I hope everyone had a good New Year's Day. We've just heard some fireworks going off, meaning that someone is celebrating exactly 24 hours too late. Bless them. It's been a quiet day in F1, which means there's only one news story to talk about, but we've been filling our time with other things.
- Apparently, Hakkinen supports Bernie's medal idea. Well, he said it was interesting, and I guess that counts as support, doesn't it?
- We're still looking for people to join in our Sidepodcast BatRacer game. All the details can be found in the Wiki, thanks to Scott Woodwiss for setting it up and writing a guide. If you want to join in the fun, head over to Batracer with a password of sidepodcast.
- The Sidepodcast header poll is now closed, and Mark Webber beat Ferrari 21-20 points. That's a close one, just like the '08 championship. Thanks to everyone that voted, and the header will be refreshed later today.
Don't feel constrained by anything I've listed above. The Daily thread is your place to discuss anything on your mind, whether it's related to Formula 1, to other motorsports, or any other topic you feel like. I will see you in the comments.
Evenin' all
First thing Webber has won in a long, long while. He needs cheering up I spose
78 votes is fantastic response for our first poll. we gotta do more of them.
cheers everyone who voted, democracy at its finest.. even if you did pick the wrong one in the end ;)
first batracer run. 1 second a lap slower than lynch.
And again Aguri are outperforming Honda :-P
sssshh i was hoping no one would notice ;) also, quali can bring surprises :P
i shaved three tenths off. i could do with a number couple of runs though. don't mind running with the rookie light on either :)
i'd give you advice and say that as christine is in the same car you do actually have more runs, cause she can help with set up... but you know, i'm competitive. :P
WILL bring surprises :D
ahh-ha.
Letting Christine start off with your settings would be best, she can only imrpove settings for the both of you in that case.
That is what we at Honda would have done more successfully, if only... :-P
we are keeping the spirit of honda alive :P i feel like it's a normal friday practice session now, haha :)
so is there anything else i need to be doing before the game starts?
have you got your qualifying strategy sorted?
check.
I just don't like the fact me and Joe are currently crushing you guys so far in qually ;)
I'd just like to say that it really doesn't matter who goes first when doing runs in practice and warmup, unless one of you has a setup trait. These traits are Thinker and Charisma. If anyone competing has either one of these, I cannot stress enough how useful it will be to your overall setup for you to run first and to put your experimentation slider to 100. It's the quickest way to get those spot ons.
Forgive me here, but who's James Lynch? :P
do.you.know.anyone?
he's commented here lots in the past, and he's commented here today.
how do i know which traits i selected again? soz.
Only the regulars. I tend to forget those who come and go occasionally. :)
well i think that's all you need to have done ;)
Results > Season Standings > Include Driver Characteristics. ;)
lovely chap, had problems commenting earlier this year, but for once it was his setup rather than wordpress causing issues :)
i think he might be a batracer expert though, not sure.
damn we have neither :(
Come to think of it, I do remember someone called lynch. Was he just called lynch on here?
I must say that I'm surprised at the current BMW dominance. I do hope that someone gets the other Ferrari seat to make it better. Also, Scott, I thought you were pretty good at this? As you have Hool Tools, you and Steven Roy should challenge strongly. I'm beginning to get quietly confident at the moment for BMW though. Also, my sole Batracer victory was in a BMW.
I'm new to this, and Lou barely has any experience, so we're doing just fine. :-P I'm fairly sure our current times are slower than what we can actually achieve :)
And Lou didn't exactly help by throwing away her 5 runs :p
yeah, he left this comment, which might have helped ya:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2009/01/01/bbc-pushing-f1-at-every-opportunity/#comment-169967
:D
I obviously meant Kool Tools.....got a laugh out of me anyway.
Never mind, try running your experimentation at 65 or 70. I did so the other day without a setup trait and got the perfect mix of speed and data, it seemed :P
i didn't throw them away... i just didn't get the best out of them....
awesome :D
Alenyaa, Lou may have just 1 season done, but she won a race then....from last.....when it rained : P
She done very well in the season, especially as she had no team-mate.
