Posts filed under 'Blogging'
I’m just packing up the final bits of my computer gear as I speak, but I just had to write this one last post.
Where I (currently) live, in Newfoundland, Canada, people have a lot to be thankful for. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, with seemingly endless tracts of breathtaking rugged seascapes, adorned with icebergs and spinning seabirds and pods of whales, striking a connection with elemental nature that’s almost unparalled. There’s a longstanding cultural heritage ripe with music, art and storytelling, and a down-to-earth mentality that cherishes family, neighbours and even visitors. Here in Carbonear, the weather is warm (but not too warm) and the area is lush and verdant with giant beautiful maple trees nearly a century old. And while there’s a high unemployment rate, the people throughout the province are among the friendliest in the world, often inviting complete strangers into their homes to share a story and a cup of tea.
But there are also idiots. Yes, we have those too.
Last night, towards midnight, I was finishing up packing for the night when I heard a loud bang. I didn’t think too much of it, since the Canada Day fireworks had been sounding sporatically for the past couple of hours. But soon I heard the sirens and suspected there was a problem nearby. A half-hour later, I let the dog out and noticed police lights spinning on a house across the street. I shuffled into my sandals and went out to see what was happening.
There were three police cars, an ambulance driving away, and a crowd milling around a vehicle. A closer look revealed an older mid-sized car whose front end was completely demolished, a large nearby maple whose trunk bark was completely ripped off, and a young girl crying in the back seat of a police car.
It turns out that this girl, whose blood alcohol was several times the limit, and who had been driving without insurance or even a license, had hit our neighbour and crashed into a tree. She then tried to make a getaway, but the car didn’t make it more than a few feet. The neighbour was flung onto a nearby lawn and was suffering from two mangled legs, a badly damaged eye, and no doubt a series of other injuries. He was rushed to the Health Sciences Centre in the capitol of St. John’s. I knew him briefly from a school where I taught — he had just retired from teaching at the age of 52, and had bought a canoe for his holidays. She wound up with a nose bleed.
As I walked back to the house, I noticed the tire tracks. She had driven through a puddle on the opposite (left) side of the road, and swerved to the right, where she hit the neighbour and then the tree. There didn’t seem to be any skid marks.
I certainly feel for the neighbour, and I’m trying to feel for the girl. She’s young, and at that age we’re all a little stupid and obnoxious. (She’s the same one we often hear roaming drunkenly with a pair of teenage boys in the middle of the night, whooping and screaming and swearing as she passes by the house.) But I can’t help thinking she needed this to happen. It’s a lesson to be learned, and it’s rather ironic that a dedicated school teacher was nearly killed in the process.
Please, folks, if you’re going to drink for the holidays, remember to do the right thing and set a designated driver. It’s one thing to play games with your own life; it’s quite another to jeopoardise someone else’s.
July 2nd, 2006
Well, it’s time I shared the other big news of my life. After a year of hunting for a permanent, full-time position, I’ve been offered a position for a job I’m sure to love in Yellowknife.
For the geographically challenged folks out there, Yellowknife is the largest city (pop. 20K) in the North West Territories atop Canada –find Alberta on your map and let your eye drift northwards– and is rather close to the Arctic Circle. 
In fact, the picture at left was taken from my hotel room at about 1:00 or 1:30 am, and the midnight almost-sun shows the necessity of having thick curtains in the summertime. In the Winter months, there’s an equal amount of darkness. Summer temperatures range from 15-30C and the mercury in Winter can often drop to -30C. (People’s tires freeze to square shapes, I’m told.)
No doubt a few people are scratching their heads. Why, they ask, are you heading to a small, frigid place enshrouded by darkness half the year? Well, that’s a misperception, but I’ll deal with that in a minute.
The days of short-term contracts can be frustrating, especially when it comes to ensuring any sense of stability, and –with several mouths to feed– knowing where the next meal is coming from is always a worry. I used to love freelance work, but owing to a number of factors (mainly geography, overseas outsourcing, and those user-friendly technologies accessible to more amateurs), the contracts are becoming less frequent and less interesting. I want a job where I can grow, where I can learn, where I can exercise my media-related skills, and where I can become part of a team that really cares about what it’s doing. Jenny and I want a community that’s small enough to be close-knit, yet large enough to provide for our wants (including fresh produce like cilantro and mangos) — we want a place where we can feel comfortable settling down. And I’m a pretty rustic guy, so I like to commune frequently with the natural world, a faithful hound by my side.
