Search words

Today, I checked my web server stats, and was amused by some of the most popular search words since December 1st. Here’s how they break down:

  • Topping the list at 212 hits is the undefeated all-time champion of search words, “hamster”.
  • Next at 96 hits is “Canadian Christmas“.
  • At 43 hits is the old reliable “cubicle”. No suprise there. Lots of people like to read about cubicles online.
  • That’s followed by 36 hits for “buster keaton”, who I posted about once in 2002.
  • Then 11 hits for “automata”, which is a lingering reference to my “Webdog Automata” pages, which no longer exist. Apologies to those 11 people.
  • 9 hits for “sumo”.
  • 8 hits for “mouse”.
  • 5 each for “beer nuts” (Mmm, beer nuts), “bookcase”, and “cubicle gifts”.
  • 4 hits for “chimps on penguins”, which, to my relief, turned out to be a video of chimps discussing penguins.
  • 4 for “christmas cubicle”, “light sensor robots”, and “photo hamster” (is that a hamster with a lens and film?).
  • and the remainder was split among “rc robots”, “salt and vinegar chips”, and “the hamster”.

At least I no longer get searches for Ellen Fiess, black triangular UFOs, and naked penguins.

When searches go terribly wrong

Every day, misguided Googlers go astray in their searches. Here are some of the unusual search requests that have inexplicably led people to this site.

Mystery of the missing messages

Due to technical difficulties, if you sent me e-mail or posted a comment, it’s possible that your message has gone missing. If you sent me an e-mail and I didn’t reply, please try again.

Blogger spell-check

Can someone please tell me why Blogger has a new spell-checker that:

  • only supports US spellings, and not Canadian or UK spellings
  • doesn’t recognize “beep” or “snooze”
  • doesn’t recognize “inkblot”, but does recognize “Rorschach”
  • suggests “blocker” in place of Blogger
  • suggests “bloc” in place of “blog” (I’m sure the BQ will appreciate that)
  • suggests “lebensraum” in place of “livingroom”

I paid for Blogger Pro in part to get the spell-checker, but this thing is useless. And Blogs are written in many places other than the US.

Give us a useful spell-checker, Blogger.