Absolutely!

Go look at this - there's either a valuable lesson for you, or a laughing "Oh, yes!"

Either way, enjoy.

Someone hand me my EMP cannon.

No office hours today

Due to an unfortunate, and unexpected confluence of RL matters that must be attended to, many of which seem to have wound up coinciding today, there won't be any office hours today, Thursday.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and the short notice.

Mixed Reality Headcount, Week ending 23 September, 2007.

Here is the full ranked table of tracked sites for the week ending Sunday 23 September, 2007:

Site (* Native reality site)	Est avg hourly visits	Est avg hourly visits (peak hrs)	Estimated total weekly visits
* Phat Cat's Jazzy Blue Lounge	141	153	23,772 (stable)
* Lost Gardens of Apollo	81	100	13,692 (down 5.00%)
* City of Lost Angels	76	73	12,828 (stable)
The Pond	70	34	11,808 (down 3.62%)
* New Citizens Incorporated	69	76	11,688 (down 7.33%)
* Independent State of Caledon	68	87	11,496 (down 11.21%)
* The Shelter	52	68	8,808 (down 4.68%)
* Isle of Lesbos	49	72	8,256 (up 14.67%)
IBM	43	45	7,368 (down 2.38%)
* Midgar	41	52	7,020 (stable)
* London Commercial Sims	31	43	5,208 (down 2.91%)
The L Word	29	30	4,932 (stable)
Greenies Home	25	38	4,260 (down 4.57%)
Pontiac	23	20	3,912 (down 31.80%)
* Ballers City	21	24	3,684 (down 10.76%)
The Weather Channel	19	21	3,348 (up 7.31%)
* Svarga	19	25	3,336 (stable)
Nissan	15	9.14	2,604 (down 7.26%)
Playboy	13	14	2,340 (down 5.34%)
Virtual Holland	12	10	2,148 (down 11.39%)
ABC Island	9.71	13	1,632 (up 37.37%)
Sun Microsystems	8.07	12	1,356 (up 22.83%)
Microsoft	7.64	6.86	1,284 (up 2.88%)
AOL Pointe	6.0	7.43	1,008 (up 18.31%)
Cisco Systems	4.07	6.0	684 (up 32.56%)
Ratepoint	3.64	12	612 (up 240.00%)
Dell	3.43	5.14	576 (up 14.29%)
Manpower HQ	3.39	3.43	570 (down 4.88%)
STA Travel	3.36	3.43	564 (down 2.08%)
Coldwell Banker	3.07	4.29	516 (down 8.51%)
NBA	2.29	1.14	384 (up 3.23%)
Comcast	1.86	2.0	312 (up 13.04%)
Reebok	1.29	2.29	216 (up 20.00%)
Useful Technology	1.07	2.0	180 (down 40.00%)
Coldwell Banker:$3m house	0.17	0.29	29 (down 60.00%)
Adidas	0.0	0.0	0 (down 100.00%)

The top ten, with commentary is posted to New World Notes.

Methodology

Mixed reality sites in this headcount are selected for their prominence, either from publicity or real world name recognition. Sites with consistent low traffic (500 or less weekly) may be dropped in future Headcounts in favor of other sites. We do not count sites with camping chairs, or visitors in the orientation sims, as there seems to be little evidence to suggest that they will become visitors to the parent site - and if they do, we catch them when we headcount the site anyway.

We collect data four times per day for each site at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm (times in SLT/US Pacific) plus/minus 1 hour. For each sample we count the number of people at the site at the time. We average those samples across the week, and then assume that average to hold constant, with each visitor spending a half hour on-site. This methodology does not necessarily include one-time events that generate high traffic missed by our sampling, which we'll make note of whenever possible. Headcounts do not factor in returning visitors, so assume that the total number of unique Residents are likely to be significantly less than the estimated total visits.

Mixed Reality Headcount, Week ending 16 September, 2007.

Here is the full ranked table of tracked sites for the week ending Sunday 16 September, 2007:

