Lots of people spend lots of time trying to get their websites ranked highly on Google. The main way of going up the rankings is by having a better site, which Google works out by analysing which sites link to yours, how ‘good’ those sites are, how many different sites link to yours…

I’ve come up with a better way of getting to the top of the rankings. First, find a term that is already at the top that also refers to you, such as andrewjrallan (which, at the time of writing, points out that I’m the latest poster on one of the forums). That’s kind of cheating though. Another is to find a term that doesn’t appear on Google, such as andythescot. Then use it somewhere, and mention the word frequently, thus : andythescot. Sit back, and wait for Google to work it’s magic. Now when this site gets to the top of the GravityStorm listings, I’ll be impressed.

OK, so it’s not a particularly good (or novel) idea. But if you aim as low as possible, you’ll succeed quite often.

I’ve decided to stop trying to plan out what’s going to happen to this website, mainly due to a chronic lack of imagination. Instead, I’m going to allow the powerful forces of Darwinian evolution to take hold on gravitystorm.co.uk, and see how it goes. The phrase ‘Stagnant Pond’ springs to mind…

Jude pointed out a website about Urban Exploration in London to me yesterday. Well, the exploration wasn’t the reason for looking at the website, but I’m sure Andrew will appreciate some people associating those words with that url, rather than discussions of style sheets…

Andrew : nice website, you’ve got far better stuff on it than here – but do I get any prizes for guessing which university you’re talking about?

And now for some brief database evangelism.

Time and time again, I see people with a pile of information that they want to put onto a computer. And they use Excel for it. Which is not what it’s designed for. It’s a spreadsheet. For accountants. To do accounting. Database are designed for data to be put in, and more importantly, to use the data when it’s there.

Why people do this isn’t entirely a mystery to me. Most people use Windows. Most windows users have Office. Office has (or generally doesn’t have) a really poor database program, in the form of Access. Other operating systems, namely Linux in all it’s flavours, generally comes with at least one database package. So if you want a database, it’s there for you already, no hassle. You can get different databases (Open Source, of course) for windows too, but that’s a bit more hassle.

The main problem is the two different approaches to data storage – with Excel, things are stored in files, which people can copy and share around easily, whereas databases are server-orientated (whether that server runs on the users own computer or not). So for a quick cut-and-paste type thing, I can see why documents can be easier. Their biggest downfall with them is keeping track of the different versions. Unless you have a master copy, which is known by everyone to be the master copy, then collaborative working on the database will fall to pieces. In a corporate environment, you should be using IT systems properly anyway, but in my experience, IT systems are usually bodged together in a neverenging series of quick hacks, Excel and Word macros, and priceless techniques and practices passed on through ‘orientation’. Or forgotten, and the wheel reinvented.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, a solution to the problem of using Excel instead of a database. If you have access to an webserver, mysql and phpMyAdmin, then you’re sorted for any quick-and-dirty databases you need. A good idea could be for someone to take a database, orientate it towards files rather than servers, and strap a phpmyadmin-like interface to it. Et voila! An Access and Excel replacement, but also free, Free and miles better. Volunteers anyone? Then perhaps I wouldn’t tear my hair out when someone types printed information into a spreadsheet and asks for it to go onto the website, having ‘already done the hard work’ for me.

Well, here’s my new weblog. The question is, why?

I decided to make a weblog, since I still have a few friends left. And I want to keep them. Not that I want them to read this blog; in fact, quite the opposite. I frequently feel the need to rant about whatever’s on my mind, and it’s usually whoever’s nearest that cops it full in the face. So, by putting my rants in this blog, I satisfy my need to get things off my chest, without boring the arse off of anyone.

And if you’re reading this, then why? Just cause I’m writing this, doesn’t mean you need to read it – I thought I’d explained that already…