Sorry about the log-in request for a few hours today. It appeared when posted the Lost Tales item, and even occurred when I was showing just that post alone, so it seemed to be a mysterious adjunct to the video.This was odd as there is no unusual code in that post.
Anyway, after some thinking time, I realised that it must have been a coincidence, and that something else was to blame. I went through my blogroll and found – and removed – the offending entry, so the problem no longer exists here.
It is a clumsy way for this to be handled at 'the other end' when one hasn't even tried to access the actual site that has now gone: it should just show a blank entry in the blogroll. I periodically weed out dead links anyway, so there really is no need for the (former) hosting company to do what this one did. It happens very rarely, so obviously isn't necessary as I am always finding 'blogs that have gone, but they don't generate errors here...
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Website Design
I have, over the years, received a handful of comments regarding this 'blog site's design – nearly all complimentary, I probably out to add, just in case anyone jumps to an erroneous conclusion. It has occurred to me that a few lines of explanation of my policy on this topic could be of value, so here goes...
First, although I don't wish for things to get stale, by and large I don't fiddle with the design of thew site. There have been occasions when new templates have been worth implementing (twice in more than five years) and many more times when they haven't. My on-line user names and website addresses remain constant, as does my email address.
All this is so that the customer (for want of a better term) is not expected to cope with bewildering changes in design, having to amend email address book entries or bookmarks – or anything else. It is born out of respect for the user, rather than (perhaps) satisfying my ego by showing how clever I am, or whatever.
The only part of this site's design I have changed for several years now is the banner, and that remains essentially the same with just detail changes to reflect shifts in emphasis over time.
On the subject of the banner, note how small it is relative to those of many other sites, in particular its height. This is deliberate, as far too many sites I know and access regularly have such a big banner that one has to scroll down a page to get to any actual content. Now, I don't know about you, but when I visit a website, it tends to be for content, usually new material, not a screenful of the same old banner image that was exactly the same last time and that I do not need (again!) to tell me what the site is about.
Notice that my modest banner – which no doubt has its faults, I do not deny – conveys all that even a first-time a visitor here might wish to know before reading anything I have written, but in a much more modest space. I don't go in for the in-yer-face egotistical style of site design, but still do the job. I'm sure the end result is far from perfect, but it always but always places the visitor's needs above those of the site author. Regulars here will no doubt have noticed the same attitude manifested in numerous other ways as well.
Y'see: the effort I put in impacts only one person, but can save dozens, scores, or (occasionally) hundreds of others having to make an easily avoidable exercise – and this is why I have consistently over the years made that effort, and I think it shows!
First, although I don't wish for things to get stale, by and large I don't fiddle with the design of thew site. There have been occasions when new templates have been worth implementing (twice in more than five years) and many more times when they haven't. My on-line user names and website addresses remain constant, as does my email address.
All this is so that the customer (for want of a better term) is not expected to cope with bewildering changes in design, having to amend email address book entries or bookmarks – or anything else. It is born out of respect for the user, rather than (perhaps) satisfying my ego by showing how clever I am, or whatever.
The only part of this site's design I have changed for several years now is the banner, and that remains essentially the same with just detail changes to reflect shifts in emphasis over time.
On the subject of the banner, note how small it is relative to those of many other sites, in particular its height. This is deliberate, as far too many sites I know and access regularly have such a big banner that one has to scroll down a page to get to any actual content. Now, I don't know about you, but when I visit a website, it tends to be for content, usually new material, not a screenful of the same old banner image that was exactly the same last time and that I do not need (again!) to tell me what the site is about.
Notice that my modest banner – which no doubt has its faults, I do not deny – conveys all that even a first-time a visitor here might wish to know before reading anything I have written, but in a much more modest space. I don't go in for the in-yer-face egotistical style of site design, but still do the job. I'm sure the end result is far from perfect, but it always but always places the visitor's needs above those of the site author. Regulars here will no doubt have noticed the same attitude manifested in numerous other ways as well.
Y'see: the effort I put in impacts only one person, but can save dozens, scores, or (occasionally) hundreds of others having to make an easily avoidable exercise – and this is why I have consistently over the years made that effort, and I think it shows!
Monday, 1 July 2013
One Word
People have been asking me if the political side of my blogging might return one day. It's possible; but for now I am generally limiting myself to the weekly digest. What I needed to do was to cease political blogging first, to then provide space for signs pointing me toward the next phase of my life. I have had such occurrences before.
If so such sign is forthcoming within a reasonable time, I shall no doubt have a re-think then, probably a few weeks hence. It wasn't that strong a feeling at the time that something was about to happen, anyway.
In the meantime, I have had a request from one of those enquirers to sum up what I did during those five years or so in a single word. This initially proved difficult, as there were so many words that could have described at least an aspect or two of my efforts.
In the end, the word I settled on was forensic. It was that analytical, detailed and thorough approach I so often took that left no room for doubt or for my target (typically, though not only or always, Labour) to find a way to wriggle out of. Indeed, despite early attempts to do so, local Labour specifically – and known Labour trolls from further afield – found they had to give up as they were simply digging a deeper hole for themselves by persisting.
When such comments here dried up, they preferred to use their own platforms to try to combat what was in a few instances of my forensic blogging, but I'd often find that and comment there, keeping a copy of my comment in case it wasn't published so I could show (a) what I had written there and (b) that they had censored it out of existence, at least at its intended destination.
