Terminally Incoherent

Few days ago I got dugg for the second time in my life. Last time this happened it was smooth sailing. This time around, diggers literally buried my server. I’m guessing part of it was the fact my post included several sizable images.

As many other people measured before, Digg effect is as earth-shattering as it is fleeting. I got dugg on the 21st-22nd, and by today the digg traffic all but dissipated. You can see a sharp spike in traffic on the day my post hit the front page - but the next day it falls down significantly. Interestingly enough there is some residual inbound traffic few days after the digg:

I’m suspecting that this is caused by all the trackbacks and links from other blogs. Funny thing but when you are dugg, people start linking to you more - it’s like a chain reaction. Here is a more detailed breakdown of my traffic:

My website seems to be an anomaly compared to the rest of the internet, because most of my visitors use Firefox and it’s forks:

Then again the post that got dugg was about Linux applications so perhaps that really skewed the average here. I’m proud to attract the right kind of readership though.

Surprisingly enough, the Digg effect did not translate into huge adsense earnings. If you think I made some serious cash on 22nd you are mistaken. My total adsense revenue from that day was $6.96. This basically what I usually make over 3-4 days with my regular traffic, so in proportion it is actually a pretty good result. But it just doesn’t seem all that much considering that the traffic killed my server.

Why? I see two reasons:

First, it was the topic matter. I’m guessing that command line linux applications do not bring up many high paying adsense keywords. In fact there are few people selling anything relevant to that particular niche, so my ads were not directly targeted at my audience.

Second, as you can see most visitors user Firefox. Most Firefox users, use Adblock. Thus it is very likely that a high percentage of my visitors never even saw my ads. This is the price you pay for writing stuff that will be read mostly by savvy linux users.

One more side note: digg effect does not help you to grow subscriber base. It is mostly a hit and run thing. Check out my RSS feed stats:

The 22′nd is the first Tuesday counting from the Right. As you can see the subscriber numbers are astonishingly stable. In fact my subscriber base was higher at the end of April, than directly after getting dugg. It seems that most digg users just won’t subscribe to your feed.

I saw 28 Days Later a long time ago, on TV, while doing something different and not really paying attention. At this point if you asked me about this movie I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything. So I’m reviewing 28 Weeks Later on pure merit - since I can hardly recall anything about the first part.

Formal review aside, let me complain about the plot now. Spoilers below!

The whole explanation for the second outbreak in the movie was totally lame. How lame was it? Let me count the ways:

1. Two kids sneak out of the tightly controlled “Green Zone” by jumping the railing on the bridge and walking on the outside past heavily armed guards
2. The area in the walking distance around the “Green Zone” is still full of bodies. You’d think they would sweep it clean by now, but no…
3. A sniper positioned on a roof sees the kids sneaking out, and reports it. When he does this, the kids are just beyond the bridge. All that needs to happen now, is for one of the bridge guards to open the gate and bring them in. They let them go instead. WTF?
4. Instead of immediately capturing the kids, they let them loot a pizza place, steal a delivery bike and drive all the way to their old house where they find their mother still alive
5. Finally the army wakes up and sends a helicopter and a heavily armed team after the kids which conveniently arrives at the house when the kids figure out that mom is kinda-sorta infected
6. They take mommie to the base, run some tests and find out she is a carrier - she has the Rage virus in her, and can infect others, but she does not exhibit any symptoms except for the bloody eye thing.
7. The kid’s father is some sort of mega super/janitor who conveniently has a master key to everything - including the high security quarantine room where they hold his wife
8. So he goes to see her, and gets infected

I have no clue why the dude had a key to that room, but I’m pretty sure he shouldn’t have it. I mean, come on!

And why the hell did they send a decked out commando squad in full gear with an air support to get the kids? As far as the army was concerned the last infected died months ago. All they needed was one or two dudes in a Humvee. Go figure.

They are here! The coveted Dell Linux Systems are now on sale, shipping preinstalled with Ubuntu! This is so awesome, I feel obliged to bring the Dell Dude out of retirement.

Dell Dude! Show us how awesome is the Dell Ubuntu line:

Dude! You’re getting a Dell!

Jeff Artwood is right - it is the beginning of the end of the Windows Tax. Whether you like Linux or hate it, it is a good thing. For the first time in a very long time we have a major hardware vendor offer it’s customers a working, fully functional non-windows alternative. The FreeDos machines they sold before were just a half assed attempt. This is the first time the non-windows machines actually work right out of the box.

