Blogging

8 Things You Don’t Know About Me

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 Who Are You?Lisa Sabin-Wilson was kind enough to hit me with a tag for the "8 Things You Don't Know About Me" meme, and in my usual fashion I have failed to get it done when I said I would. Sorry. Now, in rectification:
  1. Family. I am a middle child, but my younger brother was killed in a road accident when he was 6 (I was 9). My older sister has 4 children (1 boy, 3 girls). Parents divorced, Father deceased. 1 surviving Grandparent.
  2. Alcohol. I like Guinness. It's an acquired taste, I know, but one worth acquiring. It took me to the age of 3 to really get a taste for it. Real Ales, Whisk(e)y and Wine are also acceptable forms of imbibing.
  3. Food. I am generally Vegetarian, but not based on any principle, I just never really liked meats. I like to eat Italian, garlic is one of the greatest tastes to exist. Indian food is fine too. I will eat some white meats on occasion for the convenience of others.
  4. Work. I am self-employed working mainly as a commercial window cleaner, though I do some domestic work on occasion. Though never my own, of course! ;-)
  5. Fun. I love movies, mostly on DVD these days since vandals burnt down the local cinema. I don't watch TV, though I do watch some shows on video/DVD that catch my attention. Or the wife makes me watch. I also love reading, Jane Austen being my favourite. I like Fyodor Dostoevsky too, but I am not all 'high-brow', Sci-Fi and Detective novels are my staple. I am not much of an outdoor person, I have enough of that while working.
  6. Pets. We have Joey Cat, which is my wifes first pet as she never had one while growing up. I have had all the usual suspects: canary, Guinea Pigs, tortoise, goldfish, dogs and another cat.
  7. Religion/Politics. Yes/No. I find religion fascinating and politics boring, except wherein the two interact throughout history in forming each other.
  8. General Life Philosophy. To try and leave things better than when I found them. Success and ambition play no real part in my life or desires, which is probably why I am usually very happy and content and have very little stress in my life.
In the time honoured tradition of the meme I am now required to tag some others, so I will nominate Darren Cronian of Blogged Out.

Getting To Know You

Friday, May 11th, 2007 facebehindtheblogDavid Airey has started a picture meme to help us bloggers get to know one another a little better and scare off give our readers an opportunity to see who is talking to them. I was tagged by Paul Enderson over at Reflections to participate in this, so if anyone wants to sue for mental and or emotional trauma over these images he is the guy to contact. ;-)

StevieB at 5 months

StevieB at 5 months of age. Ahh, bless!

StevieB, big sis' Sally and little bruv' Edward

Me with my big sister Sally and little brother Edward (deceased).

StevieB at 11

StevieB at school, age 11.

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Laura and myself on our wedding day 27th April 2002

StevieB and Joey Cat

StevieB and our Parrot Cat, Joey (Kitchen being rewired 2003).

StevieB Summer 2006

StevieB May 2006 in Milton Keynes

Obviously some of these images have been scanned, in fact I am pretty sure that only the last one was taken with a digital camera, so sorry for the lack of quality. Also participating in this meme are: Gayla at Mom Gadget Char at Essential Keystrokes Paul at Reflections Rob at 2Dolphins Zep at The In-Sect Stixster Sorry if I have missed off any of the other participants, and I tag Lisa Sabin-Wilson (Revenge!) and Carolyn Manning .

Virtual Conference at “Thoughts & Philosophies”

Friday, May 11th, 2007 Productivity Goal Carolyn Manning of Productivity Goal.com has announced that she is hosting a virtual conference at her "Thoughts & Philosophies" blog, this will begin later today, 11th May, and carry on tomorrow, 12th May, to coincide with the SOB Con in Chicago. It will give those of us who are unable to attend an alternative venue. It looks like there will be plenty of good tips on how to make our lives more productive so make sure you check it out. For a full list of topics and times click through to her post.

Sharing The Link Love

Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 Do Follow A topic I have been following recently is that of whether to use the “rel=nofollow” command, which by default most blogging software adds to all links in comments. Undoubtedly the intentions behind this are good - to prevent spammers benefiting from the link juice they could gain from commenting on your blog. But with the arrival of such anti-spam plugins as Akismet and Bad Behavior is there any real need to keep using this command? Many feel that it is time to move on, that it is time to allow those that comment on our blogs the opportunity to share some of the SEO benefits that Google can give through those links. Having read the article over at MiLienzo calling for more bloggers to join the "revolution" I have decided to try out the plugin from Semilogic that should override the default setting. That's if I have installed it right, anyways. If you notice a problem with this plugin please let me know and I will do what I can to correct it. I have added the U COMMENT I FOLLOW badge to my sidebar to let people know that this is now a "Do Follow" blog, it was originally created by Randa Clay and she has made it available in several colours to suit your blogs design. If you are not sure about whether to change your blog over, take a look at the 13 reasons given to do so by Loren Baker on his blog Search Engine Journal.

WordPress For Dummies Is One Step Closer

Friday, April 27th, 2007 wp icon-small Over on the Lisa Sabin-Wilson blog I saw some good news today, she has handed in her last round of submission for her new book "WordPress for Dummies". Being a bit of a dummy myself, I know that I am going to find this an in-valuable resource. The book is due for release September 24th, and though she is a first-time author I am sure this will be a big seller. She has vast experience in helping other WordPress users via her blog "A Girl In The World" and her blog hosting service, and this along with her WordPress design experience at E.Webscapes more than qualifies her as an author worth taking note of. You can see some of her design work at Technosailor, Women Trip and Vin Cache . Make sure you reserve your copy early, I know I will! :-) WordPress For DummiesWordPress for Dummies *Disclosure: Amazon.co.uk links are affiliate links*

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Worth The Price Of Free Admission?

Saturday, April 21st, 2007 As Seen in Blogger & Podcaster I don't know whether you caught the news or not, but there is now a magazine available from Larstan Publishing for those who are interested in the blogging and podcasting world. The "Blogger & Podcaster" is a monthly magazine that is available for free as an online digital edition (though it can be cached to be read offline) and as a podcast. If you want to have a "real" magazine delivered then you can, though this will cost you $79 if you are in the US, $99 if you aren't. I got a chance to read the digital first issue yesterday, lots of good stuff to try and absorb in its 48 pages, though obviously a fair chunk of the content was advertisement. Robert Scoble and Leo Laporte were interviewed this time out, but there are plenty of other great articles to peruse too. Overall, I thought that it was worth the price. :wink: Have you tried this magazine yet? If so, what did you enjoy most, what would you like to see in future editions? Let us know in the comments.