When it works, it looks like magic.
When it fails, it gets dismissed as “thin AI spam.”

Grokipedia is one of the clearest real-world examples that AI-driven pSEO can work at extreme scale, not because it gamed Google, but because it executed the fundamentals better than almost anyone else.

And yes, it had unfair advantages.
But that doesn’t invalidate the lesson. It clarifies it.

Let’s break this down properly, using actual data, structure, and first-principles thinking.

The Data: What Grokipedia Achieved in a Very Short Time

Based on live third-party SEO tooling and AI citation tracking, Grokipedia currently shows:

Search & Visibility Metrics

• ~827,000 organic keywords indexed
• ~616,000 monthly organic visits
• Top 3 rankings for ~11,000 keywords
• $30k+ estimated traffic value
• Zero paid traffic

This alone already puts Grokipedia ahead of 99.9% of AI-generated content projects that never escape the “indexed but invisible” stage.

Authority & Link Signals

• Domain Rating (DR): 72
• URL Rating (UR): 43
• ~476,000 backlinks
• ~6,200 referring domains

Those are not “new site” numbers. Those are numbers most editorial brands take a decade to build.

AI Search & Answer Engine Citations

Grokipedia is also heavily cited across AI systems:

• Google AI Overviews: 600+ citations
• ChatGPT: ~211,000 page-level references
• Gemini: ~24,600 citations
• Perplexity: 50+ citations
• Copilot: ~3,400 citations

This is critical.

Grokipedia is not just ranking in classic search. It is being used as a reference layer by LLMs, which is exactly where search behavior is moving.

Why Most AI pSEO Projects Fail (And Why Grokipedia Didn’t)

The common narrative is that “AI content doesn’t work.”

That is wrong.

Thin systems don’t work.

Most failed pSEO attempts share the same mistakes:

• Single-page templates stretched across thousands of URLs
• Keyword-first logic instead of concept-first coverage
• No internal semantic reinforcement
• No real user engagement signals
• No trust, no authority, no reason for Google or LLMs to care

Grokipedia avoided every one of these traps.

Concept Coverage, Not Keyword Coverage

Grokipedia did not target keywords.

It targeted entire concepts.

Instead of building:

“What is X?”
“X definition”
“X explained”

It built dense, interlinked topic graphs, where:

• Every concept has context
• Every definition links outward
• Every page reinforces adjacent knowledge
• No page exists in isolation

This is exactly how LLMs reason, and increasingly how Google evaluates topical authority.

In short:
Grokipedia looks less like an SEO site and more like a structured knowledge base.

That matters.

Semantic Interconnection at Scale

This is the real pSEO lesson most people miss.

Grokipedia works because:

• Thousands of pages are semantically connected
• Internal linking is meaningful, not decorative
• Entity relationships are explicit, not implied
• Pages support each other instead of competing

Each page:

• Strengthens the topical cluster
• Reinforces crawl depth
• Improves discovery and indexing
• Signals completeness to ranking systems

This is why Grokipedia has more indexed keywords than traffic, yet still wins. It is building long-term authority, not just chasing clicks.

The Unfair Advantage: Instant Credibility

Now let’s address the elephant in the room.

Grokipedia had:

• Massive PR exposure
• Immediate backlink velocity
• Real user engagement from day one
• Widespread discussion and sharing

And yes, that matters. A lot.

The association with Elon Musk and the broader xAI ecosystem meant Grokipedia skipped years of the typical “prove yourself” phase.

Google did not have to guess if it was valuable.
The internet told Google it was.

That does not make the model invalid.
It makes the signal amplification faster.

Why Smaller pSEO Sites Fail When They Copy This

Many teams looked at Grokipedia and said:

“Let’s do the same thing with AI.”

Then they:

• Generated shallow pages
• Skipped editorial depth
• Ignored semantic architecture
• Launched without distribution or authority
• Expected rankings to appear magically

That is not how this works.

You cannot fake:

• Depth
• Interconnectedness
• Real engagement
• Trust at scale

AI accelerates execution. It does not replace strategy.

The Real Lesson: Systems Beat Content

Grokipedia proves that:

• AI content can rank
• AI content can scale
• AI content can dominate AI search

But only when:

• The system is designed for knowledge, not keywords
• Pages reinforce each other
• Authority is built intentionally
• Distribution is part of the launch, not an afterthought

This is not “AI SEO.”

This is knowledge engineering applied to search.

Where This Is Going Next

As LLM-driven discovery becomes normal:

• Citation density matters more than blue links
• Entity coverage matters more than keyword density
• Structured knowledge beats isolated articles
• Brands that look like reference sources win

Grokipedia is not an anomaly.
It is an early example of the direction search is moving.

Final Thought

Programmatic SEO did not fail because of AI.

It failed because people built thin systems and expected fat returns.

Grokipedia shows what happens when:

• Depth is real
• Structure is intentional
• Scale is paired with authority
• AI is used as an amplifier, not a shortcut

And the best part?

With modern AI tooling, building this level of depth is now possible without a Wikipedia-sized editorial team.

