6/7/13
`
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`
`Path: gmdzi!unido!math.fu-
`berlin.de!ox.com!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!decwrl!pa.dec.com!new
`
`sF
`
`rom: re...@decwrl.dec.com (Brian Reid)
`Newsgroups: news.groups,news.lists,news.admin
`Subject: USENET READERSHIP SUMMARY REPORT FOR AUG 91
`Message-ID: <1991Sep1.224649.27186@PA.dec.com>
`Date: 1 Sep 91 22:46:49 GMT
`Sender: ne...@PA.dec.com (News)
`Organization: DEC Western Research Laboratory
`Lines: 392
`Approved: re...@decwrl.dec.com
`Xref: gmdzi news.groups:143772 news.lists:1437 news.admin:63459
`
`USENET READERSHIP SUMMARY REPORT for Aug 91
`This is the first article in a monthly posting series from the Network
`Measurement Project at the DEC Western Research Laboratory in Palo Alto,
`California.
`
`This survey is based on a sample of data taken from various USENET sites.
`At the end of this message there is a short explanation of the measurement
`techniques and the meaning of the various statistics. The messages that
`follow this one show survey data sorted by various criteria.
`
`The newsgroup volume and article counts that I post are often significantly
`different from the ones posted by Rick Adams, because he includes the size of
`a crossposted article in every group to which it is posted, whereas I charge
`that size only to the first-named group.
`
`The complete set of readership data (of which this is a summary) is posted
`in news.lists. The software that will let your site participate in the
`survey is in comp.sources.d and news.admin
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Brian Reid
`
`OVERALL SUMMARY:
` This Estimated
` Sample for entire net
`Sites: 693 34000
`Fraction reporting: 2.04% 100%
`Users with accounts: 139017 6820000
`Netreaders: 34385 1686000
`
`Average readers per site: 50
`Percent of users who are netreaders: 24.73%
`Average traffic per day (megabytes): 22.142
`Average traffic per day (messages): 9105
`Traffic measurement interval: last 28 days
`Readership measurement interval: last 75 days
`Sites used to measure propagation: 692
`
`Valid data received from these sites:
`
`6sceng(2) 6sigma(11) abacab(6) ablnc(253) academ01(73) acheron(27)
`actew.oz.au(529) ads.com(196) adspp(27) agate.berkeley.edu(30)
`ahkcus.org(51) aidx.no(2) alba2l(5) alchemy(94) alembic(13) alfred(4)
`EMC/VMware v. PersonalWeb
`IPR2013-00083
`EMCVMW 1050
`
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
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`

`

`6/7/13
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`alias(233) alpha.ru.ac.za(23) alsys.de(43) alv(147) alzabo(35)
`amcvlsi(41) amdahl(333) amun-re(112) anacom1(30) anagld(66)
`andrew.cmu.edu(3880) anomaly(60) apollo(2896) apple(1668)
`arak.winix.tih.no(0) aramis.rutgers.edu(406) ariadne.csi.forth.gr(195)
`arran.tcom.stc.co.uk(76) arthur.cs.purdue.edu(121) aspentec.com(207)
`ast(37) atari(40) atlas(30) awful(8) bclwn(19) bcsfse(187) bcstec(131)
`bdcsys(4) bdt(146) becker(19) bermls(6) bfmny0(1) bgsuvax(623)
`bitcave(18) bjs(77) blinky(13) bonnie.ics.uci.edu(985)
`bosco.berkeley.edu(125) brad(1) brolga(145) brspyr1(59)
`brubeck.uucp(16) btni(38) bu-ast(61) bu-it(249) bu-pub(772) bu.edu(112)
`bucsf(649) buengc(274) buengc.bu.edu(276) buengf.bu.edu(731)
`bugs.mty.itesm.mx(20) bute.tcom.stc.co.uk(86) bwdls58(1) cabezon(86)
`cadreor.uucp(12) cae780.csi.com(77) caip.rutgers.edu(421) cals01(2)
`camb.com(32) cambridge.apple.com(37) camco(46) carroll1(662)
`cartan.berkeley.edu(145) cc-server4.massey.ac.nz(1249) cc.usu.edu(1261)
