post a day keeps the traffic hooray!
So, this is my token post for the day. as the blogger help stuff points out, regularly posting keeps the traffic up. So, every blogger’s mantra should be “a post a day”.
Ok, so howabout if you just can’t do it? I went on vacation earlier this week and didn’t post for a couple of days. Today is a Sunday- and a busy one at that. First, we had church, a special service for the 47th anniversary. Then, we had a get together in the afternoon. Then I finished reading a book. The day just flew out the window man.
Am I just rambling or do I have a point? 
keep reading- I have a point.
So what do you think about having stock posts saved to post when you need to fulfill the “post a day” thing? One of the things about blogging is that it is current. It’s about the here and the now. Is this compromised if you store posts?
What about well thought out essays? do they have a place on a blog?
You notice that some days I am more prolific in my posting. Should I have “saved” some of these posts for a rainy day?
PLEASE take the time to comment on this- what do you think? What is your general practice when blogging? Commenting only takes a minute or two- PLEASE take the time and let me know what you think. I will keep even negative comments- it is only the spam/evil gross stuff that I remove. Please Comment
COMMENTS
firefox- there IS an upgrade
Sorry if I caused undue excitement for anyone- this is a post about people upgrading their old firefox, not an announcement of a new one.
“I don’t use firefox”
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I was checking out my Stats and I saw something that is mildly disturbing- Microsoft’s IE browser (v6) has overtaken firefox 1.0.7. However, StatCounter shows the versions of firefox that have displayed my page. If all those people using firefox 1.0.6 and previous versions would upgrade to 1.0.7, not only would they be safer (security wise) but also the bar graph on my stats page would look so much more appealing.
How do I tell what version of firefox I have? |
How do I upgrade my firefox without downloading a new one?
under your file-preferences (mac) edit-preferences (linux) or tools-options (windows). You should see the Advanced section (the icon is a gear cog). Then look for Software Update and choose Check Now.
“I don’t use firefox.”
That is totaly your choice. This blog should work the same for all browsers and operating systems. However, firefox is:
- Safer
- Faster
- Better
So what are you waiting for? Head over to
getfirefox.com and Download it today!
COMMENTS
Ipod Bible
Users of Apple’s trendy device will be able to take the Bible on the move when an audio version, which also scrolls Scripture across the iPod screen, goes on sale in February.
Though there have been many audio bibles (google search) to download and listen to, now you can also see the text scrolling on the screen. Of course you have to pay for this, they say that Christian Books (etc) are big business.
The target audience for this new gadget is young christian adults who are too busy to read the bible often. This gives them the option of absorbing the bible while on the move. While this is cool, I don’t think it is a substitute for good quality quiet time with God.
Coincidentally, there was a recent Thread at Whiteblaze in which lightwieght ebook readers were discussed. Someone suggested an ipod, but the consensus was that since the small screen is tough to read, an audiobook is great fun on an ipod.
I would reccomend getting free Bible mp3′s instead.
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blogger link hack
You can now click on the title of a post to go to that Post’s page, to see the full article, plus any comments and links.
It was seriously bugging me
I was playing around with my template code, looking at the blogger help pages, but I would either hide my titles, make the entire post a link, link to the home page or nothing would happen.
The Fix
Image here
There! I’m happy now.
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Alternative Energy Overview
Our brand new 21st Century world has brought us one cold hard fact: we are running out of fossil fuel, and the energy it provides is the life force of our world.
What we need and how it can be generated.
What we use energy for:
- Electricity
This includes for light and various appliances. - Heat
Non-electric heat, by combustion in the traditional sense. - Motion
To power things like cars.
Green Energy: what kind?
- Solar
This includes photovoltaic and solar heat.- Used to generate electricity (photovoltaic) and heat things- like air or water (for heating a house or heating water for the shower)
- Wind
Anyone from the Netherlands?- Mostly used to generate electricty through spinning turbines.
- Water
trickle trickle trickle…- Used to spin turbines and generate electricty, also as a medium to hold heat/lack-of-heat for household heating.
- Geothermal
Hot Earth- Used to heat air and used for household heating.
More to Come in this “Green” Series
COMMENTS
Statistics
Update- 29 Oct 2005: you can check out my live stats here: my statcounter project
For this site, I am using a great little free tool from Stat Counter to monitor site usage. What it is is a little javascript code that I have put into my blogger template, which means that it automatically gets put on every page. Then I just have to log into the site and check out the stats.
Some interesting Stats
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The Blogger “blog surfer” must have had an affect on this stat I believe. A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of our code on your web page and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time!
Niggles
- The stats are based on the last hundred page loads- no big deal for a FreeWheelin’ blog like mine, but any major site would probably want to cough up for realistic data.
- Some data misrepresented- I found myself, and it said I was using Windows ME and IE 6, when I’m running MacOSX and Firefox 1.0.7, which really is a minor issue.
- It doesn’t remember me- even though I have cookies enabled. No problem to log back in using Firefox’s password rememberer.
- Some Ads not flagged as such.
Cool Stuff
- It’s Free!
- It’s Invisible!! This means no annoying number on your page, no Ads.
- No Unsolicited Email(ie spam) I haven’t had many emails from then either- just what is necesary.
