My WordPress install was borked since version 2.x, I finally got around to revamp the backend, clear out 1001 folders and all that. Oh, and there are 30+ drafts in the pipeline – most of it probably out of date, but we’ll see.
Archive for the 'Weblog' Category
I’ve uploaded over a thousand pictures from my year of study abroad at Kyoto’s Ritsumeikan University in Japan in 2000 and my travels to South Korea in the same year, 2001 and 2003, including our wedding. My brother’s wedding in 2003 is finally online as well as the series about my intermezzo at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Croatia, the Model United Nation Simulations and a few other events and travels from the last few years. Last but not least: food. Since Google Video is currently the only service that offers unlimited video size and length, it’s the choice of the moment.
Looking at a dozen weblogs – probably all by former or current I-House bloggers – I noticed that all of them were missing a feature. Only in one case I had a contact page or an emailaddress I could write to. My own weblog didn’t have a contact page either… that changed.
O.k., that’s it. I tinkered with my old layout, tried to fix some of the glitches that have always been there and annoyed me… but instead of fixing it, somewhere along the line I got tired with the whole thing. Expect a new layout sooner or later.
Definitely later.
p.s.: In the meanwhile, enjoy white as milk by Azeem Azeez.
Yet Another Test Post. I bought a Flickr Pro Account per Paypal, it took me two minutes and the setting up of my WordPress blog in Flickr was simple. Great.
p.s.: Uploading works, although there’s an error message in Flickr – but I think I know where the error comes from. I’d also have to choose a category from within the blog. Well, nothing’s perfect, but it suits my needs.
This is an attempt to see how WordPress and Google Video work together. Looks o.k., doesn’t it? I think I’ll add a few more over the time. This video is the first one I took just a few hours after Jun’s birth.
It seems like WordPress 2.0 and Gallery2 don’t like each other. None of the links to individual pages work, not the archive nor the category links, so at the moment, the main page is all you can get. There’re good news though, I’ve resolved most of the quirks the blog had. I’m slowly expanding the gallery section, and now you can also leave comments for individual photos. There’s more, but I’ll rather wait until I get it working 100% before I write about it.
The next version of WordPress is almost ready – a release candidate is available for download. I’ll upgrade my blog today, keep your fingers crossed. I’m thinking about importing all my other blogs into this one, also the ones that weren’t public. Next February, my blog is going to arrive at his final destination, http://www.grabic.name, it’d be a good opportunity to merge all of them.
update: Seems to be working, but the admin section has white text on white background…
James Ashburn moves to Düsseldorf, so does his weblog. I’ll add him to my blogroll – I’m just curious why he moves from San Francisco here? Since yesterday night, I’m thinking about California. Another job opportunity opened up, but I haven’t sent my application yet.
Added Kushibo to the blogroll. Don’t rush through his blog, there’re too many good articles you’d miss out on.
Lately, I often come across howtos, tutorials, guides, etc. about blogging. Finding this one, I thought I’ll share my thoughts why this blog will never be a success.
- No Author Biographies. True, there’s none. Nobody asked so far, so there’s none missing.
This blog is far less about me than stuff I find worth noticing, remembering, thinking about it. Actually, many blogs I encounter have an egocentric touch or shout “look at me, look at me”, which I find irritating. - No Author Photo. No biography, no image linked. There’s one in the gallery, if you’re really curious. I’ve seen myself on Google once, too. My physical appearance is nothing to brag about and wouldn’t add much to this blog’s content either. Lack of credibility? What, you don’t trust me?
- Nondescript Posting Titles. That’s probably true every now and then. Aside from blaming it on a certain lack of imagination and creativity, I like to think it’s because I write in a foreign language. It’s a good way to practice English. It’s fun, too.
- Links Don’t Say Where They Go. Guilty as sin, your honor. I often use links like this, this or this one. Especially here.
- Classic Hits are Buried. Classic hits? On this blog? If I had any, I might even put up a section in the sidebar. I like these two entries, but they’re less than a year old. Classic? Come back in twenty or so years.
- The Calendar is the Only Navigation. I don’t even have a calender set up. Categories and the search form should be enough for most users. I thought about tags, but that’s too much for a little blog like this one. Are you looking for something but can’t find it? Just ask.
- Irregular Publishing Frequency. That’s a direct hit. Now, I’ve got several jobs, family and an inexplicable urge to have a life offline. If I wanted to post more and frequently, I’d have to cut on my sleep. If visitors don’t want to wait for content (you know who you are), I recommend to use Thunderbird and read the feed whenever there’s something new. Following blogs by actually surfing there on a daily basis is so 20ieth century…
- Mixing Topics. Another one. I’m sorry to have such a broad interest. I’m certainly guilty of being too curious, Faust has my full sympathy. In my defence, I really try to stick to less than two dozen categories. The attentive reader will notice a jack-of-all-trades category where I can stuff in everything that doesn’t fit elsewhere though.
- Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss. I know lots of people who don’t think about what they’re publishing on the net is going to be there forever. When I started writing online, I didn’t think much about it either, but if you read my opinion somewhere, I stand by it. My opinion can change over time, of course (remembering some ideas and opinions, this is a good thing), especially after lively discussion when I’m introduced to new aspects or ideas. I might change my opinion about 1.) in this list in the future. The general idea here is, I don’t write anything I wouldn’t say in any other situation. Let’s call it authenticity. My future boss might not like it, but then again, I could end up as my own boss.
- Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service. I’ve started with Google’s free Blogger service, and my actual domain, Grabic.name is still owned by my internet provider, but that’s going to change in february. I don’t agree with Jacob Nielsen’s assessment that a typepad or blogger address ending is the equivalent of
the mark of a naïve beginner
. There’re lots of well written blogs hosted py Typepad or Blogger. Not everybody needs all the perks of an own weblog software installation, plugins, themes, etc. Content is king. The problem I see with webservices, once you use them, you rely on their continous existence in their current form. Flikr was bought by Yahoo, who knows what they’ll do with it in a handful years? I rather use a gallery2 installation I own, 100% control is better than zero.
Thinking about my introduction, why this blog will never be a success… define success. 
Dan Schorr recently travelled through North Korea. He describes the English language Pyongyang Times as follows:
No news about other countries. No sports scores. No crossword puzzle.
No crossword puzzle? No fun in Kimjongil-land.