`cck.cov.ac.uk(1142) cdin-1(23) cel(402) cerritos.edu(321)
`cfctech.cfc.com(43) cg-atla(342) cgl.ucsf.edu(2) chance(3) cheers(4)
`chyde.uwasa.fi(110) ciit85.ciit.nrc.ca(92) cis(50) cix(906) clinet(175)
`clmqt(164) clsib21(0) cmgm.stanford.edu(327) cmkrnl.uucp(7) cobber(41)
`cognos(192) com50(21) comm.wang.com(45) concurrent.co.uk(117)
`convex.mitek.com(172) cos(175) crash(123) crayjr(8) crcc(0) crowfix(1)
`cs(320) cs-col.columbia.ncr.com(57) cs.columbia.edu(650)
`cs.utexas.edu(2801) csadfa(88) csam(58) csustan.csustan.edu(25)
`cuff(50) cutler.uucp(26) cuuxb(342) cvman(21) cwsmk1(28) cybvax0(33)
`darth(22) datacube(119) david(4) davis(163) dayton.saic.com(58) db1(46)
`dbase(187) dbulm1.uucp(99) dciem(234) dcl-vitus(105) ddmp.dla.mil(12)
`ddsw1(131) deimos.cis.ksu.edu(191) dell(45) demon(25) desc.dla.mil(10)
`df.lth.se(24) digi(557) dimacs.rutgers.edu(134) disc.dla.mil(303)
`disuns2(289) dixie.com(27) dlvax2.datlog.co.uk(132) dmc.com(2)
`dorm.rutgers.edu(108) dplace(0) dptspd(29) dranet.dra.com(258) drd(5)
`dri500(38) druid(36) drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu(75) dsac.dla.mil(270)
`dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil(160) dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil(78) dsinc(8) dsndata(20)
`duke(316) dumbcat(10) dwerger(15) dycom(13) eab(2) earvax(48)
`ecl.psu.edu(646) ector.cs.purdue.edu(85) edc(30) edi386(4) eff(65)
`egsner(83) elan.elan.com(31) elbereth.rutgers.edu(1040)
`elbrun.winix.tih.no(1) eleazar.dartmouth.edu(397) electro(22)
`elements.rpal.com(36) elrond(10) elroy(55) encore.com(260) ensys(7)
`eos(86) eplunix(37) ericom.ericsson.se(29) esatst(11) esleng(11)
`euler.rutgers.edu(290) europe.drms.dla.mil(96) fang(35) fantasci(32)
`fasfax(66) fdls(55) fermat.rutgers.edu(113) fibers.uucp(3) flab(741)
`flatlin(7) fnnews(1) fnx(27) forsyth.uucp(125) foster(32) fpssun(388)
`frcs(11) freedm(5) frmug(59) frog(35) froya.winix.tih.no(1)
`frye.rain.com(19) fryeten.uucp(21) fts1(12) fxgrp(103) gaboon(32)
`gacvx2.gac.edu(42) galaxia(14) galaxy.southpower.co.nz(281)
`gang-of-four(75) garnet.berkeley.edu(3204) gauss.math.purdue.edu(257)
`gauss.rutgers.edu(282) gcc.edu(63) geac(69) geovision(82)
`gerbil.ladc.bull.com(38) giga(104) gistdev(48) glibli(10) goofy(131)
`gouldnl(65) grad1.cis.upenn.edu(386) grasp1(20) grebyn(34) grian(12)
`gtenmc(23) gtisqr(25) gypsum.berkeley.edu(175) gyre.cs.umd.edu(55)
`hackes(863) hagbard(154) hardees.rutgers.edu(218)
`harris.cis.ksu.edu(57) harrnl(13) harvisr(791) hawkmoon(13)
`hayes.ims.alaska.edu(54) hbiso(99) hccwmv2(10) hcsrnd(110)
`hemuli.tik.vtt.fi(72) henson(641) herkules.sssab.se(14)
`hern.stonemarche.org(12) hexagon(45) hilbert.rutgers.edu(116)
`hippo.ru.ac.za(185) hitra.winix.tih.no(1) hobbes.physics.uiowa.edu(8)
`holly.stl.stc.co.uk(51) honey(509) hoptoad(65) hp835.mitek.com(168)
`hpmclc(44) hpnmdla(435) hriso(77) hsi(107) hudson.stanford.edu(72)
`hugpar(2) humpty.edb.tih.no(20) hybrid(7) iam.unibe.ch(80)
`
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`
`2/8
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`

`

`6/7/13
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`icot.or.jp(202) ics(15) ics.uci.edu(343) iecc(8) ifi.uio.no(2516)
`igor(127) iitmax(889) inco(43) indigo.stl.stc.co.uk(125)
`inland.com(275) innovative.com(4) inttech.com(18) investor(9)
`iowasp.physics.uiowa.edu(128) ipc.uucp(66) iris.claremont.edu(5)
`isaak(56) islabs(12) ispi(7) iuvax(186) ixi(37) izar(242) jabba(43)
`janus.mtroyal.ab.ca(452) jato(97) jessica.stanford.edu(312) jetson(2)