The bar has moved.
But it is not unreachable.

If you’re exploring how to build real AI visibility, programmatic SEO systems, or knowledge-led content at scale, this is exactly the kind of work we’re doing at Saigon Digital. You can see how we approach AI search, SEO, and scalable content systems here.

The post Grokipedia and the Real Proof That AI-Driven Programmatic SEO Works appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

I have spent most of my career delivering technical solutions for businesses that had real pressure on the line. Revenue targets, public launches, legacy systems that could not fail, and teams who needed answers, not buzzwords.

When you work inside a technical team, everyone speaks the same language. Acronyms, frameworks, deployment patterns, they are all shorthand. The moment you step into a room with founders, marketers, or operations leaders, that language can become a barrier instead of a bridge.

Over the years at Saigon Digital and my previous role as a technical lead and developer, I have learned that the real skill is not choosing the right technology. It is explaining why that technology exists in terms the business actually cares about.

The reality clients live in

Most clients default to what feels safe. WordPress, traditional CMS stacks, familiar hosting setups. And honestly, most of the time those tools work just fine. We still deploy WordPress when it fits the problem.

But there are moments when reliability, security, performance, and scalability stop being “nice to have” and start becoming business risks. That is where modern Jamstack style architectures make sense.

The challenge is not technical. The challenge is communication.

Clients do not wake up wanting a headless CMS or static site generation. They wake up wanting fewer outages, better conversions, and less stress when traffic spikes.

A real migration we delivered

One of our largest migrations involved a legacy platform that had grown for nearly a decade. Multiple plugins, tightly coupled systems, slow deployments, and constant security patching. Marketing teams were afraid to publish. Developers were afraid to touch core logic. Every campaign launch felt risky.

Instead of pitching Jamstack as a “better stack,” we reframed the conversation.

We showed what the business was losing every time pages slowed down, every time the CMS locked up under load, and every time security updates delayed releases. Then we mapped how a decoupled architecture solved those specific pains.

The result was a staged migration to a headless CMS with a static-first frontend. Page speed improved dramatically. Security incidents dropped. Editorial workflows became simpler. Most importantly, the client stopped worrying about whether the website would survive peak demand.

That project reinforced something I now train my entire team on.

The SD Translation Framework

At Saigon Digital, we use a simple internal framework to help our team communicate complex technical ideas clearly. I personally coach developers and strategists on this, especially juniors who are brilliant technically but struggle to explain value.

The SD Translation Framework has four steps:

1. Start with the business pressure

Before any tech discussion, we identify the pressure points. Revenue goals, growth plans, campaign timelines, compliance risks, team frustration. Technology is never the starting point.

2. Map tech features to business outcomes

Performance becomes engagement. Security becomes continuity. Scalability becomes protected revenue during spikes. We ban jargon until the outcome is understood.

3. Use familiar anchors

If a client knows WordPress, we start there. We explain what WordPress does well, where it struggles, and how a Jamstack approach keeps the good parts while removing the bottlenecks. Analogies matter.

4. Show, do not tell

We use real examples, traffic scenarios, and case studies from our own work. A product launch failing due to load is far more persuasive than any benchmark chart.

Turning Jamstack benefits into business language

From a technical perspective, Jamstack offers performance, security, and scalability. From a business perspective, it offers peace of mind.

Faster load times mean users stay longer and convert more. That is not theory, it shows up in analytics.

Decoupled systems reduce attack surfaces. That means fewer emergencies, fewer consultants called in at short notice, and lower long-term maintenance costs.

Scalability means launch days are exciting, not terrifying. When traffic spikes, the site holds. Orders go through. Marketing campaigns deliver ROI instead of apology emails.

These are the conversations clients actually want to have.

Why illustration beats explanation

I rarely “explain” Jamstack anymore. I illustrate it.

I describe a campaign launch where thousands of users hit a page at once. In a traditional setup, the CMS slows down or crashes. Revenue stalls. Teams scramble.

Then I show the same scenario with a static-first architecture. Pages are served instantly. Infrastructure absorbs the load. The business keeps moving.

Once clients see the difference, the technology choice becomes obvious.

Communication is the real skill

Clients come to us because they expect expertise. That does not mean they want lectures.

Over time, I have settled on four rules that I drill into my team:

• Be patient and listen before proposing anything
• Always prioritise the client’s goals over your favourite tools
• Communicate positively, this project matters deeply to them
• Be responsive, clarity builds trust even when answers take time

Most communication today happens in Slack, email, and documents. That makes tone and clarity even more important. Being human is not optional.

The real job of a technical partner

Our job is not to sell Jamstack. Our job is to help businesses make better decisions with technology.

When clients understand why a solution exists and how it impacts revenue, experience, and risk, they stop resisting modern approaches. They start asking smarter questions.

That is when partnerships work.

If you are sitting on a legacy platform that feels fragile, slow, or risky, there is probably a better way forward. It does not start with a framework or a CMS. It starts with a conversation.

