SO, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

So, beginning of a new month (sorry I am a couple days late) and another installment of 'Where are you from?'

Without further ado, I give you ...

Ramsey, Isle of Man

The Isle of Man lies in the Irish Sea, between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, less than 60 miles west of the Lancashire coastline. It is 33 miles long, 13 miles wide and covers an area of 227 square miles. More than 40% of the Island is uninhabited.

Ramsey is a town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the third largest town on the island. Its population is 7309 according to the 2006 census (7,322 2001 census). It has one of the biggest harbors on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier. It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland.

I have to say it looks beautiful. The climate sounds perfect, cool summers and mild winters. I always wanted to live somewhere that was always spring or fall. Considering there were places that were always summer and others that were always winter, how hard could it be, right? This place sounds like it would be almost perfect for me.

So if you are one of the 7309 people living in Ramsey, give us a wave, eh?

I know you are there, I can hear you breathing.

I don't know, I guess it happens to me once a year. I start to get a little discouraged.

I post and post and post and except for Kelly or Nadine I figure no one is reading it, so why bother? The odd other person will pipe up once in a while but I get the feeling I am talking to myself.

That is not to say I would stop posting. It just gets a little maddening. I can see that there are people reading it, and going to the archives and sitting in front of the computer and reading for hours sometimes. I know people are reading it, that is not the issue. The issue is, that most of my readers are lurkers.

The problem with lurkers is that they breed more lurkers. If someone comes by and sees that no one comments, then they will not comment either. It doesn't matter that they have returned 15 times in the past 2 days, they continue to not comment.

I get anywhere from 800 to 1300 unique visitors per month but only a very few ever comment. If you are one of these lurkers, I encourage you to show yourself. Gather up some courage to say hello. I don't bite, I swear to God.

Tell me a bit about yourself - who you are, where you’re from, what you do, or just say hi it really doesn't matter what you say. Hopefully, this will let you get to know some of the other lurkers and maybe give you a couple hits for your own site.

Comments from all visitors are welcome. Seriously, every comment does not have to be profound...just say hi.

SO, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Since I started keeping track I have received visitors from every province and territory in Canada and most of the states in the US. I am only missing Louisiana, Oklahoma and Vermont. Which I think is pretty cool. This month we give a shout out to Munster, Indiana and Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Any hoo... in this months installment of 'So, Where are you from?' we will be visiting ...

Reykjavík, Iceland

"Visitors to Reykjavik experience easily the pure energy at the heart of Iceland's capital city - whether from the boiling thermal energy underground, the natural green energy within the city and around it, or the lively culture and fun-filled nightlife.

Think of the qualities of a great city - fun, space, clean air, nature, culture - and Reykjavik has them in spades. It has the features of a modern, forward-looking society which are complemented by a close connection to beautiful nature.

The population of the Reykjavik Capital Area is about 200,000. Reykjavik is spread across a peninsula with a panoramic view of the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean on almost all sides. In the summer, you can sit by the harbour at midnight and watch the sun dip slightly below the horizon before it makes its way up again.



The world’s northernmost capital is framed by the majestic Mt. Esja, which keeps a watchful eye on the city, and the blue waters of Faxafloi Bay. On a sunny day, the mystical Snaefellsjokull glacier appears crystal-like on the western horizon, while mountainous moonscapes spread to the southeast.

Reykjavik is a great place to visit, whether for some cultural nourishment, a spot of unbridled fun or to recharge your batteries. Think of the ideal city break and you'll think of Reykjavik."
Quote from Reykjavik's official tourist website.

It looks absolutely beautiful, and surprisingly populated for such a small northern country. Well I suppose it looks small next to Greenland, that is actually pretty much all ice....weird. Iceland is green, and Greenland is white.

Looking over some of the pictures, it looks like a really nice place to visit. I might even consider getting on an airplane someday. Uh...I might wait for that tele-porting technology, me and airplanes, not happening. But you really should check it out on Google Earth. Pretty amazing views.