They found, after several such attempts, that this approach wasn't working to their benefit either, as I was able to counter just about anything and everything they tried on, so in more recent times they did the only thing they still could in order to avoid (or at least minimise) their self-harm: they ignored me, at least publicly.
Had I suddenly lost my relevance? No: behind the scenes they were following my writings even more avidly than ever. Even those local Labour folk I had never previously met gave the game away when I did meet them through give-away clues that either slipped out naturally or that I was able to eke out of them through carefully-worded conversation.
I have mentioned in the past how local Labour, especially on Medway Council, had for years been most afraid of me and a couple of other Conservatives then on the Council, so much so that they set their leading attack dog (technically an attack bitch, but that term is often misused nowadays) specifically onto me, to heckle, barrack and make snide comments about me in the council chamber.
It was the same individual and her live-in partner (then: they have since married) who tried bringing spurious complaints about me to the Standards Board for England and other out-of-the-chamber activities, and I have reason to believe that either they or someone else in local Labour also tried another nasty attack on me only this year – so they still feared and hated me even then.
My writings over the past half-decade hopefully helped people think things through more accurately for themselves, and in theory they should now be capable of doing so without assistance from me. Once you learn how to do something, and why, it stays with you, so I don't really need to keep banging the drum. Despite this, there have been a number of local (and national) issues that I could, I think, have made useful contributions to via this 'blog, and they have had to pass me by during these past several weeks.
I think the best way to look at the possibility of resuming a more active and regular political blogging régime than the weekly digests is to see what happens in my life during this month (i.e. July) and re-evaluate the situation toward the end of that period.
"Forensic John" might (or might not) then return in some form...
If so such sign is forthcoming within a reasonable time, I shall no doubt have a re-think then, probably a few weeks hence. It wasn't that strong a feeling at the time that something was about to happen, anyway.
In the meantime, I have had a request from one of those enquirers to sum up what I did during those five years or so in a single word. This initially proved difficult, as there were so many words that could have described at least an aspect or two of my efforts.
In the end, the word I settled on was forensic. It was that analytical, detailed and thorough approach I so often took that left no room for doubt or for my target (typically, though not only or always, Labour) to find a way to wriggle out of. Indeed, despite early attempts to do so, local Labour specifically – and known Labour trolls from further afield – found they had to give up as they were simply digging a deeper hole for themselves by persisting.
When such comments here dried up, they preferred to use their own platforms to try to combat what was in a few instances of my forensic blogging, but I'd often find that and comment there, keeping a copy of my comment in case it wasn't published so I could show (a) what I had written there and (b) that they had censored it out of existence, at least at its intended destination.
They found, after several such attempts, that this approach wasn't working to their benefit either, as I was able to counter just about anything and everything they tried on, so in more recent times they did the only thing they still could in order to avoid (or at least minimise) their self-harm: they ignored me, at least publicly.
Had I suddenly lost my relevance? No: behind the scenes they were following my writings even more avidly than ever. Even those local Labour folk I had never previously met gave the game away when I did meet them through give-away clues that either slipped out naturally or that I was able to eke out of them through carefully-worded conversation.
I have mentioned in the past how local Labour, especially on Medway Council, had for years been most afraid of me and a couple of other Conservatives then on the Council, so much so that they set their leading attack dog (technically an attack bitch, but that term is often misused nowadays) specifically onto me, to heckle, barrack and make snide comments about me in the council chamber.
It was the same individual and her live-in partner (then: they have since married) who tried bringing spurious complaints about me to the Standards Board for England and other out-of-the-chamber activities, and I have reason to believe that either they or someone else in local Labour also tried another nasty attack on me only this year – so they still feared and hated me even then.
My writings over the past half-decade hopefully helped people think things through more accurately for themselves, and in theory they should now be capable of doing so without assistance from me. Once you learn how to do something, and why, it stays with you, so I don't really need to keep banging the drum. Despite this, there have been a number of local (and national) issues that I could, I think, have made useful contributions to via this 'blog, and they have had to pass me by during these past several weeks.
I think the best way to look at the possibility of resuming a more active and regular political blogging régime than the weekly digests is to see what happens in my life during this month (i.e. July) and re-evaluate the situation toward the end of that period.
"Forensic John" might (or might not) then return in some form...
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Parish Notice – 28 May 2013
Don't worry: I'm still here!
I have been going through a lot of material this past day (and more) in an attempt to find items that visitors should find interesting and/or amusing. This has included the usual music videos, plus railway journeys (including inside the cab or on the footplate, as appropriate to the engine) and an interesting look at some hidden and secret places such as the long-disused Aldwych station.
Although I have found a number of these enjoyable for me, for one reason or another they haven't really been good enough to put up here.
Therefore do please forgive this hiatus: believe me, it isn't for lack of effort on my part!
I have been going through a lot of material this past day (and more) in an attempt to find items that visitors should find interesting and/or amusing. This has included the usual music videos, plus railway journeys (including inside the cab or on the footplate, as appropriate to the engine) and an interesting look at some hidden and secret places such as the long-disused Aldwych station.
Although I have found a number of these enjoyable for me, for one reason or another they haven't really been good enough to put up here.