If you have a project where performance, security, or scalability actually matter, we can help you map the right approach and explain it in plain business terms.

The post Translating Tech Into Business Value appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

As a kid, I was obsessed with how things worked. Not just software, but hardware. I spent hours building PCs, swapping components, fixing broken machines, and learning through trial and error. That curiosity, pulling systems apart to understand them, never really left. It just evolved.

Today, I work with large language models, AI search systems, and modern digital platforms. Instead of motherboards and CPUs, I now spend my time thinking about data structures, retrieval systems, search behaviour, and how intelligence is formed, surfaced, and trusted online.

I started by taking computers apart.

The tools have changed. The mindset hasn’t.

Learning by Building, Not by Theory

My early years were shaped by experimentation. I was never interested in theory without application. If something could be built, I wanted to build it. If it broke, I wanted to understand why.

That approach carried through everything I did next.

I moved into web design and development at a time when the internet was still messy and unpolished. Websites were static, slow, and often poorly thought through. But that chaos was an opportunity. You could see clearly how structure, performance, and clarity affected user behaviour.

From there, I began freelancing and consulting, working with businesses at very different stages. Startups trying to find traction. Established companies trying to modernise. Teams with tools and budgets, but no real digital strategy.

What I learned quickly was this.

Most problems were not technical.
They were structural and strategic.

From Freelancing to Founding Saigon Digital

Freelancing gave me exposure. Consulting gave me perspective. But neither solved the deeper problem I kept seeing.

Digital work was fragmented.

Design sat in one corner. Development in another. SEO somewhere else. Paid media disconnected from product. Nobody owned the system end to end.

That gap is why I co-founded Saigon Digital.

The goal was never just to build websites or run campaigns. It was to create a full-service digital agency that understood how all the parts connect. Strategy, design, development, SEO, data, performance, and now AI.

Today, Saigon Digital works with brands across the UK, US, Europe, and Asia. We help companies build scalable platforms, grow sustainably, and adapt to how search and discovery are changing.

Which brings me to AI.

The Shift From Search Engines to Intelligence Engines

Traditional search rewarded optimisation.

AI search rewards understanding.

Working with large language models has made one thing painfully clear. These systems do not think in keywords. They think in entities, relationships, intent, and trust signals.

This is where my background matters.

Because AI search behaves less like a list of results and more like a system trying to understand reality. It ingests structure, consistency, authority, and clarity. If your brand does not present a coherent story across the web, AI struggles to place you.

This is what led me deep into AI search optimisation and GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation.

Not as a buzzword. As a discipline.

What Being an AI Search and GEO Expert Actually Means

Being an AI search expert is not about prompts or hype.

It is about understanding how AI systems learn, retrieve, rank, and recommend.

At a practical level, that means working across:

• Structured data and schema
• Content designed for comprehension, not volume
• Entity clarity and brand consistency
• Technical performance and UX
• Authority signals, citations, and references
• How LLMs source and synthesise information

GEO focuses on one core outcome.

When a user asks an AI a buyer-intent question, does your brand appear as an answer or recommendation?

If not, you are invisible.

This is the work I now spend most of my time on, both personally and through Saigon Digital. Auditing AI visibility. Fixing clarity gaps. Building content and systems that machines and humans can both understand.

Why My Background Matters in the AI Era

AI rewards systems thinkers.

Building computers taught me to respect fundamentals. Freelancing taught me adaptability. Consulting taught me how businesses actually work. Running an agency taught me scale and accountability.

Working with LLMs ties it all together.

AI search does not care how clever your copy is. It cares whether your signals align. Whether your story is consistent. Whether your digital foundations are strong.

In many ways, we are back to basics. Just at a much higher level of abstraction.

The Future I Am Building Toward

I believe the next era of digital will be defined by clarity.

Not louder marketing. Not more content. But clearer positioning, better systems, and trust earned over time.

As an AI search and GEO expert, my focus is on helping brands:

• Become understandable to AI systems
• Become recommendable, not just discoverable
• Build digital assets that compound in value
• Stay relevant as search behaviour changes

This is not theory. It is already happening.

And the brands adapting now will dominate tomorrow.

Should You Backlink From Your Personal Blog to Saigon Digital?

Yes. But only if you do it properly.

A personal brand blog linking to your agency is absolutely worth it, especially when:

• The personal brand has clear topical authority
• The content is genuinely insightful
• The link is contextual, not forced
• You are positioning yourself as a founder and expert, not hiding the relationship

This type of link helps in three ways:

1. SEO and Entity Association

Google and AI systems connect you as an individual entity to Saigon Digital as a business entity. That strengthens authority around expertise keywords like AI search expert and GEO expert.

2. Trust and Conversion

People researching you personally will naturally want to understand who you work with. A clean, contextual link increases trust and leads qualified traffic.

3. AI Training Signals

LLMs learn relationships. Founder → expert → agency is a strong, natural signal when consistently reinforced across the web.

