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Google Search Trends 2013 are wrong.
Over the past few years, Google has released a set of listicle-friendly data to stuff into the maws of hungry time-poor journalists. Here’s the list of the biggest recipe searches in Australia for according to their 2013 report – those that are “Most searched – Search topics with the largest search volume”.
The weird thing this year is that it doesn’t add up – at least, if you use the publicly available data from Google Trends that the lists point towards. Here’s how two of Australia’s biggest recipe searches look for “chicken recipe” and “cake recipe” compared to the top few trends that they’ve listed.
Their “Overseas Destinations” chart maps “Disneyland” as the most popular overseas destination searched by Australians. Here’s how that compares to where Australians tend to go overseas on holiday.
Have I missed something? Anyone know why Google is a bit off this year?
I have seen the Bulgarian Ambassador
Originally sent: 2 February 2006
Happy Australia Day and Lunar New Year!
M and I celebrated by going to the Australian Embassy function at Phnom Penh’s most expensive hotel, Raffles, and drinking imported stubbies of Victoria Bitter at their expense. Thanks again, foolish Australian taxpayer. The Australian Embassy paid Raffles to serve the traditional Australian buffet of miniature hamburgers and noodle soup, which as I recall, is generally what I toss on the barbecue each year.
The event also gave M a chance to bail up embassy staff to ask why the Embassy hadn’t made any comment about her organisation’s director being unjustly jailed by Hun Sen when every other organisation in town has given the Cambodian Government an earful. To Hun Sen’s credit, he did let M’s director and a few other political detainees out on bail as a “gift” for the opening of the new American Embassy fortress. As I indulged in a small beefburger or three, M schmooozed her way up the ambassadorial chain as far as Third Secretary, which is a solid achievement given that they were far more interested in the free booze, but in doing so we both missed the chance to meet the Bulgarian Ambassador to Cambodia. To give you an idea of the Australian Embassy’s pulling power, he was by far the most important guest after the local government crony. Apparently, Bulgaria boasts an unbroken diplomatic relationship with Cambodia; a superhuman feat given that diplomacy wasn’t one of the Khmer Rouge’s greatest assets.
On the subject of things that are of Bulgarian diplomatic vintage, M and I bought our own 1970s Vespa from a previous volunteer which seems to run just well enough for me not to be constantly swearing at it. The 150cc two-stroke engine sounds like you’re riding two whipper snippers that have been lashed together which hopefully strikes unbridled fear into the hearts of the surrounding motorists. My workmates asked me why I bought an old motorbike when I could buy a either a new Korean Honda rip-off or a newly-stolen real Honda from Vietnam for a similar price. My answer so far is “no idea”. They all ride things with an electric starter and no clutch whereas I’m trying to give Asia’s stupidest traffic a greater degree of difficulty and own a bike that nobody wants to steal. After a few weeks of riding it, I don’t know how I’ll ever live without it.
I quit my job yesterday which gives me a great sense of catharsis after a few months of not being busy. I’ve got a new marketing job at AMK Cambodia, one of the larger microfinance institutions in town. If anyone wants to know any details regarding the Cambodian monkhood and HIV/AIDS, the time to ask is now.
Melbourne’s Hatted Restaurants 2013
Three hats
Attica, Jacques Reymond, Royal Mail Hotel, Vue de Monde.
Two hats
Cafe Di Stasio, Cutler & Co, Ezard, Flower Drum, Lake House, Loam, Matteo’s, MoVida, The Press Club, Provenance, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Stokehouse, Stefano’s, Tea Rooms of Yarck, Ten Minutes by Tractor.
One hat
Albert St Food & Wine, Bacash, Becco, Bistro Guillaume, Bistro Vue, Cecconi’s Cantina, Church St Enoteca, Circa, Coda, Cumulus Inc, Dandelion, Donovans, Easy Tiger, Embrasse, Estelle Bar & Kitchen, European, Eleonore’s, Gills Diner, Gladioli, Golden Fields, The Grand, Grossi Florentino, Il Bacaro, The Italian, Kenzan, Koots Salle a Manger, Longrain, Maha, Mercer’s, Moon Under Water, MoVida Aqui, Paladarr, Pei Modern, PM24, The Point Albert Park, Sarti, Shoya, Spice Temple, Steer Bar & Grill, Tempura Hajime, Town Hall Hotel, Yu-U, A la Grecque, Annie Smithers’ Bistrot, Bella Vedere, Chris’s Restaurant, La Petanque, The Long Table, Montalto, Neilsons, The River Grill, Scorched, Sunnybrae, Teller, Terminus at Flinders Hotel, Villa Gusto.
File under “vintage knife porn”.
Here’s some mid-1940s(?) Forgecraft Hi-Carbon knives. They still hold their edge.
NGO Development Program Generator
In my last post Dr Maytel requested something that would generate development issues, and seeing that I’d neglected to send her (or anyone) a Christmas card and about half of my friends work for non-government organisations, here it is. You should hassle the UN to support:
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print “$text $text2 $text3”;
print “
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print ‘
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Press reload to inspire a new development program