August was a month of contrasts — some platforms heating up like a midsummer sidewalk, others cooling down faster than gelato in Strasbourg. Let’s take a tour.
Sales
- Doubled in June (up 100%) — a strong sign the shop is resonating.
Facebook (tracking since March)
- Views down 10%, reach down 7%, interactions down 14%, clicks down 67%, and visits down 56%.
- Followers were flat overall, with new followers dropping 88%.
- Most viewed: Gravity? Never Heard of It.
- Second most viewed: Swiss Food.
Medium Blog
- Views up 23%, reads up 12%, followers surged 92%.
- Top viewed and read post (for the fifth month running): Swagger vs. ReDoc: The Ultimate Showdown of API Documentation Titans.
- Runner-up: 10 Politically Incorrect Jokes That Will Make You Laugh.
- Top earners: Go: The Language That Said Nah to Nonsense and Jinja2: The Templating Engine That Hides in Plain Sight.
LumAIere.com
- Page views up 56%, blog views up 35%, users up 83%.
- Most viewed page: LumAIere homepage.
- Second: Abstract Expressionism gallery.
- Most viewed blog: Deep Dive into Libpostal Address Parsing.
- Second: 15 Best Jokes from the Most Famous Comedians.
X.com
- Impressions soared 253%, likes up 167%, engagements up 138%.
- Followers up 17%, though new follows dipped 18%.
- Most viewed post: Geometry in Motion.
- Second: July Recap.
- Wildcard winner: A reply to @grok please explain, which outperformed everything else by a wide margin.
TikTok (brand new since May 12)
- Video views up 74%, profile views up 153%, likes up 89%.
- Comments up 200%, though shares dropped 75%.
- Followers up 27%, with new follows up 200%.
- Most viewed: Riding the Little Red Elevator.
- Second: ducks.
- Most liked: Renaissance Banquet.
- Second most liked: Surreal Architectural Maze.
Observations
- Most popular blog posts: Swagger vs. ReDoc, Politically Incorrect Jokes, Libpostal Deep Dive, and 15 Best Jokes. Humor and practical tech continue to dominate.
- Least popular: Travel posts on Zurich fountains and Konstanz lakeside had fewer clicks compared to AI/testing content.
- Patterns: Humor + technical deep dives = engagement. Travel = lighter engagement, though still important for brand mix.
- Successful actions: Consistent posting, X engagement, and TikTok video experiments.
- Unsuccessful actions: Facebook ads or content — numbers fell across the board there. Shares on TikTok also need adjusting.
- Interesting tidbit: Replies on X can outperform original posts. That “please explain” reply? It explained itself — loud and clear.
Looking Ahead to September
The Artist Series and Testing Frameworks: Choose Your Fighter march on. Expect dives into:
- Zookeeper
- Apache BookKeeper
- MirrorMaker
- Tiered Storage
- Web3
- Forge (NFT focus)
And more travel (with a limerick to set the mood):
There once was a traveler spry, Who chased down the clouds in the sky. With a map and a grin, They dove right on in — And left with more stories than pie.
Art Prompt: An airy countryside tableau bathed in luminous pastel tones, rolling hills dotted with villagers in timeless attire, painted with quick, dappled brushstrokes that capture fleeting light and shadow. The atmosphere feels alive with motion, as if laughter drifts in the air. Warm peach and golden yellows dominate, balanced by soft lavender skies and hints of cool blue in shadowed corners. Figures move gracefully, blending into the landscape rather than standing apart, evoking harmony between humanity and nature.
Video Prompt: Begin with sweeping pans across sunlit hills awash in golden glow, transitioning into dynamic cuts of villagers laughing, dancing, and moving in rhythm with fluttering light. Camera shifts softly blur between close-ups of smiling faces and wide angles of the glowing countryside, syncing each movement with the play of color — peach, lavender, and cool blues flickering like brushstrokes across the screen. The mood should feel alive, fleeting, and joyful, as though the scene itself might vanish with the next breeze.
Songs to go with it:
- Myth — Beach House
- Sun Hands — Local Natives
Follow for more art, testing battles, and travel stories — and drop a comment if there’s a September topic you’re hoping to see!