Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Mmmm, Googlicious
by Tom Bozzo
For instance, someone just got here by searching "moon+pork+nasa" on Technorati. Within a few minutes of that, I got a visit from the nasa.gov domain (not the first time for this visitor, I think). Do I need to clarify that I'm fundamentally pro-space exploration, but think human space flight is less scientifically useful than robotic exploration? I don't even mind the Prometheus nuclear power project, if it actually were used to bring advanced robotic probes like the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter to fruition.
The most common search terms leading here, perhaps not surprisingly, are variations on "marginal utility." This blog and the other Marginal Utility are both on the first page of Google search returns, which is topped by the Wikipedia page for marginal utility, which actually isn't great. Its 1995-ish layout notwithstanding, this Drexel U. page and its followers strikes me as a more useful presentation (looks like it's pitched at the level of an undergraduate intermediate micro course), if you came here looking for that and have made it this far.
Some other recent hits:
Having the Site Meter on for the fall traffic survey lets me see some of the funny ways some people find their way here from Google and other web search sites.
For instance, someone just got here by searching "moon+pork+nasa" on Technorati. Within a few minutes of that, I got a visit from the nasa.gov domain (not the first time for this visitor, I think). Do I need to clarify that I'm fundamentally pro-space exploration, but think human space flight is less scientifically useful than robotic exploration? I don't even mind the Prometheus nuclear power project, if it actually were used to bring advanced robotic probes like the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter to fruition.
The most common search terms leading here, perhaps not surprisingly, are variations on "marginal utility." This blog and the other Marginal Utility are both on the first page of Google search returns, which is topped by the Wikipedia page for marginal utility, which actually isn't great. Its 1995-ish layout notwithstanding, this Drexel U. page and its followers strikes me as a more useful presentation (looks like it's pitched at the level of an undergraduate intermediate micro course), if you came here looking for that and have made it this far.
Some other recent hits:
- "debunk Stan Leibowitz" (this post is the #2 return on Google) — Leibowitz, of UT-Dallas, has made a name for himself as the pre-eminent analyst of the economics of music file sharing networks. His views have shaded towards a more pro-record label position over time, so perhaps that's what the searcher wants debunked. To that extent, I think Leibowitz's account of CD library building in the late eighties and early nineties is weak, and his arguments for why the sampling feature of file sharing work against the labels are something that could be true but don't have to be. Otherwise, this would presumably refer to Leibowitz's famous (in the right circles) debunking (with Stephen Margolis) of Paul David's "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," (JSTOR link) which for reasons I could really bore you all with is partly right.
- "downsides of ethanol" (this post is the #3 Google return) — Hangovers.
- "barbara [sic] streisand energy usage" (here is the #4 Google return) — I never blogged about Barbra, honest, but her name was taken in vain and misspelled in the comments.
- "freesian" — The #2 Google return leads to the remnant of my post which once encoded several hundred links to Jeremy Freese's Weblog, the last hurrah of the blog experiment that got Oscar and me evicted from the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, after we were ratted out by a prominent blogger who shall remain nameless and un-linked.
- "wedding reception blogspot" — This is a bad, bad search, for which I am the top return! The foul miscreant who carried out this search left spam in my comments, which I summarily deleted (never to return). That is the fate of all comment spam at this blog. Take that! (Note to interested parties, word verification for comments may appear soon.)
Comments:
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After all this time, you finally got me. I misspelled Babs in the comments section. Now I have given your blog prominence to all those others who 1) have misspelled her name and 2) are interested in her energy usage. I did not use her name in vain, BTW.
I wouldn't say that nameless ratted you out. She just made a post about your experiment and N.Z. Bear or whatever the hell his name is saw the post. I'm still a "Slithering Reptile" b/c your and Oscar's linkage to my blog doesn't help me evolve. I really, really, really want to be a "Flappy Bird" so I hope Mr. Bear and the internet gods forgive you for your massive linkage project.
I wouldn't say that nameless ratted you out. She just made a post about your experiment and N.Z. Bear or whatever the hell his name is saw the post. I'm still a "Slithering Reptile" b/c your and Oscar's linkage to my blog doesn't help me evolve. I really, really, really want to be a "Flappy Bird" so I hope Mr. Bear and the internet gods forgive you for your massive linkage project.
# posted by 
: Tue Sep 20, 10:38:00 PM
: Tue Sep 20, 10:38:00 PM 
It's interesting to compare the size of the populations of desperate microeconomics students and searchers for wingnut porn.
Bryan: N.Z. Bear has yet to extend forgiveness, and I have no plans to ask for it, so you might need to construct your own ecosystem identity.
Bryan: N.Z. Bear has yet to extend forgiveness, and I have no plans to ask for it, so you might need to construct your own ecosystem identity.
It would be rude of me to comment that searchers for Ann Coulter nude are just those having trouble seeing her Adam's apple and hoping for better evidence.
In a related note, Stephen Moore is expostulating on CNBC about Rita and refineries, which may cause me to go over to Econobrowser and note that no one required that all those refineries be placed in a hurricane area.
(The cynic in me would note that the offer to sell SPR was so undersubscribed that the publicity is a tempest in a Teapot Dome.)
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In a related note, Stephen Moore is expostulating on CNBC about Rita and refineries, which may cause me to go over to Econobrowser and note that no one required that all those refineries be placed in a hurricane area.
(The cynic in me would note that the offer to sell SPR was so undersubscribed that the publicity is a tempest in a Teapot Dome.)
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