According to Amazon, I should be getting the new US version Nokia 6.1 (2018) phone on Monday. I’d have liked to have had it to play with over the weekend but at least I have a date certain rather than sometime, any day, next week range I had before.
Back before Google, most search engines, there were about 6 - 8 of them, were pretty bad. We largely used human edited web directories to navigate the web. To make a long story short, Google eventually became so good that web directories became obsolete.
For the most part I agree, web directories are obsolete. But I can see an exception: local directories, particularly covering a geographic area that attracts a lot of visitors and tourists. However you cannot just put together a heirachical set of links like we did in the old days. A modern tourist directory needs to be an authoritative guide. It needs to incorporate the editor’s unique local knowedge and judgement in it’s listings, something Google with all it’s fancy technology cannot do. The model is more that of a dining guide. So the listing needs to contain a review, telling the traveller why one hotel is better than the others, what makes it unique, what dining, sites and entertainment is nearby and within walking distance. Same for restaurants, local live theaters. You must lead your readers to find local things that might not have a web page but are still interesting. If you have a podcasting skill, then offering audio tours is possible. Maps are good. Google, Bing even Yelp can’t do those things. You have to set yourself up as the definitive authority on your little patch.
Back before Google, most search engines, there were about 6 - 8 of them, were pretty bad. We largely used human edited web directories to navigate the web. To make a long story short, Google eventually became so good that web directories became obsolete.
For the most part I agree, web directories are obsolete. But I can see an exception: local directories, particularly covering a geographic area that attracts a lot of visitors and tourists. However you cannot just put together a heirachical set of links like we did in the old days. A modern tourist directory needs to be an authoritative guide. It needs to incorporate the editor’s unique local knowedge and judgement in it’s listings, something Google with all it’s fancy technology cannot do. The model is more that of a dining guide. So the listing needs to contain a review, telling the traveller why one hotel is better than the others, what makes it unique, what dining, sites and entertainment is nearby and within walking distance. Same for restaurants, local live theaters. You must lead your readers to find local things that might not have a web page but are still interesting. If you have a podcasting skill, then offering audio tours is possible. Maps are good. Google, Bing even Yelp can’t do those things. You have to set yourself up as the definitive authority on your little patch.
The Trump administration just forced smartphone maker ZTE to shut down | Ars Technica arstechnica.com/tech-poli…
The Trump administration just forced smartphone maker ZTE to shut down | Ars Technica arstechnica.com/tech-poli…
Midsomer Murders Season 20 is getting in the way of my blogging.
Midsomer Murders Season 20 is getting in the way of my blogging.
We need a third global search engine that does their own crawls and keeps their own database. Heck I’d settle for an English language only search engine if it was easier to start that way. I like Bing. I like search engines that use Bing feed, but we need more.
We need a third global search engine that does their own crawls and keeps their own database. Heck I’d settle for an English language only search engine if it was easier to start that way. I like Bing. I like search engines that use Bing feed, but we need more.
Notes for Total World Domination:
Must decide on army. 1. Army of Invincible Robots? Expensive. Large carbon footprint. 2. Army of Zombies? Will work for food. Smelly. 3. Army of Flying Monkeys? Out of work since OZ went all politically correct. Will work cheap. Easily distracted by bananas.
Notes for Total World Domination:
Must decide on army. 1. Army of Invincible Robots? Expensive. Large carbon footprint. 2. Army of Zombies? Will work for food. Smelly. 3. Army of Flying Monkeys? Out of work since OZ went all politically correct. Will work cheap. Easily distracted by bananas.
Morning: Buy Mother’s Day card. Mow lawn Plot Total World Domination
Afternoon: Nap during thunderstorms. Pay bills. Pay bills. Ditto ditto ad nauseum.
Evening: Meeting.
Morning: Buy Mother’s Day card. Mow lawn Plot Total World Domination
Afternoon: Nap during thunderstorms. Pay bills. Pay bills. Ditto ditto ad nauseum.
Evening: Meeting.
Reminder: go to dollar store tomorrow and buy Mother’s Day card. …
What?
Reminder: go to dollar store tomorrow and buy Mother’s Day card. …
What?
I wake up this morning, check my phone and after I unlock, the camera app is running. I don’t think the camera was the last thing I used before plugging the phone in to charge.
The phone sits up on edge in a charging stand next to the bed. I think it was spying on the back of my head. Now, I don’t know why it would want to spy on the back of my head, but we live in weird times and the backs of peoples heads might be A Thing. Also the back of my head cannot unlock my phone, that is an iPhone thing. Of course Russians might want to spy on the back of my head, because I just got a new haircut and they are so jealous. Or maybe they thought they were watching the Simpson’s and I was Homer. It could happen.
Anyway I’m on the lookout now, so I’ll note any future phone spying behavior.
I wake up this morning, check my phone and after I unlock, the camera app is running. I don’t think the camera was the last thing I used before plugging the phone in to charge.
The phone sits up on edge in a charging stand next to the bed. I think it was spying on the back of my head. Now, I don’t know why it would want to spy on the back of my head, but we live in weird times and the backs of peoples heads might be A Thing. Also the back of my head cannot unlock my phone, that is an iPhone thing. Of course Russians might want to spy on the back of my head, because I just got a new haircut and they are so jealous. Or maybe they thought they were watching the Simpson’s and I was Homer. It could happen.
Anyway I’m on the lookout now, so I’ll note any future phone spying behavior.
6 Surprising Perspectives on Big Box Stores — Strong Towns www.strongtowns.org/journal/2…
6 Surprising Perspectives on Big Box Stores — Strong Towns www.strongtowns.org/journal/2…
I ran across an example of the importance of having site search on a blog. I was blog surfing, for blogging theory type posts, this morning and found a post by @manton on his blog which linked to an article by @douglane which mentions future articles. How to find those articles? Use the handy search box at the bottom of the page.
Yes I could have done a site search from any search engine, but I’m a lazy sod and why open another browser tab? Anyway, it brought home to me just how important that search box can be to a visitor, who wants to read more of what you have written.
New batteries for the electric lawn mower. Now they have to charge for about 30 hours and then I can finally mow.
New batteries for the electric lawn mower. Now they have to charge for about 30 hours and then I can finally mow.
Right. I just hooked up two blogs to Bridgy and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen or if I’ll Break the Internet. Woohoo! If I’m going down I’m going down fighting. :)
Right. I just hooked up two blogs to Bridgy and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen or if I’ll Break the Internet. Woohoo! If I’m going down I’m going down fighting. :)
Sometimes there are no winners and there is no way to make a bad situation right again.
Colorado university invites Native American students back www.msn.com/en-us/new…
The whole thing is sad and I feel sorry for those two young men who were profiled and had what should have been an exciting positive experience in their young lives ruined. It’s a shame that nosy-parker woman who called the police had to butt in. At least the university is trying, I’ll give them that.
Some points: 1. Being well behaved, quiet and respectful is not a crime. 2. Being shy is not a crime. 3. Being Native American is not a crime. 4. Not answering nosy questions from others in the tour is not a crime. 5. Being late in joining the tour is not a crime. 6. Not having your parents along on the tour is not a crime.
Unfortunately, being a nosy-parker, like the person who called the cops, is also not a crime. I don’t blame the police, given the nature of the call, they had to investigate. Could they have been more tactful? Yes. Not every encounter needs to be an interrogation. But, okay they did not escalate things so its a draw.
Like I say, sometimes there are no happy endings. Sometimes the world just sucks. That’s the thing about life, sometimes you get rewarded, sometimes you get scars. Sometimes you do nothing wrong and most everything right and you still come out scarred. Life’s a funny ol’ thing that way.