I flew up to Yellowknife for a weekend (it took 23 hours to arrive from St. John’s, Newfoundland — a heck of a commute), and I got to know more about the organisation and the city. I can say that I was pleased at every turn. The company and its projects seem quite exciting, the opportunities for professional growth and learning are certainly there, and –hey– it’s mostly a Mac shop. Meanwhile, the people in the city (population about 20,000) are exceedingly friendly and culturally diverse, the shops seem to cater to every one of our necessities, and a wild and wonderful natural world of trees and lakes and animals is only minutes away. It’s also very warm, and the air is fresh and alive with all the greenery and flowers. Between the job and the location, it’s certainly the most exciting offer I’ve received, and there’s no hesitation in seizing it.
I’m in the throes of packing right now (Jenny just returned from hospital, so she won’t be in any condition to do much), and I’ll be heading north in the next few weeks to find a place and get things set up. Jenny, two-year-old Conor, and newborn Daniel will be joining me within a month or so. I must say, every indication points to a great future for the Johnston clan….
June 19th, 2006
Introducing my new son Daniel Karl Johnston, born late last night at 9 lbs 3 oz. Here he is, some five minutes old, with his proud mama and papa.
For those interested, I’ll post a photostream later with more pictures and details.
I also have some more big news to share, which I’ll post as soon as I get a breather. (I assure you, there are good reasons for my absences of late….)
June 15th, 2006
A particularly lucid comment left by eletherious on my post “So you wanna start a blog?” has me thinking of a suitable response:
However, what you do not answer is why would someone blog rather than create a web site? Both requre the same focus and discipline over focus and content. It would seem that a web site provides more content and design flexibility whereas a blog is more one dimensional - literary / literal?
In the nearly fourteen years I’ve been producing both static and dynamic websites (oh, that makes me feel so old), this is a question with which I’ve grappled time and again. In fact, in the early days of blogs, when they were driven almost exclusively as vanity projects, I was one among many who resisted the creation of any product that stood simply as a monumount to one’s ego, perferring instead to produce a non-blog site that might showcase my writing, my artwork, my web design skills, and so on.
Do you see a difference between the two, as fundamentally ego-driven projects? In retrospect, I can’t. But I think this is due to a certain levelling of the stigma attached to both types of sites, and especially blogs. They aren’t simply vanity projects any longer, but also vital sources of ideas and information, and –ironically– a personal “static” website is more likely to be viewed with an air of hoity-toitiness (to use a technical term). After all, many static sites beg us to come back often and check for updates. Why should we? They rarely make those updates easy to find. Are we expected to troll through every page looking for something new every week? Isn’t that presumptuous, in a way? What could bring us back so regularly?
And therein lies part of the appeal of blog sites to visitors. In our busy schedules, we want the convenience of one-stop shopping. The days of visiting eight markets in one day is best left to the idle rich, or the very devoted traditional housekeeper inspecting the morning wares in a rural village. Most of us don’t have the time or the absolute need to wander through hundreds of sites of potential interest per day. I want to know what information is new, and I want to expend a minimum of effort finding it. Hence, of course, the rapid proliferation of newsfeed readers like Bloglines.
“But,” some will interject here, “there are applications that tell you when a page has been updated.” True. But of all the 60+% of people using Internet Explorer, what percentage of people have ever used the “Subscribe” function, or even know it’s there? I dimly recall using it a couple of times, and gave it up when it proved completely unreliable (due mainly to the way that information tends be moved around a website dynamically).
If your goal, then, is to attract and keep regular visitors –as opposed to people tripping across a popular page in your site via a search engine and, then satisfied, leaving forever– the reverse-chronological nature of blogs can be far more effective than the vast majority of static sites.
Beyond this, though, blogs have other advantages. As silly as this may sound, since the general expectations afforded to blogs are lower –after all, the ease of creating a blog has allowed everyone and their dogs to erect them as testiments to their own boredom– there is far less of an intimidation factor in actually getting the darn things up and running. For example, I can’t count the number of iterations of my own personal sites that have been nearly complete, but –in my final but overly-critical evaluations– weren’t “good enough” to be released. A showcase site (as was my intention) becomes a grandiose and complicated affair that, to perfectionist standards, may never be complete enough to launch. I had no such compunctions about creating and launching a blog, since I knew it would be quite easy to match up to the majority of sites out there. I could thus build up better material over time without fear, or at least without an incredible amount of pre-launch effort.
