Justin and Justina review 2022 at the NLJ

Happy New Year! We launched The New Leaf Journal back on April 27, 2020. Since then, we have published many articles. This here is our 745th article, which does not count our 248 Leaflet posts and 115 newsletters. For New Years in 2021, I published a Justin and Justina dialogue reviewing the year that was. I set the dialogue in The Emu Café, which is a special section of our site that I introduced back in May 2020. I had fun reviewing our most-read content and other news and notes with Justin and Justina, so I repeated the formula for New Years Day in 2022. Seeing no reason to mess with success, I will again invite Justin and Justina to review the year that was at The New Leaf Journal. Our 2023 review will feature more articles than before thanks to our site performing better. I hope you enjoy the cozy review and in so doing, find some interesting articles to read. I also consider this piece a bit of an advertisement for my Justin and Justina dialogue series and The Emu Café, neither of which (specifically The Emu Café introduction post, not articles in the section) feature in our most-read posts. You can learn more about them in the following links:

• Justin and Justina series
• The Emu Café introduction
• Second look inside The Emu Café
• The Emu Café category

Moreover, note that the conversations about each of our ranking articles in 2022 will include links to related articles that did not rank this year. If you find any interesting, read and share them in 2023 to help shape our ranking for the new year.

That is enough from me. I yield the floor to Justin, Justina, a certain Emu, and some (possible) guests to look back on the year that was at The New Leaf Journal in 2022.

Setting the scene

Justin and Justina are sitting in the The Emu Café about 90 minutes to midnight on December 31, 2022.

Justina: Ugh.
Justin: What?
Justina: Why am I stuck here on New Years again with you? I was totally going to go to Times Square but for the rain.
Justin: Really? That would have been even darker than your social media habits.
Justina: No, I lied. But still, I feel like I should be doing something much more exciting.
Justin: More exciting than our traditional New Year soba?
Justina: Yeah…
Justin: The proprietor taught me an amazing technique for making professional looking soba soup. Want to see?
Justina: No.
Justin: Then you’re in luck. He’s about to show us.

(The Emu proprietor enters with two bowls of soba.)

Justina: …I forgot about the bird again. Why is this place run by an actual bird? Am I the only one who finds this weird?
Emu: …
Justin: Learn to bird, Justina. But first, learn how to present soba.

(The emu flips the soba in the bowl at the table. It now looks professional.)

Justina: Ok fine, that is kind of cool.
Justin: Pumptake the gunea pig thinks so too.

(Pumptake the guinea pig is “Justina’s” guinea pig. She “gave” him to Justin for Justin’s birthday, but continues to claim ownership despite having Justin actually care for Pumptake. We introduced Pumptake here. Pumptake is often mentioned in their dialogues, but has not appeared in a long time — until now.)

Justina: Pumptake! You know we always talk about him but he never actually appears.
Justin: We have a special gift for Pumptake, but that will come a bit later.
Pumptake: …
Emu: …
Justina: Seriously… the bird.

Introducing the 2022 most-visited article list

Justin: Now that it is a new year, it is time to look back at the most-read New Leaf Journal articles.
Justina: Sigh, again?
Justin: Yes, again.
Emu: (Of course.)
Justina: It talked! Did you hear that!?
Justin: In 2020 we did the top-20 articles. Last year we did the top 25 with some between 26-50. This year we’re going to be simple.
Justina: Can we get it over with no quickly?
Justin: No. We’re going all in. Top 51 most-visited articles, all profiled and discussed. Are you feeling the excitement?
Justina: 51? That extra one is the worst — like the 0.4 on the marathon.
Justin: There’s a reason it had to be 51 this year. That reason will have to do with the additional ranking information that comes with each article.
Justina: Why are we making it complicated?
Justin: It’ll be simpler than last year. Here are the rules:

• We will list the top 51 most-visited articles, with all statistics coming courtesy of our local privacy-friendly analytics solution, Koko Analytics
• Only articles and Leaflets will be counted. Pages such as our Home page and About page do not count.
• For each article, we will note (1) newsletter week top-five appearances [our newsletter weeks, which should be familiar to newsletter subscribers, run from Saturday to Friday]; (2) monthly top-25 appearances; and (3) three-month top-25 appearances [first three month period for the 2022 rank is January-March 22, the last is October-December 22; (4) where applicable, we will note an article’s 2020 and 2021 ranks.

Justina: It could be worse.
Emu: (Indeed.)
Justina: …
Emu: …
Justin: Any questions?
Justina: No!
Justin: I see you’re excited as always. Nothing to do then but to start.

The top 51 most-visited articles of 2022 (51-41)

Justin: Drum-roll!
Emu: (Mimes playing the drums.)
Justina: …

51. Fediverse Clone Wars and Decentralized Social Media

Go to “Fediverse Clone Wars and Decentralized Social Media“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: July 12, 2022.

Rank Info

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 29. Best rank: #1 in week 29.

Monthly Top 25s: July (#9), August (#16)

3-Month Top 25s: June to August (#20); July to August (#17)

Commentary

Justin: Only eight articles led a weekly ranking this year — and this was the eighth. See? Now you know why we needed to expand the list to 51.
Justina: Pfft. Charity.
Justin: In this essay, Nick questioned whether it is a good idea for alternative social media apps — here focusing on the “fediverse” — to draw their design and functionality concepts from big tech social media platforms.
Justina: Is this that Pixelford thing you told be about last year?
Justin: Pixelfed. Wait… are you reading ahead?
Justina: Oh no.
Justin: In any event, this one was shared to Hacker News twice. While it didn’t make page one like some other posts, it received enough a kick to perform well in July and August.
Justina: I can see why it didn’t keep performing well… I’d rather browse Insta.
Justin: So negative! If you enjoyed this article, we recommend checking out Nick’s 2021 article on Murakami’s criticisms of social media content.
Justina: Wait, are you adding articles!?
Justin: Well, this is the 745th article at The New Leaf Journal. Let’s make sure to share some articles that didn’t make our top 51.
Justina: Can we share the ones about us?
Justin: Of course.
Emu: …

50. Struggles With a Fresh Install of Peppermint OS

Go to “Struggles With a Fresh Install of Peppermint OS“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: September 14, 2020.

Rank Info

No weekly top 5s, monthly top 25s, or 3-month top 25s in 2022.

Commentary

Justina: …What?
Justin: Yeah. Nick almost forgot that he wrote this article.
Justina: Should I even ask?
Justin: Well, Nick first started daily driving Linux in 2020 when he built his new (and still current) desktop. He liked how it ran, so he installed a Linux distribution called Peppermint OS on his laptop. The install process was not too smooth, he did get it to work but ended up not using Peppermint OS for very long.
Justina: …So how is this in the top 50?
Justin: Beats me. There was a new release of Peppermint OS this year, so that probably generated some interest. Look, it does have one of the best article images of all time, at least.
Justina: Penguin Persons and Peppermints…?
Justin: He couldn’t believe that he pulled up that old book on Project Gutenberg.
Emu: …
Justin: I agree though, the Linux mascot should be an emu instead of a penguin.
Justina: How are you talking to the bird!?

49. Reviewing Koko Analytics: A Simple Privacy-Friendly WordPress Plugin

Go to “Reviewing Koko Analytics: A Simple Privacy-Friendly WordPress Plugin“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: January 13, 2022.

