The install now link for sparky just took me to a "page not found" RRS page.

The link is working now, though I am not quite clear why the RRS wanted this installed. I installed it because it sounded interesting to begin with, and if it helps the squad all the better, but how is it going to help?

I just downloaded the "Alexa Reader" and now my Firefox browser won't pull up. I tried restarting my computer but it hasn't helped. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

 Alexa is popularly used by media outlets as a means of determining the worth of a group or person or story.  Currently I believe we are the second most popular atheist site on the planet.  Richard Dawkins has a slight lead.  However since Firefox was built to be more secure and lightweight for the user, it doesn't inherently include any method of returning data to Alexa.

Currently based on our data, and because we warn IE users with a huge bar on every page to get Firefox, we've created a system in which an important site isn't logging over 50% of our traffic. 

We have about 25% more firefox users than most sites.  Tech savvy sites tend to have high user rates of Firefox, similar to ours (as the tech savvy crew realizes firefox is better).

Anywho... if you visit other atheist sites as well, you will be helping those sites as well, because with the Alexa plug in for firefox, your visits will be sent to alexa for ranking.   

Here are some comparisons, without taking advantage of the boost we'd get from better scoring with Firefox stats counted.... I'm guessing we'd be at about 175,000 with proper counting. 

All of these stats show up in the toolbar naturally. 

http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/dennettd/dennettd.htm   rank: 17,242   (Daniel Dennett home page)

http://www.richarddawkins.net   rank: 34,440

http://www.randi.org       rank: 36,994   (technically a skeptic site)

http://skepdic.com     rank: 42,464 

http://www.infidels.org     rank: 86,122

http://www.atheistnation.net        rank: 145,151 

http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au          rank: 160, 338 

http://www.positiveatheism.org          rank: 164,938

http://www.skeptic.com    rank: 193,962  (proud to not be an atheist site) 

http://www.atheistalliance.org       rank: 194,797 

http://www.atheists.org        rank: 195,084 

http://friendlyatheist.com      rank: 206,965 

http://www.thegodmovie.com     rank: 207,629 

http://www.ffrf.org       rank: 238,691 

http://www.rationalresponders.com    rank: 249,981  (starting about 25% behind of the average site due to excess firefox usage - 2 most popular atheist COMMUNITY in the world as it stands!)

http://nobeliefs.com  rank: 259,095 

http://www.hells-handmaiden.com   rank: 303,314 

http://www.ethicalatheist.com    rank: 315,733 

http://www.evolvefish.com         rank: 343,084 

http://www.fsgp.org                  rank: 343,482 

http://www.atheistnetwork.com      rank: 346,619   (I helped build this place)

http://www.theskepticsguide.org       rank: 359,420 

http://www.freethoughtpedia.com      rank: 365,622 

http://www.atheistperspective.com     rank: 377,851 

http://www.samharris.org        rank: 386,264 

http://www.celebatheists.com    rank: 390,040 

http://www.infidelguy.com            rank: 432,071    (I helped build this place)

http://www.atheistparents.org        rank: 486,014 

http://www.centerforinquiry.net            rank: 495,920 

http://www.atheistforums.com           rank: 559,662 

http://www.the-brights.net           rank: 593,527 

http://atheistempire.com      rank: 655,435 

http://www.humaniststudies.org      rank: 723,468 

http://atheistrevolution.blogspot.com    rank: 764,260 

http://www.iheu.org       rank: 870,964    (International Humanist and Ethical Union)

http://buildupthatwall.com   rank: 887,770    (Christopher Hitchens sites)

http://www.blasphemychallenge.com   rank 1,032,535 

http://www.skepticality.com        rank: 1,033,704  (official podcast of Skeptic magazine) 

http://www.americanhumanist.org    rank: 1,065,398 

http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com     rank: 1,085,527 

http://www.atheist.net            rank: 1,232,647

http://www.atheist-top-sites.com      rank: 1,418,027 

http://www.atheist-community.org     rank: 1,442,768 

http://www.happyatheistforum.com     rank: 1,453,949 

http://www.atheistvolunteers.org         rank: 1,469,020 

http://ravingatheist.com      rank: 1,487,116 

http://www.secular.org      rank: 1,575,285 

http://www.briansapient.com   rank: 1,670,348    (look for us to add this to our network within a year) 

http://baconeatingatheistjew.blogspot.com    rank: 1,896,132 

http://www.thecomptoneffect.com    rank: 1,909,645   (our boy Greydon Square) 