Site (* Native reality site)	Est avg hourly visits	Est avg hourly visits (peak hrs)	Estimated total weekly visits
* Phat Cat's Jazzy Blue Lounge	142	159	23,964 (up 3.47%)
* Lost Gardens of Apollo	85	109	14,412 (up 2.56%)
* Independent State of Caledon	77	99	12,948 (up 2.18%)
* City of Lost Angels	75	87	12,636 (down 6.07%)
* New Citizens Incorporated	75	89	12,612 (stable)
The Pond	72	34	12,252 (stable)
* The Shelter	55	67	9,240 (up 7.24%)
IBM	44	46	7,548 (up 7.34%)
* Isle of Lesbos	42	56	7,200 (down 11.76%)
* Midgar	41	49	6,924 (down 8.12%)
Pontiac	34	42	5,736 (up 26.79%)
* London Commercial Sims	31	44	5,364 (down 4.49%)
The L Word	29	35	5,016 (down 6.49%)
Greenies Home	26	38	4,464 (up 7.51%)
* Ballers City	24	27	4,128 (stable)
* Svarga	19	27	3,288 (up 3.01%)
The Weather Channel	18	16	3,120 (up 4.84%)
Nissan	16	16	2,808 (up 18.18%)
Playboy	14	21	2,472 (up 25.61%)
Virtual Holland	14	16	2,424 (up 3.06%)
Microsoft	7.43	8.0	1,248 (down 9.57%)
ABC Island	7.07	6.57	1,188 (down 26.67%)
Sun Microsystems	6.57	8.86	1,104 (down 5.15%)
AOL Pointe	5.07	4.86	852 (up 2.90%)
Manpower HQ	3.57	3.71	599 (down 2.38%)
STA Travel	3.43	3.43	576 (up 11.63%)
Coldwell Banker	3.36	4.86	564 (down 2.08%)
Cisco Systems	3.07	2.29	516 (down 10.42%)
Dell	3.0	3.14	504 (up 2.44%)
NBA	2.21	1.14	372 (down 6.06%)
Useful Technology	1.79	0.86	300 (down 53.70%)
Comcast	1.64	0.86	276 (down 28.13%)
Ratepoint	1.07	1.43	180 (down 74.14%)
Reebok	1.07	1.43	180 (up 150.00%)
Coldwell Banker:$3m house	0.43	1.14	73 (up 400.00%)
Adidas	0.21	0.0	36 (stable)

The top ten, with commentary is posted to New World Notes.

Methodology

Mixed reality sites in this headcount are selected for their prominence, either from publicity or real world name recognition. Sites with consistent low traffic (500 or less weekly) may be dropped in future Headcounts in favor of other sites. We do not count sites with camping chairs, or visitors in the orientation sims, as there seems to be little evidence to suggest that they will become visitors to the parent site - and if they do, we catch them when we headcount the site anyway.

We collect data four times per day for each site at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm (times in SLT/US Pacific) plus/minus 1 hour. For each sample we count the number of people at the site at the time. We average those samples across the week, and then assume that average to hold constant, with each visitor spending a half hour on-site. This methodology does not necessarily include one-time events that generate high traffic missed by our sampling, which we'll make note of whenever possible. Headcounts do not factor in returning visitors, so assume that the total number of unique Residents are likely to be significantly less than the estimated total visits.

Mixed Reality Headcount, Week ending 9 September, 2007.

Here is the full ranked table of tracked sites for the week ending Sunday 9 September, 2007:

Site (* Native reality site)	Est avg hourly visits	Est avg hourly visits (peak hrs)	Estimated total weekly visits
* Phat Cat's Jazzy Blue Lounge	137	158	23,160 (stable)
* Lost Gardens of Apollo	83	114	14,052 (down 3.06%)
* City of Lost Angels	80	87	13,452 (stable)
* Independent State of Caledon	75	112	12,672 (stable)
* New Citizens Incorporated	74	89	12,588 (stable)
The Pond	72	40	12,252 (stable)
* The Shelter	51	59	8,616 (down 6.75%)
* Isle of Lesbos	48	68	8,160 (up 3.50%)
* Midgar	44	63	7,536 (down 4.99%)
IBM	41	41	7,032 (up 2.09%)
* London Commercial Sims	33	47	5,616 (up 7.59%)
The L Word	31	36	5,364 (up 3.23%)
Pontiac	26	27	4,524 (down 20.46%)
* Ballers City	25	30	4,212 (down 6.15%)
Greenies Home	24	32	4,152 (stable)
* Svarga	19	21	3,192 (stable)
The Weather Channel	17	18	2,976 (down 12.68%)
Nissan	14	8.86	2,376 (down 6.16%)
Virtual Holland	14	12	2,352 (down 7.55%)
Playboy	11	5.14	1,968 (stable)
ABC Island	9.64	9.14	1,620 (up 7.14%)
Microsoft	8.21	6.0	1,380 (stable)
Sun Microsystems	6.93	8.57	1,164 (down 22.40%)
AOL Pointe	4.93	4.57	828 (up 16.95%)
Ratepoint	4.14	12	696 (up 18.37%)
Useful Technology	3.86	10	648 (up 42.11%)
Manpower HQ	3.65	3.14	614 (down 6.67%)
Coldwell Banker	3.43	4.29	576 (down 17.24%)
Cisco Systems	3.43	4.29	576 (stable)
STA Travel	3.07	2.29	516 (down 18.87%)
Dell	2.93	4.29	492 (stable)
NBA	2.36	1.43	396 (up 3.13%)
Comcast	2.29	4.29	384 (down 17.95%)
Reebok	0.43	0.29	72 (up 20%)
Adidas	0.21	0.0	36 (stable)
Coldwell Banker:$3m house	0.09	0.0	15 (down 75%)

The top ten, with commentary is posted to New World Notes.

