Mystery tour of Blogland

Yesterday afternoon being too cold and wet to go for a walk, I decided to go on a mystery tour around “blogland”. The navigation system used was Google Blog Search, and the initial direction was set by the first words I heard on the TV after deciding to go on the journey, they were “proves nothing“.

Google took me to my first stop at “Skeptico - Critical thinking for an irrational world”
http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2007/03/schrdingers_cat.html

Visit this blog if you want to perform some intellectual gymnastics, especially if like me you haven’t heard of Schrödinger‘s cat. I left the comment “The blog certainly gave me something to think about”.

For my onward journey I selected at random from the blog the word “irrational”.

My second stop was “Desperate Irrational Exuberance”

http://joshsaysdie.blogspot.com/2007/03/batman-strangelove.html

Don’t ask me what this blog was about, I left the comment “Let me know when you get around to writing the article”

I chose the keywords from the blog “Batman trades”

The third stop was “legionofdoom.cheeksofgod“.

http://legionofdoom.cheeksofgod.com/?p=486

Here I entered into comic book land, but this is a serious examination of the Sci-fi genre, with a review of Batman: Under the Hood. A great critique, so good in fact that there is no longer a need for me to read the book.

The keywords chosen for the next stage was “red hood”

The fourth stop was at “forevergeek”

http://forevergeek.com/comics/the_comic_rack_-_comic_book_reviews_for_march_15th_2007.php

I felt I had been trapped in a comic book vortex, for again I was confronted with reviews of comic books. I had fallen into a World I was previously unaware of.

The keyword that jumped at me from the blog was “bad week”.

The fifth stop was at “The Volokh Conspiracy”

http://volokh.com/posts/1174087343.shtml

The blog is dedicated to examining the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy applied by the American forces to homosexuality. It seems to be a hypocritical policy. “Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell“- see no evil speak no evil hear no evil - but it’s not that its: don‘t tell me, don‘t show me.

The key word for the onward journey was “significant and growing”

I remember hearing a couple of weeks ago the percentage of web sites dedicated one way or another to sex, I forget the exact number, but it was extremely high.

But it was not until I arrived at my sixth stop, that I had my first sex encounter at “Making Love Sustainable” http://goodcleanlove.com/blog/?p=124

On reflection “significant and growing” would be everyman’s dream! The blog page I read dealt with the topic “Sleep or Sex” (no question mark). Five ideas are given “to find a way to enjoy an intimate life given the general level of exhaustion that we live in. I thought it was worth pointing out “Sex can be a cure for insomnia”.

The next keyword chosen randomly from the blog was “prioritize”

The seventh stop was at “Kevin Marsh”

http://kevinmarsh.com/2007/3/19/when-to-say-yes-to-feature-requests

The blog page detailed a method devised by a web page developer to prioritizing work.

Many years ago I developed my own golden rule. I apply the rule of three: the first request I throw in the waste bin, the second request I put in my pending tray, the third request I respond to. A very affective self filtering method: 70% drop by the wayside at the first stage, 70% of the remaining drop by the wayside at the second stage, so only 9% of the original requests need be dealt with.

The keyword entered for the next step was “quick estimate”.

The eighth stop was at “nextthing.org”

http://www.nextthing.org/archives/2007/03/12/robotstxt-adventure

This was a very interesting blog about the spiders (robots) used by search engines. Unfortunately the content soon went straight over my head. To be honest I could only leave a token comment “I think most bloggers love to have spiders crawling all over their blog.”

The next keyword entered was “English factory”

The ninth stop was at “Aiden Brooks Trainee Chef”

http://aidanbrooks.blogspot.com/2007/03/end-of-era.html

This is a really well designed web page, looks good. Yesterday’s blog looked at the end of production of HP sauce in this country, the sale of the Patak’s food brand and the apparent incorrect entry in Wikipedia that Ovaltine is an American product.

The blog failed to point out, in Thailand Ovaltine is a breakfast drink, to give you energy for the day. While in this country it’s a bedtime drink to help you sleep. So why don’t the Thais fall asleep at 8.00 am?

This was an interesting blog, well worth visiting on a cold wet Monday afternoon. There was only one comment I could possibly leave ”How can HP sauce be produced in Holland - sacrilege.”

The next keyword was “classic piece”

The tenth and final stop was at “Hullabaloo”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/hey-joey-do-you-like-movies-about.html

The blog looks at the way Americans try to visualise themselves as modern day Spartans. My final comment of the tour was “Leave what was Sparta to the Spartans, be proud of your own culture.” A weak comment, but after such a long journey it was all I was capable of.

The keywords chosen randomly from the blog and to be entered on the next tour by YesBut of Blogland are: “defensive wall”.