http://www.davidmills.net     rank: 1,918,486 

http://www.freethoughtmedia.com         rank: 2,070,356 

http://www.graveyardofthegods.com        rank: 2,119,485 

http://www.secularstudents.org      rank: 2,143,322 

http://www.atheists.com       rank: 2,157,751 

http://www.freethinkingteens.com     rank: 2,234,725 

http://www.theatheistmama.com   rank: 2,443,465 

http://www.thedebatehour.com        rank: 2,525,111 

http://www.freethoughtradio.com     rank: 2,621,408 

http://www.harvardhumanist.org   rank: 4,050,779 

http://www.atheistagenda.org        rank: 4,481,981

http://www.atheistactivist.org     rank: 4,765,387 

http://www.comedyjesus.com      rank: 4,924,772

http://www.godlessinamerica.com    rank: 4,949,256 

http://www.atheistnet.com           rank: 5,528,590 

http://www.secularity.com           rank: 5,711,218 

http://www.hellboundalleee.com      rank: 5,804,821 

http://www.floridahumanist.org    rank: 6,076,380 

http://www.atheistcoalition.org      rank: 6,179,188 

http://www.atheistsunited.org     rank: 6,313,016 

http://camp-quest.org    rank: 6,672,028 

http://www.asktheatheist.com   rank: 6,816,737  (our site, apparently people don't like asking atheists questions) 

http://www.prayerstojake.com  rank: 7,114,542   (we just started this site, not even really up yet)

http://evangelicalatheist.com      rank: 7,726,507 

http://www.mnatheists.org     rank:  7,843,456

 http://www.geocities.com/atheist_anon      rank: 10.324,749

http://www.margaretdowney.com  NO RANK YET... watch it grow over next year.  Some of the sites above have been around for over 10 years to achieve that growth!  Compiling this data has been enlightening. 

Interesting comparisons and notes:

http://scienceblogs.com   rank: 11,193    (technically a science site - hosts pharyngula - rank encompasses many bloggers)

http://www.radaronline.com  rank: 24,169

http://www.landoverbaptist.org       rank: 123,699

If anyone wants to add to that list feel free.  I'd love for someone to bump this in a year so we can re-analyze the websites positions.   

 TWO DAYS IN A ROW WITH AWESOME NEWS, A LISTING FOR MARGARET DOWNEY IS IN, AND WITH SOME MINOR PUBLICITY IT'S ALREADY.....

3,219,176 
 

http://www.freethinkingteens.com     rank: 2,234,725 

http://www.theatheistmama.com   rank: 2,443,465 

http://www.thedebatehour.com        rank: 2,525,111 

http://www.freethoughtradio.com     rank: 2,621,408 

http://www.harvardhumanist.org   rank: 4,050,779    <--- lol

http://www.atheistagenda.org        rank: 4,481,981

http://www.atheistactivist.org     rank: 4,765,387 

http://www.comedyjesus.com      rank: 4,924,772

http://www.godlessinamerica.com    rank: 4,949,256 

http://www.atheistnet.com           rank: 5,528,590 

http://www.secularity.com           rank: 5,711,218 

http://www.hellboundalleee.com      rank: 5,804,821 

http://www.floridahumanist.org    rank: 6,076,380 

http://www.atheistcoalition.org      rank: 6,179,188 

http://www.atheistsunited.org     rank: 6,313,016

There's a possibility Opera reports to Alexa.  I also heard someone say yesterday I have "opera with alexa."  This leads me to believe that there are plug ins that report to alexa for opera.  A quick search and I found this plugin, there must be more,this one gives you the alexa ran, but is unclear if it actually reports to alexa.

If you find a plug in for opera that does the trick, please let us know. 

In case I ever have to: format this computer, get a new one, reinstall firefox, etc..., I'm keeping tabs on this thread (the important ones on the sides don't stay there forever).

 :-o

And we were as high as 10,000 for a day or two near Ray Comfort time in May. 

The Alexa Sparky privacy policy says that it records the full URLs including any variables stuck into the URL string.  It makes sense that Alexa would have to do that if they wanted to track different pages within a domain, but I'm worried about things like the auth string in my gmail URL getting recorded.

To those that have already installed Sparky in Firefox, have you noticed any way to temporarily deactivate the tracking?  What about to deactivate it on a per-window or per-tab basis?

Edit: ack!  Meant to include the problem this was intended to help....

I found this commentary where people reported similar problems with "Alexa Toolbar" and a method to fix them. Hope it helps.

Source: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/discussions/comments.php?Discus...