This all being said, eletherious does have an excellent point about the one-dimensionality of blogs. For example, most blogs can be seen as a simple stream of quickly-written and barely literate verbage spewing forth at regular intervals, eventually to “scroll off” the main page and disappear forever into the rarely-viewed archives.
But –and I stress the following– that doesn’t need to be so. Many of the better blog engines will allow you to easily create so-called static pages, or fixed pages, that will allow you to write materials accessible via a top or side menu. For example, a company may have pages about its history, its reputation, its clients, its products, and so on, and these can be viewed by all visitors at a moment’s notice. The “blog” portion can then be the news about launches, specials, reports, industry news, and those other tasty little morsels that encourage repeat visitors. This can provide the best of both worlds.
There are, of course, downsides to using a blog as opposed to a static site. For one thing, there is a constant pressure to update it; when your most recent post is eight months old, it shows a certain neglect. Blogs are based around “templates” –a standard look and feel you create for almost every page– which tends to limit the aesthetic variety within your site. (This is not necessarily a bad thing.) Since items are archived (unless deleted), all the older posts on the site are there to reflect upon you –the chaff with the wheat, so to speak– and so those people producing wildly inconsistent material, or who change their minds often, may not wish visitors to see those pieces. And, although providing the ability for readers to comment is often considered integral to building up a sense of loyalty and community (read: repeat visitors), the need to guard against undesirable feedback, mainly the spam that results from one’s popularity, has to be assigned a high priority.
The most important function of a static site, in my opinion, is a “point of presence”. In other words, a site that can be put up and left for indeterminate amounts of time that simply establishes your presence on the Net — and therefore in the world, such is the pervasiveness of the medium. If you’re a small business, or a scholar wishing to put up a few papers, or a proud papa or mama who just wants to put up a few baby pictures for family, then this could be perfect. Otherwise, it might be worthwhile to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using a blog engine to create your site, even though you may hesitate to consider the resulting product a blog.
No doubt many books have already been written about this topic, and many more will come. These are just a few idle thoughts conjured up this Sunday morning over a Thermos of coffee, though most of them are born out of long-standing practical experience, rather than ethereal theory. The latter, I’ll leave for the pundits to debate over their $8 mocha latte grandes. 
May 7th, 2006
Since it’s now possible for newcomers to the blogging world to set up a Blogger or WordPress.com account in mere minutes without the slightest idea about what one is doing or why, it seems like 98% of the blogs on the Web boast but a half-dozen erratic posts before going dormant forever. Of those that are left, most offer only simple “my link for the day” posts, which of course are fine for friends or people of very similar interests, but not so much for the world at large.
Now that I’m in the process of starting a new blog (on Sherlock Holmes), I figured it was about time to write down and share a few of my wildly-scrawled ideas concerning how exactly I go about such a thing (or, how I occasionally help others in a consulting capacity to do the same).
Like most other things, I conceive of a blog as a project, to be given due consideration, planning and effort. As such, I brainstorm, write notes, prepare a vision, gather resources, construct initial timelines, experiment with form, evaluate delivery options, and so on, before I even think of doing that magic little incantation which causes the blog to appear. I’m not going to get into all of these here. What follows are rough notes, not a course. But first and foremost to keep in mind is the approach: a lacklustre preparation usually leads to a lacklustre site. On the other hand, all the preparatory time in the world won’t mean squat if you don’t have the discipline or wherewithal (or –*ahem*– ego) to keep it up.
A clear vision is the primary thing to keep in mind. Vision leads to purpose, purpose leads to motivation, motivation leads to regular posts, regular posts lead to regular readers. So what’s this thing of yours going to be? Is it going to be a site to explore or exploit a niche interest of yours? Is it going to help develop commercial opportunities? Is it a playground to learn new technologies or methods? Is it to provide feedback for a project or cause you’re involved with? Or is it an ego thing, where you’re going to post idle thoughts as you feel like it? If the latter, pay attention: remember the 98% of dormant blogs? Almost all of them fall into this category. Repeat after me: “I want this blog to ….” Fill in the blank. If you don’t have a coherent point or two, then you lack a vision with focus.
