Just look at that - it seems that my total hits count has slithered past 750,000 while I wasn't paying attention. I don't normally bother about such things, but it's a pleasingly off-beat sort of landmark, and it is a surprisingly big number - it is so big, in fact, that if I started counting now I would have forgotten what I was doing long before I got there. That's big.
Even allowing for the RSI problems I've got from pressing "cmd-R" for hours at a time ("F5" in my Windows days), and ignoring the strange visits I get from the Ukraine and elsewhere, that still leaves a lot of genuine hits for which I must thank all readers, past and present. I am, honestly, humbled by the thought. Thank you all very much.
Separate Topic
It really doesn't matter, but it has been drawn to my attention that someone is selling 28mm printed Napoleonic flags on eBay, and some of them (by no means all) are my original work. I'm sure the guy makes a lovely job of printing them, and I'm also pretty sure that the files are in the public domain, so I have no right to complain or feel aggrieved - they are not copyrighted in any way, and the seller almost certainly doesn't know the origin of the files he is using.
I know they are mine because (a) I recognise quite a few, and (b) he has faithfully reproduced some which were mere educated guesses on my part, and a couple which are actually incorrect. A couple of his flags are also incorrectly titled, and at least one is from the wrong century.
So - no hard feelings - it doesn't seem quite right (since I wouldn't do this myself), but he is selling them pretty cheap. I would just say that if anyone wants to download and use any of my flags for free, from this blog, please do so - I'm sure the seller won't notice. Just look under the download and flags labels on the right hand side. Cut out the entrepreneur.
Congratulations on reaching 750,000 hits! Very well done!
ReplyDeleteAs for your second topic, you are being too generous with the thief. One thing that irks me is witnessing the violation of intellectual property and copyright. If the flags are listed on eBay, I would send the seller an email gently stating the provenance of his wares. At the very least, he should attribute the source of the inaccurate emblems when questioned...
Publish his ebay ID and I'll send him a note! Be aware, sticking to my guns regarding copyright violations got me banned from TMP. Sigh.
Thank you Jon. Subject 2 is not worth thinking about - from a personal point of view I could hardly care less. From a more general point of view, it troubles me a little that there are so many people looking to make pennies out of contributing nothing at all to the planet they live on.
DeleteActually, come to think of it, for many years I may have held down a well paid job that contributed very little anyway, so it's just a question of degree. One man's rip-off is another man's money-spinning initiative. Pass the ammunition.
Congrats on reaching something of a milestone. Have Mr Putin's boys expressed any opinions on your decadent Western wargaming habits ( why no T-34s? ) or perhaps tried to influence you in any way? If you suddenly start to post your approval of The Donald or B****t , we will suspect you have been 'turned'.. I don't suppose the mystery flag seller is called 'Vladimir', by any chance? I think we should be told..
ReplyDeleteспасибо мой друг - здесь ничего не изменилось
DeleteReaching the 750K mark is a testament to the varied and interesting posts you make. Well done and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir - I appreciate that!
DeleteWell done sir.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that staring at the stats slows down the rate at which the counter ticks over, watched pot syndrome I suppose. I also have this guilty feeling that, even though I clicked the box that says "don't count me", half or a bunch anyway, may actually be me looking up old posts or answering comments which apparently I can't do from the comments review page for reasons that escape me.
Oh well, at least we can rest assured that stats never lie.
I changed the layout of my blog a while ago - I stuck the visitor counter at the end, so I normally don't see it. This is because I am a bit weird about numbers - given a number which is likely to change, I have been known to sit and watch it - I like to watch the floor indicator in the elevator (to check the floors come up in the right sequence?), and in times of anxiety when I was younger I would regularly find myself counting when I walked along the street ("...206, 207, 208, STOPPIT!...").
DeleteI just noticed that the number had become (sort of) significant(ish) yesterday.
Eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-seven...
Congratulations , keep it up .
ReplyDeleteThank you Tony.
DeleteCongratulations, here's to the next three quarter of a million!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Benjamin - I'm sharpening my pencil now, and opening the new shipment of prescription coffee.
DeleteWell deserved, keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete(You, not your entrepreneur friend.)
Thanks Chris - I had a half-complete email I was drafting to you, and I've lost the bugger - I'll start again!
DeleteA splendid number of views sir...
ReplyDeleteIf only we got 10p each time.....
As for your standard pirate... I wonder who he will complain to when he ...eventually... gets ripped off himself.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly - I was tempted to post some fakes, such as the famous Mooning Buttocks Banner of Old Castile.
DeleteThat's a lot of hits. Congratulations Tony. May there be many more to come.
ReplyDeleteAs for endless counting whilst walking, surely the normal thing to do is to make sure your left foot and right foot step on the cracks between pavements an equal number of times (with the right foot taking the last step of course). Unless you can avoid stepping on the cracks in the first place, which is much more preferable, though it does lead to a gait like John Cleese on the way to the Ministry of Silly Walks). Or is that just me?
Thanks Chris. Interesting observation there. I'm not sure what's "normal" - personally, I'm a no-cracks man - this is made rather less challenging since I live in a wilderness, where I can pass whole days without seeing a paving stone.
DeleteAs for counting for no apparent reason, I believe this is commonly associated with OCD (or CDO, as it is known to those of us who prefer our acronyms in correct alphabetic order). It still happens to me from time to time, usually when I'm worried about something.
Three hundred and eight, three hundred and nine.
Congratulations on the visitor numbers, a reflection of an admirable commitment to the blog. Bloggers seem generally a selfless lot ... unlike 'flag man' types.
ReplyDeleteAs for counting, I have never had aspirations to count higher than my ten toes and ten hand digits allow, it works for me, but of course results in very short walks.
Thank you Norm - walking with naked toes is a scary idea. Also, I'd have to put my glasses on to keep track, or I'd find I was counting pieces of gravel or something. Pieces of gravel! - now there's an idea, except I'd have to arrange them in nice straight rows for ease of counting...
Delete