Rank Info

Monthly Top 25s: May (#19)

(No weekly top-5s or 3-month top-25s)

Commentary

Justina: Didn’t you say something about this before?
Emu: Don’t start questions with didn’t.
Justin: Thanks, Emu.
Justina: …
Justin: All of these statistics come from Koko Analytics, so it is neat to see it make our top-51 articles of the year.
Justina: I see.
Justin: You know what else is neat?
Justina: What?
Justin: I didn’t have to link to it when I first mentioned Koko Analytics because I knew that it was ranked.
Justina: That’s so amazing.
Justin: Isn’t it?
Justina: Wait! You’re starting sentences with ISN’T now?

48. Pixelfed Embed in WordPress – Follow nafnlj at The New Leaf Journal

Go to “Pixelfed Embed in WordPress – Follow nafnlj at The New Leaf Journal“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: June 23, 2021.

Rank Info

Monthly Top 25s: November (#22)

(No weekly top-5s or 3-month top-25s)

Commentary

Justin: This one is actually worse than the Peppermint one.
Justina: …
Justin: See, the embed doesn’t work on New Leaf Journal anymore — article includes an update note. Go figure. I should add that like the Peppermint article, this one improved dramatically in absolute terms and relative position compared to 2021.
Justina: How?
Justin: I don’t know. Well, I don’t want to spoil, but November was a good month for a selection of articles. Rising tides lift all boats?
Justina: What did you just link there?
Justin: Article about a boat sculpture. Enjoy this pretty powder blue boat too.

47. Building a Big Joe Williams-Inspired Nine String Guitar

Go to “Building a Big Joe Williams-Inspired Nine String Guitar“

Author: Victor V. Gurbo. Published: March 12, 2022.

Rank Info

Monthly Top 25s: October (#23)

(No weekly top-5s or 3-month top-25s)

Commentary

Justin: Victor V. Gurbo makes his first splash in the 2022 ranking. He rested on his laurels a bit, didn’t publish again until December.
Justina: Maybe he had more important things to do.
Justin: He did sell out Carnegie Hall a couple months after publishing this.
Justina: That sounds pretty big. I like the artwork on the guitar.

Justin: Did you see how many strings it has?
Justina: Nine? How many are they supposed to have?
Emu: …
Justina: Don’t look at me with disappointment in your eyes, bird.
Justin: In any event… this is the second straight year a Victor article with a painting subplot made our top 50.

46. Calvin Coolidge On Why We Celebrate Independence Day

Go to “Calvin Coolidge On Why We Celebrate Independence Day“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: July 2, 2021.

Rank Info

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 27. Best rank #3 in week 27.

Monthly Top 25s: July (#14); August (#25)

3-Month Top 25s: May to July (#24); June to August (#25)

Commentary

Justina: Oh no, the history begins.
Justin: Not even the best-ranked of this category of history.
Emu: Exciting!
Justina: No! Not exciting! Why am I arguing with a bird!?
Justin: The rise and fall of this one made sense at least. Did well around Independence Day. Did you know that Independence Day was also Coolidge’s birthday?
Justina: No, and I didn’t need to.
Justin: Man. This was actually our second article on a Coolidge Independence Day speech. You can see the first here.
Justina: I could.

45. Tom Cantor’s Changed Has Poor Color Scheme

Go to “Tom Cantor’s Changed Has Poor Color Scheme“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: August 3, 2022.

Rank Info

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 52. Best rank #2 in week 52.

Monthly Top 25s: November (#18); December (#8)

3-Month Top 25s: October to December (#17)

Commentary

Justina: What… is this?
Justin: Well, Nick received an unsolicited direct mail religious conversion book from Mr. Tom Cantor, who is spending money to tell Americans from coast to coast about his journey from defilement to being cleansed.
Justina: Right…
Justin: Nick knows that direct mail campaigns cost a bit of money. So he decided to thank Tom for the “Great Read” by offering some cover design advice. He did write a review of an online color guide, after all.
Justina: And people are reading this?
Justin: Well, they’re finding it when they try to figure out why they received a weird book in the mail.
Emu: …
Justina: I agree with the bird.
Justin: For those keeping track, ‘Ole Tom Cantor here is the most recently published article in our top 51. Unlike last year, won’t be seeing stuff published 5 minutes before midnight on New Years Day.

44. Setting Up Mullvad’s Free Public DNS

Go to “Setting Up Mullvad’s Free Public DNS“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 8, 2022.

Rank Info

Monthly Top 25s: August (21); September (25); October (24)

(No weekly top-5s or 3-month top-25s)

Commentary

Justin: Our first Leaflet post in the top 51.
Justina: What is a Leaflet post? I don’t get it.
Justin: Like a regular post but shorter. There’s an explanation.
Justina: Sigh. And what is this?
Justin: Mullvad is a free and open source commercial VPN provider. Nick actually subscribes. In addition to their VPN, they offer a free public DNS service.
Justina: I’m not going to try to figure this out.
Justin: Sadly… may have had some technical issues on his Nexus 7… but more on the Nexus 7 later.
Emu: (Foreshadowing.)
Justina: No!

43. The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho

Go to “The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 18, 2021.

Rank Info

No weekly top 5s, monthly top 25s, or 3-month top 25s in 2022.

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#27)

Commentary

Justin: The longest article in New Leaf Journal history returns! More than 18,000 words of fun!
Emu: (Cheers.)
Justina: It’s too long! How did it make it back? Its ranking stuff is empty!
Justin: Steady consistency — very much unlike Otho, actually.
Justina: Maybe it would have done better if it was about 80% shorter.
Justin: Sometimes we must make sacrifices for quality content. Other than noting that this remains the longest New Leaf Journal article by a long way — it is the first article in our 2022 top 51 to have been in the 2021 top 50. Although its rank slipped, its actual performance in terms of views was similar in 2022 to what it was in 2021.

42. Understanding Hair Color in the Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series

Go to “Understanding Hair Color in the Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: August 19, 2021.

Rank Info

Monthly Top 25s: January (#24); November (#25)

(No weekly top 5s or 3-month top 25s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#43)

Commentary

Justina: The anime hair color stuff again? Is this going to be the first of a bunch?
Justin: For those who missed us last year, this was the first of three anime hair color articles in the top 50, with one coming in at 23. But fear not Justina.
Justina: I’m afraid.
Emu: (Shudders.)
Justin: This is sadly the only anime hair color article to return in 2022. However, I will note that one that was not present in last year’s ranking came in at 53… so close yet so far. Honestly almost extended this list to top 54 just for the laughs.
Justina: Thank goodness…
Justin: The Kimi ni Todoke piece hung around all year. November was actually its best all-time month, just edging out December 2021.

41. Calvin Coolidge Describes His Mother, Victoria

Go to “Calvin Coolidge Describes His Mother, Victoria“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: March 13, 2021.

Rank Info

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 41 and 42. Best rank #4 in weeks 41 and 42.

