BoneJ uses Google Analytics to report when a plugin's run() method completes successfully.
http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmwv=5.2.5&utms=1&utmn=783957227&utmhn=bonej.org&utmt=event&utme=5(Plugin%20Usage*org.bonej.Help*1.3.4)&utmcs=UTF-8&utmsr=1280x800&utmvp=1280x800&utmsc=24-bit&utmul=en-gb&utmje=0&utmfl=11.1%20r102&utmdt=bonej.org%20Usage%20Statistics&utmhid=381831009&utmr=-&utmp=%2Fstats&utmac=UA-366405-8&utmcc=__utma%3D1345433931.605331111.1332327119.1332327119.1332327133.2%3B%2B__utmz%3D1345433931.1332327133.79.42.utmcsr%3Dgoogle%7Cutmccn%3D(organic)%7Cutmcmd%3Dorganic%7Cutmctr%3DBoneJ%20Usage%20Reporter%3B
A one-pixel GIF image is requested from Google, with a rather long set of parameters. Reported details are:
Data are collated with the Analytics report already used to track hits on bonej.org.
So far, BoneJ has been supported mainly by grants to scientists. We wish to create quantitative reports that detail how much BoneJ is being used in the community, so that decisions to fund further development can be made rationally.
In addition, development resources are limited so it is useful to see which features are used heavily and can be consolidated, while little-used features can be abandoned or made more useful.
If you are uncomfortable with this level of data collection then please opt out, at the dialog which is prompted on first run, or by running Edit>Options>BoneJ Usage. Hitting Cancel will prevent any report from being gathered or sent and will also clear any values that were previously saved in IJ_Prefs.txt.
You can opt back in by running Edit>Options>BoneJ Usage and hitting OK.
At the moment the report is kept private. If there is a strong will from the user community, who created the data in the first place, the report could be made more open. Please feel free to discuss on the user forum.
You can read the code on Github and in every copy of BoneJ. If you turn on ImageJ's debug mode (in Edit>Options>Misc.) the URL and the GIF response will be logged to ImageJ's log window.
