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Weblogs
Lach
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey G&T, let's talk about weblogs.
What is a weblog?
Wikipedia sez: a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order.
I know blogs have been around for a while, but I've just started messing around with wordpress, and I think it's a lot of fun. I've also noticed that some forumers keep links to their sites in their forum signature and I thought it'd be cool for us to discuss our blogs in this thread. If you guys would like, I could keep a list of forumer blogs in this post for all to see. (I'll leave mine out unless it's OK with mods)
A few resources:
WordPress
This is my favorite blogging software, a lot of themes and plug-ins to make your wordpress blog look very nice.
Blogger
Owned by Google. Lets you create blogs on their site.
So feel free to discuss your blogs or anything else about them. What software or site do you use for your blogs? What do you guys like to blog about?
I figured this fit in G&T because it uses technology. Please delete or move this if it doesn't belong here.
What is a weblog?
Wikipedia sez: a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order.
I know blogs have been around for a while, but I've just started messing around with wordpress, and I think it's a lot of fun. I've also noticed that some forumers keep links to their sites in their forum signature and I thought it'd be cool for us to discuss our blogs in this thread. If you guys would like, I could keep a list of forumer blogs in this post for all to see. (I'll leave mine out unless it's OK with mods)
A few resources:
WordPress
This is my favorite blogging software, a lot of themes and plug-ins to make your wordpress blog look very nice.
Blogger
Owned by Google. Lets you create blogs on their site.
So feel free to discuss your blogs or anything else about them. What software or site do you use for your blogs? What do you guys like to blog about?
I figured this fit in G&T because it uses technology. Please delete or move this if it doesn't belong here.
Lach on
0
Posts
I've been at it since 2002, but I've been horrible at writing stuff the entire year.
http://whyilovecandyandwhatmakesitsodelicious.com
It's about why I love candy.
What's it about?
However, I'm sort of back onto the blogging bandwagon thanks to two main sites, which IMHO, makes things a lot easier:
1UP.com Blogs
Talking about what I did last weekend with my friends ... seems pretty lame to me, and I doubt most people really care. However, like many people here, I'm pretty passionate when it comes to games, and love to be able to share my opinion about the industry (especially since I work in it).
I found that blogging at 1UP.com (you can read mine here) is actually pretty nice. I keep things gaming centric, with most of the talk centering around the games I've recently played, having mini-reviews, making predictions about the industry, etc. Since the community around 1UP is already game-centric, I can assume that the reader already knows "game stuff", so I don't have to explain things like what an FPS is, or who Miyamoto is, etc. Plus, there's some neat features like game libraries, what you've been playing, etc. Basically, it's a blogging site centered one theme. The only downside is that the actual blogging tools suck a lot.
Facebook
For the rest of my normal life, I use Facebook now. It's not really so much a blogging site, as it is just a social networking one. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends, share photos, post mini-messages, etc. It's basically all the important stuff I'd want to convey in a blog anyway, without the hassle of actually having to write an actual blog post. Low maintenance, FTW!
Oh, and the really important thing to Facebook, is that you can keep everything private to only people in your network. A network can be a workplace, school, or regional area. I'm fine with sharing my personal photos and profile to fellow Virginia Tech alumni, or fellow co-workers, or even people who live in my area. Not so much with random Joe Schmoe Redneck in North Carolina. Privacy, FTW too!
So yeah, that's been my experience. Of course, things may change a year from now, since new blogging and social networking sites constantly appear to be popping up all the time. That's just how the web is these days.
- Don't add me, I'm at/near the friend limit
Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
So far it's about nothing ;[ That's probably what's keeping me from completely figuring out what direction to take, the fact that I'm a bit undecided what my goal is
I think it starts off ok, then gets repetitive as I enter the daily grind and living in France losing that "new car smell." Then I had a big problem around Christmas, and proceeds to become repetitive, but if you would like to check it out, here is the link.
Here she be
I'll probably be bored of it within a week :P I tend to have a short attention span for these kinds of things. That's why I'm trying the idea of a link blog this time. Just posting interesting sites I find with a little comment
That's what most of these "Gaming Blogs" do.
Not to be mean or anything, but I don't find much use for link blogs. It still takes time to find/post links on your blog, even if you aren't providing much commentary. However, there are many other sites that people go to already that essentially do the same thing, but better (Joystiq, Blue's News, Kotaku, Slashdot, etc.). If it were 2000, and you had all the time in the world to focus on a link blog, sure ... but it's too late now.
- Don't add me, I'm at/near the friend limit
Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
But they built it nontheless.
Then they sold the house... which they also built... and now they live on the boat in the ocean.
boat seen here:
my mom... when she wasn't helping to craft floating art out of nothingness... made her living as a photographer
so they have a blog about their adventures now that they update when they can and thanks to the magic of photography you get to see neato pictures like this:
and this!:
the blog is here: http://svrikki.blogspot.com/
My blogging fell down the drain when I moved away from the big city where I had nearly all my friends. I'm working on moving back to the end of the year, so hopefully I'll find some creativity then.
However, your average shithead in Peoria blogging about what he had for diner, and how much he wishes Suzy Seepingcrotch would love him, is just a waste of space.
Also, people who come on forums and blog about their life are extra irritating.
I have an English degree (would you like fries with that?) and I'm off to grad school in the fall for a Master's in Public Administration.
