The New Bloggers Dilemma (NBD)

In the fast paced world of blogging, just like nascar you build a following and hold on to them. If you don't you fall to the wayside and wither away. There are a lot of people who claim you should not promote your own website or submit your own stories to digg. The majority of those people have fallen to the wayside and are withering away. Promote your website, it is not SPAM, it is something you have worked hard to produce. Let quality determine if you succeed.
The new bloggers dilemma (NBD) is a catch 22. Those without exposure will not have a user base. However to get exposure you need a user base. You also need to provide quality content to retain a following. Again you need a following to ensure your content is quality. The last statement is a bit counterintuitive, so I will restate it. Having a consistent user base will offer contructive critisim on those thing which are good and bad, which will help create high quality posting and insights. This does not mean let everyone else hijack your site and opinions. It does however, allow you to gear your grammar, layout, and topics to those who use your site regularly. This in turn allows them to point others with the same interest to your site, which expands your user base.
The second NBD is what do you talk about. Talk about everything and anything, screw niche blogs. If you find one you love, great, one thats not over run with established persons, even better. But as a whole people have many interests and many subjects they know something about, talk about them. There is alot of expertise languishing in the minds of people who only write about one topic. IT WANTS TO BE FREE, so let it go!

Twitter. What?

Twitter is a microblogging utility that lets you share little bits of information about whatever you want. Period.

I have been using it for a few months now and I have found it to be one of the easiest ways to keep informed and to de-stress. Twitter doesn't want a lengthy blog post or even something that has been researched and proofread. It wants to know one thing "What are you doing?" at least that is how it started. Now you can have conversations, polls, links, and opinions on virtually any topic that interests you. So you like underwater kniting of three toed socks, big deal someone will probably be interested in what you are doing. Or you might see someone who posts about the inner workings of lawn gnomes. Its all about you. It doesn't matter what when who or how, as long as its shorter than 140 characters.

Why 140? Too be honest I have no clue but it helps get to the meat real quick, no extranious words or flowery sentence structures. Its more of a get to the point quickly application. Twitter also lets you peruse alot at one time without getting too involved. For example say I like robots, linux, gardening, stocks, and music. Now where would I go to find out about all these things in one place? Twitter, I just choose to follow people who like gardening and some who like robots and some who like the same kind of music. Then anything they come across in any of those fields they share and I get to see what they do. I also get to know them a little better and they feel more like a person to me not just a website that wants to make money.
In effect I get to read about others who have the same interests I do, learn about different parts of the world, learn about people whom I have never met (and maybe become friends), read about things that interest me (from places that I may have never looked), get introduced to related topics and unrelated that I might possibly enjoy, all in 140 characters or less which takes about 10 seconds to write.

Yahoo! I'm scared

In light of the whole merger/takeover that Microsoft has initiated towards Yahoo! I have become a little wary. Whilst I do not have any bad feelings towards Microsoft, I feel that after so long as the industry leader they have become a bit lacksidasical. Yahoo! whle once a superior service has slowly declined in into medeocraty. Hopefully this fight between the great behemoths will get the ball moving a little faster on both sides. However, after many years of using Yahoo! mail as my primary mail account, I have switched to Gmail. I found this to be prudent for two reasons, one Gmail is a little more flexible. Two, Google while being elitist and a bit arrogant, provides an excellent service and still has the drive to continue innovating. I still use Yahoo! don't get me wrong, I also still use Microsoft products. But as for being the one that I rely on I am thinking that both will be in for some net shattering shakedowns, that will cause more harm than good in the begining. I can't predict the future and it could all work out well in the end. I still feel that after this knock down drag out fight the greatest winner will be Google.

My New Livingroom

Last month, I got my very first flat panel flat screen tv.

It is a Phillips 42" w/ Ambilight 2. I decided to go with a 42" because of the layout of my livingroom (its positioned about 8ft away from the couch). A few things I have figured out since buying it:

1.) It does not have VGA or DVI inputs (so connecting a Home theater PC: htpc: is a
bit more difficult.
2.) Three HDMI ports are easy to fill once you get them.
3.) Some older technologies don't look good on a big screen. (i.e Laserdisc)
4.) Ambilight is cool but sometimes you want it off. (video games, horror)
5.) A flatscreen tv can make a room appear larger than what it is, so even if you have a
small room, it could still work well.

