I have come to accept that the writers, producers, directors and actors of Lost are sadists. The teasers, cliffhangers, twists and turns are endless and excruciating. At the same time, you don’t really want it all to end, which probably means that those of us who watch it are masochists. Now they are making us wait another week for the ‘evening of Lost’ that will be the season 4 finale.

Last week’s episode left us with some understanding of how the various people who end up as the Oceanic 6 came to be the ones to get off the island. It didn’t seem like some of them to have gone ahead of others, so how did that happen? Jack, for instance, it wouldn’t be like him to get on a rescue boat before the others. Last week it started making sense. Different ones in different places all being lead to the same end.

I’ve read some spoilers, but I’ve heard false spoilers have been leaked on purpose to keep the surprises coming. I guess we’ll find out. I’ll not include the spoilers here - you can find them online if you want to know.

1. Sun and Aaron are the only Oceanic 6 who are on the freighter. Last week ended with Jin sending her, holding Aaron, out of the boiler room that is rigged with explosives. I sure hope that Jin doesn’t get blown up on the freighter!
2. Does anyone on the freighter live? Michael kind of deserves whatever he gets, but what about Jin and Desmond?
3. Jack and Sawyer are together. They were at the helicopter but left to go to the Orchid to get Hurley. We know Hurley and Jack survive - what about Sawyer? I know he probably chooses to stay, but that leads us back to the question as to whether or not the people on the island survive.
4. Hurley made a statement in the last episode about moving the island would mean that all the freighter people trying to kill them would be moved too. Does that mean that the world on the island goes on, even with the bad guys there?
5. Most of the Oceanic 6 have had visions that they have to return to the island. That makes me believe that the island is still there … somewhere.
6. Surely we’ll find out who is in the coffin in the finale. I read a spoiler about who it was. I had thought it was probably Michael after I saw him on the freighter. I figured he’d get killed on the freighter and he would certainly be someone that no one would be too upset got killed after his betrayal of everyone.
7. Jack is a bona fide emotional mess. He’s now found out that Claire was his half-sister, which means that Aaron is his nephew and yet he still has difficulty being around Aaron. I think its because he’s guilty ridden about something.
8. It seemed to me that everyone in the plane leaving the island were not happy with Jack. They were in shock, but Jack was telling them what to say and they all seemed to be irritated with him. How’d that come about? Does that have something to do with why he feels guilty about Aaron?
9. Sun takes control of her father’s company and tells him he is one of the two people responsible for Jin’s death (I’m still hoping Jin doesn’t really die!). Who is the other person? Does she blame Jack? Is that why she was giving him the evil eye in the plane? What happened as they were leaving the island that created tension between everyone else and Jack?
10. The Others have shown back up and taken Kate and Sayid by gun point. We know that both Kate and Sayid survive. Does that mean that The Others really are the ‘good guys’ as Benjamin said when he let Michael leave the island with Walt?
11. What’s the deal with Benjamin and Whitmore? I wondered if it was a struggle between good and evil - but which one is good and which one is evil. With those two it would be hard to tell. Maybe they are both just evil.
12. Does Desmond survive whatever happens on the freighter? If so, does Benjamin use him to get to Penny to get back at Whitmore for the murder of Alex? (If you can follow that sequence of events then you are a really a Lost fan!)
13. I think the Oceanic 6 will somehow have to resolve their differences and return to the island. They all being called back. Why are they being called back if the island was safely moved? Why are they having to keep what really happened secret? It has to be a reason strong enough that they are all willing to keep the secret. How will they get back? Will they go back together or separately. What about Aaron?

I have fooled with WordPress until I’m just about ready to dump the whole thing and start all over. My blog was down a while yesterday and a couple of other blogs I help out with a little were down a lot yesterday. The bottom line is that WordPress got hacked and there was all kinds of funky stuff going on.

I started noticing a HUGE increase in the amount of spam comments and trackbacks I was getting a couple of days ago. BTW, if you left a comment or trackback and it doesn’t show up, I apologize! I just got blurry eyed going through pages and pages of spam to pick out the few legitimate comments/trackbacks that were in there. There were literally thousands of comments/trackbacks and I’m sure I missed some that should have been de-spammed. If I did, I’m sorry.

