Language Rocks!

The Open starts on Thursday this week at Turnberry, just 60 miles south from my location in sunny Gourock.

As a keen watcher of golf, I am relishing four days glued to my TV to watch sportsmen at the top of their game exhibit their prowess (and see how they fare against the legendary Scottish deep rough, which is sure to yield plenty of shankers), as well as beautiful scenery of Turnberry with its coastal views, especially of Ailsa Craig.

I checked out the official Open Golf website and was bowled over by the video content available portraying The Open Championship; and the tournament hasn’t even started yet!

They’ve got online videos of press conferences with the golfers, the organisers, helpers such as the Met Office, the course and its environment. Now that’s what I call not just a service to golf fans, but to the web.

Of, course, I’m aware of the phrase “too much information”, but if the information’s available, it’s open to people to provide it, then for individuals to find what is useful to them whilst filtering through the junk. That’s the beauty of the internet, and also the human mind.

Unbeknownst to most web surfers, the world’s most powerful search engine, Google, has the ability to search audio content embedded within online videos. When you search for current events topics on Google, Youtube almost always appears on the first page of search results. Ever wondered why? Well, now you know why: Google not only indexes Youtube’s (and most online video providers’) video’s titles, they search through their audio content to identify keywords and phrases and match them to their users search terms. The most popular and relevant search words and search terms appear higher in the search rankings. So, whoever is responsible for the Open Golf’s website has set the site up well for search engines to recognise and rank highly key golfing terms, either within text content or video content.

I like Tiger Woods and wood (sorry!) love to see him smash some records, but I also love it when a rank outsider bags the most prestigious of golf tournaments in spite of the bookie’s odds. Golf’s an awesome pursuit and like a true neutral I’d always say that golf’s the winner. But…

…Go Padraig Harrington! 3 in a row. It’s never done before!

Having been to the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond a few tmes I know how exciting (and sometimes relaxing) attending live golf tournamant can be. However, I’ll be glued to my TV or watch the highlights online. Even though it’s only 60 miles down the road from me, I can’t face the traffic or the parking.

“See it all, till tomorrow”