`jfwhome.funhouse.com(5) jjmhome(41) jodokus(17) johnny5(2)
`joiner.com(69) jonlab(10) jrdzzz.jrd.dec.com(127) junkyard(23)
`ka3ovk(65) kannel(420) kericks(11) khijol(36) kielo(2790) kirk(17)
`kithrup(12) kjell.uucp(14) koala(18) kralizec(24) kscorp(36)
`kudosl.winix.tih.no(6) kurz-ai(110) lab001(25) ladcgw(15) lance(5)
`larry(11) latour(28) laverne(149) lehi3b15(9) leland(5404)
`leland.stanford.edu(5645) lethe(40) linac(18) lindy.stanford.edu(525)
`ll1a(1) loglule(29) lokkur(12) longs.lance.colostate.edu(3729)
`loria.crin.fr(380) lpi(38) lsicom2(6) lsuc(8) lta(11) lufu(18)
`lysator(149) lyxys(7) m2c.m2c.org(137) m2xenix.psg.com(110)
`mach2.wlu.ca(52) madnix(107) maple(11) maple.stl.stc.co.uk(48)
`mariela(0) marque(90) math(123) math.berkeley.edu(19) math.bu.edu(181)
`math.ksu.edu(51) math.rutgers.edu(487) mathrt0.math.chalmers.se(201)
`maths.su.oz.au(251) matilda(154) matrox(28) matrx(22)
`mcclb0.med.nyu.edu(207) mccuts(85) mcdchg(31) mcgp1(51) mcmi(28)
`mdtv.uucp(11) meaddata(474) med.wcc.govt.nz(891) mediatex.uucp(13)
`memstvx1.memst.edu(897) metasoft(49) metpage.mps.com(116) mgweed(129)
`mh.nl(50) mica.berkeley.edu(81) miclon(17) mikebat(11)
`mikrosys.forut.no(4) mikrosys.mikrosys.no(8) mimsy.umd.edu(460)
`mips.mitek.com(134) mirror(34) mit-eddie(167) mnetor(141)
`monu6.cc.monash.edu.au(3260) monymsys(3) moon(11) moria(1)
`morrow.stanford.edu(13) moscom(59) mri(125) msor0(200) mtecv2(431)
`mtek(3) mthvax.cs.miami.edu(70) mti(47) mtxinu(55) mudos(10)
`muhthr.cdad.hlo.dec.com(68) mulberry(31) munsell(144) n8ino(3)
`nanovx(20) natinst(62) natinst.com(67) nbc1(31) nbires(18) ncoast(386)
`ncrcae.columbia.ncr.com(212) neon.stanford.edu(848) netagw(8)
`netcom(298) news.cis.ohio-state.edu(1605) newton.rutgers.edu(86)
`nightowl(8) nmrdc1(59) nms(26) nocusuhs(15) nosun.west.sun.com(35)
`nplpsg(37) nrlvx1.nrl.navy.mil(246) nshore(5) ntpal(47) nttta(35)
`nucleus(65) nyama(11) obdient(38) obh(11) odysseus.sssab.se(0)
`ogicse(1437) oliveb(16) olivee(75) olivej(122) oliven(61) olivey(110)
`omni(23) ondine(20) onion(12) ontek(18) orac(0) orfeo(55)
`orion.arc.nasa.gov(195) orkdal.winix.tih.no(2) osdvo.winix.tih.no(6)
`oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu(173) ovaltine.berkeley.edu(192) oxy(1174)
`p4tustin(15) pa621a.inland.com(174) pandora.matrox.com(150)
`paris.ics.uci.edu(642) park(115) park.bu.edu(115) parsely(51)
`pbhya(174) pbhyb(180) pbhyc(254) pbhyd(202) pbhye(187) pbhyf(216)
`pbhyg(283) peanut(3) pedagog.no(1) pedagog.syh.winix.tih.no(2)
`penguin(7) pentagon-ai(25) peregrine(135) phantom(51) philpav(7)
`phobos.cis.ksu.edu(396) phoenix.princeton.edu(3428) piaggio(105)
`pitt(147) plains(761) planck(33) pmafire(30) polari(247) practic(21)
`presto.ig.com(113) pride386(10) prism1(18) proeast.propress.com(201)
`prowest.propress.com(7) psuvax1(410) ptcburp(8) ptsfa(184) pttdis(19)
`pute(18) putz.uucp(9) pyramid(188) pzbaum(4) qiclab.scn.rain.com(13)
`qmw-cs(336) qmw-dcs(332) quack(14) quad1(35) quagga.ru.ac.za(37)
`questar.questar.mn.org(158) quick(5) quorum.com(8) radio.astro(64)
`rancho(9) rducky(7) redpoll(2) remus.rutgers.edu(1008) rena(4)
`rescon(6) research.canon.oz.au(42) retix.retix.com(153) rhi.hi.is(2672)
`ria.ccs.uwo.ca(110) rimfaxe.sssab.se(5) rivm.nl(747) robohack(34)
`rochester(243) roselin(540) rosevax(828) rtweyco(1) ruacad(375)
`rucs(25) rucs2(143) rulcvx(5) rutcor.rutgers.edu(66)
`rutgers.rutgers.edu(72) rwmke(3) sacred(122) sactoh0.sac.ca.us(198)
`
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