Now, a lack of focus doesn’t necessarily mean that the blog won’t be a success, but it sure makes it a lot more difficult to maintain. For example, this blog doesn’t have a strong focus. That explains the erratic posting, the subject matter covering no particular ground, and the wide variations on quality. However, this blog does have a purpose: it’s an outlet for me to practise my writing skills, especially on those topics that don’t fit into my other, more specialised sites. Practice is necessary for a writer, of course, and it helps to have actual readers as motivation. Don’t believe me? — try joining a writing club where you have to produce materials to read aloud each week, and enjoy a newfound discipline. (Private material is obviously kept offline, since I figure no one needs to know about my Sturm und Drang, or my sex life either, for that matter.)
For the new Holmes blog, I have a vision with two primary purposes: to learn more about my subject matter by exploring a new facet each day; and to help others explore the character of Sherlock Holmes not only as a cultural phenomenon, but as something far beyond the stereotypical cartoonish figure with deerstalker and magnifying glass. Secondary purposes: to indulge in a relaxing pastime each day; to provide a hub or lens to focus on all the rich sites scattered throughout the web; to introduce the joys of old time radio shows to the iPod generation; and –last but not least– to provide a little fresh Sherlock to fans every day.
Ultimately, a blog faces two great dangers: boredom and degree of effort. Boredom is almost always inevitable, at some point. Having a purpose can get you past these dry spells and recharge your batteries when necessary. At times, the topic of productivity can get quite stale for me; having a clear purpose for DIYPlanner.com means that I know my goals and can work towards reaching them, which means writing with an end in mind. Then there are some people who love their subject matter so much, and have so much free time, that they may write copious amounts of text each and every day. It’s a very rare individual that possesses this degree of commitment and time — I’m afraid that isn’t me. Ask yourself why you’re starting a blog. Do you have a good answer? If so, you can overcome these obstacles, as long as you possess enough discipline, passion or ego.
Vision also leads to the type, frequency and angle of the posts. Who are you writing for, how often, and what sort of material will you be providing? For this blog, my material is almost always original, and therefore tends to be rather irregular: things are posted as they’re done. For DIYPlanner.com, each volunteer writer has a slated day for posting an original article, usually concerned with a particular subject matter (although personal and professional issues sometimes mean that the posts may be postponed). Deadlines can work, as long as one is strict about them. For the Holmes blog, I’m intending a daily post each weekday. Some of these will be original writings, some will be graphics or advertisements, some will be radio shows, and some will feature links with quotes from other sites. This variation is important to me — it means that I don’t feel the pressure of having to write entirely new text each day, and yet I can still keep to a daily schedule of providing interesting material. If you wander into a blog with no idea of your target audience, frequency, or type of posts, statistics dictate that the blog may not last long.
Since we’re on the topic of readers, figure out what part these people play in your blog. I’ve always believed in the idea of fostering feedback and community, so I prefer to hear from readers as much as possible. Other bloggers don’t allow comments to be left on their blogs; this strikes me as a old-style schoolteacher who lectures at the podium without interacting with a class, or a politician who refuses to field calls from constituents except at election time. How do you know what people want, unless you allow them a voice? Allow them to be publicly heard, and you show them a greater respect, not to mention a willingness to involve yourself in honest discourse. This has the added effect of building loyalty, as well as traffic between your site and others.
Another thing I keep in mind while planning: alternate ways of providing material, besides your own posts. These commonly tend to fall under certain categories (although others do exist):
- Other posters, either regular or as guests
- Constantly changing links, with comments (such as a del.icio.us roll or two)
- Syndicated material from other sites (lists of recent posts, pointing to the articles and updated automatically)
- Shoutboxes and comment feeds, where people can leave messages on your site that appear as a scroll or feed of some type (great for sites fostering heavy discussion)
- Information fed from other sites that you may have contributed to, such as a series of thumbnails from your recent Flickr posts
My blogs already have several of these, and my Holmes site is no exception. For example, I often come across interesting pages about Holmes or Conan Doyle at other sites. I can simple post it to del.icio.us with a “sherlock” tag, and have all those links appear automatically in a box on the new blog. News, I tag with “shscandal”, and it will show up in my Scandal Sheet section. There’s something to be said for automating as much of your content as possible. On the other hand, some people take it to the extreme: their blogs are no more than simple portals, taking others’ information and posts, and simply displaying it within their own pages. From time to time, I actually find my AMMT or DIYPlanner posts copied in full on other sites, sometimes without even an acknowledgement of my name or site! Needless to say, this is a way to upset others. Don’t do it.
