Why I don't Blog

April 4, 2007 by 8 Comments

This post was written by Erick, a regular reader and commenter on this blog. I wanted a guest blogger here because I was inspired by I Help You Blog’s “101 Great Posting Ideas For Your Blog.”

Many thanx to my host Kayliz for this guest post, which is in response to his question on a previous post. I read ‘somewhere’ that lists are good (see number 11, second bullet), so here’s my blog on why I don’t blog 🙂 :

5.Originality
It goes without saying that a blog has to be original. But apparently Archer came across a deliberate act of plagiarism. I’d rather not blog than feel the need to copy others.

4. Time Management
In order to write a good blog, time needs to be managed so that other parts of your life don’t suffer. Blogging less than once a month would seem “too little” for me, and would discourage others from coming back for new content (see number 8). A lack of effective time management is one of my many weaknesses.

3. Planned Blogging
Readers come back for more content when a blog is interesting, and that takes planning and research (see number 9). Even then, I wouldn’t want to sound like a ” know it all” 🙂 . How does one balance expressing accurate knowledge with conveying humility? Still figuring that out.

2. Comment Envy
People are generally social creatures, so the more the connection between blogger and commenter(s), the more dynamic a blog is. But it takes time to develop a good “comment base”. Even Aco admitted that he used to blog for himself a long time ago. I would probably look at my “0 comments”, then go over to tHiNkEr’s rOoM with 20+ comments, and think “How much longer??” 🙂 .

1. No Vision
As already stated in my comment, Aco posted something on blogging some time ago. A lot of it is personal opinion (as he stated), and he has valid points. Others don’t agree with him and I see their point too. One statement that sticks out is:

“I think that part of the problem is that when many people start their blogs they don’t have an idea where their blog is going.“

I would want to continue blogging even when no one comments, because I know what the goal of the blog is. Comment Envy or not 🙂 . I’m still waiting for that Vision, so will continue enjoying others blogs in the meantime. Thanx again Kayliz!!

Filed Under: Blogging

Webcams For the Ugly

April 2, 2007 by 2 Comments

Surfing through Trendhunter, I came across the story of a new breed of webcams. Yep, you can now get a fake webcam. Think about it. Have you always wanted to broadcast your cam on services like Yahoo messenger or msn, but you held back because you’re not that confident about your looks? Or maybe you just don’t have a cam? Well, now you’ve got options. You just need to head over to fakewebcam.com and get yourself a fake webcam (surprise, surprise). The program lets you broadcast pre-recorded video as your webcam. Neat, huh?

Not only can you dupe that pretty girl from Australia (or Eastern Europe – doesn’t really matter) into digging ‘you’ but you can also share your favorite video clips easily with friends and family, over IM while you chat away.

Speaking of duping your new e-girl, this reminds me of my own experience with online dating: The year was 2005 and I had met this real nice girl at talkcity. We hit it off like we’d known each other for decades (though I wasn’t even two decades old, yet) and I started ‘feeling’ something for her. This was pretty strange because I normally don’t feel anything for anyone unless I’ve known her for quite a while. Since I was still a bit green behind the ears and probably a bit silly also, I found myself entertaining thoughts of having met ‘the one’. It was pretty nice, while it lasted. She is a great person.

A healthy long term relationship, a meeting in the Bahamas, love – I wish these were included in the conclusion to my story. Reality, though, is much much harsher. A few months down the road, my magnificent castle of love came tumbling down as I realised that our ‘relationship’ was based largely on lies, and more damn lies! Come to think of it, all my e-friendships so far have been mostly dishonest. Moral of the story? Meeting pals, or lovers on the net isn’t for the faint hearted – almost everyone will lie to you. The internet just makes it so very easy for a person to build up this virtual image of themselves that looks almost nothing like that person irl (irl = in real life). And Now we have fake webcams.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Begging and Boredom

April 1, 2007 by 1 Comment

BegForPost. This is simply an awesome site. I love the idea behind it. From site:”You’ve worked for months building a startup on a boostrap budget and the launch is near. How will you get an initial influx of traffic to propel your product/service into viral bliss? Don’t pay off bloggers to promote your startup, beg! Getting started is quick and easy. Fill out the form below, sit back, and wait for Internet stardom. You’re almost there!

