Let’s see here…

March:  849
April:  1,407
May:  867

That would be my hit counter for each of those months.  I’m actually reasonably happy with the results - April’s numbers were skewed by me kissing Rachel’s ass rather vigorously.  Since then, I decided to kind of back off on that.  It was great from a “Rachel links to me and I get some hits” perspective, but I noticed I wasn’t keeping much of that traffic; part of the problem, I suspect, was that my blog was getting lost in the “Rachel’s echo chamber” zone that I was slipping into.  Though I enjoy Rachel’s blog as much as anyone, I needed to find my own voice, y’know?  Consequently, I’m not feeling too bad about my traffic numbers - I got better numbers than March with fewer plugs from Rachel.  That’s a step in the right direction.

Proof, of course, is in the pudding - I’ve even discovered other blogs linking to me, like A Gator in the Desert - it’s always nice to see a fellow IT guy blogging in the desert, even if it is one that’s more flush with cactus than sagebrush.  Yeah, sagebrush might be a little boring, but, hey, it doesn’t require 100+ degree temperatures to grow, and, at least to me, that’s all that matters.

Okay, here’s the deal: I recognize that just about anybody can grab random stuff off of HotAir, Instapundit, and Rachel Lucas and comment on it. That’s easy, and there’s only, oh, 2,532,143 blogs out there that do this on a daily basis.

Therein lies the rub.

Now, I enjoy writing about politics and the like, but I’m certainly not married to the idea. Consequently, I’m throwing down a couple of poll questions. This serves a couple of purposes:

1. I get to play with the new polls widget I just installed.
2. You get to tell me what you want to see more of around here.

I’m fairly open-ended, and, to be honest, this won’t necessarily be binding; if 30 people write in “My Little Pony” or something like that, don’t expect me to actually spend time writing about (Vishnu forbid) My Little Pony. Seriously, that show was just wrong. That said, I want to see what brings people here, and, more importantly, what will encourage people to stay here and keep coming back.

 Loading …

 Loading …

BREAKING NEWS: The much more highly regarded Frank J. of IMAO fame has declared his candidacy for the office of President of the United States in 2016:

I’m going to campaign on getting the federal government back to the basics. That means focusing on having it only do what citizens can’t do for themselves: Kill bad people in foreign lands. Also, nuking the moon.

Though I agree with my esteemed opponent’s view on killing bad people in foreign lands, I disagree with his policy on deploying nuclear weapons to the moon.  I also believe that the federal government still has a useful role in killing bad people in native lands.  Fortunately, I have almost a year of semi-solid (colloidal?) campaigning under my belt, acquiring support from all corners of the country (well, some corners, at least), so I believe that, though I do not have the level of infamy of my opponent, I still possess a strong enough campaign machine to overcome this challenge.

Until 2016!

Well, I think I can safely say that, if anything could go wrong with this migration, it pretty much did…

1. A normal, sane person would probably import all posts into the new blog before doing something as daring as, I don’t know, migrating DNS to a new blog. Not me, though. I decided to change the DNS settings first, then wait half a day for them to propagate. That made importing the rest of the blog a little too interesting for my taste. Naturally, since the domains had changed, the blog couldn’t tell what posts were duplicates, what weren’t, and would arbitrarily choose to avoid importing half of them. This eventually led to me deleting all of the posts and reimporting. Good times!

2. A normal, sane person would probably import all of the posts and make sure they didn’t break the blog. Not me, though… which, of course, led to one of the posts here breaking the blog for half the day. Nice!

Yeah. This is what happens when I try to do stuff like this on almost no sleep. Not a good idea.

I’ll post more later, I assure you.

Just a quick heads up to everyone:

In precisely one week, this blog will be switching to the new host. You can get a sneak preview here. There shouldn’t be any serious issues; it’s still going to be at www.colborne2016.com when all is said and done, so, as long as you’re not getting here via the old Blogspot address, you should be fine. Even if you are getting here the “old-fashioned” way, I’m still going to have this blog up and registered, along with a final post detailing where to find the rest of the blog, so it’s not like you’re just going to get dropped into the ether.

I’m pretty excited - I have a logo picked out and it actually looks halfway Presidential, which is kind of nice… not that I’m really running for President or anything, but, if I was, well, that’s a pretty decent start. Heck, I’d slap that on a bumper. If I get enough readership going here to make it worthwhile to actually try and merchandise the living shit out of this thing, maybe you will, too. I could even come up with all kinds of random and witty catchphrases, like:

Colborne 2016 - Not A Known Cause Of Cancer In The State Of California!
Colborne 2016 - Because I’m Better Than You!
Colborne 2016 - There’s no ‘u’ in “It’s time to take over the world!”
Colborne 2016 - Atheist, Broke, White, Male - What’s Not To Love?