Monthly Top 25s: October (#9); November (#23)

3-Month Top 25s: August to October (#24); September to November (#18); October to December (#19)

Commentary

Justin: I’m so moved to see President Coolidge’s recollections of his mother in his autobiography.
Emu: Blubber.
Justina: I usually hate history… but it is touching.
Justin: This article made very little impression in its first year and a half online. Then, out of the blue, had a big October and carried some steam into November. Inspiring stuff.
Justina: Do we know why?
Justin: No clue.
Emu: …

The top 51 most-visited articles of 2022 (40-31)

Justin: Do you need a break?
Justina: …It’s already 1:13 AM. I would rather just get this done before 4.
Justin: In case you did not know, we’re writing live this year. Pretty clutch, no?
Emu: (Nick technically wrote the intro on December 30… and he pulled us away after we started so he could rush his December month-in-review, which he had not yet started.)
Justina: Why is the bird giving full speeches now?
Emu: …?
Justina: Wait… its New Years! No one told me!
Justin: Time flies when you’re having fun?
Emu: (She didn’t notice the fireworks?)
Justina: Unbelievable…
Justin: Happy New Year, Justina.
Justina: Happy (yawn) New Year.
Justin: Alright… let’s get back to this before Justina falls asleep.

40. Kaga no Chiyo Autumn Haiku on Unrequited Love

Go to “Kaga no Chiyo Autumn Haiku on Unrequited Love“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: December 14, 2020.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: February (#23)

(No weekly top 5s or 3-month top 25s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#29)

Commentary

Justin: It is fitting that we can study this beautiful autumnal haiku in this aesthetic establishment.
Emu: (So good.)
Justina: I’m going to ignore the bird this time… I get the haiku now. It’s too sad!
Justin: We need more Fukada no Chiyo content… note to Nick for 2023.
Justina: This was 29th last year? Did we talk about it?
Justin: On last year’s ranking, we did full profiles for the top-25 and only profiled articles 26-50 that met certain conditions — although we did list everything. Like this year, this haiku piece earned its ranking by chipping away rather than big spurts of views.
Justina: I see…
Justin: Maybe 2023 will be the year that it complements its consistency with a big week or two?
Emu: (I hope so, but probably not.)
Justina: Why is the bird giving analysis now?

39. Japanese Environment in PoL, Lutris, and Bottles

Go to “Japanese Environment in PoL, Lutris, and Bottles“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: June 16, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 25. Best rank #5 in week 25.

Monthly Top 25s: June (#22); October (#14); December (#23)

3-Month Top 25s: August to October (#20); September to November (#22); October to December (#24)

Commentary

Justina: I don’t want to know…
Justin: So, Nick has been reviewing a large number of freeware Japanese visual novels that were translated into English between 2005 and 2008.
Justina: I don’t want to know!
Justin: A few of them require a Japanese language environment to run… of course it’s the KiriKiri ones that only run on Windows.
Emu: (Kiri.)
Justina: …
Justin: So he wrote a guide to configure a Japanese language environment for those games in WINE using 3 GUI tools (he usually uses Lutris for real work).
Justina: Why doesn’t he just play normal games?
Justin: Hey, he wrote this close to when he published his review of one of the games which needed the trick, Summer, Cicadas, and the Girl. Now that was a fun little game. Also did Until We Meet Again and io [Christmas Eve] in December.
Emu: (Why are more people reading a technical article instead of reviews of fun games?)
Justin: (That’s what I want to know. The games are free — free like the birds.)
Emu: …
Justina: Stop whispering with the bird!

38. Installing and Running Bodhi Linux on a 2007 MacBook

Go to “Installing and Running Bodhi Linux on a 2007 MacBook“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: October 3, 2021.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: January (#10); February (#20)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#21)

(No newsletter week top 5s)

Commentary

Justina: Why would you do that to a 2007 MacBook? Just put it out of its misery!
Justin: You still have yours…
Justina: Well it doesn’t turn on so there.
Emu: …
Justin: Our own Victor V. Gurbo contributed the Mac to this noble endeavor.
Emu: Foreshadowing…
Justina: There’s more on this!?
Justin: No… but Victor will be back soon.

37. An Introduction to RSS and Other Feed Formats

Go to “An Introduction to RSS and Other Feed Formats“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: February 20, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 8. Best rank #4 in week 8.

Monthly Top 25s: February (#7)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#22); February to April (#17)

Commentary

Justin: Yes, Nick wrote this so he wouldn’t have to explain what a feed is every time he writes about feeds… but he had hopes.
Emu: (Hope dies last.)
Justina: Bird…
Justin: It was shared to Hacker News shortly after it was published, but didn’t make a huge splash.
Justina: No one cares about feeds.
Justin: Nick’s well-curated collection of feeds helps him write this content.
Justina: Is that why I’m being kept up all night!?
Justin: It performed fairly consistently after its strong February — well enough to earn a solid spot on the ranking. Maybe it’ll have another moment in the future…

36. Building an Airline Res-O-Glas Guitar Copy

Go to “Building an Airline Res-O-Glas Guitar Copy“

Author: Victor V. Gurbo. Published: August 26, 2020.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 13. Best rank #5 in week 13.

Monthly Top 25s: March (#24); September (#23); December (#22)

(No 3-month top 25s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#28)

Commentary

Justin: Victor returns for his second article in our top 51.
Justina: I do like the color on that guitar. It’s not 9 strings, right?
Emu: …
Justin: Our 2020 articles are a bit buried by the 2021 and 2022 crowd, but it looks like there are Res-O-Glas fans out there to keep this among our high performers. I will note it had a significantly better year in 2022 than it did in 2021, despite the lower relative ranking.

35. RSS as a Facebook Alternative

Go to “RSS as a Facebook Alternative“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: February 21, 2021.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: February (#18); March (#20); April (#25)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#24); February to April (#23); March to May (#25)

(No newsletter week top 5s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#1)

Commentary

Justin: How the mighty has fallen.
Justina: This was first last year? Didn’t it have a different name?
Emu: (Don’t sta…)
Justina: Shush bird!
Justin: Yeah, Nick chopped off the “Around the Web” from the name. Never regained its Hacker News-page 1 glory. But you know… maybe there’s something to articles being published on the 21st…
Emu: (Foreshadowing.)
Justina: I’ll foreshadow something, bird.

(Enter Proton Von.)

Proton Von: Sorry I’m late.
Justin: Von! Clutch appearance.
Emu: (For those not up to date, Proton Von is Justin’s high school friend. We had a dialogue on their history and how Justina is involved in the history here and we also touched on it here. Proton Von is a clutch player and he likes baseball.)
Justina: Von, I didn’t know you were coming.
Proton Von: I was partying with the front office guys. Good time. But I said I’d check in here, so I snuck out.
Justin: You came just in time…
Justina: Indeed… I’m going to take a nap. You can hold down the fort for me.
Proton Von: I got your back.

34. “Casey’s Revenge” – Grantland Rice’s 1896 Reply Poem to “Casey at Bat”

Go to “‘Casey’s Revenge’ – Grantland Rice’s 1896 Reply Poem to ‘Casey at Bat’“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: August 26, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 35. Best rank #3 in week 35.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#17); February (#14); March (#16); April (#24); September (#8)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#15); February to April (#18); March to May (#24); August to October (#25); September to November (#24)

Commentary

Proton Von: I didn’t know there was a successor to Casey at Bat. That’s pretty clutch. A bit dark, but then the redemption.
Justin: Casey is the first article to appear from our first-half-of-the-year top 25. It dropped a bit despite having its biggest month in September.
Proton Von: What made it do well in September? Baseball interest?
Justin: No no, this one Nick actually figured out — it corresponded to Google Classroom referrals…
Proton Von: Anything to get baseball into the classroom. I wish I had more baseball in the classroom.
Justin: You were always taking notes on napkins, but they weren’t about class.

