Random burblings since 1999
Blogging malaise? Pah, easily solved. Check your stats!
Except it’s not always that easy.
Personally I’ve been using Extreme Tracking for quite a while now, but it’s not that reliable as it seems my “hit count” is always lower there than anywhere else. The Sitemeter site appears to be dead – although I’m sure I received my weekly email from them last week – Re_invigorate appears to have stalled, and the details offered as part of my hosting package are fine for raw numbers but don’t include referrers and whatnot (unless I’m missing something, any 34sp customers wanna put me right?).
So it was with some interest that I read yesterday’s announcement about a new stats package called Mint (not sure the credit card people will be too happy with that…). Created by Shaun Inman it certainly LOOKS very nice, but I think it may only appeal to a certain type of user as it doesn’t have a free (cut-down) offering. I would venture that this is on purpose to ensure the quality of the service remains high, but I think that at $30 a site it’ll still attract some customers. Jon Hicks has more details.
Now, a feel eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a few funny ‘code’ messages appearing at the top of my site a couple of weeks back, and with a huge slice of coincidence (side helping of “who’da thunk it?”) I can now tell you what that was… of course if you didn’t see anything untoward then apologies for wasting the last 6 seconds of your life, please don’t hate me but DO read on..
I spotted a call for testers a few weeks ago and thought I’d give it a go. The details were scant but legitimate, with all that was required to help test this new “web app” was a few lines of PHP on my site as the developer wanted to gather some stats from various sites. Those stats have been whizzing back and forth for the past couple of weeks and it’s only now that I can tell you what it’s for and confirm to myself that I was right with my initial guess (which I didn’t blog about as the testing was to be carried out in “secret”, honest!).
Yes, you’ve guessed it, I was helping test a new stats package! This one is called Vestigo and BETA sign ups are now open. As it’s creator, Ben Sekulowicz, says it’s:
“a community driven visitor tracker – On a basic level, it gives you a (IMO) very good statistics, traffic and trend tracking package… On an entirely new level, you can cross reference your data with everyone else’s – to see how your browser stats compare to similar sites, what people who visit your site look for on other sites and where in the world your visitors come from.”
Can’t say fairer than that I guess. Currently it’s only available for PHP enabled sites, and testing has only included Firefox and Safari but if you ask me, it looks pretty damn good (check out those browser stats!). The accuracy of the stats seems to be pretty spot on as well (in comparison to my host provided stats) and there are some nice touches including a Google Map hack to display the physical location of your visitors.
Update: Just had an email from Ben where he pointed out another neat feature. If you have looked at the screenshot, above, then check out the details you get when you click on the Referrer time link (the “When” column on the left), some more details about the visitor (the location may be off as it is probably based on the IP address).
As always you should remember it’s still in BETA but I always take the view that this is a good thing as you could possibly influence new/improved features in the product. Sign up and have a look.
So there you have it, two new stats packages in one day. What are the chances?
I seem to have a mental block at the moment, so I thought I’d “blog” about it with the hopes that it would break and release me from my “draft post” hell.
You see there are a lot of posts that I start, but never finish. They range from thoughts on the gender split in blogging, to the proposed M74 extension (Glasgow residents take note), my continuing dalliance with the River Clyde, how boring I am, and a couple of meme-like things that I can’t be arsed finishing.
That’s surely a sign that I have bloggers block, not even a meme or two can help me, woe is me indeed (if the was something important enough to inspire woe but it’s not so please don’t feel sorry for me, I have a good life, on the whole, and this little site is increasingly less/more of it).
So I’ve been doing what I normally do when this kind of malaise strikes. Re-design time! Haha. Kidding. Sort of…
Anyway, a couple of things to clear up.
1. As AnnMarie rightly points out, there has been a lot of USA bashing recently, and as is now being demonstrated the people of America ARE helping each other now that they are able to. From my previous post I’d like to clarify that, as was oft heard in my school days, “there’s always one that spoils it for the rest”. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina is what should be focussed on, helping people piece together their lives is THE most important thing. Let’s keep the political ramifications for later (but let’s also agree that they shouldn’t MUSTN’T be forgotten).
2. Er… dammit. I’ve forgotten already. Ohh hang on, just remembered. I’d just like to say that this is not a “please convince me that I’m worthy” post, I’m not looking for sympathy, in fact I’d ask you all to forego any “don’t worry, I get that too” panderings and instead tell it like it is. Go on, be honest, name ONE thing about this site, or what I post on it, that really REALLY annoys you. C’mon you bunch of cowards, come and have a go if you think your hard enough!
And finally I’d just like to say that my new Sennheiser PX100 headphones are the dog’s nads. Especially when PJ Harvey is pounding my eardrums.
Yay! Managed to catch the award show for the Mercury Music Prize this year and it wasn’t half bad. Firstly I’m SOOOOOO glad that Antony & the Johnsons won it as it is easily the most original album I’ve heard for a long time (well since the middle of August at least) and I’m equally glad that the Kaiser Chiefs didn’t win. Phew. Feel a bit sorry for KT Tunstall though. ‘Mon the wee Scots lassie!!
The show itself wasn’t too bad, with some good performances all round (Seth Lakeman in particular) with the sad exception of one of my other favourites The Go Team! who sounded more amateur than an amateur thing that is very very amateur. Pity. However if you ever wanted an indication of why Antony won the prize you just had to listen to that performance of his. What a voice.
Anyway, bravo to the judges as I think you made the right decision, and whether you agree with the winner or not you have to concede that it’s been a bloody good year for British music.
Right, where were we?
Ohh yes, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is still reverberating and is proving surprisingly long in the tooth. Bombarded by images both from the media and from “real people” via internet, we watch and absorb and wonder if we are the only ones who can see the political spinmeisters hard at work in the background. Conspiracy theories lap at our ankles like floodwater, and we are starting to get annoyed that our shoes are getting wet…. hmmm a metaphor too far.
Let’s change tack.
If you had the opportunity to change careers/jobs, and could do anything you wanted, what would you do?
Chatting with my brother-in-law at the weekend, discussing is imminent redundancy package from HP, he mentioned that as he’ll be receiving a lump sum equivalent to almost a year’s salary (tax free) that he was considering doing something completely different. It would certainly be an ideal opportunity, and as he is soon to sell his house and move into his girlfriend’s flat it would seem like the perfect time. But what to do? He mentioned going into the ‘trades’, and I have to admit that doing something other than sitting at a desk for most of the day does have some appeal.
Me?
I think I’d like to do something that involved the outdoors a little more. I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to work with animals, but the more I think about it I think I’d like to try being a wildlife ranger or somesuch. Alas the bank manager may protest (as well as a few other people to whom we owe money) so I’ll have to make do with maintaining our garden and dealing with the cat from across the road.
So, if you had that chance, what would YOU do?
Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor
It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.
So starts each chapter of this wonderful collection of stories, and the essence of the collection is fully contained in that one simple sentence as it is an entire book of quiet happenings and everyday occurances.
The stories are all set in a quiet mid-western town named Lake Wobegon, the kind of no-name town that exists all over the world, an entity within itself where everybody knows everybody else AND their business. Like most small towns the beauty exists in relation the people have with the society they are part of and Garrison Keillor gently introduces characters and buildings with the same soft qualities.
Reading the stories feels familiar, with a million oft-played household dramas reproduced with a gentle humour that only helps to enamour you to the town, the people, and the lives they lead. If you are looking for a quiet read for a lazy day I heartily recommend it, as it was recommended to me.
