{"id":3153,"date":"2001-08-03T14:59:48","date_gmt":"2001-08-03T19:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smperformance.wordpress.com\/2013\/08\/03\/stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080301\/"},"modified":"2001-08-03T14:59:48","modified_gmt":"2001-08-03T19:59:48","slug":"stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080301","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stratvantage.com\/index.php\/2001\/08\/03\/stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080301\/","title":{"rendered":"StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 08\/03\/01"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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From Evernote:<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 08\/03\/01<\/h1>\n

Clipped from: http:\/\/www.stratvantage.com\/news\/080301.htm<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

T<\/strong>he News \u2013 08\/03\/01<\/h1>\n

Attack of the Blogdex!<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

MIT\u2019s Media Lab has released Blogdex <\/a>, and index of, what else, blogs.<\/strong> Blogs are random musings published by those who think the world will care, like me <\/a>.<\/strong> Basically, blogs make it easy to publish Web pages to any site you have FTP access to.<\/strong> The idea behind Blogdex is that most blogs have hyperlinks in them, and thus blog authors represent a good sampling of what people are interested in on the Net.<\/strong> Blogdex visits 9,000 blogs a day, and extracts the links.<\/strong> It then ranks the links by popularity.<\/p>\n

The service is still getting off the ground.<\/strong> The number one link on today\u2019s Blogdex was mentioned in only eight blogs.<\/strong> Number two is pseudonymous commentator Robert X. Cringely\u2019s article on TCP\/IP.<\/strong> The number 10 link was www.iwantanewgirlfriend.com <\/a>, which is itself a blog, and which is sponsored by a sex toy I\u2019ve never heard of: the world\u2019s only oral vibrator, Tongue Joy.<\/strong> Others on the list concern the 20th anniversary of the PC, the fatness of Americans, and the poor guy who got nailed, literally, in the eye.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s pretty easy, at this point, to manipulate rankings based on such a small sample.<\/strong> Since Blogdex users can link back to the original blogs, being on the list means your blog can be exposed to more people.<\/strong> In a shameless display of oneupsmanship, I’ve added the top 10 sites to my Stratlets <\/a> blog.<\/strong> Let’s see if I end up on the list. BTW, as yet another lesson of how important it is to have your own important business marks turned into domains, www.blogdex.com <\/a> is not registered to MIT, but to an enterprising entrepreneur hoping to make a buck.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m having a hard time seeing this as representative of where ordinary mortals are going on the Web.<\/strong> A far better pulse can be gotten at Google\u2019s Zeitgeist <\/a>, which is a ranking of the most popular search terms on one of the Web\u2019s busiest search engines.<\/strong> Here’s today’s top ten with my glosses:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1.<\/strong><\/strong> sircam <\/a><\/td>\nSirCam is an Internet worm that is actively spreading.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/strong><\/strong> max payne <\/a><\/td>\nMax Payne is a popular video game.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.<\/strong><\/strong> planet of the apes <\/a><\/td>\nPopular movie<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.<\/strong><\/strong> code red virus <\/a><\/td>\nObnoxious computer virus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5.<\/strong><\/strong> howard stern <\/a><\/td>\nApparently there was a fist fight on Howard Stern\u2019s radio program recently.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6.<\/strong><\/strong> george harrison <\/a><\/td>\nThere have been a lot of rumors and counter rumors about Beatle George Harrison\u2019s health.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7.<\/strong><\/strong> etna <\/a><\/td>\nMt.<\/strong> Etna is erupting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8.<\/strong><\/strong> heather mills <\/a><\/td>\nHeather Mills is hot and engaged to Sir Paul the Cute One.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9.<\/strong><\/strong> israel <\/a><\/td>\nWho knows?<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10.<\/strong><\/strong> rivaldo <\/a><\/td>\nBrazilian soccer midfielder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Now this is more like it: more sex, some rock and roll, some mayhem, and something for the geeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those wanting a second opinion can check Lycos\u2019 Top 50 <\/a>, which includes with each listing an explanation of why they\u2019re popular.<\/strong> Whichever list you look at, it behooves business people to realize that the Internet has become a mass market phenomenon, and there’s all kinds of people using it for non-business uses.<\/strong> No matter how popular your business site is, it’s not likely to appear in one of these lists.<\/strong>
\nBlogdex <\/a><\/p>\n

Briefly Noted<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n