Archive for June 2012

Google Authorship for Blogspot


posted by Stef dela Cruz on

4 comments

Setting up Google authorship for your Blogspot (Blogger) blog is a great new addition to your SEO armamentarium. A lot of SEO gurus are doing it. It may not help the ranking of your blog posts per se, but setting up your blog so that it recognizes you as its Google author has many benefits, some of which I shall discuss below.

Of course, this blog post won’t be complete if I don’t share a fuss-free way of implementing Google authorship for your Blogger blog. So prepare a great photo of you, sign up to your Google Plus account and your Blogger account, and follow the easy instructions which I shall share later.

Google Authorship for Blogs: Benefits

This how your blog post snippet will appear on a Google search page if you have already set up your Google authorship. Notice the photo thumbnail on the left and the author name right below the blog post link.

Google authorshipAnd yes, it helps to establish Google authorship for all your blogs. This is true for the following reasons.

  • Google authorship helps liven up search results leading to your blog. Remember the boring blog snippets that search engine results cough up – and imagine if it had a thumbnail of your photo plus your name right beside it. It definitely makes your search result look better, yes?

Pacquiao Makes Sign of the Cross During Bradley Match


posted by Stef dela Cruz on

77 comments

During the Pacquiao-Bradley match last June 10, 2012, Manny Pacquiao lost via split decision. Both lasted 12 rounds inside the ring. The decision favoring Timothy Bradley stunned the crowd and the interweb – but one thing stunned me even more: during the match, Manny Pacquiao kept making the sign of the cross – despite the fact that he is now a Born Again Christian… or is he still a Catholic?

Pacquiao sign of the crossPhoto from Fox Sports Australia

Pacquiao made the sign of the cross, a Catholic gesture, several times during his match with Bradley despite rumors that he is now a Born Again Christian.

According to Manila Times, Pacquiao is now a Born Again Christian. But according to Inquirer, Pacquiao is still Catholic – but that a Protestant priest is helping him study the bible. Recently, Manny Pacquiao has strengthened his faith after having made a few decisions in life he was not too proud of. Around the time that he promised to stay loyal to his wife, he started professing faith as a Born Again Christian. Pacquiao claimed he had new-found faith in God, quoting the bible for the media on several occasions.

CLARIFICATION: Certain factions are claiming that Manny Pacquiao is still a Catholic because some reiterate that being a Born Again Christian is not exactly a religion. Perhaps that’s the case, but there is a separate denomination under the popular name “Born Again Christian” and they are strongly against several Catholic traditions. The argument of whether or not Born Again Christians have a separate religion may be a matter of semantics – but let’s get back to the topic of this blog post for now. Smile

The real question I have in mind is, does Manny still belong to the Catholic community, or has he joined the Born Again Christian denomination? And if Manny Pacquiao is indeed a Born Again Christian (referring to the denomination), why is he making the sign of the cross? Of course, the last question is not applicable if he is still a Catholic.

During the match between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley held at Las Vegas on June 10, 2012, Manny Pacquiao kept making the sign of the cross inside the ring. Making the sign of the cross is a classic Catholic gesture, a testament to the Catholic community’s belief in the Holy Trinity.

Could Manny Pacquiao have reverted back to his former habits as a Catholic during his match with Bradley? Or was Manny Pacquiao still Catholic all along? If so, does he have plans of converting to another denomination? Was his making the sign of the cross a sign that he wants to remain Catholic? Read on for details.