April 25 2006
Google kills Mango Sauce
Mango Sauce is dead and Google is responsible.
This week, a junior Google official decided (wrongly) that Mango Sauce was offensive and arbitrarily pulled the plug on its advertising - leaving the site dead in the water. This may come as quite a shock to 100,000 regular readers and hundreds of local advertisers. It certainly shocked me.
The guy has clearly blundered but there's no right of appeal and Google's global stranglehold on Internet advertising means that there's no alternative source of funding available either. On the face of it, Mango Sauce is finished.
The bad news doesn't stop there. If this stupid blacklisting decision isn't overturned, no website is safe from being crushed by the petty-minded foot-soldiers of Google's unaccountable Internet monopoly. It's all rather Kafkaesque.
In my darkest moment, concerned reader MDS stepped in to cheer me up with some helpful advice.
You might find the decision reversed due to hordes of angry Mangosauce readers emailing their opinion to Google. Google is actually quite responsive to criticism, when it comes in droves, via email.
Today, I'm calling upon thousands of loyal Mango Sauce readers to make their feelings known to Google. This is their email address
but, before you write in, let me fill you in on the whole story. It's quite a farce.
Before we begin, though, I'd first like to dispel any myth that Google can be taken seriously as the web's self-appointed guardian of truth, decency and the American Way.

The only web-publisher in the world permitted to display Google ads alongside sizzling hardcore filth is, in fact, Google. Though some would consider it immoral, the business is obviously far too lucrative for them to pass up.
Google draw their own line at bestiality but any AdSense-funded publisher who has the temerity to mention church-sanctioned marital sex in the missionary position is skating on very thin ice indeed - even if it's done only once a week with the lights off for the sole purpose of making a lovely baby.
April 9 2006
Thai non-immigrant visas in 30 minutes

Alan Taylor: Hon Consul of Thailand at Hull
Waiting in line and being treated like a criminal suspect seems to be the norm when applying for a Thai visa but one unique consulate puts its customers first.
Visa applications are processed in minutes rather than days and its well-designed website gives you clear and unambiguous instructions about how to fill in the forms - which can be downloaded.
Amazingly, you can even book an appointment to visit the Consul General at a mutually convenient time - just like professional people do in the real world - and, if you need advice, he also answers your emails - in perfect English.
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