Like any good webmaster, I check my visitor data pretty regularly. Over the past few months I’ve noticed some thing interesting–I get way more downloads of the Magic of Eyri Podcast in China than in the United States.
My stats, let me show you them:
Numbers don't lie--China uses more of my bandwidth.
Yes, I have more page views and hits in the U.S. of A than anywhere else, but the bandwidth usage in China is nearly twice the amount of the USA. I brought this up with some writer pals at ConClave back in October, and one mentioned that fantasy stuff is really popular in China right now. I mentioned this to a friend, and she asked a Chinese student she tutors and the student told her that podcasts are a popular method for learning English.
Oh boy.
I am equally amused and concerned that there might be scores of folks in China (or other places) learning English via my horrible Michigan accent, silly voices, made up words, and amateur voice acting. If you’re ever toolin’ round Shanghai and hear someone talking like this, then I’m probably to blame.
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I notice that Russia is number 3 up there. While it is entirely possible that you’ve got a bunch of people in China downloading the cast to learn English or indulge in some fantasy lit, it seems more likely to me that this is Chinese and Russian computers trolling for info. The two countries have government and private organizations that mine for data constantly — mostly for unsavory reasons. Internet traffic emanating from their networks is loaded with hacker systems, identity thieves, and spies. A little less exciting, I suppose. I am sure they are not taking your identity though.
That said, I would look for Shanghai black market copies of The Magic of Earl and the Bang Bang Super Phoenix Death Ray.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2092661.stm
Yeah, the trolling for data thing was something that crossed my mind as well, at least in regards to Russia–as most of my spam comments are written in Russian.