Who Reads This Drivle?

For about a year now I've been tracking this blog's hits with a hit counter. It tells me all sorts of things, like the IP addresses of each hit, their domain names, their browser, operating system, how they got to the site, etc. Using the IP address the system can guesstimate where in the world the visitor is from. (Relax. If I know you read my blog, it's because you've told me, or left a comment. If you read my blog with a reader, or on Facebook then I have no idea you read it, unless you tell me.)

I have a few readers that I know about who read this blog occasionally, or regularely. But every now and again I get a whole bunch of random hits from all over the world. It seems that the random hit number is inversly proportional to the usefullness of the most recent post.

If I wrote that I found the cure for cancer, and wrote in detail what that cure is, I'd be lucky if my usual readers would read it. But if I wrote a post with the following exact content: "lalalalalalalalala" my hits would go through the roof.

What's the deal with that?

A Different Kind of Cat Scan

ATTENTION residents of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, R.I.:

Do not let this cat take a nap beside you!

I'm An Artist Too (27)

What we have here is a nerdy accountant type guy talking with a beer-swilling, sports watching, mullet-having, truck driving redneck.

Redneck: What kind of truck do you have?
Nerd: Are you a man or a woman?
Redneck: Where I come from, it don't matter.
Nerd: I drive a hybrid.

Things Dry Out

Last week was a good week with the McQueen's. In one day we got a new mini-fridge for the basement, and a dehumidifier. Now I can keep my Pepsi and bottled water cold, and the basement dry.

We still need a new dryer. Or I need more clothes. I go to the laundromat every week. I only have one weeks worth of clothes. It turns out that a week's worth of clothes is also about one load of laundry.

Time For a New iPod

In today's article we see that the CD levy will soon be applied to iPods and other media.

For those who don't know about the CD levy, in Canada whenever you buy a blank CD you pay a hidden tax on it. The money from that tax goes to the recoding industry to compensate artists because it's presumed that the CDs will be used to copy music and give to people who haven't bought it. It's sort of like punishing your kids for the rules they may have broken that you didn't catch them for.

On the plus side, it's what exists to allow music downloading in Canada legal.

It's making it harder and harder to steal from the recording industry that so richly deserves it. I might have to upgrade my iPod before the tax is actually applied.

I'm An Artist Too (26)

A woman who seems to like that guy, who we'll see more of next week.

Book Review: L'avion de Gaston

Today I am going to review the first French book I was able to read, L'avion de Gaston by Nathalie Bélineau.

It was a relatively easy read. There were only 4 or 5 lines of text per page. The pictures were well done with a reflective metallic looking airplane. The pages are made of cardboard, giving the book good durability. As a student of French, I got plenty of vocabulary from this book. I found it entertaining and delightful.

I found the book had several problems with it though. While there was plenty on the protagonist, Gaston, the book entirely lacked character development. There is an Air Traffic Controller, a mechanic, and a slightly anthropomorphic bird who's names aren't even mentioned.

I was curious about the bird. The bird wears a scarf and goggles and flies very close to the plane. I guess the bird is unaware of the hazards of bird-strikes. The bird will surely be killed by getting chopped up by the propeller. The propeller will likely be damaged by the bird. Gaston may crash and die. But, he seems to have a parachute.

This is supposed to be a children's book. But I'm not sure we should be exposing our children to that level of glorified danger!

The front cover shows Gaston flying directly above a cloud. Does he have his IFR rating? The book doesn't explicitly say, but judging by a picture of the cockpit, I don't think the plane is equipped for IFR flight. I don't even think he has a radio with which to communicate with the tower and other aircraft! (Not to mention how dangerous, and uncomfortable it is to fly directly above a cloud!)

As a student pilot, I am well aware of the dangers of Gaston's flying style. But most children will be oblivious. This is a potentially very dangerous book!

In summary, I can recommend this book only to adult student pilots, but in the hands of a child it's just a recipe for disaster. That's a risk I just don't want to be responsible for.