In which fair warning is given

[lady_schrapnell]

Anyone without an LJ account who replies to my posts will have seen the notice that I have enabled the option to log IP addresses. What people won't have seen is that I have also installed StatCounter, which logs the IP address of people who read my LJ (aside from LJ friends). Of course this doesn't allow me to find anyone's email address, name, or phone number, nor would I want to. I check out the stats from time to time, as it's fun to see that someone in Russia is reading my LJ (::waves::), or to wonder if the person in City X in State/Country Y owns Blog Z. (Because it's LJ, I can't see the entertaining search engine or 'came from' paths.) Presumably nobody cares about being a reader from Ithaca, NY or the like.

On the other hand, if you read my LJ and draw attention to yourself (for example by emailing a friend of mine about what you think you've read here), especially if you live in a place far less populated than, say, NYC or London, chances are extremely good that I'll then know that that IP address (on StatCounter's log and/or with a comment) in that relatively un-populated place is you. It's a big world and I've not the slightest objection to anyone choosing to read my LJ, for whatever purpose. This is just a friendly reminder that your anonymity may not be as complete as you might wish it to be.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Do yuo have to reinstall the web counter thingie every time you post, and for all comments? (I haven't a clue how that would work for a blog.)

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

Sharp question! (At least it seems like one to me as it took me forever to figure out why it wasn't working on LJ and why all the other stat counters I tried didn't work either.) You put the code in an entry with a date far in the future and make it private and then it's always at the top of your present page. Okay - after looking again at the FAQ for this, it may be different for you, depending on which style you use. FAQ (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=188&q=counter) I had to post the entry on LJ rather than using my client, so I could set the date manually.

Then, LJ won't allow any Javascript (which is why we can only get some of the features working.) When you go to install the code on statcounter you have to choose the (not recommended) HTML only counter and use that code.

Good thing that anyone reading you through their friends page wouldn't count, because you only get a free log of 100 users, which would be nothing like enough for you!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Thanks...if I squint it sorta makes sense.

Only a few of my entries get many comments, and those shd be divided in half as I try to respond to each. (Once if a while people go off into ezchanges that I stay out of, but that's rare.)

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I've been planning to put in a statscounter but feared it would be difficult. My fear has been justified. I did, however, eventually remember that I live with a programmer so hope is not lost :)

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

:) Apparently Charlie's just figured out an easier way to do it, by pasting the HTML code into a new slot for it on the customize your journal page. But if your programmer figures out a way to bypass the javascript-restriction limitations as well, do please let me know!