a loop corridor will appear around a central island and the pieces in the corridor can face in either direction around the corridor to produce a valid solution.

Occasionally a larger number of pieces will not be fixed and there will be multiple possible solutions.

While I don’t like the image, and won’t be putting it on my front page, it is gratifying to know that I must be doing something right as far as promoting my own website is concerned.

My immediate question was, how can I get into a mastermind group? A quick search on google for Mastermind Group threw up:

How to Create and Run a Mastermind Group by Karyn Greenstreet

A good description of what a Mastermind Group is and reasons to join one. This is a promotional page for a $12 downloadable ebook on How to Start a For-Profit Mastermind Group.

The Master-Mind Group, The Programme for Business Owners & Mangers

Promotional site for 12 month programme starting February 2008. Cost £297+VAT.

Forum Thread: Mastermind group, thinktank, brainstorm?

Erik of SPiN asked for groups in UK on 17 April 2006. SPiN appears to have gone out of business, but there is an echo on the web archive – http://web.archive.org/web/20060428020132/http://www.usspin.com/. John Wilkes of theinfoproductprofessionals.com replied 22 November 2008 suggesting a Mastermind Alliance group starting in February 2009.

From the Web Archive of the SPiN website: The idea of masterminding and mastermind groups was made popular by Napoleon Hill in his book Think & Grow Rich. They provided a downloadable PDF of Think & Grow Rich. [There appear to be many copies on the web: see the results of google search for thinkandgrowrich.pdf]

Mastermind Group Resources Blog

A blog on Mastermind Groups run by Evan Carmichael who also runs Mastermind Groups in Toronto. One or two posts per week.

Online Marketing Mastermind Group

A London based Mastermind Group with online marketing focus with free online membership for those not able to attend in person.

Bernadette Doyle’s Client Magnets, How to Attract Clients Like a Magnet

Promotional page for Bernadette Doyle’s coaching and mentoring programme – costs £50 per month or £500 per year.

Meet and Grow Rich: How to Easily Create and Operate Your Own “Mastermind” Group for Health, Wealth, and More by Joe Vitale

Described by Eruditor as: “A practical guide to creating, profiting, and growing your business with your own mastermind group. It is suitable for those who want to succeed in various businesses.”

Chris Cardell’s Wealth Mastermind Group

Promotional site for Chris Cardell’s Wealth Mastermind Group. A group with impressive benefits that provides both training, support and access to the “best Entrepreneurial minds on the planet”. Curently costs £295+VAT per month.

Did Napoleon Hill’s Mastermind group work because those involved were never actually communicating with each other?

Introductory article to a discussion thread on ecademy.

The Results Academy

Home page of The Results Academy. No direct reference to Mastermind Group but there is a page on their website (Mastermind Group) that contains an invitation to join their free membership area.

As a result of this initial research the following occur as items to persue:

• Obtain [done] and read Think & Grow Rich.
• While being in a Mastermind Group looks desirable, I already have a group of friends and colleagues who could act as my Mastermind Group. So do I want to be more proactive with this group, or should I find an external group to join?
• If I join an external group should I join:
  • A commercial group, severl listed above?, or
  • A non commercial group? or
  • Start my own?
• What would I want to achieve from membership of a Mastermind Group?

Are you a member of a Mastermind Group? Whether you are or not, what would your answers be to the above questions?

Here are the results:

                                                                                                   1
         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         0
----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0
All of this means that the average person viewing a Google results page -- who might ... I put both
Generate custom meta tags easily by filling in the questions, then copy and paste ... the title, description
Having a meta description tag on each page may give those pages an SEO advantage ... so 150 characters
i want to know the safe length for "meta description" and "title" .... in title tag. and in the case
Ok, lets get one thing clear - Meta tags are still important for SEO. Google uses the meta description
You can set the maximum number of characters that will be used to generate your Description meta-tag.
Meta Description Tag: required. Enter a description for your Web page. A maximum of 150 characters is
Your Title and Meta Description are marketing tools first since ... for the keyword meta tag is 1000,
Description tags consist the information on seo and google tips on writing meta description tags, length,
31 Oct 2008 ... A Good Example of a Description Meta Tag:. We will use a page on a ... Description Tag
                                                                                                   1
         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         0
----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0

