Das Glasperlenspiel

News of Interest

2007-02-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

Churches sing the gospel according to U2 by Margaret Ramirez
U2 singer’s ideals, dealings not always in perfect pitch by Richard Tomlinson & Fergal O’Brien

A Beam-ing business by Alex Davis
Ballet set to Shatner's CD by Tom Strini
Christians, Jews join Muslims by Gregg Krupa
Troops laugh it up with visiting comics by Lisa Burgess
Driving while fluting? That'll cost you $600 by John Curran
Bride from Roanoke appears on Letterman -- twice by Neil Harvey
Exploding parking meters protest rattles small English town by Gregory Katz
Monkey love goes mainstream: Zoos cash in with animal sex tours by Phil Davis

Media Savvy: Liberal viewer is watching by Sam McManis
YouTube Shuts Down Contributor by Sam McManis

Technorati Problems

2007-02-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

I apologize to the couple of people who are getting the feed for this blog, but I'm not ready to write any pretty words about my most recent project(s) on my main site, so I elected to impose upon you by using this space to vent.

Dear Technorati People;

Last year, when I had an issue because Livejournal had remapped their addressing scheme, your technical support department was very helpful and the issue was resolved in a matter of hours. Unfortunately since that time, when I had another issue, the auto-replies started saying that if you hadn't heard anything in a week, resubmit. Eventually this other problem worked itself out, but it took at least a month and my resubmissions were met with the same silence as my initial report.

Now, I've spent a couple of weeks developing two new, highly-specialized blogsites and I had made a big deal about getting everything ready for my public debut on Sunday evening. My plan all along was to use the services of Technorati to get my seed traffic, but as may be my luck; Your system is apparently not functioning properly.

Initially, Technorati did not recognize my claims. I did everything right with my submission and they'd show in my profile, but the profile for the blogs showed them as unclaimed and your spider didn't index my posts. So, I naturally submitted a support ticket (#66036) and that got me another of those "if you haven't heard from us for a week" note.

When nothing else seemed to work, it was later that same evening that I decided to reclaim my two new sites and the second time they showed as being properly claimed, but they were never indexed. Since that time there have been several updates to each and not only should you have gotten the weblogs ping, but I've manually pinged and have even deleted and resubmitted my claims on a couple of occasions.

On Friday evening, Adam Hertz posted a notice to the Technorati blog that there was a problem with indexing, so he was going to swap hardware. Then, he updated that same evening to say that everything was fixed. Well unfortunately, I have to beg to differ because not only have my two new blog-things not been indexed, but the Technorati mainpage has been showing the same list of recently claimed blogs, since Sunday night.

I'm sure eventually this will all work itself out, sometime in the near future. I know that I appreciate the heck out of the traffic Technorati sends to my main blog, but what makes this so doubly frustrating was that I had built these two new sites, specifically with the idea that x and y would have to be achieved, before I could submit to Technorati. My submission was to mark that I had most everything in place and that they were ready to show the world, instead they've just been sitting there lonely and I've been forced to think of other ways to look for some initial traffic.

Once again, I mostly wanted to vent because though I've actually been intrigued by some of the creative solutions which I've entertained, based upon my experience, none of them would be as fruitful for this particular purpose, as a proper listed on Technorati.

And, I again apologize to those who have recieved this on a feed and I promise to do a proper update to this blog, sometime over the next few hours. It's just been so frustrating and I keep waiting to see if things have changed, but I guess it also proves the old axiom about putting your eggs, all in one basket.

News of Interest

2007-02-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

Migrants mistreated in Mexico, report says by Chris Hawley
Ergonomist puts tools to work better on the job by Mark Johnson
Clueless guide sentenced for defrauding hunters by Brandon Loomis
Area pulls together to help bury Ghanaian worker by Hugh Muir

Mom wasn't told: Coroner kept son's heart after autopsy by Vanessa Hua
Colorado parks may see largest share of proposed budget by Bobby Magill
Gorbachev asks Bill Gates for leniency in Russian piracy case by Michael Heath
Man who beat car with pigeon while naked gets 1 year in prison by Amy Couteé
Bono's pitch to help poor still leaves him time to build business empire by Richard Tomlinson and Fergal O'Brien

News of Interest

2007-02-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Moonshine Maker by Dan Huntley
Lego Weathering Transition by Kenneth R. Gosselin
'Union shop' legislation advances by David Milstead
YouTube will let users make money by Jonathan Thaw (Related Harris Survey)
Unlikely source of racism spurs Jews by Kim Vo