Now I know someone is going to say LaserDisc, WTF? Well, I got it from my grandpa, and it looked good on an old analog tv, so I figured why not. My mistake.

After I got the tv I found I needed to get a few more things to make it feel a bit more comfortable in its new surroundings. WalMart had just what I needed.
Summit mountain TV stand and Summit mountain audio pier

After a few hours of putting it all together, my 42" Philllips had a new home. Then I decided it needed neighbors. Out came the Xbox 360 and modded Xbox, the Ps2, the sony home theater system, and I bought a Ps3. After another few hours and wiring everything up. It was time to watch something wonderful it was a toss up between The Boondock Saints, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, and Spiderman 3 (blu-ray it came prepackaged in the Ps3 and it was the only blu-ray movie owned at the time.) Right before I started the movie I realized I was still missing a few things one was a place to store DVDs and the other was a way to hook up a computer. I said screw it I'll do that after the movie. In the end, I watched Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The king, It was amazing. Movie theater experience!! At home, it was awesome.
After the movie I looked around and found

media tower: cherry
I still haven't gotten it, due to backorder, but hopefully soon.

I also bought a s-video cable and 3.5mm to rca adapter and an Adesso wireless keyboard w/ built in track ball to hook up my girlfriends laptop and it works well not extremely crisp but it works for general intertube surfing.

This has been one of the most satisfying experiences in a long time and it will be something me and my girfriend will enjoy for a long time to come.

*All pictures were used from the respective places where the items were purchased

10 reasons not to blog

1. People don’t want know what is going on in your pathetic life. Unless it’s truly miserable, then they will ridicule you and your blog will be famous.

2. It is too much work, and you are lazy. So instead you should sit on your couch and play Xbox and call people n00bs.

3. The only person who cares, about what your cat did or what you saw today, already left you for someone who didn’t play on the interwebs so much.

4. When you say “PHP, SQL, AJAX, LAMP, Digg, Twitter, or blog.” All I hear is “Blah, blah blah.” If you say myspace. I am all ears.

5. Instead of blogging get back to work. We don’t pay you to write nonsense about your cat.

6. Blog like everything else in your life. Tomorrow.

7. You don’t even know how to use your phone, why would you try learning this?

8. Just because everyone else is doing it, means all the good topics are taken.

9. If it sounded like a good idea than you are doomed to fail at it.

10. Blogging means you will forget about your family and shave your head bald, like a cult

Grammar rules

I learned that grammar rules apply for a reason.

1. Capitalization - A world of difference can be made by the use of a capital letter. This example makes the most valid point.

I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse.
I helped my uncle jack off a horse.

2. Punctuation - Meaning is carried by these little marks. A classic example of this has been handed down from generation to generation.

No. Don't. Stop.
No dont stop.

3. Subject then Predicate - This one can dramatically can change who you are talking to or about.

Peter, don't touch.
Don't touch peter.

4. Spaces - a space between words can mean the difference between a night out and jail time.

We are going together.
We are going to get her.
or
My pen is leaking.
My penis leaking.

Any or all of these gramatical mistakes can be embarassing or even mentally damaging to yourself. So remember always reread what you write and check your grammar.

4 great articles to learn about blogging

Being that I'm very new to blogging, I needed to learn a few things. So up comes the google page and I start searching for everything I can think of. I started off with alot of stuff I didn't need, so I kept refining and linking and eventually I found these articles which are old but give the needed information.

1. Problogger
Problogger has alot of usefull information on every step of the blogging process. Even if you dont use the other links this one is worth reading. Begginer and Season blogger alike.

2. Kalsey.com
Kalsey.com has alot of good articles relating to business and a few other articles relating to Law and advanced bloggers

3. Lorelle.wordpress.com
Lorelle.wordpress.com is actually where I stared and found links to other sites as well as links to other article written there. A good place to start and learn what blogging is and how to begin. As well as tips and suggestions.

4. How not to coment on comments
This article is a must read. When blogging, I have learned, you must be active in the community. This article give some very good advice on commenting on others blogs as well as moderating your own.

Now I know there are many others, these four should give you enough to get started. The links can also lead you to into more indepth processes and instuction on blogging.