1         1         1         1         1         1         1
0         1         2         3         4         5         6
0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0
 descriptions in short of in the description meta tag, ...
scription and keyword tags should be unique to the page. ...
ers (including spaces) is a good maximum length to use. ...
e of description tag maximum up to 330 ...
ion for its page descriptions, which while not directly ...
g. Longer is not necessarily better and a maximum of ...
is suggested for this Tag. You get one chance to capture ...
0, whereas scrubber.com says the max is ...
ength, limits, guidelines, suggestions, character limits, ...
Tag Tips. - Keep it to the Google Maximum of Less. ...
1         1         1         1         1         1         1
0         1         2         3         4         5         6
0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0

My best guess is that anything up to at least 155 characters (including spaces) will be displayed.

Why would I want to do this? I have recently started to actively administer four WordPress Blogs, three public and one private. The three public Blogs are:

• Dr Baker Comments (this blog)
• CSEM-BMP Comment
• Gordon Fricker’s Blog

Some time ago I saw a list of essential WordPress plugins, so I thought I should find it again. As I found, there are many such lists. From these lists I’ve created a Top Twenty List of Essential WordPress Plugins.

The ten lists I consulted from my google search were compiled by:

1. Design Meme
2. David Dairey
3. Mindful Geek
4. Michael Gray
5. Jiannis Sotiropoulos
6. Donna Fontenot
7. Quick Online Tips
8. Ben Yoskovitz
9. Adam Hirsch
10. Tech Roam

I also consulted Lists of Essential WordPress Plug-ins. Some of these lists showed up on google (listed above). The other lists were compiled by:

• Market Federation
• Sam Stevens
• Devanshu Mehta
• tube torial
• Joe Brockmeier
• Sean Aune
• Calvin Woon
• Vlad Akilov

I’ve written a paper detailing how I ordered the plugins. The results, the top twenty essential WordPress plugins are listed below.

I put this list together to see what is realy essential in terms of plugins. The advice I’ve read is don’t go overboard with plugins. So my advice is don’t load all of these.

I’ve also added advice on increasing the memory limit available to WordPress after the tables below.

The top twenty plugins appeared in from 3 to 12 lists (out of 18). Where several appeared in the same number of lists I compared the place they occured in the individual lists to obtain an overall position.

As well as the Top Twenty Essential WordPress Plugins, here are the runners up, the next twenty essential WordPress Plugins. These plugins occured in two lists each.

As well as plugins, Market Federation suggests:

Plugins can take a lot of resources, especially memory and many bloggers complain about their memory limit and wordpress cache system failing. Most shared hosting providers will limit the memory usage to 8Mb but you can alter this with a little trick. Login to your FTP account and find .htaccess file in your public_html directory. If you can’t find it then you will have to create it otherwise edit it and add the following line

php_value memory_limit 12M

This increases your memory limit to 12Mb which is more than enough for wordpress.

An alternative to using the .htaccess file would be to add the following to the wp-config.php file. However I’m lead to believe that this will only work if your hosting provider is not using PHP in safe_mode, and you would need to ensure that this is retained on any WordPress upgrade.

ini_set("memory_limit","12M");

This is not a new problem.  Email never has been a secure or certain method of delivering messages.  For example in an article “Too Many Lost Emails Leave us Unconnected“, written in 2004, Ray Everett-Church laments:

Today, a shockingly large amount of email is purposely lost. Some ISPs drop, delete, or delay billions of emails a day on purpose. Most of this is done in the name of security and spam-fighting. For example, many ISPs with dial-up access service will specifically block the ability of those using the dial-up connections from sending mail via any server not owned by that ISP.

I don’t think much has changed in the last 4 years.

So what are the options?

One option my friend is asking for is an automatic acknowledgement of receipt.  This would go along with a note on the website to the effect that “if you do not receive an automated response to your email, it means that either your message, or the response has got lost in transit.”

Another option that I’m thinking of implementing is a message system on his website.  This would allow anyone to leave a message for my friend that would be kept in a database on the website that my friend would check regularly for new messages.

In “Alternatives to Email“, Rob Hyndman suggests using wikis.  While this is good in the small work group collaboration sphere that he writes about, not suitable for private or confidential correspondence from first time contacts.

In “Facebook As An Email Alternative“, Nick O’Neill suggests, as the title says, Facebook as an alternative.