Norman Mailer plays devil's advocate by Mark Kennedy
Indoor golf course thrives in first year by Willian Avila
Attack ads go online and underground by Michael Finnegan (The Videos)
Indian leaders view murals of lynching by John Miller
Mill Valley church opens doors to Homosexuals Anonymous from the Marin Independent Journal

News of Interest

2007-01-27T04:22:00.001-07:00

U.S. Plan for Iraqi Force Surprises Senator by Walter Pincus
FCC to Feel Unfamiliar Heat From Democrats by Charles Babington
Groups Renew Vows To Debate Gay Marriage by Brian Lockhart
Obama's pastor inspires his 'Audacity of Hope' by Manya A. Brachear
Jailer loses job after sexual contact with inmates by Jeff Gearino

Police use of Tasers against teenagers questioned by Jonathan Clark
Man arrested after dropping bag of heroin in store by Terri Sanginiti
Oshkosh boy describes how stepsister was locked up from the Associated Press
Blackwater seeks role in training security forces in Sudan by Bill Sizemore
Marijuana photos on MySpace lead to Suffolk man's arrest by Dave Forster
Mild-mannered author delves deeply into India's underworld by Marcus Wohlsen

News of Interest

2007-01-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Tribe plans to kill 50-70 buffalo from the Casper Star-Tribune
Lawsuit filed in exploding keg case by John Pirro
Pakistan Denies It Harbors Taliban by Pamela Constable
Police Printed Flier Warning Of Activist by Jon Lender & Edmund H. Mahony
'Bizarro' plant finds spot on family tree by Susanne Rust

Dubai Building Becoming World's Tallest by Jim Krane
Border sheriffs give an earful, plea to feds by Heidi Rowley
U.S. Agency Tries to Fix No-Fly List Mistakes by Ellen Nakashima & Alec Klein
Modern pagans honor Zeus at ancient temple by Paris Ayiomamitis
In the days before refrigeration, there was ice harvesting by Bob Petrie

News of Interest

2007-01-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

Who polices our police? by John Hopkins
Sexism's alive and well on the right by Joel Connelly
Taliban to Open Schools in Afghanistan by Noor Khan
Video Shows Egypt Prisoner's Humiliation by Maggie Michael
2 men accused of hacking into traffic system by Matt Krasnowski
In remote Afghan camp, Taliban explain how and why they fight by Claudio Franco

News of Interest

2007-01-21T03:52:00.001-07:00

Sub's skipper relieved of duties by John M.R. Bull
9-year-old confounds airline security by Melanthia Mitchell
Torturous night cements friends, hero by Joseph Montes
W.Va. hunters harvest for black bears up from the Herald-Dispatch
Deep snow drives moose to Anchorage streets by Don Hunter

Jack Bauer the terrorist slayer — get real, will ya? by Paul VanDeCarr
Robertson says God told him of ''mass killing'' in U.S. in 2007 by Steven G. Vegh
Teens cautious on streets where people get shot for no reason by Jim Herron Zamora
Band singer charged for sex with girl, 15, he met on MySpace.com by Eric Litke
Princeton Newspaper Stirs Controversy from the Associated Press (The Offending Piece)

News of Interest

2007-01-20T03:49:00.001-07:00

Crackdown on idling cars in Aspen by Joel Stonington
Huckabee left computers, fund gutted by Seth Blomeley & Michael R. Wickline
Governor receptive to no-spanking bill by Kate Folmar & Mike Zapler
Sex Offender Applies for School As a Boy by Bob Christie
Obama wins over tech-savvy supporters by Mary Anne Ostrom

Just what are Oprah Winfrey's core beliefs? by Terry Mattingly
Ohio Man’s Giggle Nets Additional Prison Time by Michelle Blum
Pentagon Releases Rules for Trials of Terrorism Suspects by R. Jeffrey Smith
Seattle man's Darfur Web site raises awareness and money by Kristin Dizon
Colorado senator’s proposed bill could circumvent Electoral College process by Mike Saccone

Links of Interest

2007-01-19T04:11:00.001-07:00

Was earmark aid misused? by Sam Bishop
Tribe seeks to evict casino opponents by Chet Barfield
Condit's attorney wants out of libel case by Michael Doyle
Adultery Ruling Creates Furor in Michigan by John Flesher

There's no such thing as bad publicity...right? by Craig Gilbert
Detainee's Letters Give Peek at Life At Guantanamo by Eric Rich
San Francisco says grocers broke deal to cut plastic bag use from the AP
Beautician sentenced: Corn oil injection leads to the death of a woman by Christopher Ortiz
Feds asked to back off in BALCO case: Reporters get backing of two congressmen by Zachary Coile

