Internet ProTip:

Sometimes on this blog I’ll need to link to an image. From the archives in 2008, for example, a list of my 10 Favorite Video Games. Many of the linked images are broken at this point – the source was taken down, or moved, or who knows what.

Here’s a thing I learned to do: If I need to share a link to a specific piece of media, rather than hinging my hopes on the server status of an individual blog, I’ll use a link to the relevant Google Results page. So, for example, if I wanted to share an image of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, I’d link you to here instead of here. Check back here in 5 years and see which link is still relevant.

This idea was validated when XKCD’s What If? series applied the technique to help visualize attaching a car to a plane via grappling hook. The author had a specific video game clip in mind, but rather than linking to any particular video which might get pulled down for copyright/whatever reasons, the corresponding YouTube results page will stay relevant though its specific menu of video options fluctuates.