Welcome to my web development resource

This space is a central point for me to blog about web development and associated technologies, it's also about making a safe distinction between my personal and professional life on the web.

I use this area as a LAMP development platform and testing area for client side functionality.

Web development blog

Is Google Analytics better than The Poseidon Adventure?

Sunday 26 July, 2009 // 11:03 PM

I've been using Google Analytics a lot recently and at work it's become an invaluable tool that guides all our online activity. The wealth and sheer depth of information available is staggering, as is the functionality afforded the user courtesy of their front end developers. This is what can be achieved when you have a budget like NASA and an equally sizable resource of talent! That's not to take anything away from the application though, from a business perspective it's difficult to imagine how we ever managed without this kind of feedback before. From a developers perspective I found the information at hand especially useful when rewriting URLs in a friendly fashion and anticipating any potential damage.

I think this kind of application is what Web 2.0 is really about, and more importantly it represents a turning point in the history of the web and how we develop it.

So is Google Analytics better than The Poseidon Adventure? The only reason I'm asking that question is because it's on the box behind the one I'm typing this blog entry on, and it's a brilliant film. A badly acted 70s seascape epic about scantily clad women trying to escape from an upturned liner. Whilst Google has certainly had an impact on my life professionally, it's not yet at the point where it's going to overtake the effect that Susan Shelby had on a 11 year boy from suburban Essex.

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