The site now ranks. Thanks to everybody who helped!

Teacher from the Everglades episode of the Unbreakable series on Channel Five

I’ve finally gotten around to switching software from MT to Wordpress. This webserver doesn’t play too nicely with PERL software, so that’s the reason for the switch.

I’ve got loads of broken links now because of the switch. I really don’t care…

I think I’ll look through the old stuff and delete some and maybe clean up some of the Norwegian posts. This blog has now been migrated at least twice since the initial install, so there are some problems with the Norwegian characters.

I’m also going to switch templates. The basic one is hideous. Not that I’m disturbed by that, but I need the practice. Not for installing another template, but for hopefully doing one myself, or at least modifying a prebuilt one.

I needed to do a search for Eagle Creek products in Norway today. I knew there was a store in Oslo that carried probably the whole line, but I’d forgotten the name. So I needed a quick way to find that website. You can go to a country specific search engine, and ask for websites only in that language. But let’s say I needed to find Eagle Creek products in Denmark? I don’t know any country specific search engines in Denmark. However, there’s one thing you can do right in Google, that should get you what you want:

“eagle creek” site:.no

Or, for Denmark:

“eagle creek” site:.dk

Simple, eh?

Update: Even simpler is to use the country specific versions of Google, and then ticking the box for results only from that country.

I’m on MySpace from today. Trying to figure it out, so don’t expect anything fancy:
http://blog.myspace.com/annelisabethsongs

Some people check Alexa ratings to see how much traffic a site has.

Well, as one who has a a few sites, I can tell you they’re totally unreliable.

One site is currently ranking 560,204. It has 7 times the traffic the site that’s ranking 322,578 has.

But they’re in different segments. One appeals to geeks and SEO’s. And as we know, the SEO’s are more likely to use the Alexa toolbar. The other site probably has a bigger percentage of housewives than any other group. That doesn’t exactly translate to all that good Alexa rankings…

I haven’t commented on Michael Jackson’s acquittal before. Probably most bloggers have by now.

We don’t know for sure what happened. The case was complicated enough, we couldn’t have known unless we were present at the alleged molestations. So I’m not getting into if he was guilty of what he was accused of.

What I am going to address, is his behavior.

He knew well before the incidents he was accused of, that the world was looking at him for child molestation. He kept on doing what he’d done, and has been argumenting that it’s innocent and good.

I can’t see any advisors saying that was a good idea. So it had to have been his idea. Or he can’t help himself. Either way, it might indicate a persona that is incapable of taking good advice. A persona that thinks he knows best, that won’t be denied. Or who doesn’t have the good sense to attract good advisors, only yes people.

That’s a recipe for disaster.

I’m not a shrink, I can’t say exactly what is wrong. But for my untrained eye, something is wrong.

There are so many people walking around, with serious emotional dysfunction. Personality disorders of various kinds. It’s nothing new. Chances are most of us will encounter at least one or two we recognize as having problems, and many we never suspect.

They’re high functioning, in that they’re not raving lunatics that must be kept locked up. But they’re still damaging others. And usually the damage is emotional or psychological. Some go off the deep end now and then, and become physically threatening.

My point being, there are many shades of emotional and psychological problems around us.

Michael Jackson displays what I’d consider odd behavior, judging from TV programs I’ve seen. I hope he gets help. I think he needs someone around him who says no to him, sets boundaries. But, considering his popularity and former wealth, I can’t see that happening. I’m not sure he’d allow it. Sadly.

I’m sure he thinks his behavior is not only perfectly justifiable, but something more people should do. Those were his sentiments a while ago, at least.

You know, when I saw him on TV, I felt that he truly believed what he was saying. That doesn’t mean what he was saying is the absolute truth, but it does mean that it’s HIS reality. Make of that what you will.

A while ago, my car wouldn’t start. Not enough juice.

I had to have start help from Falken. The guy tested the battery and said it was fine. But if the car was left standing for maybe a day or two, it wouldn’t start. There was some juice on it, but not enough to start.

