Hope this Thursday afternoon finds you all well.  A few more days until vacation, and what a vacation it will be.  My “big plans” include sitting by my apartment pool for a few days.  That is all.

Here are a few things that have caught my attention today:

1. Web Analytics Demystified: Beth Kanter of Beth’s Blog uses a screencast (I love screencasts — visual learning!) to explain how in the hell Google Analytics works.

2. Better Blog Branding: Chris Garrett encourages us to take a good look at what our blogs say to visitors, and what we can do to help our own “blog brand” grow stronger.

3. Google Offers Money for Gadgets: As if we didn’t have enough useless gadgets, now people can make money off of them.  Soon: meta-gadgets.  Discuss. [via TechCrunch]

4. Web 2.0 Visionaries vs. the Handyman: The Boston Globe discusses the “Internet handyman” concept.  As much as I love helping people learn about the web, something about being called a “handyman” makes me cringe.

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