Cyber Housecleaning

Why is it so much easier to houseclean online spots than it is my real life house?

You may notice some changes on the side. Some older links taken down (Keer - if you start blogging again I'll put you back up) and a link to Louie Giglio's blog added. And a new color on top. Nothing huge.

Bigger news is that I finally took the plunge yesterday and picked up a webhost. My smugmug account for my photos is due to expire in March and I'm not keen on spending $60 a year for a hosting service that doesn't let me do things the way I want to do them or have things look the way I want them to. I'm sure the new site will have lots of challenges (challenge #1 - designing the new site), but I'm looking forward to having something more professional and in my control. I'll let you know when there's something worth seeing.

And the Man of the Year Is.....

Me.

Well, you to, but this is the closest I'll ever be to being Man of the Year (on many levels), so I'm going to enjoy it for a moment.

Yes, Time magazine named the contributors to Web 2.0 as Man of the Year for the way the web is shaping the world and how we communicate. It's an interesting thought. Blogs, wikis, utube, facebook, etc are all a part of our daily lives and have huge influence on how business works these days.

I really liked this quote from the article:

Sure, it's a mistake to romanticize all this any more than is strictly necessary. Web 2.0 harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred.

The web has it's ups and downs, but I have really enjoyed keeping a blog, staying in touch with friends via facebook and posting my pictures at smugmug.

Turns out people really can change the world, for better or worse.

Blurb

Earlier this year my pal Janet blogged about some interesting sites from a Time article. One of the sites was blurb.com. It was back in the summer and I didn't think much about it. But going to England gave me the idea to make a book of my pictures for those people in my life who are a little harder to buy for. Of course, I made one for myself as well.

The books arrived this week and it's been so much fun to have a professional looking book to drag it around to show everyone. It's been a big hit. Much easier than a bulky photo album. Much more streamlined than the 400 pictures I have up online.

It was a fun project to to do and it's a great keepsake from the trip.