Google/Search/Signal/Webmaster

Search the year 2001

Posted on by Gregg Hilferding

Google can pull up [a version of their search index from as far back as January 2001](http://www.google.com/search2001.html). From an IT point of view, this is pretty amazing. They make it clear [it’s not an exact version](http://www.google.com/search2001faq.html), but that they can do it _at all_ is impressive.

Could your company pull up a backup of **anything** from seven years ago? Let alone make it functional in the same context it once was? I surprise people whenever they learn I keep emails for as long as I do.

Anyone who didn’t believe they are keeping a [Time Machine-esque](http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/timemachine.html) index of every version of any page ever crawled should be convinced now. Just like a lot of folks [want BackRub](http://battellemedia.com/archives/004563.php), I bet a lot of folks would love access to a searchable and far more comprehensive internet archive than the, well, [_actual_ Internet Archive](http://www.archive.org/web/web.php).

Things I’ve learned about my sites from playing around with this?

* I did not rank quite as well as I remember ranking.
* I abused duplicate title tags, a lot.
* My general design style has evolved but is still recognizable (probably a bad thing!).
* I was reminded of some of our old domains and the odd subdirectory structure of the different web projects.

Noise

Introspection

Posted on by Gregg Hilferding

[Merlin](http://www.43folders.com/2008/09/08/four-years) continues to [inspire](http://www.dianakimball.com/2008/09/trying.html).

Diana mentions Randy Pausch’s [Last Lecture](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo) which is getting a lot of attention with his recent passing. Many people are probably already in a mood to seriously consider their life’s course.

While these two posts have great value to me, I fear the next few weeks. The influx of attention, conversation and links that these genuine heartfelt posts generate will be _irresistible_ for imitators.

Perhaps though, this global blogger introspection will lead to some greater universal truth?

What I know for sure is it will difficult to ignore.

Google/Signal

Google Chrome’s Comic Book For Tech Gurus

Posted on by Gregg Hilferding

The USPS sent the [promotional comic book about Google’s new browser](http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-01-n47.html) a day early to Philipp Lenssen. While everyone else wonders what this means for the browser cold war, I’m much more interested in the messenger. Who thinks of launching a web browser by mailing a paper comic book to tech bloggers?

I’m not sure what to think of this comic book approach to presenting complex technical subjects. If their target audience is non-technical, then panels like this one are not going to help.

[Mike Beishe, X Juggler](http://books.google.com/books?id=8UsqHohwwVYC&printsec=frontcover#PPA6,M1)

Did I really just read “de-allocated memory” in a comic book? And, while I first glance it appears comic Mike Beishe is juggling the letters “X,” a closer inspection of his right hand reveals he is in fact [holding a mystical orb](http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail141.html).

Overall, the format leaves me with serious (well, for a web browser) questions about just what the heck they have in mind with this project. I’m also fairly confident that the “typical” browser user won’t even make it to page 6 to learn how to juggle de-allocated memory. It’s pitching too low for the well-informed and too high for the less-informed.

Signal

Which is precisely why I make sure to read 43 Folders

Posted on by Gregg Hilferding

In an addendum to Merlin’s [The Case for a ‘Pause’ Button](http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/26/pause-button):

>In fact, if you end up spending less time here because you’ve learned how to treat your attention as a free agent with incalculable value, then, in an unexpected way, you’ve paid both of us the highest compliment I can imagine; you’ve crossed the shit out of that river, and now you’re ready to just let other folks use the boat for a while.

Too many so-called productivity resources are, in fact, enabling the very time wasting behaviors for which they claim solutions.