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Started by thenetwork, January 25, 2018, 11:58:16 PM

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hbelkins

Oh goody, another "longest penis" contest, not dissimilar to "who has the most posts?"


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


webny99

Quote from: hbelkins on January 26, 2018, 11:48:40 AM
Oh goody, another "longest penis" contest, not dissimilar to "who has the most posts?"

Posts are not always good. Time spent online is always good. That's the key difference, at least in my eyes.

Quote from: oscar on January 26, 2018, 11:38:40 AM
My total is embarrassingly high, as if to guilt-trip me into spending less time here.

Why is the total even displayed when we're logged in? I can see administrators making some technical use of that statistic, but how it helps users is to me unclear at best.

I view high amount of time spent online as a good thing. In particular, a high minutes-to-posts ratio is a good thing. RGT, for example, has about 8 days spent online and 2800 posts. It's pretty safe to assume the posts are mostly short and pithy (:pan:). It also gives you a pretty good idea how likely someone is to be online at any given moment. Some people post and log out, others, like myself, tend to browse around a bit, and read plenty of threads without posting in them.

MNHighwayMan

#27
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 11:52:39 AM
Posts are not always good. Time spent online is always good.

No.

QuoteI view high amount of time spent online as a good thing. In particular, a high minutes-to-posts ratio is a good thing. RGT, for example, has about 8 days spent online and 2800 posts. It's pretty safe to assume the posts are mostly short and pithy (:pan:).

Combine the words "short" and "pithy" in one particular way (and with one slight consonant tweak) and you'll get my general sentiment about excessive posting.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on January 26, 2018, 11:42:07 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 26, 2018, 11:23:37 AM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on January 26, 2018, 11:01:50 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 26, 2018, 04:33:49 AM
42 Days, 8 hrs and 57 minutes.

Scott, I thought there was some kind of algorythm built in that cancels the time out if one remains on a page too long with no activity?

I know that if the system counted the entire time I was logged in I'd be well over 1000 days. I almost always have the forum open while at work, but quite often get interrupted by, well, work (911 doesn't answer itself, lol).
Wait a minute! You're logged-in to the forum while you're dispatching? That's a risk in itself.

How so? My computer has 4 screens, and it takes me a half-second to point my mouse at the cad portion of the screen. Or would you just have me staring at the TV watching the weather channel with the sound off for hours on end?
Ok, maybe on a "slow day".

When you join the everyday office workforce, you'll understand.

webny99

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on January 26, 2018, 11:54:43 AM
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 11:52:39 AM
Posts are not always good. Time spent online is always good.

No.
... and?
Your second statement confirms that you agree that "posts are not always good". So when isn't time spent online good?  :confused:

Buck87

22 days, 16 hours and 2 minutes

TheArkansasRoadgeek

Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 26, 2018, 12:09:20 PM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on January 26, 2018, 11:42:07 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 26, 2018, 11:23:37 AM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on January 26, 2018, 11:01:50 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 26, 2018, 04:33:49 AM
42 Days, 8 hrs and 57 minutes.

Scott, I thought there was some kind of algorythm built in that cancels the time out if one remains on a page too long with no activity?

I know that if the system counted the entire time I was logged in I'd be well over 1000 days. I almost always have the forum open while at work, but quite often get interrupted by, well, work (911 doesn't answer itself, lol).
Wait a minute! You're logged-in to the forum while you're dispatching? That's a risk in itself.

How so? My computer has 4 screens, and it takes me a half-second to point my mouse at the cad portion of the screen. Or would you just have me staring at the TV watching the weather channel with the sound off for hours on end?
Ok, maybe on a "slow day".

When you join the everyday office workforce, you'll understand.
I hope my plans steer me away from cubical work! :-D :D
Well, that's just like your opinion man...

jeffandnicole

Honestly, I had to find this particular section.  Guess I always kept mine minimized.

vdeane

81 days, 11 hours and 31 minutes

As others have mentioned, not 100% accurate for how long I spend browsing.  I often will browse in incognito when I'm bored since I don't want to disrupt the read/unread forum markings for when I do my "full" checks of the forum (which involve methodically going through every forum with unread posts, looking at every single new post on the threads I'm interested in).  Since I tend to queue up a bunch of threads all at once in batches (though I should probably adjust those since General Highway Talk is less active than it used to be and Off Topic a lot more active), that probably further decreases the time online since I could well go 15 minutes without opening anything new or posting, if people have been making long posts in a lot of threads.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 12:10:38 PM
... and?
Your second statement confirms that you agree that "posts are not always good". So when isn't time spent online good?  :confused:

My point, which I probably should've elaborated upon, is not whether time spent here is good or bad; it is that this statistic is useless. It isn't really an indicator of anything.

