Chitchat # 12

My Thoughts on 2000 Hits

Bob Chen

It is very gratifying to see the Lighters' web-site being visited two thousand times in nine months. Assuming only Lighters check in off and on, the minimum and maximum visits per Lighter are 2000/140 = 14.29 and 2000/20 = 100. These two numbers are quite significant: 14 indicates that with the worst case scenario every Lighter has visited three weeks out of nine months, and 100 means that the regulars visited 20 weeks out of nine months.

If most of the Lighters are unfortunate like me with PC's at work only, they are spending almost half-time (20/9*4.3333 = 0.51) of his (her) working days to surf the web-site. If all 140 Lighters were active, the same approach would yield (3/39 = 0.08), or they are spending 3 hours per week browsing the web-site. The former (0.51) will make the employers to fire them, and the latter (0.08) will be considered unacceptable to a stingy employer. Since we are all at work, and
continue to visit, it is obvious that either the 20 regulars are good workers that the employers choose to ignore their trespasses, or they are at least semi-retired, have their own PC's. I believe the truth lies somewhere in-between. I like to hear from the Lighters (the silent majority?) about this crude estimate.

When the 40th reunion comes around, I shall foresee laptops abound to tell the world that we are doing great! The information highway has led us to a market place that all Lighters are equal; whether the PC's are their employers' or their own. To quote Deng Shiao Ping " it makes no difference that the cat is black or white, as long as it catches rats, it's a good cat". Lighters, I invite you all to join Tony's already exceptional web-site, not as a browser, but to critique,joke, write,
paint, translate, or whatever... I know we have a pool of talents that can do more!