I know I waste a lot of time with computers; but there are some things they’re better at than humans are. For instance, could you count the number of times that the words “Richard Dawkins” appear on the front page of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason?
Yet this little program (below the fold) told me almost instantly that the name was mentioned 26 times on the front page yesterday. That may be an underestimate, since I don’t think it counts the graphical elements, where the name appears in an image; also there is the rotating flash show of pictures of Richard Dawkins up to the top right.
I am wondering whether to put this into a script, so that it would keep a daily updated Dawkins Number.
A teensy Python script:
#!/usr/bin.python
import urllib, re
slurp=urllib.urlopen('http://www.richarddawkins.net/').read()
print(len(re.findall('Richard Dawkins',slurp)))
(Updated to reflect new url)
It would be wrong, would it not, to declare one day a year the Feast of St Dawkins the Professor (has a nice Celtic ring, don’t you think?), and on that day to offer up prayers in his name, burn a little incense, commission stained glass and perhaps raise funds for a neat little church somewhere.
St Dawkins, burning with zeal for the conversion of the benighted, pray for us
St Dawkins, burdened as you are with the truth and the one true way, pray for us
St Dawkins, who weaveth the Rainbow on high, pray for us
St Dawkins, who alone knoweth the selfishness that twists in the hearts of men, pray for us
Perhaps there could be readings from holy writ, as may best please the blessed one, and towards the end of the service each member of the congregation could take a meme, raise it to their lips, and pass it on.
R
Mock not, lest ye be judged.
The mighty high priests of the internet that are known as “Websense”:http://www.websense.com/global/en/ have spoken.
————————————————————–
Access has been Denied.
The Website URL is: richarddawkins.net
The Content of the website has been detected as:
“Traditional Religions;Religion”
I count 12 graphical occurrences, plus a couple of richarddawnkins, and a couple of rdf. And two noble photos.
I think that a couple of these would really liven up your site: http://www.richarddawkins.net/RDFbanners