Therefore do please forgive this hiatus: believe me, it isn't for lack of effort on my part!
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Pageviews without Politics
As I surmised, the changes to this 'blog of mine have resulted in a significant drop in daily page-views, now typically just 250 to 350 per day (now it has settled), which represents a drop of around a third. It could have had a bigger effect than that...
So, that's where I now am, and I think it's more representative of what is really going on than what I was seeing before the clear-out.
On that topic, I have had a couple of enquiries, and to those who have asked 'why?' I repeat that I have a strong feeling that a new challenge is soon to come along and that I shall need to be rid of any political 'baggage' beforehand. I have learned to trust such feelings, so took the difficult but necessary step of removing all that material from this 'blog.
It's surely not that hard to understand...
So, that's where I now am, and I think it's more representative of what is really going on than what I was seeing before the clear-out.
On that topic, I have had a couple of enquiries, and to those who have asked 'why?' I repeat that I have a strong feeling that a new challenge is soon to come along and that I shall need to be rid of any political 'baggage' beforehand. I have learned to trust such feelings, so took the difficult but necessary step of removing all that material from this 'blog.
It's surely not that hard to understand...
Friday, 3 May 2013
Politics No More
Something I have been considering doing for a while now is abandoning the political side of my 'blog.
From the attitudes and (veiled, dishonest) hostility even from my own side of the political divide that really came to a head nearly three years ago and has continued ever since, I reasoned that it probably wasn't worth it. I have held off until today's Kent County Council election results came in, but have now deleted just about all the posts that had a political aspect.
In a sense, last week's exercise was part of the same process. Now I shall post no more political material here, and the only political tweets anyone will get from me from now on will (normally) be re-tweets of someone else's contribution(s).
I might also completely re-design my banner, or I might just amend it to suit: I haven't yet decided...
From the attitudes and (veiled, dishonest) hostility even from my own side of the political divide that really came to a head nearly three years ago and has continued ever since, I reasoned that it probably wasn't worth it. I have held off until today's Kent County Council election results came in, but have now deleted just about all the posts that had a political aspect.
In a sense, last week's exercise was part of the same process. Now I shall post no more political material here, and the only political tweets anyone will get from me from now on will (normally) be re-tweets of someone else's contribution(s).
I might also completely re-design my banner, or I might just amend it to suit: I haven't yet decided...
Friday, 26 April 2013
Parish Notice 26 April 2013 – Oops!
I have been clearing out old posts, partly because my space allocations (primarily for images) was getting low, and because a number of links and embedded videos were no longer current.
I decided (on close inspection) that everything more than a year old ought to go: it was a hard decision, but picking and choosing would achieve little if anything of value. The older posts have served their purpose, and I and my readers can safely move on. Hopefully there aren't any remaining links in the posts that remain to any of those that have now gone; but I apologise in advance if I have missed any.
There has been an 'oops' moment, though, when – in one of those annoying (and all too frequent) Blogger jam-ups when one has to force a page re-load to get any response at all, the page of posts I was on switched back to the most recent. That's a bug (one of many in Blogger) as the page ID was clearly part of the displayed URL.
Anyway, as I had also just been interrupted by a courier asking me to take in a parcel for one of the other flats here, I wasn't quite with-it enough to realise what had happened. Therefore I have accidentally deleted the last three dozen or so posts – so, if you wonder where they have gone, that's the reason!
It's just one of those days today...
ADDENDUM: A few of the older posts were still bringing in fairly high daily pageviews, so were skewing current figures upward, which was misleading. I'd had a feeling about this for a while, having been mentally noting the page-views for each of the most recent few dozen posts and realising that my daily figures were too much higher than they ought to have been.
Of course there'd be some element of popular and more timeless posts contributing to current statistics, but not that much. Therefore this clean-out should henceforth result in more appropriate numbers, and I shall be watching to see just how much difference this exercise makes in practice.
UPDATE: I've just discovered that my original one Gigabyte limit has been increased to 5 GB, so I needn't have bothered with this exercise anyway(!)
I decided (on close inspection) that everything more than a year old ought to go: it was a hard decision, but picking and choosing would achieve little if anything of value. The older posts have served their purpose, and I and my readers can safely move on. Hopefully there aren't any remaining links in the posts that remain to any of those that have now gone; but I apologise in advance if I have missed any.
There has been an 'oops' moment, though, when – in one of those annoying (and all too frequent) Blogger jam-ups when one has to force a page re-load to get any response at all, the page of posts I was on switched back to the most recent. That's a bug (one of many in Blogger) as the page ID was clearly part of the displayed URL.
Anyway, as I had also just been interrupted by a courier asking me to take in a parcel for one of the other flats here, I wasn't quite with-it enough to realise what had happened. Therefore I have accidentally deleted the last three dozen or so posts – so, if you wonder where they have gone, that's the reason!
It's just one of those days today...
ADDENDUM: A few of the older posts were still bringing in fairly high daily pageviews, so were skewing current figures upward, which was misleading. I'd had a feeling about this for a while, having been mentally noting the page-views for each of the most recent few dozen posts and realising that my daily figures were too much higher than they ought to have been.
Of course there'd be some element of popular and more timeless posts contributing to current statistics, but not that much. Therefore this clean-out should henceforth result in more appropriate numbers, and I shall be watching to see just how much difference this exercise makes in practice.