  • Completely free
  • No chicken hats
  • No conflicts of interest
  • No annoying reality show
  • No direct deployments to production
  • No premature acquisition announcements”

Now, why would anyone pay per post when you can beg for post? The best feature of the site is that you can see, and laugh at, who is begging. The “see who’s begging section” is definitely something to visit when in need of laughs or when you’re just plain bored.

Speaking of boredom, what do you do when you just want to have fun; when you’re on the net and not looking for anything specific but just want to kill some time? I don’t know about you(why don’t you tell me?), but I visit:

  1. Bore me.com to check out the latest jokes and other fun stuff.
  2. Howstuffworks to be amazed at the workings of things, they’ve got everything here, even invisibility cloaks and Star Wars weaponry.
  3. Yahoo! Answers to ask irrelevant but mostly meaningful questions and goof about trying to answer other guys.
  4. ICQ to chat to anonymous people that I’ll never hear of or talk to(in any way) again. The good, or bad, thing about ICQ is that some of the chatrooms are full of ‘naughty’ people (read: you may end up getting some nookie).
  5. Youtube the reason why is pretty obvious: we all love good video.
  6. Craigslist. The reason why I go here when I’m bored is different from the reason why I go here at other times. When I’m bored, I go to CL to check out the personals and see if I can find anyone interesting, lol. Actually, I like reading on what people are looking for. Yes, I just surf the personals from city to city to city… (I’m bored, remember?)
  7. StumbleUpon to channel-surf the net. Stumbleupon is really cool and useful – some say ‘stumbling’ is cooler, and more useful than googling. This is usually my last resort.

What do you do (on the internet) when you’re bored, with time on your hands?

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Finally, something to brighten up your day (or stress you out and confirm your worst nightmares): do you know your Google twin? (Google twin — that person who shares your name and, your Google entry with you.)

PS- if you make a relevant comment anywhere on this blog, you get a link back from me.

Filed Under: Cool Sites

Is Firefox Really Free?

March 31, 2007 by Leave a Comment

FACT: I know more people who’ve bought Firefox (and other free software) than I do those who got the free software for free.

Does Your Ignorance Betray You?
I turned off the busy street into the alley and suddenly felt an uneasy feeling of loneliness. I suppose it was because the place was a bit spooky, to say the least. The alley was almost empty, dirty and seemed dark, even though it was probably midday. An eerie wind blew seemingly directly at me, blowing polythene bags at me. I skipped over them and headed for the dirty little sign that said, ‘Cheap Software’.

The software was indeed dirt cheap. You could get the latest Microsoft software for pocket change! Not to mention many, many other notable software. Despite the temptation, I had not gone there for bootlegged software ( yes, I think piracy is wrong, immoral, and criminal) – I had come for something very specific. I had come for Firefox, the award winning browser. To my surprise, the guy at the counter told me I could have the latest copy for just under $5. He went on to add that for that same price, each, I could have some other software too. The interesting thing to note is that Firefox, and all the $5 software on offer at that particular place is what is normally termed as free, open source software. The guy was offering to sell me stuff that I could get for free. Surprise, surprise.

The sad fact is that millions of people the world over, especially in the so-called developing world buy all their software at roughly the same price. They get Microsoft and other for-sale stuff dirt cheap because what they pay for are illegal pirated copies and they get otherwise free software at a price because they have no idea it’s free.

I have no problem with you willingly buying something that you can get for free – heck, I’ll even sell it to you! I believe we should all have the option to pay for whatever we want to pay for, even free things. What ticks me off, however, is when one is ‘tricked’ into buying anything. Of course your ignorance is always your fault but taking advantage of it isn’t nice at all. That’s what this post is about: getting rid of buyer ignorance. So go on, gather all your friends and let me tell you about an award winning software whose price is shocking!