Aha! I knew I recognised that name somehow when I thought about it. Couldn't quite pinpoint it though.
As I've said before, I've done a lot of games but I've only won a handful of races and never won a championship. Closest I've ever got was 4th.
by the way. teams are all working together right? or can there be a senna / prost relationship?
I know, I was just teasing you :)
I gathered she did ok from what she said about it herself.
That's why I wanted to join her :)
haha... yeah no idea how i won that race. You'll be getting Alenyaa's hopes up that i'll be doing better. hopefully luck will be on honda's side ;)
depends how well you wanna do :P
There is an option to "battle/fight" with your teammate instead of working together, but then what fun is fighting? ;)
I'd leave it ticked since working as a team is better and more logical than an inter-team civil war :P
There could be, but be ready for a lousy team I guess. Or, as Lou proved, you might not need co-operation at all.
Well, we're all friends (for now :-P), so I do think all teammates are working together
Too late :D
good stuff. gonna be fun ride :)
Aye
It will be. :)
I want more practice runs...
tis ok.. we get a warm up after quali... and i promise i wont use my laps unproductively this time :P
If I can cheekily direct you guys to a Toro Rosso tribute I dd a bit ago:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aMIEeST-pcA
I messed up at the end with the song length, stupid mistake, but apart from that I'm pleased with it.
Well, the reason I want more runs is actually because I'm starting to show symptons of addiction :D
That's what BATracer does to you. One session and you're hooked :P
have to say, it's already way more fun than the last one i participated in.
it's cause it wasn't a sidepodcast one :P
I think the main reason for that is we're all doing it as well :P
;) :D
Sidepodcast events are always more fun! :P
Are there any regulars we haven't managed to get yet? From what I can think of:
Alex Andronov
Gavin Brown
Journeyer
Anyone else? (Yes I am aware Journeyer is in the comments right now :D)
Dom, he is on holiday though..
gavin's on holiday too. i'll ping ollie and alex now though.
i love it :D
What about Andy and LPG?
sleeping i think. although they would make for a fabulous team.
so we still need
x1 Toro Rosso
x1 Willliams
x1 Force India
x1Ferrari
x2 Renault
x2 Toyota
so that's 8 more people to find.
Hmm
Alex, Gavin, Journeyer, Dom, Andy, LPG - that would be another 6.
and Ollie too, so that's a possible 7. One more?
What about Jordan Allen?
you need all those to start, or do you fancy a full grid? might be nice to leave some open spaces for latecomers? especially seeing as we've not mentioned it on a show yet.
Yep, that should be our 8th then :P
Assuming the fact they want to do it of course.
The trouble with that is, once I start the game no-one else can join. A full grid would be nice but if it gets to a point where any more doesn't look possible then I shall look to start.
yep ;) But if anyone just watching the comments wants to have a go they are more that welcome :)
*cough* lurkers *cough*
As for me, I'll have a look-see. BATracer does take a bit of time, which I probably won't have a lot of starting Monday. But I'll see nonetheless. :D
That was me for a week or so.
Good times.
sorry. didn't realise. that seems like a bit of a flaw, but fair enough.
anything exciting happening?
No need to apologise. :)
slowly getting back to life after forced flu break - Happy New Year everybody !
cheers wolf. read your post a little while ago, i had no idea they used to race on new years day! complete news to me.
excellent post and recommended reading:
http://www.f1wolf.com/2009/01/formula-1-was-not-always-quiet-on-new-year.html
Hi guys,
Just joined the BATracer game (somehow managed to score a Ferrari drive!) - I'm not a regular poster, but I'm a daily visitor to SPC.
Good luck all :)
nice one trig, i've added you to the wiki too:
http://sidepodcast.wetpaint.com/page/Drivers+and+Teams
good to have you onboard :)
uh-oh. you have kool tools...