UPDATE: I've just discovered that my original one Gigabyte limit has been increased to 5 GB, so I needn't have bothered with this exercise anyway(!)
Monday, 25 March 2013
In Pause Mode
As far as news, comment and current affairs are concerned, I have been in 'pause mode' since the new post-Leveson regulation framework came into being, apparently taking effect in respect of material published from Saturday just gone. This still isn't clear, but I am taking no chances...
Other topics (for I am lucky in having a multi-dimensional menu) are meanwhile continuing as normal.
I hear that an amendment is being presented by a Peer a little later today, which if accepted will exempt small blogging outfits and indeed all those covered by a specified definition in the Companies Act(s).
Once the outcome of that is known, and what the precise status of bloggers such as myself is and from when, I shall resume my former activities at the appropriate time, which might be immediately or it may need to await the completion of certain processes first.
We shall see; and in the meantime, that's as much as I shall write about the subject until there is further news, except to say that it is a fitting topic for Medway Monday, so I am featuring this post in that weekly exercise today.
UPDATE @ 1500 hrs: The amendment has been presented comfortably before the deadline (which passed barely a minute ago as I write this update). Guido has the details. If it should be accepted in the form given there, it means that local political bloggers will need to concentrate their commentary and reporting on a specific area, rather than deal with national issues except incidentally where related to something about which they are writing.
This will mean a shift in emphasis for me and for many others as well, so still isn't ideal as there is no reason why that should have to happen. I'm sure lots of dodges will be devised by others to get around such a restriction if it ends up incorporated into the final version of the Bill and passed, though I expect to play it straight, as ever, and just live with it.
Other topics (for I am lucky in having a multi-dimensional menu) are meanwhile continuing as normal.
I hear that an amendment is being presented by a Peer a little later today, which if accepted will exempt small blogging outfits and indeed all those covered by a specified definition in the Companies Act(s).
Once the outcome of that is known, and what the precise status of bloggers such as myself is and from when, I shall resume my former activities at the appropriate time, which might be immediately or it may need to await the completion of certain processes first.
We shall see; and in the meantime, that's as much as I shall write about the subject until there is further news, except to say that it is a fitting topic for Medway Monday, so I am featuring this post in that weekly exercise today.
UPDATE @ 1500 hrs: The amendment has been presented comfortably before the deadline (which passed barely a minute ago as I write this update). Guido has the details. If it should be accepted in the form given there, it means that local political bloggers will need to concentrate their commentary and reporting on a specific area, rather than deal with national issues except incidentally where related to something about which they are writing.
This will mean a shift in emphasis for me and for many others as well, so still isn't ideal as there is no reason why that should have to happen. I'm sure lots of dodges will be devised by others to get around such a restriction if it ends up incorporated into the final version of the Bill and passed, though I expect to play it straight, as ever, and just live with it.
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Blogging Post-Leveson
It looks like the proposed Royal Charter – which in itself is probably the least bad of the "have to do something" options that became an unavoidable route to take in a coalition government situation – will include bloggers, as this highlighted extract from the Crime and Courts Bill shows...
I found the above at Cranmer's site, where he has gone into this matter to a fair degree. I suspect it's an unintended consequence as far as the Conservatives within government are concerned, but no doubt deliberately included by officials in this way, in furtherance of a different agenda (which is so easy for the Mandarins with a coalition government).
The 'in the course of a business' wording might exclude bloggers, but this will need definitive legal clarification. Otherwise a number of us are going to have to move the hosting of our 'blogs to an overseas server. I don't think we'll also need to physically leave the country, fortunately!
This really is a terrible way for our nation to go; though I can see that there wasn't a great deal of choice on this in practice, and it will have to do as a stopgap measure until wiser heads prevail and the whole thing can be dropped from statute, probably just a few years hence if we get a majority Conservative Government in 2015.
There are one or two other unknowns as well: if we stop writing about current affairs in England and/or Wales, does earlier material have to be taken down or can it stay on the new-direction 'blog? It can't go completely, of course, as it's all archived automatically at various locations around the world. Therefore there isn't any sense in practical terms in enforcing removal of earlier material if one doesn't join this scheme and thus agree to be bound by it.
That last bit is the key, of course; and already Guido has started a petition, which I have signed, to tell those who wish to censor on-line comment in general just where they can go...
For myself, this 'blog has a much wider remit than just current affairs, so I shall not need to cease blogging; and there are other ways to get material published and 'intell' fed out to others abroad where they can use it in much the same way as I do myself at present. Those whose 'blogs are entirely (say) politics-focused will not have that fall-back position, should it turn out to be a no-no to continue on their present path.
Anyway; we shall have to see what comes of the eventual Charter and its legal interpretation on the above points and (no doubt) numerous others. I shall, naturally enough, be monitoring all of that as it unfolds in the weeks and months to come...
I found the above at Cranmer's site, where he has gone into this matter to a fair degree. I suspect it's an unintended consequence as far as the Conservatives within government are concerned, but no doubt deliberately included by officials in this way, in furtherance of a different agenda (which is so easy for the Mandarins with a coalition government).
The 'in the course of a business' wording might exclude bloggers, but this will need definitive legal clarification. Otherwise a number of us are going to have to move the hosting of our 'blogs to an overseas server. I don't think we'll also need to physically leave the country, fortunately!