If you have a somewhat personal blog and only foresee low traffic numbers, then the idea of financial support probably doesn’t strike you as important. But even fledgeling blogs stand a change at covering basic hosting charges through Google ads and an Amazon Associates account, both of which are very easy to set up. The former means pasting a little chunk of code into your blog for an ad to appear, and the latter means constructing links that, if followed, snatch you a small percentage for each book sold. If your traffic picks up due to your growing technical and/or marketing know-how, your amazing content, or perhaps even a random fortuitous link, it means you have a shot at getting dedicated advertisers or special types of ads, such as in RSS feeds, which can bring in even more pocket change.
Be aware, though, that blogging is a hard thing to do for a living. Many have tried, carefully plotting their business model and putting in endless hours of content creation, and have ultimately failed. All is not lost: there’s always publicity, financial opportunities (chiefly job offers and freelance contracts), networking, a reputation as an expert, and other outcomes to keep in mind. Many people have turned hobbies into occupations or legitimate businesses; a blog is no different. Just don’t toss out a few words here and there and expect the world to come knocking at your door with fistfuls of cash. The dot-com era is over, and it’s unlikely that VCs are going to want to pay for you to post stories about Fluffy and his big honkin’ furballs, complete with a flashing Purina advert.
Getting the word out is not easy, either, unless you’re “tapped in” to a number of blogs or discussion sites where people will probably want to read your material. In my case, AMMT and the D*I*Y Planner got a good start when I mentioned my (then rather primitive) little templates on some productivity sites and mailing lists I frequented (read: was obsessed with). This, I believe, is a good example of what to do: if you have a particular subject matter in mind, announce it in those places where people with a similar interest can be found. It sounds logical, and it is. But try not to appear out of the blue and start promoting yourself. Hang out, discuss, leave your URL in your signature, say profound things, and people will learn to respect you and actually want to hear your thoughts. Being a lurker counts against you in such cases, as it will when you start posting. People want to read the opinions of someone with something to say.
Of course, one can get an immediate traffic boost by writing something sensational that caters to the audiences of a major site like SlashDot or bOINGbOING, then submitting the link. But you’ll be one among hundreds, if not thousands, that submit their wares that day, so don’t count on being picked up. And even if you are, once the hordes come (and possibly bring your server and spam filters to their knees), they had better find other materials on your site that they want to read, or else you’ll not be bookmarked, or have your feed taken, and in a few days you’ll be sitting in your big ole’ empty room again, like the aftermath of the proverbial party that wrecked your house and went off to other, more popular hosts with better booze.
And lastly, stay away from “link exchange sites”, as these rarely work. Why? Because the only people who exchange links with them are newbies with oft-lacklustre content, and whom few people read. In the mathematical voodoo of search engines, this generally racks up very few points, and you’ll definitely loose those points with net-savvy people who visit your site, only to find scores of random links to furball Fluffy and obsoleted blogs with smatterings of “I found this cool link today: link”. Yup, these are like the unpopular kids in the schoolyard that try anything to become accepted. Rise above that, become an individual, and speak your mind. That’s why people will listen to you, and visit again and again. Once they find you in the first place, of course. (And that’s the hard part.)
Well, that concludes my few pages of wild and woolly notes. Hopes this helps someone out there….
March 29th, 2006
A personal invite goes out to you all for a special sneak preview of my new blog, A Study in Sherlock, set to launch tomorrow. This site is devoted to the life, times and influence of the Great Detective himself, perhaps the most famous fictional character in history.
There’s a tonne of material already in the queue, and so it’s my intention that there will be something new every weekday, and occasionally on weekends. That includes original pieces (many of which are written for newcomers to the Canon), photographs, teasers for the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrations, news stories, book reviews, audio snippets, “workshop” projects (such as do-it-yourself reference cards or CDs), radio plays, and featured sites. Most of these entries are selected to offer something for neophytes, but –hopefully– also provide ample occasion for discourse amongst the more experienced.
I appreciate any and all feedback from you fine folks — a contact form can be accessed from the top menu, and the comment forms are ready to go, so please don’t be shy. I hope you enjoy!
