iamom: (flying)
So I posted an article yesterday about a book review I'd read about a brain researcher named Michael Gazzaniga, and then this morning I got a Google Alert for my name which referred to the article. But it tagged my LJ version of the article instead of my own personal writing site, which I don't totally understand but whatev…

But the real kicker I don't get is that when I Googled the reviewer's name and the author's name together, the third result on the SERP was my LJ article. But I'm totally positive that my no-traffic/no-inbound-linked LJ post about this book could possibly be that high on Google's search results. And sure enough, when I Googled the same thing on my iPhone, my article was nowhere to be found in the search results.

So, my question: does Google spoon-feed me my own writing in search results I make from my own heavily cookied, Google-indexed web browser? And if so, why? Because I could be sitting here thinking, "YES, this is AWESOME, I'm #3 Google result on this search" and it is totally and completely bogus.

See for yourself:

http://www.google.ca/search?q=michael+gazzaniga+jeffrey+foss

This LJ post of mine isn't on your search results page, is it?

(BTW, for the non-geeks out there, a SERP is a Search Engine Results Page.)
iamom: (bush hunger strike for nepal)
Rich man's burden, this. It's just that I've been finding that I'm losing a lot of time lately just to managing the flow of messages through my Gmail inbox. I have innumerable filters set up for my various lists and such, and since my time is at a premium right now I actually seldom get a chance to read most of my favourite feeds or list e-mail anyway. I'm also using the excellent new Gmail priority inbox system, which has been super helpful in separating my non-essential e-mail from my essential e-mail. But I just find that whenever I still have unread or undealt-with e-mail in my inbox, I become drawn to sit down at the computer and try to clear some of it out. And there's at least a dozen really important tasks related to e-mail in my Inbox that I should be working on, but whenever I look at my Inbox I start to try to read and deal with whatever's left over instead.

I'm starting to feel like the tail is wagging the dog, here. Instead of doing productive work on my computer I'm playing with my goddamned e-mail. And instead of doing constructive work around the house or exercising, I'm sitting at the computer to try to deal with some of my e-mail. And I don't even have a damn straight job right now! Imagine if I did!!!

I have a handful of friends who have committed Facebook suicide because they've found themselves so utterly consumed by it; lately, I've felt like committing e-mail suicide. I also know from experience that many of "the kids" out there don't even check their e-mail or have functioning e-mail addresses anymore. It's all Facebook and text for them, period. It's so funny that e-mail might be becoming an obsolete means of communication for us old folks out here. And I'm not even 40 yet. I do, however, find myself wondering what the hell we did before e-mail. My wife and I both are attached to our Inboxes at the hip, it's so lame.

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iamom: (Default)
Dustin LindenSmith

January 2013

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