Long story short. There appears to have been some hacking going on. There are other people who explain it much better than I do. I found this article at A Few Good Pens (through Digg) which led me to this article at Artist By Nature . Leanne at Intricate Art is the founder and creator of Thursday Thirteen and well known to be very knowledgeable about such things.

I’m still sorting through thousands of spam every time I go more than an hour checking my askismet. I’m also having some problems with some of my WordPress files. I can’t upload pictures, for instance. One of these days I’m actually going to hire someone to do the technical work on the blogs! I probably do more harm than good.

In the meantime. I can’t seem to do much but fool with templates, spam and my cpanel. That’s the part of blogging that gets really tedious sometimes … like now.

I do advise you check out the two post I mentioned above to make sure that you don’t get hacked. Its NO FUN!!!

I am always amazed at the kind of money that blogs pull in. Its not always what we think of as the ‘big blogs’ that pull in the big bucks, but the ‘big blogs’ certainly bring in the bigger bucks.

24/7 Wall Street has a rundown of what they say the top 25 blogs make. They have broken down some of the blogs with the largest amount of revenue adjusted by several variables such as not including blogs that are associated with large media companies. You can read the variables at the 27/4 Wall St. blog.

Here’s what they came up with ….

1.The Gawker Properties: $150 million. Gawker, ValleyWag, Gizmodo, Wonkette, and a number of smaller websites. The company claims 30 million monthly unique visitors. According to audience measurement service Quancast, that number is fairly close. Compete shows that traffic to most of the large sites in the group more than doubled from a year ago. If the sites generate one-and a-half page views per unique visitor and the total CPM value of the multiple advertisers on each page is $20, Gawker is an $11 million business which is still growing quickly. The company does not appear to be staff-heavy, so it is imaginable that the margins on the business are 50%. Would the business be worth 15x revenue or 30x operating profits? Could be.

2.MacRumors: $85 million.Blog knows more about Apple than Apple management does. It ranks No. 2,700 in Alexa. Compete shows 544,000 visitors and moving up quickly. Quantcast puts global unique visitors at 5.3 million. Page views at 33 million, which seems a bit high. Advertising looks high-end and solid, probably at least $30 per page CPM. Business should do at least $12 million and have a high margin, estimated at 60%. At a 12x multiple.

3.Huffington Post: $70 million. Several websites commented that HuffPo might be worth $100 million when it raised $5 million late last year. Arianna Huffington said to Portfolio that the business was in the process of becoming profitable. In late 2007 management claimed that the website had 4 million unique visitors per month and would bring in $7.5 million for the year. The website is now in the top 1,000 according to Alexa and its ranking has been climbing, probably due to the election. Compete shows a similar trend with the website reaching over 1.8 million people in February, up 245% from the same month last year. The problem with the business now is that its value has probably peaked. The huge increase in visitors is likely to fall-off once the election is over. HuffPo has tried to building out other content sections, but it is likely that they cannot replace the visits from the core audience which visits the site for political comment. That means that the company will have all of the costs (40 or 50 people) and a falling number of visitors. Revenue should actually begin to fall in 2009. With a business which is likely to shrink next year, it is hard to believe that the company is worth more than 10x revenue.

4.PerezHilton: $48 million. Is No 755 in Alexa. Compete show 1.3 million visitors a month. Quantcast, probably the most reliable of the measurement tools when the sites use its code shows 10.1 million uniques. Quantcast puts month page views at 191 million. That seems high. It would put revenue at $900,000 million a month with a $5 CPM. The site is as much a personality cult as it is a destination. But, it probably runs with margins over 50%. That would put operating profit at $11 million. Founder is central to business. CPMs are low. Give it 8x operating profits

5.TechCrunch: $36 million. The TechCrunch network claims almost 3.2 million unique visitors and 14.6 million page views. The page view number sounds very high. It would be an unusually high PV to unique ratio. The company also has a conference business. Alexa rates TechCruch at the 951st most visited site in the world, but also shows that the company’s audience is not growing. Compete shows the site’s audience as growing but having a modest 900,000 visitors in February. Based on the advertisers running at TechCruch and the high value of its concentrated audience, the CPM yield on each page could certainly be $30. That would put revenue from advertising at $438,000 a month or $5.3 million a year. Ad another $600,000 for conferences based on 500 attendees at $1,250 per person. TechCruch is a $6 million business. With people and conference costs, the firm’s margins are probably about 40%. The firm does have a fairly large staff and relies on founder Michael Arrington for a lot of its best content. That is a risk. Fifteen times operating profit in case the founder is hit by a bus.

