Xagronaut

I regularly search Google for my unique handle on the web to see who’s caring/linking these days.  Also at Technorati.  I primarily search for the word “xagronaut” because there is no other word on the Internet that can be mistaken for my handle.   No overlap of meaning or acronym or first and last name.  Nope.  “Xagronaut.”  That’s me and nobody else.

I also get some play on searching for my Radio UserLand “usernum” (0113822).  There is some noise along with that signal though, so the results are not totally pure.  Most of the results I find this way are automated services.

In Search of a Unique Name
I wasn’t satisfied with a handle until it was rather distinctive.  “Jeff Miller” isn’t very distinctive if you think about it.  “xagronaut”–well, there’s nothing like quite like that.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to write for all audiences under a moniker like that.  Yes, I value my religious beliefs highly, and yes, “xag” and “xagronaut” are inherently tied to that.

I don’t know if that scares away (turns off) most techie readers.  I don’t feel as though I should feel ashamed of my beliefs.  I’m just thinking I can better address the two distinct audiences I’m writing for if I separate the content appropriately.  However, both elements are part of who I am, and those cannot be separated.

Back to Google counts
My Google count has hovered at about 450 - 800 for a while.  I occasionally find a new link added that wasn’t there before.  Well, all of a sudden, my Google counts jumped to 2540.  And, no, it’s not because I suddenly made the blogger “A-list” (psffsstf!  My best raspberry sound ;-).  It’s because more and more people are using automated tools for indexing weblogs and cross-referencing referrers.  So while my Google counts are expanding, it still does not look like many non-machines/humans care than did when I was around the 450 mark.  Oh, well.  At least I know the spiders are reading my blog.  Thanks guys.  I hope you enjoy my encoding.

I’m having trouble completing an entire blog post.  In my absent-mindedness and inattention, I often start a thought stream/blog post, only to abandon it after losing interest or being interrupted.

I really blog much more than you see on this weblog.  I keep a personal journal in an application called TreePad Business Edition.  This application is a stopgap until I can complete my planned personal knowledge management application.  I record web pages that represent my current learning and observation interests at any given point in time.  However, only a small percentage of those recordings ever make it to the web for sharing or comments.  They usually languish in my TreePad file, lacking the integration that I often ponder.

I very often post things to a custom category (my “scratchpad“) that I keep just for posting trivial items that would otherwise dilute the weblog.  I don’t want to crowd my weblog so much that first-time visitors get the wrong impression of my interests.  Usually my traffic comes from search engines, so this might make it unlikely that the reader would seek out an about page, even if I did put one up (if I could ever get around to it).

The thing about weblogs being updated so often, is that no consistent message (profound or not) sticks around for very long.  New posts (many times trivial) bump the personally profound posts that I would actually like people to read.  I’m considering several ways of restructuring my blog so that people are more likely to read items I personally want to emphasize.  I’m not clamoring for an audience, I just want to show my “best work.”

So, please don’t think that I am a lazy blogger.  I have much to say.  It’s just hard to post sometimes.

Girls, please don’t get breast implants.

Girls, please don’t get breast implants. While channel surfing last night, I came across one of those surgery shows where they were showing someone getting breast implants. First of all… gross. But second of all, they don’t look natural. They just don’t. Your boobs stick out straight. Seriously, just don’t get breast implants.

[Keith's Weblog]

Blogging? Yeah, I’m into it alright. Can you tell?

And while I’m posting pictures, here’s one of me:

Lots of code.

Jeez… I’ve written about 200 lines of code so far, just for the base class of my form processing thingy in my CMS. It has a good deal of comments, but still.

I think it’s going to rock though. Finally, it’ll be easy (at least easier) to write correct code to process web-forms. Now, writing the HTML forms is another matter. I want to make that easier too If PHP only had closures I’d be able to design this one way… but nooo.

[Keith's Weblog]

I currently envy Keith who is well on his way to writing his own custom Content Management System.  Keith seems to be doing a lot better job of actualizing his ideas that I am at present.  Good job Keith.

Josh says, “Why do we treat the UN as if it is a legitimate form of democratic authority?” [Joshua Claybourn's Domain]

What happened to national sovereignty?  And what about this UN World Tribunal that I heard about?  Apparently, Clinton (a Democrat - duh!), was involved in a treaty creating the court, but both have “expressed reservations that the expressed reservations that the treaty could lead to politically-motivated prosecution of U.S. government leaders or military personnel.”

Government leaders? Military personnel?  Why are those our only concerns?  What about the notion that some other power than *ourselves* has the power to rule on matters and treat our Constitution as meaningless on the world stage?  No.  I don’t think so.

If I had enough experience, I might qualify for absent-minded professor. Instead, I’m still working on absent-minded programmer.

<RANT>

OK, I’ve written several times about Sam Ruby’s description of Manufactured Serendipity.  The depressing part about all of this is that most of my traffic on this site is truly serendipity (the unmanufactured kind).  It comes from people using Google to look for a “PlanPlus crack.”  The only reason this happened is because I arbitrarily chose to split the word “crackpot” into two words: “crack” and “pot.”  Gee, maybe this post will attract people looking for illegal drugs! 

I’m sure this entry will draw even more attention from search engines and those folks out there who insist on not paying for software.  Well, excuse me, but go jump in a lake!  Pay for your own stinking software or start using open source software for its most touted benefit — it’s free.

Hey, I shell out a lot of money trying to stay largely legit, even personally.  I think it’s part of working in an occupation that is based on intellectual property rights.  I hope to someday right a somewhat successful shareware application that is registered by a throng of willing folks and thereby supplement both my lifestyle and my retirement.  But until that time, I can only do the ethical thing and behave in a reciprocal manner by PAYING FOR LICENSES!

</RANT>