Saturday 26 September 2009

Android

I recently tried an Android based G1 phone.

I have noticed that many hits occur on stat counters showing a Linux OS with a Safari browser. This does not make sense because there is no Linux version of Safari. Thus , I have suspected these to be Android. Giving me the opportunity to visit this blog confirmed my suspicions.

Counters That Suggested Linux / Safari:

ShinyStat
GoStats
SiteMetre
BraveNet
Motigo

Counters That Suggested Mac OS / Netscape 5:

OneStat

Counters That Suggested Linux / Mozilla Compatible:

24Log

Finally, the TWO Counters That Got It Right Android / Android:

StatCounter
ExtremeTracking

Wednesday 23 September 2009

ExtremeTracking Recognises Opera 10

Today ExtreneTracking started logging Opera 10 as Opera 10, and not Opera 9. Opera 10 currently identifies itself as Opera 9.8. ExtremeTracking is the first counter to name Opera 10 right, and reinforces my opinion that ExtremeTracking are good at keeping their counter up to date.

I'll have to get plenty of browsing done, because it will take a while for Opera 10 to reach a realistic position on ExtremeTracking results (ExtremeTracking keeps all its historical data, with a new browser having to start from scratch).

Sunday 20 September 2009

MSN Bot - and Web Standards



The above screen capture shows a visit from the MSN Bot recorded by ExtremeTracking.

The first thing that struck me is that, according to Microsoft, Microsoft Vista is so wonderful, and we are all urged to upgrade. Why then is Mircrosoft still using XP?

A second perhaps more important thing is the use of Internet Explorer 6. With IE 8 being reasonably standards compliant, and IE 6 having its own unique ways, web designers are having major problems getting their sites to work on both. This is then having a knock on effect on other browsers.

A major site my other half uses suddenly found that Opera was not working, so they adjusted, then Firefox did not work, so they adjusted again and Safari stopped. Hence over several weeks most of the major alternative browsers failed to work. However, IE 6 and IE 8 worked all the time. The problem is clear from the web browser usage figures for the top 5 browsers, according to NetApplications:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 25.25%
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 21.10%
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 15.10%
Firefox 3.0 12.48%
Firefox 3.5 8.88%

IE 6 is still the most widely used browser, and so even though it causes problems for the rendering of all the other browsers developers do not feel they can stop making it work a priority. Hence, considering that Microsoft claim to want to work towards web standards compliance, they are happy to cause havoc with other browsers, and make them look problematic, and sometimes make them unusable, when it is Microsofts product which is causing the problem.

Bots have a major influence on browser statistics, being all pervasive they visit almost all sites, and often form a large proportion of site visitors stats. Thus, it is especially poor that Microsoft are bolstering the IE 6 statistic figures with their Bot. It makes me question their commitment to web standards, and if they are actively trying to undermine alternative browsers by protracting the change to web standards?

Saturday 19 September 2009

Counters Response to a Proxy - flywall.info

How do my counters count a visit through a proxy. I used one called FlyWall.

This is how FlyWall describes itself:

"What is FlyWall?
FlyWall is a website which allows you to visit your favourite sites at work or school, where your school or work might not allow you to visit them. There are many other uses for this site aswell, but to get started, enter your URL in the box above where it says http:// and then click Browse.
"

Using FlyWall I visited this blog, and then checked to see if I could be identified as the visitor, and what technology the counters gave (results if myself and not the proxy counted, ISP: Fused Networks / Telecomplete, IP Address: 86.53.56.223, Country: United Kingdom, Browser: Opera 9.8, OS: SunOS):



ShinyStat:

ISP: Not available
Country: United States of America
Browser: Opera 9.x
OS: Sun OS

BraveNet:

BraveNet does not register proxies.

Onestat:

OneStat does not register proxies.

BelStat:

ISP: telecomplete
IP Address: 86.53.56.223
Country: UK
OS / Browser: Data not linked to individual visitors


SiteMeter:

ISP: Unknown
Country: Unknown
OS: SunOS UNIX
Browser: Opera 9.80


StatCounter:

ISP: Fused Networks Limited
IP Address: 86.53.56.223
Country: United Kingdom
Browser: Default Browser 0
OS: SunOS

GoStata:

Country: United States
OS: Unknown
Browser: Netscape

24Log:

Country: United States
Browser: Mozilla compatible
OS: other

Extreme Tracking:

ISP: Fused Networks Limited
Country: United Kingdom
IP Address: 86.53.56.223
Browser: Opera 9
OS: SunOS

Motigo Stats:

ISP: Fused Networks
Country: United Kingdom
Browser: Opera 9.x
OS: Sun OS


So some counters seem to be able to see past the proxy, and others report the proxies details, some report a bit of both, whilst BraveNet, and OneStat do not let you know a proxy has visited at all.

Saturday 12 September 2009

StatCounter and Invisible Opera 10

Below is my visit on StatCounter for a web site:

Number of Entries: 1
Entry Page Time: 12th September 2009 12:00:25
Visit Length: 0 seconds
Browser Default Browser 0
OS unknown
Resolution 1152x864


Opera 10 appears as Default Browser 0. Unfortunately, StatCounter has shown a gradual decrease in Opera usage throughout this year. As more Opera users move to version 10 will this decline continue?

Opera 10 identifies itself as Opera 9.8. Alas, StatCounter does not recognise 9.8. The first Opera 10 alphas who identified as 10, until Opera changed id to 9.8 because some counters were not recognizing 10 as a valid browser. StatCounter can recognise the first alphas as Opera 10, but fails to see later versions.

From the above site the Opera use was Opera 10 - 0.8%, Opera 9.6 - 0.8%, but Default Browser achieves 1.8%! Is Opera appearing to lose usage because StatCounter fails to identify Opera 10?

Hopefully, Opera will change its browser id to 10, and StatCounter will start to recognise 9.8 - otherwise any progress Opera makes will be hidden.

Thursday 3 September 2009

Best Browser On Mac OS 9

Although not used commonly, there are still perfectly good iMacs out there running Mac OS 9. Some of these are available for next to nothing, and can make very useful surfing machines. I have seen several discussions on what is the best browser for this OS. I have posted this post because iCab 3 for OS 9 is far better than any other OS 9 browser, yet often gets overlooked. iCab 3 renders properly (nothing else seems to) and can cope with Google adds (Opera 5 can not manage this).



Simple: OS 9 = iCab 3