Funky Doodad on the Home Page

[Corey Cohron RIP]

Hey there,

When I updated the website last week, I added two visitor maps on the bottom of the homepage. If you click on the little GeoVisitors box, you can see the people who have visited in the last 24 hours -- this one is a little freaky, though... sometimes, you will get an error message, and you'll have to refresh a couple of times until it corrects its own internal error. I also think (based on the forum alone!) that it's not able to map every IP address that it comes across.

Anyway... the big map is cumulative. If you click on it, you'll see where everyone has come from since January 1.

Just wanted to share. :giving:

[Mark_123]

I looked at that last night...pretty cool

[johnnyd]

Hmmm, I can't find it

[Corey Cohron RIP]

Scroll down on the homepage, Johnny. It's beneath the information for Dygytal Radio

[johnnyd]

Got it, I was looking on the bottom of the forum.

Ty

That is pretty cool

[Jackpine]

But, it DOES show you just how easy it is for the owners of a webpage to perhaps find out more about you than you'd like them to know! Not much privacy in this world anymore.

P.S. Corey, I'm not complaining about your use of this device on your homepage. Heck I think it's neat too. Wonder who the visitor from New Zealand (Janet's birth country) is? I'm just making a general comment about how easy it is for internet applications to do practically anything!

- Jack

[Power Hungry]

Jack,

Here's the deal... Every website you access, whether it is directly or indirectly, logs the IP address of the computer for EVERY FILE (HTML, JPG, GIF, etc.) that you request. Any web manager can go through and see every IP address that reached their website, what files were browsed, how long they were on, and so forth. This is how hit counters work and also how these cute little maps work.

Keep in mind, this is only your IP address. There is no personally identifiable information being transmitted and the location of the IP address is pulled from a Public Domain database that handles geolocation of registered IP blocks. I know it seems a little freaky, but it's really quite safe.

Enjoy!

[Jackpine]

Bill (and Corey) - I probably was not being clear (as usual). I was not complaining about your use of the "gadget" on your homepage. And, I was not worried about any possible unsavory use you might make of the information it gathered. And finally, Just knowing the location of the person who "hits" your homepage is really only of amusing interest, nothing else.

I was, however trying to point out the relative ease with which computers and web applications make data gathering simple. If I were say, an advertising agency for political candidates and I was able to document a lot of interest from certain areas of the country, I'd be in a better position to recommend the expenditure of advertising funds in those areas. If a webpage devoted to diesel trucks shows HUGE interest from one particular state and a manufacturer was looking for a place to establish a new plant, I doubt they'd try to put it where there was zero interest.

Companies like Netflix and Amazon record each and everything we order (to "personalize" our shopping experience), which translates to being able to advertise "personally" to us, so that we are more likely to order again and again.

Our friendly Government is probably looking at every webpage we visit in an attempt to combat terrorism. This is not a bad thing, but, if I decide to write a book on fundamentalist religious societies and decide to do a lot of research that maybe includes why terrorist organizations exist in these societies (as well as others), and how to join such societies and how suicide attacks are planned, and, etc., etc. Well, it's not hard to see how such research might be mistaken for another kind of interest. (I was tempted to throw a lot of "keywords" into this post just to see if I'd get a kindly visit from "someone", but chickened out).

If I were needing a Top Secret clearance now, like I had when I was in the Air Force, would my "surfing habits" be of interest?

I'm only pointing out how much of what used to be "private" is now really "public" - no more no less. Personally, I'm not worried for me, but the implications for society as a whole are more troublesome.

I know the arguments - "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear". Sadly though, mistakes ARE made. Prosecutors are rewarded for the number of cases they win, not for cases they lose. Law enforcement personnel are rewarded (at least in part) for the number of lawbreakers they catch, not for people who have been found to have no part in some misdeed. I think these considerations are sobering, and worth more than just quiet acceptance.

But, back to your "counter", I think it's fun! It's also neat to see that I can see I'm actually looking at your webpage from Tucson, in case I ever suffer a bout of senility and forget where I am!

- Jack

[Corey Cohron RIP]

Oh, Jack, I can't speak for Billy, but I'm sure he (and I!) took no offense to your post! I totally agree with you about the "scariness" of our information being able to be zapped up by people -- many times without our knowledge!

Our little visitor maps, however, seem to be a bit off... For instance, it hasn't even picked YOU up today! And heck, our internet provider is in CA, so they have us marked as being 3,000 miles away! We also have a visitor from Canada who comes on several times a day (they were second on the list of visitors to our site in December!)-- why he/she hasn't joined, I haven't the slightest. Anyway, GeoVisitor picks them up (has them in the water in NE Canada, actually ), but the other map doesn't get them at all.

So even though they're not 100% accurate, the visitor maps are a fun little distraction.

[average-joe]

Ok i need a map to see the dam map!!