Jul 15, 2006 | blog
Sorry to everyone, I’ve been so busy at work that I’ve not had time to post much. Actually, I’ve not really been able to write about much, and I don’t know why.
Most of the last two weeks when I’ve sat down and started a post, I change my mind about a line or two in – its been frustrating. There is so much work on my plate during the day, that I simply haven’t found the interest to poke around all my favorite blogs and sites on the ‘net.
It sure is frustrating, it must be “bloggers block” that many bloggers have talked about.
My problem at the moment seems to follow the pattern that everyone goes through, either work or life or something takes up more time and since we all need some “down time”, blogging is something that seems to get set aside for awhile. It’s not like I don’t have anything to say, but I just am having trouble finding the right words.
Another thing that’s not helping right now is that I feel uninspired, I think because of my workload. Well, that’s enough for now, its my daughter’s birthday this weekend, and we’ve got a lot of things to do. Though I will be trying to get back to some writing – I do have a list of posts/articles/reviews, that I would like to eventually get to, so I do have some hope.
Later.
Jul 3, 2006 | blog
I’ve realized something. I need all my posting tools, content creation ideas, and storage of all this to be online. While I currently do most of my writing offline in OneNote, I’m finding that I would prefer to have my tools online in some way.
A lot of work I did months ago was in Writely – and I’m starting to return to this tool instead of locally installed software. The nice thing about Writely (and Zoho Writer among others), is that your data is stored online, available from practically any browser. The online tools like these also have the basic formatting and all-important spell check (for me at least) features that make writing blog posts a simple task.
What’s missing from these types of online tools are research features. Now, I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for here, because of course there is no shortage of places to look for information online. This is the place where OneNote shines, because you can Cut & Paste, clip, and copy all types of information into your OneNote notebook in all types of organizational structures. The online tools don’t have something like this.
However, even the abiltiy to aggregate the research notes for a post or article don’t make it easy to form that into a readable format. Of course that is where the creativity in blogging (or any writing for that matter) comes in.
The reality of things as I start to work on more and more writing chores comes into focus, and I believe that I’m going to end up with two different methods for blogging. One online with the Writely’s and Zoho Writers of the world, and one with local software like OneNote & Word. The reason for this is because of the differing styles of posts – long & short. Long posts really need supporting information like links, definitions, pictures, and more. Short posts are really in the conversational form that blogging has long been associated with and simply requires that I stay on topic – though it would be nice to spell things correctly. 😉
The really dirty secret of blogging with OneNote is that the HTML output from both OneNote and Word is horrid – even the 2007 versions that are in beta. Hopfully this will improve over time, but as nice as it is to create a long post in OneNote, the work involved to clean up the HTML is lengthy and not easy. Several posts have ended up in Writely anyway so I could work on the HTML before posting the damn thing on my blogs.
I’ve had some great hints, tips and tricks from several people on the OneNote development team & forums, but for blogging, the product has a long way to go. The biggest problem with OneNote/Word is that Microsoft (it seems) just can’t get deal with the fact that other products and developers can handle presentation as good or better than they can. Fonts are the worst part of OneNote/Word posting – every damn paragraph definition, they have to embed the font being use in the product. Hint – every blog handles the default font for the blog. Oh well, the reality is that I’m moving back towards online tools that I can reach from almost anywhere – I think this will work best for me going forward.
Jul 2, 2006 | blog
Well, I’ve been working and thinking on a new blog for awhile now and I’ve finally got to a point that I believe that I’m satisfied to launch my side project. The idea had really come to me while talking with some family members about blogging and some info I had here on my blog that they said was helpful. I guess this weekend is as good as any to launch a new blog – lots of time to prep and post while everyone is out celebrating our country’s independence.
The new blog is The Mobile Lifestyle and it’s about, well… the mobile lifestyle. The idea I have for TML is to talk about all facets of mobility, not just gadgets and wireless service. There are many things that promote mobility in our modern society and to not take them all into context is to miss out on some really interesting and fun things that everyone can take advantage of.
So I’m jumping into the deep end with both feet and hope to produce something of value for anyone interested in reading. Since I’m not funded by anyone but myself, it’ll really be written from the average person’s point of view. Looking for the best value, watching costs on cool devices & exotic locals, you understand the dilemma that most of us encounter using or acquiring new technology (unless the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to contribute to my favorite charity – me).
There will be some tweaking as I get feedback and work with other resources on the ‘net, eventually culminating in a professional site re-design. So be patient as we work out some of the issues and so on as they come up. The Mobile Lifestyle is now live and online – stop over and let me know what you think!
Jun 30, 2006 | blog
I was convinced of that today during a meeting at work. I’ve been planting the blogging seeds at work for several months, with some success at the IT management level, but was reminded quite aggressively by a coworker that some people have a real hard time with something new.
To some people, change brings disruption, uncertainty, fear, and anger. Obviously they don’t understand what a blog is for or what it can be utilized for. The reaction I experienced today has made me certain that there are some people that you simply can’t reach. Their ability to grasp new concepts and really understand the significance of the difference from existing ideas is a wall blocking their ability to learn new skills.
The amazing thing to me is that intelligent people actually fear things. Rather than take a minute or two and actually listen to a quick explanation or demonstration, they simply make knee-jerk assumption and move on, not knowing what they missed.
Oh well, more opportunity for me!
UPDATE: If anyone is interested in a tactic to address some of the things I’ve talked about here – check out Ann Michael’s post The Change Resistors: Snipers on her Manage To Change blog. There are some great tips on dealing with individuals who enjoy shooting down ideas simply because of lack of understanding.
Jun 29, 2006 | blog
Ugh, I had to go back into the office this evening to work on one of the servers supporting our VPN system. The darn Integrity database got snarled up, and its still restoring.
This doesn’t bode well for my 8:30am meeting does it. 🙂
UPDATE: Guess I’ll just blog a few items as I catch up on yesterday’s news! Database restores can be so boring.
