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In most cases, Google does seem to "de-index" the non-canonical URL, if they process they tag. I put in quotes just because, technically, the page is still in Google's index - as soon as it's not showing up at all (including with "site:"), though, I essentially consider that to be de-indexed. If we can't see it, it might as well not be there. If 301-ing isn't an option, I'd double-check a few things: (1) Is the non-canonical page ranking for anything (including very long-tail terms)? (2) Are there any internal links to the non-canonical URL? These can send a strongly mixed signal. (3) Are there any other mixed signals that might be throwing off the canonical? Examples include canonicals on other pages that contradict this one, 301s/302s that override the canonical, etc.

Jim I agree with Jason and don't think you have anything to worry about. Where you run into trouble is when you are specifically trying to show Google (or any other search engine) something different. For example, if Googlebot was using an IP address from Kansas you'd want to show them the Kansas image just like you show everyone else. Don't complicate things by saying "Show Kansas.jpg to all Kansas IPs, but always show Googlebot the default.jpg file). That would be cloaking. What you are doing is simple IP delivery and it should be safe.

Did you try majestic's fresh index?  It might be more helpful for particularly timely link research. http://www.majesticseo.com/

Hi Jim, An example of two blogs in the same domain is seomoz although the reasoning and application behind this is different than how I understand your intention . I have seen a lot of companies use a combination of /blog. /tech and  /news to great success and I feel this might be relevant to your query. For SEO purposes I think sub folders will be a better choice as I feel your content is related. Definitely compose your blogs for the intended user . If you have the content go for it.