Wow, it's the site's 17 millionth hit. Looking at the apache log line, I see:
70.38.64.234 - - [06/Sep/2010:02:36:30 -0400] "GET /departures/SFO/hawk_hill/42_golden_gate_bridge_halfway_along.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 442686 "-" "-"
It looks kind of like someone was looking at a photo. Specifically, a snapshot halfway along the Golden Gate Bridge from that time I walked up to Hawk Hill while snapping photos.. But I don't think that's what's actually going on. If that were the case, I'd expect to also see a log of someone visiting the web page holding the .jpg, not just the .jpg itself. But when I look at other logs from around the same time, there's nothing like that. There's no user agent description (i.e., no mention of what browser the user was using). So I guess this is just a bot, and not an especially interesting one. Ho hum.
I just got back from a vacation with Green Tortoise, a tour company that specializes in busing scruffy backbackers and youth hostelers around the USA, seeing sights along the way. So I've been hanging out with backbackers. There I learned a social lubricant that works better than alcohol: Australians. It would be a gross generalization to say that all Australians are outgoing, chatty, boisterous... but not as gross a generalization as you might think. I was glad they were along; they're not much like me; and that probably made the trip go much better. Anyhow, now that I'm scrambling for something webmaster-ish to write about (as is my wont for these million-hits posts), how about this:
A list of popular search terms for Australians who end up at this site, as snagged from Google Webmaster tools.
- tea tree I think that tea trees might grow in Australia; after all, I snapped my tea tree photo on my New Zealand trip, and that's practically next door, right?
- power plant You might remember that this is one of the keywords that brings most image-searchers to my site. So it's not surprising it would be popular amongst Australians, too.
- tonga island There's more than one island named Tonga. I mentioned one off the shore at Abel Tasman park in New Zealand. But Australians are probably looking for another Tonga Island. Sorry about that.
- dental You might rmember that this is one of the keywords that brings most image-searchers to my site. So it's not surprising it would be popular amongst Australians, too. But it's not as popular with Australians as it is with other folks around the world.
- hedge maze Since I saw the Tank Girl movie, I know that Australians don't have enough water in their country to grow a decent hedge, so I'm not sure why they'd search for this. Maybe they're trying to figure out where to go on vacation so that they can see a hedge maze. In which case, I hope that St Louis appreciates me for the tourist biz I'm sending their way.
- old factory Because I watched the Road Warrior movies, I know that Australians want to ransack old factories in search of petrol and to make last-ditch desperate shelter. I guess they'll come to St Louis in search of these old factories. I hope that St Louis appreciates me for the immigration I'm sending their way.
- joseph stella I'm running out of Australian movies to make fun of, and can't figure out how to relate one to artist Joseph Stella. This is the silliest premise for a "millionth hit" blog post I've come up with so far. I give up.
Maybe my time would be better spent going through my travel photos. Yeah, I'll go do that now.
Thank you for visiting, people of all nations!