6 (tied): Ars Technica $15 million. High church high tech blog. Sites ranks 2,500 in Alexa. Compete shows over 800,000 visitors. Audience is growing very rapidly. Quancast has reach at 1.1 million. Ads are all premium clients. Site should be getting $40 per page CPM. Page views are probably six million a month. Revenue of almost $3 million. Site appears to have high end edit staff writing. Margin estimated at 35%. High-end site should be very valuable. Fifteen times operating profit.

6 (tied): Seeking Alpha $15 million. Site is the world’s largest collection of financial blogs. It is No. 6,600 in Alexa. Quantcast puts reach at just under 400,000. Compete puts number at almost 700,000 and growing. A huge amount of content set up to drive multiple page views on the site. Could be four million page view a month. Several large advertisers so CPM on each page is probably $40. Revenue of about $1.9 million a year. Large staff. Put margin at 10% or even a loss. Multiple of 8x revenue for financial site which should get above market value.

8 (tied): Drudge Report $10 million. The blog has over 1.1 million visitors a month according to Quantcast, but it is not being tracked using the measurement company’s code. Alexa has it ranked No. 1540. Compete says 1.8 million visitors a month. Estimate nine million page views a month. Very little advertising on the site. A business that is probably not doing more than $1.6 million a year. Probably a 60% margin. Low operating costs. Ten times operating income to get value.

8 (tied): Mashable $10 million. The site claims five million page views. Site is No. 2000 in Alexa. Compete shows 735,000 uniques. Modest ads. Should have fairly high CPM, $30 per page. Revenue of $2.1 million, with 50% margin. Social networking news is hot. A 10x multiple of operating income

10. GigaOm: $8.4 million. This is one of the top tech sites in the world. Its network ranks 12,800 in Alexa. Compete shows 225,000 visitors. Quantcast shows global visitors at 400,000. CPMs should be very high and large number of ads on page. CPM at about $40 a page. Pages views estimate at 1.4 million a month. With additional small related businesses revenue total for company at $1,200,000. Has a few full-time people, so put margin at 35%. Discount on multiple because Malik is so important. Twenty times multiple.

11. Boing Boing: $8 million. Gadget sites are at the high end of the blog world order. No. 3700 in Alexa. Quantcast says 8.7 million page views. Compete puts visitors lower at under 700,000. Not much advertising on the site. Federated appears to be doing the selling so only 60% going to site owner. At a $15 net CPM, revenue should be $1.6 million. Type of content could make it valuable to big media company. If margin is 40% at give 12x operating income

12. Silicon Alley Insider: $5.4 million. Site covers media and tech with New York focus. It ranks 13,100 in Alexa. Compete shows 200,000 unique visitors. Quantcast shows 600,000 and 1.5 million page views. CPMs and high, numbers of ads are modest. $30 CPM. Annual revenue run rate of $540,000. Large staff, probably not profitable yet. Very rapid growth. Strong financial backing. Goes at 10x revenue.

13. ReadWriteWeb: $5 million. Everything about tech, almost too much. The blog ranks 6,200 in Alexa. It is actually several sites. Compete puts this at 300,000 visits but growing extremely fast. Quantcast puts uniques at almost 800,000. High value advertisers probably yield $35 CPM. Estimate four million page views. Total revenue of $1.7 million. High editorial expense. Margin may be as low as 20%. Site is not as big as some others in general field. Multiple at 15x.

14. Paidcontent.org: $3.5 million. All about media of every kind. It ranks 20,200 in Alexa. Compete estimates 134,000 unique visitors and growing quickly. Page views at one million a month. High CPM and multiple ads for $40 yield. Revenue of $480,000 for ads. Conference business looks like, at the rate charged per person, the business might add another $700,000. Total revenue of $1,180,000. Expensive to run. Put margin at 20%. High multiple for operating income of 15x.

