Blogging is easy. You can even make a little money off of it. You just need three basic things. Something to talk about, a will to stick with it, and a place to write it all down (the blog).

Its not really that hard to come up with something to say, especially when you like to talk. But just in case you can’t come up with something, you might try doing a search for “article topics” or “topics to write on” on Google. There are all kinds of weird things to talk about. One of my favorites, is 50 Weird Things to do in an Elevator.

You have your topics now. You need a place to write. There are several free services out there, and it may be as simple as where you already have an account. I’m willing to bet that most of you have an account with Google of some sort, whether it is for YouTube, Gmail or just to have one. Thats good news for you, because on February 17, 2003, the world’s most-used internet search engine, announced the acquisition of Blogger. Surprise, you already have a blog account, you just need to go create a blog.

Another option, and perhaps more popular, is WordPress. It doesn’t matter really which one you choose, you could either go self-hosted (wordpress.org) or get a blog at wordpress.com. Whats the difference? To self host you would need to have a domain and some type of hosting.

Lets say you choose to go the self hosted way (wordpress.org); Great! You first are going to need a domain and hosting from somewhere. I would recommend HostGator. I’ve been with them for a little over a year now and have been happy ever since. Your blog would be operational %99 of the time! But that is a different story.

So you have your blog, you’ve got topics, and now all you lack is the will. I’ll be honest, its not the easiest thing in the world to maintain a regular flow of content. Sometimes, I even get “burnt out” on writing. But its things like this challenge that keep me going. Find topics that interest you, ones that you know a lot about.

As I stated earlier, you can even make money off of your blog, this is called “monetizing”. Again, using your Google Account, you can sign up for Google Adsense. Google allows you to place up to three frames of advertising per page, to earn money, either by Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Impression (CPI). I wont go into too much detail, but basically CPC means you get so many cents every time someone clicks on and ad in your site. CPI means you get so many cents every time an ad is “impressed” (viewed not clicked) on your page.

What does all this mean. It means yes, you can do it, and yes you can make some money (not enough to quit your job though). However, there are a couple of things I would forewarn about. When you blog, it should be based on your personal views and opinions. Sometimes, when you write something, there may be some one, or a few some ones that don’t like what you wrote. The important thing is that you cover yourself. Do your research on the articles you write. And once you have a finished product, even if you attract some “haters” don’t back down. As long as you provide facts and the reflect what you believe, then you have nothing to hide.

Things that I write from time to time are very blunt, and sometimes personal. I do attract a lot of emails that you as a reader never see. Just know, if you decide to blog, providing your content is factual, you have done nothing wrong.

There have been some really recent additions to blogging. One of those additions is comments. The definition of a blog is a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; “postings on a blog are usually in chronological order”. Comments came around after the blog originally surfaced. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t receive any, or you receive “hate comments”. The reason you blog is to express personal experiences, or your opinions. This means that most people are either going to read your topic and leave. You aren’t a failure if you receive no comments.

I would love to see some new bloggers arise from this topic! If this inspires you to write some of your own, link back to this article, by using this link (right click and copy url shortcut).

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Its that time of year again, Apple’s WWDC is just around the corner. Its no secret, that the next iPhone will be announced, but what else does the technology king have up its sleeves?

Ever since Apple’s next-generation iPhone was uncovered, there’s been speculation that the early reveal would push the announcement up from the traditional WWDC Steve Jobs keynote. Looks like Apple hasn’t rushed things after all; expect to see Apple’s next iPhone introduced, officially, June 7th.

Almost certainly, based on the front-facing camera and iPhone 4 OS’s video and group chat code. The real question is whether it’ll be Wi-Fi only, a nugget that was indicated in the iPhone OS 4 Beta 2 SDK. Honestly, I don’t think I’d mind one bit, given the havoc it would wreak on AT&T’s already overloaded network.

I’m really excited about this new release, not because I really want all the features in this version of the phone, but because the 3GS will go down in price. Walmart has already dropped the price to $97, and thats more than likely going to be the new price indefinitely, with the 3G getting dropped.

