Yes, the changes continue, and they are all for the better.
One question I have asked myself is “Why do are all these people interested in my rantings”, I still don’t have an answer to that question, but what I do know is that some people like to see what I’ve been up to, and others find answers to questions, for example, a look at the Blog View Stats would show that some people have found my information on getting a Canon MPC400 printer working under Linux to be useful…but whatever the reason for coming to my blog, I want to make it enjoyable, and as such, I have added some new features to the blog.
You may have noticed that there is a Google search box at the top of this page (and every other page on the blog), this has been added for your convenience, you can easily search my blog from there which would be very useful for finding one of those archived posts, or you can search the web from the Google search box. I shouldn’t really need to explain that “Google Is Great”, I think you already know that.
The other improvement is advertising…hmmmm, I hear people moaning…look, it isn’t that bad, it is actually quite good. I could have gone with any number of advertising providers, but I don’t want ads that flash, flicker, buzz, popup, popunder, squeal, annoy or interupt. That rules out a lot of advertising sites. I also don’t want ads for “Pills & Potions ‘R Us” or those annoying ads that appear on Yahoo Mail and Hotmail “You can live and work in another country”…who cares??? I don’t want to move country, and I doubt many of my readers do, if you want to move country then call a travel agent.
So I made a decision, I decided to use Google Adsense for a few reasons:
1. The ads are relevant because they are based on the content of my blog.
2. They don’t violate my “flash, flicker, buzz, popup, popunder, squeal, annoy or interupt” rule.
3. They fit nicely on the side of the page in some nice blank space.
4. They are controllable, if I don’t want a particular ad, I can block it.
5. It’s Google, and “Google Are Great”
(Note to Google Adsense people who are likely to be alerted to my saying “Adsense” a zillion times: This is not designed to promote the ads or draw unnecesary attention to them, I do not believe that I have violated the Adsense terms and conditions, and if anything, I beleive I have promoted Adsense as a product that others can use.)
I think these changes will make the blog a better place, and I welcome your comments.
Samuel