The Myth & The Majesty

Last August, I told you a little about ... you . Since then, my total number of visits have doubled. Yeah! Doubled! I was pretty excited to see that. I seem to have picked up a few new readers, lost a few regulars, re-gained a past regular or two, and generally gotten more ... I hate to use the word diverse, but at the very least it's gotten more interesting to watch. As it's been awhile since I graphed something, I decided to sit down with these new numbers and see what had changed. So ... here we go. This is you. General Statistics For some reason, October 2009 was a pretty big month for hits. While most months are fairly consistent, that month was a clear outlier. (If I can manage a few more quality posts, this month may be similar.) Roughly 2% of all views lead to comments. I'm afraid that reflects badly on me. However, there's been a drastic increase in the number of Facebook comments I get. Hopefully that trend continues. I'm not inclined to g...

Caffeine is arguably the most popular drug in this country. Over half of American adults drink coffee daily; another 30% drink it occasionally. The US -- with around 5% of the world population -- accounts for one-third of soda sales world wide. In the meantime, energy drinks have reached a somewhat unnerving level of popularity. It's so ingrained that ThinkGeek  has an entire section devoted to caffeine paraphernalia. [Raise your hand if you'd like a coffee mug with a caffeine molecule drawn on it! For the record, it's hard to type with one hand raised.] I have never considered myself dependent on caffeine. I've never been a gotta-have-a-cup-of-coffee-before-work person and while my Pepsi habits have been bad over the years, it's always been because I was craving ... Pepsi. And carbonation. However, there's a catch: while I didn't consider myself dependent, my body had some different ideas. I was drinking coffee pretty much daily. I didn't drink it ...

[Note: As many lists as I've seen out there, this is one that I started myself based on personal observations. Yes, I have at least witnessed every last one of these. Because of that, a good chunk of them are specific to chemical engineers. Exactly five of these are things I haven't done.] * 1. You've ever considered a day with two non-work-related conversations a social success. As always, there's an xkcd for that. Thanks again, Mr. Munroe. 2. You've ever found yourself using Excel to chart some aspect of your social life. 3. You've ever used the phrase "entry and egress" in real life. [Side note: I just did this. Tripped over a cord and muttered about having to clear up my entry and egress. And then came the requisite head-smack.] 4. You've requested electronics for Christmas. Not the cool ones like iPhones or mp3 players -- the others, like external hard drives or a new motherboard. 5. You've ever taken a test for fun....