The majority of the iPhone’s hardware is a known quantity this year, but the exact material of the back is still up for debate. Is the glass/plastic/ceramic material on the flat back designed to let cell signals through more easily? Or will it detect multitouch gestures for easier music and app controls? There hasn’t been much to support this theory other than pure speculation, and while it would be a nice surprise it’s not something I’d bank on.

With each new year, and every new WWDC, there are always upgrades to the more popular products at Apple. The MacBook Pro family always seems to get an upgrade, as well as the iPods, iMacs, and MacBooks. This year I’d really like to see some improvements of Apple TV. I think that it has potential, it just isn’t quite being used yet.

Two years ago, at WWDC08, Apple announced it’s MobileMe service, cloud computing for Mac/Windows iPhone users. So far the service has seemed to grow a little each passing year with bigger and better features; however it all comes at a price of $99 a year. Rumor has it, that Apple may be releasing MobileMe as a free service very soon.

Another topic of interest this year, is iTunes.com. This one’s a little tricky. We know Apple’s wanted to put iTunes in the cloud ever since their acquisition of streaming music service Lala last December. And Lala’s May 31st shutdown, combined with Apple’s recently registered iTunes Live trademark were both promising signs that iTunes.com would hit at WWDC. But it’s not entirely up to Apple, and as of April record label negotiations were stalling out. So what’s happened since then? Well, if Apple’s successful last-minute negotiations with book publishers are any indicator, the smart money’s on Jobs making a deal.

All in all, WWDC is looking pretty good this year, and I can’t wait to watch it. The conference is June 7-14, with Steve’s ever so promising Keynote hitting iTunes shortly after.

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That is some pretty deep wordage. Whats with all this Newtonian physics stuff? Harvard even calls it “Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners” Basically, barefoot running is running while barefoot—without wearing any shoes on the feet. If you didn’t already have that figured out, now you do.

The idea behind this, is that joggers run barefoot to help protect their feet from potentially damaging blows to the body, that could deliver pressure double the bodys weight. Thats pretty heavy. I myself weigh around 180 lbs on a good day. Double that is a whopping 360 lbs! I don’t think feet were built for that.

I’d like to point out that writing this article is very disturbing for me. I don’t like feet. Never have, and never will. Unfortunately for me, the research I’ve done for this article has brought me to more feet than I care to see. Thats also why I haven’t included any pictures in this post. Just a side note.

The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised. Naturally, the way we stimulate and exercise our feet, is to run. But can running barefoot be such a good idea? What if you step on a sharp rock or glass?

The answer, Vibram FiveFingers. Many experts believe the shoes we wear not only cast the foot in a protective form, but also weaken our foot and leg muscles, leaving them underdeveloped and more prone to injury. And while there are many occasions where traditional footwear is essential for protection, safety, and security, it is equally important to stimulate and exercise the foot in a more natural state on a regular basis.

FiveFingers footwear is designed to promote better foot mechanics— naturally. No socks no shoes, just FiveFingers.

I don’t have the will or the stomach to continue this article any further. If you want to know more about barefoot running, click here.

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I used to really be into Facebook. When they first opened it up I joined and really was into it for a while. The poking thing was a novelty and fun at first. I liked seeing when my friends were breaking up or getting hitched. Made a few groups of my own. The news feed was fun to watch.

I think what really started to annoy me though was when they “opened” Facebook up and I started having all these incredibly inane messages pushed out at me about whether or not I wanted this widget or that widget, superhugs, bearhugs, cocktails, superhero of the year awards, show me what’s in your medicine cabinet, etc. etc. Boring drivel and crap.

For a while I was actually using the email messaging on Facebook more than my regular email. But soon this got filled up with all kinds of drivel as well and so I just stopped checking it mostly. I can barely keep up with my regular email.

Every so often I still get an interesting message on Facebook. But generally Facebook is mostly crap. The only thing I really do there anymore is confirm friend requests every so often.

Conversations just aren’t happening on Facebook and so maybe Facebook really is dead. Like the critics said originally, kids these days are pretty fickle.

