The Online World resources handbook
Verification of Links
The online world is moving faster than ever. New services are launched daily,
something reflected in the frequency of handbook updates.
Verification of links is taken
care of by a robot of sorts. It is a complex software system that regularly
checks chapter by chapter, retrieves web addresses and verifies email
addresses.
Because of this, most of the
handbook's links and addresses are correct. However, several errors are
discovered all the time. The reasons may be simple, as when a webmaster
is moving his files to a new directory, or to a new host. It becomes more
difficult when a service is renamed, and appears in a slightly different
shape on another host.
Some services just disappear.
Maybe the maintainer thought that enough was enough, that there was no fortune
to be made of it after all?
Sometimes, a host is temporarily
unavailable. Maybe they are offline because of technical problems, a software
or hardware upgrade? If the service is great, then these cases are particularly
difficult, for how impatient are we allowed to be?
Usually, we try and try for
a week or so, before taking it out of the handbook. It may then be moved
over to be further checked in a month or two. Rebirths are not uncommon.
Reward for feedback!
In spite of the work of our good robot, errors still occur. So, if you find
one, please lend us a hand.
|