Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with Usage

Teachers, students, and the Internet

unreason — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:24:42 -0800

Do teachers have their students use the Internet? I have an idea for a web application where school teachers could post resources and work for their students. There's a problem, though... would teachers do this? Would they feel comfortable assigning Internet homework, or is this a pipe dream that wouldn't get used?

How to best provide online usage statistics to content subscribers? Should I?

chillmost — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:38:43 -0800

Tools for a scientific publisher to provide usage statistics for its subscribers? Is this a good idea? I am the webmaster for a small scientific publisher. Our content is presented online in a way that is similar to most other publishers. The abstracts are free to all, but the articles are restricted to subscribers by the use of IP addresses in htaccess files. Most of our subscribers are university libraries and research institutes.

Lately we have been getting many requests for usage statistics from our subscribers. I have a way of doing this using summary.net, a web log analysis program, but it is time consuming and not an elegant or simple solution requiring me to change the software's settings for each subscriber, render the log files, output an excel file, reformat excel file and then change the software's settings back for my needs. If we decided to offer this service, using this method would take up too much of my time.

Is there some sort of software that I can host on our server that the user can use to show them download statistics for certain files in certain directories based on a list of IP addresses or ranges that they enter?

I thought that a program like awstats might be able to get me in this direction but I don't have root access to our managed server in order to install it properly.

I have also looked at the Project COUNTER as a possible solution for providing statistics, but it seems to be needlessly complicated for what we are trying to accomplish.

Also, is there a way for these usage statisitcs to be measured on the user's end? Possibly with a software solution on their router/proxy server/gateway that measures outgoing requests? What are some keywords or concepts I should search for so that if I receive a request for usage statistics, I can say, "We don't provide usage statistics for practical and logistical reasons but you can roll your own by......."

Aside from how to do it, is providing this service even a good idea? I have heard from a few publishers, that they don't provide this service because it provides justification to those making spending decisions to cancel the subscription. This reasoning is described in better detail here at the American Mathematical Society's website (.pdf). I have also heard from librarians that they hate to cancel subscriptions because they hate, HATE, having gaps in serial publications, not to mention facing the wrath from the 1 or 2 people that do rely on that publication for their work/research.

I would be interested to here about experiences and solutions from the publisher side, as well as the librarian side of things.

What are people actually doing on the internet?

quiet — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:18:33 -0800

What are people actually doing on the internet? I'm looking for some good data about what people are doing on the internet broken down by protocol with preferably additional details. So something like: 20% of traffic is HTTP, 10% is SSL, 40% is P2P, 2% is NNTP and so on.

The additional detail would be identifying things like the type of P2P traffic (Bittorrent, Gnutella, etc), or the amount of HTTP traffic going to video sites. A breakdown by type of users (like Home users vs Business users vs College users) would be most useful.

I've found some very limited, very old data as well as something a little more recent, but I need more detail and a more representative sample.

Bandwidth monitoring tool needed.

jammnrose — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:39:06 -0800

I'm looking for a bandwidth monitoring tool for OSX. I need it to do some specific things. I need it to do these things:
Keep track of the bandwidth used in the past 24 hours (ie, a rolling count by the minute).
Monitor internal and external bandwidth separately.
Monitor Airport/Ethernet separately/singly.
Any ideas? Thanks.

any difference between 'acting' and 'interim' in job title?

genehack — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:58:12 -0800

When filling in for a superior that has resigned, before a permanent replacement for the position is identified, is there any difference between a job title of "acting $POSITION" and one of "interim $POSITION"? Specifically, does one indicate that the temporary replacement is or is not in consideration to be the permanent replacement? (This is a position in a university office, if that matters.)

Most all people don't know proper English, amirite?

ClarissaWAM — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:32:02 -0800

"Most all" - it is wrong. Right? So I've seen "most all" (instead of "almost all") around for a while now, generally in everydaylanguage and online. I've always assumed it is incorrect English - and I still think it is.

But I have seen it creep up a few times in contexts where you would not expect incorrect English (the printed press for instance) so I am now wondering - has it become accepted incorrect English? Or am I in fact very mistaken and it is correct? (but it does not make sense!! it's either all or most - it can't be both!)

Rise again, rise again

Johnny Assay — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:17:35 -0800

In the Stan Rogers song "The Mary Ellen Carter", what does "crumble into scale" mean? I've always loved this song, but I realized recently that I had no idea what the following line meant: "For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale". This isn't a use of the word "scale" that I'm familiar with. I've managed to figure out all the other nautical lingo in the song, but this one phrase stymies me. The entire lyrics can be found here if it helps.

Summoning LanguageHat

I_Love_Bananas — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:16:35 -0800

Wary vs. Leery- what is the distinction? This has bugged me for a long time.

What is the difference, if any, in using "wary" and "leery?" I just know that most of the time I think people are using them incorrectly, but I can't put my finger on exactly why.

LanguageHat, can you help?

List vs Laundry List

otherwordlyglow — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:20:05 -0800

When does a "list" become a "laundry list"? This has been bugging me a lot recently as the term seems to have hit the tipping point. Everywhere I look/read people are enumerating "Laundry Lists" but to me, they seem to just be plain old Lists. What's the difference between the two? Is Laundry List just a way of saying List that sounds smarter? Is there a subtlety between the two that I'm missing? It's kind of a simple question that I hate to waste my question on but every single time I hear the phrase it jumps out at me so I need to know if I'm justified in being annoyed at it. I'm sure there's a correct usage (informal? overly detailed?) somewhere but I don't know what it is.

"originality consists in returning to the origin" -Gaudi

primer_dimer — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 02:28:07 -0800

Correct use: "consists of" vs "consists in" I've been unable to get a straight answer to this anywhere else, but I know that mefi has more than its fair share of spelling/grammar/usage nazis, so I ask you: what's the deal with "consists of" and "consists in"? Google gives plenty of examples of both; is there a rule?