Also surprising was the climate average mid-winter temperatures are no lower than those in Toronto or New York City. However, it is pretty wet, having an average of 213 rainy days every year.

You will find some interesting picures of Reykjavic on BloggingReykjavik.net a photo blog.

Björk is from there and if you are still wondering where is Bobby Fisher? Guess what? Yup, he is in Reykjavik.

So, if you are sitting somewhere in Reykjavik, surfin' the net and you are reading this?

"Komið þið sæl". Welcome. Glad to have ya.

How Much Is Your Blog Worth?

I ran across this cute little applet over at Dane Carlson's, by way of David Dairey's Creative Design, that "computes and displays your blog's worth using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal."

You can see my results over on the side bar. The trick, I guess, is to figure out how to get paid for your efforts.

If you find out, let me know.

SO, WHERE YA FROM?

Inspired to learn more about the places from which my lurkers hail! I have been gathering names of countries from which I am getting hits on my blog. I intend to educate myself (a little bit) on the specific regions that my lurkers are coming from. And I think I will start off with one I had never heard of before. Ever.

Since I will never get on a plane again (long story) there is little chance I will ever go to any of these places, so I rely on the CIA - World Factbook for my information.

I also wanted to see if I was reaching each of the 50 states as well as each of the provinces and territories of Canada. So far I have a list of 45 US states and 10 of the 13 Canadian provinces and territories.

So without further ado, we start off the soon to be infamous series...
'So, where ya from?' with...[drum roll, please]

Tunis, Tunisia

Officially the Tunisian Republic.

Tunis is located in north-eastern Tunisia on the Lake of Tunis, and is connected to the Mediterranean sea's Gulf of Tunis by a canal which terminates at the port of La Goulette / Halq al Wadi. The ancient city of Carthage is located just north of Tunis along the coastal part.
Tunisia is in northern Africa, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. It is bordered by Algeria in the west and Libya in the south-east. Much of the land is semi-arid and desert. The north of the country is mountainous, with a climate that is temperate with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The south of the country is dominated by the Sahara desert (40% of the country in fact).

SOME TRIVIA:
* The Monty Python movie Life of Brian was filmed in Tunisia.
* Portions of The English Patient were filmed in Tunisia.
* Four of the Star Wars films (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) were partly filmed in Tataouine, in the Tunisian Sahara. These scenes took place on the planet Tatooine.
* Desert scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed in Tunisia.

Call me a geek, but what I found the most interesting was that out of a population of 10,175,014, only 953,800 are internet users. And one of those people found their way here.

So, if you are sitting somewhere in Tunis, surfin' the net and you are reading this?

"MarHaban". Welcome. Glad to have ya.

And another thing...

And as for the US and Canada?....A big "Hello" to the folks in Pocatello, Idaho and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

YOU ARE HERE - 03-31-07
How people found this site. On a Saturday this week, to make room for
'So, where are ya from?' a new feature for the first of every month.


sisterinlaw (UK)
freelance cynic puppies (London)
help me pay for treatment for my cat (Gloucester, England)
bank's reply (Amsterdam)
brotherinlaw and sisterinlaw porn (India)
marisa tomai (New Jersey)
double knot spy (Boston)
little milhouse (Alberta)
the keiths creepy thing from india (New Jersey)
nova scotia film tv (Virginia)
ted reinstein (New Mexico) Love him or hate him, you still search for him.

HERE FROM WORK or SCHOOL?
Aren't you supposed to be working/studying?

University Of Mississippi (From? Well, duh)
National Australia Bank Limited (Melbourne)
National City Corporation (Cleveland, Ohio) A lot of bored bankers out there.
State Of Montana Department Of Administration (Billings)
Publicis & Hal Riney (Escondido, California)
Red Hat Inc (North Carolina)
Board Of Pensions (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Salomon Inc (Brooklyn)
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
University Of Virginia (Bridgeport, Connecticut) Swear to God, that's what it says.

Can You See Your House From Here?
New twist and a game for the You Are Here post.



