Specifically this blog. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to determine what I wanted to do with this blog. When I first started this (as a LiveJournal blog), the purpose of the blog was to record my thoughts about what is happening in my life, and the lives of my friends. I kept it up for a while, but then as more and more people started to read (and comment) on my blog, I started to begin to self-censor more, and over time the blog lost its original focus. Hence I started to think what now.

One of my thoughts was to continue to make commentary about issues that occur in my life, and the issues that affect me. This would mean that the focus of the blog will take a different direction, and would be less focused on my thoughts and feelings (though these will definitely influence my writings).

I also started to think about how often I would write, and more importantly who I would be writing for. Initially my goal  would be to write at least once a week, hopefully more. My audience? Well I am going to assume that there is not one, and this will hopefully limit my desire to censor out my thoughts or feelings. I can’t say that this is the best strategy, but it will be  a different one. For now, it is what I have to offer.

Blog Bits

For those aussie friends of mine who occasionally visit. danah boyd, a phenomenal researcher on youth and their relationship with social networks (among other things), is visiting the land downunder. She will be speaking as part of the Education.au series in Brisbane (August 6) and Melbourne (August 8). Registration details here.

Blog Bits

Thanks to Paul English for the heads up about Shelfari, a online tool to assist in creating a virtual copy of your bookshelf.

You can visit my Shelfari bookshelf here.

Blog Bits

Lifehacker referenced a tool the other day that was ‘going to make blog posting easier,’ so I had to give it a try. I did. I can see how this might be useful for phone postings, but with the recent CrackBerry (and the like) addictions that have been rampant in my friendly circle, I think directly logging into the blog and posting will be the easier way to go.

Note: this post started off as a remote blog post through email, and then I edited it with the link and the last sentence. Be warned, it will post your signature (if you have one assigned).

Blog Bits

For those of you who do research, or write papers, you will understand the difficulty with making the appropriate citations (as required by your professor). Over at Lifehacker, they mentioned this tool called Ottobib. A must save for your bookmark list!

Find By Click have now incorporated Starbucks Coffee outlets on their google-map-ified website. Click the city you want, and voila – the location for all the Starbucks. (Source: Lifehacker) This could be extremely useful for this guy.

Blog Bits, Fun Things

Ian passed on a link last night to me for a new blog/site that he has been reading called LifeHacker. As I was reading this today, I discovered two very cool posts that I thought needed to be shared.

First, I am a horrible note taker (in class). I am one of these people that insist on writing down everything verbatim, and then scroll through these notes highlighting the key points prior to exams. LifeHacker has a post titled “Take Study-worthy Leture Notes” which outlines the Cornell method for note taking. The article also provides links that either generate preformatted note paper (you can even have it pre-printed with your name and class) in PDF format (so you just print what you need), and outlines how to create a template in Word, in case you are one of these people that taps notes out during class. There is also a link to common abbreviations used during note taking to help you get what you need on paper quicker.

Second, I am on MySpace (yeah, collective sigh). One of the things that annoys me is the lack of taste that is displayed by numerous people who also use MySpace. In some cases you can’t read a page because it is so messed up with bad combinations of styles, or it blares some horrific music out to you as you load the page. Well there is a set of code that you can install into your browser (Firefox, Mozilla) that strips all this away off every page you load. It is pretty bare, but there are no linger any hypnotic or seizure triggers waiting for you beyond the click.

Blog Bits

I was reading digg.com today and found a couple of cool links which I thought I would share.

MySpace (News Corp). What News Corp doesn’t want you to know about MySpace: Condensed edition. An expose article that has the guys over at News Corp a little hot and bothered. [digg story]
Read more…

Blog Bits

A few weeks back I signed up for Project 2,996. 2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11. On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

I was fortunate to be allocated Col. Canfield Demonte (“Bud”) Boone of the United States Army National Guard. Col. Boone was born on February 2, 1948, and died in the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 at the age of 54. He served in the Army for 31 years (Army of One Memorial). At his funeral, Col. Boone’s family received the military awards and honors given to their loved one by the United States government which included the Legion of Merit Award, the Purple Heart, the State of Indiana Distinguished Service Medal, the Cold War Certificate and the Honorable Service Certificate.
Read more…

Blog Bits, Serious Stuff