Would you believe I came across this whilst looking for a real-time W3SVC traffic log analyzer for IIS 5/Windows XP? Not, I hasten to add, as an actual return from a search engine in response to my query about log readers, but as an incidental post on a coding blog that was a return on that query.

The stream-of-consciousness nature of the ‘Net can at times make me fear for the future of Western technological society. It reminds me of a statement in the front of a number of recent books by noted literary weirdo Harlan Ellison:

IT SHOULD BE NOTED: THE AUTHOR DOES NOT HAVE A COMPUTER. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT HAVE A MODEM. THE AUTHOR IS NOT ONLINE. THE AUTHOR WORKS ON A REAL, ACTUAL FINGER-DRIVEN MANUAL TYPEWRITER, NOT EVEN AN ELECTRIC ONE. THE AUTHOR IS NOT A LUDDITE, HE JUST PERCEIVES OF ALL THIS ELECTRONIC CRAP AS

THE TWILIGHT OF THE WORD

Obviously I don’t fully agree with Mr. Ellison’s assertion (if the method by which you accessed this particular diatribe didn’t tip you off), but I have to say that the linear narrative seems to be under assault by the tyranny of the hyperlink.

I have yet to find the log reader for which I originally went online. Frankly, I’m a little afraid to return to my search. Anyone know of a nice utility for monitoring incoming http traffic in real time on an IIS box?