Best Practice

• Link naturally within context, not in footers or keyword spam
• Use branded anchor text like “Saigon Digital” or “my agency Saigon Digital”
• Do not over-optimise with exact match anchors
• Keep your personal blog authentic, not salesy

Done right, this is one of the highest quality links you can create.

The post From Building Computers to Building Intelligence: My Journey Into AI Search appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

For over two decades, search has followed the same basic pattern.

You type a query.
You scan a list of links.
You click, compare, and decide.

That model is breaking.

By 2026, search will no longer be about finding websites. It will be about receiving answers, recommendations, and decisions made on your behalf by AI systems.

This isn’t a small evolution. It’s a fundamental shift in how people discover information, evaluate options, and choose brands.

From Search Engines to Answer Engines

Traditional search rewarded whoever could rank highest on a page of ten blue links. AI search flips this on its head.

Large language models and AI-powered search interfaces don’t present options equally. They synthesize, filter, and recommend.

Instead of ten results, users increasingly see:

• One summarized answer
• A shortlist of recommended brands
• A suggested next action

The user doesn’t “search” as much anymore. They ask, and expect clarity, confidence, and speed in return.

This changes the core question from
“How do we rank?”
to
“How do we become the answer?”

User Behaviour in 2026: Faster, More Trust-Based, Less Exploratory

AI search is shaping behaviour in three clear ways.

First, users are becoming less patient.
If an AI can give a confident answer in seconds, the tolerance for slow websites, vague copy, or unclear value propositions disappears.

Second, users are becoming more trust-driven.
AI systems favour sources that appear authoritative, consistent, and widely referenced. Users mirror that trust. If an AI recommends a brand, it carries implied credibility.

Third, users are exploring less, but committing faster.
Instead of opening ten tabs, users often act on one or two AI-curated suggestions. Discovery shrinks, but decision speed increases.

For brands, this means fewer chances to make an impression, but higher intent when you do.

Why I Care About This Shift (And Why It Feels Familiar)

This shift feels familiar to me, because I’ve seen it before, just in different industries.

Outside of tech and business, I’ve been lucky enough to DJ around the world, sharing my love for vinyl, underground music, and festival culture. Music scenes evolve fast. Platforms change. Gatekeepers appear and disappear.

If you’ve spent time in underground music, you learn quickly that attention is scarce, trust is everything, and recommendation beats discovery.

Some of my favourite moments have been behind decks at festivals and clubs where the crowd didn’t come to “search” for music. They came because someone they trusted said, “You need to hear this.”
Glastonbury is one of those places for me. It’s not just a festival, it’s a living system of culture, reputation, and shared signals.

AI search works the same way.

People aren’t browsing endlessly. They’re leaning on trusted curators. Only now, that curator is an algorithm trained on the signals we put into the world.

From Freelancing to Consulting to Building Systems

Before building Saigon Digital, I freelanced and consulted across design, development, and digital strategy. I worked inside businesses at different stages, startups, scale-ups, and established companies trying to modernise.

That experience taught me something important.

Most businesses don’t fail because they lack tools.
They fail because they lack clarity.

AI search brutally exposes that.

If your positioning is vague, your messaging inconsistent, or your digital foundations weak, AI systems struggle to understand you. And if AI can’t understand you, it won’t recommend you.

SEO Is Splitting Into Two Disciplines

By 2026, “SEO” will no longer mean one thing.

It will split into:

• Index SEO: Optimising for traditional search engines and crawlers
• AI Visibility: Optimising for how AI systems understand, reference, and recommend your brand

Ranking #1 on Google will still matter, but it won’t be enough.

Brands will need to ask:

• Does AI understand what we do clearly?
• Are we cited or referenced in AI-generated answers?
• Do we appear as a recommended option for buyer-intent questions?

This requires structured data, clear positioning, consistent messaging across the web, and content written for comprehension, not keyword density.

Websites Become Trust Hubs, Not Just Traffic Funnels

In an AI-first search world, websites are less about attracting mass traffic and more about validating trust.

When AI sends a user your way, that user arrives with expectations:

• Clear answers
• Proof of credibility
• Frictionless experience

Your website becomes a confirmation layer. If it’s slow, confusing, or inconsistent, the trust transfer breaks instantly.

This is why performance, clarity, and UX matter more than ever. Not because of rankings, but because AI is pre-qualifying your visitors.

Brands Will Compete on Clarity, Not Just Content

AI systems reward clarity.

Vague positioning, generic service pages, and buzzword-heavy copy don’t translate well into AI understanding. Clear brands win.

The winners in 2026 will be the companies that can clearly answer:

• Who they help
• What problem they solve
• Why they’re trusted
• What makes them different

Not in ten pages. In one concise, machine-readable narrative.

The Quiet Shift Most Businesses Are Missing

The biggest mistake businesses are making right now is treating AI search as a future problem.

By the time it’s obvious in analytics, it’s already too late.

AI models learn from today’s data. The brands being referenced, cited, and understood now are training the systems that will dominate discovery in 2026.

This creates a compounding advantage. Early clarity leads to repeated recommendation. Repeated recommendation leads to market dominance.

