Don't Back Down

Asa talks about the browser share he's seeing in the top 100 blogs. Interesting numbers, with Firefox assuming 20% or so of traffic and Gecko-based browsers picking up another 5%. I thought those numbers sounded low for my blog, so off I went to find the answer. Turns out I was wrong.

For December, the Firefox traffic rang in at 18.7%, with other Gecko-based browsers showing at a clip of right at 5%. These numbers are only off slightly from last month, but in reality, Firefox has gone down slighty in that time (from 19.2%), while the Gecko numbers stayed fairly steady.

The really interesting thing was that those statistics are for my blog - not for the root domain itself. The root domain (cxliv.org) is really only used for downloads and images and things like that. Any blog-specific data, such as pages or stylesheets or feeds, comes from the subdomain (jayseae.cxliv.org).

What I found when I checked those numbers was startling. There, Firefox traffic amounts to 57.3% of the hits, while other Gecko browsers accounted for about 3%. Part of the reason for this is the RDF document used for auto-updating the Bloglines Toolkit. Naturally this shouldn't be served to any other browsers in any regular situations.

But it also accounts for downloads - which includes Movable Type plugins. I find that fascinating. Does it mean that those using Firefox are more likely to download stuff and install it? While I personally find Firefox much more secure than other browsers, theoretically that could spell trouble if someone decided to take advantage of that sort of statistic, because it (apparently) indicates that those users are more likely to trust what they find on the web - they are certainly more likely to download it than their counterparts with IE!

How else would we read even more evidence about the ever-increasing costs of certain programs? Or find out about the death of a giant buck deer? Naturally, we also may need to find more information about truly disconcerting issues, and without the news, we wouldn't. But I can't help but think it still isn't enough. Strange words, as by most any count the news we get is way too much. But this week I've found myself starved for news - in truth, one specific item.

On Sunday afternoon, we witnessed a horrific wreck on the interstate. Amazingly, only two cars were damaged, but the wreck was spectacular. One car weaved suddenly across several lanes of traffic, swerving onto the shoulder and then back into the travel lanes. Suddenly, another car started to roll, and then rolled over and over and over until coming to a rest against a small embankment.

Denise and I quickly parked our vehicle and did what we could to comfort the victims - but without wanting to cause more damage to already injured bodies, we were left doing little more than moral support until trained personnel arrived.

There was one person (the driver) in the first vehicle, who really seemed to be in pretty good shape. In the other vehicle, there were seven passengers. One of them was ejected from the rear window of the SUV as it rolled, and two others (including a young baby) were out by the time the vehicle came to a stop - perhaps under their own power.

We were there on the shoulder for nearly an hour, which is fine - I'm glad that we were able to offer any assistance at all. And the other vehicles nearby contained an amazing assortment of nurses and volunteer firefighters and just regular folks like ourselves who wanted to lend a hand. The emergency crews arrived only minutes later and took over. Everyone seemed to be in pretty good shape.

But we had no way to find out what shape. I have been unable to find even a mention of this wreck in the news outlets. One lady, in particular (the one thrown through the back window while the vehicle rolled) was bleeding quite a bit, and we were very concerned for her. Perhaps in the end, it wasn't really important that we know her fate, but it was bugging us nonetheless. But the local papers contained nothing about the wreck. Why?

While not worthy of such general interest as the giant deer buck, surely it should be able to be found somewhere! Alas, we had no luck at all. Until last night. One of Denise's relatives works as a nurse (sorry if that's not the correct job title, but it's basically what she does) and she managed to locate the family in the hospital, and talked to them. All this without us even knowing or asking!

It turns out that nearly everyone is fine, and appears that they have, in fact, already been released. But the woman who was ejected from the rear window is still in the hospital, as is the baby. They are doing well, however, and are scheduled to be released today. Whew. I'm glad we know, even though in the end it really doesn't matter much. It is comforting to have the knowledge, even if it really isn't any of our business, nor was it the sole reason we stopped.

I just wish we would have been able to find something - anything - about this wreck locally, without having to rely on a completely unexpected act from a family member who just happened to be in a position to help. Sadly, we probably would have heard something if there was something interesting about it (like this article about a vehicle that flipped and ended up on top of some concrete barriers) or someone died (like the coverage on former NFL star Reggie White). But everyone is okay? Nothing interesting? Sorry, no coverage. Why is that?