EVS-Islands

I have been tracking the number of visitors to this site since April 2006.  It is fulfilling to know something about my visitors.  If you haven't guessed already, I am a very private person, even though I blog.  As I enjoy my privacy, the same assumption is given my readers.  My satisfaction comes from seeing who has visited and guessing why they checked in on my site.  So far, my best guesses on why someone would spend time viewing my site are they are:  1) bored at work  2) planning a trip  3) wishing they were planning a trip  4) island-oholics  5) doing work-related research.  1 through 4 seems like the usual reasons for visiting.  On rare occasions, it is number 5.  However, I want to sincerely thank all of you for taking the time to pay my site a visit.  Every time you visit, you affirm my efforts.

Since I began tracking in April 2006 over 5,000 of my pages have been visited.  That's good!  Again, it is a solid affirmation that what I do is of interest to people.  And these are people that share some of my cartographic interests and appreciate my mapping efforts along with my observations.

Today, I noted that visitors from 101 countries have viewed my blog.  Many are repeat visitors.  The top 10 countries are:

United States     2,557             Australia            158

Canada                561             Poland               128

United Kingdom    327              Italy                    91

Germany              215             Japan                  86

France                 203             Austria                82

Other countries represented are: Namibia, Malta, Djibouti, Iran, China, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mongolia, French Polynesia, Russia, Morocco.

I continually tell friends and students that if you deliver a good, interesting and consistent product and market it assertively people will buy that product.  That is what I believe I do with my product, EVS-Islands.  Everytime you visit, you buy it by spending your time, a very precious commodity.  If I don't get lazy, but constantly work to improve my product, it's presentation and market it assertively people will visit.

My wife continually chants "Show me the money!".  I tell her that after more time and after optimizing my product to reach the widest audience possible, I still will not be able to show her the money, but her husband will be a happy man doing what he loves.  And truly, isn't that really what we all ultimately wish for?

Posted by Mr Minton at 8/26/2006 12:23:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I struggle with the notion that what I produce is valid cartographically and beneficial to my viewers on a variety of levels. I know my maps, specifically the shorelines, are excellent. They work all the way to 1:25,000 scale. And that is working off of Landsat ETM+ 2000 imagery. My shorelines are profoundly more accurate when I work off of 1-meter imagery.

That said, I seldom, if ever get feedback from my viewers. Many of you visit on a regular basis, some less often. You love controversy (my ESRI posts), free things (where to snag free map data) and my "How To" posts attract many readers (How To Make A Map In GE). Some of you come for the maps or the images of islands.

I know my blog is unique in what it offers, free custom maps, most often of previously poorly mapped areas. Are any of you able to use the maps? Realizing my maps are primarily focused on shoreline delineation, many of my projects can appear to be boring. With that in mind I am adding more images to better display the island. I give you a variety of scales and other images or links to more info. I use the slideshow format because I can load more images into a post. Is this helpful?

I love what I do, making maps of islands. My finished projects are yours to use. All I ask of you, if you find what I do beneficial, let me know. If my work can be improved and it is in my power to do that, let me know. I get between 50 to 100 visitors per day. About 30% are repeat visitors. You are the ones that can give me the best feedback. So, please, take a moment and drop me a line. Either a comment or email me. Thanks in advance

Posted by Mr Minton at 8/22/2006 12:39:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

My regular viewers have noticed some changes to EVS-Islands over the last few weeks:

• 1) I now embed Flash slideshows into my posts to display my images.  The simple reason is that it is much easier to create a post.  In addition, I can include unlimited images to give more complete coverage of a topic.  The HTML code required to embed a Flash slideshow is 2-lines compared to 5-lines to place a single image.  Nikumaroro Atoll KR, for example has 14-images.  If I used my old method, the post would be too lengthy.  I would never read it and I am certain my viewers wouldn't either.  If I want to add additional images, no problem.  I merely upload them into my Flickr account, EVS-Islands' photos, and arrange them within their appropriate set.  For the viewers that can't view the slideshows, I will include a link to my Flickr account at the specific set of images.  By the way, I do include comments with the images and those can be read by left-clicking the image.  You can also view the image at full sixe (1024 X 1024) by following directions as you pause an image.  That is one step forward.
• 2) The look of my blog has changed.  I continually look for the ultimate template.  One that presents my data as pleasantly as possible.  I like this style.  It was designed by a hard-working person that informed me that it had been "ripped off".  She gave me permission to use the template.  Since I have been using it, I have tested it against a number of browsers.  It works with Firefox, Opera and IE-7 Beta.  Unfortunately, in IE-6, the sidebar information is strung along following the final post.  I don't know how to fix it.  Since I used IE-6 on occassions, I decided to see if MS had a newer IE version.  They do.  It is IE-7 Beta.  It is a Firefox look alike, lean and mean.  When you view my blog in IE-7 Beta, it looks fine.  So all of you still using IE-6, it is time to upgrade to IE-7 Beta.  Plus, it's free and I know you love those free things.  This is one step forward and one step back (for the IE-6 folks).
• 3)  I resist MS software because I always pull for the little guy.  But I will give credit where credit is due.  They did a good thing with their Windows Live Writer Beta.  It allows you to post from your desktop without signing into your blog.  When you are satisfied with what you have composed, you can publish from your desktop.  It works for me.  I will use it for all of my posts from here on out.  There are some additions I would like to see, but they are covered within Blogger and Firefox Greasemonkey Scripts.  One step sideways for a neutral move.

 If any of you wish to respond to my changes, both favorably or not, I welcome constructive suggestions.  I should say, I will entertain constructive suggestions.  I might not adopt them, but they will have been entertained.

Posted by Mr Minton at 8/20/2006 05:19:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post