33. The Story of Billy Possum, President Hoover’s Pet Opossum

Go to “The Story of Billy Possum, President Hoover’s Pet Opossum“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 30, 2021.

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 5. Best rank #5 in week 5.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#12); February (#19); June (#24); December (#25)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#23); February to April (#23)

Commentary

Justin: What if I told you that part of this story about President Hoover’s pet opossum involved it becoming a mascot for a high school baseball team?
Proton Von: …That’s pretty weird. An opossum mascot. But I like the baseball double header… and Nick actually found pictures of the team with the opossum.
Justin: Nick was genuinely surprised to see this article catch on. It was a spinoff from his post on Calvin Coolidge’s pet raccoon, but it ended up out-performing it in a big way. Came out of the blue in January, and while that was its peak, was solid throughout the rest of the year. Note how it snuck in to the December top 25.
Proton Von: Possums are probably sneaky. Is the bird too?
Emu: …

32. “Uncle Susan is a Wolf” – A Graffiti Photo and Research Project

Go to “‘Uncle Susan is a Wolf’ – A Graffiti Photo and Research Project“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: December 29, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 37. Best rank #4 in week 37.

Monthly Top 25s: March (#19); April (#11); June (#23); July (#15); September (#15)

3-Month Top 25s: February to April (#20); March to May (#21); April to June (#19); May to July (#20); June to August (#21); July to September (#18); September to November (#25)

Commentary

Justin: Nick published this at the end of 2021 with high hopes…
Proton Von: Why did he have high hopes? It’s just graffiti scribbles.
Justin: Well, three of his top 18 articles last year were graffiti. Some magic to it?
Proton Von: And this year…?
Emu: …
Justin: There’s one more…
Justina: Oh no… I should go back to sleep.
Proton Von: Welcome back.
Justina: Thanks.
Justin: You will be interesting to know we published a short Uncle Susan follow-up based on a reader tip.
Justina: I am not.

31. Usagi Drop 〜 A Complicated Anime Pick

Go to “Usagi Drop 〜 A Complicated Anime Pick“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: January 19, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 49. Best rank #2 in week 49.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#25); May (#23); June (#16); December (#11)

3-Month Top 25s: April to June (#24); May to July (#22); June to August (#24); October to December (#22)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#19)

Commentary

Justina: Is this that weird anime again?
Proton Von: The one where the guy marries the girl he adopted? I remember that.
Justin: Again, the point of the post is that the weird stuff happened in the manga after the anime was produced.
Justina: Meh.
Emu: …
Justin: This is another case where a 2021 article improved dramatically on its performance while falling in the ranking. It had a pretty big December which helped it jump a few spots at the end — but it was good all year.
Proton Von: That Yukari lady in the screenshot is pretty.
Justina: Oh wow, you’re right. She is. Get away from the weirdo Yukari! He’ll never love you!
Emu: …

Intermission (for sleep — this is live, after all)

Proton Von: Oh man, it’s been fun but I’m being buzzed. I have to get back.
Justina: Buzzed… Ha.
Emu: …
Justin: Thanks for joining us Von, I’m glad you arrived at just the right time. Clutch as always.
Proton Von: We’ll catch up soon.
Justina: I’m going to fall asleep again…
Emu: (It is 2:59 AM…)
Justina: Thanks Emu…
Justin: Alright, I’ll tell you what. Let’s call the commentary here — I’ll fill in a few more rankings and then we can resume in the morning.
Justina: You think I’m sleeping in this shad…zzzzz.

(Justina is out.)

Justin: Man… and I was about to unveil the surprise for Pumptake.
Emu: …
Justin: Alright, let’s throw a blanket on Justina. We’ll pick up where we left off. Really going all in on live this year… clutch play.

(Intermission until the morning.)

The top 51 most-visited articles of 2022 (30-21)

Justin: Alright, we’re back at 1:58 PM and ready to take this list to the conclusion. While Justina was asleep, I put in some technical work. This is good, because Nick says he has work related to his day job that he needs to get to.
Justina: I can’t believe you just left me at the table with a blanket.
Emu: …
Justin: Well, before we resume, I do have a special surprise. Come on out, Mrs. Quince.
Justina: She’s dressed as a quince.
Mrs. Quince: Indeed I am. I hardly have a moment to spare since jelly making time is here. But fortunately I have many quinces, and I heard from the Emu that someone was fretting about having none.

(Mrs. Quince hands Justina six quinces.)

Justina: Thank you so much! I was worried that there were no quinces around here.
Mrs. Quince: And don’t forget the quince recipes.
Justina: No thanks, I’ll just eat it raw.
Mrs. Quince: …
Emu: …
Justin: Here you go, Pumptake.

(Justin feeds Pumptake the guinea pig quinces.)

Justina: Aww, Pumptake is eating too.
Mrs. Quince: Well I need to get back to the cooking, you all have fun!

(Everyone thanks Mrs. Quince.)

Justin: It’s thanks to our new image upscaler that Mrs. Quince could be with us today.
Justina: Yeah yeah, let’s just finish while I’m in a good mood.
Justin: Let’s go!

30. A Follow-Up Post on the Meaning of “Blob Dylan”

Go to “A Follow-Up Post on the Meaning of ‘Blob Dylan’“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 12, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in newsletter week 9. Best rank #5 in newsletter week 9.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#16); February (#10); March (#14); April (#14); June (#20); September (#24)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#11); February to April (#12); March to May (#20); April to June (#21); May to July (#25)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#11)

Commentary

Justina: This Blob Dylan again…
Justin: For those of you who missed it last year, our first Blob Dylan article was 18th in the 2021 rank. This follow-up was 11th. Magic didn’t fully carry over though.
Justina: Did people stop reading it?
Justin: It still hangs around, but this is the first of the 2021 articles on the list that declined in absolute terms compared to last year. The ones before all improved in performance even if their ranks went down.
Justina: Whew.
Justin: You’ll be happy to know that this is our last graffiti photo article on the ranking this year.
Justina: I wouldn’t have minded some hip graffiti.
Justin: There may be hope yet though. Nick’s third Blob Dylan article had spurts of views. Just needs to string them together.
Justina: I won’t help.