This really is a terrible way for our nation to go; though I can see that there wasn't a great deal of choice on this in practice, and it will have to do as a stopgap measure until wiser heads prevail and the whole thing can be dropped from statute, probably just a few years hence if we get a majority Conservative Government in 2015.
There are one or two other unknowns as well: if we stop writing about current affairs in England and/or Wales, does earlier material have to be taken down or can it stay on the new-direction 'blog? It can't go completely, of course, as it's all archived automatically at various locations around the world. Therefore there isn't any sense in practical terms in enforcing removal of earlier material if one doesn't join this scheme and thus agree to be bound by it.
That last bit is the key, of course; and already Guido has started a petition, which I have signed, to tell those who wish to censor on-line comment in general just where they can go...
For myself, this 'blog has a much wider remit than just current affairs, so I shall not need to cease blogging; and there are other ways to get material published and 'intell' fed out to others abroad where they can use it in much the same way as I do myself at present. Those whose 'blogs are entirely (say) politics-focused will not have that fall-back position, should it turn out to be a no-no to continue on their present path.
Anyway; we shall have to see what comes of the eventual Charter and its legal interpretation on the above points and (no doubt) numerous others. I shall, naturally enough, be monitoring all of that as it unfolds in the weeks and months to come...
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Bloggle
As a follow-up to the very successful Bloggers' Forum three months or so ago, the same people arranged what they have called a Bloggle event at the same venue. It was held earlier this evening, and I went along.
I was the oldest there, as nearly all the others were twenty-somethings or perhaps a little older in a few cases: there were six fellas (including me) with thirteen ladies. For this first Bloggle we first sat around a large table in the same meeting room as for the forum (when we didn't have the tables) to introduce ourselves and our blogging experience and leanings.
That part is unlikely to be needed at future Bloggles, as the group is expected to remain much the same and we now know each other. The rest of the evening was a free-form mingling in pairs and groups, with several writers in the ensemble and a similar number of photographers – so in a way it was a kind of battle of words against pictures(!)
Tonight's event promises to be just the first of a whole string of these periodic gatherings of local bloggers, and some good news to come out of it is that a mechanism has now been put in place to list and link to all our 'blogs both locally and in a Kent-wide directory.
We are also starting a weekly posting exercise of something local to a centralised Rochester-based website, along the lines of Silent Sunday and Wordless Wednesday, of which at least two local bloggers participate in one or the other. Our Medway Monday will probably have words, though, as well as or as much as images like the others, if I understood what was being proposed correctly. I await instructions on this before it starts, probably next Monday.
Meanwhile, it was another useful event, and I tried to be helpful in making suggestions in regard to a couple of issues raised. I also learned about a site called Nun Shenanigans that two of those there also run, besides their main blog-sites. It's certainly a little different, though it's a pity it hasn't been updated sine February of last year...
I was the oldest there, as nearly all the others were twenty-somethings or perhaps a little older in a few cases: there were six fellas (including me) with thirteen ladies. For this first Bloggle we first sat around a large table in the same meeting room as for the forum (when we didn't have the tables) to introduce ourselves and our blogging experience and leanings.
That part is unlikely to be needed at future Bloggles, as the group is expected to remain much the same and we now know each other. The rest of the evening was a free-form mingling in pairs and groups, with several writers in the ensemble and a similar number of photographers – so in a way it was a kind of battle of words against pictures(!)
Tonight's event promises to be just the first of a whole string of these periodic gatherings of local bloggers, and some good news to come out of it is that a mechanism has now been put in place to list and link to all our 'blogs both locally and in a Kent-wide directory.
We are also starting a weekly posting exercise of something local to a centralised Rochester-based website, along the lines of Silent Sunday and Wordless Wednesday, of which at least two local bloggers participate in one or the other. Our Medway Monday will probably have words, though, as well as or as much as images like the others, if I understood what was being proposed correctly. I await instructions on this before it starts, probably next Monday.
Meanwhile, it was another useful event, and I tried to be helpful in making suggestions in regard to a couple of issues raised. I also learned about a site called Nun Shenanigans that two of those there also run, besides their main blog-sites. It's certainly a little different, though it's a pity it hasn't been updated sine February of last year...
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Pageviews for December 2012
Here's the graph for the past month's pageviews of this 'blog...
I'm putting these monthly graphs up here primarily to indicate any trend that might thus be revealed; though I can also state that the posts that are getting more pageviews than others are, broadly, the anime/Vocaloid items. It's not universal, but that's one kind of trend I can readily perceive from the blogpost-level statistics that I can read here at any time.
I am a little surprised, as I hadn't thought the readership here was (yet?) anywhere near as fully taken with this topic as I am – but there it is, clearly shown in my detailed statistics. Of course, this gives me the excuse to post more of the same – but I shall be very selective and somewhat sparing.
For every three or four minutes of video of either of those categories, be assured that I shall have rejected (though enjoyed!) at least a couple of hours-worth of other material. I really am that picky when it comes to my readership here; and a few of the borderline examples that didn't make it have been particularly sad to have to exclude.
It looks like I am generally getting it right, as I typically get 400 to 600 pageviews a day, which for a backwater 'blog like this is quite good going, and a significant increase from, say, a year ago, building up during this past year from a typical 11,000 or so pageviews per month in early 2012 to a consistent 14,000-plus monthly in recent times.
