I found myself refreshing the WordPress Jetpack stats page a lot, so I wrote a short script to take care of that for me. It refreshes every 10 minutes hour. Don’t forget to add your Jetpack API key. And your own sites.

(assumptions: you have Python installed http://python.org and have a plain-text editor handy. PyCharm and Emacs are probably overkill for this exercise, but that’s all I’ve got.)

# your API key, maybe hidden in your dashboard somewhere?
api_key = 'your_api_key'
refresh_rate = 3600 # in seconds, so, every hour.

# all of your sites you care about and are allowed to check
sites = [
    'http://oversimplified.net',
    'http://jameskersey.com',
    'http://theamokbros.com',
]

import urllib2
import time
from datetime import datetime

# make the url that gets the data
def get_api_string(key, blog_uri):
    return 'http://stats.wordpress.com/csv.php?api_key=' + key + '&blog_uri=' \
        + blog_uri + '&table=views&days=1&summarize'

# get the views from the url that gets the data
def get_views(key, uri):
    views_url = get_api_string(key, uri)
    response = urllib2.urlopen(views_url)
    result = response.read()
    views = result.split("\n")[1]
    return views


# do the things!
while True:
    print str(datetime.now())
    for site in sites:
        print site + ": " + get_views(api_key, site)
    time.sleep(refresh_rate)

Then run it like this in a terminal window:

c:\Users\jkersey\Dashboard>python MainWindow.py

Then kind of resize the window and put it someplace.

And you’re all set!

I wanted a lightweight laptop as an on-the-couch programming machine to run PyCharm, Emacs, and make some things with Python. Something with a good keyboard, screen resolution higher than 1280×800, and one of those trackpoint mouse things. Budget: $200 Read the rest of this entry »

More Javascript, trying to make something like the classic Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
Read the rest of this entry »

Check out my latest comic series: The Amok Bros.!
Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back! If you missed the first installment of Python Editing for Blender, it was mostly about getting set up and adding keyword completion to PyCharm. Read the rest of this entry »

A few things I’ve done since I started working with Python scipting in Blender:
Read the rest of this entry »

My Javascript game is up, here’s a quick video: Shoot some robots!
Read the rest of this entry »

Finally getting to work with html5 a little. I’ll be updating it shortly (and, I hope, quickly). x: fire z: jet pack left and right: move Update: This turned into Doctor Robot a couple of months later.
Read the rest of this entry »

Shift-Space: Rotate Canvas
This, for me, is a huge deal.

Also, I picked up a Belkin n52te Razer Nostromo to use as a left-hand controller.

This is not what I’m working on, but it will likely be what I work on next.