This is the five thousandth published post on WUWT, since this is a computer written blog, publishing the number in binary seemed appropos. 1388 for you hexadecimal fans.
I don’t have anything profound to say. It is just a number, and other blogs have reached and exceeded this number, so it is no biggie. But, I will share a few thoughts.
- I find myself running the most visited climate related website in the world. I never set out to do that, it just happened to turn out that way. WUWT has been a part of climate history, partly by skill, partly by persistence, partly by luck.
- I think of blogging much like I did my days of broadcast TV, it is a 24/7 occupation. I’m always “on”.
- I’m proud of what this blog has achieved. I’m proud of the reach we have.
- OTOH there are things I’m not proud of. I’ve made some stupid mistakes, said some things I regret, and sometimes I’ve let my emotions get the better of me. I’m human. That said, I’ve learned much too. I’d like to think I’ve learned from mistakes and that I’m better at this job now than when I started.
- I’m thankful for the supportive community we have here. I was stunned and gratified that you all came to my aid in getting funds to publish the surfacestations paper. Know that all of you have my sincere gratitude.
- Some days it is a struggle to post something new. From that I realize that I’m tired, probably I need a vacation. I haven’t really had one in several years where I can “disconnect”. Every business trip or even trips with the family inevitably turn into another station survey. My kids know what an MMTS and Stevenson Screen is. They shouldn’t.
- I get more email every day than I can respond to. For those of you that have sent inquires and never got an answer, know that I’m sorry for that. I have to choose what time I have.
- I’ve made thousands of friends, and probably an equal number of enemies. Some days it is a sobering thought. As a result, I have had to be more diligent with my home and business security than I did before.
- I wish I was thirty pounds lighter. I spend way too much time in front of a PC.
- I worry more than I used to. Life seems far more complex than it was 4.5 years ago when I first started doing this. Getting things done seems harder than it used to be.
- Living in California has become depressing. Owning a business in California even more so. The regulation and business climate here is insane. Just today I learned our electricity rates would be going up to pay for Smartmeters. Pissed I am.
- I thank Steve McIntyre, who has always been an inspiration. He set the standard. I’m sure he feels many of the same things I do.
- I’m doubly grateful to the volunteer moderators and guest authors. Without you, I’d be toastier than I am now.
- We live in interesting times, times get more interesting with each passing day.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
After watching “An Inconvenient Truth” I knew something was wrong. As a psychologist I realised there was more psychological trickery than science in it and understood enough statistics to recognise how bad the data was being tortured. I went on a search for a place where a better science would be practised. By luck I came to here and found an oasis of sanity, reason and Socratic debate.
Thank you for all you have done.
Anthony,
I’ve lurked here for a few years, and have to comment for the first time. I visit your site every single day. I thank you for your time and dedication, and although you certainly deserve some time off, Please NO!
Jimmy – yes, June 4th, 8pm should be good. (irrc my mother’s getting married that day, but it is low key and I’m fairly sure the dinner is in the afternoon). It will be good to meet in the flesh. If the Blackie isn’t open (it has been intermittent in the last few months) suggest a Thrappledowser in the crags?
WUWT is a must-read that I check out several times a day. It’s an oasis of critical thought in a world that’s gone batsh*t insane. For this I thank you Anthony and everyone involved.
Has it been 4.5 years and 5K posts? Wow! That was fast.
I dropped in about 4 years ago at the prodding of Clayton Cramer, due to
coding issues with floating point Y2K errors and have never left.
But I did leave California. Consider leaving, as the state is truly depressing,
bankrupt morally and fiscally.
IIRC, I was the first one to state that the work here will eventually result
in a Nobel Prize for somebody. This is a new way (or an old way sped up)
of doing science. I am not sure what word to use for what others call
“climate science”.
Luck? Not really. “Serendipity favors the prepared mind.” How many
know the weather tie-in for that quote? OK, it was the man that discovered
cloud seeding accidentally. No hockey stick was used.
I wholeheartely endorse the accolades you received above. You deserve them. As you did in the posting, I also send the same accolades to all those who have contributed to this site. Anthony and all of you have been so much fun to read, to debate, and to learn from each other. Integrity shows. Thanks Anthony. Thanks all.
Congratulations and thank you for a job well done, Anthony!
I stumbled onto WUWT during the initial explosion of Climategate, and am humbled to be in such fine company. The quality of contributions to WUWT is amazing, including comments from visitors. You’ve collected an interesting bunch of characters.
Thanks to the Mods and guest writers as well. Always let us know when you need a break, and don’t be bashful about reminding us to “fling funds”….I’ve saved a lot of money by canceling certain journal subscriptions. Cheers!
I am WUWT’s biggest fan.
A wild ass claim, as I know you have many fans out here.
Thanks for all the work you have done. I read you first, every day.
Forever your servant,
EJ
Give this man a VB! Well done Anthony!
Thank you Anthony. Your efforts, integrity and good demeanor always make your contribution to this crucial field a pleasure to read and absorb. You have been an inspiration and an education to me, and to many others as well, I am sure.
More power to your elbow!
I have often wondered at and envied how you manage to put out a continuous stream of relevent and interesting stuff.
It seems it is done by hard work.
Rest assured it is appreciated.
Anthony,
You are far too modest in some of your comments.
Without you, we, your guests, would have no means of expressing our concerns.
Sit back in your chair, give your additional 30lbs a rub, and just tell yourself that “I’ve done well kid”
Thanks for doing what you do Anthony.
One idea:
I wish I was thirty pounds lighter. I spend way too much time in front of a PC.