- It’s really simple to implement and track your stats.
- Not only shows hits (which can be inflated by page reloads) but unique visitors and returning visitors
- There is such a wide range of data available, my favourites being:
- Country Stats
- Most Popular Pages
- Visit Length
- Came From (what links to you, basically)
- System Stats (including Browser Stats)
- Simple, easy to read, proffesional looking graphs.
- Clean and easy to navegate layout.
- IP look up map. Drill Down feature to give you very specific data
- Friendly and Useful Forum.
- Many other great features…
Though this site has some minor niggles, the benefits out-weigh the negatives. An excellent site and service guys, congratulations on a five hedgehog rating.
Though looking at Stats can be fun, remember the wisdom in this quote, which has been attributed to Mark Twain, Benjamin Disraeli, and others.
There are lies, damn lies – and statistics.
COMMENTS
indie blogs
There is a new section next to the Links on my sidebar. Right now it’s called Independant Blogs but I’m wondering if anyone can think of a better name for this section. The kind of blogs posted under this section wouldn’t be the big kind (like LifeHacker) but the smaller one person deal.
So, if you have any ideas for a better name, please post a comment. Or, if you would like me to link to your “indie blog” post a comment, and if I like it, it will show up in the links.
UPDATE 28th October 2005- that section is now called FreeWheelers. Though it is mostly blogs that are included there, there are also some non-blogs.
COMMENTS
Site Review: LifeHacker
I thought I’d review some of the sites I link to, so here goes…
Don’t live to geek; geek to live.
Though not only showing hacks (in the friendly and correct O’Reily sense) for computers, showing you how to get the most out of a seachengine or how to organise your photos; this blog shows you how to be geeky in your life. Take a computer programmer’s approach to cleaning your house. (in 20 minutes!) Want to build your own surfboard? Your own projector for under 200$?
Niggles
- The link colour doesn’t stand out from the background as well as it should.
- Some links appear to be broken.
- Text is a little small
Cool Stuff
- A team of posters ensures frequent updates and different styles in posting. (double yay!)
- Easy to navegate smooth looking layout.
- Huge archives.
- Awesome relavent topics.
Well done guys- you get a 4 hedgehog rating!
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Elmo Arrested in LA
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Don’t worry, the PUPPET Elmo is ok- it’s a guy who dresses up as Elmo who was arrested. Why?
They were charged with “aggressive begging,” police said.
So what exactly is aggressive begging?
Tourists have complained that the costumed characters harass them for not tipping after posing for photos in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre.
Now, I understand that there is a fairly big tipping culture in the states, but forcing people to tip you is pretty lowdown. Especially when he makes an up to 400$ US a day- only from tips. That’s 24,000$ a year, which is more than I make in a year.
Well, he and his buds got their just deserts- I found this very humourous:
The impersonators said they were taken into custody at gunpoint, handcuffed and paraded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before stunned tourists and other impersonators.
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Scoliosis- I’m a survivor
As I was updating my profile, talking about the reason why I chose “titanium” as my nom-de-plume, I realised that this blog is my chance to help others.
Scoliosis is a disease that affects the spine
…mostly of early adolescent girls. It can be hereditary (passed down a family) or idiopathic (just happens) mine was idiopathic. What happens is that, due to largely unknown causes, the spine decides to bend. There is usually a larger curve at the top and a smaller reverse curve at the bottom (to compensate). A large slice of the population has a small amount of passive scoliosis, which is fine and non-life threatening. However, mine was termed “agressive” which mean that the degree of curvature was increasing rapidly and my spine was also twisting, I was becoming hunchbacked. If left unchecked, I would have experienced dificulty in breathing as my lungs got squished and would have probably died.
How it happened
It all started out with a chest xray for a medical. The doctor said I could have been standing wierd and we would just have to watch it. I was 10-11 at the time. Six months to a year later, my parents noticed I was becoming more and more hunched over.
Then we got some Xrays, sent them off to the experts and was told that I probably needed surgury.
Then…
I started physio therapy, which helped me tone up but did not help to slow the scoliosis. I had my one and only MRI scan (you can’t do it with metal in you..) to check it wasn’t a cyst etc causing the curve. However it came down to:
Hospital Time
I had two surguries- one to loosen up the ligaments and the other to put in the hardware. I have some pretty impressive Xrays- I might upload those pics if I can find them.
Today
Well, I am fully recovered- the surgury was almost six years ago now. I can do pretty much anything I want to. The issues I have is some minor upper back pain (I think it’s muscular) and some joint pain in my legs- especially my knees but sometimes in my hips and ankles. For my knees I have one knee brace which I put on the knee that hurts most- I think I may need to get two.
I have been rock climbing, rappelling/abseiling, hiking at 10,000ft +, I have played many sports, I can play but dislike baseball/softball and volleyball. I have worked hard on construction projects.
To others:
You DO recover from this. I can’t bend in my back, just in my hips, so i have adapted to cleaning my teeth differently, sitting up straight, drying myself after bathing and tying my shoelaces. I do this all and more without thinking- I have a totaly and completly recovered. So, if you are or have a daughter who is facing scoliosis, drop me a line and I’ll try and remember you in my prayers. You can beat this.