MrNR by rygh.no

Opt-out plugin for Google Analytics on way from Google

2010-03-19T23:34:00.000+01:00

Google tells us in a blog post that they are developing a browser plug-in that will enable users to change how Google Analytics is collecting data when they browse Google Analytics enabled sites. This is a big change for sites owners as Google Analytics provides key data not only on number of vistors, but also trends in how users use/visits their sites. This complex tool collects a lot of data; and I understand from a privacy perspective that some users are worried about how the data about them are used. But the data collected by Google isn't hidden even if Google develop a browser plug-in that stops the browser from telling the Google Analytics server. All the data is available in the browser request - so the only way to stay "hidden" is to hide. You can hide by using a proxy; or by no visiting a site. For blogs reading the RSS feed is one way; but keep in mind that services like feedburner (another Google service) keeps track of reader stats too. So I guess if privacy is an issue - hide ;-)

I use both feedburner for my RSS-feed, and Google Analytics for my sites. I don't use the data collected to track each user, I use the data to see trends in numbers of page views, visitors, time on site etc. I see that when I write about topics like twitter, google, apple (iphone, itunes etc), web 2.0 in general and hacks in specifics - I get more readers. When I post daily - readers return more often. If I am away for a week, it takes a long time before my regular visitors return. And the numbers of subscribers increase more than the number of web visitors - telling me that the web 2.0 crowd I see as my audience subscribe if they find my stuff interesting the first time they visit.

So what to do? Don't visit sites you don't want to be associated with.

Do you want to post to twitter via a Norwegian Mobile number?

2010-03-19T10:58:00.001+01:00

Do you want to send SMS to twitter? Now you can with the SMS service from RyghSMS. RyghSMS posts your SMS twitter (and/or identica). The beta has been closed for a long time, but RyghSMS will today have it's sign-up form open for all.

What to do?

Register here: Signup RyghSMS
Send your tweets via +47 40555895

Enjoy!!

Moving your itunes libary to a new computer

2010-03-17T10:46:00.001+01:00

I have reinstalled my laptop, and I want to move my music and video files over. I have a backup of all my CDs... so it is more than 100gb I want to import. I don't want them to be copied over to my laptop, but I want the files to be available when my external drive is connected. To do this I used iTunes Library Updater. This nice tool compares the current library with the folders you want it to check, and then syncs in the new media files. This is good when you want to import 24000 files. A normal "add folder" in iTunes will make the application "not respond".

Nice features like "Get Album Art" is next!

Enjoying my days at home

2010-03-16T13:47:00.000+01:00

I have paternity leave these days, and the days go by so fast. I really enjoy these days with my family. As a project manager I have a lot of people I need to talk to each day. Communication is the key factor in everything I do. I have an one2all communication relationship. It didn’t take long to adapt to the new life. That is the great thing with kids. They just expect you to be there for them. And it is great. The only sad thing is that the time goes by so fast.

New design on blog!

2010-03-14T11:26:00.000+01:00

I was working with the setup of a new site for some friends last night, and then I found a new blogger template. I just had to change my blog design. So I just changed it – please let me know how you think it looks! I will do some small changes to it over the next days as this new template is more dynamic than the old one.

SharePoint designer 2010 and Expression Web 3

2010-03-13T23:45:00.001+01:00

I installed office 2010 beta on my laptop - including SharePoint designer. But to my surprise it didn’t connect with my web hotel from fastname.no with FrontPage extensions. A quick search gave me the information that SharePoint designer will only support SharePoint sites – so you’ll need a different tool from Microsoft named Expression Web 3 if you want to continue to utilize FrontPage extensions without SharePoint services.

Yes, I could drop all the Microsoft services and extensions; replace it all with PHP etc, but I have so many nice web applications developed in ASP 3.0 that I use for small and big projects. I don’t want to move these applications to a new language – I just want it to work. The reason that I have used FrontPage extensions is because it is an easy way to connect directly to the files. I use text view – and it marks the coding. It is an easy way to connect to the IIS-server.
I have done some scripting in PHP, but my language of choice is ASP. I guess it is because it is so related to Visual Basic.

Playing the cello

2010-03-10T23:51:00.007+01:00

This post is a bit on the side from what I normally blog about – it is not about technology; but about music – and about disconnecting from the hectic work life.

I started playing the cello when I was 7 years old. It is my cello you see on the picture, and my grandfather playing on the same cello on the photo on the image. I guess my mother started saying I would play the cello even before I was born – and so I do. At some point of the cello was my most important activity. It was my way to disconnect from the world – When I was ready for a concert, playing some symphony – life was all about that moment. It is in the parts of the music where I really need to concentrate that my mind drops everything else; that is why I love music. That is why I love to play it myself.

