When people visit this blog via a search engine, my logs show me the search terms people have used to arrive here. It is both interesting and depressing—I’m flattered you take the time to visit but a more than a little sad that I can’t always provide the information you’re looking for. I’m also amazed at how high up I am in the Google rankings. Do a Google search for “Boston streets” and there I am on the front page, ranked third. Third out of 1,790,000 results! A search for “Boston weather November 2004” finds me second out of 2,570,000. I’m shocked, to say the least, because you just can’t buy that kind of placement. Actually, you can, but I can’t afford it. For all of you who have come to my page looking for various kinds of information, I’m going to reply to some of your search queries. Please note that the Google rankings may have changed since I posted this.
For the individual seeking “street maps of boston 1870s” (8th in Google) I refer you to the Boston Public Library or the Bostonian Society, both of which have collections of fire insurance atlas maps of Boston in the 1870s. You can also find vintage street maps from the time period on Ebay. Or, you can just go to my Boston Streets category, which is what the query refers people to. If there is interest, I may scan a few of my own maps of Boston and make them available via this site.
Someone wanted to find “history ain’t what it used to be” (2nd in Google) and came up with my post “The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be.” If history ain’t what it used to be and the future ain’t what it used to be, I guess we really have entered a post-historical phase which means my work here is done.
From up North via Google Canda comes “Boston fight everyone” (1st on Google). I’m baffled by this, but it led them to the post “Snowball Fight!”
Some poor soul searched for "boston weather records November 2004" (1st on Google) and came up with this post. Apparently they weren't satisfied, and went back to Google to follow another link which brought them right back to the Boston Weather category.
Weather.com brought me a search for "October+25+weather boston". Guess who provided the results? Google, and another blue ribbon first place finish for The City Record and Boston News-letter! Apparently the forecast for that day was a low of 7 celsius, a high of 13 celsius, partly cloudy, and 74% humidity.
I also get a lot of searches for "boston news-letter" (2nd on Google) and "news letter" (3rd on Google). Finally, the search for "best boston books" leads directly to my doorstep and the Boston Books category. A post on the best Boston books makes sense to me, as well as providing the opportunity to make a tiny bit of money--you can order books from Amazon via my site, hint, hint.
Until then, I hope you find what you're looking for.
Boston City Council is unwilling to make more readily available the public stenographic record of Council public meetings.
Posted by: don warner saklad | 28 December 2004 at 08:00