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`3/8
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`

`

`6/7/13
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`sage(16) samsung(4) samt19(29) sandoz(19) satchmo(31)
`saul.cis.upenn.edu(66) schoenfinkel(5) sci.ccny.cuny.edu(244)
`scicom(47) scifi(31) sclcig(24) sdd550(22) sdf(73) sdrc(77) sed00(75)
`seer(37) seismo.css.gov(262) sequoia(122) sgfb(349) sh8810(265)
`shade(1) shapetc(124) shark.edb.tih.no(1) shelby(8)
`shelby.stanford.edu(9) shiva.com(70) sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au(78)
`sis(30) sixnine(2) sjh.org(73) sjuphil(636) slcs.slb.com(162) slimer(5)
`sluger(40) sma2(11) smith(4) sol.ctr.columbia.edu(274) sooner(5)
`sparky(28) spatial.com(67) spcc.uucp(100) sq(63)
`srchtec.searchtech.com(34) stade(8) stan(421)
`starfish.convergent.com(53) stat.appstate.edu(1158)
`storax.stl.stc.co.uk(12) stordlh.winix.tih.no(1) student(80) sugar(134)
`sunburn.stanford.edu(168) suned1(347) surf(39) swatsun(87) swlabs(1)
`tabbs(15) tac.fi(828) tahoe.cs.unr.edu(201) tahoe.unr.edu(159)
`talos(27) tamsun.tamu.edu(58) tcomeng(56) tct(21) td2cad(147)
`techbook(164) tellab5(101) telops.ma02.bull.com(3) teti(33)
`theporch(25) thinc(3) think(729) tkou02.enet.dec.com(11) tol-ed.com(39)
`torag(36) tove.cs.umd.edu(245) tricord(55) trident.arc.nasa.gov(16)
`trux(200) ttidca(527) ttsi(41) tucos.utu.fi(77) tukki(1023)
`tut.cis.ohio-state.edu(1562) twg(13) twinsun(35) txsil(24) uafhp(1810)
`ucbarpa.berkeley.edu(450) ucselx(316) ug.cs.dal.ca(301)
`uhura.cc.rochester.edu(349) uk96sup(47) ukma(601) ukpoit(12)
`ulla.und.slu.se(2) ulmus.sdi.slu.se(6) umd5.umd.edu(132) unicom(416)
`unify(66) uniwa(135) unocal(189) ursa(147) uu.psi.com(204) uunet(91)
`ux0(46) valinor(7) valinor.mythical.com(8) vax5.cit.cornell.edu(1450)
`vela.acs.oakland.edu(1850) verifone.com(1003) vicstoy(16) victrola(4)
`victrola.halcyon.wa.com(4) videovax.tv.tek.com(2) vidiot(1)
`violet.berkeley.edu(1650) viper(1) viusys(179) voodoo(22) vsi1(76)
`vtsai2.sai.vtt.fi(43) vtserf(56) wang(111) warwick(3819)
`water.berkeley.edu(171) wattres(10) wb3ffv(68) weaver.berkeley.edu(301)
`weitek(141) well(5754) wet(136) wgate(24) whscdp.uucp(36)
`widow.berkeley.edu(272) wilbur(113) wiley(191) winixus(7) winsoft(6)
`wizvax(19) wjvax(49) wolf.berkeley.edu(248) wolves(33) woodowl(33)
`wrdis01(2234) wrglex(34) wrglex.uucp(109) wright(474) wshb(43) wsl(19)
`wsrcc.com(2) wybbs(150) xenitec(33) xenon(432) xmws.uucp(8) xray(53)
`xylogics.com(52) yetti(38) yorkohm(12) yuban.berkeley.edu(118)
`zap.mlb.semi.harris.com(151) zaphod(129) zardoz.club.cc.cmu.edu(12)
`zeus(29) zinn(27) zorch(36)
`
`------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`
`
`EXPLANATION OF THE MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICS
`
`Survey data is taken by having one person at each site run a program called
`"arbitron", which looks at the news or notes files and determines the
`newsgroups that the user has read within a recent interval. To "read" a
`newsgroup means to have been presented with the opportunity to look at at
`least one message in it. Going through a newsgroup with the "n" key counts
`as reading it. For a news site, "user X reads group Y" means that user X's
`.newsrc file has marked at least one unexpired message in Y. If there is no
`traffic in a newsgroup for the measurement period, then the survey will show
`that nobody reads the group. For a notes site, "user X reads group Y" means
`that user X has been in the notesfile with the sequencer in the last 14 days.