HINT: Wonder if you pick up your coffee at the Morning Dew? Or hang out at the Burke Street Pub or Gatsby's?

Click on the picture to get a closer look. And remember, if you think this is you, give us a shout.

YOU ARE HERE - 03-25-07
How people found this site.

sister-in-law fucking (Naperville, Illinois and Belgium) Seriously, Dudes, if you met my brother-in-law you would realize that you are absolutely not going to find that shit here.
herndon verginia(Texas)
and another thing (U.s. Patent And Trademark Office, Brooklyn)
shadow pupets (Istanbul, Turkey)
kill drive (Littleton, CO) That's just a little disturbing.
oldsmobile (Washington) Jesus! Someone from the Home Planet found me this way. God hates me. Although I think this might be some sort of bot disguising itself. If I click on the link reference, I get an error. I did a search for oldsmobile on my site and got no hits. There are no posts that contain that text.
american idol update (Mustang, Oklahoma)
bank's reply(Netherlands)
make money (Quebec) Guess the anchor text thing works both ways.
origami (New Jersey)
afghan victim (California)
attitude adjustment (Japan)


HERE FROM WORK or SCHOOL?

U.s. Patent And Trademark Office (Brooklyn) Hope I am not being investigated.
University Of San Francisco (ya, you guessed it)
The Washington Post (Fairfax, Virginia?) I think statcounter has lost its mind.
Amherst College (Shrewsbury, New Jersey)

And another thing...

New twist and a game for the You Are Here post.

I just discovered the visitor map in StatCounter. I am assuming this pinpoints the ISP server that routed you here and not your actual house. (at least I hope it isn't your actual house, if it is let me know and I will take it down.)


Click on the picture for a closer look.

Anyway, the game is...Can You See Your House From Here? If this is your ISP location, Email me.

Even if it is not you, but you know where it is? Give us a shout. No prizes right now, only because it is almost 5am and I am running out of coffee and brain cells.

But if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Holy Shit! Where are they all coming from?

I am not really sure what happened here. Unfortunately I have done a bunch of things at once, so I will have to try and pinpoint what gave me the jump in stats. Here are my stats for the past week.



However, last night I spent a lot of hours putting 'tags' on a lot of my posts. I think this may have been the deciding factor.

I don't know, but the freakish jump in traffic is making me nervous. Does that make sense?

Desperate Times.

Trying to get a handle on people I work with accessing my blog from work. I tell them to only access it from home, that the Big Giant Heads can see everything they do at work. But no matter what you tell them, some idiots will still do it. (And if you email me all insulted that I called you an idiot, then you just proved it to me.)

A while ago I was shocked to see (in my stats) the name of the Home Planet as an ISP. At that point I started to remind people from work not to visit the blog from work. Somehow the Big Giant heads were accessing the site. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I don't mention them by name or discuss company secrets. And unless you sat beside me, you probably don't know the company I work for. Although you may think that you do.

It wasn't that the Home Planet was watching that was disturbing. It was the way they arrived at the site. They didn't just go directly, or stumble on it. They did a search for the word nnothrthng, specifically. That means someone who was not that familiar with the blog, but new enough info, gave it to them. I have a couple of suspects.

Petty people who would like nothing better than to get me in some sort of trouble. Most likely the little dick head that was cheating on his wife. "Dude, she flat out asked me if you were taking a piece at work and I told her the truth."

Anyway, that was months ago and it appears his little plan did not work. But since then I have been trying to be proactive and it has been fine but someone is still accessing the site from work.

So, I will be blocking IP addresses from my neck of the woods. And those from the Home Planet of the Big Giant Heads.

So, if you are a Canadian, you may get cut off. If your a Yank from the Home Planet state you may also get cut off. No worries if you are from any other country, you should be fine. But if you are worried, just email me your IP and I will unblock it.

If you try and access the site from home and get an error page, just email me your IP address and I will unblock your IP.

These restrictions will take effect at the end of the week and will be lifted as soon as I can narrow down the series of IP addresses that are associated with my work place.

