Something very odd happened in July. My site traffic slowed to a trickle. Admittedly, most of my “visitors” are people who arrive at some ancient entry through the magic of Google search. But my unique visitor count went from 4,430 in June to a measly 642 in July. August continues the trend. Does anyone out there know what happened? Has Google tightened up its algorithms? They have been criticized for ranking blogs too highly, but wow, that hurts! Of course, I’m asking a question that nobody out there will even read, based on recent traffic. Oh, the indignity…
Tagged as:
google
by James McNally on August 10, 2007
in Personal
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Brooke and I moved on July 31st into a two-bedroom apartment just three blocks west of our old place. We have a great south-west view from the 27th floor and can see Lake Ontario! But the move was really stressful, as all moves are, and we’re still unpacking and getting used to the new space. I think this weekend might be the first time in a month where I wasn’t either painting, packing, shopping, or assembling crappy IKEA furniture (though there are still a few pieces waiting in their boxes for me).
On top of all that, I was in the midst of several job interviews. I had second interviews with two places right around the time we were moving. In fact, I had my final two and a half hour long interview on the morning we were moving. The movers were scheduled to arrive at our place at 1:30, and I got home at 1:20. It was a crazy day. The good thing is that later that day, after we’d finally moved all of our stuff into the new place, there was a message on our phone. I got the job.
So, I’m happy to report that on Monday August 27th, I’ll start my new position as Web Producer/Writer with PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the biggest accounting and business consulting firms in the world. It will be a big culture change from the small office setting I’m used to (and, ulp, I’ll have to use a Windows PC again), but it will also be really nice to spend my working day doing what I love, and as part of a team of other people.
I will really miss the people I worked with for the past four years at Lifford Wine Agency, and I’ll especially miss all the great wine events I was able to attend, but I’ve promised to keep volunteering at their big annual portfolio tasting, an event that I wouldn’t miss for the world.
Tagged as:
Work
During the excavations that took place this past week while Brooke and I moved, I found this ancient relic from the past. My “cyberspace companion” featured some helpful articles. My favourite was “Six Myths: Unmasking Cyber Lore”:
- Myth 1: The Internet is a single network controlled by one organization.
- Fact: The Internet is actually a patchwork of commercial, educational, government and public and private networks, all cooperating to achieve an open, interconnected communications system.
- Myth 2: The Internet is free
- Fact: Don’t believe it for a moment. All of the Internet’s conduits, computers, and information resources are paid for by someone. Often an organization provides free Internet access to its members as part of an affiliation. But, for people lacking Internet access through an organization, getting on the Internet carries a price tag.
- Myth 3: The Internet will usher in a new age of democracy, a socio-political nirvana.
- Fact: People created the Internet, people run the Internet, people drive what happens on the Internet — and people are human. No inherent technological properties of the Internet will bring democracy or a new age of global community.
- Myth 4: Internet users are cyberpunks and content they create is cyberporn.
- Fact: While some consider portions of the material on the Internet to be immoral, obscene, or useless, much of it is no more controversial than what’s found at a public library or in a bookstore.
- Myth 5: The Internet is chaotic. There’s simply no way to find anything.
- Fact: While no Internet information-collection or resource-searching tool is flawless, there are landmark collections and tools on the Internet that you can use to find what you want.
- Myth 6: The Internet is hostile to newcomers — the hapless newbies.
- Fact: While a newbie can get mercilessly flamed for ignoring or flouting the Internet’s social customs, there are plenty of ways a new user can get up to speed in a hurry.
In this pre-Google world, Myth 5 was especially amusing to read. Yahoo still resided at its Stanford URL (http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo). And I love how many times they use the prefix “cyber”! Can you remember your first experiences with the “Internet”?
Tagged as:
magazines