'me' have you actually slept yet? :P
The post was not planned. But I recalled yesterday an article in F1Racing sometime last year where some of the drivers were talking about their annual New Year "holidays" in South Africa and the fun the guys used to have down there. That was the first time I heard about New Year F1 racing.
My god. Batracer is so complicated.
Hooray, you have kool tools!
To reassure Me, and probbably dissapoint Trig, my previous Batracer experience amounts to vaguely knowing it existed. Still, I hope to be more Glock than Piquet Jr ;)
I dont think its too bad, though Scotts guide makes it much easier!
Im glad the Webber Header won, even though I voted for one of the Heidfelds. Didnt really like the Ferrari one all that much.
What is this 'Kool Tools' thing I've seen mentioned? Do they give an advantage or something?
http://batracer.com/-uk
;)
Think I'll go spend my £10 on some sweets instead :-)
Hey guys, I got a mate to join the Batracwe game, hes at Renault, he's played some games before. The last season me and him did, we were Honda, we both got poles, think I got 4, he got some wins and we both got quite a few podiums, great seaso. Oh and he has Kool Tools : P
Well look at that - Chrstine faster than Mr C :D
More by luck than judgement.
The BATracer Kool Tools are, funnily enough, just cool little tools that make calculations and communications easier within the game.
Best part for me is being able to see your teammates setup work on the car.
BATracer seems a bit confusing at first, but soon it won't be confusing enough for you, and those 12 hour waits for the next round will be excruciating :) You'll love it, I promise.
nice one joe. we remember luke, think we read out some of his emails a long time ago.
i'm less enthused but his ownership of kool tools though :)
i saved my setup for her, but forgot to mention it. she beat me with a blind setup from a standing start. i am useless at this game :(
Typical, the three people with Kool Tools are at the top.
My aim is to be the best non-Kool person.
Mr C, did you find the logo?
I'm sensing an anti Kool Tool movement that has me slightly nervous.
I'm thinking 'should i blow the first couple of races to ease their concerns?'
Nahhhh. :)
No, I've never finished higher than 7th anyway
soz, forgot. i think this is the correct one:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/logo
Cheers mate.
Is there a show this Sunday? It says nothing in the schedule, but I'm wondering.
I'm thinking not.
If you were not aware of that you have probably never heard of the Tasman series. Every winter F1 used to de-camp to the antipodes, take out there 3 litre engines and fit 2.5 litre engines and do 4 races in New Zeland and 4 in Australia. Then they went to South Africa for first F1 race of the season on New Year's day in the appropriate years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Series
No plans at the moment. I think we mentioned in the Awards show that the next one would be the weekend of Autosport International.
nope, but i like the sound of it.
there really isn't a lot of news to talk about is there?
After many, many attempts I have finally beaten Andy's Top Gear Reliant Robin space shuttle thing score - 415004
Allegedly, Alonso had the choice to go to Ferrari this year but stayed out of loyalty to Renault
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090102092549.shtml
That is from Diario AS who have been running the same story for months now. It is garbage. Raikkonen already had a contract for 2009 and had an option on his part for 2010 which he exercised by the due date. So possibly Ferrari could have got rid of him but it would have cost them two years of Kimi's salary then Alonso's on top of that. That doesn't sound like a sensible deal to me.
When Diario AS started running this story their orignal line was that Kimi and Fernando would seap seats. It seems to be beyond their intelligence that there was no reason for Kimi to walk out of Ferrari and drive for Renault. Diario AS is a rag that puts out blind Alonso propoganda with no consideration of reality.
That and it's a slow news week till some Honda revelation appears
To quote Alenyaa from the driver chat on BATracer:
"Christine has changed her name to Mrc Christine. Both their last names are now "Christine".How are we going to tell you apart in times sheets that only feature last names? :P"
maybe it is part of a plan?:P
Looking at the team list, maybe nobody does actually like Toyota :D
erm.
