Random burblings since 1999
Ta ta Big Blogger, it was fun. Sort of…
Yes I’ve jumped the fence and left the rest of the housemates to it, just too much going on and I can’t do it justice. If I’m honest it’s just all a bit too chaotic and random for me at the moment, but best of luck to the rest of the housemates, I’ll still be keeping an eye on the proceedings.
I think it’ll be between Vit and mike although Miss Mish has wormed her way into my affections (although I doubt she’s realised it).
How on EARTH did I not know about this one??
If you’re in Firefox and you click on a link with [the] … wheel [of your] mouse it will open a link in the background in another tab. No more holding down the CTRL key or let alone right mouse clicking and hitting “open in a new tab.â€? The button we’re talking about here is the center wheel found on most new mice.
Brilliant. I can’t believe I’ve not discovered it – come on, own up, who knew and didn’t tell me!
In other Firefox news (well sort of…) those you who visited Big Blogger over the past couple of weeks, and that are using Internet Explorer MAY be having problems with popups in your browser, I’ll now hand you over to Peter for some info on fixing that problem (twas mike that spotted the problem so credit to him). Yes THAT Peter, yes I never thought I’d point you there for technical information, and yes I’ve mentioned the products myself in the past.
Being a good writer, a good communicator, is a skill. Being able to form sentences and paragraphs, structure a topic so it flows well and makes sense are not the only skills required to being a good writer. Neither are good grammar or spelling, although they are generally the first things people notice and so, whether you like it or not, they can reflect on what you are trying to say.
No, being a good writer is finding a voice, a resonance with your audience. It’s something few blogs manage well, with even the most popular blogs being popular largely for their content than they way it’s written. Of course you can’t separate the content from the writing, but each has an effect and a pull on each other, and we humans have a tendency to level out the stuff we don’t like and balance it against the stuff we do. If the content is great and is what we are looking for we’ll stumble past the badly formed prose, likewise if the content is eloquent we’ll suffer the subject even if it’s not completely to our tastes.
The reason I mention this is that, as I’m still working back through my archives – on which there is a second question, to delete or not to delete – I find that my writing style has changed quite dramatically, and is far more an indication of who I am than I previously realised. Similarly, having been looking at old versions of this site, the sites I visited back then all stand out as having the same mixture of both a distinct voice and superior content.
And so, as I continue to ponder the whys, wherefores, and whatnots of this site, I wonder what my voice is, what it is about the way I write that makes people visit, or is it more about the content than the voice? A quick skim through the past couple of months and it’s easy to see the posts that have attracted the most comments, but harder to see if that collates with the posts that attracted the most views (for I have no way to tell that, yet…).
I always find looking back both educational and entertaining and, in keeping with my current “site mood”, I’m also thinking back to when I joined my current company. Almost six years ago it was, and there are only four people left from those days (technically there are a few more as, since then, we’ve merged with a sister company) soon to be three. Today is her last day and it’ll be odd for her not to be there on nights out, or at the end of a silly flirting IM trail, no longer will I have a late night accomplice for post party heart-to-hearts and foot massages. Time stands still and all that.
On that melancholic note I’ll stop, grab a coffee and wander over to see what’s been happening in the Big Blogger house (my awful poem withstanding).
So much to talk about, so little inclination.
Live 8 – the vitriol surrounding these concerts astounds me. Is it ideal? No. Is it part of a greater scheme that actually seems to be working? Yes. Sir Bob was on Jonathon Ross at the weekend, Jonathon asked him “why have the G8 countries done nothing?”, Bob responded “I have no idea”. Ultimately, and I don’t believe it will be a miracle cure, the steps taken recently WILL make a difference. This is a GOOD thing.
Peter at Naked Blog has dropped out of Big Blogger, I’m sad to see him go, I’m also wondering where Big Blogger is heading. I’m still treating it as a silly bit of fun though because that’s all it is (this is NOT a dig at Peter!!).
Michael Jackson – not guilty, so let him get on with his life now.
Finally thoughts turn to summer as the sunshine holds and whilst it’s still a few weeks away the holiday is already beckoning. Of course there are some priorities to sort out, namely which books to take and what music to fill the iPod with.
I’m driving down to Torquay on my own, Louise, her sister and the kids are taking the train, so I’m gonna go overnight I think. I have the iTrip working, a car charger and so just need some good driving tunes. I’m also gonna make up a “summer” playlist – suggestions welcomed.
Book wise I’m going to take some classics with me I think – Counte of Monte Cristo for example – as well as some easier to read stuff. The list so far is as follows:
Doubt I’ll get through them all though.
In other “news”, we’ve finally been allowed to enter the Big Blogger house, my introduction has been made and I await the first task with some trepidation.