How many people read this forum? daily? monthly? Is there any way of knowing this? Is there any hidden counter? Is there any way of knowing if readership has gone up and down? And what are trolls and syops?

-- johan (reisch@c-zone.net), November 25, 1999

Answers

Trolls are people who lurk around the board just to start problems Sysops are the system administrators

It would be hard on this type of system to count how many people read the board because there is no registration required to enter.

Brian

-- BrianNJ (na@na.com), November 25, 1999.

I too have often wondered about this. Since we all exist only in the research project of PG, he must know the answer. Would our knowledge compomise his goals? Could we not taste of this fruit? Perhaps just a lick?

I also wonder when he plans to publish and in what venue. Is the answer to this question buried somewhere in his scriptures? Have I overlooked a link? Perhaps DS, as one of his avatars, could intercede for us. In her name we ask...

With tongue mostly in cheek,

-- Uhhmm.... (JCFP81A@aol.com), November 25, 1999.

Good Morning- I'm here every day, several times a day, rarely post.Whilst here today let me wish all of you citizens of the U.S.of A. a very Happy Thanks- giving (and do not eat any of your preps!)All the best and God Bless!

on de rock, here in beautiful isolated Bermuda...

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), November 25, 1999.

Bermuda! You don't need to prep Walter. You have enough edible plants and fish to last you until the next millennium, don't you?

-- (Ladylogic46@aol.com), November 25, 1999.

On de Rock - Green w/ Envy!!

:-) Happy T-day.

I try to check in at least once a day.

-- frequentlyboard (karlacalif@aol.com), November 25, 1999.

LadyLogic Actually,97% of our food is imported , and the fishpot ban a few years ago is just starting to yield results! We're dependent on-you can guess- JIT for maritime shipments (including oil for our only 'lectric co.)But hey,there's some really big bashes planned for New Year's eve. Ever heard the song "Don't worry be Happy"? Well,my tune is Don't worry, be prepared. but I gotta tell you: This is one of the most beautiful places in the world!

frequentlyboard Thanks for the T-day wishes, enjoy your day!

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), November 25, 1999.

Think they count hits, not number of folks dropping by. Anyway, my guess it's a few hundred regulars. More will come in December.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 25, 1999.

Hey, OntheRock. This is very off topic and stems from one of those nights when I lay awake thinking. What was going on in Bermuda during the WWII? Seems to me it would have been a good place for the German subs to take up residence. How was the island fed? Was the island just ignored by everyone on both sides of the Atlantic. Did it not belong to the Mother Country at that time? You can email me if you would rather, by removing the E off the end of Tassie. I would really appreciate it. Best to you and yours.

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 25, 1999.

e-mail on de way, Taz.

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), November 25, 1999.

Johan,

There has been interest in the traffic levels of this forum for some time. Unfortunately, we have never got an answer from Phil. I'm not criticizing Phil; I greatly appreciate the things he has provided (including the improvements). Without the improvements, the server would be so tied up that most of us could not get on to the forum. If you wanted me to take a wild guess, I imagine that this forum gets about a million user sessions per month. Maybe more. That's the only time I have seen web and database servers overworked.

Sincerely,
Stan Faryna

Ready for Y2K? Got 14 days of water, food, way to keep warm and cook?
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001o cf

Cooperative Preps : Have you checked out the deals we can get on  preps?

One time deal on a inexpensive grain mill
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001q Sw

Water filters for less than suggested retail
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001q T8

Gas masks, potassium iodide, solar ovens, etc
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001q TK

Aladdins: the kerosene lamp for readers
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001p 1v

-- Stan Faryna (faryna@groupmail.com), November 25, 1999.

Richard Seltzer provides the following summary of standard estimates, in the absence of site-specific information:

It feels like there are several levels of involvement in on-line communities. Random visitor, regular lurker, participant, and leader. My guess is that there's an order of magnitude of difference from one level to another. (If 1000 random visitors, 100 regular lurkers, 10 participants, and 1 leader). So how do you draw the broad audience of visitors (the right folks for the content and discussions), and how do you provide incentives for them to move up the hierarchy toward participant and even leader?

-- Count Vronsky (vronsky@anna.lit), November 25, 1999.

How many of us are there? Let's find out: Ok. Everybody say "present!" Present!

-- Liz Pavek (lizpavek@hotmail.com), November 26, 1999.