1,000 posts

On Friday, November 18, 2011 The Road Not Taken crossed the symbolic 1,000 post mark thanks to the loyal readership.  It only took 20 months or approximately 1.6 posts per day.  In honor of this dubious outstanding accomplishment, I’ve included the top 100 posts (and pages) of all time.  

Top posts for week ending 19-Sep

Albeit a slow one, this week has been dominated by some previously popular posts from weeks gone by with the ever-popular Echo smart pen topping the list:

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. KeyTool Keyring Multi-tool
3. Very interesting; recent discovery unlocks the secret
4. FLAMMA – make a fire with only IKEA stuff
5. The science of dinosaur killing machines
6. Would a flying SUV help your commute?
7. Congratulations BP on the largest oil spill ever
8. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
9. I don’t use these, the idea is the same
10. 2010 list of best places to work in the Chicago area

Given the limited geographical interest of the tenth item and that the post is from 30-March, I was a little surprised to see it making the list but it looks like there’s an groundswell of interest in Chicago-area employers.  Go figure.

Top posts for week ending 12-Sep

Apparently setting affordable Scandinavian housewares on fire is of interest to the broader readership of The Road Not Taken. Impressive.

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. FLAMMA – make a fire with only IKEA stuff
3. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
4. Very interesting; recent discovery unlocks the secret
5. Mattel’s Tommy Burst detective set
6. The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody
7. First living soldier to receive Medal of Honor since Vietnam
8. Human hay bale
9. Popular Mechanics puts padlocks to the test
10. Want to get rich without trying too hard

Top posts for week ending 05-Sep

Humor reigns supreme this week – there’s no doubt about that fact.  On a side a note, I’ve change the cadence of the weekly summaries to correspond with the weekly tracking that WordPress uses in their stats engine (i.e., Monday through Sunday).  Here are the most popular posts from the past week:

1. Human hay bale
2. The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody
3. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
4. Very interesting; recent discovery unlocks the secret
5. They should call this doll Baby Scare-a-Lot
6. TED: The world’s oldest living things
7. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
8. Wave didn’t make it with Google’s backing, why would someone else try?
9. Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl
10. Mattel’s Tommy Burst detective set

To my U.S.-based readers – have a great Labor Day holiday weekend!

Top posts for week ending 28-Aug

This week represents the most heavily trafficked week for The Road Not Taken and not coincidentally Tuesday was (by far) the most popular day in the brief history of this blog.  Additionally, August has already surpassed all of the previous months to also be the most popular as well.  It looks like some of the changes I’ve made to the format and content types have been paying dividends:

1. A cyclone of minor annoyances
2. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
3. Master Lock, master innovators
4. Mattel’s Tommy Burst detective set
5. Insane Roger Federer trickshot
6. KeyTool Keyring Multi-tool
7. Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl
8. World yo-yo championship first place win
9. Solving the Rubik’s Cube while skydiving
10. Massive (and insanely stupid) fireworks

Enjoy your weekend!

Top posts for week ending 21-Aug

It seems that there is an insatiable appetite for information about my experience with the Echo smart-pen by Livescribe.  That post has been at the top of the popularity charts for the past three weeks and it looks like it might be going strong for another week or two.  Beyond that leader, the top ten chart for this week is a mixed bag of humor, gear, business, and random observations:

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. R.I.P. Agency.com
3. Sharpie Liquid Pencil
4. Watch out Foursquare, Facebook Places is on the march
5. KeyTool Keyring Multi-tool
6. Jet powered school bus
7. Outsourcing legal grunt work to India
8. Pandora doesn’t make the grade
9. Coming soon: iPhone on Verizon
10. The science of dinosaur killing machines

Have a great weekend!

Top posts for week ending 14-Aug

Not surprisingly the post about the Livescribe Echo smart-pen led the pack again this week on The Road Not Taken. What was surprising is that there was also so much interest in the Sharpie Liquid Pencil.

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. Sharpie Liquid Pencil
3. Congratulations on the IPO; now build the type S
4. Coming soon: iPhone on Verizon
5. Jet powered school bus
6. Outsourcing legal grunt work to India
7. Isn’t the recent solar activity the premise of the apocalyptic movie 2012?
8. Netflix has made the studios a chunk of change; more on the way
9. A thought-provoking (and shameless) product demo from TED
10. Beer for (and by) nerds; awesome

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Post 500: Top posts for week ending 07-Aug and for all time

Interestingly enough this week’s summary of the most popular posts on The Road Not Taken is also the 500th post.  In honor of this distinction I am posting the top ten most popular posts from this week and the top ten most popular of all time.

Top ten most popular posts for the week ending 07-Aug:

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. Even Apple looks bad once in a while
3. Isn’t the recent solar activity the premise of the apocalyptic movie 2012?
4. Man-made global warming appears to be the real deal
5. A thought-provoking (and shameless) product demo from TED
6. Newsweek 1995: Why the Internet will fail; awesome read
7. From my friends at Rise, a concise comparison
8. The most insane beer on earth
9. The best thing out of “Saturday Night Live” in years
10. What is the point of Foursquare? Who really uses it?

Top ten most popular posts for all time:

1. Echo smart pen by Livescribe
2. Grill skirt steak like a pro this season
3. Today’s absurd and superb infographic
4. Did Google forget about Project 10×100?
5. Thomas Keller knows food (and technology)
6. The MBA Oath
7. Dyson re-invents the fan; makes being a nerd look good
8. How the 1939 World’s Fair changed the world
9. Hello Kitty rules the world
10. NASA – Satellites View Growing Gulf Oil Spill

Fortunately both lists highlight some of the pieces that truly makes this blog interesting (in my humble opinion).  There’s humor, world issues, technology, food, drink, and a dash of ephemera.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the first 500 posts as much as I’ve enjoyed finding some and creating others.

Top posts for week ending 31-Jul

I’m not sure if its the summer weather and people are spending their time at the pool or if I wasn’t as attentive to The Road Not Taken this week due to travel constraints, but overall traffic was pretty mixed across the entire portfolio of posts and none of this week’s new content really stood out (although the classic Apple commercials did have a good showing):

1. Thomas Keller knows food (and technology)
2. Even Apple looks bad once in a while
3. Did Google forget about Project 10×100?
4. The most insane beer on earth
5. I’m not a motorcycle rider, but I wish I was given how cool these are
6. Just what is Taio Cruz trying to get across?
7. If you must have an iPad, then a stand is probably a good bet
8. Which are your favorites? I have more than a few
9. Geoengineering; intriguing dialog from The Economist
10. CNET gets a peak at the Dell Streak

I’m going to go ahead and write this week off as summer malaise, but let’s not let it happen again.

Top posts for week ending 24-Jul

What a crazy week for The Road Not Taken.  Humor and ephemera clearly reigned over world concerns, technology, and business.  It is probably for the best given some of the weightier issues that the world is facing these days:

1. Lady Gaga’s Poker Face read by Christopher Walken
2. The most insane beer on earth
3. I’m not a motorcycle rider, but I wish I was given how cool these are
4. Thomas Keller knows food (and technology)
5. Geoengineering; intriguing dialog from The Economist
6. Facebook is taking quite the beating these days
7. Wired brings us (geek) female action heroes
8. Interesting photo gallery from the Boston Beer Co.
9. Interesting look at today’s social media
10. BedBunker; I need this immediately

As always, thank you for your readership and do not hesitate to drop me a note if you have any comments or suggestions for topics of discussion.