small thinking

You know what I really want to do? I really want to tell you about Woopra. I want to go in-depth about the features that were shown to us during its semi-debut at WordCamp Dallas. I want to use my free beta invitation to start using it right this second. But I can’t. And it sucks.

The reason I can’t use it is because my machines are old and feeble. Actually, I love my PowerBooks… especially my 12″ (12″ PowerBook > MacBook Air. For serious… I would know). It’s just that Woopra runs on Java 6, and Java 6 is only available for for 64-bit Intel-based Macs. So no G4 or G5 love here. Which is lame.

But wait, there’s more… say I did have an Intel-based Mac… I still wouldn’t be able to just download Woopra and run it on my machine. Oh no sir. There’s more to it than that. And it isn’t very intuitive. Luckily, I know somebody who figured it out and posted instructions on how to install Java 6 on your Mac (provided it’s not an inferior Mac like mine).

So yeah, I just wanted to get that off my chest and share about how to install it on the Mac for those who are able to. I’m slightly jealous… but not jealous enough to ditch the 12″. The thing is just too cool for school.

After attending WordCamp Dallas on a whim, I’ve decided to give this whole blogging thing another shot. My main problem the first time around was that I really didn’t know what to blog about. I mean… why was I writing and who was a writing for? I didn’t have an answer to those questions, so the blog died. This time around, I have the answer to those questions. I’m writing because I want to, and I’m writing for me. If other people want to read along, that’s great! If not, oh well… thanks for stopping by.

Since I am writing for me, there won’t really be a “niche” to this blog… no one particular topic or subject. It will probably be pretty scattered. One day will probably be about golf, the next day about some television show, and two posts later could be a product review. I have no idea what I’ll talk about. You may learn something, you may be entertained, and/or I may piss you off. In any event, it should be exciting!

So WordCamp 2008 is going down here in the Dallas area, and I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse for me to attend. So I spent most of yesterday wildly amused by twitter streams, full of BBQ, and occasionally learning things about WordPress and blogging in general. One of the greatest presentations yesterday was given by John Pozadzides on the importance and usefulness of optimizing your blog for SEO, attracting users, and building community. His entire presentation, 45 Ways to Power Up Your Blog, can be found on his extremely ugly, yet hugely successful, blog.

For those of you who hate to read, you’re in luck. The Poetic Prophet has a deliciously geeky rap song about SEO and site design and standards which pretty much covers everything John P. went over. John said he could do his presentation in 45 minutes… The Poetic Prophet does it in 3:22… as a rap song. I think we know who wins that round. I’ve embedded the video for your viewing pleasure after the break.
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For reals. It’s on its way back from the dead. We had a voodoo priestess work some mojo, and now it’s back and hungry for brains. Stay tuned.