29. A 2021 List of Alternative Search Engines and Search Resources

Go to “A 2021 List of Alternative Search Engines and Search Resources“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: June 13, 2021.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: January (#14); February (#24); March (#21); April (#22); May (#18); June (#17); August (#12); September (#23)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#20); February to April (#22); March to May (#23); April to June (#18); May to July (#21); June to August (#17); July to September (#19); August to October (#19)

(No newsletter week top 5s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#12)

Discussion

Justina: Oh right… I remember you showed me this and tried to sell me on trying different search thingies.
Justin: Did it work?
Justina: No.
Justin: This one did dip a little from 2021, but overall its performance was fairly similar and August 2022 was one of its better months.
Justina: Please tell me we’re done with search.
Justin: While I definitely can’t tell you that, I can invite you to read Nick’s posts comparing DuckDuckGo Lite to Quwant Lite, setting up timer shortcuts in DuckDuckGo and Brave and also in Google, and reviewing Norton Safe Search for some reason.
Justina: Oh, a Google one? Maybe I’ll look.
Emu: …

28. Reviewing the HALOmask and är Mask

Go to “Reviewing the HALOmask and är Mask“

Author: Victor V. Gurbo. Published: December 2, 2020.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 1-4. Best rank #2 in weeks 1 and 2.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#4); February (#15)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#5); February to April (#25)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#3); 2020 (#18)

Commentary

Justin: Now here is an article that completed its New Year resolution in January and then mailed it in for the rest of the year.
Justina: Wow…
Justin: Victor’s in-depth mask review entered 2022 with a head of steam, threatened the top position for the weekly rank in week 1, and then just checked out.
Justina: So no one is into masks anymore?
Justin: So it seems… It did accrue a fair number of views after January, but this ranking is a testament both to how well it did in January and how strong the top three were that month.
Justina: What were the top three?
Justin: You’ll see much later… I will note before we continue that this is Victor’s highest ranked article for the second straight year.
Justina: No Bob Dylan this year?
Justin: Settle for Blob.
Justina: Alright.
Justin: And this is fourth place of the 2020 bunch.

27. Abraham Lincoln’s 1851 Letters on Work to John D. Johnston

Go to “Abraham Lincoln’s 1851 Letters on Work to John D. Johnston“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 4, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 35-37 and 45 (4 appearances). Best rank #1 in week 36.

Monthly Top 25s: September (#3); November (#11)

3-Month Top 25s: July to September (#10); August to October (#8); September to November (#7); October to December (#20)

Commentary

Justin: This was one of our surprises.
Justina: More history…
Justin: After doing nothing for nearly a year, it suddenly jumped in September along with the Casey at Bat poem. But then it surpassed it — and with a flood of hits, became the 7th of 8 articles to lead a weekly ranking.
Justina: Do we know why?
Justin: It was mostly Google hits… but I can’t imagine what triggered it. But it did do fairly well in November again, so does not seem to be a one-hit wonder.
Justina: I see…
Justin: Well, there are a couple of new Lincoln articles. Maybe we’ll see a repeat in 2023.
Justina: I hope not…

26. Sending SMS Messages From My Computer With XMPP Through JMP

Go to “Sending SMS Messages From My Computer With XMPP Through JMP“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: September 8, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 13. Best rank #4 in week 13.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#13); February (#11); March (#10); April (#12); July (#25); August (#19); October (#25);

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#10); February to April (#9); March to May (#16); April to June (#23)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#16)

Commentary

Justina: Oh great, is this another thing Nick doesn’t use anymore?
Justin: Oh no, he is still a happy JMP Chat customer.
Justina: That’s something, at least.
Justin: This article had a big November 2021, and carried the momentum into the first part of 2022. Faded slightly in the second half, but mostly overtaken by more articles joining the fray.

25. Nintendo Power’s 1999 Yoshi in Pokémon April Fools Prank

Go to “Nintendo Power’s 1999 Yoshi in Pokémon April Fools Prank“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 1, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 46. Best rank #2 in week 46.

Monthly Top 25s: November (#5); December (#20)

3-Month Top 25s: September to November (#14); October to December (#14)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#32)

Commentary

Justina: Wait… this one barely did anything?
Justin: Well, it didn’t have any monthly top 25s until November, but it was solidly in the top 50 all year, just trucking along — and then it broke out with a big November to climb into the top 25.
Justina: Weird…
Justin: It probably had something to do with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but who knows?
Emu: (Spoiler: Yoshi is still not in Pokémon Red and Blue.)
Justina: …

24. The Nice Boat 〜 A Look Back at the School Days Anime

Go to “The Nice Boat 〜 A Look Back at the School Days Anime“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: May 6, 2021.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: January (#19); February (#22); March (#17); April (#15); June (#19); July (#22); September (#19); October (#19); November (#20); December (#14)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#18); February to April (#19); March to May (#22); April to June (#20); May to July (#23); June to August (#23); July to September (#23); August to October (#21); September to November (#19); October to December (#18)

(No newsletter week top 5s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#21)

Commentary

Justin: There’s something to be said for consistency…
Justina: Is that the terrible anime Nick reviewed in 2021? Why is it here again!?
Justin: This is the first article in our top 51 to have made the 3-month top 25 in all 10 instances. Moreover, look at the range. Between #18 and #23 every time!
Justina: …Sigh.
Justin: Nick tweaked the introduction a bit and it ended up having its best ever month in December — also almost made its first weekly top-5 in week 52. I think this one may be on the upswing.
Justina: It shouldn’t be.
Emu: (Nice boat.)

Justin: I’m sure you’ll also want to read about Nick’s successful search for the missing “nice boat” replacement episode. It also had a solid December.
Justina: Trust me, I don’t.

23. Using an Amiga OS-Inspired Window Theme In XFCE With XFWM4

Go to: “Using an Amiga OS-Inspired Window Theme In XFCE With XFWM4“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: January 2, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 15-16 and 24 (3 appearances). Best rank #5 (all three weeks).

Monthly Top 25s: January (#18); February (#17); March (#13); April (#8); May (#19); June (#10); August (#20); September (#20); October (#20); November (#21); December (#24)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#17); February to April (#13); March to May (#14); April to June (#15); May to July (#19); June to August (#18); August to October (#22); September to November (#21); October to December (#25)

Commentary

Justin: One day after we did our 2021 year-in-review, Nick go to work publishing his first original article of 2022. It did well. 11/12 monthly top 25s and 9/10 3-month top 25s. Clutch stuff.
Justina: Why would you want to make your computer look old?
Justin: It’s cool! Nick doesn’t use the theme now though, still likes it but happy with his new XFCE set-up on EndeavourOS. He’s still using his Pikachu cursor from a later review, however.
Justina: I’d prefer a Jigglypuff cursor.

22. Installing LineageOS on a 2013 Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi)

Go to: “Installing LineageOS on a 2013 Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi)“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: July 28, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 32. Best rank #3 in week 32.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#22); February (#25); March (#9); April (#19); July (#23); August (#5)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#14); February to April (#15); March to May (#18); June to August (#8); July to September (#8); August to October (#7)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#49)

Commentary

Justina: …Did something happen in August?
Justin: For now we’ll just say it was the beneficiary of something happening to something else.
Emu: (Slipstream.)
Justina: Too tired to fret about the bird anymore.
Justin: For whatever it’s worth, Nick actually still uses this tablet as a reader.

21. Reviewing the Mastodon Twitter Crossposter

Go to: “Reviewing the Mastodon Twitter Crossposter“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: May 10, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 44-46. Best rank #2 in weeks 44-45.

Monthly Top 25s: May (#21); October (#12), November (#2); December (#17)

3-Month Top 25s: September to November (#5); October to December (#4)

Commentary

Justina: Was this article a Musk thing?
Justin: Yes… but it was also a disappointment.
Justina: How so? What happened?
Justin: I’ll… hold off on that for now. But new readers should make sure to see the update note on the article.
Justina: Is Nick not using this either?
Justin: There were circumstances!
Emu: …

The top 51 most-visited articles of 2022 (20-11)

Justin: Alright, because we wanted to finish in the most clutch way possible, I let Justina take another break while I filled in all of the rankings.
Emu: Clutch indeed.
Justin: Man, imagine if Nick spent more time preparing than writing a very long review of a spin-off sequel visual novel.
Justina: What time is it!?
Justin: 6:23.
Justina: We are approaching 20 hours!
Justin: But look at how happy Pumptake is with his quince.
Justina: We better finish soon… that will only work for so long.
Emu: (Nods.)
Justin: Et tu emu!?

