tIoP has been Blog-Blocked

It is not as if the Idea of Progress has been posting with any of the frequency of the past, but a recent event has disrupted even this, the fragile regularity of tIoP's posts.

The Idea of Progress was framed.

Google was lead to believe that tIoP was a spam blog.



Google claims that this was the result of a false positive from their little helper robots, who apparently scour the blogosphere in search of crime, sort of like the Transformers, but without the whole transforming or crappy Michael Bay remakes.

tIoP could not access my account, tIoP could not post a lovely entry about common courtesy in movie theaters that he had been composing in his head all day.



The Idea of Progress doesn't buy that it was a random problem. tIoP knows that someone is trying to put an end to the blog that has not won the Nobel Peace Prize nor the Pulitzer (but did win Sexiest Man Alive), but has nonetheless changed the face of humanity as we now know it.

There is someone out there with his fingerprints all over this. And tIoP is unafraid to air out his suspicions-- this madman must be stopped for all that is good and pure in this world, for this soon to be named villain is a threat to our way of life and our very existence. We must draw a line in the sand!

We must rally against...McGone.

Yes, I've said it. I hold the International House of Blogcakes responsible for this. It has McGone's fingerprints all over it.

And I will have my vengeance.

Fun Facts

According to Technorati, The Idea of Progress is the 238,665 most popular blog out there.

If you Google "The Idea of Progress," this blog is currently the 11th hit.

Since its inception, the Idea of Progress has received 9,085 visitors. Five of them were searching for '"happy idea" chicken.'

"Happy Idea" Chicken

Most days I check to see what search terms have brought readers to the Idea of Progress. Usually they are something like "teleubbies" or "What do tannins taste like in wine?" (which are my top 2 terms). But today I found something kinda inexplicable.

"Happy Idea" chicken.

What the hell does that mean? What could this person want? I can't figure it out. Whatever it was, the Idea of Progress did provide 5 minutes and 25 seconds of reading enjoyment for this person.

Curious, I googled it myself. The Idea of Progress shows up not once on the first page...but twice. Weird.

Number 3 with a bullet!

I don't get Google

I spend a good ten minutes crafting the finest picture of a whale clad in trousers that the world has ever witnessed. I label the file "Mr. Splashy Pants." I label the post "Mr. Splashy Pants." I use the name 'Mr. Splashy Pants' about a dozen times in the post.

Go to Google images, there are no pants-wearing whales to be found. My whale is not present. Google "Mr Splashy Pants" and my blog does come up--on page 13.

But not that image! Instead, it's the cover of an album I posted six months ago! No splashing or pants or whales to be found! What the F (as the kids say)!

Almost There

Go to Google.

Enter "The Idea of Progress"

First page.

There it is.

The Idea of Progress.

But it's not #1.

Yet.

Keep up the good work. We'll get there.

Second Page...With a Bullet!

Big news everybody! Gather round, gather round...The Idea of Progress has moved from page four of Google when you search for The Idea Of Progress all the way to page 2!!!

There's a certain wikiality to this. You see, "The Idea of Progress" is actually a philosophical term. I didn't know this when I chose the name (I've used it for a variety of projects prior to this blog), I just liked the sound of it. Much to my surprise, I like what it actually means, too.

The Idea of Progress may be defined as the belief that, in general, history proceeds in the direction of improved material conditions and a better (i.e., healthier, happier, more secure, more comfortable) life for more and more people. More simply: In the long run, most things get better.

There's an optimism there that I like. I'm fortunate. It could have meant something like, "The concept that all people really want to listen to John Mayer," or "The concept that there are many excellent programs on during daytime television."

So, page 2.

I want to be on page 1.

I'm starting a campaign. Make me #1. Put a link to this blog (http://theideaofprogress.blogspot.com) somewhere. Anywhere. Do it twice. Call your Mom up, have her link it somewhere. Come on, I know your Mom has a blog.

Let's do this!

