DMOZ Time Machine

(Disclaimer: Yeah I ripped off the Title of this post. )

Well looking into the Official Blog and reading with interest about the DMOZ Time Machine, I decided to take a little peak back in my archives. Of course my archives don’t go back 10 years (yet), I only started recording my ramblings two years ago. So my look back was much shorter.

1 year ago it would seem that I was also looking back in time. I reported then that I had logged just over 24,000 edits. I am slightly embarrassed to say I have only managed about 3,000 more since then. Of course I had also taken several breaks during the past year and also resigned for about 12 hours once. . On top of that real life has stepped in the way and I also added helping out at BOTW to my plate. Despite being a very slow year for me, by most standards, its been enjoyable for the most part.

I also note that I wrote a couple of articles back in October of 2007. The first was Titled “DMOZ: Can’t find your authentication ticket” is still one of my most visited articles. It was written to help explain a very common application issue that new editor applicants can have. That article still manages a number of hits a month and for a long time was my most clicked article. Hopefully it helped a few applicants understand the situation as this is a very common editor application problem. I also wrote Wow! A DMOZ Referral In My Logs about commonly misunderstood reports in site logs. Editors have long struggled with the myth that a site log report showing a visit from dmoz.org means an editor reviewed the site – Which it doesn’t.

December of 2006 brought on the birth of this blog, for the better or worse. It had a lot (or little) to talk about in December because that was the time where DMOZ was still trying to recover from The Great Crash of 2006. Re-living the frustration we all had when DMOZ couldn’t seem to kick start itself following the server issues, was kind of interesting. Seeing my old “eyes” again, was kind of entertaining too. I still remember the lengthy discussions I had with my old friend dogbows, who worked hard to help me keep them from being too amateur-ish . As you can see it didn’t end well, despite her best efforts to clean up my juvenile rendition. Still, those eyes served me well and I think helped define my online presence for me. I much prefer my more ‘professional’ upgrade, though.

I may be a little biased, but I think I have come a long way since those times. To all of my regular readers (yeah both of you ), thanks for continuing to stop by. For those stopping by for the first time, sorry.

DMOZ and BOTW Contributions

Wow, am I am embarrassed. The Official DMOZ Blog is more up to date than the Shadow Blog. I really must try harder. All kidding aside, its really great to see the blog starting to function as it was intended. My only hope is that it continues to draw interest from staff and goes forward as a source of true information to anyone wishing to find the truth.

That being said, I have managed to find a little time here and there as of late to actually do what I enjoy doing. I have been striving to build Indiana cities and update inter-linking on the BOTW directory. One of these days, I might even figure out how to count my edits and see how many I have done that really counted. Honestly its a bit harder to figure out sometimes than the details of the US Government Bank Bailout plan. All in all, I think I am making progress there. If nothing else, the linking is improving, miss-placed and duplicate listings are slowly being corrected and I have added a few sites here and there.

As for DMOZ, I have managed to make an edit or two there as well. Not much, but a few edits here and there. My overall contribution is still much higher to DMOZ, which is why I have been dedicating more time to building my experience in BOTW. It’s tough being a stupid newbie again. 

Oh well, the Presidential Debate is on so I think I will try and put myself to sleep and catch a few minutes of it. Hopefully more to come sooner than later.

DMOZ Blog – Finally Something New (Sort Of)

Well I have been pretty much gone for much of the last 6 months. Seems like when I do find time to edit, I get side tracked immediately after getting on line. Darn Internet Porn. I noticed today that FINALLY the DMOZ Blog has something new up. Of course its a far cry from what was originally intended when they christened the blog:

Additionally we want to hear from you.

What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you’ve been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it

We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.

Ask AOL: Editors’ Questions about DMOZ Answered

That said though, its promising to be away so long and upon checking in see that something has been posted. The message, from a new staff member is a welcomed one. Editors have long been held in the dark, asking questions trying to find answers to no avail. Its wonderful that mom and dad are interested in hearing what the kids think. I sincerely hope they take this seriously and help answer the many questions editors have had for years about the future and stewardship of the project. That will be a great help in righting the ship.

On a personal and more satirical note, I wonder if they will address the “hostile” takeover of the project by Rob Jones? I still think that was a political stunt, aimed to draw attention to a run on the White House. But hey, he promised me a position as Defense Secretary so I am all for it.

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The following message has not been approved by anyone:

Rob Jones 2008

• He’s from Texas
• He can’t be any worse than what we have had.
• He has got to be better than our other options.

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