15 (tied) Search Engine Land: $2.7 million. The site, everything readers would like to know about search engines, is ranked No. 4,600 in Alexa. Quantcast has its code on the site so their numbers are probably fairly accurate. That shows 225,000 unique visitors and over 500,000 page views. The page CPMs for this site appear to be very high, probably $50. Revenue at $300,000 a year. At a 60% margin and 15x multiple.

15 (tied) Smashing Magazine: $2.7 million. The content centers on graphics, animation, and design. It ranks 3,000 in Alexa. Compete says 325,000 visitors. Quality of advertisers looks strong. CPM per page of $30. One million page views a month. Business generates about $360,000 a year. At 15x multiple and 50% margin.

17, DListed: $2 million. Site insults celebrities. Blog ranks No. 17,300 in Alexa. Compete shows 350,000 visits. The site probably has about 1.2 million page views. A lot of ads on each page, but probably not very high CPMs for this kind of gossip content. Peg it at $30 CPM. That is $432,000 in revenue per year. The site seems to have a lot of personnel costs. The operating income is probably around $200,000. At a 10x multiple.

18.Daily Blog Tips: $1.8 million. Blog is paradise for bloggers. Site is ranked No. 14,500 in Alexa. Compete says the site has 120,000 visitors and is growing quickly. CPMs look high, perhaps $40. Page views at 500,000. Revenue of $240,000 and 50% operating margin. Fifteen times yield.

19 (tied) Techdirt: $1.5 million. The insight company for the information age. Or, so they say. It ranks 25,600 in Alexa. Quantcast shows 400,000 unique visitors and almost one million page views. CPM on the pages look to be very high but number of ads is low, probably $20. Close to $250,000 in annual revenue. Margin of 50% and 12x op income.

19 (tied): Neatorama: $1.5 million. The blog is an amalgamation of trivia. It ranks 9,900 in Alexa. Compete shows 300,000 visits and growing very fast. Site may have 1.5 million page views. Volume of ads is light. Fifteen dollar CPM would be good. Revenue of $270,000 a year. Margin of 60%. At a 9x multiple.

21 (tied): BuddyTV $1 million is too much about television. It ranks No. 4,400 in Alexa. Compete shows 800,000 visitors. Probably running two million page views. Advertising is weak, maybe $10 CPM. Revenue at $250,000. Margin 40%. Not terribly distinctive content. Give 10x op income for a network TV or cable buyer.

21 (tied):The Superficial $1 million. About women in bikinis, mostly. It ranks 2,500 in Alexa. Quantcast puts unique visits at 420,000. Compete has 522,000 visits last month, but dropping sharply. CPM here is low. Bikini sites don’t draw the high end marketers. $10 per page, if they are lucky. Probably 1.7 million page views. Annual income of $200,000. Low multiple on 50% margin.

23. Talking Points Memo: $860,000. A news commentary site. It ranks No. 13,000 in Alexa. Compete show 233,000 visitors and rising fast. Ad sales look weak, perhaps $15 page CPM. At one million page views a month, annual revenue would be $180,000. High margin of 60%, but low multiple for medium sized “news” site. Eight times operating income.

24. Travelpod is a travel scheduling and planning site. Blog ranks 9,700 in Alexa. Different model than most. Sells links in sections on airlines, car rentals, hotels, and travel packages. No way to value the site, but should have ad a real benefit to a large travel e-commerce site. Very likely to be in Top 25 on value.

25. 24/7 Wall St.: N/A

The Blind Boys of Alabama are an awesome group. I’ve watched them on Imus for years. Their music is down home and just wonderful to listen to. Hope you enjoy ….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

More great posts trackbacked below …

I just thought the photo above was beautiful, so I figured I’d add it. Something about it seemed to me to fit with the mysteries of Leap Year. I know, leap year is not all that mysterious, but the photo seems to me to be. I shamelessly grabbed the photo from DHAVAR Y PUNTO. Unfortunately, my Spanish is not good enough to really read what he has written and its late enough for me to be too lazy to run it through a translation program. I will just say, who knew that the Mayans had electricity! (just kidding).

Some more links of interest ………

Conservative Beach Girl - Boycott Berkeley - Semper Fi

Rant It Up - Sex and Youth…Who do we blame?

Conservative Thoughts - Your Story Is Important To Me

The Spanish Pundit - El terrorista de la silla de ruedas

McCain Blogs - links for 2008-02-28

The Pink Flamingo - Abuse of Power

Leaning Straight Up - Something to consider: Is McCain ineligible to be President by virtue of his birthplace?