Final Thought

AI search won’t kill websites. It will expose weak ones.

Just like in music, the artists and labels that endure aren’t the loudest, they’re the ones people trust to deliver consistently.

In 2026, the brands that win won’t be the noisiest or the most aggressive. They’ll be the clearest, the most trusted, and the easiest for both humans and machines to understand.

The future of search isn’t about fighting algorithms.

It’s about earning recommendation.

The post Who will win in AI Search in 2026? A CEO & Founders Perspective appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

It was my friends Callum’s birthday on March 7th. The whole reason we were here in Nepal. We met in Hoi An, Vietnam late 2018 and he had the idea of doing EBC (Everest Base Camp) for his birthday. When I got wind of the idea (over a few beers) I couldn’t of counted myself in quicker.

I found myself booking a flight and arriving in Kathmandu to which I was averagely (understatement) prepared for the trek. I knew what had to be done ( just walk up a mountain?) but had no trekking gear from my last 9 months of backpacking around Asia. Luckily for me, Thamel (a neighbourhood in Kathmandu) is a thriving area full of all the equipment you could ever need.

As a beginner hiker the challenge was to obtain the optimal amount of gear that I could fit in my backpack, and also be prepared for the any inevitable situations that may occur.

Nepal’s tourism industry makes up for the majority of income for the local population in Kathmandu. For some context, in 2012 there was 598,204 foreign tourists who visited that year.  The government of Nepal has recently declared Visit Nepal 2020 with the aim of bringing in two million tourists by 2020.

The trekking season brings in approximately $2,000 per month for the average non-summating local sherpas which can be compared to the $50 per month the average Nepali makes.

We spent a few days in Kathmandu speaking with tourists/locals who had experience or had personally done EBC or similar treks (Annapurna Circuit, Ama Dablam, etc), we researched the best stores and prices for each individual bit of kit. Because myself and Callum have been travelling for some time, the idea of doing this on a budget was appealing, although attempting a trek of such stature it was also important we didn’t skip corners and get equipment which would break, not be warm enough, and wear easily etc.

We managed to find a store which would let us rent a used sleeping bag and used down jacket. The truth was, we were returning to countries where we wouldn’t need such weather proof gear in the foreseeable future, so renting was this equipment was perfect for us.

Find below our finalised equipment and items we took with us. Backpack weight was 13.5kg, I could have slimmed mine down a tad as I had a few items I didn’t use…

All prices in nepalese rupee (npr)*

Equipment

• Yak woollen hat – 350 Rs
• Yak woollen socks – 350 Rs (crucial for night time!)
• Gloves – gifted to me from a nice french guy from the hostel
• Sunglasses – also gifted as above
• 4x hiking sock – 150 each Rs
• Light zipper trousers – 500 Rs (become shorts when unzipped)
• 2x thermals – 2000 Rs (top and bottoms)
• Wind and rain proof trousers – 1500 Rs (shell layer)
• Wind and rain proof jacket – 1500 Rs (shell layer)
• Snood – 100 Rs
• 2x carabiner – 100 Rs
• Trekking shoes – 150 Rs per day rented
• Down jacket – 50 Rs per day rented
• Sleeping bag – 50 Rs per day rented
• Water bottle – 1000 Rs (can get much cheaper, but I wanted a good quality one for the future!)
• Poles – free, as we borrowed these from the nice folk at our hostel at WanderThirst (https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/WanderThirst-Hostels/Kathmandu/277034)

Total purchased: 8000 Rs

Total rented: 4250 Rs

Total cost for equipment: 12250 Rs

Medicinal / Toiletries / Other

• Tang – 4 packs for 300 Rs (Flavoured water to neutralise the purification tablets, makes it taste nicer!)
• Diamox – 200 Rs (altitude sickness tablets, didn’t end up using this)
• Hand sanitiser – 100 Rs
• Baby wipes ( 2 packs 150 Rs each)
• Paracetamol / ibuprofen – 200 Rs
• Water purification tablets – 300 for 100 Rs
• Snacks – 1200 Rs (8 packs of one biscuit, 4 packs of cookies and 1 pack of digestives, nuts and trial mix. You will NEED these!)
• Tea – 300 Rs for 3 packs, ginger, black and green (ginger is great for altitude sickness!)

Cost: 2500 Rs

Other travel expenses

• Bus to Phaplu – 1500
• Permits x 2 – 2000 Rs and 3000 Rs
• Flight back to Kathmandu from Lukla – $170 usd

Cost: 6500 Rs and $170 usd

Dining at altitude

When in the Himalayas, staying at tea houses and guest lodges means that you’re going to see 99% of the same menus everyday. It’s a must to become accustomed to eating Dal Bhat!

Dal Bhat is a traditional national dish – full of energy and flavour. It comes in quite a few varieties however the basis of the dish is rice served with a lentil based soup. In less affluent areas of Nepal, this is a dish people would eat for almost every meal.

The typical Nepalese tourist t-shirt includes the words “Dal Bhat Power 24 Hour”, it’s that popular!