Let’s hope other vendors will follow suit, and start releasing Linux and BSD based package deals to give customers some more choice. Hopefully Windows Tax will soon be a thing of the past.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes recently wrote about five crucial things we apparently do not understand about average computer users. I decided to respond in kind by pointing out the things that Mr. Hughes and his average computer user Linux and it’s users.

1 - On the whole, users aren’t all that dissatisfied with Windows

Adrian, you are right about one thing - most people who encounter a problem with their computer don’t just go blaming Windws and searching for a new OS. You know why? Because they don’t know any better. Most people are not aware that there are other alternatives. I deal with clueless users every day at my job, and believe me - most of them don’t know about Linux, and think that OSX (and I quote) “won’t not be compatible with all the stuff”. No one really knows that that “stuff” is but they all know they need to be compatible with it.

This is what happens when you have a practical monopoly in place. People don’t switch from windows, because no one is educating them about alternatives. Apple is now making a valiant effort with their ad campaigns, but it’s not enough. We need to start in schools and get them young - show them alternatives in introductory computer classes. We need more big companies and governmental agencies taking the plunge showing an example.

I’m not saying that there are no people who are happy with Windows. It’s just that your assumption (which would be absolutely correct under normal marked contitions) does not apply to a market saturated and overrun by a convicted monopolist.

2 - Too many distros

Oh noes! I have to much choice! Let me cry about it! Seriously Adrian, do you really think that the average Joe User knows the difference between the different Vista editions? Hell no! Users ask me every day which Vista to buy, or is it a good idea to upgrade. Why is it ok for them to ask a tech-competent friend or coworker about choices relating to Windows but not ok to ask which Linux distro is good for them?

Let’s face it - average users don’t know what the fuck they are doing or what they want. They will need help installing it and setting it up anyway so they might as well go with a recommendation of someone who has a clue. Users who do know what they want will appreciate the choice.

Besides, all the distros are similar. All you have to do is to show the users KDE and Gnome and have them pick one. Everything else is pretty much non-essential. Most users won’t even care about package system as they will likely be using some sort of GUI front end over apt or yum to get them.

Oh, and Adrian - what the hell do you want us to do about this problem? There is absolutely nothing anyone can do at this point to change this. This point is moot, because there is just no way to consolidate linux and somehow provide users with less choice.

3 - People want certainty that hardware and software will work

Hardware is a problem. However, I think you once again overestimate the average user. In my experience most users consult any soft of hardware installation with a technical person. I have people come to me with things as simple as setting up printers and scanners - not even mentioning replacing any kind of internal hardware.

Most average users will have no clue what kind of graphics or video card they need. Most people also don’t know what kind of wireless card to buy. So I think it’s safe to assume that a linux specialist would be able to advise people as to what kind of hardware is appropriate for their distro. It’s all just a matter of support.

As for software - it is a non issue. Finding alternatives is just a google search away. Average user does not have very sophisticated software needs. They need something that will let them use Myspace, read their Email, chat with their friends and type documents. Most distros will have appropriate applications conveniently labeled as “Web Browser”, “Email Client”, “Instant Messenger”, and “Word Processor” available on the desktop or from some menu.

Also, more and more things are done online. Fewer and fewer people actually utilize clients for their personal email. Most people I know either use the webmail interface provided by their ISP, or Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail. Online clients require no setup, and are available from anywhere making them very attractive to clueless users.

That leaves us with just a browser, IM client, and a word processor and miscellaneous stuff such as PDF reader, media player, music player and etc. All of these will ship with the OS, and work out of the box - all the user needs to do is to double click appropriate files, and correct applications will start opening up.

Once again, this is a non issue for an “average user”. For a power user who utilizes many specialized software packages this is a real problem, but then again such a user would be able to do appropriate research to decide on switching systems.

Besides, switching OS is a very significant change, and no one really expects it to be easy or straightforward. It’s kinda like switching from driving a tiny sports car to a big truck with a trailer. Both are cars and do the same things, but will handle very differently so an adjustment period is to be expected.