`The "14 days" interval for notesfiles corresponds to "unexpired" for news.
`
`The "arbitron" program is periodically posted to comp.sources.d, or is
`available from me (decwrl!reid). The notesfiles version of the program should
`be available through standard notesfiles software distribution channels as
`well.
`
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
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`6/7/13
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`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`
`SITES SURVEYED IN THIS SAMPLE
`
`"This Sample" means the set of sites that have sent in an arbitron report
`within the past "Readership measurement interval" days. In every case the
`most recent report from each site is used. At the moment, some of the
`readership reports are several months old. In future postings those reports
`will have expired and will not be included.
`
`The number in parentheses after the site name is the number of users that the
`site reported. A value of (0) usually means that the software has been
`configured to use the wrong technique for counting users at that site; a
`report showing 0 users but 6 readers of rec.humor.funny is statistically
`meaningful.
`
`One might argue that the sample is self-selected, and thereby be biased. It
`does in fact have a certain self-selection factor in it, because we only get
`data from sites at which someone participates in the survey. However, we do
`not require the participation of every user at a site, only one user. The
`survey program returns data for every user on the system on which it was run.
`Since there are an average of 30 people per site reading news, there is a
`certain amount of randomness introduced that way. Of course, the sample is
`biased in favor of large sites (they are more likely to have a user willing
`to run the survey program) and software-development-oriented sites (more
`likely to have a user *able* to run the survey program).
`
`NETWORK SIZE
`
`I determine the network size by looking at the set of sites that are
`mentioned in the Path lines of news articles arriving at decwrl. This number
`is consistently higher than the number of sites that posted a message (as
`measured and posted from uunet) because it includes passive sites that are
`on the paths between posting sites and decwrl. Each month I store the names
`of the hosts that are named that month, and for this report I used the past
`10 months worth of data.
`
`There are 33831 different sites in the Path lines of articles that
`arrived at decwrl in the last 10 months. There are 11277
`different sites in the comp.mail.maps data, but comp.mail.maps tends to
`include only one or two machines for each organization, leaving the rest
`unmentioned. Also a large number of sites participate in USENET without
`participating in UUCP.
`
`I believe that 34000 is the best estimate for the size of USENET.
`Because it is actually a measurement of the number of sites that have posted
`a message or that are on the path to a site that has posted a message, it
`will be slightly smaller than the number of sites that actually read netnews.
`Any site that believes it is not being counted can just ensure that it posts
`at least one message a year, so that it will be counted.
`
`NUMBER OF USERS
`
`The number of users at each site is determined in a site-specific fashion.
`Sometimes it is done by counting the number of user accounts that have
`shells and login directories. Sometimes it is done by counting the number of
`people who have logged in to the machine in some interval. Sometimes other
`techniques are used. This number is probably not very accurate--certainly
`
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`5/8
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`6/7/13
`https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=news.admin/uEFsyMvj0PM/_BNbxN3J2OcJ
`not more accurate than to within a factor of two.
`
`ESTIMATED TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO READ THIS GROUP, WORLDWIDE
`
`There are two sources of error in this number. The number is computed by
`multiplying the number of people in the sample who actually read the group by
`the ratio of estimated network size to sample size. The estimated total can
`therefore be biased by errors in the network size estimate (see above) and
`also by errors in the determination of whether or not someone reads a group.