While none of this matters to any degree in the grand scheme of things, each of us is, in effect, tasked with doing our own bit to contribute to society as a whole in whatever way we are best suited.
My own method is to provide a good mix of light and shade, serious and not so much, on various topics (but mostly constrained to a specific range of categories), and as to make my posts as well-researched and authoritative as I reasonably can. I do the work, behind the scenes, so you don't have to – or at least, that's the theory!
Thus this 'blog does still have some (minor) significance and (hopefully) some value, and none of us should ever forget either th principle that I just mentioned or the specific things that each of us does in this regard. We all have a part to play!
This is one part of my own contribution...
I'm putting these monthly graphs up here primarily to indicate any trend that might thus be revealed; though I can also state that the posts that are getting more pageviews than others are, broadly, the anime/Vocaloid items. It's not universal, but that's one kind of trend I can readily perceive from the blogpost-level statistics that I can read here at any time.
I am a little surprised, as I hadn't thought the readership here was (yet?) anywhere near as fully taken with this topic as I am – but there it is, clearly shown in my detailed statistics. Of course, this gives me the excuse to post more of the same – but I shall be very selective and somewhat sparing.
For every three or four minutes of video of either of those categories, be assured that I shall have rejected (though enjoyed!) at least a couple of hours-worth of other material. I really am that picky when it comes to my readership here; and a few of the borderline examples that didn't make it have been particularly sad to have to exclude.
It looks like I am generally getting it right, as I typically get 400 to 600 pageviews a day, which for a backwater 'blog like this is quite good going, and a significant increase from, say, a year ago, building up during this past year from a typical 11,000 or so pageviews per month in early 2012 to a consistent 14,000-plus monthly in recent times.
While none of this matters to any degree in the grand scheme of things, each of us is, in effect, tasked with doing our own bit to contribute to society as a whole in whatever way we are best suited.
My own method is to provide a good mix of light and shade, serious and not so much, on various topics (but mostly constrained to a specific range of categories), and as to make my posts as well-researched and authoritative as I reasonably can. I do the work, behind the scenes, so you don't have to – or at least, that's the theory!
Thus this 'blog does still have some (minor) significance and (hopefully) some value, and none of us should ever forget either th principle that I just mentioned or the specific things that each of us does in this regard. We all have a part to play!
This is one part of my own contribution...
Saturday, 24 November 2012
Pageviews
I've never been all that clear about how best to interpret pageviews figures for this 'blog, and indeed had ignored such information for most of the past four-and-a-half years that it has been running.
Nonetheless, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to watch them for a while, and report them here, perhaps weekly. As Blogger provides a handy graph of pageview numbers on a range of timescales, it seems easiest to post a suitable image here.
The weekly graph doesn't actually show a great deal, so I shall at least start with the past month's graph, which does at least look interesting and contains enough information to have some signbificance. Here it is, for the last thirty days...
Notice that I have 'good' and 'bad' days, the latter mostly on the weekends as far as I can discern. The occasional peak is less than obvious, in that it is usually nothing to do with any of my very latest posts but something a few days old that has been picked up by some popular indexing site.
Now, I well realise that next to the likes of Guido, Political Betting and Iain Dale these figures are tiny, but from what other local bloggers have been telling me about their own figures, my own are quite respectable within that sector of the blogging scene.
I find this comforting, as I put a lot of effort, thought and research into much of what I post here; and inevitably it is sometimes going to seem hardly worth all of that if it isn't achieving very much. If no-one reads what is here, the information will have no discernible effect.
Anyway, regardless on that, I plan to treat this as an academic exercise, just to see if there is anything useful I can glean from how the pageviews go over time. I haven't yet decided whether to post regularly on the topic or perhaps just to keep the bulk of the weekly data just within my own files. I'll think about that....
Nonetheless, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to watch them for a while, and report them here, perhaps weekly. As Blogger provides a handy graph of pageview numbers on a range of timescales, it seems easiest to post a suitable image here.
The weekly graph doesn't actually show a great deal, so I shall at least start with the past month's graph, which does at least look interesting and contains enough information to have some signbificance. Here it is, for the last thirty days...
Notice that I have 'good' and 'bad' days, the latter mostly on the weekends as far as I can discern. The occasional peak is less than obvious, in that it is usually nothing to do with any of my very latest posts but something a few days old that has been picked up by some popular indexing site.
Now, I well realise that next to the likes of Guido, Political Betting and Iain Dale these figures are tiny, but from what other local bloggers have been telling me about their own figures, my own are quite respectable within that sector of the blogging scene.
I find this comforting, as I put a lot of effort, thought and research into much of what I post here; and inevitably it is sometimes going to seem hardly worth all of that if it isn't achieving very much. If no-one reads what is here, the information will have no discernible effect.
Anyway, regardless on that, I plan to treat this as an academic exercise, just to see if there is anything useful I can glean from how the pageviews go over time. I haven't yet decided whether to post regularly on the topic or perhaps just to keep the bulk of the weekly data just within my own files. I'll think about that....
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Bloggers Forum Photos
It's a bit late to add these to my original post as an update, as many visitors here would undoubtedly miss them; so here – with permission – are the two main photographs from that specific event, which was held in the room I have today discovered is known as The Canvas. Click on the images to display each full sized...