Which ones are those? I've only seen ones featuring first names or full names.
In the above scenario BATRacer puts in the full name! (did a race with my Dad once)
Although, I think it should me Mr. & Mrs Me
they think of everything :)
that's one step away from mr. men.
http://www.mrmen.com/uk/
Oh thank god I wasn't the only one thinking that
Look in Car Setup and on the right hand side there'll be a "live timing" with the drivers and times run so far. As you changed your name to Mrs Christine, there are now 2 Christines on that list, so it's confusing to make out which one's which.
Hmm. I changed it because there were two Christine's in the first name. Looks like I can't win.
You might have misunderstood. The list of names on the car setup page are surnames. With both yours and Mr C's surnames as Christine it's quite confusing. How it was before was fine because at least I could tell who was who.
no we understand. we just like it the way it is now.
I'm watching you in the races now... :P
Its nice that you remember me though. I'll try and comment more in 2009 rather than just reading/listening me thinks. Can't wait to get this game going!
It avoids any domestics about who is performing and who is not.
hehe. it might be a sneaky way to confuse the opposition :)
nah, all i need to know is if Honda are beating the Super Aguris :P
how could we forget, you said we were better than itv ;)
Maybe only when I'm lapping you ;), and then it doesn't really matter :D
Doesn't look like that at the moment ;)
Of course you guys are *wink, you are the best *wink*
as you said yesterday, it's only practice :P
itv did a good job! (minus thos damn adverts... and DC looking awkward in a tuxedo. burned in my mind forever from that intro) but they had nothing on sidepodcast :D
The McLaren car looked like one from a rubbish online f1 game
No... just makes him a budding politician...
Now isn't that FIA position up for grabs soon?....
lou showed me an article earlier on the BBC that revealed that they're announcing the next doctor tomorrow on BBC1 for Dr Who. Now Ross Brawn said earlier in December that they'd reveal buyers and news in the New Year about honda and a possible announcement, and I'm just gonna put 2 and 2 together here...
and say that the next Doctor is Rubens Barrichello, awith the BBC buying Honda out and allowing JB and Bruno to drive whilst retaining the experience of barrichello and making him an even bigger hit.
I'm 99% this will happen. Absolutely.
care for a wager? ;)
haha :)
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q127/Lukehmuse/rubensdr.jpg
and yes, I was that bored. :)
That's brilliant :)
incredible!
Rubens saves the world....
Who will be his greatest adversary...
Cyberman?...
Or is that too rude about Michael?...
:D
I was thinking of Kimi when you said cybermen based on his interviews, as much as I love the guy... :P
ive put the pic on drop.io, lou again showed it to me and explained (she's been a great help in me catching back up to speed with things :D)
Ahhh...
But the world doesn't need saving from Kimi....
I'd say it's precisely the other way round...
And I'll take that job so you don't need to worry....
Very true, if anything the world needs more Kimi ;)
I actually saw it on the FBook group, and I haven't played BATRacer for a while! So, I thought I would give it a punt! Yes, I haven't been seen in "these parts" for a while, but I was here "In the Beginning" back in the day when SPod had their very own little forum! (which I suggest should make a return) ;-)
Anybody interested in the Dakar rally which begins tomorrow?
I remember watching the Paris-Dakar rally as a youngster with my old man on Eurosport (early 90s), never really watched it after that.
It's being run in South America this year after terrorist threats caused the event to be cancelled last year.
just reading the report:
"Former Formula One drivers Ukyo Katayama (driving a Toyota) and Eliseo Salazar are also tackling the Dakar,"
hehe :)
there's no chance it'll be broadcast on the web is there?
i remember it well. a forum is an ever popular request, but we really want to concentrate on making live commenting as good as possible because it seems a better way of conversing.
christine's daily posts are sort of a nod to forum topics, but we know it's not perfect yet.
personally i don't like forums compared to blog comments.
Christine's daily posts > forum topics :)
Bah.