Oh yeah… we’re going somewhere with this. Perhaps I could change the C around a little, maybe try to rip off Obama’s O…

Oh yeah. That’s glorious. Now, where can I sign up to be a graphics arts guy? I mean, with the kind of skillz that I’m exhibiting here, I should really, really be one, right?

(Note: No aborted fetuses were used during the making of this art.)

Okay, I think I’ve come up with a halfway decent logo for the new blog, one that isn’t overstyled or overlesbianed. However, on the off chance that I’m way off base here, I present to you the three possible logos for consideration:

1. The camo logo

2. Styled logo with slogan

3. American Flag logo

I’m more than happy to tweak one of the logos if there’s one that people really like but is missing something. Personally, I’m thinking that I’m going to make myself completely insane if I don’t pick one here pretty soon. I’m also thinking that GIMP is definitely one of the more interesting programs I’ve ever had the pleasure of digging into, but that’s a story for another time. For whatever it may be worth, the point of the font choice was to create something of a mock-futuristic look for the logo, but, again, I’m beginning to rethink that, as well, which is probably why I need to really stop now.

UPDATE: I have a fourth one. That’s right - a fourth one. I need to be stopped. Heinously.

Check out the new blog layout at http://alpha.colborne2016.com. I’m going to be switching over to it, or something similar, on May 1st. The blog will still be at its current URL (i.e. www.colborne2016.com), but it will be hosted on Wordpress, per the Great Will of the Macrocosm, with all the comment-friendliness that will entail.

Things that remain…

1. The logo - good, bad, ugly? I may incorporate “the fist” (my readers must have something to obey, after all) at some point, just as soon as I can figure out how to style one in a way that actually looks halfway professional.
2. Layout/color scheme - I’m generally happy with it.
3. “About” section - I should either ditch the button to it or actually put something there.
4. Add to the blog roll - There are a fair number of blogs that I check on a halfway regular basis. I need to add them.
5. Rearrange the blog roll - I’m flirting with breaking it down a little further. Not much further, mind you, and, as always, Rachel Lucas (i.e. the one who drives traffic around here) will receive first billing. Of course, if some other blog manages to consistently bring more traffic this direction, I’ll be willing to change that to reflect the new realities on the ground, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Let’s face it - Rachel Lucas is way too cool to let something like that happen.

That’s it for now. Post any thoughts, suggestions, or comments here, or just e-mail me about them. It all ends up in the same place anyways.

There are going to be some changes around here. Here’s why (comment from yesterday):

Okay first I’m gonna tell you what I told Jennifer Hast this morning, too: get off Blogspot, get your own domain, and use Wordpress. Because I hate these Blogspot comment thingies. If I make it an official decree will you do it?

Second I’m gonna tell you that you’re exactly right about RSS feeds and bloggers who are stingy with them are making a big mistake.

Before I put my RSS feed up, which I did because I got emails requesting it CONSTANTLY, I did a bunch of research. Because I knew that if people were only reading through their reader, I wouldn’t get the traffic to my actual blog and thus my ad revenue would decrease.

So I read a bunch of articles all over the web about this issue and the consensus was TOUGH SHIT.

Because refusing to offer RSS, or even refusing to feed the whole post (by using teaser snippets) pisses people off. And, RSS users tend to spread links around, emailing their friends and such. Also, it is said that a high RSS reader number in a little graphic prominently displayed on your blog can be a form of promotion itself. “Wow, this blog has 500 RSS readers, it must be pretty good, I will read more of it.”

I was convinced and decided to try it, and sure enough, within a few weeks I had several hundred people signed on and my traffic went UP, as did my ad revenue (which wasn’t much to start with but it did go up a few bucks a week).

Anyway. Seriously, get off of Blogspot; it is making me angry that I can’t scroll from my comment up to your post to see what else you said. DO IT. I will help you because I truly do like your blog. Email me if you’re thinking about it and need help.

That’s right - THE Rachel Lucas has spoken. She has given me the Golden Path which, if I dare, will lead me to blogging greatness. We’re talking groupies, women, the works. Oh yeah. Consequently, I have already begun the first phase. If you’ll notice, there is a change in your friendly address bar. That’s right - this blog is now at www.colborne2016.com. For now, Blogger is set to automatically redirect the old Blogspot address to the new domain. If I ever step away from Blogspot, that will go away, so update your bookmarks now.