Last night I played a concert with my orchestra downtown in Oslo. We played well, and I enjoyed it. We are a group of amateurs, mixed up with former professionals, who have this as our number one hobby. And even when I am not playing – I consider myself a cellist. That isn’t something you will be, or trying to be – that is a feeling. We call it cellist-by-night.

I’ll include a YouTube video of the Symphony we played last night. Enjoy it (this isn’t from last night – but the same symphony with a great maestro). This isn’t my favorite Symphony (maybe I’ll write a blog post about that later) but it worked as music to relax.

Paternity leave!

2010-03-05T15:26:00.001+01:00

As of this moment I have started two months of paternity leave. I am really looking forward to spending time with my boys. I will probably already on Monday experience how much my wife do at home – but until then I’ll just enjoy the idea of not having to go to work every day for some months! More from me later! Happy weekend everybody!

What do you need installed on your laptop?

2010-03-02T21:59:00.001+01:00

I run Windows 7, and have just reinstalled the OS; and I always start with the folder of applications I used the last time. In this folder I keep the latest version of the applications I install. But the list increases; so I try not to install everything when I reinstall the OS. What is your minimum application list? Mine is as follows:

Antivirus/firewall: Symantec (currently running: SEP 11.0)
VPN: Lotus Mobile Connect (currently running 6.1)
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta (including Visio, Project and Sharepoint)
Lotus Notes (with Symphony) (Currently version 8.5.M2)
Lotus Sametime 8.5 (internal chat client for IBM, AOL/gchat and VoIP)
SwiftFile (a nice add-on to lotus notes to manage my email)
Microsoft Live Messenger (latest version)
Java, Flash, Adobe, CutePDF-printer, itunes and Nero Express.

This is my list. There are several tools I will install when I need it, like DVD backup tools, WinDVD or whatever tool I need for a specific project. But the basic list is what I will include in a ghost copy of my drive. What is on your list?

Windows 7 Activation Error: 0x8007232B

2010-03-02T12:24:00.001+01:00

I have used Windows 7 Ultimate for some months, but as the license delivered with the computer is a Windows 7 Professional - I had to downgrade. You could say that going from x86 to 64 bit is an upgrade - and the additional functions in Ultimate will not be missed.I tried to activate my newly installed Windows 7 64bit edition today. and got the following message:

Code: 0×8007232B
Description: DNS name does not exist.

This is a strange error. But as always a search in Google gave me the solution:

0x8007232B +"windows 7"

It basically told me to open command prompt and enter the following commandes (the computer will return a confirmation after each):

slmgr.vbs -ipk [your product key]

slmgr.vbs -ato

After these to command my Windows 7 configuration is up running. Now I only have to install all applications and copy over the documents. Maybe I this time should make a disk image of the setup :-) I really recommend having a virtual disk with the key applications you need installed. I have that running providing me with access to VPN, mail, intranet etc. This way I stay available even if my setup is not ready.

Transfer to fastname.no 100% successful

2010-02-27T09:00:00.006+01:00

I decided a week ago that I would change registrar for the domain on my blog - nicolai.no. This was because one.com asked me to re-send a fax to confirm ownership. I didn’t like that they suddenly required something that other registrars in Norway requested. It didn’t like it. Fastname.no has a great offer for transfer these days: Free web hotel and domain cost for one year. You have to agree for a two year contract – but the prices is competitive in the first place. And they didn't require any fax to confirm ownership. They sent a mail to the admin contact registered on the domain - where they asked me to confirm the transfer. This is the way to do it in 2010!!

The really nice feature with the transfer was that they offered to check my current DNS settings, and use the same settings for host (A, CNAME) and mail records (MX). This ensured that there was no downtime on my blog/domain. This is just great service!

#Mysteryfollower – part 4: not updated since

2010-02-26T09:00:00.002+01:00

Today I started to work on a view that will give me some more useful statics on my followers. I will present some of the content (last 3-5 posts) and when these posts where made. By providing some context on new followers – I’ll easier decide if I should follow back. I will even make some basic rules for followers I will not even check

#Mysteryfollower – part 3: suspended and blocked

2010-02-25T09:00:00.000+01:00

I see more changes to the follower statistics than I expected after I created my #mysteryfollower script on my twitter account. I see accounts being removed from the XML resultat because they are blocked or suspended. These accounts are still listed on the web. I guess that is because the website probably isn’t updated as frequently as the API. I will implement a check in my script when I lose a follower – to see if the account was blocked or suspended. And if that is why the account is removed, I’ll hide it in my report – because I don’t need to know that spammers and bots have been removed.