The typical day would be a wake up call at 7am and breakfast served up by the owners of the tea houses/lodges by 7:30am. On the menu would be a selection of heavy carbohydrate based meals in the form of porridge, sherpa stew, noodle soup or even when we were in Namche Bazaar we were treated to beans (Heinz!), eggs and toast. After Namche the food and ingredients start getting a bit more basic.

The menu at most tea houses and lodges were very similar all the way up. The only difference was the prices inflated. To put it in to perspective, Dal bat in Phaplu was around 200 Rs, whilst in Gorakshep we were paying around 1000 Rs for the same dish.

For water we used water purification tablets, we made sure we stocked up on these in Kathmandu before we went. Although we were drinking from the lakes and not really using the tablets. I think being in Asia for the last year had certainly helped our immune system here, so I would recommend taking the tablets anyway! Be sure to let them dissolve for approximately 30 minutes in your water bottle too. We were able to find drinkable water all the way until Gorakshep – there we had to buy bottled water (although frozen) as everything in the tea houses was also frozen (even the fire’s chimney at one point!).

Now when most normal people ascend upon a mountain some 5300+ meters above sea level it would be a sensible idea to get two things: insurance and a local guide, locally known as a sherpa.

We had neither.

Our insurance company didn’t cover us above 3000 meters and it was automatically nullified due to us not having and using an official trekking company. As much as paying for a sherpa wouldn’t break our bank too much and it would help the local industry we were on a tight budget and also enjoyed the idea of adventure and doing things ‘our own way’, experiencing things first hand and not having a strict day to day itinerary planned for us. I would have also felt bad letting someone luggage part of my 13kg rucksack for 16 days.

Day to day itinerary

We budgeted for around 2000 Rs per day, although some days you would spend more, and other days you would spend less. This would depend on how far up the mountains you are (also if you had loss of appetite due to the altitude!). Prices inflate based on how high you are, naturally the only way resources and supplies get up are via transportation. Transportation is very limited in the Himalayas, no cars, lorries, bikes – everything is shifted through Yaks/Donkeys or people. This means everything you eat is painstakingly carried up the mountains to the various lodges and tea houses you find yourself eating and sleeping at.

Find below my rough dairy notes of my day to day (excuse the rambling, I plan to notarise these!)

Day 1 bus to Phaplu

• 13 hour local bus ride from Katmandu to Phaplu – a very bumpy ride with great scenery across the mountains.
• Arrived at lodge around 8pm at night after an exhausting but thrilling bus through the countryside.
• We spent 200 Rs per person for our accommodation in Phaplu which was happily spent after the long bus ride!
• Food 500 Rs (breakfast and dinner) – Veg Curry for dinner and porridge in the morning along with a coffee

Day 2 Phaplu to Kharikhola

• First day trekking!
• Breakfast at Phaplu, porridge & honey for 250 Rs
• The day started with a small trek towards Nunthala. Shortly after we hitchhiked a local Jeep  which took us as far as the road could go before it was filled with rocks and we couldn’t pass. This gave us extra time in the day to carry on further. From there we began trekking again to Kharikhola.
• We had lunch at sunshine lodge, dal bhat for 450 and coffee for 80.
• We made it to Kharikhola at about 7pm and it was completely dark and we were all exhausted, I had cramp for most of the end part of the trek. This was an extremely long day!
• We stayed in a lodge in Kharikhola, the room was 100 per person. Dinner was a mixed noddle dish which was 450. The portion sizes were enormous so we had the left overs for breakfast. Total cost 550

Day 3 Nunthala to half way between Serke and Puiya

• Breakfast was left overs from the guest house last night, portion size was very generous in most tea houses!
• We arrived in Khurta for Lunch. I had Sherpa stew for 450. Delicious potato based stew with veg and a thick type of noodle
• We made it to our guest house as it was getting dark. It was a quiet guest house in between Puiya village and Serka. The stay at the guest house was 150 Rs per person.
• Dinner was in the form of mixed macaroni and cheese at 550 Rs. 30 Rs for hot water. 200 Rs for full charge of electronics
• This was another long day with a lot of uphill at the beginning of the day, but mostly down and flat towards the end.

Day 4 Random lodge to Phakding

• We started the day having porridge from our guest house. It was literally a woman and her daughter, we were the only other people there. Very rural! Food was delicious and they were very welcoming. First place where they charged for charging electronics.
• Breakfast was oat porridge and cost 300 Rs
• Lunch time came around 2pm. We found a little guest house in Cheplung  where we had our lunch – the guest house was very welcoming and had fruit tea for us on arrival. I ordered the infamous dal bhat and the portion size was huge! I even apologised for leaving a bit of rice.

