As I did last year on New Year's Eve, today's post will offer some statistical insights about this web site from the past year. These stats come from readers living in a total of 134 countries, who spent an average of 5:56 minutes on this site during 2012. To start off, after adding in this year's numbers, here are the top countries of readership - all time:
Top Countries of Readership - All Time:
1. United States
2. China
3. United Kingdom
4. Germany
5. Russia
6. France
7. Ukraine
8. Canada
9. India
10. Philippines
In doing my best to sort out the difference between readership that owes its origin to spam, and what's the real deal, this past year showed an interesting trend. Russia, who was second in total readership last year because of what I perceived to be spammer inflated numbers, slid down the list during the year as those sorts of entry links dried up. Conversely, China, who was nowhere to be seen on this site last year, has moved into undisputed second place in about 8 months. Given my belief that the Chinese numbers are probably marginally impacted by spam, and the reality of the significant language barrier, this trend has left me scratching my head........ Any of you wizards in Washington, DC have the answer?
Next, let's take a look at what folks were reading in 2012.
Top Posts for 2012:
1. Blurred Satellite Images - Living in the Post 9/11 World - Aug 22, 2011
2. Burning Down the House - Apr 25, 2012
3. Google's HUD Glasses - Feb 24, 2012
4. NSARC Designates USNG as the Land SAR Coordinate System - Mar 1, 2012
5. Four For Friday: Tornado Tracks, EPA Flyovers, Waldo Canyon Fire Imagery, EPC Meeting Videos - Jul 6, 2012
6. HSIP Gold and Freedom Released for 2012 - Apr 9, 2012
7. Monitoring the 2011 Japan Tsunami Debris Field - Feb 29, 2012
8. Utilities and Disasters: Oncor Shows the Way! - April 4, 2012
9. Water Versus Fire - Views of Minnesota and Colorado Disasters From Above - July 2, 2012
10. More on Automated License Plate Recognition - Another Brewing Storm - March 27, 2012
The post you are now reading is number 285 for the year. Curiously, even with that kind of volume, none of the posts for 2012 commanded the top spot. Instead, that position belongs to a post from the previous year that got "discovered". It's one that explores the importance of geospatial data in the post 9/11 world and what industry and government are doing to limit the utility of that data for terrorism purposes. Recently, that post crossed 5,000 views. A thought which brings me to pass along two comments about themes that run through that post and the related story:
- It's geospatial data, far more than geospatial platform, that makes situational awareness possible. In other words, while working toward a Common Operating Picture (COP) platform to share data for emergency preparedness and response purposes is good, working toward a common pool of shared data is critical.
- When it comes to situational awareness, efforts that "collect" and lock away geospatial data as the way to create a common pool of shared data for a select group are never going to achieve "what's possible". Unfortunately, "collect" is a military and intelligence community mindset that is the cornerstone of approaches used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and others who control the purse strings of the U.S. Emergency Services Sector. Instead, any response agency that truly wants geospatial data that is current, robust, and timely, needs to be funding "collaboration" that starts at the local level. Efforts which seek to stifle that availability as described in Blurred Satellite Images - Living in the Post 9/11 World, are actually working against all of us by casting a "chilling effect" on the sharing of data that would otherwise benefit the Emergency Services Sector.
As for the rest of the posts on the list, I personally find numbers 4, 8 and 9 as the ones with the most significance. Although I'd recommend a read of all posts that have made the top ten list (if you haven't done so already), I would specifically recommend these three.
Finally, my close out thought for the year is about the future. Over the past year, I've blabbed plenty about "The Rise of the Drones". Trend analysis tells me those posts aren't popular - either folks aren't interested in the topic, or I write poorly. That's too bad, because within the range of topics covered by this site, it's the one I believe will have the single greatest impact on all of us in foreseeable future. In an effort to prove that point and provide a bit of entertainment to close out the year, I offer below a video about a $299.00 product that went on sale at stores like Brookstone and Toys "R" Us in mid-year 2012. If the video is accurately showing circumstances now (and it is), what will the coming year bring? Think about that one - while clinking glasses tonight....
Wishing you a fun filled New Year's Eve!
(and don't be too much of a party animal)
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