In reply to the speculation, LPG and I don't really want to join in with BATracers. Sorry.
Well, the reason I want more runs is actually because I’m starting to show symptons of addiction {Alenyaa}
Well, it is possible to join a public game and a midseason game as well as the private (Sidepodcast) one simultaneously without purchasing Kool Tools. That's what I'm doing.
Now I need to figure out how to do what lou did last season... ...my mid-season Super Aguri car broke down in Q1 and I've only got one race to retrieve some sort of respectable result from it!
The trouble with that is, once I start the game no-one else can join. A full grid would be nice but if it gets to a point where any more doesn’t look possible then I shall look to start. {Scott Woodwiss}
If you wait long enough and you have at least the minimum number of players, it'll start regardless. The maximum sign-in period is two weeks last time I started a private game (over a year ago).
i remember it well. a forum is an ever popular request, but we really want to concentrate on making live commenting as good as possible because it seems a better way of conversing. {me}
There is a forum to which my blog is attached that my co-admin and I would be happy to see you use as a forum-style to augment your Sidepodcast conversations. There are a few people already there and it means Christine and "me" don't have to worry about moderating the forum comments (since my co-admin and I have that responsibility).
Steven: New high score on dropio -
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/picture1-4
Oh good :(
I have just completed my first 5 laps of BATracer and two things are clear. I need more laps and I am too slow.
Steven, you did load my setup, right? Right?
I made a setup from your team comments. Can I actually load your set up?
Sorry. Will give you something to do between BATracer activities :)
Dunno. I hope there is. If someone can find it I would be eternally grateful!
Oh, and I just shown BATracer to the other-half to see if she was interested: it's a no-goer! I'm not the sales man I once was! :-D
*sigh* it's something I fear I may have forgotten in the guide. Yes, if your teammate has done their runs, click the load button and then your teammate's name to load their setup. But check they have actually done their runs before you do!
I will try to remember that in future
you're very generous with your webspace alia, thank you. i'm not sure it's quite what we're looking for, just because we're focused on building the live commenting we have. to make it better and faster and stuff, but seriously, you're too kind :)
if i looked at the website that would be my reaction too :)
having completed 5 laps, i'm now chomping at the bit to get started though. very odd.
at least you tried mind you.
A sad tale, shows the importance of a good backup strategy :(
http://journalspace.com/this_is_the_way_the_world_ends/not_with_a_bang_but_a_whimper.html
ouch. not heard of them though, were they popular?
Alexa rating just outside the 100,000 mark. Been around for a good few years as well.
Dunno, but 6 years means they probably were decent enough.
Unusual if you ask me, wording seemed odd, style was odd. Very odd.
Playing about on the Wayback machine I found this:
"Much blood, sweat, tears and petty little arguments later, we have finally finished editing our very first proper episode. I suppose a little bit of love got thrown in there as well, because I have never edited anything before, and this was really quite a lot of fun."
So some things remain the same then :)
they sure do. all credit to the girl, it took her two episodes to learn how to edit audio, and i've barely lifted a finger since :)
why are you looking on wayback btw? all our archives are here for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2007/01/07/episode-1-season-review-2006-part-1/
It was linked from Alexa, I was having a nose at your ranking :)
is it any good?
just under 480,000
that means nothing to me :)
is that any good?
New Robin Space Shuttle record 438952 including landing it.
There are million plus turnover (wahm) businesses that don't do anything near that well :-)
I think to keep a web based blog/ forum etc going you need to:-
Have a means of attracting new members...
Keep it fresh and new...
Don't be too "cliquey" so newbies stay and participate...
And remember... you can never please all the people all the time....
So I reckon you are doing pretty well... but you guys are probably best placed to judge your "hits", your new participators etc etc....
I reckon two of your biggest assets are, of course, Christine and "me"...
You come across as a couple who it's nice to drop in and spend some time with...
Sort of like the popular intelligent girl of the neighbourhood and....
Her very friendly and enthusiastic....
Dog....
