Is it reasonable to assume that the subset of visitors to a website who have installed the toolbar is a representative one for most purposes? I guess it’s up to you…

What you’re talking about is a bias in the user sample, but I’m not convinced the bias goes in the direction that you talk about. I think that computer-unsavvy people are less likely to have heard about Alexa, and hence less likely to use it. Computer-savvy people may be more likely to know of the risks of “spyware”, but may trade this off against the benefits.

Also, unlike the Google Toolbar, which is often offered to large numbers of people whether they are actively looking for it or not, I don’t think the Alexa Toolbar is “offered” to people not actively looking for it. I’m sure there is some sort of bias in the user sample. Perhaps, it is used more by people who are website proprietors or SEO people for whom the value of seeing a usage rank exceeds the costs of having spyware. Nonetheless, I don’t think the bias is as simple as you suggest.

In fact, most tech sites, that tech-savvy people are likely to visit, seem to be ranked pretty well. Slashdot has a rank of 1270 compared with a rank of 1091 for MIT, 4724 for Princeton, and 2081 for Hindustan Times. If the tech-savvy crowd that visits Slashdot is less likely to use the Alexa toolbar, then it would seem that Slashdot’s “true” rank would be substantially higher than what it already appears to be, a proposition that I doubt.

I do think that Alexa ranks are not very reliable indicators of inter-site comparison beyond the top 100,000, even in the absence of any general direction of user bias — because a small amount of variation in who has a toolbar could have a large effect on the rankings. Nonetheless, when we are looking at the same site over a period of time, I think it does give some sort of picture. I’ve looked at Alexa statistics for a number of websites and compared them to other indicators of activity, and they generally seem to tell a similar story.

Despite the limitations of Alexa data, I use it in conjunction with other data to paint a general picture.

As for PlanetMath, I don’t know what they changed with their jsMath, but their pages take awfully long to load and often just don’t work for several of us. (Speed matters for websites. )

Will the mathematicians run the software? … or the software run the mathematicians?

Don’t bother asking that question there — it’s way too “discussiony”.

Brandon Moon spent 17 years in jail for a rape that he did not commit. He was convicted after being picked from a lineup 18 months after the rape in which he was the only blue eyed white man. He was a sophomore in college and a veteran of four years in the air force when he was accused. He was released due to DNA evidence after help from the Innocence Project. He spent his prison years learning about blood tests, eye witness identification and law. Before the Innocence Project became involved, Moon represented himself and repeatedly applied for relief but, according to his lawyer he was “bounced around the courts like a Ping-Pong ball” because “The courts are so hostile to pro se litigants. The instinct is to deny, deny, deny.”Barbara Novovitch, free after 17 years for a rape that he did not commit, New York Times, 12/22/2004

[[William Marbury]] was appointed as a judge before there were any U.S. law schools or licensing of lawyers. His appointment was cancelled so he successfully sued President Madison. ”[[Marbury v. Madison]]” solidified the United States’ system of checks and balances and gave the judicial branch equal power with the executive and legislative branches. “The Thomas Jefferson Administrations”. Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Online Edition. Gale Group, 2002. Page 3.

[[William Penn]] represented himself successfully following his 1670 arrest with William Meade. Penn was accused of preaching before a gathering in the street, which Penn had deliberately provoked in order to test the validity of the new law against assembly. Penn pleaded for his right to see a copy of the charges laid against him and the laws he had supposedly broken, but the judge (the Lord Mayor of London) refused — even though this right was guaranteed by the law. The judge directed the jury to come to a verdict without hearing the defense.Hans Fantel, “William Penn: Apostle of Dissent,” William Morrow & Co., New York, 1974, p.6, ISBN 0-688-00310-9 pp. 117-120. When invited by the judge to reconsider their verdict and to select a new foreman, the members of the jury refused, and were sent to a cell over several nights to mull over their decision. The Lord Mayor then told the jury, “You shall go together and bring in another verdict, or you shall starve”. The judge had Penn sent to Newgate prison (on a charge of contempt of court). The full jury followed him, and the jury members were fined the equivalent of a year’s wages each. Fantel, p. 124Bonamy Dobrée, “William Penn: Quaker and Pioneer,” Houghton Mifflin Co., 1932, New York, p. 71.The members of the jury, fighting their case from prison, managed to win the right for all English juries to be free from the control of judges. This case was one of the more important trials that shaped the future concept of American freedom (see [[Jury nullification]]) and was a victory for the use of the writ of [[habeas corpus]] as a means of freeing those unlawfully detained.

==Judicial Canons revised by the U.S. Judiciary in 2009==

The current code of conduct for United States Judges requires “A judge should accord to every person who is legally interested in a proceeding, or the person’s lawyer full right to be heard according to law”. On March 17, 2009, a new code, going into effect on July 1, 2009, was announced requiring “A judge should accord to every person who has a legal interest in a proceeding, and that person’s lawyer, the full right to be heard according to law.” The wording was changed from a person “or” their lawyer to a person “and” their lawyer.http://www.uscourts.gov/guide/vol2/ch1.cfmhttp://www.uscourts.gov/library/Current_Code_with_Markup_03-03-08.pdfhttp://www.uscourts.gov/library/codeOfConduct/Revised_Code_Effective_July-01-09.pdf

That aside, it remains that instructors more often than not recommend the most expensive text books [conspiracy theory: Instructors and Publishers have deals], because price is the last thing on their mind. I do not agree with you in the sense that no student buys just one text book at $100 (say). It all adds up to something considerable. Semester rental schemes are a good solution i guess.

Interesting blog btw.