Run the PC off a treadmill. When the battery runs low, take a break, then recharge the battery before rebooting. This way, you’ll lose weight and rest your eyes more.
Seriously though, when I was running my internet based business, I took a two day a week job in forestry to get me away from the screen and keep myself fit. You must find the right balance.
And I bet the big oil money/Tax funding has helped /sarc
It’s all been said before so a simple ‘well done’ and pat on the back, realise that you are liked and respected on every continent of the world and there’s not many people that can claim that even the Hollywood elite.
WUWT has been an enlightening experience.
It has opened my mind and eyes not just to the CAGW debate, but to the way governments, lobby and interest groups, and the world in general think and act.
Things are not always as we are told they are.
MSM has a lot to answer for, but ironically they are doing the job the are paid to do.
The same critical thinking I have learnt in WUWT I have been able to apply in other circumstances, such as the NATO v Libya, and many other world events and organisations actions. There is always a lot more to it than meets the eye.
THANKS to you, your family and team and other contributors for all the hard work.
Without WUWT and the likes we would all be screwed.
Brett Mitchell
Anthony, when you started, your blog was an oasis in a schizophrenic wilderness populated with AGW blogs. This, as well as the Climate Audit site were really important in focusing people who could see through the misrepresentations and outside frau ds .
May you have many more enjoyable years with enormous popularity and may you continue to have the support of good and discriminating moderators.
An advice: pace yourself. Do not burn the candle both ends
anna
Congratulations, Mr Watts. In 2006 the science was ‘settled.’ Now it isn’t. “Cometh the hour, cometh the man.”
Anthony, what wouldn’t I give to hear those words coming from the Gores and Jones, not to mention Schmidts, of this world. But they just do not have the honesty and decency that you display. From them: only arrogance.
Thank you.
HEAR! Arrgghh!
Thank you.
Congratulations.
WUWT has been my entrance door to the world of scientific community; my graph links posted on WUWT up to date had well over 65,000 viewings.
Huge THANKS.
p.s. apologies for occasionally stepping over the line.
“I sometimes think that never grows so red the rose, as where some buried caesar bled” The Bard
It does seem somewhat ironic that you and WUWT have blossomed in California of all places where the implications of low carbon ecconomics are adversely affecting everyone in that state.
I am in my seventies and would have died in blisfull ignorance in matters climatic, had I not chanced on this cite.
Not only do I now question science, I question everything. The hero’s that I will take with me to my grave, have all be mentioned on WUWT and I know that very many of your visitors will be like minded.
When I was running a small business in the UK, I received what I considered to be the best advice anyone in business could obtain. “Never be seduced by your own advertising” I get the feeling that even though you might never have heard this, you understand it’s full import.
Many thanks for your inestimable contributions todate and for the continuing education.
PS
You said in your first ever blog that you did not appreciate anonymity.
On this special occasion, I feel disposed to sign off with my real name.
Regards and best wishes to you and your familly.
Peter ONeil
In your first ever
I’m proud of what this blog has achieved. I’m proud of the reach we have.
And you have every right to be proud of it! Keep up the good work – we need you.
And your kids can’t learn too much – they’ll just grow up as more interesting people.
————–
Geoff Sherrington says:
May 10, 2011 at 6:19 pm
If you could derive the information and tell us a wants list like “More people needed in 20-30 age group with qualifications in earth sciences” or “political activists we see on other blogs” or “media reporters”, to pluck 3 categories from the air, it would help us recruit.
Anthony already attracts readers, and commenters, from the most varied backgrounds. I haven’t been able to leave the flat (apartment) since 2009. Still waiting for a reply to my job application. (Sorry to copy it all, but I haven’t worked out how to link to individual comments.)
from:George Will: The Green Bubble Has Burst
Posted on June 4, 2009 by Anthony Watts
Allan M says:
June 6, 2009 at 3:09 am
This blog is becoming obsessed with pianos. They have been mentioned twice in one week now.
At this point , I would like to offer myself for the post of:
Honorary Emeritus Resident Pianist, Ex Symposium to WUWT
As a great-great-great-grandpupil of Beethoven (true), I feel I am excellently qualified for the post (but please, not the acronym).
By the nature of the job, being an old crock who doesn’t get paid I never turn up to play anything; this a good allegory of the first law of thermodynamics, and yet another illustration that the warmist’s positive feedbacks are wrong.
The effect of a few (7 or 8) pianos, especially if tuned separately and then brought together, can, like my singing, cause quite severe local precipitation effects; but this is only weather. However, the response (like CO2) is logarithmic, and the effect of 50 may only cause slight local flooding.
The warmists are desparate now, and may even sieze on this for their cause. So if you need an authoritative article on the effects of grand pianos on global average temperature, then just let me know.
Back in 2000 I played the Ferrari Steinway (a Model D done out in Ferrari red).
Is this what stopped the apocalypse in its tracks?
Dear Mr Watts and Team
Thank you for a very professionally run web site which educates and entertains.
It has been great to have been able to use this web site for the last couple of years of the collapse of AGW. The large number of people I have “turned onto ” WUWT have almost all got to understand just how the “consensus” gang have been misleading them.
They, and I, have learned so much about science as well as climate and it is such a great feeling to be able to use facts found here to confidently debate with so many people about CO2 and to often change their position from warmist to skeptic.
As the AGW horror show winds down I really hope that we can have more and more other science covered on here. The recent threads about nuclear radiation have been extremely interesting and over and above the scientific content in itself they have been very instructive to many regarding the hysterical deception churned out by the Main Stream Media.
Eyes have been opened, minds expanded and people set free by the openness and directness of so many contributers to WUWT. Well done Mr. Watts.