20. How the Forget-Me-Not Flower Found Its Name

Go to: “How the Forget-Me-Not Flower Found Its Name“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: March 11, 2021.

Rankings

Monthly Top 25s: January (#15); February (#12); March (#12); April (#7); May (#13); June (#13); July (#19); August (#24); September (#16); October (#21); December (#15)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#12); February to April (#10); March to May (#12); April to June (#13); May to July (#17); June to August (#19); July to September (#21); August to October (#23); September to November (#23); October to December (#22)

(No newsletter week top-5s)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#22)

Commentary

Justin: Ah, forget it not. Our flowery post improved on its 2021 solid performance in all respects.
Justina: I guess flowers are cool.
Justin: Some dark myths, but the flower is still charming.
Emu: (Nods.)

19. A Look at ProxiTok, a TikTok Frontend

Go to “A Look at ProxiTok, a TikTok Frontend“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: May 14, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 25s: Appeared in weeks 25, 29, 36, 49-50 (5 appearances). Best Rank: #3 in weeks 25, 49-50.

Monthly Top 25s: May (#16); June (#9); July (#7); August (#7); September (#10); October (#18); November (#15); December (#5)

3-Month Top 25s: April to June (#21); May to July (#13); June to August (#9); July to September (#10); August to October (#15); September to December (#13)

Commentary

Justina: Even I don’t use TikTok.
Justin: Neither does Nick, of course.
Justina: Right, I remember.
Justin: So of course he reviewed a TikTok proxy that he hasn’t used since the review.
Justina: But of course.
Justin: He does show you how to follow our own Victor V. Gurbo on TikTok.
Emu: (Stick with YouTube, Victor.)
Justina: The emu is giving advice!?

18. Biden, Lincoln, and Counting Back From the President’s Birth

Go to “Biden, Lincoln, and Counting Back From the President’s Birth“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 29, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 25s: Appeared in weeks 19-21, 27, and 34 (5 appearances). Best rank #2 in week 20.

Monthly Top 25s: May (#5), June (#15); July (#6); August (#11); September (#14); October (#16); December (#21)

3-Month Top 25s: March to May (#8); April to June (#7); May to July (#7); June to August (#12); July to September (#12); August to October (#14); September to November (#20); October to December (#23)

Commentary

Justin: So what Nick did here…
Justina: My eyes glazed over reading the explanation, please don’t.
Emu: …
Justin: Fine — this was a fun little study inspired by Nick learning that President Joe Biden was born closer to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination than to his own inauguration.
Justina: Really? …He’s old.
Justin: Come for that fun fact, stay for the Reagan-Martin Van Buren connection. This post flew out of the gate with a very strong May (it was better than the ranking would indicate), but leveled out after that. No Biden-birthday surge, alas.
Emu: (Sigh.)
Justina: It’s feeling sympathy!?

17. Ghostwriter Markdown Editor Review

Go to “Ghostwriter Markdown Editor Review“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: October 7, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 25s: Appeared in weeks 39-43. Best rank #3 in weeks 41-42.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#11); February (#13); March (#18); April (#21); May (#15); June (#18); July (#18); September (#17); October (#3); November (#14); December (#16)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#13); February to April (#16); March to May (#19); April to June (#17); May to July (#18); June to August (#22); July to September (#22); August to October (#9); September to November (#11); October to December (#9)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#45)

Commentary

Justina: I still don’t get the point of this markdown thing.
Justin: You need to read Nick’s case for it.
Justina: No thanks.
Justin: We’re actually using the WordPress editor for this article. Nick tells me this is making the best case for markdown yet.
Justina: Does he still use this thing?
Justin: Indeed. It changed ownership from the original developer to KDE — that explains the interest which led to its big October.

16. Performing Site-Specific Searches With DuckDuckGo

Go to “Performing Site-Specific Searches With DuckDuckGo“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: August 8, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 25s: Appeared in weeks 7 and 12. Best rank #5.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#9); February (#6); March (#6); April (#10); May (#12); June (#8); July (#13); August (#9); September (#18);

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#8); February to April (#6); March to May (#10); April to June (#14); May to July (#11); June to August (#15); July to September (#16)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#15)

Commentary

Justin: The ducks return!
Emu: (Cheers.)
Justina: This again…
Justin: Nick doesn’t use DuckDuckGo as his primary search engine anymore, but he does still use the Project Gutenberg shortcut he covered here.
Emu: (What does he use?)
Justina: Unnecessary question!
Justin: Brave Search. This post started the year strong, but as you can see — faded down the stretch.

15. Peekier Search Engine Review

Go to “Peekier Search Engine Review“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: February 26, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 10-11, 16, 26, and 51 (5 appearances). Best rank #4 in weeks 10 and 16.

Monthly Top 25s: March (#7), April (#17), May (#21), June (#11); July (#12); August (#15); September (#9); October (#10); November (#13); December (#6)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#19); February to April (#14); March to May (#13); April to June (#16); May to July (#16); June to August (#15); July to September (#14); August to October (#12); September to November (#13); October to December (#12)

Commentary

Justina: …What is this.
Justin: A nifty little search tool which displays results in a fun way.
Justina: I kind of like the mascot. Are they all birds?

Emu: (Cheers.)
Justin: I think just this and DuckDuckGo. But you can try Thunderbird and Firefox with the Two little birds theme.

14. Persona 4 Golden Digital Artbook Review (Steam)

Go to “Persona 4 Golden Digital Artbook Review (Steam)“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 15, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 25-26. Best rank #3 in week 26.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#8); February (#8); March (#8); April (#18); May (#24); June (#4); July (#17); August (#25); September (#22); October (#11); November (#16); December (#19)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#7); February to April (#7); March to May (#15); April to June (#14); May to July (#15); June to August (#16); July to September (#21); August to October (#18); September to November (#16); October to December (#15)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#4); 2020 (#6)

Commentary

Justin: Back for the third year in a row, albeit a bit further down in the rankings — the Persona 4 Golden Digital Artbook review.
Justina: It’s just an artbook… is he ever going to write about the game?
Justin: He did in 2020! He actually thinks his earlier review of a physical artbook for the original Persona 4 was more interesting, but the people want what the people want.
Justina: I see…
Justin: He does still plan to do some Persona 4 content. While this post didn’t reach the heights it did in 2021, it had a solid year and almost took a top spot in the weekly rank back in June.

13. What is Becovi Search?

Go to “What is Becovi Search?“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: July 10, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 28. Best rank #1 in week 28.

Monthly Top 25s: July (#1)

3-Month Top 25s: May to July (#5); June to August (#3); July to September (#3)

Commentary

Justin: You’re going to love this.
Justina: I doubt it.
Justin: So Nick sometimes sees random search engines in our referrer logs.
Justina: I didn’t ask.
Justin: And then writes about them.
Justina: Sure, alright.
Justin: This one made Hacker News page 1!
Emu: (Throws confetti.)
Justina: Where did the bird get party favors!?
Justin: Hacker News is powerful.
Justina: Would anyone use this search thing?
Justin: No.
Justina: …

12. The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and Analysis

Go to “The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and Analysis“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: January 18, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 28-31 and 50-52 (7 appearances). Best rank #4 (4 times).

