Mark Alves
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markalves.com
Mark Alves
@markalves.com
730 followers 250 following 400 posts
Tab hoarder. Wrangler of GA4, dashboards, and SEO for nonprofits. Happily married with 3 sons. Overgrazer of ice cream, podcasts, and the Steelers.
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markalves.com
"Free" AI
WSJ headline: Meta Will Begin Using AI Chatbot Conversations to Target Ads While users won’t be able to opt out from the new policy, the content of some conversations will be automatically excluded
October 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
markalves.com
OpenAI offering keyword suggestions like an SEO tool, including the expired dates that appear in both
I started typing Here is a list of and OpenAI suggested books you should read in 2024
September 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
markalves.com
Happy Yes Day! It’s 9/01/25 (US) and I’m listening to one of my all-time favorite albums. Blasted the heck out of this in my youth. Already loved classic progressive Yes but my friends and I embraced the new sound of 80s and the original intense Owner of a Lonely Heart video on MTV.
Cover of 90125 CD Back cover with song list 1) OWNER OF A LONELY HEART 2) HOLD ON 3) IT CAN HAPPEN 4) CHANGES 5) CINEMA 6) LEAVE IT 7) OUR SONG 8) CITY OF LOVE 9) HEARTS
September 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
markalves.com
Two fake news posts in a row lol 🫎
July 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
markalves.com
We joined in the #nokings rally in Arlington, Virginia today. Well organized and lots of support.
Elizabeth and I in red, white, and blue
June 15, 2025 at 1:26 AM
markalves.com
Great show tonight by Tajmo (Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo”)
Band on stage with Taj Mahal on left seated, and Keb Mo standing in jeans and hat
June 9, 2025 at 3:15 AM
markalves.com
Washington problems: Walk from Metro to office interrupted by a motorcade
At the front is a marked police SUV with emergency lights activated. • Following it are several black SUVs — typical of government or official escorts, potentially Secret Service or VIP protection vehicles. • A few marked and unmarked police or security vehicles are visible in the convoy.
June 5, 2025 at 12:54 PM
markalves.com
Reminds me of Bill Safire’s rules for writing.
Great Rules of Writing Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
May 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
markalves.com
It’s May the 4th so of course we had to see The Empire Strikes Back
Me and Sam in front of Empire poster before the show at AFI Silver
May 5, 2025 at 2:02 AM
markalves.com
This is a popular scene from The Office, featuring Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) sitting thoughtfully in front of a whiteboard. The whiteboard has a quote written on it: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky” – Michael Scott The humor comes from Michael attributing the quote to himself after quoting Wayne Gretzky — a classic example of his awkward but endearing attempts at leadership and inspiration.
May 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
markalves.com
Fabulous #SEOweek presentation to help us focus on information retrieval rather than bickering over labels.
This slide visually addresses the debate between GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), essentially downplaying the idea that they’re fundamentally different. Breakdown: • Title: “The Whole GEO vs SEO debate” • This frames the discussion as perhaps more sensationalized than substantive. • Top box (pink): “In Information retrieval there is a new field – called Generation Information Retrieval but it’s just another facet of information retrieval as a whole.” • This suggests that GEO is simply a subdomain within traditional information retrieval—not a radical departure. • Middle box (orange): “It makes sense to appreciate that this is also a new facet of SEO.” • GEO can be viewed as an extension or evolution of SEO, focused on generative systems like AI chatbots. • Bottom box (yellow): “Let’s not waste our time on cyclical debates which make no difference to progress.” • A call to avoid unproductive semantic debates and instead focus on adapting SEO to modern contexts like AI-generated answers. This slide leans toward integration over distinction, suggesting GEO doesn’t replace SEO—it just adds nuance to it. The image humorously highlights a common sentiment in the SEO industry: that many “new” AI-focused optimization guidelines are just repackaged best practices SEO pros have already been following. Key elements in the image: • Left side: A parody phrase, “Keep Calm and GVPKLBlahSEO On…”, poking fun at complex or jargon-heavy SEO updates. • Right side: • A LinkedIn post by Dawn Anderson, responding to another post with: “Ahhh. So everything we already do (aside from the llms.txt)? SEO is not going away then any time soon.” • The original post by Danny Goodwin, summarizing AI optimization tips like: • Clean HTML/markdown • Allowing AI crawlers • Fast content return • Semantic markup • The new llms.txt file • Checking AI visibility This all reinforces that while AI may shift the tools or priorities, the core principles of good SEO still apply
May 3, 2025 at 12:59 PM
markalves.com
Our Holy Week tradition includes watching Jesus Christ Superstar. This year was the John Legend/NBC version. Might not be for everyone but works for us.