The fine-tuned SQLs work as they should now, so the next step is to do some minor changes to the database design to enable the script to work for more than one account – I’ll start by adding my Norwegian twitter account: @nicolairygh. I guess more than one account will make more tuning necessary.

#Mysteryfollower - part 2: loosing a follower

2010-02-23T23:58:00.005+01:00

The script has work well over the last days. The first bug was problems with the script if it was runned twice at the same time - that gave timestamp issues in the base. So now the script can only run from the ip that auto starts the script ever hour.

Checking the log to see new followers feels good. Seeing lost followers is something else. I spent some time thinking about my first lost follower after I started this project. It will be nice to see changes in followers up against content. Maybe special tags or how many tweets is the factor - why do you unfollow somebody?

#Mysteryfollower - part 1: version beta 1

2010-02-22T13:09:00.001+01:00

My script that checks for returning followers on twitter is almost ready. Instead of getting the emails from twitter when I get a new follower, I have scheduled that I will get emails once a day with statistics on my followers. It will include follower information:

New
left me
returned

And I’ll see if I can include the key stats about the users too. Follower/following ratio, last message posted (and when) and the photo. What other information is relevant when you consider following back somebody who follows you?

I see my follower number is going up and down over time. Sometimes twitter removes spammers and boots making follower counts drop. But it will be interesting to get some more statistics. After having the script running for 8 hours (running every 60minutes) I see that I need to fine tune the SQLs in the database – as the log is filling up with new entries. If you want the geeky details, here is the setup:

I have decided to use asp 3.0 (the programming language I prefer) and a simple access database. I could have chosen a more robust database, but as long as I am the only user the database will only get connections from my script, and the number of entries will as many as the number of followers. If the follower number goes into the thousands – I will probably have more problems with the twitter API than the database anyway. I made a pre-beta version of the script some time ago, and when I picked up this project now twitter had changed their api. The biggest change is that they have included version in the URL, but also on pulling follower information have they changed from requesting pages to requesting with something they call cursor. The cursor is a database reference, and you’ll get the next 100 from a specific point in the database, and not 100 entries after your last 100 entries. This is a smart change, but I had to change the script a bit.

The twitter API returns about 100 followers per page, so I post the following URL starting with cursor equals -1.

api.twitter.com/1/statuses/followers/rygh.xml?cursor=-1

I include my credentials in the request to ensure I get also users who have protected profiles. This gives me the first entries, and it also returns the cursor value for the next 100 followers. The next URL will be the same, just replacing -1 with the new value. The last page will return the cursor value zero, and then I know there aren’t any more followers to be found. I merge the queries together and make it available as one XML-page. I parse stored XML file I get with the following asp code:

Sub atom(URL)
Set objXML = Server.CreateObject("msxml2.DOMDocument.3.0")
objXML.async = false
objXML.setProperty "ServerHTTPRequest", True
objXML.validateOnParse = true
objXML.preserveWhiteSpace = false

If Not objXML.Load(URL) Then
Response.write "ERROR"
Else
Set objNodeList = objXML.getElementsByTagName("user")
For Each objNode In objNodeList
For Each objNode2 In objNode.childNodes
Select Case objNode2.nodeName
Case "id"
id= objNode2.text
Case "screen_name"
name= objNode2.text
End Select
Next
'// HERE I include the followerscheck.asp-file
Next
End If
End sub

The included file (followercheck.asp) is where I add new followers to my database; those listed in the database that isn’t present in the XML will be marked in the database as “left me”. Whenever a new entry is posted, or updated with a different status a log file is created for the user. Here is why I will find the mystery followers that constantly follows and unfollows. The code I showed you only includes the fields ID and NAME; I can from the XML also pull the last status message, the photo, location etc. Everything you see on the web about a user is present in the entry in the XML.

The question is how frequently this script needs to be executed. I currently fine tune, so it runs on demand and every hour. But the question is if it is needed to be executed more than once a day. If somebody drops me to instantly follow me again, I will probably be without that follower for seconds – and making this script run so frequently is too time consuming. I actually see some performance issues with my current setup; so I will tune some more before I post the updated followercheck.asp script.

Being constantly unfollowed and followed?

2010-02-20T12:46:00.001+01:00

First edition of my “who follows me” is ready. I have seen over the last months on twitter that some accounts with a lot of followers are unfollowing me, and then following me again if I haven't followed them. I guess this is because they see that sometimes people will follow-back when they are followed. I don't want to spend time following people who only follows me to get one follower back. I follow because of content, so as of today I will not get the email from twitter when somebody new starts to follow me - I will use my script to verify that the new follower is still there the next day. And then I will see if this person is somebody I would like to follow.