How People Find Their Way to the Idea Of Progress

Actual Google search terms that led people here (a nod to Grant Miller Media for the idea):

-people with three nipples

-"if i had seen the world"

-elvis costello asshole

-famous popular musicians

-geico insurance cabbage patch kids commercials

-girls with assault rifles

-put syrup on pacifier

-teleubbies

-fuck ron paul

Web Surfin'

You don't need to aimlessly click around the internets looking for something to kill time with. I've done that for you.

-Why would you want to play something as boring as the Sims? If you're malicious enough, you can make their little AI lives miserable.


From Crooks and Liars.

-Belgian courts have finally done something that American courts have been unable to: bring the Church of Scientology up on criminal charges.


From robmonroe.net.

-The scariest thing you'll see all week (unless you watched the Klaus Nomi video)



-Have you ever Googled yourself? Perhaps it's time to learn to Ungoogle yourself. There's a part in this that mentions that prospective employers will probably Google your name. That's true. I know, because it's part of my job (I work at a recruitment firm).

Teleubbies

On a previous post, I misspelt the word 'Teletubbies," as "Teleubbies." Months later, the top search term used to find this blog is still 'Teleubbies." Even more than Ron Paul.

I had corrected the post to be spelled correctly, but type "teleubbies" into Google and you still end up here. It's made me think about other common words I could misspell and redirect hits with.

Perhaps 'Nakd" or "Britny Spears" or "fcking."

We'll see what happens.

In Case You Missed It

I know, I know, we get corruption weary. The Onion had an article about Outrage Fatigue, or something to that effect, a few years ago. It had something to do with liberals (or, ahem, progressives) suffering from so many scandals and lies and corrupt practices of the Bush Administration that they just gave up and became inured to it all.

I feel like that sometimes. I wasn't planning on writing any sort of blog entry. It's Sunday. I've got stuff to do. Why am I typing? Well...

Seems that Bush & Co. aren't real big on playing the role of anti-trust police. Big surprise. Since he and his fellow knuckleheads follow the path blazed by the man who broke the air traffic controllers strike (amongst other things, you could hardly expect them to be vigilant about things like, oh, Microsoft.

Seems that the top anti-trust official in the Justice Department is a fellow by the name of Thomas O. Barnett. There has been what has been described as a 'confidential antitrust complaint' made by Google. The new Vista OS from Microsoft has a search engine built in that can't be turned off. If you'd like to use a different one, say the one by Google, the computer slows down, making the Vista system the only one that people will use. You can't turn it off.

In the world of the interents, this is kind of a big deal. Microsoft controls the vast share of access to the internet, and by restricting anyone else's ability to get there, they act as some sort of gateway that you have to cross. That's a very dangerous amount of control for one company to have (and it's not that I think that Google or Apple would necessarily be any more charitable).

Oh, so what's the example of the corruption, you ask?

Thomas O. Barnett? Remember him? Head of antitrust? Recommended that the case be dismissed? Former attorney for...big surprise...MICROSOFT!

There's more examples of this buddy buddy relationship the Bushies have with the Gatesies.

From the New York Times article that I've been reading:

Last year, for instance, the United States delegation to the European Union complained to European regulators that Microsoft had been denied access to evidence it needed to defend itself in an investigation there into possible anticompetitive conduct. The United States delegation is led by Ambassador C. Boyden Gray, who had worked for Microsoft as a lawyer and lobbyist.

Robert Gianfrancesco, a spokesman for the delegation, said that Ambassador Gray had not formally removed himself from involvement in Microsoft issues but was not involved in the complaint to European regulators, which was handled by other American diplomats in the delegation.

In December 2005, the Justice Department sharply criticized the Korean Fair Trade Commission after that agency ordered major changes in Microsoft’s marketing practices in Korea.

And in 2004, the Justice Department criticized the European Commission for punishing Microsoft for including its video and audio player with its operating system.

Just bringing this to your attention