Sorry if this is a pain in the ass, but I don't know any other way to do this. If you do, drop me a line.

And another thing...

For those of you who don't know your IP address just head over to IP CHICKEN and read it off the screen.

YOU ARE HERE - 03-04-07

how do i stop him screaming at me (France)
and another thing (UK)
if a man hits a woman once will he do it again (UK) Ya, and it is his fault. If he gets the chance to hit her twice, its all on her.
dear asshole (San Antonio)
peoplepc.com/arizona (Tucson)
she's not the kind of girl you hear about (Brazil)
stop me if you think you've heard this one before (UK)
clint eastwood know italian oscars translate(Algonac, Michigan) He doesn't actually know Italian. He was just reading the translation off the tele-prompter.
dog fuck (Australia) Dude, please.
who's your friend (Alabama)

HERE FROM WORK or SCHOOL?

Sears Direct Response(Illinois)
United Technologies Research Center(Connecticut)
Canadian Department Of Education (Halifax, NS)
University Of Athens (Greece) not Georgia
Indiana University (Bloomington)
Intown Suites (Illinois)
University Of Texas At San Antonio (Duh.)
City Of Tucson(Arizona)
University Of Turku (Finland)
University Of California (Emeryville)
American Excelsior Company (Arlington, Texas)
Fujitsu Ltd. (Japan)
Weber State University (Ogden, Utah)
Univar Corp (Kirkland, Washington)

YOU ARE HERE - 02-25-07

Big turn out this week for keyword searches: a little late but I was side tracked this week.

-the freelance cynic (England)
-16 years ago today (Brooklyn, New York)
-superman emblem bling (Hastings, Minnesota)
-another name for zues (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
-sodrel truck lines (Atlanta, Georgia)
-he need to go back to british (Plano, Texas)
-introvert (Fairfax, Virginia)
-celine dion and oscar night (Toronto, Ontario)Probably a concerned citizen wanting to know where to have the pizza delivered.
-i am old but not dead(Los Angeles, California)
-oscar observations(Jersey City, New Jersey)
-old italian guy oscars (Middletown, Rhode Island)
-radmila (Budapest, Hungary) Hmmm, wonder if he is looking for anyone specific?
-old but not dead(Cheyenne, Wyoming)People are really looking hard for me.
-evel(Plano, Texas)
-slide rule(Ames, Iowa)
-oscars human shadow pupets(Montreal, Quebec)
-american idol(Herndon, Verginia)

HERE FROM WORK or SCHOOL?

-The Chase Manhattan Bank N.a (Brooklyn, New York)
-College Of Wooster (Ohio, Wooster, United States)
-Emory University (Georgia, Atlanta, United States)
-The Equitable Life Assurance Society Of The United States (New Jersey, Jersey City, United States)
-Hanes Companies Inc(North Carolina, Winston Salem, United States) My buddy, 9 returning visits.
-Whirlpool Corporation(Michigan, St. Joseph, United States) 25 returning visits! Dude, I love your dishwashers.
-Intown Suites(Illinois, Elk Grove Village, United States)
-Chedoke-mcmaster Hospitals (Ontario, Hamilton, Canada) 34 returning visits! I think after 33, you have to say 'Hey'.
-Tara Home (Texas, Plano, United States)

YOU ARE HERE - 02-11-07

(Hits from search engines.)
baz and daves body building (England, London, United Kingdom)
how cold does it need to be to close school? (Ohio, Columbus, United States)
take name in vain (England, Southampton, United Kingdom)
double knot spy? (British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada)
he need to go back to british and be judge for british people (Texas, Plano, United States)
what are the origins of th saying by the skin of your teeth (England, London, United Kingdom)
i think therefore I am single (Alberta, Calgary, Canada)

HERE FROM WORK or SCHOOL?

Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (Washington, Seattle, United States)
Sodrel Truck Lines (Indiana, Clarksville, United States)
Defense Megacenter Huntsville (Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States)
Valley Stream Central High School (Connecticut, Stratford, United States)
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (Massachusetts, Cambridge, United States)
University Medical Center (Texas, Plano, United States)

And I thought this was interesting:

California, Grass Valley, United States
nnothrthng.blogspot.com/2006/12/drugs-in-workplace.html
No referring link

YOU ARE HERE - 02-04-07

What you searched for and where you're from.

-coimbra (Zuid-holland, The Hague, Netherlands)
-Does saying Oh My God when talking is it using his name in vain (From Search PeoplePC.com -Arizona, Tucson, United States) I made the first page for that one.
-Barnyard Otis (Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Australia)
-hanes (Virginia, Herndon)
-close school temperature -10 degrees(Bolingbrook, Illinois)
-salem nh school district (Rockland, Mass.)
-double knot spy?(British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada)
-hairline scratch (Turkey)

HERE FROM WORK?

-Gerdau Ameristeel (Florida, Tampa, United States)
-Harrison Gypsum Company (Oklahoma, Norman, United States)
-Government Of The Province Of Ontario (Ontario, Toronto, Canada)
-Weber State University (Utah, Ogden, United States)
-Chedoke-mcmaster Hospitals (Ontario, Hamilton, Canada) Hi, Jack's sister!

YOU ARE HERE...01-28-07

In case you have forgotten, this is a list of recent keyword searches that brought people here and their origins.

biache (Farmington, Connecticut)
apple juice shits (Cheektowaga, New York)
places to live in Nova Scotia (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Wendy's Drive Thru (Salem, New Hampshire)
pissed off (California)
bald chick (someone in the UK. Hope it wasn't Sinead)
undisclosed customer service
shits & giggles (Menomonie,Wisconsin)
dead horse slides ( guy in France) Dude?
rip your head off and shit down your (Kissimmee, Florida) Isn't Kissimmee supposed to be a happy place?
ted reinstein (from Virginia) Again with Ted? Who is this guy?
Digby NS close but no cigar
suv asshole (Delta, BC)

And another thing...a bonus because I skipped it last week.

Surfin' from work/school? BUSTED!

(Maytag Corporation) Iowa, Newton
(Purdue University) Indiana, West Lafayette
(Wells Fargo And Company) California, San Francisco
(Hanes Companies Inc) North Carolina, Winston Salem
(Hillsborough County Public Schools) Florida, Tampa
(Ministerio De Administraciones Publicas) Ministry of Public Administrations, Spain
(Davis School District) Utah, Farmington
(Whirlpool Corporation)Michigan, St. Joseph
(University Of Tennessee)Tennessee, Knoxville
(Ajh Lawyers Pty Ltd) Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
(Indiana University) Indiana, Bloomington
(We Care Tax Advisor) Texas, Plano, United States
(Renault) France
(Universidad Carlos Iii De Madrid) Spain
(Idea Link Co. Ltd) Japan,
(The Pentagon) Virginia - That's what is says, I kid you not!

YOU ARE HERE - 01-14-07 (and where you were)

-germ a phobes (three separate searches from Japan)
-evel tower (a search from Saudi Arabia)
-do i look like I just fell off the pea truck(someone from Eastman Kodak Company)
-eva porn (a search from Finland, sorry buddy)
-6 weird things about me (from South Africa)
-evil pencil (guy from Athens, Georgia)
-i think therefore i am single (Australia)
-nova scotia surf film (search is from Florida BRRRRR! Dude, stay home.)
-time is a precious thing, and therefore (Long Beach)
-pentagon where plane 77 (California)
-conspiracy theories (South Africa At least I didn't make the first page on that one.)
-eva littleton (Reston, Verginia - absolutely no idea)
-snowblower sova scotia (someone in Halifax, probably looking for the Canadian Tire)
-national de-lurking week (looking at my counter, I declare it mostly a failure)

Last but not least...a guy from Brighton, Michigan looking for 'labatt blue radio commercial'. You gotta see 'Office Glen' its a classic. (although Molson, not Labatt) Not sure why google would send you to a site that has Molson and Keith's commercials, but all Canadian beer commercials are funny. And if you liked that, you have to see 'Chasing Beaver'.

