(If you can’t read it, try squinting.)
Author: Doug McCaughan
Father of 5.
Juggler.
Ticked off at blogger.com.
Why I Blog
(I am in the process of updating some static pages. This text goes with Why I Blog.)
Disclaimer:
First off, I want to say that blogging is stupid. Most bloggers, such as myself, have no journalism training. We are not professionals, are prone to errors, tempted to propagate rumor, and are busily creating a permanent record of non-retractable statements. We paint targets on ourselves and encourage friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers to make comments which, depending on our mood, may hurt our feelings or cause us to make a flippant remark in jest or anger that changes our relationship with those commenters. It is dangerous waters.
Employers or prospective employers can use your blog as a reason to fire or not hire you. I know if I was considering an person for a job the first thing I would do is search for them on the Internet. Of course, if it was me, I’d give more weight to bloggers than to people who only gave me a resume and some scripted references. I encourage my employers and clients to read further.
A blog is a chance for people to get to know you better [than your shrink]. I was raised to “not air my dirty laundry.” I took it to extremes and, until college, I was a very closed person; now I hide far less than I should. A blog creates an opportunity for your views on controversial issues to slip out. While this sounds like truth, you may not want certain people in your life such as your parents, church patrons, employers, children, or those social climbers for whom you put on a facade, to know the whole truth.
The Reasons:
What we do not practice, we lose. Blogging provides a creative outlet for writing, research, technology, presentation, marketing, and social networking. Regular publishing improves vocabulary and grammar. With each entry I publish, I find myself making multiple visits to dictionary.com which in turn has improved my spelling and assured the correct usage of words.
Blogging provides history. As with all journaling, records are kept of good and bad allowing those thoughts to leave our head and be enjoyed or relived at our leisure rather than burdening our minds. Children’s remarkable words and fantastic pictures can be shared and kept for prosperity. Precious moments with loved ones can be memorialized.
A blog is simply a regularly updated website with dated content. For better search engine placement and browser compatibility, a blog should have compliant and valid code adhering to current standards such as valid CSS. Professional websites are often developed under high pressure deadlines and tight budgets which do not allow for experimentation outside the programmer’s known skill set. A personal blog allows for trial and error with lessor used html tags, css designs, and web technologies, growing the programmer’s tool set and professionalism.
Mentorship is important to me. I enjoy teaching and sharing knowledge. Blogging provides an opportunity to give to others.
Community develops around a blog. Blogs are often interactive soliciting commentary from readers. As strangers peer into the lives of a blogger, a connection develops. The reader gets to know the presenter perhaps even better than persons known in real life. As readers comment on posts, dialog forms creating a tighter bond between reader and publisher. Friendships develop between people that may never see each other. Business relationships can form. Support networks can form. Blogging can even be therapeutic!
I caution people never to believe anything read on the Internet; at least, not without checking several sources. Blogs can be totally fictitious. For me, blogging is truth. To a degree, blogging is exhibitionism with a sprinkle of ego boosting. I love to talk and love to share stories, but working independently, and as time goes on, I find myself exposed to fewer people outside of my immediate family. Blogging has become an outlet for me to share my adventures!
Paraskevidekatriaphobes – It’s your day!
Taking a sick day today? Staying in bed? Oh, I wish I could use this day as an excuse to stay in bed!
The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. Some sources say it may be the most widespread superstition in the United States. Some people won’t go to work on Friday the 13th; some won’t eat in restaurants; many wouldn’t think of setting a wedding on the date.
In other news, Happy Birthday Dad!
Lost Screen Grabs
These are spoilers if you missed last night’s Lost episode. I thought I saw a single image in Eko’s encounter with the monster. Boy was I wrong! These are frame by frame grabs of the encounter. Is the monster somehow passing judgment?
I can’t get enough!
Bellsouth’s Privacy Director
Good information on Bellsouth’s Privacy Director I love the service but for about 2 months now I’ve had a recorded message trying to get me to talk to someone. Their poor system thinks someone is answering the phone but Privacy Director cuts them off before the recording identifies itself. No human ever calls. It’s laughable but they call everyday.
