Blue Moons

Help us find Vio, the missing webmaster, at Ghost Hunt.

Top 10 key phrases of 2004, used by ghosts en passant, to which Viola Fair replied as interpreted by the mediums - albeit far from ideational - that are search engines.

breast expansion - Nothing but idle scratch of that which cost leaves such, for some, but a dream. This cartoon received a disproportionate number of views in 2003, I having no clue why. So I placed "breast expansion" in the title tag to see what would happen: not much, beyond but being the most viewed page on Viola Fair.

mae west - This was Viola's spot in 2003, you ancient crone.

avant-garde

drawing feet

avant garde art

picasso weeping woman - All right. Viola doesn't feel quite so replaceable, since this was Rodin's spot in 2003.

art theory - Which is what this website is about, or was intended to be before having to spend the last couple of years on a commercial endeavor to support it. Yet, why isn't "art theory" at the top? Because search engines can't read between words any better than homo sapiens, and because the internet is creating a society even more kitsch than what it was before the interface. A couple of years ago I was forced to attempt to sell my library of several hundred books, books I'd gone hungry to acquire to advance my education. Which was as pointless as several hundred books consuming space and collecting dust. Call it fortunate or otherwise but I lost only two good books to the book seller - an English/Spanish dictionary and a history of Rome - along with the twenty or so others which were no great loss at a dollar a piece. The greatest reason by far that my books were not wanted was because they were good books. Translation: not likely to sell well. So I'm still bound to several hundred good books, worthless in every regard. One could think that their value ought be inestimably great due to their unusual degree of worthlessness. And if I'd known when I first created this website what I know now I'd not have bothered as I did. And if I'd known a score or so years ago what I know now I'd not have bothered with art theory, nor education, nor writing, nor truth, nor understanding as I did. But neither could I have pretended while more wisely chasing cleverness, beauty, ego, money and popularity amidst the flock. Which isn't to remark fault: humans are humans like sparrows are sparrows. One doesn't expect humans to be gods any more than on expects chickens to be falcons. So what would I have done? The same, only minus a few blind moves.

qupid.com - Again, I've no notion why, but In 2003 a lot of ghosts looking for "qupid" or "qupid.com" kept landing at my love club page. Call it psychical, call it a quirk, call it what you will, but I was getting traffic intended for a website called Qupidmatch. Any combination of "qupid" was what a lot of people were hunting. Since they were landing at Viola Fair with insistence, and I'd long since done the logo anyway, I thought I might as well call the page Qupid.

drawing hands

postmodern art

2004 index and search engine comparisons:

Google began 2004 with nearly 3 times the performance of Yahoo!, then averaged 3.5 to one until May, dropping back to an average of only 2.6. But in August it regained, pulling an average of 4.5 times better than Yahoo! during the autumn season. Throughout the year Google outperformed MSN, the third major search tool, by an average of only 6.2 to one. But in September Google left MSN behind by more than 10 to 1, then in October by more than 11 to 1, leaving Yahoo! as it's only real competition as a search tool. On November 13th MSN released its beta search engine (now officially released the first week of February, 2005). Perhaps in anticipation, Google immediately followed that release by beginning to double the pages it spiders to over 8 billion. Yet MSN's new engine availed not at all against Google. MSN did even worse, Google outperforming by an average of 13.2 to 1 to the end of the year. Yahoo! also fell back, far back, Google outperforming by 5.7 to one. It would appear that even if MSN and Yahoo! merged forces they would have great difficulty competing against Google. We believe this is creditable to Google's emphasis on democratic search in the interest of preventing the internet from becoming a realm where only the wealthy can be found. Unfortunately this is undermined by the wholesale purchase of nonreciprocal links and other means that the rich will ever find, it being no secret that simply having money gathers immeasurably more fruit than any measure or quality of work without any. Ninety-nine percent of linking on the internet is so much blow, all the more asinine in that it's no different than a junior high school popularity competition with about the same meaningless results. Fine as Google's principles may be, it's guaranteed that the internet will go the same path as all others, neither it nor technology improving life or the world one single iota over what passed before. It exists as noise to give people something to do, and what people do is take. The rest is talk, which also gathers immeasurably more fruit than walk. Who do the latter invite starvation. This has ever been and shall ever be.