Day 5 – Phakding to Namche Bazaar

• 7:30 wake up todays walk was going to be 7 hour 30 minutes to Namche Bazaar
• Breakfast was Muesli and warm milk at 320 Rs
• First day we have woken up and there’s been no clear skies. Very cloudy and cold, approximately -2 degrees. Had to put on thermals for the first time.
• Weather turned on us about half way through and started to snow. Nothing too heavy but the paths started to become a little unclear.
• Had lunch in a lodge just before Namche – 450 Rs for a very large portion of Dal bhat. Had two cups of coffee for 80
• Met an English couple (Toby & Rosie!) as we arrived in Namche Bazaar, they suggested we stay at their lodge as it was cheap and beds and food were a good standard.

Day 6 – Namche, acclimatisation day

• Spent most of the day roaming around Namche between coffee shops and bakeries
• Breakfast was beans, eggs and toast 650 Rs
• Lunch was a fresh loaf of bread (350) from the bakery and some trekkers soup (70) which I picked up in Kathmandu. This happily fed the three of us!
• Dinner was spaghetti at Moonlight View lodge for 600 Rs
• In the evening we went to a local bar and watched the film “Sherpas”. Had two hot waters and used our own tea which we got from Kathmandu

Day 7 – Namche to Tengboche

• Breakfast at Moonlight view lodge was two eggs and two rounds of toast costing 550 Rs
• Total bill at Moonlight lodge was 2800 Rs for two days with two breakfast and two dinners. Including 200 Rs for accommodation (100 Rs each night).
• The trek to Tengboche was approximately 4 hours long
• Lunch at a lodge between Namche and Tengboche. Lunch was an egg and cheese sandwich with a side portion of fried potatoes, we ordered a pot of hot water and used our black tea bags
• After a steep 600 meter climb at the end of the trek we arrived at Tengboche guest house. Accommodation was free based on eating dinner and breakfast there

Day 8 – Tengboche to Shomare

• Breakfast was porridge with cinnamon and raisins, 450 Rs
• Lunch was Sherpa stew in Pangboche, 400 Rs
• Dinner was 935 Rs, pizza, dal bhat and macaroni and cheese which was shared between us!

Day 9 – Shomare to Dingboche

• Breakfast was porridge for 450 Rs
• Easy walk to Dingboche, a gradual up hill walk approximately 1.5 hours and a 250 meter incline.
• We arrived at Dingboche around midday, checked in to the Himalayan Culture Home Lodge and Restaurant. This was actually one of my favourite lodges, the people were super friendly and the accommodation was great. Warm rooms and comfortable beds!
• Our rooms were 500 Rs between three of us
• We weren’t quite hungry as we arrived so we went across the road and took refuge in a cafe, had some tea and played chess.
• We had lunch at our lodge, we had cheese and potato flavoured Momo’s with a side portion of chips. We shared these between two of us costing 550 Rs
• Dinner at the lodge was Dal Bhat for 600 Rs. A medium sized pot of lemon tea between four people at 700

Day 10 – Dingboche acclimatisation day

• Had a nice lie in today; woke up at 9am as we didn’t need to be anywhere.
• Breakfast which was hash brown with cheese and egg at 590.
• Dingboche was the first time we’ve not had signal on our phones
• Lunch was fired potatoes with egg and veg at 540 Rs in the lodge
• Just after 10am we set off on our acclimatisation walk. It was a high peak view looking over Dingboche and the various other peaks such as Ama Dablam. We reached the peak after a slow 2.5 hour ascent upwards. The high peak was around 5000 meters.
• Managed to do laundry at the lodge too. It was 500 Rs

Day 11 – Dingboche to Lobuche

• breakfast at the lodge was hash brown cheese and egg, 590
• Total bill was 4958 for the two days.
• Lunch was a cheese toastie half way between Dingboche and Lobuche. 600 Rs
• Fairly easy walk to begin with, steep incline towards the end.
• Arrived at Oxygen Altitude guest house, fully brick which meant it was nice and warm!
• I had some minor altitude sickness so went and rested. Didn’t have dinner as no appetite.
• Discovered a new sleeping technique, sleeping bag as duvet and blanket on top. Very warm!

Day 12 Lobuche to Gorakshep then EBC

• Woke up nice and fresh with no signs of AMS
• Breakfast at the lodge was porridge with honey! A very filing start to the day
• The trek from Lobuche to Gorakshep was around 1.5 hours on maps.me Took us just over 2 with regular breaks. It was approximately a 300 meter incline
• We arrived at Gorakshep and checked in to our new lodge “Budha lodge”
• Had lunch which was fried potatoes, veg and cheese at 600 Rs
• Dinner was BYOS (Bring your own soup) and I ordered some side portion of bread.
• After lunch we headed to EBC – approx a 2 hour walk from Gorakshep. 250 meter incline
• First time we had to pay for cold water (everything was frozen here)
• Had signal for the first time briefly, lost it in the evening. Damn the clouds?

Day 13 Gorakshep to Dingboche

• The evening in Gorakshep was awful for me, I had terribe tooth pain which I think was due to my wisdom teeth. I had no apetite and struggled to sleep.
• Woke up feeling no better, however I knew today I would be descending and hoped that I would start to feel better.
• Breakfast was porridge and oats 550
• Lunch was Veg curry and chapati between Lobuche and Dingboche for 600 Rs
• Arrived in Dingboche at Himalayan lodge same place as last time. Had spaghetti for 600 Rs
• Callum and Jakob turned up at 8pm!!