Wake Up America - Nancy Pelosi’s Congress Responsible for John McCain being Trusted More on National Security

A Flyover Blog - Red Friday, February 22

Dumb Ox Daily News - Remembering William F. Buckley

Wind Rose Hotel - Don’t Forget Burma

An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings - Morning Coffee 02/28/08

Captain’s Quarters - Geldof: The Unexpected Bush

Basil’s Blog - Hussein in the membrane

Hot Air - Joint Chiefs Chair: Preparing for Chaos

Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Services, issued a warning to the Democratic presidential hopefuls today. The kind of rapid withdrawal from Iraq that Hillary Clinton has suggested and Barack Obama has demanded would lead to chaos and a breakdown of the gains achieved over the last year. He would carry out such an order, but cautioned against it:

Chas’ Compilations - Obama & Democrats want American weakness

Webloggin - All lawbreakers, please come to San Francisco

Born Again Redneck - Daily duh: Democrats’ gloomy economic outlook is a “self-fulfilling prophecy”

Southern Sass on Crime - Ohio teens spend hours torturing disabled girl

The Violence Worker - Congress Strikes Out

Planck’s Constant - Nothing Wrong with what Michelle Obama Said

Right Girl - Multiculturalism means more than interesting new restaurants:

The Tygrrrr Express - My Interview With Bruce Herschensohn

Blog for a Strong America!
Blog for Victory!
Blog McCain!
~~CLICK~~ ~~CLICK~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

More great posts trackbacked below …

This is so brilliant I’m wondering why no one has thought of it before. In our blogging world we are all familiar with social networking sites. In our non-blogging world most of us do a good portion of our social networking around food. We go out to dinner with friends, we have family get togethers over meals, potluck dinners at the church and business luncheons. Just think about how much of our social and work lives are connected with food.

Now there is Food Connect. Its a social network for bloggers who love food. Whether you are a newbie or an advanced food lover, you can connect with other food lovers at www.foodconnect.com. Its especially useful for people with food/recipe blogs, but anyone can participate. Its about sharing a love for food and joining around the virtual table together for some socializing.

Sounds just perfect to me!

Press Release:

www.foodconnect.com is the ultimate tool for every foodie.

What makes foodconnect.com so great? These and many other features:

- Free nutritional analysis, for all recipes on the site and every recipe you submit.
- Share your recipes with your friends and other foodies.
- Discuss recipe ideas and techniques.
- Plan your meal and easily print off your shopping list.
- Create the perfect dinner party

All of this and much more and best of all its all free. Get to foodconnecct.com to get started today.

Jeff Haber, left, and son Danny show off their creation, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made with pennies. The Habers used 2,400 coins to create the portrait, which they are donating to New Rochelle High School. Danny Haber is a sophomore there.

Jeff and Danny Haber of New Rochelle, New York

For decades, the elder Haber stashed the often-overlooked or unwanted copper coins. More recently, he decided to put them to good use.

“I had a ton of pennies,” Jeff Haber said. “I have 30 years of collected pennies.”

Inspiration came in the form of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made entirely of pennies that he saw at the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum in Florida about eight years ago.

He and his son decided they were up for the challenge.

“What we saw in Florida was absolutely incredible,” Danny Haber said.

The first portrait they completed is hanging in their home. A second was purchased by the Ripley’s museum for $500.

Now, the two have completed a third portrait, which they are donating to New Rochelle High School.

This one used 2,400 coins, or $24. The Habers said they spent nearly two months positioning and gluing the coins.

Danny Haber, a 15-year-old sophomore at the high school, said it was “common sense” to use the pennies for a Lincoln picture because of the obvious connection and because it was more practical than using nickels, dimes or quarters.

Pretty cool …..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

More great posts trackbacked below …

Anyone who watches Lost knows that there are a LOT more than 13 mysteries in the show. Well, the show is built on mysteries and is a mystery in and of itself. I just started watching Lost recently and basically watched the first 3 seasons in a marathon over a period of about 3 months. Since I so recently watched the previous episodes I remember some things I probably would have forgotten if I had watched it over the last 3 years.