I will test some more before I open the solution up for others. This web-based application will when it runs take a dump of all the IDs following a specific twitter user. Each follower will be listed in the database, and then the next time the script is executed it will compare if the follower is there or not. If it has “unfollowed” it will be marked as unfollowed in the database, but still have a record. This way I can see if somebody starts to follow me. The question is how frequently this script needs to be executed to “pick-up” those “unfollow/follow”-people. Stay tuned!

Post in the comments if you want to try this when it is ready!

Spending less time on Facebook – I think?

2010-02-20T09:00:00.008+01:00

I use the delicious toolbar in Firefox with “most visited” bookmarks. Almost all the sites I visit only are present in the top 25-27 sites listed in that view. I use short names or even just one letter as these sites normally have an icon with the sites logo. The changes to the top sites changes a bit over time as I use the net differently when I am in different modes. I am currently in a heavy work mode – using my laptop more or less only for work – the computer time I spend outside work is more writing blog-posts or reading up on specific topics.

Mashable wrote two days ago about "Facebook becoming the web’s ultimate timesink" where an average US Internet user spends on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Amazon combined. As the article on Mashable says:

“Think about that for a moment”.

For me the number of time I visitt Facebook per week is falling as I can see the bookmark for Facebook is dropping in my “most visited” view. I share more content, so twitter.com, j.mp and blogger.com is moving up. Facebook is down on 10th place. This is from my computer. I do visit Facebook with my mobile. In between meetings, and sometimes when I am “idle”. And I guess that is where Facebook gets more and more visits. Not from the time we spend at our computer, but from our handheld devices.

And I guess this trend is why an average US internet user spends more and more time on Facebook – the content is in a specific Meta frame. It is like talking with your friends and family. Facebook has tricked as all into their net. But the last changes to their site have made me feel like less is happening. It is more boring. I don’t think it is my friends being less interesting. I think it is because Facebook has changed the algorithm they use to serve me content. If somebody comments on something – it feels like that story “stays-around” longer than it used too. And I want new content – not just new comments on old content!

One.com – you just lost a customer

2010-02-19T22:55:00.003+01:00

Last week I got a mail from One.com telling me that I have to send in a new fax where I state ownership to my domain. They state that it is Norid that have renewed the document, and that I therefore have to sign a new form. I have domains registered with other registrars too, and the only company that has asked me to resend the form is One.com. If this action was required by the owner of domains – wouldn’t norid have had some information about it on Norid.no? Maybe one.com doesn’t have their paperwork in order? Just give me “one business day”, and my domain will have a new registrar. Btw… If my blog is down a day or two next week – it is because of changes in DNS!

Obama said it – teleworking!

2010-02-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

Obama used another word for something a lot of people do a lot. We work remotely, we work from home, from airports, and we work in hotels. We even sometimes work remotely when we are at work. We work from these places during business hours, outside business hours – whenever we need to. The point isn’t where we do it; the point is that we can work from somewhere else. We are the new generation works.

"Employees who telework regularly and effectively under normal circumstances are well positioned to continue to work from home during any type of emergency" [...]

Obama called it teleworking – this removes location from the topic. It isn’t about being remote. Because when we focus on remote we say that we are not where we should be. Saying teleworking focus technology that enables us to work where we are. This shift in focus is great!

I haven’t Waved since December 25st #NSAGU

2010-02-17T08:00:00.007+01:00

My name is Nicolai, and I am a NSAGU, but I haven’t Waved since December 25st. And I don’t think I am the only one that over the holidays just dropped of the Wave. The Wave is a flop. It has failed to become the new way of communication. It will need to integrate with email to keep its users. In addition to Wave have Google started Buzz. Buzz is in your gmail-box providing a lower “cost” for the user to adopt the tool. From day one can posts to twitter, your blog, piccasa, youtube etc be buzzed on your Buzz. I am not going to talk about privacy concerns, but Buzz gives you the opertunity to connect with people in your address book - your frequent contacts.

And with these new platforms Google provides users with about all you can think of in terms of communication. With Gmail, Gvoice, Gchat, GBuzz, GWave, GGroups, Knol, Google Friend Connect, Blogger etc.etc the search company is more than just search. They have it all. They have mastered search, and gmail is a success. And they will launch new services like Wave, Buzz and Voice to try to give us the next big thing. They will customize, combine and innovate to ensure that we “we tried it first at Google”. And if somebody else gets “it” first – they will buy it and Google-ish it. Just like they did with Blogger and Feedburner.

