I started by searching for this site, first using the search term "coda", then "coda.coza", then "coda.co.za".
The first result when searching for the title of my site, "coda.coza", was the following URL: www.blogwise.com/go.php?uid=1188. How odd. Then, I didn't appear within the first few pages of results when searching for "coda", whereas in Google I'm the 12th result.

So I decided to submit my sites, hoping that would improve their rankings, only to receive this message:

"Please Upgrade Your Browser
...
To view this site you must use: Microsoft® Internet Explorer or Netscape® Navigator 4.0 or higher"

Not only is this message a pile of stinkin' baloney, it's unreadable too (black text on dark blue). And what exactly does it have to do with MSN Advertising, as the page title suggests?

Next. MSN Search contains, above the search box, the a date. When I visited, it reported this date as the 14th. Today is the 15th. Even the expectingly localized UK mirror gets this wrong.

And then I have to wonder, who (what) decided that, for example, the Advanced Search URL should be http://g.msn.com/0SEENUS/44 as apposed to something readable, such as http://msnsearch.com/advanced. Is this a limitation of their system or do they just not care about showcasing it's ability to provide it's users with readable, understandable addresses.

Side-note: this post will probably become obsolete when web searching is made native to the Microsoft OS. But even then one has to wonder whether quality (Google) will win over dominance.

Another side-note: I removed the archive lists (from the bottom of the right-hand column) from my blog pages because Google insisted on indexing the page containing the keyword in those links, rather than that actual archived page itself.

UPDATE: Google on the desktop, by Adam Kalsey

UPDATE: I'm now the 10th result in a Google search for 'coda' - how'd that happen? :)

Heh! Good luck with your drivers test on Wednesday. And don't forget to do that stupid paralysis-inducing 90° head-turn observation on all side roads, if you don't get that right they bust you big time. Well... that's in Belville anyway. And when you've passed there'll be no excuse to come visit us more often!

The 8th ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony at the Newlands Stadium starts in five hours. The wind is a bit nasty, but they've prepared for any conditions so it should go off well. Very exciting stuff!

Lastly, some Daypop Top 40 links:

American Pie: 'Downing St dossier plagiarised' - channel4.com news

"The government's carefully co-ordinated propaganda offensive has taken an embarrassing hit after Downing Street was accused of plagiarism."

Anti Microsoft: 'Why doesn't MSN Work with Opera?' by Håkon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software and the man who proposed the CSS concept in 1994

"Microsoft and MSN have a history of trying to stop people from using the Opera browser. When trying to access MSN.com using the Opera7 browser, there are two visible problems. The purpose of this page is to document, in technical terms, what is going on."