Data

I was approached at work today to be part of something to do with a data-handling initiative. My phrasing is deliberately vague to match my understanding of what is required of me, but all will become clear I hope: I was sucked in by the flattering claim that youth and charisma were required for this task and I to some degree I met both criteria. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with data to be honest - at times I obsess over it to the point where it floods my dreams. One of my favourite night-time activities is to start with the number one and keep doubling it to the point where the number is too long for me to hold in my head. I also quite like inventing maths puzzles out of motorway signs. Yet, despite my soft spot for the numerical chaps, at times they infuriate and frustrate me to the point where I want to claw out my own brain.

You'll be glad that this blog entry is going to feature the more positive version of the numerically schizophrenic me and discuss the curious data behind this very blog. For the last 44 days I have had Google Analytics telling me all sorts of interesting stuff about my readership. 356 people have paid a visit to this blog since August 14th, the most visited day being a sultry Wednesday in August (24th) on a day when I chose disfigurement as my discussion topic of choice. However, it is not this subject that has prompted the most mouse clicks, but the subject deity followed closely by dugong - a serious discussion of my faith and a whimsical poem about a visit to a dugong in Australia.

The United Kingdom is unsurprisingly where most of my readership are based, but 48 different countries have taken a peek. My top ten reads: UK, USA, India, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, Poland, France, New Zealand and Canada, but it is Malaysia who linger longest, spending an average six and a half minutes perusing my ramblings. 182 regional locations are listed also with Hove topping the list and Budapest at a lowly 13.

My most favourite bit of information Google Analytics yields though is what people type into Google to find my site. 52 people have found me through a search engine. Many are attempting to find things beginning with the letter 'D' which is an odd search by someone who clearly has too much time on their hand: 17 of the 52 searches come under this category. My favourite is "ways to escape reality starting with the letter d" which is surely someone trying to look up drugs without typing in the word "drugs". They must surely have been disappointed when they arrived. The next highest search is for my own name which is very satisfying. Oh yes, in 44 days nine people have typed my name into Google, although I'm not sure they were all searching for me. There is another Dave Atherall who lives up north somewhere who rung me up once. He also has twins, but his are girls. We chatted at length about breast-feeding and other matters on the phone some time last year. Other searchings that have found my blog that please me are "rspca put a card through my door after a meddling neighbour", "dansak healthy?" and "dungarees that dangle down at the front". Surely none of these searches found what they were looking for. My one other favourite is "disadvantaged character in of mice and men" because this relates to a new controlled assessment task in the English GCSE course. I hope the students who read my ramblings about Lennie and determinism which flowed into a consideration of Phil Mitchell's inevitable tragic storyline found it helpful.

I will leave you with one last piece of data if you have stuck with me to the bitter end: people like to read me most on a Wednesday.