Apparently there is a grue living in my closet, and it ate my Friday blog post. Yes, I know, it’s 2011 and a self respecting grue should not be in the closet, and no one will judge it if it comes out but you know how it is with grues. That eaten post though, It was a good one – like about video games and stuff. I’ll try to recreate it next week sometime.
For now though, in lieu of a regular post, let me give you some other stuff to read. And no, I’m not going to send you to some random sites I found via reddit because you have already seen all of these. I’ll give you some original content you may not have seen.
Firstly, you have probably read that SEO for Non Dicks article that was making rounds the other day. I was contemplating writing something about this, because people do ask me about this sort of thing every once in a while. But then my friend Jenn wrote everything I would have said and more on this topic. In fact, her post is probably better than mine would be, because mine would likely mutate in some sort of a short story with a subplot. Go subscribe to her blog because she is awesome. You can also watch her torment me on twitter if you are following me (and if you are not, then why aren’t you? @LukeMaciak – go follow now, damn it.)
The second link of the day is a real story from my buddy Milos, who recounts how he tracked down a thief and recovered a stolen iPhone. The story is from few months ago, but it totally deserves a link because it is full of win. I am fairly sure I probably would not have the balls to approach a phone thief and initiate negotiations.
Here is another quick link, to our very own Crhis – you have probably seen his comments on a lot of posts here (if you read the comments – and you should since they are often more interesting than my nonsensical droning). He sort of blew my mind by re-hosting his blog to github pages. Granted, it was a blosxom blog (so mostly static pages) but still – quite impressive example of how this github feature can be used to host very complex websites.
Finally, Ara wrote short and sweet blog about importance of reading. I wholeheartedly sign under this with both hands. I am quite often astonished how many of my fellow techies, programmers and geeks never read any fiction. A lot of people tell me they just don’t have time, but I am fairly sure this is not true. Everyone has some alone downtime – it is jut a matter how you choose to use it. Seriously, instead of watching that episode of Jersey Shore or playing Angry Birds while you poop, you could be reading a book. It is all about expanding your horizons, gaining new perspectives and experiencing things outside your realm of expertise. A good book is always more engaging, and more rewarding than even the best TV show or movie.
So yeah, sorry about that grue thing. It won’t happen again.
Here is a question for you: do you have a blog? If you do, do I know about it? Do you put the URL in the box when you comment? Give me your blogs so I can put them in my RSS reader. In the past I used to have a “Blog Buddies” section in my Google Reader – I would habitually subscribe to the blogs of all my commentators and check up on them from time to time. Slowly but surely, most of these blogs dried up. It’s almost as if people were blogging less these days. Have you noticed that too? Are there blogs in your RSS reader that haven’t updated in years, but you would loathe to unsubscribe least they one day have a relapse? If you do have a blog, and you do comment often let me know – maybe I can send some google juice your way.
If you don’t have a blog, do you read other ones except mine? Things that have content/topics similar to mine? If you do, I want to know about these!
If you’re not familiar with Living Digitally, you might like it. I’m reading one of his books now (Containment), and it’s not bad so far. It’s not the greatest sci-fi I’ve ever read, but far from the worst.
http://www.livingdigitally.net/
I do have a dev blog, but it’s really quite boring, as I’d rather be developing than writing entertaining blog posts. Mostly I should be writing my dissertation…
My blog is in my comment website field. Unfortunately, I don’t update it regularly. But I recently added pages to it and might actually use it again soon. There should be a new graphic design in the next weeks and a photography section will be added.
I’m a certified lurker (as I surely mentioned before) and I even own thelurkerchronicles.com but I suffer from Somebody Wrote It Better syndrome so I never do write anything. Come to think of it, I am also one of those ‘Procrastinators, Leaders of Tomorrow’, so that’s probably a more significant point :)
I read a lot of blogs, most are dev stuff (front-end), though a bunch are in Russian and those I read for fun. Recently I realized that lots of blogs I follow are just visual stimulation – photos and no text at all. But I do read a lot of books. Many of my friends and colleagues don’t read fiction and, when asked, they say it’s a waste of time. Yeah, right, like gaming, movies and strikeball are not :)
I don’t have a blog (or Twitter, for that matter), and most blogs I follow are highly technical. The only with similar themes is Warren Ellis’, which I’ve started reading after I finished Transmetropolitan (I don’t usually read comics, but these are excellent).
My problem with blogging is I have my best thoughts – the few that I think could be interesting to others – when I’m nowhere near a computer, and writing them later never feels so fluid. I think I’ll have to start carrying a paper notebook and a pencil ;)
I read some tech blogs like Coding Horror and Steve Yegge’s blog (when he posts.) I read a few blogs which are political in nature, which I won’t list here. And, I read a lot of blogs which are maintained by friends of mine. Your’s is the only ‘blog-blog’ of someone I don’t know in real life which I follow regularly for some reason.