This brings up a point…

I’m now starting to get to the point where I need to decide whether I wish to piss or get off the pot, as the expression goes. Basically, I need to decide precisely how seriously I’m going to take this blog. It was all fun and games when it was free, taking only a little bit of my time, and when only 30 people a month were wandering in here aimlessly. Now, it looks like March is going to be strong enough to nearly double my total traffic ever, which is definitely encouraging - people are finally seeing what I write, and, more importantly, are coming back for more. That thrills me to no end. However, if I start to take this seriously, some things are going to have to change… and a lot of them aren’t going to be free for me. It’s one thing when I can stop this at any time since I have no financial stake in its success. It’s quite another to take a bunch of time off when I’m paying $7/month (or more) for hosting, along with the usual domain registration fee. It doesn’t raise the stakes a lot, but it raises them enough to be important.

If I turn that corner and go down that road, here’s what you need to know:

1. It’s not happening right away. It’s going to be at least a month for me to either find a decent hosting provider or decide if I want to just host it myself, try out Wordpress, and figure out what’s going on with it. Since there’s actually a manual for it, among other things, that indicates it’s a little more flexible than Blogspot. This also means it’s probably a little more complicated, so I’d like to play with it on my own for a bit before I start posting on it “live”, as it were. This will work out well since it means that you’ll have plenty of time to update your links, bookmarks, and so on. However, at some point, this blog will probably move, and, when it does, that’ll be the end of colborne2016.blogspot.com. You’ve been warned.

2. I’m going to re-do my categories so they actually make sense. I’ve been playing fast and loose with my categories because, frankly, I didn’t care what they were. If I start taking this mildly seriously, though, I’m going to be cleaning those up.

3. I need to come up with a way to grab all of my posts from the existing blog and put them on the new blog. Copy and paste will work if they have to, but, if there’s an easier way, I’m all over that. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me how to back the existing blog up before I can figure it out on my own.

That’s it for now… more on this later.

Okay, I’ve chosen a different layout - frankly, I’ve been thinking the old template I was using was borderline unreadable anyways. Besides, when I chose it, it was when I was still in “I’m not entirely sure how seriously I feel like taking this premise” mode. I realize now that half-”running for President” and half-”being a smartass” leads to a whole lot of really boring blog posts for everyone involved, myself included.

Ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, I present to you my first victory against a major blogging power, one interminable, irascible, irresistible Rachel Lucas:

I’ll be adding some new blogs to my blogroll in the coming days, and this includes you, Oatworm, ya flatterpants.

That’s right - my publicity stunt worked! Within 24 hours of throwing down the gauntlet (scroll down to the first Oatworm comment), I successfully badgered… no, cajoled… no, whored myself unerringly into her Blogroll.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the beginning of a new age… a new age of liberty. A new age of freedom. A new age of broadcasting a message of freedom and liberty and attention whoring across the Internet!

Can we blog it? YES WE CAN!

Ah - Christmas. It came and went, and for that, I am thankful. I won’t gush into what Christmas means to me; I’m an atheist, so there’s no deep religious undertones for me anyways. I will, however, cover what Christmas means to retail - money. The story is somewhat mixed, too. BusinessWeek reports that numbers are up slightly, though people are being much more cost-conscious this year. Instapundit, meanwhile, has a host of links to various reports on the Christmas shopping season, some of them more positive than others. The biggest problem is that sales aren’t keeping up with inflation anymore, which is understandable - inflation is currently being driven by higher commodity prices, and, since the housing market is finally correcting itself, we’re beginning to see some effects from them.

Then again, there are some anecdotal reports that much of what’s hurting the retail numbers this year is that women’s fashion was just way off. That’s alluded to here and is also expounded on quite eloquently by Rachel Lucas here. My girlfriend feels the same way, and she actually IS a “starving” 5′10″ woman. Heck, we actually laughed at some of the offerings in JC Penney a few weeks back, marveling at the bright fake satin vests. The lady there claimed they were “very popular”. To this day, I’ve yet to see anyone wearing one.

Either way, if you’re looking for some good bargains, now is the time… heck, I have a couple of people I didn’t get presents for that I might try to scrounge something up for now. *grin*

EDIT: Welcome, Instalanchers! Feel free to visit, look around, and maybe stop by and leave a comment or two. I’m relatively new at this, so I’m always open to suggestions. Also, on the off and rare chance that you’re a University of Nevada football fan (Go Wolf Pack!), feel free to check out my other blog at FireChrisAult.com. Thanks again!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the beginnings of the future.

This blog will be the official blog of the Colborne 2016 campaign, which is based on the simple premise that it is never too early to announce your candidacy for the office of the President of the United States. Inspired by the likes of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I’m announcing my candidacy for the earliest election I can run for (I turn 35 in 2015).

If you have any questions, feel free to post them. If it’s a good one, I might answer it in a blog posting. Otherwise, I’m just going to freestyle it, detail my platform plank by plank, and show America what kind of leadership they can expect in 9 years.