Thing 342

Mine is a frighteningly-large 45 days, 16 hours and 47 minutes. I tend to read a lot more than I actually post.

webny99

Quote from: vdeane on January 26, 2018, 01:24:31 PM
I often will browse in incognito when I'm bored...
If you're referring to logging in from an incognito window, I do that almost exclusively, and it definitely still counts your time spent online.
If you're referring to browsing offline, well, (obviously) that isn't counted.

Quote from: vdeane on January 26, 2018, 01:24:31 PM
(though I should probably adjust those since General Highway Talk is less active than it used to be and Off Topic a lot more active)
I've noticed that too  :pan: The statistics-loving part of my brain cannot help wondering if Off-Topic will ever surpass General Highway Talk for total posts. I hope not. I'm trying to make sure that will never happen.

[posts to Off-Topic][/irony]

webny99

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on January 26, 2018, 01:34:40 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 12:10:38 PM
... and?
Your second statement confirms that you agree that "posts are not always good". So when isn't time spent online good?  :confused:

My point, which I probably should've elaborated upon, is not whether time spent here is good or bad; it is that this statistic is useless. It isn't really an indicator of anything.

Statistics are not useless. I don't deny being over-obsessed/interested in them, but they do have some very valuable, practical benefits.

vdeane

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:36:54 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 26, 2018, 01:24:31 PM
I often will browse in incognito when I'm bored...
If you're referring to logging in from an incognito window, I do that almost exclusively, and it definitely still counts your time spent online.
If you're referring to browsing offline, well, (obviously) that isn't counted.
Offline, since these aren't full checks and I don't want to disrupt the read/unread indicators.  If you open a thread in a forum with unread posts, the entire forum will be marked unread until someone else posts even if there are other unread posts.  I don't know if AARoads does this (pretty sure it doesn't, since I accidentally closed the index once and was able to browse back without too much disruption), but I know there are other forums where closing the forum will cause ALL forums to be marked read, even ones you haven't checked (or at least there were some 10 years ago), so this habit is something I developed back when I used to browser more forums regularly.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:38:51 PM
Statistics are not useless. I don't deny being over-obsessed/interested in them, but they do have some very valuable, practical benefits.

I didn't say that. I said this one particular statistic is useless. But please, enlighten me. I would love to know how you believe "total time logged in" can be correlated in a meaningful way to anything.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:36:54 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 26, 2018, 01:24:31 PM
(though I should probably adjust those since General Highway Talk is less active than it used to be and Off Topic a lot more active)
I've noticed that too  :pan: The statistics-loving part of my brain cannot help wondering if Off-Topic will ever surpass General Highway Talk for total posts. I hope not. I'm trying to make sure that will never happen.

I hope that will never happen as well. Even though Off-Topic can seem quite vibrant at times, I do highly doubt that it will ever actually surpass General Highway Talk, Traffic Control, and the sort. I just don't see it happening.


Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:38:51 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on January 26, 2018, 01:34:40 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 12:10:38 PM
... and?
Your second statement confirms that you agree that "posts are not always good". So when isn't time spent online good?  :confused:

My point, which I probably should've elaborated upon, is not whether time spent here is good or bad; it is that this statistic is useless. It isn't really an indicator of anything.

Statistics are not useless. I don't deny being over-obsessed/interested in them, but they do have some very valuable, practical benefits.

I am interested in statistics a good bit myself. I agree that posts are not always good, but that time spent online can never be bad (is always good or neutral). I do understand that the statistic of it isn't particularly significant (or among the most useful of things around), but it is definitely nice and good to have, for reference, and for those who really, really do like statistics.  :-P

Though, it should not be meant to be a stick-measuring contest, of course. Some people read and type faster than others (I am not one of them, especially with the former), so they can create more posts in a shorter amount of time (this does not imply that it is always the case that those posts are low-quality, though). Some people have more free time than others, and can browse, read, post, and ultimately collect more online time than others. Some people may simply refresh more than others, which also directly affects the collective online time. Some people don't always browse the forum while logged in, as has been noted. And there are many other things to consider as well. This statistic is definitely interesting and good to have, but of course, it is not something to be measured to see who "has the best," due to all those factors.
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

DeaconG

39 days, 10 hours and 57 minutes. For whatever it's worth.
Dawnstar: "You're an ape! And you can talk!"
King Solovar: "And you're a human with wings! Reality holds surprises for everyone!"
-Crisis On Infinite Earths #2

jeffandnicole

Statistics are fun, and actually often misunderstood.  However, they can be misunderstood by both the gatherer and the user, and they are usually misused in such a way to get someone to agree to one's position.

