Changes coming to KlezmerShack
Yup. That's the Google logo on the left-side of the KlezmerShack.
For the last few years, the KlezmerShack has been indexed by a rather fine free service called AtomZ. Unfortunately, I exceeded the maximum free pages that AtomZ indexes a couple of years ago. I've been marking a lot of pages "do not index" so that I could direct some content to be findable. In the meantime, Google seems to be doing a better job of spidering just about everything. So, I'm going to give it a try.
But that's not all! If all goes well, you'll start seeing ads on some of the weblog pages starting later this week. Much to my surprise, it turns out that there is an inventory of people advertising who are interested in Jewish Music and Klezmer. I looked over sample ads and they seemed to be for things that could legitimately be of interest to KlezmerShack readers (such as klezmer bands).
I have mixed feelings about accepting ads. I don't have any qualms about supporting the KlezmerShack via targeted advertising, per se, but several people have asked to advertise on the KlezmerShack over the years and I have turned them down lest I be felt to favor one advertiser over someone who isn't an advertiser. In this case, I have no control over who advertises. The aggregator is Google, who seem to be relatively neutral (sometimes, for those who follow Google search results on the search term "Jew", perhaps foolishly so). As is the case with using their search engine, I'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think.
What is important to me is that I explore any reasonable prospects for earning money at the KlezmerShack. Having just obviated the job that pays my bills (my position at Tufts U. ws terminated because I finished what I needed to do, but too fast for new opportunities to open up), I have some incentive to do so. And, of course, if anyone needs a Boston-based project manager with experience in web development and online community, take a look at my resume and let's talk.
In between writing cover letters and project proposals, I'll finally have time (I hope) to update some things here on the KlezmerShack. Number one priority is to move all e-mail addresses into a cloaked database, the better to keep contacts current, and most importantly, the better to fight spam harvesters who see us as prime fishing grounds. Stay tuned.