I love web metrics (and Google Analytics), but I also love my privacy.

Over the past few weeks I assume everyone has read about the very questionable use of data by Google (NY Times article) in Germany by their "streetview cars". With respect to Facebook, barely a day goes by without this company coming under fire for the manner in which they manage user privacy.

However, as a web technologist, I want to measure user behavior. Successful eCommerce is predicated upon understanding usage patterns, and converting web visitors to customers. Web Analytics need the ability to measure the patterns of visitors to a web site. This might seem to be in conflict with data privacy concerns, thus I was extremely pleased to learn of a new effort which is able to measure web analytics without the need for a tag or cookie!

Enter Panopticlick from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Consider that your browser may be unique amongst all the millions of web users! Hard to imagine? Well … when all the configuration issues are taken into account, I think you may be surprised. Test your own browser (or view my results).

My thanks to the Datalicious Blog which keyed me into this very intriguing idea / concept.

Three of my favorite science fiction novels are: Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. Thus, I was thrilled when one of my favorite sites which clues me into great new video / audio content posted to the net (Open Culture) had a post on Brave New World! You can listen to the author himself, Aldous Huxley narrate his book:

• Podcast: Part 1 | Part 2

Apparently this broadcast was part of a CBS Radio Workshop Series (Wikipedia link) that took place between 1956 and 1957. You can download and listen to other programs from this series via the Internet Archive.

LinkedIn announced a very cool new feature today, the ability to follow companies. Why is this important? Imagine if you could learn quickly when a company in which you have a business interest hires, promotes, or changes their profile … in addition what if you could learn about people who are leaving a company? Sometimes knowing that people are leaving is more important than learning about new hires. I hope you understand the importance of this move. Facebook is for your personal friends network, but LinkedIn is how you should be managing your professional presence.

If you're been a reader of NorthstarNerd.Org for some time (i.e. this blog), you realize I'm high on the potential of LinkedIn. Recently I reviewed and posted a tutorial about their focused advertising capability. I still love Google and all their services, but LinkedIn is becoming Twitter + Facebook + Career + Search + Advertising. The demographics they have about any given company's professional workforce is astounding … and is a very, very valuable asset. Here are the LinkedIn profiles for three organizations I follow:

• NASA Langley Research Center
• MIT
• Yammer

Click to maximize the image given below. If you follow a company via LinkedIn, this kind of information will show up in a special section of your network updates. The image is from my own LinkedIn network updates.

I never keep pennies anymore, but today was different … the wheat stared up at me, 1936! That little penny has been out there for 74 years … soon to be 3/4 of a century. 

In the Winter, I won't even stoop over to pick up a copper, but today was different. Although it should not be that exciting, I was thrilled! Life's little pleasures!