March 12th, 2006
You might have noticed a few fresh changes to a million monkeys typing. It all comes as a result of upgrading to WordPress 2.0. For a while now, I’ve been hesitant to install the latest patches and upgrades to WP 1.5.x (yes, I know, I’ve been a naughty boy), since my theme was so heavily customised — it was an all-in-one file I originally made for WP 1.0, and quite a mess after being hauled reluctantly through several versions. This weekend, I decided to strap on the bungee cord, close my eyes, and jump. The actual database work and installation was seamless and smooth, but I didn’t see much point in pushing an antiquated theme that couldn’t take advantage of all the latest generation of WP goodness. Thus, with great trepidation, I grabbed a pre-existing theme with a superficial resemblance to the layout of AMMT –Blix by Sebastian Schmieg– and started creating my style sheets again from scratch.
Might I reveal here that my CSS2 is a tad rusty? Or at least it was, until yesterday morning when I started diving into the plumbing of the styles. Slowly, it all started coming back to me, even all the “standard” codes that break Internet Explorer (which are, as any CSS guru knows, quite numerous). Not everything here is perfect yet, and you’ll no doubt see quite a few things break intermittently in the next couple of days.
Seeing it’s a new year, and a new start in so many ways, I’m going to clear out some of the clutter here, streamline some of the formatting, create a few new features, and generally get back to blogging regularly. Although we’re still not unpacked from our big move, I think it’s a good idea to get back to regular online life again, and despite the success of my other site DIYPlanner.com, I still consider AMMT to be my homestead of sorts. (DIYPlanner was designed to be more of a community than a place for one individual’s voice.)
As for WP2, I am enjoying it quite a bit, but am still undecided about the WYSIWYG editor for posts. Although it’s mostly well done, I find it a little slow on this G3 PowerBook, and keep tripping across paragraph breaking issues. Besides, I speak HTML like a native language, so using the non-WYSIWYG editor is not an impediment of any kind. That being said, all the other changes –such as the streamlined posting interface, the “inline” images and files, the end of .htaccess hassles, and the easier management of content– are priceless, and worth the upgrade. Plus, the whole thing feels much speedier, which is no doubt a result of the interface changes and the new caching mechanism. It’s normally a good idea to wait for the first bug fix release of software, but thus far I have no regrets in jumping headfirst into this upgrade.
I’ll follow this post up in a few days with some more thoughts about using the new WP2, as well as some of the plugins I’ve decided to set up.
January 1st, 2006
My wife Jennifer Pohl, a well-known artist, has launched her own blog, entitled the space above the couch (very tongue in cheek, no doubt). She’ll be exploring artistic, creative and inspirational matters, and will be posting another of her paintings each week. An online gallery of her work is also on its way. There are many truly beautiful pieces in her body of work, and I hope that others might find them as inspiring as I do.
I love you, darling, and wish you the best of luck with it.
June 29th, 2005
Well, I wouldn’t have believed it, but Dr Dave’s Spam Karma plugin for WordPress is effectively keeping all the comment spam away. In the past day or two, it’s sent me notifications of 90 spam that it’s killed. Paranoid that I am, I’ve carefully read through each skewered comment to verify that the spams were not actually legitimate posters, and sure enough: each and every one of them was trying to hawk me sexual potency drugs, casino sites, wrinkle cream (!), or easy debt consolidation.
I feel I can heave a sigh of relief. That’s 15 minutes a day, saved right there for more productive matters.
January 3rd, 2005
I came back from a very short vacation, and found nearly 400 comment spams waiting for me. This is in spite of using blacklists and denying a few key spambots. The number of hits on this site has quadrupled in the past few weeks, and apparently so has my spam.
Time to take another tack. Perhaps the much-lauded Spam Karma from Dr. Dave is worth a shot?
Update : Installed and implemented without a hitch. If anyone posts a legitimate comment and it doesn’t get through, please drop me a line via email so I can fix things.
January 1st, 2005
Don’t know if there’s a catch, as their “Terms of Service” page is currently exactly the same as their home page. Still, it might be worth a shot: Blogsome: Get your FREE blog now.
People say you get what you pay for, but sometimes you get a little more. I managed to get a free year of website hosting at 1&1 by responding quickly to a free offer. Been extremely pleased with them ever since.