`Assuming that "reading a group" is roughly the same as "thumbing through a
`magazine", in that you don't necessarily have to read anything, but you have
`to browse through it and see what is there, then the measurement error will
`come primarily from inability to locate .newsrc files, which can either be
`protected or moved out of root directories. There is no way of measuring the
`effect on the measurements from unlocated .newsrc files, but it is not likely
`to be more than a few percent of the total news readers.
`
`PROPAGATION: HOW MANY SITES RECEIVE THIS GROUP AT ALL
`
`This number is the percent of the sites that are even receiving this
`newsgroup. The information necessary to compute propagation was not generated
`by early versions of the arbitron program, so the "basis" (number of sites)
`used to generate the Propagation figure is smaller than the "Sites in this
`sample" figure. A site's data will be used to compute propagation if either
`(a) it reports zero readers for at least one group, or (b) it is using an
`arbitron with an explicit version number that is high enough.
`
`MESSAGES PER MONTH AND KILOBYTES PER MONTH
`
`Traffic is measured at decwrl, in Palo Alto, California. Any message that has
`arrived at decwrl within the last "Traffic measurement interval" days is
`counted, regardless of when it was posted. Monthly rates are computed by
`taking the total traffic, dividing by the number of days in the traffic
`measurement interval, and multiplying by 30. Decwrl runs 2.10.3 news, which
`does not store the "Date-Received", "Relay-version" or "Posting-version"
`header lines; the amount of space occupied at your site might be higher, and
`the number of bytes transmitted between machines is probably higher. By
`definition this number is correct, because it is an exact measurement, but it
`may differ from the traffic at your site by as much as 15% due to timing
`differences and news version differences. Timing differences will be random,
`but will average out in the long run. News version differences will cause a
`systematic error that is additively uniform across all newsgroups, and which
`therefore does not significantly affect ratios.
`
`If a message is crossposted to several groups simultaneously, it is charged
`only to the first-named group in the list. Note that this differs from the
`statistics posted from uunet every 2 weeks: the uunet data charge a message
`equally to every group that it is crossposted to.
`
`CROSSPOSTING PERCENTAGE: WHAT FRACTION OF THE ARTICLES ARE CROSSPOSTED
`
`"Crossposting" means to post the same article simultaneously in more than one
`newsgroup. In genuine "news" systems crossposting is implemented with Unix
`links and does not increase the storage or transmisison cost, though in some
`other systems crossposted articles are unbundled and must be stored and
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`transmitted separately.
`
`The "crossposting percentage" is the percentage of the articles in this group
`that are crossposted to at least one other group. If every article in this
`group is crossposted, the percentage will be 100%; if none is crossposted,
`then the percentage will be 0%. The crossposting percentage figure does not
`take the size of the article into account, only the number of articles.
`Crossposting a 50,000-byte article or a 50-byte article both cause the same
`tally.
`
`COST RATIO: DOLLARS PER MONTH PER READER
`
`The most controversial field in the survey report is the "$US per month per
`reader". It is the estimated number of dollars that are being spent on behalf
`of each reader, worldwide, on telephone and computer costs to transmit this
`newsgroup. The rate of $.0025 per kilobyte is the same value used in the
`UUNET statistics reported biweekly. It is based on discussions among system
`administrators about the true cost of news transmission.
`
`The cost ratio is computed as follows:
`
`$US/month/reader = ($USPerMonthPerSite * numberOfSites) / numberOfReaders
`$USPerMonthPersite = KBytesTrafficPerMonth * $USPerKByte * Propagation factor
`$USPerKByte = 0.0025
`
`Combining all these gives
`
`$USPerMonthPersite =
` KBytesTrafficPerMonth * 0.0025
` = KBytesTrafficPerMonth / 400
`
`Therefore:
`
`$US/month/reader =
` (KBytesTrafficPerMonth * numberOfSites) / (400 * numberOfReaders)
`
`The accuracy of this number is in fact better than the accuracy of the
`participation ratio, because the source of error--the network size
`estimate--is present both in the numerator and the denominator, and therefore
`cancels out. The primary source of bias in this number comes from the bias in
`
`the "estimated number of readers, worldwide", which is described above. Treat
`this value as being accurate to within about 25%.
`
`SITE PARTICIPATION
`
`I would like to receive data from every site on USENET. The arbitron programs
`(posted comp.sources.d along with this report) work on news 2.9, 2.10.[1-3],
`2.11, and on many versions of notesfiles.
`
`Brian Reid
`DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto CA
`re...@decwrl.DEC.COM
`{uunet,ucbvax,sun,pyramid,att}!decwrl!reid
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