...and there I am, almost in the middle and at the back of the room in the second photo, with the Ginger Liberal Chris Sams on my right (left in the photo) and former Twydall Tory Alan W Collins (mostly hidden!) next to him.
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| Jaye Nolan (centre) and Phil Kane. I didn't catch the other lady's name... |
...and there I am, almost in the middle and at the back of the room in the second photo, with the Ginger Liberal Chris Sams on my right (left in the photo) and former Twydall Tory Alan W Collins (mostly hidden!) next to him.
Monday, 15 October 2012
Parish Notice – 15 October 2012
As I pass the 3,500 post mark (with close to 300,000 pageviews), and realise also that there are some 2,780 comments on this 'blog (including my own responses in comments threads), I feel it might be time to make the nominal 'title' of this 'blog a little less boring than the equivalent of "Hammond of Texas" (a Stargate SG-1 reference, by the way: it's what Jaffa Master Bra'tac calls General Hammond who ran the SGC for years).
Therefore I have tweaked the title to now read – wait for it...
This reflects not only my political stance, but also that I do now live quite close to the River Medway. I haven't changed the banner or anything else, at least not yet, but might do one of these days. I'm thinking about it...
Therefore I have tweaked the title to now read – wait for it...
John Ward: Right by the Medway
This reflects not only my political stance, but also that I do now live quite close to the River Medway. I haven't changed the banner or anything else, at least not yet, but might do one of these days. I'm thinking about it...
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Bloggers Forum
I was one of around twenty local bloggers in this area who participated in a Bloggers Forum this afternoon, which formed a part of the Unfinished event held by Rochester Literary Festival (Roch esterLitFest). The session was facilitated by the wonderful Jaye Nolan of Rochester People fame (and other sites and work).
The start was delayed, so I was able to spend some time beforehand with such Medway blogging luminaries as Alan W Collins (formerly the Twydall Tory) and Chris Sams (the Ginger Liberal) as well as Ed Jennings who no longer blogs as such but does have other on-line activities in the social media.
Once it was time to go upstairs to the venue's fairly large meeting room, what came about was a very interesting one-hour session, covering a range of topics from niche blogging genres via reviewing products to video blogging (vlogs). Not everyone there spoke – although I think a little over half of us did – and I tried to be helpful on a couple of occasions. I might even have succeeded, perhaps once anyway...
Overall it seems to have been judged a successful and worthwhile venture, and it looks as though there could be a programme of regular meet-ups of Medway's bloggers in the future.
When the official write-up and photos taken at the Forum appear, I shall add links as appropriate. I hope it'll be okay to post the group photograph here; but if not I'll leave it at just the link.
The start was delayed, so I was able to spend some time beforehand with such Medway blogging luminaries as Alan W Collins (formerly the Twydall Tory) and Chris Sams (the Ginger Liberal) as well as Ed Jennings who no longer blogs as such but does have other on-line activities in the social media.
Once it was time to go upstairs to the venue's fairly large meeting room, what came about was a very interesting one-hour session, covering a range of topics from niche blogging genres via reviewing products to video blogging (vlogs). Not everyone there spoke – although I think a little over half of us did – and I tried to be helpful on a couple of occasions. I might even have succeeded, perhaps once anyway...
Overall it seems to have been judged a successful and worthwhile venture, and it looks as though there could be a programme of regular meet-ups of Medway's bloggers in the future.
When the official write-up and photos taken at the Forum appear, I shall add links as appropriate. I hope it'll be okay to post the group photograph here; but if not I'll leave it at just the link.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Parish Notice (Updated)
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| My pill collection. I take ten per day... |
It can come out in a way that wasn't what was intended – okay, we all do that to some degree, and sometimes spot things afterward that can be embarrassing, funny or perhaps something else when re-read.
I find this is largely a consequence of the vagaries of the English language and its ever-increasing range of slang expressions) and a simple correction/clarification fixes that. I, though, have recently been losing focus as a direct result of my medication changes, and that gives me pause.
The bottom line is that, for health reasons, it is wise for me to take a break from the political side of blogging, as it's making me too upset and angry for my own good. There might be an odd post here and there, but for now I intend to concentrate on the other topics I cover here. It just isn't worth risking making myself unwell.
Incidentally, the effect on me does not extend to the various Green party bods who are sufficiently worried that their pseudo-science fakery is being exposed here that they are bringing in reinforcements to attack me from outside my own area. They are trying all the usual double-speak stuff and emotional blackmail techniques, which in itself is a warning alarm to anyone who is aware of what they are trying on. No, all of that just produces mirth in me...
Meanwhile, this video deals far better with what made me angry yesterday than I am currently able to do myself (though do excuse the poor sound), read this useful article (but beware the comments are somewhat mixed and need to be read with a little caution – though it's fairly obvious what each commenter's political stance is, which helps) and also note this tweet...
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Parish Notice – Indirect Link to Possible Malware
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| (Image kindly provided by Chris Irvine) |
I couldn't see this at all, so I methodically worked through any links in all my recent posts, and all the way down my (multi-sectioned) blogroll.
It was a useful exercise, and the latter part is one I do periodically anyway, as linked sites are changing, coming (e.g. re-vamped or change their remit) and going all the time.
