Later,

 The Timelord

The internet is really big and getting bigger all the time, so as you may have surmised it takes a long time for the search engines scanner process to completely index the internet even just once. This is why it can take weeks for new sites or altered links to be listed and or corrected in the search engines.

While there is some structure to how the files are laying on the server they are not in the order that you would find them if you where browsing the pages. An example is all the images are normally kept in a directory for a group of web pages on the server while you see the images presented to you in a logical manor on the web page.

An example of why the order in which the files are indexed can be found in image searches. Search engines keep getting smarter however it is interesting to note that image searches are far less accurate than web page searches; this is because web pages have a lot of text that can be analyzed to allow the search engine to smartly index the web pages. However an image generally only has a small amount of text around its border and possibly parts of the file name that can be use to index it. Image files names are not as helpful as you might think because they are generally some sort of serial number pattern used by the applications. If you have a digital camera you know that the image names come out with mostly numbers, so if you don’t rename that pic of little Jimmy it is just a numbered pic. Other text that maybe found around the image might not be relevant to the image so generally it is not used. Also taking into account how the images are found can also lead to more inaccuracies because the files are found in a file directory list and not in the way they are used in the web pages. Search engines also eliminate duplicate entries, so the first occurrence that is found is generally what the search engine will return which may not be the correct context.

This is only a general overview of how search engines work. Larger search engines such as Google employ many techniques to reduce scan time and improve search results that are extremely complex. The explanations and examples in this blog have been tailored for those that no little about the subject and may contain omissions of more complex issues to improve clarity.

Later,

The Timelord

Cingular sent the replacement next day to me. I was only without my phone for a few days. It happened late Sunday so I could not get it till Tuesday (they send it out first thing Monday). The unit they sent me was slightly better than the one I had. This one has this news ticker that runs on it which I am not sure I like it yet or not. It also has Yahoo IM in addition to AIM on it which I really like. There might be a few other small things this one has too. Of course now I am going to be days till I get it back just the way I like it (the wallpaper, screen saver, ring tones, etc).

Of course I lost everything that was in the old phone, pics, messages, phone numbers etc. Luckily I was able to recover the phone numbers by downloading them out of my TomTom. The TomTom keeps a copy of my phones address book. I pulled the file off the TomTom and was able to import it back into the phone. The format that the TomTom keeps the phonebook in is not as detailed as the cell phone. For example the people who have more than one phone number in the book (i.e. home, office, cell, etc) come in as separate entries, but at least I have the phone number and that it is better than nothing. Almost all the pics are on my Moblog so I will be able to get them back too. Like I said it is going to be days of loading and setting stuff up.

Later,

The Timelord

Why did not one tell me that my profile was coming up with no background? Did you all think I when for the clean look???? Me go for the clean look have to be joking.

Anyway this worm (Flying Spaghetti Monster worm) wiped out my books area on my profile which is where I was keeping my layout code, so my layout when back to the Myspace defaults. The other annoying thing this worm does is put a banner on the very top of your profile page with an add friends link.

I have recreated my layout now. And I think Myspace has gotten ride of the worm so things should be back to normal.

If you want to know more about Flying Spaghetti Monster worm here is the link:

http://www.burntpickle.com/articles/the-myspace-worm-saga/

I get lost easy. The other night I was going out dancing with a lovely lady and I got lost. We made a big joke about it and we actually had fun getting lost if you can believe that. However the whole incident made me realize I need a GPS system in the Jeep. My laptop can be setup with a GPS, however using that setup is just not very practical if there is someone in the passengers seat.

So I started looking around for a GPS system. First I looked at getting an in-dash unit to replace my current radio in the Jeep; however I found that this option while the best is very costly $2000+. So I started looking at the add on units. I liked the Tom Tom because it is easy to use and the 700 has all the maps for the US and Canada pre-loaded. The other thing the 700 has that gets it a higher mark in my book is that it interfaces with my Bluetooth cell phone. So when I get in the Jeep and turn the Tom Tom on it automatically downloads the current traffic data thru my cell phone. The Tom Tom is also a speaker phone so you can use it as a hands-free device receiving and making calls from the Tom Tom; it even loads your phone numbers out of your cell so you can just select them on the screen. The Tom Tom also allows you to display your text messages on the Tom Tom screen so you don’t really need to play with the phone at all when you are on the road. It was $599 at Sam’s Club which seemed to have the best price on the Tom Tom 700.

Later,

The Timelord