Methodology

Mixed reality sites in this headcount are selected for their prominence, either from publicity or real world name recognition. Sites with consistent low traffic (500 or less weekly) may be dropped in future Headcounts in favor of other sites. We do not count sites with camping chairs, or visitors in the orientation sims, as there seems to be little evidence to suggest that they will become visitors to the parent site - and if they do, we catch them when we headcount the site anyway.

We collect data four times per day for each site at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm (times in SLT/US Pacific) plus/minus 1 hour. For each sample we count the number of people at the site at the time. We average those samples across the week, and then assume that average to hold constant, with each visitor spending a half hour on-site. This methodology does not necessarily include one-time events that generate high traffic missed by our sampling, which we'll make note of whenever possible. Headcounts do not factor in returning visitors, so assume that the total number of unique Residents are likely to be significantly less than the estimated total visits.

Mixed Reality Headcount, Week ending 2 September, 2007.

Here is the full ranked table of tracked sites for the week ending Sunday 2 September, 2007:

Site (* Native reality site)	Est avg hourly visits	Est avg hourly visits (peak hrs)	Estimated total weekly visits
* Phat Cat's Jazzy Blue Lounge	136	152	22,896 (down 2.85%)
* Lost Gardens of Apollo	86	96	14,496 (up 9.12%)
* City of Lost Angels	80	84	13,584 (stable)
* Independent State of Caledon	74	97	12,480 (up 14.79%)
* New Citizens Incorporated	74	90	12,456 (down 2.54%)
The Pond	73	42	12,300 (down 6.73%)
* The Shelter	55	65	9,240 (up 10.95%)
* Midgar	47	58	7,932 (up 11.09%)
* Isle of Lesbos	46	62	7,884 (down 5.60%)
IBM	41	37	6,888 (down 13.68%)
Pontiac	33	50	5,688 (up 33.90%)
* London Commercial Sims	31	34	5,220 (up 7.94%)
The L Word	30	42	5,196 (down 6.88%)
* Ballers City	26	36	4,488 (up 10.32%)
Greenies Home	25	34	4,212 (up 17.39%)
The Weather Channel	20	19	3,408 (up 14.52%)
* Svarga	19	24	3,240 (up 15.38%)
Virtual Holland	15	16	2,544 (up 14.59%)
Nissan	15	12	2,532 (down 11.34%)
Playboy	11	5.71	2,004 (down 4.57%)
ABC Island	9.0	6.86	1,512 (down 3.82%)
Sun Microsystems	8.93	13	1,500 (up 140.38%)
Microsoft	8.14	8.57	1,368 (up 8.57%)
AOL Pointe	4.21	3.14	708 (down 10.61%)
Coldwell Banker	4.14	5.43	696 (stable)
Manpower HQ	3.91	3.14	657 (down 4.68%)
STA Travel	3.79	5.43	636 (up 10.42%)
Ratepoint	3.5	11	588 (down 3.92%)
Cisco Systems	3.43	3.71	576 (up 4.35%)
Dell	2.93	3.43	492 (up 86.36%)
Comcast	2.79	3.71	468 (up 116.67%)
Useful Technology	2.71	4.57	456 (up 31.03%)
NBA	2.29	1.14	384 (down 21.95%)
Reebok	0.36	0.0	60 (down 61.54%)
Coldwell Banker:$3m house	0.35	0.57	58 (down 33.91%)
Adidas	0.21	0.0	36 (down 80%)

The top ten, with commentary is posted to New World Notes.

Methodology

Mixed reality sites in this headcount are selected for their prominence, either from publicity or real world name recognition. Sites with consistent low traffic (500 or less weekly) may be dropped in future Headcounts in favor of other sites. We do not count sites with camping chairs, or visitors in the orientation sims, as there seems to be little evidence to suggest that they will become visitors to the parent site - and if they do, we catch them when we headcount the site anyway.

We collect data four times per day for each site at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm (times in SLT/US Pacific) plus/minus 1 hour. For each sample we count the number of people at the site at the time. We average those samples across the week, and then assume that average to hold constant, with each visitor spending a half hour on-site. This methodology does not necessarily include one-time events that generate high traffic missed by our sampling, which we'll make note of whenever possible. Headcounts do not factor in returning visitors, so assume that the total number of unique Residents are likely to be significantly less than the estimated total visits.

I can has...

I have no excuse for this. There can be no possible excuse for this.

Settlements and standards

Just getting completely off-topic for a few minutes.

Jack Thompson apparently lacks the integrity to stick with his settlement agreement with Take Two. Up until this point, I could still imagine that he actually was honestly misguided, I suppose.

However, Jack pales into insignificance with this piece of graft and corruption from Microsoft. Wow. Sure, I know a person who was offered a bribe by Microsoft a couple years back (maybe this is one of those "doesn't everyone?" situations, and maybe not), but the magnitude and sheer hubris of this is impressive the same way cyclopean architecture is impressive. You just have to be awed by the scale.