Anyway - here are a few random things I wonder about Lost in no particular order and with no particular importance other than that they are the first 13 that come to mind as I write this.

1. What happened to Michael and Walt? They left in a boat that supposedly was not made for ocean travel. Remember when Michael and Sawyer were on the remains of the raft after Walt was kidnapped by The Others? Sawyer said the boat couldn’t be taken far off the island. So Michael and Walt have been gone a long time now and nothing is known about them. They obviously didn’t make it back to the real world or they would have heard of the Oceanic 6. Nothing, Nada. Where are they? Did they drown and is that why Walt has appeared to people on the island every once in a while?
2. The obvious question is WHO IS IN THE CASKET? I just don’t know. I’ve thought maybe it was Benjamin. But then I can come up with theories about how it could be several other people. Locke? Juliette? Michael?
3. Why did Hurley apologize to Jack for leaving with Locke and since Hurley left with Locke HOW did he end up back in the real world?
4. Why is there an Oceanic 6? Where is everyone else? What happened that only 6 are back in the world? Which leads to the next question ….
5. What’s the big secret that Jack was worried Hurley would tell? What happened on the island before they came back?



6. Who are the other 3 of the Oceanic 6? We know Kate, Jack and Hurley are back in the world - who are the other 3? Sawyer stayed with Locke, but then so did Hurley and he’s back so maybe one is Sawyer. Sun and Jin? Kate told Jack that ‘he’ will wonder where I am when she met Jack at the airport at the end of last season. Was she referring to Sawyer?
7. I wonder if the show starts a story line and abandons it or if they’ll come back to it at some point. What about ‘Adam and Eve’? The skeletons found in the caves early on in the show. The survivors started staying in the caves and no one ever mentioned Adam and Eve again. I actually wondered if they are the future of Jack and Kate - like in a time shifting kind of scenario.
8. Why is the island calling the Oceanic 6 back? Who needs them? Who are they supposed to go back for? The other survivors? Why did they leave them to begin with? If they are still there why don’t they send rescue for them? Etc. Plus, why is the island calling them one at a time. I guess it makes for more drama - but it would be so much simpler if the island had them all have the same idea at the same time rather than having to fight with each other about going back.
9. Who was Naomi and the group she brought to the island? Why didn’t the island heal Naomi from her wounds like it does everyone else who is wounded and not killed?
10. What will Penny do now that she knows Desmond is still alive and on the island? Since she has seemingly unlimited resources is she going to try to find him and the island? If the Oceanic 6 got back and Desmond isn’t one of them, is Penny still looking?
11. Who/what were the bodies in the plane that was found on the ocean floor that verified all the passengers of Oceanic 815 had been killed in the crash?
12. How did one of the Dharma polar bears end up in Tunisia? Why was its skeleton all that was left of it (and the Dharma collar, of course!) and why was Charlotte excavating it?
13. Most importantly …. am I the only one that thinks Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is enough reason to watch the show every week? I’m just saying …..
14. BONUS: Would you have followed Jack or John Locke?

Hey, I’m Superwoman, cool! According to the ‘What superhero are you’ quiz anyway and they should know - right? I took several quizzes at this site and found out that my blog is rated ‘Adult’. That surprised me. I’m not sure what is ‘adult’ here. I don’t know what criteria it is. Maybe its the subject matter. I don’t suppose my blog would be very interesting to kids. That’s just now what I usually think about when I think of ‘adult’. I guess since I’m Superwoman I can deal with an ‘Adult’ themed blog!

Its Friday again. I missed Lost last night! I’ll have to watch it on the internet today sometime. I’m still wondering who is in the casket and why Hurley is back in the real world when he stayed with Locke on the Island. So many mysteries and so many theories. If you don’t watch Lost then you have no idea what I’m talking about and that’s okay. My son got me watching it and now I’m hooked. Its a massive puzzle/brain tease that keeps you trying to figure out what is really going on.

Aside from that, I didn’t get much posted yesterday because real life intrudes from time to time and periodically I’m reminded that there is life outside of the internet and blogs. My ramblings aside, the important thing is that we have Troops in harms way, a fascinating political season that will determine the direction the war takes and the direction our country takes. I’m so glad to live in a society in which the people have a voice and will speak in November and regardless of the outcome we are likely to survive because of the checks and balances put into place by our forefathers. Hopefully. I’m proud to be an American.