Where am I going to find conversations instead? Well all over the web really. In the past 48 hours I’ve read conversations on Flickr, Twitter, Friend Feed, my blog, other people’s blogs. Conversations are happening in very fragmented places. But they are not happening on Facebook, at least for me, and so the site is largely beginning to be ignored by me.

In the past 24 hours there have been all kinds of things discussed there. From sensor cleaning, to legalizing marijuana, to guns and crime, to politics and whether or not Obama is regurgitating Marx, to Ian’s new 80,000 Audi. Interesting links and articles are exchanged and about 2,000 people hang out with many of the regulars practically living in there.

This kind of stuff is NOT happening on Facebook. At least for me.

I  spend a lot of time on Twitter and mostly interact with it through Tweetie for Mac.

And conversations still happen on my blog. At least via email.. I wish people would post to comments more often. I still love blogs for conversations, I read the comments and contribute regularly to other conversations on other blogs as well.

But Facebook. Well, like I said, Facebook is boring. Which is crazy given how much hype people are always making about the place.

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With his health care holy war, President Obama is sending America at least 10 messages since taking office:

1. I win; you lose.
2. My will; not the will of the people.
3. Government of Obama, by Obama, for Obama; not government of the people, by the people, for the people.
4. Corrupt House rules and autocracy; not play by the rules and democracy.
5. “I’ll tread on you” now steps on “Don’t tread on me.”
6. “I, the president”; not “We, the People.”
7. “All men are created equal” but I am more equal than others.
8. “The dissent of the president” overrules “the consent of the governed.”
9. “Give me tyranny and give me debt” replaces “Give me liberty or give me death.”
10. “That government is best which governs most” supersedes “That government is best which governs least.”

How can a majority of Congress can vote for a bill that a majority of Americans are not behind. Easy.. they don’ care. a majority of Congress can vote for a bill that a majority of Americans are not behind. ( which presently at the time of writing, he is not.)

Along with the bills passage comes the question of Abortion. During the discussion in the house, Republicans sought to send the bill back to the house comitee with language asking for additional protections agains tax-funded abortions like those successfully proposed by Stupak in the House legislation that passed in November.

The president’s executive order does “absolutely nothing to mitigate or change” in any way the Senate’s provisions on abortion accounts, said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

Obamam will have to sign the Senate bill into law before an “fixes” bill goes to the Senate under rules designed to enable Democrats to pass the bill with 51 votes thus avoiding a Republican filibuster. Democrats control 59 of the Senate’s 100 seats, One vote shy of the number need to overcome bill-killing filibusters from a united GOP. But senators have given no guarantees they will pass the “fixes”, which are strictly the wishes of House Democrats.

I for one, am disgusted. Now 70% of my paycheck will go torwards this “Free Healthcare” for America. Thoughts anyone? I know there are voices out there.

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Lets face it.  Internet Explorer doesn’t stand to anything.  As seen in the picture (right), even IE8 can’t  display floating content correctly, and decides to put a frame around my images.  Still, quotes from M$  fanboys all over the internet come rolling in:

“Although only at an early stage of development, the IE9 team already looks to have made some  impressive leaps forward in terms of web standards support, particularly with regard to CSS3  selectors which, by the looks of the image below (taken from the IE blog), IE9 appears to score an  impressive 574 out of 578 in our CSS3 selectors test, a vast improvement over IE8 which scored only  330/578.”

So IE9 has scored a 330/578 huh… well I’m pretty sure that all the current browsers that are available now  (FireFox, Chrome, Safari) all pass, and even with higher scores.  In fact, the current version of Chrome that  I’m using, which happens to be a dev build, passed all 578 tests (multiple times too).

Microsoft, here is what I have to say to you.  Stop supporting the thing (IE6). I won’t build any website  nowadays that has hacks or anything for IE8 or lower. If IT or some idiot doesn’t want to upgrade or use a  stupid browser then they don’t deserve to use the internet. If the web all of the sudden stopped working for IE6 don’t you think people would upgrade?

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What I am not a fan of however, are all of the mindless applications that some people seem to love. It is easier for me to just ignore all of those stupid “gift” and “buy me a drink” requests.

