Thwatful Reader (after noting Thursday's page-views and unique views, 7461/4319) asks: Are those numbers way down? Seems to me they are. Could be the new blog software, or certainly, things are quieter since the election.

DFO: HBO numbers dropped steeply after the switch from the old site to the new one before my Christmas vacation -- about one-third, from 9000-9500 per day to 6000-6500. That pattern continued through the first of this week and then began improving, from 6000 to 7800. Other SR blogs have taken big hits, too. I suspect the new site and registration has something to do with it. The search engines have yet to rediscover our sites. By spring, I hope to be somewhere back to the November numbers. Either way, the new software is a major improvement over the previous baling-wire-and-bubblegum system.