Checking out Shayne's post got me thinking about all the data we're creating about our personal lives, and how we are leveraging it. Top 10 Album lists are a time honored tradition, but in the past most music fans would create their list based on careful consideration of the merits of each album - emotional, musical and otherwise. Shayne takes the logical shortcut - simply sort your iTunes library based on what you played the most. (For many of us, this might reveal guilty pleasures that are more enjoyable than admirable.)
The king of stats in undoubtedly my old friend Nick Felton, a New York graphic designer who has gained recognition for his Annual Reports, tracking everything from drinks to miles walked. The Wall Street Journal just did a piece on Nick and fellow personal data leveragers.
Check it out here, and be sure to watch the video:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122852285532784401.html
I used to record my personal surfing data (session location, conditions, friends, best rides...) but I stopped back in 1995. It would be interesting to go re-read those surfing journals now.
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