We did various tests. The first prevailing theory was that something in the car was leaking electricity. So I took the lead off the positive pool when I left the car. Still, the car wouldn’t start.

Turns out one cell had died. Which means that there wasn’t enough to start the car unless I had help or it had run recently. But once the car was moving, it was working fine.

So I bought a new battery. One of those who won’t leak even if you turn it over (not that you would, of course). And there’s a big difference to how the car starts now compared to before, even before the old battery went bad. True, the new battery is stronger by type, but even so…

Just thought I’d put it out there. There are several ways a battery can turn bad. Of course, mine had been drained recently by the lights being left on by a thief who tried to steal the car and failed. I’m guessing that may have contributed to it going bad.

Today is Norway’s independence day. Independence from… that’s right - Sweden.

But Norway and Sweden will always be brothers. Sibling love and rivalry included.

Decades ago a lot of people moved to Sweden because there was work there, and little in Norway in their fields. Today a lot of young Swedes come to Norway to get jobs.

I know quite a few, and I was talking to one girl right after she came. I told her there was a lot of cultural difference, especially when it came to food. She almost got angry with me. Granted, Swedish culture has changed a lot over the years, and I know a lot about the culture from a ways back. But guess who had the last laugh. They complain bitterly about Norwegians not eating warm lunch! That’s just not a custom here. We eat our brødskive (almost like sandwich) instead. Many Swedes will make lunch late the day before and take it to work, cold. I just shake my head.

The language is pretty similar, and almost all Norwegians understand Swedish. But the reverse is not true. I’ve heard quite a few amusing stories, when one of the girls has been working in cafe’s and similar. She’s misunderstood SOOO many terms. It’s quite
funny.

You see, us Norwegians have watched Swedish television forever, but the reverse is not true!

I just saw something in my referrers that made me wonder.

Google search term:
matt redman mp3

The IP address resolved to something that included the word warner.

Hmmmm…

Could be a worship music fan from Oklahoma, of course.

Just thought it was kind of funny. All he/she got was a recommendation for fodder for an MP3 player!

My father made a crack comment that I thought was very profound:

She has trouble juggling her roles.

I won’t go into why he said it, it’s not that kind of blog.

But his point was very well taken.

When you have different roles in life, different behavior may be expected depending on who you are interacting with.

When interacting with a coworker, your boss or your employees, different types of behavior - roles, will be expected.

A father and mother at home will have one role relating to the children, and another relating to each other.

They say power corrupts, and I think those who have a lot of power in their work role are those who are most likely to misuse that power in their personal lives. They expect a certain efficiency and they expect being deferred to. When that isn’t afforded, they might react like a boss. That could go very wrong. A family member is unlikely to put up with that kind of crap. Unless it’s a very young and pliable wife/boytoy. Hmm, bad idea, come to think of it…

Think about celebrities who start believing in their own hype? Same thing. I know a lot of celebrities (most of them minor or niche). I’ve seen situations where a celebrity behaves badly towards the people around them, especially the fans. Lack of respect. I’ve also seen some of the sweetest, most down to earth people who have ‘made it’. It all depends on how they tackle their role, and how they behave towards other people.

Some of these celebrities are friends, and some I’ve only talked to in passing. What I’ve found, is that the older they are, the more likely it is that they have come to terms with being a celebrity. The more secure they are in their role and as persons, the more they give of themselves to others. I’m not saying all younger celebrities are stuck up, though, because that’s definitely not true.

But this little missive is to all of us.

Our behavior towards people around us will have to be determined by our respective roles - in that situation.

Eh, after I’ve said all that, just so nobody misunderstands:

If you are a celebrity, you’ll get a lot more service and long term popularity if you don’t go all diva. Try to retain a down to earth attitude, and show gratitude and respect towards people you meet. Don’t throw tantrums if you don’t get what you want and deserve. You’ll look like a spoiled brat. And no matter how popular you are at the moment, there are people who have a long memory and who will wait until the press has been oversaturated. Then they will tear you down.

Just basic horse sense, dressed up in fancy words, eh?