4 - As far as most people are concerned, the command line has gone the way of the dinosaur

I don’t get what you are saying here? So the ability to use powerful shell applications is a bad thing? No one is forcing anyone to use command line anymore. Last time I checked all the big distros had nice, user friendly GUI tools all the configuration options. Most of them have nice graphical installers too. So I have no clue what are you whining about here.

5 - Linux is still too geeky

Have you actually ever used Ubuntu? The automatic updates system they have really isn’t that different from the windows one. Most users have no clue what are all these windows security updates about anyway. Las time I checked you can also configure Synaptic to install updates automatically very much like windows.

Besides, if you give me 100 random people who aren’t windows geeks and sit them at a windows box for the first time in their life and tell them to do stuff I will bet you that more than half of them will become confused at some point. You don’t think people ever get confused by Windows? Of course they do!

This is a fucking double standard. I get calls from freaked out windows users every day because their computer did something unexpected. Eventually they learn via repetition how to react to certain behaviors, and how to do certain things. But sitting a random person in front of an OS they have never seen before and expecting them to use it without any confusion is just plain silly.

My Response

With all due respect Mr. Hughes, you seem to have no fucking clue about linux or the needs of an average user. I think that all your points are either completely inaccurate, irrelevant to the topic (like the CLI argument) or based on false assumptions, double standards or re-hashed FUD arguments that have been debunked many times in the media.

Aside

Sometimes I wonder why do I even bother to respond to obvious flamebaits like this one. Yes I know Mr. Adrian is whoring for hits by posting rubbish about linux. But you know what? Sometimes I enjoy a good rant.

Lost just brutally raped my brain and left me pregnant with a bastard child of unspeakable confusion.

Everything below is full of season finale related spoilers, so don’t read if you haven’t seen it yet. I have so many questions it’s not even funny!

Whose funeral was it? Could it be Ben’s - and that’s why no one showed up, and Kate didn’t even want to consider it? Some people are saying it’s Locke but I think at least few people would show up for his funeral. He might have made some enemies by trying to keep them on the island, but he also saved them several times. I think people would forgive him and show up.

Maybe it was Juliet? It would explain why Jack was so upset when he found out that she died. All the Lostie’s hated and mistrusted her - especially Kate.

I’m guessing the newspaper clip he ripped up was the obituary of whoever has died. My cousin pointed out the coffin seemed small. It did not seem to be a full sized coffin. But then again it might have been the camera angle or something.

In the hospital Jack says something among the lines of:

Get my father in here right now, and if I’m more drunk than him you can fire me

WTF? If the flashback is really in the future, then his father would be dead. But he says it just as if he was alive! Who says something like that about someone who is dead? Also, he has a prescription from his father in the pharmacy. Would he really be trying to sign a dead guy’s name on a perscription? Granted, he was a mess, but he is not that stupid - is he? Is this some sort of alternative time-line?

Who was Kate talking about when she saw Jack at the end of the episode? Was it Sawyer? Was it someone else? Why would he care about her seeing Jack?

If they really got off the island, what the hell are they going to show for the next 2 seasons? This is so weird! And why does Jack want to go back so badly? Why is he such a mess to begin with? Why does he thing they were supposed to stay there?

WTF was Ben talking about? What is this Temple he was referring to? Whose boat is it? Who did they just call onto the island? Who are these people and what are they looking for? Does Ben know who they are? Or at least what they are after?

Why was penny able to connect directly to the Looking Glass station as soon as the jamming signal was disabled? How did she know the frequency and whatnot? This just didn’t make any sense. The only way she could have called in this quickly was if she knew about the station and was monitoring it. So what is Penny’s connection to the Island?

I was half expecting the show to end with bunch of armed mercenaries descending on the island and taking the losties hostage leaving it to Locke, Sawyer, Hurley and the gang to rescue them (perhaps even cooperating with the Others). I surely haven’t expected this shit.

Why didn’t Charlie at least try to swim out the blown window once the room filled up with water? If Desmond was able to swim down there on one breath, Charlie could have surely made it to the surface if he tried. They are not that deep, so he really wouldn’t even have to worry about decompression. I’m sorry but it was a stupid death. He could have easily reach the surface, take the boat to the shore and radio Jack to stop them from using the phone.

Was this Walt or the Smoke Monster? I’m betting on Smoke Monster. Btw, that damn kid grown a lot since we have last seen him.

Oh man… This is not even a cliff-hanger. They are just plain old messing with our heads at this point!