Ouch!
w00t!
ahahaha. you're too kind ;)
The ranking is based on traffic, so the top sites are the usual suspects = Yahoo, Google, Youtube etc.
Sidepodcast is down the list at 479 thousand and something.
Axis of Oversteer are down around a million and a half.
F1 Rejects is just over the million - 1,085,701
So I'd say pretty good :)
Or... woof....
Not at all...
He's terrifically endearing and actually always makes everyone very welcome...
Every site should have one....
And I say that as a complete.....Cat.....
Better than calling him a nutter who wasn't involved with the podcast.
*Whistles away
Thank god I only thought that at the start.
Damn!
thank you :)
It's quite good. It means that yours is accessed by Alexa toolbar users slightly more often than the 480,000th site Alexa toolbar users use. It's rather skewed, since last I heard the only version around was for Internet Explorer and a lot of people don't install it due to privacy concerns, but it is a nifty "rough guide" tool if you are sure a significant proportion of your users have Internet Explorer.
Other F1 sites for comparison:
Yahoo! 1 (and the Japanese version is 10)
F1.com 2,400
F1-Live.com 3,375
Planet-F1 29,768
F1 Fanatic 46,370
Grandprix.com 50,520
BATRacer 56,218
Pitpass 101,887
Blog F1 246,907
Sportnetwork 253,198
Home of Sport 455,366
doctorvee 469,654
F1 Rejects 1,085,721
Formula 1 Home 1,320,468
Sofa F1 7,660,525
GP Wizard 21,475,267
The highest-ranking F1 team site is Honda's (173,896) and the highest-ranking driver's is Fernando Alonso's (176,798). The highest-ranking circuit site is the Hungaroring (359,119)
That surprises me.
go Honda! I bet that has something to do with honda racing tv....
Same here, the worst track but the highest views?
Outrage.... nice to see Honda get many visits though.
For podcast-centric F1 sites:
BBC's Chequered Flag 46
podbean 21,847
Crash.net 22,120
Formula 1 Blog 799,225
Formula 1 Pod 1,478,854
F1 Minute (yes it gets a separate entry) 2,287,540 (but it went up 90,138 places since it was last measured despite this being the off-season)
If that's recently I can understand why.... also as they've been so bad that could be the only place you can find stuff out about them...
Hmmm... I don't go to the Kimster's site enough then!...
WHAT!!!... or is this the "Polish" effect Keith noticed in his polls where he is suddenly inundated with "Poles for Bob"... if you get what I mean....
does anyone here actually run this toolbar then. i never have. what makes it useful and why would anyone install it?
SofaF1 woof! ;)
The amount of times I've been on the BMW one, it shocks me :D
Honda's site is/was good i tell you. great photos, great videos. :)
but without the toolbar, how would they know you've been there?
And JB and Rubens. Who needs more?!
Fair point.
Fair point indeed, probs Google woulda been a better option
ahh yes, googletrends:
http://trends.google.com/websites?q=sidepodcast.com&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
hmmm.
Errr....
Is that your own traffic to the site...
That would be non existent as it's yours?...
Never heard of it
Alexa used to be much more crucial than it is now. But it is still difficult to decide how many people have been to a site. I think it's owned by amazon
according to google, not very popular :(
We could always try one of those heart jerking abandoned dog type ads from TV....
"Look at these pictures, lost Formula 1 drivers. This is Jenson, owned by Honda before he was cruelly treated and forced out. Please send £3 a month to Sidepodcharity to help these stranded, stuck drivers, and help them back on track."
Hi to all bat racers. I am stuck without a computer until Sunday night. So I'm notsure if you'd rather wait or start without me. I am also computerless all of next weekend. I am still trying to work out what crime I commuted which has caused all this plus mama mia but I think it might have been a season of Formula 1!
Committed not commuted. I have not yet got the ability to commute sentences sadly.
you'll be in credit come the start of next season though, eh?
Another popular ruse... to gain popularity...
