Old tyme search

It wasn’t that long ago when we called location-based search ‘looking it up in the Yellow Pages’. And a new business that happened to miss a printing deadline would be shut out of a year’s worth of potential finds.

Now, when our fingers do the walking they’re probably on a keyboard.

Mine were recently when I was trying to find a 10 month old article with some data I needed.  I wasn’t sure of the pub date, but I knew the outlet and reporter. Yet after several different permutations of search terms on Google and the media site, I came up empty-handed. And then, of course, I started to doubt my recollection because it wasn’t validated online.

Now, this may seem quaint, but I still clip stories I like from newspapers and magazines and keep them in file folders. They’re sorted in rough chronological order; rough, that is, because if I take out a clip, I’ll usually return it to the front of the file.  Not exactly scientific, but it works.

I was pretty sure I had the article, so I started leafing through the papers and sure enough found it in a couple of minutes.  Then, armed with details from the hard copy, I was also able to get it online.

And it made me realize that we’re so reliant on certain web 2.0 tools – which do a spectacular job in most cases. But old-fashioned searching (and library research, for that matter) – can be just as effective for finding results.

Vintage Google

In honour of its 10th anniversary, Google has treated us to a youthful version of itself; the web circa 2001. It’s quite charming really and the searches yield no Wikipedia results – unless, of course, you type in ‘Wikipedia’.

I found an early version of Blogger with its groovy slogan: ‘push-button publishing for the people’. Right-on, I say.

I tried to sign in with my current info hoping to connect present with past. But, alas I was left on the platform.

Now, usually nostalgia goes back a little farther than seven years. Something like this. Or maybe our wired world is so sped up, that anything older than yesterday is vintage.

More spaces (not space)

If you look at my last post, written using the Google Chrome browser, you’ll notice there are bigger spaces between paragraphs than usual (similar to what happens when I save in edit mode).  I don’t understand if this is a function of the browser or some other glitch.

Tagged (not it)

To me, that would usually mean one of those *&*?@#! Toronto parking tickets.  (I used to love it  when Li’l Abner comic strips used symbols to stand in for cussing, but I’ve never done it myself until now.)

But I digress.

Joel Postman tagged me with the Mitch Joel meme on ‘social media best practices’.

So, in lieu of a full post, Dave, Terry, Julie and I discussed the subject on the most recent version of Inside PR (#127).  Have a listen and feel free to contribute any other ideas.

BTW, I do have one more thought (though it’s more of a piece of advice): 

Find your blogging voice – and then stick to it.  That may take longer than you think but it’s worth the wait. 

Note: This was my first post written using the Google Chrome browser. I figured Blogger and Google should get along like family and they do.  I like it for its speed, layout and tab options, but there are a few glitches.  One is I can’t seem to figure out how to go from any one page straight to home.