fracas

Yesterday, I happened to click over to Humor-Blogs to see how things were going over there and I found that not only are they a site where boobs are aplenty and there’s no shortage of peckers… they’re on that slightly spooky side too. I mean, the things they seem to know about people is enough to make a person check under their bed after visiting there.

I know.

You have no idea what I’m talking about.

That happens to me fairly often. (I think it’s from spending too much time hanging around Daddy Papersurfer and John C.)

What I’m talking about, is how those folks over at Humor-Blogs knew that I am, no matter how hard I try to make people think otherwise… half evil.

Isn’t that uncanny?

Check it out. A picture says a thousand words.

And just be glad I used a picture this time.

Addendum:

I told you so. No sooner had I posted this, than I found a post from none other than Diesel (Mr. Humor-Blog himself) about what?

Good and Evil.

It seems there is evil happening at his house too.

I like being right. It suits me.

Recently, I was in the Fuelmyblog forums, and happened upon a thread talking about where Fuelmyblog came up when searched in Google. A reply by MytMouse stated:

“Google is personalized by your IP address. People will get different answers based on where they are located in the world.”

Knowing some would find this a surprise, and others, while not finding it a surprise might still not know what to do about it, I decided it was blog-worthy.

Now, most of us already know that Google Adwords does target us by our IP address for the purpose of direcing the most pertinant ads to us when we generate a search. In fact, their Adwords learning center page states this:

Google can sometimes identify a user’s IP address to determine a user’s general physical location. An IP address is a unique number assigned to each computer connected to the Internet (such as 10.32.20.135). The IP address is automatically assigned by a user’s Internet Service Provider (ISP).

We’ll only use the IP address to show regionally (region and city) targeted or customized ads, or when a user searches Google.com from any location.

Regionally targeted and customized ads: If a Google user searches plumbers from a New York area IP address, we may display regional or customized ads targeted to New York, even though New York isn’t in the search query.

Google.com searches: If a user with an IP address in France searches on Google.com, the user might see ads targeted to France, even though the user isn’t accessing Google.fr.

But what about the actual search query, otherwise known as the (search results page) SERP?

SEOBOOK has this to say:

“If you are logged into a Google Account they will bias your search results based on websites you have visited, especially those you have clicked through to from search results.

If you visit a site or page frequently they will improve the positioning of that page in your personalized search results. If you visit a page occasionally just rank checking, and then sometimes clicking onto your result then clicking back nearly immediately Google will demote those pages in the SERPs.”

So this, (to use a very technical term) appears to suck. When what I want are results based on whatever new thing I’m searching for and not biased by the assortment of things I may have already searched for, I want Google to pretend they’re Vegas and just live up to that old adage,

“What happens in Vegas Google stays in Vegas Google.”

As a Canadian, when I attempt to search Google.com, I am always directed towards Google.ca and my results may be biased with results that favour Canadian sites. If you, like me, like to have your own way… like to be the boss.. then you likely, like me, want fresh SERPs.  By gum… I’m going to not only find a way to get them, I’m going to share that information with you.

The following, are options I’ve found that you can use when searching with Google.

1. First, make sure you’re not logged into a Google account (like those used to participate in Blogger). Indeed though, this could be a fair pain in the posterior, for if you’re blogging, and trying to search something you’re in the middle of blogging, having to log out to search and then log back in, is inconvenient.
2. Or… log into your Google Web Search History and disable it. Look in the top right hand corner near your Gmail address. Disable the feature. Once you have, Google can’t return personalized results because there will be nothing it can go on.
3. Search using a proxy such as Anonymouse. With this option, even though I am Canadian (and that could be a whole ‘nother post in itself) I am able to search not just Google.ca but Google.com
4. Disallow Google to store cookies on your computer. The downside to this though, is that Google Personalized Search History won’t work after you disable the cookies from Google.com. Once you choose this option though, you won’t be automatically logged in to other Google services and may have to type your user name and password each time you have to login. If you aren’t one who likes to use the always logged in features so readily available these days, then this won’t be much of a loss to you anyway.
   • IE: Click Tools->Internet Options->Privacy->Sites
   • Firefox: Click Tool->Options->Privacy->Cookies->Exceptions
5. Purchase or download software that hides your IP address.
6. Block cookies from Yahoo, Google and MSN and then use Dogpile.com for searching these three search engines simultaneously.
7. Use Scandoo Google, Scroogle Google, or the depersonalizer (which can be found here).

More information on this subject can be found here and here.

Please note that Fracas is an entertainment blogger, not a technofile. In other words, I’m just as dumb about all of this as the rest of you. If you happen to know more on this subject and feel you can add to the information in this post, please do leave a comment and share. I might even decide to add you to the FracRoll for it, and hey… maybe one of these days there’ll be some hot bra (or whatever might knock your socks off) photo here just for you as a thank you! 

