Google’s latest algorithm rewards deep content

On February 23, 2011 Google released the latest change to their ranking algorithm. Google said that this change impacts approximately 12% of its search results in the US.  This is a fairly significant change.  What’s the objective of this change and if your business benefits from search engine traffic (just about everyone)how should you react. Read More »

EagleBurgmann Industries L.P. Announces New Local Building

EagleBurgmann Industries L.P. — a global manufacturer of mechanical seals, systems, packing and expansion joints – will announce tomorrow their intent to break ground on a new facility designed to meet increasing demand from their ever increasing U.S. customer base.

The announcement will be made at the 39th annual Turbomachinery Symposium, held at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

A corporate resident of the Houston area since 1977, the new building will be located at 10035 Brookriver Drive, off Beltway 8 and 290, in Jersey Village, Texas.

The new 23,000 square foot facility is twice the size of the firm’s existing building. Administration, sales, manufacturing, training and testing will all reside in one facility, allowing EagleBurgmann to streamline their operations as well as ensure the firm is able to meet increasing market demand.  The training facility will be used as an industry hub for technology transfer and instruction. The firm’s parent company, Freudenberg, will also use it to showcase their technologies for the oil and gas market.

Ambrose, McEnany and House, an architecture firm responsible for the design of many landmark buildings in Houston, has been selected for the design and implementation of this project. According to Lee Mitchell, project designer with Ambrose, McEnany and House, the goal was “to create a modern corporate headquarters to reflect the engineering qualities of the company and to incorporate modern design aspects, both in the interior and on the exterior of the building.”

In order to meet this goal, Ambrose, McEnany and House selected a variety of metal and glass materials for both exterior and interior features. The exterior of the building features long rectangular-shaped pieces of brushed stainless steel and glass in a bilateral, symmetric design to enhance the already existing building, while fusing in the new formula. Ambrose, McEnany and House utilized existing novel shapes and transformed them into distinctive models of modern engineering reflective of the highly engineered products EagleBurgmann manufactures.

EagleBurgmann USA President, Marcus Pillion stated, “This new facility will present a larger footprint to the marketplace and is just another example of our long-term commitment to the industries we serve not only here in Houston, but throughout North America. We’ve been here (in the USA) for over 30 years, and we’re excited about the next 30 years and what this new building represents for our customers.”

“We are excited about being able to make this announcement here at the Turbomachinery Symposium,” said Pillion. “As a significant event in the Houston area, this event provides us with the opportunity to share ideas and best practices with the leaders in the oil and gas industry. Our participation as well as our selection of this event for this announcement demonstrates our commitment to the industry as well as validation that the oil, gas and turbormachinery market are thriving.”

EagleBurgmann plans to break ground  in November.  The new building project is expected to be complete in 12 months. EagleBurgmann’s current facility, located at 10035 Brookriver Drive, will remain in the real estate portfolio for parent company, Freudenberg-NOK.

According to Rhonda Johnson, Marketing Director, approximately 4,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Symposium.

Google Caffeine and The Growing Importance of Page Speed

"Google caffeine"

Page speed has always been a factor in web design.  Today, it is not only a factor in good design but also good Search Engine Optimization. Both factors are important to creating a good user experience.  Ten to fifteen years ago, before high-speed Internet connections were commonplace there was a 30 second rule that good designers lived by; if a page took longer than 30 seconds to load it was too big. With the advancement of graphics design programs creating smaller and smaller file sizes, high-speed Internet and faster computers the average person has increased expectations and if a page does not load in 5-10 seconds they are more likely to click back and pick the next page in the search results list.

Google (who maintains a 65% share of the search engine market), has now incorporated page speed into their search algorithm for determining page rank and position.  Page rank (the importance of a page relative to the rest of the Web) is the culmination of many factors and is a key component in determining the overall position of a web page in search results. Read More »

The Day Every Graphic Designer Got Exceptionally Better

The Creative Side of PetroPages is all stirred up for a game-changing release in April.  Photoshop CS5.  Leaked previews of CS5 shows a graphic designer making incredible changes in seconds.  I don’t kn0w what I am more excited about: the improved quality of work we will be able to put out or the amount of time we will be able to save on every project.

Anyone who works in graphic design or web development knows the importance of starting with good, clean images.  The amount of time it takes to clean bad images is costly.  The brain-numbing drudgery of erasing, copying and stamping parts of an image, 3 pixels at a time, is enough to make grown men cry. (OK I’m exaggerating a bit) The point is Photoshop CS5 is going to make the process of cleaning up images faster, better and happier.

Here is Adobe’s leaked preview from the CS5 blog.

If you’re pressed for time skip to 2:47

The official release date for Adobe CS5 is April 12th, 2010.  For more Photoshop CS5 goodness http://cs5.org/?cat=3

New EPC Contracts

4 big EPC contracts were recently awarded to Sinopec, J. Ray McDermott, ICA Fluor and SNC-Lavalin.

  1. Sinopec Awarded $1.3B Polypropylene Plant
  2. J. Ray McDermott Awarded Saudi Aramco EPC Project
  3. ICA Flour Wins $622M Clean  Fuels Projects from PEMEX
  4. SNC-Lavalin gets new contract in Venezuela

Sinopec Awarded $1.3 bln Polypropylene Plant

  • Estimated Cost: $1.26 billion
  • Engineering Firm: Sinopec Engineering
  • Construction Firm: Sinopec Engineering

Description: As reported by Reuters - a unit of China’s Sinopec will build a $1.26 billion polypropylene plant in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Aset Magauov said on Thursday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE62O06T20100325

J. Ray McDermott Awarded Saudi Aramco EPC Project

  • Estimated Cost: $
  • Operating Company: Saudi Aramco
  • Engineering Firm: J. Ray McDermott
  • Construction Firm: J. Ray McDermott
    Read More »
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