My friends have all got into Farmville and all have begged me to join and become her “neighbor” to help them out. The problem is that I now get even more requests from other people who are also playing Farmville.

I have heard it is addictive, but there doesn’t seem to be much skill at all to the game. The stream of my friends’ updates in Facebook used to be interesting, comments, links and photos, but that has just been replaced with irrelevant Farmville messages, like “someone just lost a cow on their farm”.

How much do you like FarmVille/Farmtown? Love it? Ok? Hate it? Well I for one don’t like it very much. I trashed it, and I’m proud to say that I will never again go back to it. And for the record, if you are like me and get tired of all the stupid requests from your friends applications coming in, join me in the quest to block every single application that post on your profile.

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In my opinion, Microsoft should have stuck to what they know best. They make a killing every month on XBL users, plus they do, as much as i don’t want to say it, build a very solid operating system. Granted Vista was a piece. Instead they feel that apple has beat them out so much, that they have to go develop their own phone. I say bad move. They are going to get major crap, as I have done here ( ), from many bloggers, and news sources.

On the same note, has Apple become Microsoft? Now people who know me, know that I am, in face quite the Fanboy. But I do realize that an Apple computer is not for everyone. For those of you who put Apple up on a pedestal there is an article by PC World that you should read. Mike Elgan, the author of the article, lists off reasons he believes Apple is turning into Microsoft…despite being an Apple supporter himself.

For those of you not wanting to read the full article, I will summarize some of the more interesting facts.

–Apple as a Monopolist–

Microsoft was criticized for bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, yet Apple can bundle iTunes with the iPods and iPhone? Heck, you can’t even make a call on the iPhone without activating it through iTunes first. Not only that but Mac OS X, the iPhone, and the new iPod Touch all come pre-installed with Safari.

–Apple as a Copycat–

Microsoft has always been criticized for copying ideas from other companies, but Apple might not be as innocent as you think:

* For more than a decade multitouch interfaces, similar to the iPhone’s, have been demonstrated.

* Apple’s new iPod Touch now has built-in WiFi, yet both Microsoft’s Zune and SanDisk’s Sansa Connect MP3 players have had that feature for quite some time.

Of course Apple’s implementation of the features are much better than anything we’ve seen prior, but the fact of the matter is that many Apple fanboys shower praise on ideas that Apple didn’t even pioneer.

–Apple as a Bully–

Yes, Apple does its fair share of pushing people around. Recently NBC wanted to charge more for their television shows being offered on iTunes, and when Apple declined NBC announced that they were pulling out. The author of the article says that NBC will come crawling back to Apple after they realize that the only way to succeed in digital downloads is to have your content on iTunes.

It probably sounds like I’m anti-Microsoft/Apple, but that’s not the case at all. As I previously said, in some cases, an Microsoft machine would be much better for someone, for multiple reasons. And I do realize that not only Microsoft copies ideas. But I do also recognize that Apple, in my opinion, better adapts these ideas into products. I just thought that the PC World article was a real eye-opener by showing that the two companies may not be as different as you think.

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Final Fantasy XIII will be rolling out to gamers March 9, 2010 in the US. This much anticipated release in the FF series is coming with lots of content packed with it, and Microsoft is making sure that PS2 owners choose Xbox 360 as their console of choice.

Launching simultaneously with FFXIII in the US, is a limited addition 250GB Xbox 360 Console. Included in the box is a copy of the game, two wireless controllers, a headset, a FF-branded hard drive, and “exclusive downloadable avatar items” — perhaps something to go with your pet Chocobo. All of this will be packaged together for $399, according to Major Nelson.

The official M$ press release notes that this will be “the only console outside of japan to be bundled with the game”. In other words, don’t expect to see a Limited addition PS3 to make its way Stateside ever.

Additionally, Microsoft plans to release a FFXIII faceplate for Xbox consoles designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Initial reports claimed that this would not be included in the Special Edition bundle, however, Major Nelsons latest “Minute” hinted on details of how to obtain the faceplate by pre-order. Only a “very limited number” will be available “promotionally in fixed quantities across select retailers in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand”.

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