And if you’re found any of this even remotely helpful or educational, why not pick one of these avenues and share the post with others?

And while this is no laughing matter to some people, perhaps after such a serious post you’d enjoy the de-personalized humor of some of the good folks over at Humor-Blogs?

To find out how you too, can participate in The Monday Melee, please read the main Monday Melee page, grab The Monday Melee logo (and view the participant list too).

Fracas’ The Monday Melee for May 5, 2008

1. The Magnificent: Name someone you absolutely adore, and tell us why.
Well it’s not that I don’t adore the others, but today I’m choosing to name the youngest fraccy child. Why? Because quite soon, he’s having a birthday, and birthdays cause we sappy mothers to remember when we were still “with” that child and all the stuff surrounding the day they were born.

2. The Muddy: Tell us something about life you just don’t “get”.
Giving bad service. I just don’t get it. Anytime a person doesn’t do their very best to perform their job the best they can, and give the person on the other end of their service the best they can, they are making a huge statement about themselves. So if you’re a clerk in a store (for example) and you give a customer bad service… it’s like shouting to everyone (and for sure that customer) that you are (choose all or any that apply) lazy, rude, careless, ambitionless, sloppy, crude, mean, pathetic, stupid, ignorant, devoid of manners and/or self-confidence, and don’t care about yourself.

Of course it means those things. Don’t think it doesn’t. If a person is the opposite of those things, they take pride in what they do no matter how big or small the task. Character is best defined when we think about what a person does when no one is looking or when they know they won’t get caught… or defined by what that person does when they know or think they don’t have to. How they perform their job says everything about who they are as a person… and therefore, if they can’t take pride enough in their job to do it well, then what gives them the right to think they deserve anything?  

If only people understood that. 

3. The Magnetic: Name something or someone good (or bad) you’re drawn to and you just can’t help it. Tell us if you want to change this or not.
I am drawn to plants and all things that can make my garden a place where no matter what else is wrong in the world, it is always right when I’m there.  I can’t think of a single reason to change that.

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb”

4. The Mainstay: Who or what is something you just can’t live without? Why?
See #3. Because when a person needs a place to go when the world overwhelms them, a garden is always there as a reminder of where you come from, where you will go and why that’s what really matters.

5. The Masquerade: Tell us something about yourself we wouldn’t already know.
I am opinionated and once I’ve done the homework, it’s darn hard to change my mind.

6. The Mettle: Tell us about a time you showed courage in yourself, or tell us what you wish you had the courage to do.

I didn’t get assaulted that day while standing up for what I believe, but not everyone I was there with was that lucky.   

You can take part in The Monday Melee, even make it a regular feature at your site by visiting The Monday Melee page and following the steps. Kick-start your brain on Mondays and meet other bloggers.

If your blog is listed below, it means you’ve at one time or another, done The Monday Melee. Head over to the main Melee page, grab a new badge for 2008 (or for the Movie Melee, etc.) and kick-start your week by throwing down a Melee again!

The Monday Melee Participants1. Fracas - creator of The Monday Melee | 2. Kate | 3. Rootietoot | 4. Dive | 5. Robyn | 6. Dear Prudence | 7. Lynn | 8. Iced Mocha | 9. Joey | 10. JerseyChick | 11. Tracey | 12. Vic | 13. Gaijin Girl | 14. LindaC | 15. Amber | 16. Krishanna | 17. Ma Titwonky | 18. sauer kraut | 19. kimberleyanne | 20. Ealasaid | 21. Cat | 22. lucy lemon | 23. hazel8500 | 24. Miz Minka’s Musings | 25. Gabrielle | 26. buttercup | 27. Marianne | 28. j u g g l i n g c a t s | 29. Sky Windows | 30. Vyxyn | 31. Mark - Blogitude | 32. Tendrils’ Ink | 33. Now Write, Right Now | 34. flowerchild | 35. ladycalliah | 36. Creation Junction | 37. A Blog of 2 Witches | 38. Meowminx | 39. The College Critic | 40. Winged Musings | 41. Missy Sue Hanson | 42. The Kat House | 43. Holocaust Labs | 44. no school, just learning | 45. Carrying Contraption | 46. Let Them Eat Cake | 47. Zacque - Blogitude | 48. Diva - Blogitude | 49. Modified at Random | 50. Jewel - Blogitude | 51. Get AMPed | 52. INDIEchouette | 53. Perky’s Perspective | 54. The Jaded Lotus | 55. Maiylah’s Snippets | 56. The Painted Veil | 57. Incurable Insomniac | 58. DivaThoughts | 59. Twenty Something And A Little Nutty | 60. PajamaMom | 61. Livin’ Life SandyStyl | 62. So This Is Growing Up | 63. Girliegeek | 64. Diary of a 70s Teen | 65.Your blog could be here!