Here’s some Friday reading from my blogroll ….

Kiss My Gumbo - Its Reader Appreciation Day

Conservative Belle - The New Flag of Iraq Raised

My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy - Two More Big Mac Endorsements

Fausta blogged CPAC

Pajama Media - How About the Conservatives Learn Something From McCain

Outside the Beltway - How Not to Win an Argument

Conservative Thoughts - Adam Gadahn is Dead??

The Spanish Pundit - El Arzobispo de Canterbury: “la adopción de la Sharia en Gran Bretaña es inevitable”

Lubbock Marine Parents - First Female Engine Mechanic Retires

The Pirate’s Cove - The Do Nothing Democratic Congress Continues the Trend

Bear Creek Ledger - Airman’s art funds surgery for children

Suzanne Fields - John McCain As Judah Maccabee: Why He Can Tap Into the Jewish Vote

Mary Katherine Ham - Mr. McCain Comes to CPAC

RuthLace - Ash Wednesday Meditation

Southern Sass on Crime - Muhammad, an image of a pedophile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

More great posts trackbacked below …

WHAT a day this has been! I don’t think I’ve had quite this much blogging related excitement since I started blogging. Its not like its the FIRST time I got a high profile link. I’ve had a high profile link here and there that created what I thought was a big buzz. I’ve gotten stumbled a few times. I admit that I enjoyed watching my traffic counter spin and thought that was just loads of fun. Now I know that those were just minor league compared to what happened today!! Maybe some of you are accustomed to hundreds of thousands of people coming to your blog, but I’m not. My poor ol’ site meter is worn slap out.

Being a blogger, one of the first things I did when I logged on today was look at my site meter. Its an obsessive-compulsive ritual kind of thing I do. Well, my traffic was pretty high (for me) so I thought isn’t that nice. Of course, that lead me to looking to see where it was coming from. It turned out that Neal Boortz had linked one of my post on his front page. How cool is that!!! I was all excited.

I checked my stats again and the dadgume thing was just twirling as fast as it could. So I went back to my blog feeling quite pleased with myself and when I refreshed my site it wouldn’t load. And it wouldn’t load. And it wouldn’t load. I wasn’t getting THAT much traffic. I called my ISP and they said that they were doing emergency recovery. They said it wouldn’t be a problem, it was just a couple of thousand hits an hour, they just had to rearrange a few things. They said give them a couple of minutes and things would be back to normal.

I went and did some laundry and came back and this time my blog said my account was suspended. I started to call my ISP again but before I could my ISP called me. The tech supervisor called to tell me that I’d been Fark‘d!!!!! I had no idea because I wasn’t able to get to my blog. I told him to PLEASE get me back on line. He said almost 300,000 had tried to access my blog pretty much all at once and it had crashed the shared server Blue Star Chronicles is on which shut down 100 other blogs and websites. They had to shut mine down so the others could get back up. Okay, I understood that - but when would they get mine back up and how would they get mine back up. I ended up being on the phone with that poor guy for what seemed like hours while he shuffled things around so they could carry the load. Meanwhile, my site was down more than it was up during the biggest influx of traffic. That meant that I got none of the work done on it that I had intended to do today - but tomorrow is another day.

Long story short - we ended up putting the post that had gone ‘viral’ (does that traffic constitute viral?) on a plain html page and redirected traffic there so that I could get my blog back up. That of course, left me not getting the comments. You can read them here if you are interested.

The story has since been stumbled and is on numerous forums including the History Channel forum and I don’t know how many websites and blogs. All of them pale in comparison to the traffic that Fark brought here.

Of course, during the bulk of the traffic my blog was down, so I didn’t get to watch my site meter twirling around to all that traffic. But it was fun none the less.

The post that created so much interest was one I wrote about a week ago about the 80-year-old Green Beret who was court martialed for shooting an intruder. We created an html page to handle the load. You can read it here.

Since you can’t leave comments at that post due to the traffic being redirected to the html page, you can leave comments for Smokey Taylor here if you like, although there are a couple hundred comments at Fark about it.

If only I had to get used to that much traffic!!!

I’m just glad my little post helped in its small way to get Sgt. Smokey Taylor the attention and honor he deserves!!!