Is Firefox Really All That?
Yes it is, and more! You can skip my long explanation why by going here.

I’m sure you’ve heard tons about the virtues of Firefox so I’ll keep it short. Like any other surfer, I am concerned about my speed and efficiency online. Lately, I also think about my privacy and security. The only browser that meets all my need is Mozilla Firefox. Firefox was built to be the fastest, most efficient and secure browser available. It lives up to all that and also gives you the option of personalizing it by getting useful little add-ons.

I know there are hundreds of faulty and plain useless software out there so you are probably skeptical. I would be too. My secret of telling whether any software is any good is finding out whether that particular software has any fanatical fans who sing its praises. Firefox passes this test:
Yes that is the Firefox Logo in a crop field. These guys made it. If they love Firefox that much, it just goes to show that Firefox is simply that damn good. Period.

How To Buy Firefox and How Not To Buy Firefox
As I said earlier, if you want to buy something that you can get for free then go right ahead. However, since you’re going to pay, anyway, wouldn’t it be better to pay the person who made what you’re paying for? In this case, that is the Mozilla Foundation. If you want to pay for your copy of Firefox, then go here.

That, though, is your problem because Firefox is so free that I can even get paid to give it to you. Don’t believe me? Check out the orange image at the bottom of my sidebar. Otherwise, you can get Firefox for free, no strings attached, by clicking on the image below:
Firefox 2
Go here to grab 27 cool tools to personalize your Firefox and make it even cooler(after your download, of course).

I know! How can something so cool be free? Well, technically you’ll have to pay for internet access. (If you write me a nice letter, I can send you a copy on CD.) 😉

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Tips Hacking and Reviews

Some Link Love

March 29, 2007 by 2 Comments

Did you know that if you leave a comment on this blog, you’ll get something back in return? Today, I’m giving something back to:

Starprose is asking for testers to give feedback on StarProse Corporation’s new product: The Ultimate Lottery Suite.

Mama Shady tells a funny story, possibly of identity theft, in which her cash goes on a little vacation then comes back. She gets so angry that now she’s off to ‘brood, or think about bees and things and flowers.’ By the way, she also owns this dead-ish blog with a cool name (thumno). Yes, I can’t take waiting for you to do something with it anymore so I’m being…’proactive’.

Archer (aka mwanamishale) anabonga storo ya vile alienda kubanjuka kwa ma-club za Nai siku moja na vile alipewa mawuoiyess videadly. (Archer talks about his clubbing experience in Nairobi).

One of the leading stories over at Kenya Imagine is that of the Iranians taking British soldiers hostage. The post itself is very well written and insightful and makes one ask himself whether we’re getting the whole story…

Kirima has a very nice and well thought out tutorial on Ten Ways To Marry the Wrong Person. “With the divorce rate over 50%, too many are apparently making a serious mistake in deciding whom to spend the rest of their life with. To avoid becoming a “statistic,” try to internalize these 10 insights.”

Following this post, which mentions the death of Google Answers, Crabcakes – a former Google Answers Researcher points us here, where you may find other former Google Answers researchers. On her blog, she talks about how she prepares a layout and asks the question: Which came first, the photo or the layout?

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Do you want some link love? It is so very easy to get some: just comment intelligibly anywhere on this blog. Don’t forget the rules though.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

The Blogosphere turns Nasty (we're talking death-threats)

March 27, 2007 by 1 Comment

“I have canceled all speaking engagements. I am afraid to leave my yard. I will never feel the same. I will never be the same.” Kathy Sierra

She said this in a blog post explaining why she is leaving the blogosphere, among other things: “I do not want to be part of a culture–the Blogosphere–where this is considered acceptable. Where the price for being a blogger is kevlar-coated skin and daughters who are tough enough to not have their “widdy biddy sensibilities offended” when they see their own mother Photoshopped into nothing more than an objectified sexual orifice, possibly suffocated as part of some sexual fetish. (And of course all coming on the heels of more explicit threats).”

