gundy dot org

OK, so that’s a little dramatic, but still, my blog’s google placement for certain keywords has suffered sorely and it troubles me.

It all started with comment spam. I installed a spam eating plug-in to keep the flood from pouring over my blog, and it worked well - too well. At first, I was delighted to see that my INBOX was no longer filled with emails alerting me to the fact that posts needed moderating. After a while, it seems that they tapered off all together. “Great!” I thought, “This thing must really be learning what spam looks like.”

After some time, I googled “AGI” and noticed my site wasn’t in the result list. I thought that was odd as the keyword “AGI” had always included my blog in the top 10 or so (this is just a guess as my vanity googling was never very formal). I thought my page rank must have gone down, so I checked…

“Ahhh! Blank pages everywhere!”

Somehow the plug-in had jacked the WP “loop” and the result was blank pages - lots of them. For some reason, the problem didn’t manifest itself until sometime after installing the plug-in.

I’m no PHP hacker, but I did my best to follow the code. I was never able to figure out what was happening; I suppose if I knew more about WordPress, I could’ve figured it out as the PHP was fairly easy to follow. I didn’t want to dive into WP more then I already had (I’m going to replace it with a homespun Django blog anyway), so I decided to just update it to the latest WP version and see if that would fix it. It did.

Now, I find that google has nearly dropped my blog off the face of the earth. Check the search results…

Gundy 1st — 6th
Gabe Gunderson 1st — 340th
Gunderson ~15th — 392nd
Gabriel ~35th — 931st
Gabe ~35th — 871st
AGI ~10th — 291st
Asterisk C# 1st — 313th

The traffic graph seems to back it up:

Anyway, If I’m not in your blogroll, you can add me to it and help stop this search engine injustice! Or, if you need less lofty motivation, you can just do it to throw a dog a bone!

P.S. I’m now using Akismet to fight spam (on the recommendation of others).

Software Patents Are Broken!

Please echo this message on your blog if you agree.  Let the message spread exponentially.

This blog details a new service that allows you to make FREE phone calls… there are strings attached.

The deal is that you get a free 6 minute phone call, but you give up your privacy. The calls get published on the Internet for the world to hear. It’s better then tapping the pay phone at the state liquor store at 2:00 A.M. And so, we now get to sit and listen as people “air their dirty laundry” to the world for the price of a 25 cent phone call. Jerry Springer has nothing on these guys.

From the source blog:

He (James Bowman of for60secs.com) explained that they envision a few different kinds of user for the phone service, such as people who are very price-conscious or shameless self-promoters who view it like reality TV - you give up privacy in exchange for fame.

And now you will never have to wonder “So she is 100% alive?” Warning: many of the calls contain strong language.

How did this information cross my path? It’s powered by the very cool Open Source Asterisk PBX.

Arrrr, feed me your pets…

Ah VoIP…

My caller ID shows up as:

“COMFORT INN SUI” <3038045380>

7 out of 10 is good if your are playing “name that tune”. For caller ID, it might as well be 0 out of 10. The good news is that my VTP is better to deal with then Qwest.

Oh yeah, and my name is not Mr. Comfort Sui.

You ever get lost in Wikipedia? Tonight was one of those nights. I don’t remember how I got there and don’t remember where I exited. 2 hours gone forever.

I did happen across the Anarchist’s Cookbook page and a few related links. To my great fear and uneasiness, I read this from the Anarchist’s Cookbook’s “recipe” #23:

23. Tennis Ball Bombs - by The Jolly Roger

Ingredients:

• Strike anywhere matches
• A tennis ball
• A nice sharp knife
• Duct tape

[Snip]HOWTO[/snip]

Then, when you see a geek walking down the street, give it a good throw. He will have a blast!!

D’oh! We are all targets!

Things like this underline the importance and difference between “free” (as in pizza) and “Free” (as in freedom).

What good does this “free” download do me? Trust me, I love “free,” but not if it means I have to use an O.S. that’s not “Free” or “free.” I guess that’s one way to drive people way from your site. How did I even end up at MSN anyway?!?

Why does everyone think they need to talk in “orders of magnitude” just to sound smart?

When you don’t state the ratio and you’re only talking a single “order of magnitude,” it would be much easier and concise to say “about 10 times.”

If you’ve ever read slashdot, you know what I’m talking about.

I don’t even remember how I ended up stumbling upon this, but I thought the spin was funny.

On August 20th, Microsoft announced the filing of legal actions against a Orem-area company for the alleged distribution of counterfeit software. Microsoft is taking this action to protect consumers and resellers from the negative impact of software piracy.

Why not say, “Microsoft is taking this action to protect revenues”? Why not be honest? We don’t blame you for wanting to make money. Saying anything different shows us that you think we are stupid.

Anyway, after seeing this guy, I’m glad they are protecting me.

How does that image compare to images of protected users who enjoy the benefits of genuine software?

I want to be that guy!

There is this new thing called “broadband” and together with this other new thing called “bittorrent” you never have to download things at <56k again!

I love 2006!