Jesus Christ Superstar DVD title screen on TV
April 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
markalves.com
We are not posting exclusively on X, they said exclusively on X.

Here are their social channels that don’t mention this.

www.ssa.gov/socialmedia/
So @SocialSecurity on X quote tweets the Wired scoop about all SSA comms moving to Twitter exclusively and says “This is false. Social Security will continue to communicate through any and all mediums.” but only posts this on X.
April 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
markalves.com
Indigo-ogle — the color that’s a ranking factor was all along hidden in plain sight
Number on door 6E3282 shown as hex color purple
March 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
markalves.com
Happy Pi Day from your pal, Mark πlves, and this guy here 🥧
Tom Selleck with a pi symbol where his moustache should be. You know, Magnum P.i.
March 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
markalves.com
Got our #ashtag on for Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent
#ashtag selfie of me and Elizabeth outside St. Ann’s
March 5, 2025 at 1:13 PM
markalves.com
Inbox 000
Inbox count amateurishly smudged so 666 becomes 000
February 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
markalves.com
I saw Nickel Boys and The Substance this weekend — still have whiplash. Couldn’t be two more differently imaginative movies.
Here is the alt text for the movie posters in the image: 1. Nickel Boys: A movie poster showing two young Black men wearing blue prison-style uniforms, looking up towards the camera. The perspective is from above, framed by what appears to be a small, enclosed room with beige tiled floors. The title “Nickel Boys” is displayed in a serif font, and below it, the director’s name, “RaMell Ross,” is listed. 2. The Substance: A movie poster depicting a woman lying on a white tiled bathroom floor with her back facing the camera. A long, stitched surgical scar runs down the center of her spine. Her dark hair is splayed across the floor, and a folded white towel is near her head. The title “The Substance” is written in large, bold, white capital letters, and the director’s name, “Coralie Fargeat,” is shown below.
February 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
markalves.com
The image shows a middle-aged man with short, graying hair that is neatly styled. His skin tone is light, and he appears to have a somewhat rectangular face shape. He wears rectangular, wire-rimmed glasses.
Headshot of me as described in the accompanying thread
February 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
markalves.com
Ask for us by name
Business named Latino Chicken Place with a big sign on a cascade in a strip mall
February 21, 2025 at 12:53 AM
markalves.com
As seen on today’s walk. Is this related to tariffs on Canada?
Yellow painted stripe on pavement with a maple leaf shaped gap where someone must’ve painted over a leaf.
February 2, 2025 at 11:24 PM
markalves.com
Soup Nazi meme except the text is no SOAP for you
January 31, 2025 at 5:45 PM
markalves.com
Does this hat make me look like a Lego minifig?!
My shadow on the street where my pompon hat makes my head look like a minifig
January 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
markalves.com
Finally got the Google Daily Listen podcast to appear in Discover after signing up in Labs a while back. Good customized topic coverage. I missed the variable speed button so had to listen at a painful 1x speed.
Discover feed in Google app showing Daily Listen play button among weather and headline widgets. Blue podcast player background with controls and an upward rolling text transcript.
January 25, 2025 at 2:00 AM
markalves.com
I’ll play along with the Golden Gate Bridge. If this request isn’t a bridge too far, quote with a bridge from your own gallery.
Me and the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day except for the cloud covering the top of the bridge.
January 24, 2025 at 11:20 PM