"Party on, Wayne." "Party on, Garth."

Just for shits and giggles.

When I first posted (Inter)National De-Lurking Week, I started a counter. You see it on the right. As I write this it is showing 237 visitors in 28 countries. WOW! So my comment section should be bursting you say? You think? Not!

I got eleven comments. Eleven. ONE ONE. That's it.

Now, account for people who accidentally got to my site,(clicked the wrong link or something) or were searching for something weird. (like buddy from Saudi Arabia searching for 'evil tower' or another buddy from Finland, searching for 'Evel Porn', sorry buddy) So, if that constitutes (lets say) 50 of the lurkers. What's up with the rest of you?

On Radmila's site, a commenter revealed that the reason they rarely post is that they did so at one site and the next time they went back, the site was set as private, because "unwanted people were reading it and posting" . Who the hell puts comments on their site and then closes the site because people are posting? For that matter, who the hell puts up a site (on the INTERNET) if they don't want people to read it? Perplexing.

Anyway, that got me thinking. Why don't you comment? Let's hear from you, anonymously, of course. If you think I am being an asshole, say so, I can take it. Hell, sometimes I post that way just to see if I can get a rise out of ya. At this point, I would settle for a flame war. I have never had one and I am starting to feel put out.

And another thing...if you think this is just my online persona you are sadly mistaken. This is me, warts and all, online and off. I know for a fact there are plenty of people that would love to tell me off, if not to my face. If they had the slightest inkling that I had this forum they would be all up in my shit. If you only knew what a great opportunity you were missing out on.

The reason I include the comments is because I invite the interaction. What keeps you from posting or just saying 'Hi' even if I were to ask you to specifically to do so?

In the interest of scientific research, I beg of you, tell me why!

You are here...01-08-07

a boy could get a complex
nova scotia jokes
home for christmas 1949
weird things
halifax 2007 nova scotia
why live in nova scotia
creepy things in Mt Laurel NJ
you know you live in winnipeg when
jokes about nova scotians
the winter of 1932 was so cold that niagara falls
what is it like to live in nova scotia
blogspot surf nova scotia

You are here...12-30.06

-biache
-nnothrthng
-godfather christmas movie
-it nearly wasnt christmas movie
-wings xmas 1977

You are here... 12-24-06

Well, I warned you it would be pretty boring, but here it is.

Dec. 18 & 19
50.00%   home for christmas movie 1949
16.67%   getting the movie a christmas carol for free
8.33%    home for christmas,1949 movie
8.33%    wing night
8.33%    home for christmas, 1949 movie
8.33%    i am left brained

Dec. 20 & 21
16.67%   you know your from nova scotia when! joke
16.67%   a list of christmas movies from the 70's
16.67%    when is a very brady christmas vacation on television
16.67%    movie entitled the holly and the ivy
16.67%    ebbie on tv?
16.67%    nova scotia surfing

Dec. 23 & 24
25.00%   nova scotia surfing
25.00%   a picture of a stoned santa clause
25.00%   when is a very brady christmas vacation on television
25.00%   bad santa holly and the ivy christmas toy

I am not sure what the Nova Scotia surfing thing is. We only have really big waves when it is too dangerous to surf, like during a hurricane. But whatever, idiot, if that's what you are into, give 'er.

Hit Bitch

Just an experiment.

Just for today I am going to be a 'hit bitch' and insert all those words that got me hits in the last month and see just how many hits I can get for my page in 24 hours.

Counter is at 6113.

Here we go.

Joe Millionaire
Hack Starchoice
How many times have we thought "If I just close my eyes the bitch will go away.
American Idol
Mary Kay
Popping Zits
Rick Mercer
Female blogger
Hard young girl

Ok, so this is just for my own amusement, since it is snowing here and has been for the past 3 days and I am getting a little shack wacky. So sue me.

Oh and in case anyone is interested, Greg is chillin in the hot tub with the chicks.