blogging: April 2007 Archives

Late last year David Pogue commented about an observation he made. Frankly, it went something like this:

But what's really stunning is how hostile *ordinary* people are to each other online these days.

Most recently, a popular blooger by the name of Kathy Sierra was threatened on her blog. She decided to cancel some presentations. She was afraid to leave her house. However, an interesting thing has happened. Tim O'Reilly put out a call for a blogger's code of conduct. It is still a work in progress. You can see that it has generated a lot of input and discussion from a variety of people.

While a lot of the discussion centers around the legal responsibilities, I think it would be much simpler if we just resorted to one simple thing . . . treat others as you would like to be treated. I know that's much too simple. You're probably wondering if I still believe in Santa Claus and if I still put my teeth under my pillow in anticipation of the Tooth Fairy. Well, er, uh, no. Of course not. I learned the truth about Santa Claus a long time ago . . .

Evidently I've been tagged by Jen to participate in a little meme. I'm a good sport so I think I'll go ahead and play along.

The idea of this meme, as described by Alex, is to list your best, most exclusive, and over-the-top goals. The funny thing for me is that I haven't really set any "goals" since finishing graduate school. Since then, it has been just going to work and paying the bills. So, I guess my goals have mostly consisted of dreams that I can say I am working toward, but finding time to make them become reality has proved to be difficult.

• Financial Security - I'm sure you'll find this at the top of most people's list. It's pretty simple. It would be nice to be able to stockpile a little money, save enough to pay for my kids' education ( so they don't have to do the student loan thing like I did ), and retire comfortably.
• A business of my own - This kind of goes in hand with my first goal. I've been working towards my own software business for some time. Money, time, and the right idea have always been elusive, but I haven't given up.
• Publish a novel - I've already written one when I participated in NaNoWriMo. However, I never edited it.
• Move to a better climate - The Midwest isn't a bad place to live. You get to see all the seasons. However, it always seems to be at either extreme. Someplace like San Diego that has a pretty consistent climate would be my choice.
• Strong family - I want my family to have a better relationship than my parents' family.
• Independent Kids - I want my kids to become strong, independent adults with the tools to be successful in everything they do.
• Visit Europe and Australia - I've always wanted to see Europe. All of it. Traveling down under is something I've wanted to do as well for a long time.

So that's pretty much it. I think I've made a lot of progress towards many of them. Now here's a few other people I've tagged:

• Zep over at In-Sect
• Ian at Living in Canberra
• Gina at Brainfizzles
• Wonder Woman at Disjointed Intelligence
• Lady Banana