(There are also a lot of bigger publications like Make Magazine or LifeHacker which are in my feed reader, but I don’t read regularly.)
If you want to read my blog, I’ve put a link to it the website field.
Keep feeding the grues. Maybe if they eat your blog post they will leave those poor adventurers with broken lamps alone.
I have noticed that blogging seems be dying out. I guess people are just too busy.
The writer Jerry Pournelle always has something interesting to say.
http://jerrypournelle.com/jerrypournelle.c/chaosmanor/
I tell you to search for “adult tails” on Etsy and now I’m accused of TORMENT? Rude!
Thanks for the shout out for my blargh. Having a smartphone or notebook around at all times, @icebrain, makes blogging so much easier It’s not that I’m full of great ideas. It’s just that so many things happen at once. Don’t feel weird writing your thoughts in red lipstick on shower walls – great ideas DO happen there.
By the way, I just flipped on Campus PD (so bad) on G4, and a Montclair State student is being arrested for drunk driving.
Here’s mine. Thanks.
I do have a blog, content could be interesting to you but…
It’s in german. :D
Besides i really need to rewrite some of my really bad underlying python-code and overhaul most of the site.
@ Alan:
What’s your dissertation on if you don’t mind me asking?
@ Alphast:
I think I already had yours in my RSS reader. :)
@ Victoria:
Someone always does it better – this is true for everything in life. To me blogging is about perspective and personality – that’s the unique thing you bring to the table. Each of us has a unique point of view, and unique frame of reference – that’s usually what I’m drawn to when I read blogs. Not necessarily the content (though content is important) but the style and personality of the blogger.
@ icebrain:
I hardly ever am away from a computer/smart phone. When inspiration strikes I usually log into wordpress, start a new draft and jot down some quick notes, or a rough outline and flesh it out later. Currently Terminally Incoherent has 77 drafts, some of which will probably become full posts, and some of which will get deleted. :)
@ astine:
Thanks! I feel honored to be your only blog-blog. :)
@ Eric:
I don’t think blogging is dying out – I think the “blogging fad” faded from public consciousness. Back in the day everyone and their mom had like 3 blogs each. These days “blog” is no longer a new and exciting buzzword. Most of the people who blogged about what they had for breakfast or about their cats, moved on to other media (including Twitter, Tumblr and etc). I guess only the strong, the determined and the profitable are left on the stage now.
@ Jenn:
Guys, do not search for adult tails. I don’t mind the torment – it’s entertaining.
Jenn wrote:
LOL! Too funny. Where did they catch him?
@ Andrew Zimmerman:
I think I already had yours too. :)
@ Dr, Azrael Tod:
Y U NO BLOG IN ENGLISH! ;)
Did you write your own blog engine from scratch then?
@ Luke Maciak:
Why? BECAUSE I CAN!
It’s still a bit easier for me and the aim of this blog was it to reach some of the people i know (as opposed to reaching as much people as possible). Those people all speak german, so it was the obvious choice.
Yes, i did.. wordpress was just too anoying for me. Writing such is not a really big problem, even doing it usable is not really a problem. Problems begin if you want to look at your code a year later without puking.
..oh and of course if you want to import this shit that wordpress has in it’s database. That’s just plainly horrible.
Hey, a link to me! :-) Thanks for those other links, too. I have some new blogs to follow.
I think, on average, blogs that make it more than a month still only live a couple years. So you have to constantly be adding blogs or you’ll end up only with long-going blogs. I annually cull dead blogs (no posts in > 1 year) from my reader to keep it tidy.
@ Luke Maciak:
It looked like he was on Valley Road. He was all like :'(
@ Dr, Azrael Tod:
Heh, I was just joking around. You write where you have audience. :) I read several Polish tech blogs just because I can.
@ Chris Wellons:
I should probably go through all my Google Reader subscriptions and kick out all the blogs that have been stagnant for over a year. To lazy…
@ Jenn:
That’s funny. I wonder why they decided to film here – I mean, it’s not like crazy shit happens at MSU all the time. Or does it?
@ Luke Maciak:
no offense taken..
i just asked myself this question multiple times. :-D
I meant to reply to this a month ago when you wrote it and am just now getting to it… which explains why my blogs are so infrequently updated. My old main blog (http://blog.gordaen.com) is mostly abandoned. I was my “talk about everything” blog, but I decided to create a separate technical/professional blog (http://blog.iangclifton.com) in order to split the topics into more useful groups. Now my old blog is rarely updated, except for the occasional post about something I sketched, and the tech blog focuses on Android and mobile/web technology in general, but I’ve gone toward a 3ish weeks between posts schedule. I’m simply taking on too many other things. I guess I ought to write a post today….