July 18-24, 2009: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

I've been going over my stats on Statcounter, and was fascinated by where in the word my visitors are coming from. Here's a little recap.

The Extremes (North, South, East, West, from a map provided by Statcounter):

• North: My farthest north visitor came on Monday, July 20th, from the "Scandic Hotels Oy" in Oulu, Finland (65°01' N). This visitor came through the Blogger NavBar, where my "Bio" page was featured last Monday (causing a huge spike in traffic, nearly five times the usual).
• South: From the south came a visit from the "Administracion Nacional De Telecomunicaciones" (the national phone company, an ISP) in Montevideo, Uruguay (34°51' S). Like the visit from the north, it was a bounce into my "Bio" page from the Blogger NavBar on Monday. A (literally) close second for southerliness was from Buenos Aires, Argentina (34°35' S); someone at "Prima S.a." (the nation's largest ISP) came in to look at my Joseph Campbell Reading List today, Friday, July 24. (I know I had a couple of visits from Australia, one from Melbourne, which must be farther south than this; but they weren't on the map, so I won't count them.)
• East: My easternmost visitor was also on Monday, July 20th, from the KDDI Corporation (a phone company, perhaps an ISP?) in Tokyo, Japan (139°46' E). He or she looked, fittingly, at the Japan page, found through a Google Image search for the summer wear known as yukata.
• West: Westernmost was a user at the ComCast Cable ISP in San Rafael, California (37°58' N) on Wednesday, July 22. This visit was to my main page from my "Fan Page" on Facebook.

Now a look at the countries represented. I have given their rank, the number of visits, and the percent of visits they represent (total countries was 43):

1. United States (304/60.80%) this one's obvious
2. China (22/4.40%) no surprise, as this is where I live, and many friends are here
3. Israel and Germany (20/4.00%) on of my friends is digging in Israel right now, and we have friends living in Germany
5. Philippines (15/3.00%) my wife's family and our friends are there
6. United Kingdom (14/2.80%)
7. India (10/2.00%) yay! We love India!
8. Singapore and Netherlands (8/1.60%)
10. Argentina and Canada (6/1.20%)
12. Japan and France (5/1.00%)
14. Taiwan and Belgium (4/0.80%)
16. Russian Federation (3/0.60%)

In the last three places:
3 visits (0.60%): Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Puerto Rico
2 visits (0.40%): Romania, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Australia, Hungary, Norway, Colombia
1 visit (0.20%): Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Nigeria, Portugal, Chile, Finland, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Switzerland, Estonia, Macao

Finally: What cities were the big winners?

Oddly, the largest number (8.2%) came from Brooklyn, where I don't think I know anyone. "Unknown U.S." was next, then Arcadia, where I have family. The next city was Shenzhen, where I live, then Rancho Cucamonga, California (who?).

The rest of the top 10: Freiburg, Germany; Seattle, Washington; Park City, Utah; L.A., BABY!; Saint Petersburg, Russian (really!).

We won't bother with the rest. Fun, though, huh?

Here's what happened this week on www.JamesBaquet.com

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Wisdom Blogs:

☼ 365 Secrets of Happiness: 7 posts: Go to a Movie Palace, Go Stargazing, Feather Your Nest, Write a Poem and Give It to Someone, Be Early, Greet Someone, and Try Something New With Your Hair

☼ At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: 2 posts: The Human Body is a Boiling Pot (you can guess the ingredients; where does the heat come from?) and God is the Snake and the Thief (an e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d view of God)

☼ Buddhism Simplified: 2 more posts on the life of the Buddha: The Dancing Girls (the "last straw" for the Buddha-to-be) and The Great Departure (the Prince finally leaves the palace)

☼ Meet Joe Campbell: 2 more posts on Campbell's ideas: Sources #6: Eastern Thought (common ground for Joe and me) and Sources #7: Jung (tapping into the psyche)

☼ Aphorisms of a Derelict Yogi: 2 posts: "Being born in a garage don't make you a Buick" (enlightenment isn't hereditary) and "If all the other clocks are wrong..." (a reality check)

Projects:

☼ Meatless/Mooless Monday: 2 posts: Funny "Kindness" Quotes from Famous People and Petition for Official "Meat Free Monday" (getting governments involved)

About James:

☼ Blog Highlights: first, my (quiet) Birthday Weekend, then on Tuesday I went to Town. I spent Wednesday Recharging the Batteries, and on Thursday discovered that the water had been turned off in my building. Finally, today (Friday) I found that we had been linked on a big Meatless Monday website.

☼ My Bio and more: Posts on Freedom Express (a band I was in) and The Classmates Project (looking for friends from K-8)

Places:

☼ America: Post on Bodie, CA (a genuine "ghost town")

☼ Japan: Post on Six Mizuko (the bodhisattva who protects dead babies)

☼ China: Post on One Day in Luohu (lock shmock)

☼ Philippines: Post on The Redoubtable Jeepney (better than a buffalo?)

☼ Asia: Post on Shiva Jnana Dakshinamurti, Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple, Singapore (Shiva as teacher of knowledge)