Monthly Top 25s: April (#13); May (#9); June (#6); July (#4); August (#8); September (#6); October (#8); November (#10); December (#3)

3-Month Top 25s: March to May (#17); April to June (#11); May to July (#9); June to August (#7); July to September (#7); August to October (#6); September to November (#10); October to December (#7)

Commentary

Justin: One of Nick’s first articles of the year was an in-depth analysis of Pokémon stat changes between generations 1 and 2.
Justina: What about that battle he and Victor were supposed to have two years ago?
Justin: Work in progress.
Justina: …
Emu: …
Justin: Nick didn’t actually expect much from this one — and it did nothing for two months. Then it took off. Who knew?

11. An Early Review of Pixelfed – Instagram Alternative

Go to “An Early Review of Pixelfed – Instagram Alternative“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 13, 2020.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 6, 18, 23, 30, 44-47, and 51-52 (10 appearances). Best rank #2 in week 51.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#7); February (#9); March (#15); April (#9); May (#8); June (#12); August (#13); September (#15); October (#17); November (#4); December (#7)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#9); February to April (#8); March to May (#9); April to June (#9); May to July (#10); June to August (#13); July to September (#16); August to October (#15); September to November (#8); October to December (#6)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#6); 2020 (#1)

Commentary

Justin: Pixelfed returns.
Justina: …How many Pixelfed articles are there?
Justin: Three… but this is the highest ranked, fear not.
Justina: Whew.
Justin: Nick still posts on Pixelfed. Find him here or better yet, follow the ATOM feed. This post was consistent all year, but posted its two best all-time months in May and November to actually improve on its 2021 performance in numerical terms.

The Top 10 Most-Visited Articles of 2020

10. How to Find Substack RSS Feeds and Other Notes

Go to “How to Find Substack RSS Feeds and Other Notes“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: June 19, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 1-6, 10-11, 14, and 27 (10 appearances). Best rank #4 (4 times).

Monthly Top 25s: January (#5); February (#5); March (#4); April (#5); May (#10); June (#14); July (#8); August (#14); September (#12); October (#15); November (#17); December (#13)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#4); February to April (#5); March to May (#7); April to June (#10); May to July (#12); June to August (#14); July to September (#13); August to October (#13); September to November (#17); October to December (#16)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#7)

Commentary

Justina: What if I don’t want to subscribe at all?
Justin: You just get your feed reader ready and add the feed.
Justina: …
Justin: I have a few Substack feeds in my feed reader. Good tool. Better than email.
Emu: (What if they are paywalled?)
Justin: (Then you either have to pay or be sad.)
Justina: Stop discussing tech with the bird!
Justin: This one started very strong but faded a little in the end. Didn’t quite match its 2021 showing.

9. Review of the Teracube 2e Smartphone

Go to “Review of the Teracube 2e Smartphone“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 19, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 17-18, 24, 32-33, and 47 (6 appearances). Best rank #3 in weeks 24 and 32.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#21); February (#21); March (#11); April (#6); May (#11); June (#5); July (#16); August (#4); September (#7); October (#7); November (#9); December (#18)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#16); February to April (#11); March to May (#11); April to June (#8); May to July (#11); June to August (#6); July to September (#6); August to October (#5); September to November: (#9); October to December (#11)

Commentary

Justin: It didn’t do much right when it was published in November 2021, but it came on strong in 2022.
Justina: Does Nick still use the phone?
Justin: Not as his daily driver.
Justina: …Of course.
Justin: This one will come up again, so I’ll leave it here for now.
Justina: …Oh no.

8. Cross-posting from Mastodon to Twitter

Go to “Cross-posting from Mastodon to Twitter“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 18, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 43-51. Best rank #1 in weeks 44-48 and 51 (6 times).

Monthly Top 25s: April (#20); May (#25); October (#6); November (#1); December (#2)

3-Month Top 25s: April to June (#25); August to October (#17); September to November (#2); October to December (#1)

Commentary

Justina: …This is why you said so little about the Mastodon post before, isn’t it?
Emu: (Don…)
Justina: Don’t even, bird!
Justin: Nick found this tool and wrote a short Leaflet about it. The Leaflet did well, so he figured that he should write a full review. The review didn’t do well after its first two weeks. Then Mr. Elon Musk bought Twitter, which Nick supported, and it drove traffic to both Mastodon Twitter Crossposter articles — but the tiny one dominated in terms of views, making Nick sad.
Justina: So does he still use it?
Justin: Alas no. So many people were using it that, in conjunction with Twitter not raising the post limit for the app, the developer is closing his main instance. Nick explained here and in an update to the post.
Justina: I’m alright.
Justin: The software still works though — -self-host your own if you want to cross-post!
Justina: No.

7. The Last Stand of Constantine XI

Go to “The Last Stand of Constantine XI“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: May 30, 2020.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 7-9, 12, 14-15, 19-20, 22-23, 31, 38, 50 (13 appearances). Best rank #3 in weeks 20 and 22.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#6); February (#4); March (#5); April (#4); May (#6); June (#7); July (#11); August (#10); September (#11); October (#13); November (#6); December (#12)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#6); February to April (#4); March to May (#6); April to June (#6); May to July (#8); June to August (#10); July to September (#11); August to October (#11); September to November (#12); October to December (#10)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#8); 2020 (#2)

Commentary

Justina: …This article is going to haunt me every New Years.
Emu: (So moving still…)
Justin: Constantine XI is not only back for the third straight year, but it also became the king of 2020 after being fourth among the 2020 articles in 2021. Nick made a few tweaks to the introduction as well.
Justina: There’s no hope, is there?
Justin: Not for you, fair Justina. Constantine had his second best all time month in terms of views in November, following his best in May. Just getting started. Feeling a weekly #1 this year in May.
Emu: (He will rise again.)
Justina: This bird may cause a war.

6. Lukol Search Engine Shows Up in Logs

Go to “Lukol Search Engine Shows Up in Logs“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: April 28, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in week 21. Best rank #2 in week 21.

Monthly Top 25s: May (#2); June (#25)

3-Month Top 25s: March to May (#3); April to June (#2); May to July (#2)

Commentary

Justina: Is this like that Becovi thing?
Justin: Indeed, this was our first Hacker News page one post of the year. It did big numbers. Nick offered a critique of this search tool’s privacy policy.
Justina: So no one would use it?
Justin: …I hope not.
Emu: (Crosses feathers)
Justina: What does that even mean, bird?
Justin: I wonder why it didn’t have a first-place week…
Justina: I have a bad feeling…

5. Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)

Go to “Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: July 5, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 1-20, 21-24, 26, 28, 30, 32-34, 38-40, 42, 44, 48-49, and 52 (36 appearances). Best rank #2 in weeks 4 and 32.