Btw. NSAGU. “Not So Anonymous Google User”.

How important is twitter for your blog-traffic?

2010-02-16T22:27:00.000+01:00

I have been posting frequently to my blog the last weeks, but I decided in the weekend to have two days without posts to see how my traffic data would change. I have also posted some blog posts without posting on twitter that I have new posts to see how people are following my blog. And the results are not just as expected. I use Google Analytics on my blog, and the key elements I check for is number of visitors, page views and how long people stay on the blog.

When I notify my followers on twitter that I have updated my blog can I see direct spikes in traffic to my blog. But this traffic is increasing the number of visits to my blog, but the average time people stay on the site is lower on this type of traffic, than when I post the blog as a comment to somebody – or if somebody else recommends my blog post. Responding to a discussion with a more detailed explanation gives more loyal readers. The more interested people are in the topic because it is “on topic” for them, the more interested they will be in both reading and commenting on your topic.

Generally all traffic is good. But you don’t want to over-hype your content. Ensure that you write a good title on your topic. And if the title isn’t to the point – write in brief what the post is about when you post to twitter about it. I have changed the way I notify my followers about new blog posts. I have used the format:

MrNR-blog post updated: “title” | http://j.mp/thisstory

My new format is the summary, then as much text from the blog post I can fit in the twitter message and then the URL. This gives the readers more about what the blog post is about before they click – with the goal to only get the readers that want the content – and not just click on it because the content is provided by me.
Posting frequently has also changed the statistics for my blog. More people are following the RSS-feed, and I therefor see increased followers in my feedburner statistics – this growth is readers that I reach, but that isn’t a part of my Google Analytics statistics as they read the “offline” RSS-feed. My goal isn’t to increase the number of web visitors – but to provide my content to the people that wants to read it.

Follow/unfollow on twitter

2010-02-13T21:59:00.002+01:00

First of all, I don’t follow-back everybody following me. I check every follower when I get a mail about a follower to my @rygh account. If you have a balanced follower vs following ratio I will follow you back, unless it is 20000 followers – because then my question is – why haven’t you found me before? Why am I interesting when you already follow 20000. People don’t have 20000 followers because they find all the conversation interesting, they have a lot of followers because they spend a lot of time following people to make them follow them back. I am working on a script that will monitor the list of followers I have – I’ll write more about it when it is ready. But the goal is stop getting the emails about new followers, and coordinate followers cross my twitter accounts.

I have two main accounts on twitter (and some more I have registered for different purposes). @rygh and @nicolairygh is my main accounts. The first account is for tweets in English, the other in Norwegian. Some people unfollowed the @rygh-account when I started to use @nicolairygh for Norwegian tweets. They wanted to Norwegian tweets only – and that is okay! If you make the decision to follow or unfollow me because of content – that is okay. But followers that only follow me to get me to follow them back – that is a game I don’t want to play.

When do you unfollow people on twitter?

Beside the typical follow/unfollow/follow/unfollow game that you get from some – where they constantly follow and then unfollow you until you follow them back (or block them) is users you don’t want to have in your list. People that only use their twitter account to publish promotions, and especially promotions on how to get more followers on twitter. The last group I tend to unfollow is people who post their delicious links, their fourthsquare, bkite or other meta-data in their feed – and if this is the only content – the value of following them is zero. If you are not a part of the conversation – why should we follow you. So I say; if you post your geo-data with tools – you are warned – you should be active part of the conversation – or you’ll lose some followers. Be smart, create a different account for specific content.

Blame Canada!

2010-02-13T10:30:00.001+01:00

Everybody will focus on the Olympics for the next weeks. So as a statement I will change my mobile ring tone to this tune from South Park :-) It is just because the opening was a great show! Norway will need to arrange a new Winter Olympic to be at the same level! Great show!

Olympics!

2010-02-13T00:30:00.000+01:00

I will not see the Olympic opening live this year, because 0300CET is just a bit on the heavy side when you have small children that will get up in the morning anyway. But I will see the show in a rerun on NRK1 at 0900CET. hopefully the games will be great! For those of you up – enjoy it!

Google meets Finn

2010-02-12T10:00:00.002+01:00

Just have to post a small comment on this story from Finn Labs a Norwegian company. They have a service similar to Google Street View. And they have found the Google Street View car in their data – and then also being in Google’s data. What do we call this? Geo-tagger-geo-tagged?

Have you found any Easter eggs in Google Street View?