Do a sing-a-long...
Oh... I think you tried that one over Christmas...
Perhaps a more popular song?... or genre...
The highest-ranking circuit site is the Hungaroring (359,119)
That surprises me. {R.G. quoting Alianora La Canta - 4 comments ago}
Other circuits for comparison:
Fuji 146,481 (so how did that not get classified as a motorsports site on the "Top Motorsports Sites", then?)
Spain 315,268 (ditto)
Silverstone 325,881 (ditto)
Singapore 394,694
Monaco 415,559
Malaysia 532,756
Spa-Francorchamps 547,041
Australia 803,362
Canada 1,241,188
Bahrain 1,341,755
Valencia 1,442,181
Istanbul 12,398,303
Monza 13,053,526
Bahrain, Yas Island No Data (which means no Alexa users have visited it since the last time the ranking was updated)
Shanghai, Nurburing Cannot find Alexa rating (not a good sign, especially when the Sidepodcast entry on them appears before the circuits' official sites in a search for the circuit name)
Magny-Couers Cannot find Alexa rating (Sidepodcast doesn't appear in searches of it, but my blog is on a search for the circuit name and the official site for it isn't)
For comparison, Castle Combe (a national-level circuit in the UK) has an Alexa rating of 1,111,023.
Awesome!
I think so :)
If that’s recently I can understand why…. also as they’ve been so bad that could be the only place you can find stuff out about them… {Lady Snowcat - 22 comments ago}
It is. I believe they check every week, though I don't know what time of week they do the check. Also, there is some weighting according to the amount of traffic that month, that quarter and (in the case of sites in the top 100,000 last time they measured) that day.
does anyone here actually run this toolbar then. i never have. what makes it useful and why would anyone install it? {me - 22 comments ago}
I used to have it, back when I had Internet Explorer. It had shortcuts to lots of useful stuff like the Wayback Machine, plus a search engine that sometimes got results when Yahoo! and Ask.com didn't. The big downside is that it puts a cookie on your computer and collects anonymised data about your searching habits. On the one hand, that's why it can come up with a relatively comprehensive list of what sites are doing compared to each other. However, privacy is something a lot of people like to maintain.
Also, it only works in Internet Explorer. Once my brother convinced me that Firefox was better, I ditched the Alexa toolbar. On discovering that a Firefox 2 plug-in restored all the shortcuts and several more handy ones without the cookie or the privacy issue, I was even happier. Nobody has done an equivalent for Firefox 3 yet, but I don't think the Alexa toolbar is Firefox-ready either, and I don't miss it enough to find out whether this is still the case.
SofaF1 woof! {Alex Andronov - 22 comments ago}
Yes, you're more popular than at least five current F1 circuits' official sites...
seems like a bad way to track a site's popularity. on the other hand, i like our ranking. a conundrum.
Thats a tagline
"More popular than Monza"
yeeeees!
That explains it then...
Jense, Rubens and Bruno are checking it every few mins to see if there is a buyer yet...
but without the toolbar, how would they know you’ve been there? {me - 20 comments ago}
And therein lies the weakness of the Alexa method. It doesn't know unless the toolbar cookie is there.
so if i started using it. our ranking would go up?
Right, am off to get an early night (yes 11pm is early for me) as i didn't bother sleeping last night as i had so much photography to do, but i'm now shattered. Night all x
Fair point indeed, probs Google woulda been a better option {R.G. - 24 comments ago}
Google Trends only checks search terms. Alexa checks site traffic itself. So people searching for terms other than Sidepodcast and deciding to go to Sidepodcast on the strength of their ranking on that topic wouldn't appear. For example, people searching for "Sidepodparty" wouldn't be mentioned, nor would those typing in "good F1 podcast".
Anyone getting to Sidepodcast by any method other than Google would also be missed, which includes me and probably all other regular Sidepodders, due to the magic of the "Favourites/Bookmarks" feature in browsers. With the possible exception of people with Google toolbars (since I do not have a Google account, I cannot test this).
night lou.