Privacy Director gives a recorded messages to callers that are anonymous asking that the caller identify themselves (much like you would with a collect call). The phone rings at the house and after listening to the brief recording I have 3 options: take the call, reject sales call (gives the caller a no solicitation message), or reject the call. It drastically cut down on phone solicitations!
How cool!
Blog Stats
There are currently 32 posts and 32 comments, contained within 32 categories.
Of course, this post messed that up. Numbers are so cool.
Protect your member only area
Programmers need to review this tech tip explaining how to use the FireFox User Agent Switcher extension to access member only areas of some websites. Effectively you simply add “Googlebot 2.1” to the description and user agent.
ColdFusion on the rise!
Yes! ColdFusion jumps to position 16 in the TIOBE Programming Community Index for January 2006! In January 2005 it was position 25 which isn’t too shabby in my book.
see also these alternative CF servers: Railo, IgniteFusion and BlueDragon
The Prejudice Map
Kim at Bacon and Eh’s points out The Prejudice Map summing up how people of the world are viewed. For example, this one is either for the United States or perhaps only New Mexico:
strength
dislike of walking
geniality and hospitality
guarding their rights
anti-Muslim politics
National Delurking Week
Hello, hello, hello
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone at home?
Who needs cable when you have kids
Amy toots her own horn 3.56MB avi – if I knew how to compress movies I would (I recommend you have your sound on for this one)
Habits Meme Redux
My wife enjoyed my Habits Meme so much that she’s asked for more.
Pocket Rules:
- If at all possible, I must carry two quarters, a nickle and a dime so that if I become bored I can balance the nickle vertically on a horizontal quarter; then the dime
horizontally on the edge of the nickle; and finally the remaining quarter horizontally on the dime. (click picture to enlarge) - Minimal “pocket stuff”: 2 pocket knives, 1 American Red Cross breathing dam for CPR, 2 sets of keys (1 for each car plus store discount cards etc), loose change (see #1), 1 handkerchief, 1 pen, 1 cell phone and 1 wallet. [I frequently make an effort to leave with only 1 pocket knife, wallet, cell phone and 1 set of keys. I rarely succeed.]
- The pocket knives and ARC equipment go in the front left pocket. If the cell phone cannot clip to a belt it also goes in the front left pocket. Loose change and keys in the front right. Handkerchief and pen in the back right. Wallet in the back left except in crowds when it is moved to the front left. Wallet and keys are removed when sitting down for long periods of time. Wallet and keys are always kept together because when I removed only the wallet I kept leaving the house without it.
- I prefer to have empty pockets so I used to carry a purse (a “man bag!”) which allowed me to carry more stuff including juggling balls, lock picks, kleenex, eye glasses, sunglasses, a pda, and a journal (just to name a few things). My wife didn’t like my man bag. I don’t have a purse anymore. Once I was denied service at K-Mart because I wouldn’t leave my purse at the customer service counter despite it being far smaller than most of the luggage the female customers were carrying. During the scene that ensued more than one woman approached customer service, unprompted, to offer their purses in order to point out the ridiculousness.
- I always pat down my pockets before leaving the house. Two pats to the front pockets; one pat to the back pockets. I can usually tell by feel and jingling if everything is in its place. I’ve been mistaken before and been uncomfortable without the missing item (usually the cell phone) even if it wasn’t needed.
There. Ammunition for my wife to decry OCD.
Of Grasshoppers
Student: Lost
Master: Oh yeah!
Thermal-sensitive polymer
“The secret? Thermal-sensitive polymer.” Just the sound of that is cool. I could think of so many uses for this material. These people made vases.
Raggy! Roomba Rooba Roo!
I wish I could have had a video camera! Molly was resting on the floor and the Roomba whirs over and bounces off her nose. She doesn’t flinch! Since her long nose is obviously new territory for the Roomba, it immediately kicks into “outline the perimeter mode” where it moves a little bit then rotates back into the barrier and repeats over and over. So here’s poor Molly trying to get a nap and this robot is noisily tracing her snout!
After about the 5th bump she nonchalantly raised her head and let it pass. If you have pets and are concerned your pet and Roomba won’t be friends, I’d put your fears to rest.
