Dude runs Opera
Recently I came across an interesting post on Daring Fireball linking to an intriguing comic:
Remember Sean Tevis, the information architect who decided to run for the state legislature in Kansas with an xkcd-style web comic promoting his campaign? He lost, but it was close, and he’s raising money in a similar fashion again. He is not accepting any money from industry or corporate lobbyists, only direct contributions from voters.
Also interesting: a poll commissioned by his campaign just before the election last year showed an incredibly strong correlation based on browser usage. IE 6, AOL, and non-Internet users were more likely to prefer Tevis’s opponent, Republican Arlen Siegfreid. Firefox, Safari, and Chrome users were more likely to prefer Tevis.
First the obligatory: “Oh, ha ha. I wonder who IE 6 users voted for in this past election.”
The the obvious: “Actually…I wonder if this could be tested.”
And so I spent some time last week putting together some static HTML files with separate Google Analytics settings in order to see if there is in fact a connection to be made between the seemingly trivial (a person’s web browser preference) and the more substantial (the same person’s political preferences and the can of worms that comes with it).
The result is Browsaticks.
Arrive at the site and you’re presented with a simple statement:
Simply make your choice, and you’ll be redirected to a page that will print your political leaning, your current browser, and your operating system.
These stats are then tracked by Google Analytics.
The results won’t be scientific or (maybe even accurate!), and I have no idea what an adequate sample size for a test like this would be, but the results could be interesting.
So anyway, feel free to check it out and pass it to your friends, and I’ll post the results if a substantial sample is created.