Of the three major search engines to follow - Alta Vista, AOL and Ask Jeeves, Ask Jeeves began 2004 notably far ahead, being outperformed by MSN by only 2.6 to one. AOL compared at 3.1 to one. Both dipped dramatically in the warmer months to join Alta Vista pull, then rose again in autumn - AOL gradually, Ask Jeeves suddenly and with no small force in September. But in December, Google made it to appear that MSN and Yahoo! wouldn't be the only sacrifices to their rise, dropping even steady Alta Vista pull by a third. Alta Vista began 2004 weak, but in March began to pull about half the results as Ask Jeeves.

The seventh major search instrument changed in 2004. Netscape dropped out of the picture, to be replaced by DOGPILE, delivering nearly half as well as Alta Vista for the year. DOGPILE is no longer a puppy, but has joined the big-dog heavyweights as a principle search tool.

Other major search instruments: myway, dmoz, alltheweb, earthlink, netscape, websearch, Overture, metacrawler.

Important minor instruments: freeserve, bbc, cometsystems, hotbot, search.com, iwon, comcast, excite, mamma, lycos, vivisimo, bellsouth, webcrawler, ixquick, att.net.

Of note though in no way competitive: virgilio, looksmart, searchalot, searchscout, shopnav.

Search Engine Submittal Is Easy

   1. Submit to dmoz to gain better exposure in Google, AOL and Netscape. Don't be chagrined if you don't see results for quite some time. dmoz is run by volunteer editors. It can take as long as a year for submissions to see response, if any.

   2. To be found in the major search tools that are Alta Vista, DOGPILE and YAHOO! you should to submit to Yahoo Search Submit Express (no longer Overture Site Match). This will also place your website in important engines like Overture, metacrawler, alltheweb, Lycos, excite and webcrawler.

   3. Neither Ask Jeeves, powered by TEOMA, nor MSN any longer accept paid submissions. They've been using the more democratic method which took Google to the top. This may account for the strong increase in the popularity of Ask Jeeves in the last several months, though not, at least thus far, for MSN. Like Google, AOL and Netscape, there is no need to submit to either. But in the event that your web site isn't showing in MSN you can visit their free submission page.

    We also recommend a few choice directories.

    Other information on engines and indexes may be found here and here.

Top 10 referring websites for 2004:

Princeton Online - Again, my thanks to the anonymous artist there, who's referrals make the MSN search engine look relatively ignorant.

JONATHON EARL BOWSER - Trading places with Princeton in 2004. Jonathon Bowser is one of the most gifted artists to be found on the internet. Though I'm partial to his landscapes he's a master of human anatomy. Peculiarly interesting reading on his website as well.

sissySearch - one might wonder what's happening in the attic, but sissySearch is tongue-in-cheek foreplay at it's best. This is a fun, good-feeling website, unmatched by anything since Denver's BJ's Carousel, for people being people with smiles that can't but be. Just the sinners Jesus would be found among when not amidst the presently leprous damned.

Richard Moore is author and web master of the extraordinary Napoleon Guide. A truly amazing web site of several hundred pages worth of Bonaparte. From maps, warfare and the French Revolution to art, films and games, for period history stamped with Napoleon The Napoleon Guide is the singular location on the internet.

Top 100 Art Sites came out of nowhere to take the place of Paintings Directory in 2003.

Paintings Directory.

Bone Art - Run by photographer and web master, Don Cambell, featuring bone art jewelry by the New Zealand Maori.

THE CROP CIRCULAR - Web site of Freddy Silva. The Crop Circular is easily among the three or four crop circle web sites on the internet where one ought visit for expert investigation of crop circle phenomena. Impressive web site.

Beyond the Pale - You're a psychopath? As if who say so weren't, which neither Foucault nor any ability to read at all is requisite to see.

DARKSIDE TATTOO - Parlor in East Haven for tattoo body art on the Northeast coast.

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No one knows where Vio is.