Blooperstown

stupidsexyFlanders — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 06:16:10 -0800

Bruce Sutter's Hall of Fame plaque notes that he ..."lead the league in saves five times." Is this a typo? Or this one of those things that can go either way? ("led" or "lead" for the past tense of "lead")

Correct Usage

sgobbare — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:51:47 -0800

So there has been an invasion of portuguese man of war jellyfish locally..... they're all gone now but the raging debate on local news has been describing them as portuguese man of war's or portuguese men of war. I am predisposed to #1 but I'm also doing the asking.....anybody?

AP Photo license?

xmutex — Sat, 20 May 2006 12:42:55 -0800

Can anyone speak to acquiring a license (if it's even necessary) to use AP Photos on your web site? I've searched and I've searched and I've searched.

All your base are off of us

Mr Stickfigure — Tue, 16 May 2006 18:21:04 -0800

Did "based on" beget "based off of"? My girlfriend, the grammar-teacher-to-be, is in the process of grading papers and is going batty with the persistent usage of the phrase "based off of" in place of "based on". Googlefight gives us 1,490,000,000 "based on" to 1,750,000 "based off of", indicating a clear usage bias. I cannot find a dictionary (web or paper) that includes "based off of" at all. (Sadly, we have no OED.) Does anyone know where this came from? Are we seeing a phrase from a foreign language seep in via literal translation? Pop culture? Dialect?

In searching, I have found a large number of sites which, to my surprise, use both phrases. Is there a different connotation of which I'm not aware?

What is considered the usage and style manual?

frecklefaerie — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 11:02:59 -0800

Usage and Grammar: What is considered the usage and style manual? Although I majored in English and focused on language, writing, and rhetoric, I find that I am stumped when it comes to some of the finer points of usage. Somehow I made it through college without even cracking a Strunk and White (wikipedia). I hate it when my cousin, who writes for a textbook company, pings me with a usage/style question and I have no idea what the answer is. This is very bad for my grammar-nazi ego.

Thanks!

Your favorite Palm apps and tricks?

WCityMike — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 07:59:50 -0800

I recently purchased a new Palm T|X with WiFi & Bluetooth. It's been a long time since I had a Palm, and it was the old Palm Vx running Palm OS 3.x. Obviously, they've come a good ways. I'd appreciate any recommendations as to cool Palm apps. I really don't need to be uber-heavy on the games (although I do like nostalgia games, i.e., stuff from the '80s and Doom), and would appreciate more how-did-I-ever-live-without-this kind of convenience/useful apps. I'm aware of Pocket Quicken, SiEd, and MealTip. And, for what it's worth, I'm on a Mac. Geekery neatness is greatly appreciated -- advanced geek tricks you've figured out how to perform, even if it's a little bit of a brain-bender to follow. (For example, I use Remind for my calendar, so obviously I can't use Datebook -- so I figured out a way to throw its output into a text file, convert it on the command line into a PDB format, and then use OS X's "open" command to both add it to the to-install list and then open Conduit Manager to begin the HotSync automatically.) I'd also appreciate general tips people have picked from usage ("don't look at it upside down for more than 10 minutes, or it becomes a thermonuclear weapon").

BrakeFilter

AlexReynolds — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:14:04 -0800

BrakeFilter: My dad and I need to settle a bet about driving habits affecting brake pad life. He says that sudden stops from high speed wear out brake pads faster than gradual, slow stops, because F = ma means sudden decelleration equals high force on the brake pad.

I say that gradual braking wears out the brakes faster, since the brake pads are in contact with the disc for a longer period of time.

Whose explanation is correct? (Neither?)

carrot & stick

stupidsexyFlanders — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 10:07:17 -0800

St. Paddy's Day? Or St. Patty's Day? The latter makes me grind my teeth. But I'm seeing it more often. (Google calls it even, more or less.)

Question number 13748

jnthnjng — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 09:20:40 -0800

Language bigots: adapter or adaptor?

Ukraine vs. The Ukraine

hal incandenza — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 19:23:32 -0800

Ukraine vs. The Ukraine. Is the latter outdated now that Ukraine is an independent nation? Do Ukranians feel strongly about the difference? I hear people refer to it both ways.

When should I use "presume" and when should I use "assume?"

davebug — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 10:54:40 -0800

When should I use "presume" and when should I use "assume?" Or are they interchangable?

UK vs. American English - "different to/from/than"

geekhorde — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 23:17:38 -0800

UK versus American English usage question: In a recent post, the one on Chinese singing, I noticed that English speakers from England seem to use 'to' where most Americans would use 'from' or 'than.'
Example: "So 'bang' with a rising tone is different to 'bang' with a falling tone is different to 'bang' with a rising then falling tone."
Why is this, and how did this difference in usage originate?

What can happen if I hijack a wireless connection?

TheIrreverend — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 19:43:32 -0800

Ethical considerations aside, are there any issues I should be concerned with if I were to use my neighbor's wireless internet without his explicit permission? Say, my computer getting hacked, my passwords being intercepted, my email being read, my browsing history being revealed, etc etc.

Can genius be used as an adjective?

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 00:28:30 -0800

Can genius be used as adjective, as in this example from the BBC: "Send Dave your genius idea."? If so, why? [More Inside.]

Home Operating Systems

theNonsuch — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 23:30:22 -0800

Are there any reports, stats, or studies which might give me a more accurate picture of the percentage of people who use Windows or the Mac OS at home? What I'm curious about is how the numbers break down after you remove the vast number of PCs / Windows machines purchased by offices, and the rather inaccurate way that market share is determined.