Author: Carl Setzer

102 ways to make your blog not suck

Carl Setzer

102 Ways to make your blog not suck by Solomon Rothman at Social Media Systems
 
I don’t know if I agree with all of these, but they’re good tips. Here are my favorites
 
10) Use spell check
22) Don’t overload the site with ads
94) Check facts; they’re online and easy to find.
95) Don’t blog pissed off; remember your words are permanent, so least attempt to calm down or be rational
 
Lastly (though not included on Solomon’s list) remember why you’re interested in blogging. And don’t get too caught up in the advice the pundits throw out.

Life in the church

Carl Setzer

One of my blogging colleagues wrote recently about issues she’s having with her (Episcopal) parish priest. Now, I spent many years working for a church and have a somewhat unique, perhaps skewed, perspective. Anyway, issues within a congregation are always particularly painful. Consider one key point, if you will. People feel an intense attachment to their congregations, to the buildings. This is, at its core, not only good but essential. However, at times it can cause anguish. Messing with components of worship really becomes messing with the core of people’s identity, with their relationship with the divine. If not dealt with well, you are telling those you disagree with that their relationship with God is somehow wrong. Not very priestly, or pastoral in any sense. It’s quite critical for clergy (in particular, but not excluded to them) to keep this in mind lest they harm their flock. The “my way or the highway” mentality may work for leading a Republican congress, but not a parish. It’s ugly, un-pastoral, and damn un-Christian.

More Vista Thoughts

Carl Setzer

One thing that I would love to have seen, and that would have made me run out and by Vista, or any OS, is a focus on speed and efficiency. I’m quite sure that Vista is in the same boat as all the rest of the MS OS offerings. More features, more bloat, more RAM, less efficiency and S-L-O-W. At some point, I want all the OS options to focus on using less resources. Use what I have better! Of course, then I wouldn’t NEED to run out and buy something new every few years (months?). Sigh, I’m back to cynicism again…

Vista and other joys

Carl Setzer

Well, I’ve seen much of the hoopla around the release of windows newest edition and have been feeling quite underwhelmed. Nothing huge, mind you, just that I haven’t seen anything as yet to induce to buy any of the versions. Comically, I’m still trying to discern the differences between the different versions. What do I get for the $100 version, vs. the $400? I know some of the pieces, but am still not feeling a great, well, anything. With XP, I could tell you what I would get with Home vs. Profession, and why someone should get one or the other. Vista’s a bit too messy for me, I’m afraid. I’m more excited about installing Ubuntu Linux right now. I just need to budget some time to do a full backup first, then I will partition my Compaq’s hard drive and set it up for dual boot. Hopefully, doing the full install will enable me to troubleshoot my issue with my wi-fi card (running Linux from the cd, I was unable to use my wi-fi card. Oddly, it was detected and on the list of supported devices.) I’ve been looking forward to experimenting with Linux for years. This should be fun, in that odd, geeky way of fun that I have. Yeah, I’m the guy who set up a wireless network for fun. Sigh…

Bosses

Carl Setzer

I once worked for a sausage factory and divided my time between shipping and the brat line. The chap I worked with was named Ever. That time is one of the toughest, for I worked for the Wurst boss, Ever.

Quote of the day

Carl Setzer

From Fergus and the Druid, W.B. Yeats

“A wild and foolish labourer is a king,

To do, and do, and do, and never dream.”

We’re so focused on doing, on completing and accomplishing and advancing that we forget to dream. Heck, many of us forget how to dream! With no dreams, there are no goals, thus no plans, so life becomes a wandering morass of unconnected and empty (if completed) task lists. So many of us dream of kingship, so it seems.

Seattle, The Viaduct, and Life In The City

Carl Setzer2 Comments

Here’s my response to this article/survey (online at the Seattle PI).

The Question:

What’s the best option for the viaduct?

Gov. Gregoire seems to have resuscitated the possibility for a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Have you decided what transportation option you want on the waterfront? If not, what information do you need in order to come to a decision?

Looking over the debate, the mayor only seems to be concerned about the beautification aspects of this whole debate. I’m bothered by the fact that few folks are mentioning the economic impact of tunnel construction, how we will mitigate the effects of this roadway being inaccessible for nearly a decade, or, of course, the justification of the extra expense. The tunnel hasn’t been sold to me, at least.

Personally, I’m worried that this project has not been thought through. The economic impacts for areas such as Ballard and immense, and haven’t been publicly addressed/discussed. Mayor Nickels has not addressed many of the valid criticisms of his plan, and certainly hasn’t made a case for the tunnel option being better. The only I see in the tunnel is the beautification of the waterfront. A great thing, don’t get me wrong. I’m just not convinced that it’s worth the other costs incurred.

Quote of the Day, Thanks to Google

Carl Setzer

“The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before.”
– Thorstein Veblen

This drives home a point that I’ve often meditated on; why is it that that exploration only whets the appetite for further exploration? I was once told that we’re close to knowing all there is to know. What a load of rubbish, eh? That was some time back (junior high, methinks). Well, whatever. What’s really amazing here is how powerful this is. So many folks think that the purpose of research is (simply) answering a question, finding the truth. Yet, the more you learn, the further you seem to be from the truth. Perhaps it is within the quest for knowledge that we learn how far from the truth we really were. Eh, sounds good…

Acquistion Timeline

Carl Setzer

Here’s a little gem put together by the folks at shmula.com. It shows all the acquisitions by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo over the past few years. It’s a very well done and thought provoking thing. Thanks to Marketing Pilgrim for featuring this.