Category: Site News

This is Site News… it’s where news about the site goes.

So the traffic to the site has gone up 12x since I posted the riddle contest on Friday.  You guys seem to like that sorta thing, or perhaps you’re frustratingly addicted… either way, more traffic is a good thing for me.  I’m planning to post a riddle/puzzle/game each Friday to keep things moving.  There probably won’t be a prize each week… because I don’t have a prize budget, but hopefully you’ll enjoy it anyway.

I’ll be posting a “hint” to last week’s riddle shortly.

OK, so last week I said I was going to give out a prize to a reader.  That seemed like a good idea at the time, but I have no idea who the vast majority of people are who read this ( I pretend).  So I decided instead of just picking someone who I know or reads the site 12 times a day, I’d have a contest.  Here’s the contest… First person to correctly solve the riddle below and post the answer as a comment wins.  You can post comments, guesses, etc in the comment area as well.  If you want, you can even team up.  Multiple prizes are not out of the question since I’m making up the rules.  OK, here’s the riddle… also cheating will get you no where… ok… here it is:

In the Summer, I am of the Darkest Bloom,
In the Autumn, I smell of sweet Perfume.
In the Spring, I gather around the Room. 
In the Winter, I spell impending Doom.

Man’s Reach can’t catch me as Time passes By.
It takes more Than the wind to make me Fly.

Can you solve this riddle?

I get odd spam.  I really do.  People are always trying to post stuff on my site so people will buy all sorts of things from them.  Flowers, drugs, mortgages, more drugs.  I don’t get it.  Do people really think buying a mortgage from the same place that sells vicodin is a good idea?  I don’t.

Today I got spam from beyond the grave.  It was bizarre.  It started out, “Hello Vampires”.

Um… what?

Seriously.  It was spam for vampires.

But that got me thinking… maybe that’s why spam is so hard to stop.  It’s coming from the undead.  Maybe the same goes for telemarketing.  We don’t need Do Not Call lists, we need garlic, crosses, and holy water.

We take spammers to court and fine them when in fact we should be driving stakes through their hearts.

Vampires are spammers, Zombies are telemarketers, and Mummies are Egyptian.  It all makes sense now.  Someone should call the FTC (because I can’t be bothered) and tell them to hire Van Helsing to regulate these guys before they overthrow the world.  Maybe even hire that Brendan Frasier guy too.  I’m pretty sure he’s not busy.

I’ve been reviewing and tinkering with a few stats and analysis programs to see when or if people are actually reading this blog and I found out… you are!

That’s pretty cool.

Here are some interesting factoids:

22 people subscribe to this site via Facebook’s Network Blog tool thing.

15 people subscribe to receive e-mail notifications about new postings.

Despite Russian spam and ads for Canadian drugs… I have no readers in either country.

My domestic readership looks like this (based on traffic this week):

41% from Maryland (Rockville, Princess Anne)

30% from Virginia (Bristow, Arlington, Herndon, Winchester, Charlottesville)

6% from Iowa (West Des Moines)

6% from Utah (Salt Lake City – ISP: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints… that was a surprise)

5% from North Carolina (Wendell, Winston Salem)

3% from Washington (Seattle)

3% from California (Mountain View)

2% from Arizona (Tucson)

2% from South Carolina (Beaufort)

2% from Oregon (Portland)

Thank each and every one of you for your readership.  I do this because I enjoy doing so.  One day it would be nice if I could ever make a career out of it, but right now it’s just for fun.  As always, if you enjoy reading the nonsense I make up here, please tell your friends about the site.  If you hate it, please tell your enemies.  If you’ve got a web site and feel so moved, a link would be awesome.  If you want me to link to your site in return, I can do that. 

But most of all, keep reading. 

Also, next week… I’m awarding a prize to a dedicated reader.  Is it you?  Maybe.  Odds are probably not… but maybe.    What is the prize?  A free car? A year’s supply of Valvoline? A coupon for buy-one-get-one-free dental fillings? An old biscuit?  All of the above in a wicker basket wrapped in foil?  Who knows?