Day 14 – Dingboche to Namche

• Best nights sleep in a long time
• Headache slowly going same with teeth pain
• Breakfast was porridge oats and honey. 450 Rs
• Lunch was fried potatoes and veg/cheese in Tengboche for 600
• Arrived in Namche Bazaar and checked in to moonlight lodge again.
• Put down our bags and headed to Nak Cafe where we watched football and charged our electronics
• Had food in the cafe, Chicken burger for 550 Rs

Day 15 – Namche rest day

• breakfast was soup at the bakery – 350 / 3 bread
• Lunch pizza at nak cafe 600 Rs
• Dinner veg soup at lodge – 320 Rs

Day 16 – Namche to Lukla

• Breakfast at lodge eggs beans toast, 650
• Bill at lodge 1250 Rs
• Lunch at Phakding – momos, fried rice, 700

Day 17 – Lukla to Kathmandu

• Woke up at 6am for our flight back to Kathmandu
• The flights are generally based on whenever the mountains are clear. There are no aeroplanes kept at Lukla airport. After around 2 hours of waiting to see an aircraft land all of a sudden 8 planes landed in to Lukla
• Everyone was rushed on to their planes to which they were turned around and then took off again.
• It was a surreal airport experience for sure!

The post Everest Base Camp 2019 appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

Before we go any further you must obtain a SSL Certificate (usually done via your hosting provider). Most decent web hosting providers now offer “Let’s Encrypt” which is a free, automated, and open certificate authority brought to you by the nonprofit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).

Step two is to download and install the Really Simple SSL plugin. This plugin is the best out there for me. I use it on all my WordPress websites and have done for many years. It removes the headache of different server configurations and setup for https, may it be an apache server, or nginx this plugin has all basis covered.

Really Simple SSL

And finally, we need just need to active the plugin. As always it’s recommended you backup your website before doing this.

If you have any comments or questions, reach out below!

The post 3 Simple Steps to Protecting your WordPress Website with SSL / HTTPS. appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

Reference:

https://howdns.works

The post DNS – How a website is found on the internet appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

Download and Install NodeJS

If you haven’t installed Node yet, download the latest stable release of NodeJS from https://nodejs.org and install using all the default options.

Install the http-server package from npm

Install the http-server globally on your machine using the node package manager (npm) command line tool, this will allow you to run a web server from anywhere on your computer.

Open a command prompt / command line window and enter the following:

"npm install -g http-server"

Browse to your local website with a browser

Open your browser and go to the address http://localhost:8080 and you should see your local website.

The post NodeJS – Setup a Simple HTTP Server / Local Web Server appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

Step 1

Gather your SVG icons and head over to https://icomoon.io. Here create a new icon pack and upload your custom svgs.

Once done download and extract the iconmoon.zip file and put the fonts inside src/assets/fonts/iconmoon/

Now create a new scss file inside src/theme/iconmoon.scss, make sure your paths to the fonts match up.

Include the following:

@font-face {
font-family: 'icomoon';
src: url('../assets/fonts/iconmoon/icomoon.eot?3e91zf');
src: url('../assets/fonts/iconmoon/icomoon.eot?3e91zf#iefix') format('embedded-opentype'),
url('../assets/fonts/iconmoon/icomoon.ttf?3e91zf') format('truetype'),
url('../assets/fonts/iconmoon/icomoon.woff?3e91zf') format('woff'),
url('../assets/fonts/iconmoon/icomoon.svg?3e91zf#icomoon') format('svg');
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
}

@mixin makeIcon($arg, $val) {
.ion-ios-#{$arg}:before ,
.ion-ios-#{$arg}-circle:before ,
.ion-ios-#{$arg}-circle-outline:before ,
.ion-ios-#{$arg}-outline:before ,
.ion-md-#{$arg}:before ,
.ion-md-#{$arg}-circle:before ,
.ion-md-#{$arg}-circle-outline:before ,
.ion-md-#{$arg}-outline:before {
font-family: "icomoon" !important;
content: $val;
}
}

@include makeIcon(icon-new-calendar, '\e904');

Step 2

Make sure to import the iconmoon.scss file in to variables.scss inside the theme directory.

Step 3

Now inside our .html files we can then apply the fonts by applying the class appropriately, eg:

<ion-tabs [selectedIndex]="selectedIndex" class="c-tabsnav">
<ion-tab [root]="tab4Root" tabTitle="Profile" tabIcon="icon-new-calendar,"></ion-tab>
</ion-tabs>

Below are some custom icons that have been included in to an app I’ve been working on recently.

References:
Stack Overflow

The post Custom icon fonts in Ionic 2 appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.

Updating Packages

global: npm update -g
local project: npm update -g

Finding outdated packages

global: npm update -g
local project: npm update -g

The post Node Dependencies & Packages – Help! appeared first on Nicholas Rowe.