In “Alternatives to email“, Jordan Furlong has three suggestions, extranet with RSS feed for clients, legs or phone for colleagues down the hall, and cooperation tools such as Google Calendar and Google Docs.  These are good for people you are already in communication with, but not for those first contacts that my friend has been loosing.

If I’ve understood Penny Edwards in “Alternative to email“, she suggests using twitter to let people know your ’status’ or what you are doing and how you can be contacted at any one time. Then people can contact you via a variety of means including instant messaging and networking sites.

Another alternative would be to use the private messaging feature of Xing.

Are there other options that you could suggest?

I recently wrote:

It is my contention that virtually no one will read anything at the foot of the page, but they will look for things there (but only things that they would expect to find, things like:

But then wondered, well what do people expect, what is “standard” for a page footer?

I expect a Copyright statement, and some links to items like Privacy, About, Contact, Disclaimer, Terms of Use and sometimes the actual contact details such as Name, Address, Post Code, Telephone number, Fax number, Email address.

I’m also not surprised to see logo, membership icons, trust icons, valid (x)html/css icons, accessibility icons, navigation links, sitemap link, search  box, home page link, page creation date, page update date, page URL, request for comment with link, etc.

Having written up (down?) what I expect in a footer, I thought a little use of google would be in order and found a very interesting article by Jeff Lash on More Than Just a Footer.  In his article he comments:

During countless usability tests, I have observed users who scroll to the bottom of the page when they are lost, only to be left helpless by the generic footer navigation.

Designers need to give as much attention to the footer design as to the other elements on the page. While simply blocking off some space for the footer might be an acceptable solution in some cases, there are many ways to take advantage of the bottom of the page.

He then goes on to suggest three inventive approaches:

 

1. An out-of-site map: where he references A Sitemap on Every Page. 
2. Rate it: a rate this button, useful for identifying most popular pages.
3. Sell it: “Bottom of the page deals” that the user is not expecting.

 

His page ends with Related Topics links.

Also worth reading is Best Website Footer Design? by Ronald Huereca.  While the article is short it is followed by many comments with links to commenters’ favourite footers.  Well worth a browse.  There is also this gem of a comment by Andy Faulkner:

If the reader has got to the bottom of the page, then it is highly likely that they read the content and therefore it is also likely that they found it worthwhile. If they found this worthwhile, then offering similar content in the footer seems like a good idea to me.

What do you expect to see, or think should be, in a footer?

So a quick search seemed in order.

Google Blogsearch returned 41 results for “blogmother” including 5 blogs, and 429 results for “blogfather”.

On a whim I also boogled for the fairy varieties, which being sub sets of “blogmother” and “blogfather” should have returned fewer results, but I got an unexpected 68 results for “fairy blogmother” and an expected smaller number of results (13) for “fairy blogfather”.

Which just goes to show you should not believe everything that google tells us.

Who are your favourite blogmothers and/or blogfathers? and/or what are your thoughts or comments on “Bloogling“?.

On investigation it appears that the problem is due to the use of post codes to locate places that are being searched for.

The Royal Mail Address Finder returns 15 addresses for HA3 6SH, the post code for Grim’s Dyke. One address is for Grim’s Dyke, the other 14 are for flats located in Portman Hall.

Guess where Google and most of the other map and hotel search services place Grim’s Dyke. Yes, at Portman Hall, which is located over a third of a mile to the south east of Grim’s Dyke. Those that put Grim’s Dyke in the wrong place include:

• maps.google.co.uk
• www.multimap.com
• streetmap.co.uk [can only search for the postcode]
• london-discount-hotel.com
• lastminute.com

There are two hotel sites that place Grim’s Dyke in the correct place, pointing to the hotel itself or the entrance to the hotel grounds:

• booking.com [strangely the map is powered by google], and
• www.hrs.com

There are three organisations involved in this stuff up, all of whom could and probably would way its not our problem. The organisations and their probable responses are:

• The search providers: “We rely on data provided by TeleAtlas (or similar company). If there is a problem take it up with them.”
• TeleAtlas (or similar): “We provide the best location for each post code, in this case the location of 14/15 addresses for HA3 6SH.”
• Royal Mail: “Any use of post codes for purposes other than the delivery of mail are not our problem.”

So how do booking.com and hrs.com get it right?