Contrary to popular opinion, they do serve breakfast in hell. And it’s delicious. Whatever you order, I recommend the bacon. I rarely use the word ‘succulent,’ but that’s exactly how I’d describe it.
Anyway, I was having breakfast in Hell’s Kitchen this morning with my lawyer, discussing a new business idea (No matter how many times I write a sentence like that, it never gets old). And I can now officially say it: My name is Kevin, and I’m a blogaholic.
My new business idea is a (you guessed it) blog, which I hope to set up and reveal in the coming weeks and/or months. And I use the phrase “business idea” loosely. I’m not expecting the blog to make much money–if it does, I’ll be elated. If it doesn’t, I won’t be surprised. But it will be fun. That’s what blogging is all about.
Jason Kottke, the designer/techie/blogger mastermind behind kottke.org, has quit his job in order to blog full time. He’s asking for donations (join the 35 and counting other micropatrons. Update Feb. 23: That’s 320+ micropatrons one day later. If they’re all paying the requested $30, that’s almost $10,000.) to keep himself afloat and hoping to raise 1/3 to 1/2 of his former salary (no mention as to what that was).
He’s got a lot of high-minded ideas about not using advertising, about the arts being supported by patrons, and about the power of personal publishing. It’s all pretty cool–and pretty crazy. Time will tell if kottke.org survives or crashes and burns. I’m hoping he makes it–I’d love to do what he’s doing. Then again, I’d probably want to spend more time writing books, and my current level of support is pretty weak.
Another article about someone getting fired for blogging. You wouldn’t think this would be so hard, but you’ve got to use a bit of common sense when you blog. Especially when blogging about your employer.
Here’s an interesting insight into the world of comment spam. Apparently I should take solace in the fact that it’s not personal, though the acrobatics to avoid the ethical and legal questions are amazing.
Well, I’m not quite as schizophrenic as I used to be. I decided to cut back the Monkey Outta Nowhere blog–not so much cutting it back as diverting the entries from there to here. More importantly the Monkey Outta Nowhere blog will stick to company business (and the fun Monkey News) so I’ll feel less inclined to do a lot of the extra posting. It doesn’t completely solve my schizophrenia, but it helps.
I’ve been especially annoyed at Spammers lately. Not just e-mail spam, but the irritating assortment of higher tech spam like content spam and referral spam. Since installing MTBlacklist sometime last year I’ve stopped over 18,000 content spams. That’s a lot jerks.
The other day I finally got sick of it and started moderating comments on entries older than 60 days. It doesn’t immediately stop the spam, but it does keep it from being posted on the site. I’ve also installed the nofollow plug in, which essentially makes comment spam ineffective. That doesn’t stop them though. Stupid spammers.
I’ve also been getting tons of referral spam. I don’t even know what it is, but there’s tons of it. Ain’t technology grand?
I do lots of blogging. I’ve been doing it since 1998, though as many have noticed, the way I blog has changed a lot since then. While I used to be a lot more introspective (often to the point of absurdity–you can’t imagine how much I confused my mother), my entries of late have been a lot more news oriented. Links, news, quotes. Bite-size candy. I still like to be introspective now and then, but nearly as often.
In total, I have access to at least 18 different blogs in varying states of activity. Most of them have been shuttered, thankfully, and several of them are blogs I’m paid to work on, but many of them continue on as solely my creations. Frankly, I think I’m becoming a schizophrenic blogger.
Legendary ad-man and vice chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, Steve Hayden, talks about the marketing potential of blogs. Of course, there’s also the potential downside:
A work-at-home dad wrestles with faith, social justice & story.