Nite lou
I'm still reeling watchind Van Barneveld get a nine-darter in the Wold Champs
on the other hand, i like our ranking. a conundrum. {me - 8 comments ago}
Not really. It just means people aren't using "Sidepodcast" in Google to find you, but something else. And it probably also means that people tend to like what they see and bookmark you.
Goodnight, lou.
nighty night lou :)
im tempted to go myself, watch a DVD in bed then get up at 6 for work... ohh the joys of Iceland...
think i will. night to you all :D
Just like any statistical method, neither Alexa nor Google will ever be able to provide a completely accurate result, but they do provide an estimate, just like the way they calculate TV viewing figures.
See ya Lukeh
see ya.
And this has nothing to do with your 'statistics' on the other thread?
OK, so you've gone to sleep already... so I'll leave this for you to ponder in the morning...
night to you all {Lukeh - 5 comments ago}
Goodnight, Lukeh!
Just like any statistical method, neither Alexa nor Google will ever be able to provide a completely accurate result, but they do provide an estimate, just like the way they calculate TV viewing figures. {Andy Taylor - 5 comments ago}
Good point.
Daily post is a bit late methinks :P
Just a bit, no? :P Well, they did say a few days back that the daily post would be up at an unspecified time during the day (i.e. we can be late and get away with it. MWAHAHA!)
:D
Ah, Sidepodcast timing. How we love it :D
I think they've gone to bed OR Mr C was supposed to put the daily post up before he did but fell asleep on the keyboard. God I hope it's the second one.
Maybe he's BATracing
:D Brushing up on his skills
still up, about to do the batracer post. then a stats post, and then i'll do the daily one.
i am... somewhat behind.
I've been BATRacing - and can report that the Super Aguri I was given to race in the final race of a mid-season season broke on me when I had dragged it from 22nd (which was itself due to a mechanical failure in Q1) to 9th...
ah sweet! :)
I don't know why but certain songs I listen to right now give me this visualisation of all of us in Melbourne in the practice session doing everything that would normally happen, like sitting in the car talking to engineers, going out of the pits, pounding round the circuit, etc. Also, because of RLB, everytime I play BATracer I feel like I'm actually there racing at wherever the championship is.
Letting your mind wander and thinking of things like that is quite nice :P
Daydreaming at night? Must be nightdreaming then. :D
:D
Oooh, bitter heartbreak. At least it broke down on you when you were 9th, not 8th. That would've been MUCH worse.
I've had it on occasions in RLB where I've been leading the race and then a driver error saw me DNF. Although never in F1, just in IndyCar/Trinity.
Speaking of Super Aguri, I did finish 2nd in a mid-season one once with Pole Sitter King and Speed Demon in the pouring rain in Brazil.
Oooh, bitter heartbreak. At least it broke down on you when you were 9th, not 8th. That would’ve been MUCH worse. {Journeyer - 3 comments afo}
But I was only five seconds behind the Renault in 8th, there were nine laps to go and it turned out to have a pit stop left to do. In fact, I'd have been seventh if I'd not overtaken anyone else because the driver in 5th came out of their pit stop 11th due to finger trouble from a mechanic.
Still, I did have the satisfaction of beating my team-mate, who despite having been in the Aguri all year, qualified 12th and finished 13th.
Speaking of Super Aguri, I did finish 2nd in a mid-season one once with Pole Sitter King and Speed Demon in the pouring rain in Brazil. {Scott Woodwiss - 2 comments ago}
Excellent!
haha, nope. Sadly, if it were that simple. Unfortunately doing 4 AS subjects (in school) and an A2 photography (outside of school), is a hell of a lot of work and although i have been working flat out to get all my work done, sometimes i need more time (hence the staying up all night). plus i have suspicions that my huge total is down to live commenting more than daily chat... :P
At least you now know that you are not *actually* the top top poster.... ;-)
:)
oi!
teehee....