Don't Back Down

I still use Google. I don't know why exactly. Probably because when I type in a phrase in my address bar, it goes to Google. It's easier to use than to change, and the results aren't completely bad. As I mentioned a while ago, however, MSN Search does a reasonable job.

I have to say that I rarely use it, mostly because of the address bar thing I just described. That might change. I'll keep an eye on it and see. For the time being, I thought I'd update the status again.

If you search for Chad Everett on Google, I'm currently the second listing. The cached image of the page is from the 27th of February. Not bad. If you search on MSN, I'm currently the first result. The cached image is also from the 27th of February. Both are dated February 28th: Early morning GMT in Google, meaning late that night. MSN doesn't provide a time.

This time, I also threw Yahoo! into the search results. I show up second in the listing there, yet I the cached page is from way back - February 6th. Interestingly, talking about that article I linked above. Perhaps because the words "Chad Everett" actually appear in that one. They are in the meta data on every page, but I don't often include them in the entry itself.

Does this mean that Yahoo! is actually more accurate, because it's finding the words in the visible text and not in meta data? Or does it mean that Yahoo! is out-of-date? I'm not sure. I then searched on cxliv. This came in at #1 on MSN (same cached value as before), #1 on Google (yet a slightly older cached version) and the results moved way down the list at Yahoo!, while including two different results, neither of which links to a valid page.

So while these are most definitely simple tests, at a glance it seems like MSN Search is actually the winner. I'll have to do some more playing and get back to you.

Apparently at some point in the last day or two my email notifications stopped, well, notifying me. So I haven't kept up on things very well. I'll look into that tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope everything is cleaned up. Let me know if you see any problems.

I recently decided to add a second line to my Vonage service. It was amazingly painless. Less than 30 minutes after ordering on the web site, I saw the second light flicker on my phone adapter and the service was active. Sweetness indeed. They even had a number in a local Charlotte exchange.

So then I decided it was time for me to switch my home number (Bellsouth) to Vonage. Seems painless enough, right? The guy had told me to just download a form and send it in. Easy as pie. Except... the form doesn't have a spot to indicate which line to switch. And I didn't want to switch my newly minted Charlotte number, which not only is in a local exchange, it's actually a heck of a lot nicer (easier to remember) than the other one.

That lead me to call Vonage. I would very much like to not do that again. The service is great. The lady I got on the phone was very nice. But it was a long call. Nearly an hour, with the first 15 minutes or so spent on hold. Once I got Sharon on the phone, it was a task explaining what I wanted to do. You'd think it would be simple.

Read "Wrestling with Vonage" »

I'm installing a handful of computers today, and one of the things I'm doing is loading UltraVNC on them. Well, these computers are way behind on updates, and several of them require SP2, which as you may or may not know, turns on the firewall even if you've turned it off. So I recently decided that I would add exceptions for VNC, so that even if it's on, I can get to the box.

The problem is that it kept disappearing. Until just now, I could not figure it out. Well, apparently if you set up a firewall exception while a computer is a member of a workgroup, then join a domain, that exception is lost! What in the world were they thinking? The default MS stuff is there, of course. Why can't they leave ones added by the user?

As Scoble pointed out, the sweet Google Maps application can even be used to find, for instance, good looking women in Seattle. Now I have no need for such a search, because I am not in Seattle and more importantly because I have a very beautiful wife to come home to each night. Of course, I work at home, so really she comes home to me. But no matter.

What I did find interesting is that Scoble's suggested search nets the National Eating Disorder Association as result #5 (or #6 - I've had both results). Now I'm all for boosting the morale of those with any sort of disorder - but is this really the message we want to be sending?

Recently I read this piece that addresses the ownership of blog comments. Since it's probably right on the money, I figured it's worthwhile if I made my comment posting policy a bit more clear up-front. I'll make this into a useful page at some point. For the time being, just pretend that it's well-known and available. Search on "comment copyright" and I'm sure you'll be able to find it again.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to post here. In fact, I recently even turned off the function that requires a name and email address. You don't want to post them, don't. Your choice. Interestingly, I have recently received a number of comments - not only useless trash but actual, thoughtful comments - from people who haven't provided any info about themselves. I don't know if they would have left comments if that info was required. I just found it interesting that it was such a popular choice.

If you choose to post a comment, realize one thing: This is my site, and I reserve the right to delete, edit, mutilate or otherwise render your comment into something completely different from what it was when you left it. In most every case, I will simply edit it a bit to clean up the comment for readability. Maybe a little line feed here or a capital there, that sort of thing.