Thing is, I still don't really know what I want to do, and writing as a job, or at least as a side-project continues to interest me. Thing is, how? Blogging about my day-to-day shit is, as has been said, uninteresting.
I guess I could try to take a stab at a more journalistic approach, with a G&T themed style. Review, or comment on current events, and be something worth reading, ideally.
Is this just a stupid idea? /sigh
SE++ Map Steam
The things is that I'm already looking for sites throughout the day. I've started sharing my google reader feed with my friends, so we can share interesting pages we find. What I'm trying to do is really just an extension of that concept. I'm not aiming for anything grand, just sharing things I find with friends
For the most part, I agree. That said, I'm also a hypocrite, since my blogs probably fall under that as well. What can I say, I like hearing myself talk. (Well, I do have some readers, so I guess it's not totally a waste)
I also wanted to say that for the longest time, I didn't realize that Joystiq and Kotaku were technically blogs. To me, they just seemed like just another news site, but with more commentary than normal. I guess it's not such a bad way to be presented with the news, although obviously there are times where I vehemently disagree with some of what they say. (Bloggers are often guilty of saying stupid shit just to elicit responses, gain more readers, and attention)
- Don't add me, I'm at/near the friend limit
Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
You are correct.
News media is freaking out because of the threat to their jobs too.
I have a crappy personal blog I never update at the56k.com. I use wordpress though, nice software.
We had a "big" story here in Sweden recently where some newspaper felt it was "unfair" that our foreign minister has a (horribly dry and boring) blog -- he can write anything he want, totally unfiltered by media bias! That was a damn scandal! At least for the newspapers!
The argument was that "information from politicians should be filtered and delivered by the real media!"
No, not a stupid idea at all. I would suggest that it has to come natural. Don't blog about crap, just for the sake of blogging. Find something that you're actually interested in talking about, and it definitely helps if you have some actual insight that you can provide, which others may not have.
Some of the best blogs I've read are situational. For example, someone goes travelling, and blogs about the amazing stuff they've seen. Or they work at a high-profile job/company, and tell stories about the things that go on. Or they're an expert in a certain topic.
Since you're a genuine word-smith, you can probably do a lot better job at writing and reporting than most of us (including myself) ever will.
- Don't add me, I'm at/near the friend limit
Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
That is rad. Are there different colors?
From when I started the blog to now I can see a marked improvement in my writing and as you know you have to keep at it to actually not get worse.
Don't get me wrong... I'm horrible... especially on forums with my constant "..."
BUT... I like to find interesting ways to write about the family paintball event, a trip to the zoo, or just a crazy thing that happened at dinner. I'm not writing for some higher purpose... or to create something for strictly entertainment... I'm just writing for the occasion because I enjoy the language.
I've been thinking about this too. I've started 3 personal blogs since last year and they all end up going nowhere because:
1. I'm not focused. I just post about random shit that's boring
2. No one gives a shit
So I've thought about the things that interest me (racing, video games, technology) and I can think of more than a dozen "blogs" that fit into each category.
My favorite blogs are the ones that are about specific projects. I guess they used to be called developer diaries. I guess the first stip is finding a topic and sticking to it.
This is exactly what I need to do. My English is lacking, and I need some practice. I'm thinking of leaving home for a while when I graduate from college, that would probably be something interesting to write about.
Actually, I think I started a blogger account for that purpose, but.. I can't remember the name.
It was something clever, and I'm fairly sure I gave it it's own email address via gmail.
Is there any way to see what email invites you've sent to yourself?
Edit: got it. Was in my address book, but it was a different side project I was thinking of.
(I know there's a preposition at the end of that sentence, and I don't care.)
SE++ Map Steam
Also you will appreciate what your past self has to say to your future self in the event you go back to read your year+ old entries.
(Please forgive me)
I write Skeptobot.
It's just for fun - but I like the idea of trying my hand at opinionated writing - after too much unbiased astronomy.
It's kinda meant to be a bit like a skeptical ukresistance - but about Science, atheism, technology, privacy and (silly) Religion. despairing at the ridiculous state of the world - rather than trying to prove anyone wrong. It's part of my plan to become a Renaissance man.
I started it after making the ytmnd Pale Blue Dot which got me a load of hate mail from idiots and so I made skeptobot to respond to it.
Yeah, it's preaching to the converted but I don't think is quite a saturated topic. Any advice for improving the blog would be cool.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
In retrospect the first (and currently only) post is pretty weird and pretentious, but here's a link anyway:
http://curlybrace21st.blogspot.com/
Also, in before Gaijin Smash, the show with ZeFrank (videoblog), The Work of Gord, and other such classics.
http://www.apotheos.net
If you blog, and blog regularily, I want you in my RSS so hard it isn't funny. I'm still trying to figure out how blogs can breed community.
猿も木から落ちる
I really need to personalise skeptobot.
Also theres a good firefox plug in called "just blog it" that lets you right click on a page, choose 'Just Blog It' from the right click menu then go straight to a formated blog post. It's a huge time saver.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
- Don't add me, I'm at/near the friend limit
Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
I haven't updated mine in a few weeks, which is unusual. Normally I do two or three posts a week, but classes have been keeping me from satisfying my thirst for writing.
I'm still blogging. My writing is gradually getting better. I'm enjoying myself. Not really much more to it than that.