Hopefully you are taking college classes that gear towards statistics since you like them so much.  I took one in school.  If you "get it", it's an enjoyable course.  If you don't "get it", you just hope to survive the course.




webny99

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on January 26, 2018, 01:57:51 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:38:51 PM
Statistics are not useless. I don't deny being over-obsessed/interested in them, but they do have some very valuable, practical benefits.

I didn't say that. I said this one particular statistic is useless. But please, enlighten me. I would love to know how you believe "total time logged in" can be correlated in a meaningful way to anything.

In two words: Post quality.
Time spent online is an indicator, to a certain extent, of how much browsing a user has done, and how much time and thought they have put into their posts. I also find it interesting to compare time online to post counts, and as I mentioned above:
QuoteI find it mildly interesting that none of the top ten posters are in the top ten for time spent online.
Some users make many posts in a short amount of time, inflating post counts while time online remains low. On the other hand, those who regularly post high-quality content are going to spend much more time online, by default. So my point is not that time spent online is particularly important (as mentioned above, some users, myself included, browse offline as well). Rather, my point is that time spent online is probably more accurate and meaningful than post count, with regards to a user's credibility and/or road related knowledge. Obviously, neither one is a be-all, end-all measure.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 26, 2018, 02:40:33 PM
Statistics are fun, and actually often misunderstood.  However, they can be misunderstood by both the gatherer and the user, and they are usually misused in such a way to get someone to agree to one's position.

Hopefully you are taking college classes that gear towards statistics since you like them so much.  I took one in school.  If you "get it", it's an enjoyable course.  If you don't "get it", you just hope to survive the course.

See, I don't find the urge to use statistics, so much as just to fill my brain with as many of them as possible (and constantly change those over which I have control - such as post count, topics started, etc.).
I'm not taking any college classes - yet. I'm still in decision mode  ;-)

Takumi

Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

webny99


hotdogPi

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 03:06:06 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on January 26, 2018, 01:57:51 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 01:38:51 PM
Statistics are not useless. I don't deny being over-obsessed/interested in them, but they do have some very valuable, practical benefits.

I didn't say that. I said this one particular statistic is useless. But please, enlighten me. I would love to know how you believe "total time logged in" can be correlated in a meaningful way to anything.

In two words: Post quality.
Time spent online is an indicator, to a certain extent, of how much browsing a user has done, and how much time and thought they have put into their posts.


My 259 days is largely waiting for new replies on Recent Unread Topics.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

corco

Quote from: Takumi on January 26, 2018, 03:19:57 PM
Who gives a shit?

I never had looked at this before and am now depressed that I spent such a large percentage of the last nine years refreshing the forum

webny99

Quote from: 1
My 259 days is largely waiting for new replies on Recent Unread Topics.
So you're always quick to respond... I'd say that's still to your credit, even if it's not a direct indication of post quality.

Quote from: corco on January 26, 2018, 05:01:30 PM
Quote from: Takumi on January 26, 2018, 03:19:57 PM
Who gives a shit?

I never had looked at this before and am now depressed that I spent such a large percentage of the last nine years refreshing the forum

You aren't impressed that you're #4 overall for time spent online?  ;-)

corco

Quote from: webny99 on January 26, 2018, 05:24:18 PM
Quote from: 1
My 259 days is largely waiting for new replies on Recent Unread Topics.
So you're always quick to respond... I'd say that's still to your credit, even if it's not a direct indication of post quality.

Quote from: corco on January 26, 2018, 05:01:30 PM
Quote from: Takumi on January 26, 2018, 03:19:57 PM
Who gives a shit?

I never had looked at this before and am now depressed that I spent such a large percentage of the last nine years refreshing the forum

You aren't impressed that you're #4 overall for time spent online?  ;-)

No, I don't particularly see that as something to be proud of



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