On occasion I will remove an offensive word and replace it with a less offensive word or stars or something. Once in a while, I might remove the comment entirely because doing so simply renders the comment incomprehensible. This is a family joint. Deal with it.

As mentioned, you are not required to leave your name, email address or web site. If you leave your email, it will never intentionally be provided to anyone, and probably not even used, though I will sometimes reply to people directly with email, if a valid address is provided.

Since those things aren't required, don't leave them if you don't want to do so. But don't leave fake ones (even that oh-so-lovely about:blank that is recently more popular than ever). Just leave it blank. If I don't like your web site, generally for spammer-iffic reasons, I might take out your link.

You, of course, do not have to leave a comment. Just realize that by doing so you implictly agree to these conditions. It's your comment but it's my blog. I reserve the right to make conversations somewhat useful to people other than 12-year-old script kiddies. Thanks for understanding.

We catch a monster lobster. In typical fashion, we make a fuss about it. The lobster moves to a zoo, in order to decide if he can make it to an aquarium. The lobster dies.

Now I'm generally more a proponent for the People Eating Tasty Animals than I am for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I like a good slab of meat. I eat meat all the time. I don't have any particular compunctions against doing so.

Even if we look in the bible, we (that is, people) are to have dominion over all the earth. That means we are in charge, people. Now I recognize that a certain responsibility comes with that, and that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm simply saying that if we want to eat meat, we ought to be able to do so.

But this is actually the other way around. It's one thing to raise animals in inhumane ways. Interesting word, that, inhumane, being based on the word human, which animals obviously are not. Nonetheless, there are surely times when we can just live and let live. And that brings me back to Bubba the Lobster.

This little guy has lived for an estimated 50 years, hanging out on the ocean bottom and just enjoying the good life. Someone catches him, and within a day of the news breaking, he's dead. What sort of responsibility is that?

Now I'm not saying that we need to spare all lobsters (or any other beast). I'm just saying that maybe instead of treating ourselves to the all-we-can-stand-to-eat buffet, perhaps we ought to respect the world around us just a bit more. Thoughts?

I was reading the paper today when I ran across this gem, that talks about the return of streetcars to Charlotte. Specifically, the city has apparently recently talked to some people from San Francisco on the subject. I think it might be cool, especially along Central Avenue (primarily because I don't live far from Central Avenue).

Read "Streetcars in Charlotte" »

I'm releasing MT-Notifier version 2.4.6 today.

This adds a couple of changes.

Read "MT-Notifier 2.4.6" »

I recently discovered the blog of Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy. He doesn't blog often, but when he does, he writes a pretty good bit. I think he might be a bit long-winded, but generally I find Bob to be a pretty decent writer.

So while reading through his archives, I noticed this entry on the GoDaddy super bowl ad. If you haven't seen the ad, or even if you have only seen the one aired during the game, I'd highly recommend you watch the extended version, available at GoDaddy.

I personally thought that the ad that aired during the game was great. I had no problem with it. Yes, even though I, like Bob, consider myself a Christian. What exactly was the problem with roasting the government? I do think that the extended version was better, as it provided more insight into the ad. The aired version was just too short. As such, it allowed people to focus on the wardrobe malfunction rather than the point of the ad.

But in the end, I think there was no indecency. There was no nudity. No crass words. Only a humorous look at how our government overreacts sometimes. I also don't think it was tasteless. They simply couldn't do the same ad without the wardrobe malfunction. And according to Bob, the numbers after the ad certainly appear to have justified the expense. I, for one, would say it was brilliant.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I just don't get it. Maybe I should just have it tatooed on my forehead. It would save me some breath.

Today, I was riding down Independence Boulevard on my way to visit a customer, when I saw - or rather, noticed - that they had built up a cement divider in the portion of the road that's currently undergoing renovation. Makes sense.

Read "The Street that Charlotte Rebuilt" »

After our first day on Curacao, we decided we were ready to do some exploring. So the next day we wandered the market, which ran along the river. A huge number of boats simply pulled up and unloaded their wares. We had some fresh pineapple, as well as a sort of cashew paste, bought from a street vendor. Both were excellent. We also visited the indoor market on our way to the bus station, but the place was somewhat empty. Not sure if this was because of the day or because everyone had simply moved out. Still, we did get some nice beef patties there.

Read "Curacao Day Two" »