Things such as this make me lose all hope for humanity. Why is it that certain things have to happen. Why do always have to seek confrontations, to attack others? Can’t we all just get along? Probably not. Man will always be man, online or offline. This has been true for eons and we should all find way s of dealing with conflicts brought about by the insecurities, greed or just plain evil of other people.

This does not mean I condone attacks against other people. No. I abhor them. I am just admitting that there is always going to be those among us who will not want to respect other people. Death threats, of course, are another matter altogether. Last I checked, making a death threat was a crime. Therefore, those who made such threats to Kathy Sierra must be brought to book. What they did is unacceptable and unjustifiable.

If you look at the threat closely enough, you will get the all-too-familiar feeling that the threats against Kathy were made partly (or precisely) because she is a woman. This is just sad. I mean, this is 2007! That some men still think its okay to demean someone just because she’s a woman is just ineffably disturbing and wrong. It only says this much about the perpetrators: they are insecure, feel inadequate and probably even jealous of Kathy’s immense success in the blogosphere and picked on her because they perceived her to be an ‘easy’ target (again, because she’s female). This can only mean that these people are also cowards.

As bloggers, we should attack any and all forms of such behaviour in the blogosphere. Such people cannot and should not be let to get away with anything. Attacks of this kind simply must stop, especially those tinged with the foul odour of gender-based aggression and/or discrimination.

To Kathy: my thoughts are with you and I offer my support in any way. I hope you decide to blog once again – the blogosphere is not all bad. Don’t let them win.

Finally, a word to the anonymous death-threat maker: if you’re going to threaten me with death, at least be man enough to do it face to face (or at least not anonymously) so that I can smack your foul mouth and see what you have to say about that.

Filed Under: Blogging, Miscellaneous

Get Answers. Now!

March 25, 2007 by 3 Comments

Ask A Hacker. “Any and all technical questions answered by a real computer hacker. This is the kind of thing we can bill hundreds an hour for, but you get it for free. What a steal! Send your techincal question to mailto://question@askahacker.com/. And don’t worry, we’re all white hats here. What, you don’t trust a random anonymous web site on the internet? Why not? If we wanted your intimate details, don’t you think we’d be offering you a free screen saver or something?” (From Site)
“The internet crosses national and legal boundaries world-wide. Your next door neighbor could hack a computer in China, use that to hack a computer in Nigeria, from there hack a computer in Russia, then take a trip through Saudi Arabia, go through Vietnam, Argentina, Norway, Egypt, Japan, Poland, and then from Poland finally strike at you.”

Obviously, if you need technical help, as a hacker. Why not?

Yahoo! Answers. You can pretty much get an answer on any question you want. It can also be used to some degree as a polling tool to get opinions on various subjects. Personally, I like to answer other people’s questions and it is kinda fun. I really like this site, you can get anything answered. Yes even your homework. The only problem is that the people who answer your questions are normal everyday people and hence the quality of the answers may not be all that you expect it to be. Still, its a really cool site from Yahoo! You won’t believe how addictive it is.

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You may have noticed that today’s cool sites all focus on getting your questions answered. Why did I do that. Well, I want to tell you of an interesting way of using such sites. If you blog, you sometimes want to write a post but your creative juices just aren’t flowing as they usually do – to get them flowing again, just go to a site like Yahoo Answers, ask an open ended question and you’ll be surprised at what you uncover – this may also be a great way to carry out some basic research for your posts (you know, to get an idea of what people think of what you have in mind).

Too bad Google Answers is no longer in operation. Finally, you may want to check out the Coolest Toilet EVER!!

PS – Comment here. You’ll get something in return.

Filed Under: Cool Sites