All the same, I think I’d wait a little while before entrusting any material with them. So many questions…. How do you back up your data? Do they have a scary terms of agreement like MSN Spaces, where they get the rights to your words? Do they charge extra for certain features and storage? What’s the projected uptime? What’s the situation with plug-ins? How do you know you’re in good hands? What’s the privacy policy? etc., etc., etc. …
Update: Just saw a reference on PhotoMatt to two more free WordPress blog hosting sites: BlogThing and WordpressBlogs.
December 5th, 2004
Most people that start off blogging seem to arbitrarily choose whatever solution they trip across first, or whichever one seems like the least work. I actually started a “home-grown” solution via Flash and XML, which worked fine after I figured out some of Flash’s XML-reading quirks, but it wasn’t a very advanced application from a point of view of functionality. (Text plus optional pic, tied to date.) When I decided to stop producing a static site in favour of a blog, I created some accounts in LiveJournal and Blogger, but gave them up because customisability didn’t seem to be encouraged (or easy to achieve). Even managed to install and try MoveableType as well, just before the big 3.0 license fiasco, and while I did like it, I was a little frightened off by the community “retaliation” happening because of 3.0. WordPress was next in line, and I loved it. Easy install, easy (well, relatively easy) customisation, plenty of great templates, and a vibrant community effort behind it. It took less than two days to produce basically everything that would form a million monkeys typing.
Now, there’s a new entry over at dsandler.org: The past and future of dsandler.org. (Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love WordPress.) He goes over the multiple solutions he examined before finally choosing WordPress:
And damn if it doesn’t work. From a features standpoint, WP includes fifteen different kitchen sinks, but the administrative UI is totally manageable (and the template functions are reasonable, if not always totally consistent) . The third-party developer community is active and prolific, and I quickly found an implementation of almost every feature I had imagined for the site (including next-day/previous-day links). And after a little time with the PHP code, I became pretty comfortable that I’d be able to hack together whatever I needed if I couldn’t find it elsewhere.
November 27th, 2004
A few days ago, I had had enough of comment spam. I had been using the anti-spam word list in my WordPress discussion options to “trap” suspected spam for moderation, but I was getting over 100 per day in my moderation queue. So I grabbed the IP Blocklist plugin from Charles Gagalac and activated it. Basically, it checks to see if the comment is coming from a known spam relay host. Poof, no more comment spam.
That being said, I’m a little paranoid that it might be killing regular comments as well. If you’ve tried to leave a comment, but my blog won’t let you (and you’re not a spammer), please email me and let me know. My @gmail address can be found near the bottom of my menu bar.
[Update: Hmm… just tripped across an excellent page about combatting spam in WordPress.]
November 8th, 2004
I’ve actually reached that (yes, very low) threshold of popularity that brings with it that scourge of open blogs, comment spam. Some huckster started posted dozens of comments on several different entries promoting a gambling site, another tried to hawk his virility wares, and a “fun-girl” invited me to her site to watch her perform theoretically-impossible (and illegal) acts on various barnyard animals. As such, I’ve started implementing measures to curb spam, including holding for approval the comments that include keywords like “poker” and “viagra”. I’m not having to look at black-holes yet (I’ve been inexplicably blocked by them in the past because of DNS glitches), but I do have my eye on the pertinent WordPress plugins for future reference.
In the meantime, if you do happen to comment on my assumed need for gambling, hangover cures, cialis, instant college degrees, a larger penis, Congoese lottery windfalls, a second mortgage, or some of that sweet-horse-luvin’, I’m sorry that you’ll have to wait for me to approve the comment before it goes live.
October 29th, 2004
Probably not news to a lot of WordPress folks, but I’ve recently discovered an excellent caching version of a del.icio.us plugin over at w-a-s-a-b-i: del.isio.us cached. It only grabs the del.icio.us feed once every 20 minutes, so as to play nice with their server.
I’ve created a new box in the menu bar at right, and “subscribed” my douglasjohnston/ammt feed straight into it, so as I trip across interesting things on the web, I only have to give it the tag “ammt” and it will appear in the box. (The Firefox del.icio.us extensions –Foxylicious and del.icio.us– are quite handy for doing this with a quick click or two.) Very nice. I’m loving del.icio.us and all the creative uses for it that people are coming up with.
October 28th, 2004
