Al Macintyre's Radio Weblog

Al Macintyre's Radio Weblog : Al's random interests while learning what can be done with Weblogging, and perhaps what ought to be done.

Updated: 09/01/2002; 2:14:48 AM.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002

Wednesday Topics: ADVENT game reborn ";->"; history perspectives; microsoft alternatives; search engine vs. weblogs.

[Scripting News] QUOTE: The Eatonweb Edit Your Weblog Listing Drive. :UNQUOTE [Scripting News]

Eatonweb is a search engine for content on weblogs, but one big problem is that 99% of the weblogs are not categorized as to what they are all about or want to be about. They are trying to encourage us to help them fix that. I think part of what's needed are easily cut and paste codes, that are software independent (irrespective of HTML Radio or their competition) that we would include on our sites to tell the search engines what our keywords are.

Figuring this out is like another game of ADVENT which I saw at the New York Times then commented about on Anthony's Air Disaster thread.

Before we can edit our weblog input to the Eatonweb search engine,

We have to submit our weblog to their site.
The form for submission needs a password.

The form to get a password needs a weblog-id.
What is that?
Is it something we make up like our identity at the New York Times?
We are told that we can locate it by using their search engine.
Well there are no hits for me.

I need to submit my weblog.
What am I missing in this loop?

Internet etiquette, or Netiquette, dictates that when we mention someone on our site, we make an effort to let them know about our posting.

Eatonweb improved the clarity of their forms to clear up my confusion, right after I did this heads up.

Additional improvements now being suggested by me.

When we are selecting what category or topic our site is about, the screen says to use Ctl C to select multiple categories.
I used the scroll bar to point at a dozen categories, then while each one was highlighted, I did a Ctl C there.
The only category that ended up for my site was the one the scroll bar was sitting on when I submitted the form.
Weblog 7229 info does correctly show when the site was born as opposed to when the author was born, but there are multiple points of possible confusion.
I suggest a word go in front of the word born, so it is immediately obvious this does not mean author date of birth, meaning site birth.
Since the USA uses date format MM / DD / YY but Europe uses DD / MM / YY, and there are many other formats out and about in the world, and sooner or later we will have a 100+ year old person with a weblog, I suggest that dates be printed not in the format of 2 digits 2 digits 2 digits, but here is my personal birthday in the suggested format: Feb 8, 1944.

I am now registered (weblog id 7229 if anyone wants to post a review about me) on Eatonweb.

12:28:57 PM

[from dws.] Difference between Windows 2000 and Mandrake 8.1 [dws. got it from Living Without Microsoft] [dws.]

My interest is that I am on Win 98 right now and want to upgrade to the last version of Windoz before XP, because my Win 98 instability is growing and because I not like Microsoft decisions about what I think of as my stuff, and I do not feel as comfortable with Microsoft competence as I do with IBM's and some other firms. I did not yet feel ready to learn Linux for my PC OS, but I leaning in that direction as a future project, so Living Without Microsoft seems like one place to start that education.

12:22:29 PM

Social Conscience Reflections.

I believe there may be a cure for Computer Abuse by thinking outside the box as has been done with some human physical diseases caused by bad attitudes.

Once upon a time there was an epidemic of people killed in traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers. Society looked on this as too bad, accidents happen, there is nothing we can do about this. Then there was a campaign to paint the drunk drivers as irresponsible people, and we should all help our friends, who get drunk, to not get behind the wheel of a vehicle when they are in that condition. The accident rate, from drunk drivers, diminished. People no longer looked upon deaths from drunk driving accidents as unavoidable, do nothing about the drunk driver responsible.

There are similar campaigns going on with second hand smoke, and obesity. It is too soon to tell whether they will be successful or how long they will take. Improving our personal health is not as simple as making a decision over what our destination will be.

In my neck of the woods many commercial enterprises don't get it. Restaurants place smoking areas up wind of non-smoking areas, and adjust what is the smoking area based on the volume of people who want to be in either. I was at a hotel desk behind a party checking in that needed to smoke but the hotel was all out of smoking rooms. The clerk explanation included supplying the smokers with ash trays to take into a non-smoking room with the apologies of the hotel to the smokers, for not having enough smoking rooms. I am a non-smoker who silently added that hotel chain to my list of which not to patronize in the future.

Several generations ago there was an epidemic of horrible diseases like Tuberculosis. People used to spit on the sidewalk. It was considered normal, nothing wrong with doing that. The stuff dried up, became airborne dust particles, got breathed in by other people. This was a way that disease was spread. Today we all consider this notion to be disgusting, unacceptable behavior. We got that way through a public health campaign. It successfully put an end to the epidemic.

Today we have an epidemic of computer viruses, computer intruders into our private areas, unwanted advertisements, discussion groups marred by hecklers, misquoting, fights. Perhaps all of that some day can become forgotten history thanks to a computer public mental health campaign like the one that ended spitting on sidewalks.

11:21:22 AM