Monthly Top 25s: January (#2); February (#3); March (#3); April (#3) May (#7); June (#3); July (#5); August (#2); September (#5); October (#4); November (#7); December (#4)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#3); February to April (#3); March to May (#5); April to June (#5); May to July (#6); June to August (#5); July to September (#5); August to October (#3); September to November (#6); October to December (#5)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#9)

Commentary

Justin: Improving dramatically on a very strong showing in 2021, Nick’s article on installing Ubuntu Touch on a Nexus 7!
Justina: Does he use it?
Justin: No.
Justina: Of course not…
Justin: He uses the Nexus 7 he installed LineageOS on, but not so many people are interested in reading about it — all the way down at #22. He did try to install Ubuntu Touch on a phone, but it didn’t work so now he’s running LineageOS on that phone.
Justina: TMI.

4. Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021)

Go to “Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021)“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 27, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks: 1-31, 33-41, 43, 48 (42 appearances). Best rank #1 in weeks 8-9, 14, 19, 23, and 26-27 (7 times).

Monthly Top 25s: January (#3); February (#2); March (#2); April (#2); May (#4); June (#2); July (#3); August (#5); September (#4); October (#5); November (#12); December (#10)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#2); February to April (#2); March to May (#4); April to June (#4); May to July (#4); June to August (#4); July to September (#4); August to October (#4); September to November (#4); October to December (#8)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#14)

Commentary

Justin: Despite only being online for a month and four days, this article came in 14th place for 2021… it only got stronger from there… before fading a bit after August.
Justina: 2021…
Justin: Yeah… Nick should do an update soon.
Emu: …
Justin: He does use most of the apps he discussed, however. So there’s that.
Justina: Shock!
Justin: This article was, along with… a post we will discuss soon… dominant for the first 2/3 of the year. It also had the second most weekly number one placings, albeit the last was in July.

3. Man Uploads 2,000,000 YouTube Videos

Go to “Man Uploads 2,000,000 YouTube Videos“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: May 8, 2022.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 21-22. Best rank #1 in week 21.

Monthly Top 25s: May (#1); June (#21)

3-Month Top 25s: March to May (#1); April to June (#1); May to July (#1)

Commentary

Justina: This thing is twelve words!
Justin: Indeed, Nick shot it off one night after watching a YouTube video. Was shared to Hacker News, made page one… and then can you believe this?
Justina: What?
Justin: Someone changed the link to a different post about the same thing!
Justina: Good? Again, Nick wrote like five words.
Emu: (Like…)
Justina: What was that!?
Justin: Nick was a bit confused the next morning because it was shared by someone several hours before he checked the computer. He got to the bottom of it though. Had the Leaflet stayed as the shared post.. it may have been #2 in the end…
Emu: (So close, yet so far.)

2. The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei

Go to “The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: March 14, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 1-52 (52 appearances). Best rank #1 in weeks 1-7, 10-13, 15-18, 20, 22, 24-25, 30-31, 35, 37-38, 41-43, 49-50, 52 (30 times)

Monthly Top 25s: January (#1); February (#1); March (#1); April (#1); May (#3); June (#1); July (#2); August (#3); September (#1); October (#1); November (#2); December (#1)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#1); February to April (#1); March to May (#2); April to June (#3); May to July (#3); June to August (#2); July to September (#2); August to October (#2); September to November (#1); October to December (#2)

Previous Year Ranks: 2021 (#2)

Commentary

Justin: The eternal second…
Emu: (But still so, so beautiful.)
Justina: Again! This makes no sense! How is it second?
Justin: Like last year, ‘ole tsuki ga kirei was the dominant article throughout the year. It made the weekly top five in all 52 weeks, coming in first 30 times. It topped the monthly ranking on seven occasions, and four of the instances it did not were due to Hacker News boosts.
Justina: So, what happened?
Justin: Well, I remembered your confusion last year — so we added the 3-month rankings. See, if you just look at the first two, it’s hard to tell how tsuki ga kirei wasn’t #1. But then on the three-month rankings, you see it only led three times, albeit never finished lower than third.
Emu: …
Justina: I guess.
Justin: It was much stronger in the first half of the year than second — but our history of the Japanese love confession remains the strongest and most consistent article going into 2023.

1. Review of /e/ – An Android Alternative For Mobile Phones

Go to “Review of /e/ – An Android Alternative For Mobile Phones“

Author: Nicholas A. Ferrell. Published: November 21, 2021.

Rankings

Newsletter Week Top 5s: Appeared in weeks 32-43, 47-48 (14 appearances). Best rank #1 in weeks 32-34 and 39-40 (5 times).

Monthly Top 25s: February (#16); March (#22); April (#23); August (#1); September (#2); October (#2); November (#8); December (#9)

3-Month Top 25s: January to March (#25); February to April (#21); June to August (#1); July to September (#1); August to October (#1); September to November (#3); October to December (#3)

Commentary

Justin: Nick wrote the Teracube 2e article to set this one up, and the F-Droid review was an afterthought. Eight days in November 2021 produced three of the top nine articles in 2022. I present our article of the year and most-read article of all time, a review of /e/ OS.
Justina: He doesn’t still use this, right?
Justin: Obviously.
Justina: …
Nick: Nick was flying to Texas around the same time I was flying to Florida. He only learned that evening in August that someone had shared his /e/ OS article to Hacker News. It did big time views… let’s just say it more than doubled up last year’s top article and Hacker News star… our year end battle was over on the spot.
Emu: (The Moon was overshadowed…)
Justin: It was respectable before though. Despite not being indexed on Google from November 2021 until its Hacker News appearance in August, it notched a few monthly top 25s… Nick wrote an article complaining about the state of affairs a few days before the Hacker News sharing.
Justina: Who shared it?
Justin: Not Nick, he does share articles on Hacker News, but never his own. Someone with good taste.
Justina: I see.
Justin: To its credit, it took advantage of the Hacker News success and posted strong numbers for the rest of the year after the surge died down. It was only a few views shy of being the top article in both September and October. Nick wrote a follow-up based on some Hacker News commenter complaints about his headline.
Justina: …I’ll pass.

Justin and Justina parting shots

Justin: Well another year in the books. Any parting shots, Justina?
Justina: No, I’m going home. You’ve kept me here for 21 hours.
Emu: (It was between 20 and 21…)
Justina: Stop nitpicking, bird.
Justin: I suppose it has been a long time. Well, thank you for joining us and following our commentary. If you want to help us finally make one of these rankings, read our dialogues and even consider following them via RSS or ATOM.
Justina: If you promise one of my articles makes it next year, I promise not to complain (much).
Emu: (I don’t believe her.)
Justina: Are you picking a fight, bird?
Justin: I’ll believe her. Help us make the top 51 next year! But… in any event… we hope you keep reading and following The New Leaf Journal.

Conclusion

I (Nick) will take over the conclusion. Thank you to Justin, Justina, the Emu, Proton Von, and Mrs. Quince for helping me with our year-in-review on short notice. 2022 was a year of great growth at The New Leaf Journal, but in running the site, I noticed many things that we need to improve on in terms of planning articles and making content more discoverable. I am working on improving the site in 2023 while also publishing new and interesting content. You can find all of our articles in our full archive. Thank you as always for reading and following The New Leaf Journal, and I look forward to ensuring that there are plenty of new articles in our 2023 ranking (which I will start further in advance this year…). If you use a feed reader, make sure to see our full collection of RSS, ATOM, and JSON feeds.

(January 9, 2023 Update: You can see a clean version of the top 51 here.)