On statistics

If you have ever glanced down at the bottom of the left-hand column (don't bother) you will have seen a pair of icons from Statcounter.com and Sitemeter.com, which provide (overlapping but different) information about visitors to my blog. I resisted putting the counters for several months after I started blogging, feeling that knowing how many people were reading might influence my writing, but that hasn't happened so far. Perhaps that might be different if I had 12 thousand page views per month (as Mindy recently noted), but I would hope not.

I look at these three times a week or so (because the free version of Statcounter only stores the most recent 100 page-loads), to see who's been here recently. The stats are pretty abstract, they tell me (among other things) the browser you use, your operating system version, the city where your ISP resides and the IP address you are currently using. Statcounter goes one further and also tells me how many times you have viewed the blog. (The current record-holder is my sister, in both first (home) and third (office) places.)

Nonetheless, this abstract information is often enough to identify regular visitors (I can guess which Opera user in College Station TX reads my blog, and who is reading from Lisbon Lisboa); and if you leave a comment, then I can cross-link the time of your visit with the time that you posted. Gotcha.

And you thought the Internet was anonymous?

My sister needs to keep on her toes, though, because there is a new contender: catching up fast at 200 page-loads is a reader in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan whom I have not yet identified. At first I thought that I knew who it was, but then I noticed that the visitor always uses a Windows XP machine. Puzzling: the person I thought of has a brand-new Mac.

Another puzzler is the reader in Anchorage, Alaska, who has been here 19 times but as far as I can tell has not yet left a comment.

Please say "hello" next time, you two: I like to know who's reading. (If you don't wish to comment publicly, then use the mail address at the top left.)

In other news, it's Springsteen day here in Udgeland. It doesn't happen often, but when the bug bites there is no denying it. I was lustily singing along, but this stanza caught in my throat:

Girl you're looking at two big spenders
Why the world don't know what me and Wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile I'll give mine all to you.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In other other news, I have finally discovered Who I Really Am.



Neo, the "One". Neo is the computer hacker-turned-Messiah of the Matrix. He leads a small group of human rebels against the technology that controls them. Neo doubts his ability to lead but doesn't want to disappoint his friends. His goal is for a world where all men know the Truth and are free from the bonds of the Matrix.

Neo: 63%
James Bond, Agent 007: 58% (I hope they mean Sean Connery!)
Indiana Jones: 58%
Maximus: 54%
The Amazing Spider-Man: 54%
William Wallace: 50%
Lara Croft: 50%
The Terminator: 42%
Batman, the Dark Knight: 42%
El Zorro: 38%
Captain Jack Sparrow: 29%

I had to look up Maximus, William Wallace (mea culpa) and Capt. Sparrow.

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
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