Some sites are no longer operating, or have been inactive for a very long time, and those I have now removed. A handful of the now-defunct sites have been replaced by what are known as a 'holding page' (to ensure there is something there when one visits, giving an idea of what has happened and frequently offering the now-available sub-domain to a new taker) and it has to have been one of these that contained a link to the 'dodgy' website identified in the above graphic.
It wouldn't have been in any of my 'blog posts anyway, unless a link therein had subsequently been changed, as I am meticulous at checking thos links before including them. Indeed, over the years, there have been a sprinkling of links I haven't included because they looked like they might not stay intact indefinitely.
Anyway, reports coming in have indicated that the issue has now disappeared, so with apologies to anyone who might have encountered that message or any other worrying indications, I can report that it is no longer an issue here. UPDATE: I have now found out which site on my blogroll it was causing this, and that one is among those that have now been removed. As it turned out, there was nothing dodgy there, but presumably there had been in the (recent?) past.
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Videos Advance Notice
Just to let everyone know...
I am still editing my video recordings from last weekend's Bicentenary Dickens Festival, and this weekend am recording at the FUSE Festival. I recorded nearly three GigaBytes of material today, and I might add to that tomorrow, weather and health permitting (I am not very well this evening).
Both finished products should go up during this coming week, in that order – in parts again as it is obvious that, for some reason, YouTube is not handling the longer uploads correctly, despite its perpetual banner reminding me that I am now allowed to upload longer videos.
I mention this now only because I have had a fair amount of interest expressed in these 'event' videos and enquiries about both of these new ones.
Meanwhile, I hope that visitors here have now viewed the rest of the River Festival that I recently added to the original post. There is some good material in the new parts, including the full sail-by of the Kingswear Castle paddle steamer and the complete award ceremony.
I am still editing my video recordings from last weekend's Bicentenary Dickens Festival, and this weekend am recording at the FUSE Festival. I recorded nearly three GigaBytes of material today, and I might add to that tomorrow, weather and health permitting (I am not very well this evening).
Both finished products should go up during this coming week, in that order – in parts again as it is obvious that, for some reason, YouTube is not handling the longer uploads correctly, despite its perpetual banner reminding me that I am now allowed to upload longer videos.
I mention this now only because I have had a fair amount of interest expressed in these 'event' videos and enquiries about both of these new ones.
Meanwhile, I hope that visitors here have now viewed the rest of the River Festival that I recently added to the original post. There is some good material in the new parts, including the full sail-by of the Kingswear Castle paddle steamer and the complete award ceremony.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Parish Notice – 17 March 2012
I am trying out a few configuration options to see what they do and to consider whether any of them should be kept, or discarded after a try-out period. Therefore if something changes, do not be concerned. It might go back again a day or two later, if I don't think it's worth keeping.
One change I've made, here and elsewhere, is to remove references to Medway's bid for City Status, as that is now all over – until the next time...
I've also checked this 'blog's posting statistics: I'm now up to 3,086 posts here, and 2,677 published comments. That might surprise readers, that there has been an average of a little under one comment for every post – or perhaps it might be easier to visualise as one comment for each of seven-out-of-eight posts (actually 86·7%).
Okay, Guido (for example) gets hundreds of comments to most of his posts; but that is to be expected, and a lot of the comments there are just 'noise'. I'd rather have a higher quality of commenting, but do not aim to attract or encourage commenting at all, as it happens (apart from the occasional request for contributions, which don't tend to produce any results, contrarily!)
Although I trundle along quietly enough here, this 'blog is more widely read and more notice is taken of it than many visitors probably realise. It's how I work best: putting facts out there into the public arena, exploding myths, spreading awareness – that kind of thing.
There is a lot of mis-information being put about by those who are well aware of its falsity, and it is only right and proper that such deception is countered by those of us (and there are quite a few about these days) who are known for "playing it straight". Add a fair degree of breadth of topic, of knowledge and of personal experience, but also add in some lighter material for variety and entertainment, and we have what I hope is a place that is worth visiting on a regular basis.
One change I've made, here and elsewhere, is to remove references to Medway's bid for City Status, as that is now all over – until the next time...
I've also checked this 'blog's posting statistics: I'm now up to 3,086 posts here, and 2,677 published comments. That might surprise readers, that there has been an average of a little under one comment for every post – or perhaps it might be easier to visualise as one comment for each of seven-out-of-eight posts (actually 86·7%).
Okay, Guido (for example) gets hundreds of comments to most of his posts; but that is to be expected, and a lot of the comments there are just 'noise'. I'd rather have a higher quality of commenting, but do not aim to attract or encourage commenting at all, as it happens (apart from the occasional request for contributions, which don't tend to produce any results, contrarily!)
Although I trundle along quietly enough here, this 'blog is more widely read and more notice is taken of it than many visitors probably realise. It's how I work best: putting facts out there into the public arena, exploding myths, spreading awareness – that kind of thing.
There is a lot of mis-information being put about by those who are well aware of its falsity, and it is only right and proper that such deception is countered by those of us (and there are quite a few about these days) who are known for "playing it straight". Add a fair degree of breadth of topic, of knowledge and of personal experience, but also add in some lighter material for variety and entertainment, and we have what I hope is a place that is worth visiting on a regular basis.
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