Links of Interest

2007-01-18T04:44:00.001-07:00

No felony for streaker by Amanda H. Miller
It's Elm City versus Texas over 1st burger by Pamela McLoughlin
County seeks national media coverage of gate closure by Carole Cloudwalker
No-spanking law for kids under age 3 proposed for California by Mike Zapler
Student shocked by stun gun in campus library sues UCLA by Daisy Nguyen (Incident YouTube & Wiki)

Links of Interest

2007-01-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

U.N. puts '06 civilian toll at 34,452 by Joshua Partlow
The fur trade: Competing buyers operate in a volatile market by Melodie Wright
Bill would block Wal-Mart from opening banks by April M. Washington
Airbus loses 5-year leadership in annual orders to Boeing by Laurence Frost
Maoists stage first weapons handover in Nepal by Deepesh Shrestha

Links of Interest

2007-01-16T10:03:00.001-07:00

Banks are urged not to finance coal power by John Donnelly
Ad campaign to tout Bangor smoking ban by Meg Haskell
Bakersfield man accused of being Yemeni secret agent from the Associated Press
Brain scans predict shoppers' purchasing choices by Anne Harding
Common avalanche myths can lead you into serious trouble by Nick Logan
Colorado snow bought on eBay arrives in Connecticut from the AP

Links of Interest

2007-01-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Rich 100: The frugal billionaire by Joe Castaldo
Cell-phone video becoming news tool by David Bauder

Portraits of Afghanistan by Justin Huggler
The veil is a feminist issue by Joan Smith
The woman who defied the Taliban, and paid with her life by Kim Sengupta
The small advances women have made are now being wiped out by Leonard Doyle
Christmas Appeal: Help for the generation robbed of its education by Justin Huggler
Taliban use beheadings and beatings to keep Afghanistan's schools closed by Tom Coghlan
The Taliban are gone but Afghan women still learn to read and write in secret classrooms by Nick Meo

Links of Interest

2007-01-06T06:53:00.001-07:00

Sedative Withdrawal Made Rehnquist Delusional in '81 by Alan Cooperman
I'm sorry, Courteney Cox. An erotic retraction. by Tim Goodman
Oprah's academy: Why educating girls pays off more by Stephanie Hanes

If only these bodies could talk by Robert L. Jamieson Jr.
“Bodies”: Edu-tainment for the masses by Sian Wu

Links of Interest

2007-01-05T06:23:00.001-07:00

Atheists challenge the religious right by Jane Lampman
Statement may allow gov't to open mail by Randolph E. Schmid
The Year in Review (News Media Analysis) from the Tyndall Report

Links of Interest

2007-01-04T16:45:00.001-07:00

Saddam Execution Video Leads to Arrests by Steven R. Hurst
A Conversation with Karen Hughes by Cal Thomas
Police reunion rumors reaching fever pitch by Jonathan Cohen
Group: ExxonMobil paid to mislead public from the Associated Press (Group's Report)
~~Appeals Court Suppresses Evidence in Seat-Belt Stop by Scott Sandlin~~

Links of Interest

2007-01-03T03:55:00.000-07:00

Parents defend decision to keep disabled girl small by Sam Howe Verhovek (father's blog)
In the sky! A bird? A plane? A ... UFO? by Jon Hilkevitch
6 of 75 cities get top disaster rating by Devlin Barrett
Anal Sex is Increasingly Popular in the Hetero World by Em & Lo

Links of Interest

2007-01-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

A 'Dear Santa' From the Zoo by Michael Alison Chandler (wishlist)
End of Another Year and A Lynching from Riverbend
Knotts Island is a ripe spot for a kiwi crop by Linda McNatt

Links of Interest

2007-01-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Crowds protest Saddam hanging in Iraq by Lauren Frayer
Iraq govt to probe filming of Saddam hanging by Mussab Al-Khairalla and Alastair Macdonald
Saddam hanging taunts evoke ugly past by John Simpson

Links of Interest

2007-01-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

What's Noka Worth? (A Ten-Part Series)

Four years ago, while standing on a mountaintop in Switzerland, a pair of Canadian accountants, Katrina Merrem and Noah Houghton, decided to leave the ledgers behind and enter the world of gourmet chocolate. Two years later, they founded Noka Chocolate in Plano, Texas.

Home Base

2007-01-01T01:51:00.000-07:00

Chaotic Convergence (My Long-Form Blog)