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Category Archives: Blogging
200th Post
For some, this may not be important. But this is my 200th article, so I decided to post it on Tax Day, so that I would make something nice out of an otherwise depressing day.
This is as the result of five years of Blogging now, starting from my little Blogger site hosted with Google, to the purchase of my first domain name, which is now pointing to this one. I never expected that I would keep at it this long, really. I was expecting that I would have gotten bored with it and then cast it off.
I cannot say that this has been exciting, it really has not been. There have been several times I have had to motivate myself to write something, then there were other times, like now, when there has been a lot I have wanted to say. I have no doubt that with the new administration in office now, I will have plenty to write about for some time.
There are some disappointments too… I would hope that after five years, I would have had more than 19 subscribers… and that more of you who do subscribe would interact more with the site. You see, three quarters of the time spent on this blog are spent trying to draw in readers. People that might find something that they like here… something in my writing that appeals to them and keeps them coming in. So the lack of readership can only be attributed to my fault.. not that of the existing readers.
I still have high hopes for the site. It really does not cost that much to run it per year, and in addition to being my place to talk with you and share my thoughts, dreams and ideas, it is also my window into the world.
I have learned more about politics, science and culture since I started running this blog than I have over the last fifteen years. So you might say that the process of running this site is a developmental process for me in more ways that just the chatting kind.
I thank you all… my few readers, for your presence here, and I welcome all those that are yet to visit and maybe stay.
Thanks.
Posted in Blogging, SamuraiMarine News
14 Comments
Blog appearance…
I have decided to revert the blog back to a simpler appearance. While I liked the “Old West” feel of the old theme, it was apparent that this was slowing things down a bit.
So…Â in an effort to make the site more appealing to those that may find it… I have opted for simplicity over beauty.
Enjoy…
Posted in Blogging, SamuraiMarine News
2 Comments
Don’t Wiki me!
I like Wikipedia. I really do.
There is something kind of neat about an encyclopedia that the “People” have some control over and can edit. You might call it a “Leuteenzyklopädie” of sorts, if you will.
This is a tool in which people from all over the world can create, edit or dispute articles and use the provided information in the same way that you would any other encyclopedia. There is a caveat, however, and that is what I have decided to write this piece about.
The problem lies in the fact that it IS a “open source” encyclopedia. As such, you should use the information that you get from Wikipedia with the understanding that you should accept it as information that you would want to double-check or verify before accepting it as the gospel truth.
Now… I say that with no malice towards those that run or administer Wiki or Wiki itself. I say that with the understanding that because of the nature of the system, it is possible for people to get in there and add information that is not quite correct or a flat out lie and this information being distributed before anyone has had the chance to edit, correct or delete it.
I will not go through and list all the examples that I found links to for the various errors that were posted to Wiki over the years. Most of them Wiki was already made aware of and have corrected. I will, however, direct you to the official Wikipedia links for how they approach that which I am discussing here. I will list them at the end of this article.
The main point here is that the old standard applies the same now as it always has. Verify your sources… do not just rely on one source, such as Wikipedia.
Use it, but do so with the understanding that people just like you and me have the access to go in and add and edit information on that service. People that may or may not know enough to intelligently write about the topic in question.
Just remember… “Caveat Lector”
Links to Wikipedia’s policies on Reliability and Criticism.