Private eyes *clap clap* are watching you *clap clap*

If I may be so bold as to come forth with semi-classified information and break down the upstream wall between myself, and you - gentle reader.

I, like just about nearly every other webmaster on the face of the Earth , use hit-tracking programs to monitor the popularity of the website, or in this case, the blog. Forgotten-Roanoke.com does pretty well for something which is only updated twice a month, but the blog is far more widely read than one might imagine. Even I am constantly amazed at who reads, and why.

It's called a referrer. If you google Roanoke News, you see a link to a post I made. Its the bottom one, #10 for those counting.
not too shabby.

Of course you-know-who with the dead tree edition is #1. Well if you search Roanoke News, and click on the link to the post I made - it shows as a referrer. I can see what you searched for, and where I place. Sometimes I have to follow the search myself to see why I came up. Sometimes I can tell when you have clicked through from an e-mail. Recent example, a Comcast customer recieved a link to the blog in their mail. Thank you for following it, and thanks to the person who decided it was worth sending, for whatever reason.

Sometimes the people doing the searches are more interesting than the search. Example: A direct hit from Microsoft up in Redmond, from a Google search for "Dickens of a Christmas Roanoke." A standard search, but MS employees using Google? Smacks of irony if you ask me.

Then there are the IP#'s that make you nervous. I was fully expecting to be called to testify when I recieved a few hits from the Sargent At Arms for the US Senate. And the .mil hits are always fun. Which is how I know someones looking homeward from Iraq.

The US Office of Personnel Management and the PBGC are 2 of the more interesting .gov hits I recieve, and as I said - I know your out there, drop a line.

Then there are your standard Cox, Adelphia, Verizon, and whozeewhatsis hits. All in all, my blog is steadily gaining readership. And I have you kind readers to thank for it. If you did not like what you see here regularly, you would not come back as often as you do. I only hope that in the coming year I can keep you coming back. Bring a friend with you, I always try to be conversational.

But however you wind up here, drop a line. It struck me as funny this weekend during which I made almost no posts, no updates - not even a podcast, and yet I recieved more comments than I usually do in a heavy week of working.

There is no growth for a business without getting to know your customer. And I am constantly searching out new technologies and opportunities for you, my customers. The Roanoke Marketplace for example, is there for you. A new, free resource. I can modify certain features of it, add and delete things as demand calls for it. I just need to know what you would like. Customer Feedback.

There is also the WikiRoanoke where you the consumer have an opportunity to add your voice, your ideas to the entire experience that is life in Roanoke. Digitalized for your enjoyment. And there are more in the works.

I will have a posting about Dickens of a Christmas later today, with any luck. I still have some work to do around here, but the Forgotten Tree is up, decorated, and lit. The ornaments from the kids over at Roanoke Catholic look great on it, as do the select few I have garnered from the Center in the Square MuseumShop. And as we approach the zero hour of Midnight Christmas Eve, I hope you all are deeply mired in the spirit of the season. The single common thread all the "holidays" have, peace on earth, and goodwill to man. Now stop that PC think and realize that by man it is generally understood to mean human. Not dude.

Anyway, be back later.