Yes, I am still alive. I have been working hard on NMOX Server PHP-MAX. You may have detected, from my earlier posts, that I'm not huge on *being* a blogger. I still like sharing my thoughts from time to time. I think it will be important to do that more once NMOX Server is released and people are using it. I'm thinking about setting up a "real" blog at http://amazingdave.com/ at that time. For now, I've been keeping my new Twitter a lot more current than anything else, really. http://twitter.com/spiderbyte/ if you're interested. Ciao.

Becoming, Very Becoming

In contemplating the subject matter of this blog, monetizing hacking skills, some peripheral subjects have really stepped into the foreground in my mind. Obviously those of us who can write code, install and admin any given operating system, and troubleshoot even the bugs we find in commercial software through various work-arounds -- obviously, we are human beings doing all these things. The process of monetizing those skills, turning hacking into a business rather than a hobby, is a process that a human being is going through. And, as with any process, the hardware makes the software possible. Our thoughts, dreams, plans, and creative output are all being run through a brain that needs nutrients, rest, and hope. If you're like me, your family life can greatly impact the motivation you have to stare at what we all must admit can be an over-abundance of functions and figures in our work. Your health determines whether or not you are focused more on properly instantiating your latest OO class, or finding the right angle to relieve the pain in your mouse-hand shoulder. I've come across a number of links (and their content, naturally) that I really enjoyed reading. If for no other reason than to create a list of articles I personally would like to return to for further gleanings, I hereby share them now below:

• Good news for the next generation of hackers: More of them are breast-fed, lately =)
  I'm of the personal conviction that that really, really matters to a child's life-long health and well-being. Rock on, mammas!
  
• Losing focus on what matters? Get some Will-Power, yo.
• Can you survive more danger than you're in simply sitting at your computer?
• No? Then here's a workout you can do quite close to your computer.
  I personally suggest the workout I've done for years - its called leaving the house. Walk! (I do about 7 miles a day). Push-ups, stretches, full body and upper body... (I'm blessed to have a jungle-gym for pull-ups, dips, etc. at a park nearby; find one!)
• In fact, exercise can actually improve your fatigue, if you're feeling like too much of a geek to get out there.
• Oh, and push-ups are good for more than punching your computer screen. (Which, by the way, I do not recommend).
• Don't forget to remember - you're brain is a muscle too! Heh heh.
• And if you're stressing that you haven't completely changed the face of the Internet yet, its 'father' is saying it is still just an infant, even 15 years after it got started. So get in shape, take care of yourself, and step up.

Those are a few of my instructions, from me - to me. Hope you enjoy reading them too. ;]

Why Rock Stars Get Famous & Microphones Don't

I've been thinking a lot about blogs lately, both as an outlet and also as an income stream. In visiting a number of blogs around the Net, I've come to several conclusions.

The first is that I'm not really attracted to the blog scene.

Its like a contest, wielding flattery and humility in a mighty clash with statistics herself.

Now, with that out of the way, let me talk about my perspective on blogging. I haven't changed direction yet since I wrote out my 12-page business plan. I'm still focused on creating digital services, offering personal services, and holding down the bottom line with creative/conventional employment. Blogging fits within that as a sort of hybrid between digital services (which I offer to Google via the availability of my blog for their advertising), and personal services (which I offer to you, whoever-you-are). The information I'm sharing is mostly beneficial to myself. Talking to somebody about what you're doing can help you organize your thoughts. Publishing it for the world to see requires examining what those thoughts actually are.

Speaking practically, I have reached $1.35 in Google AdSense revenue so far from ad clicks. Speaking pragmatically, that hasn't likely been from people's lives being improved after reading my thoughts. (I'm pretty sure that's been from visitors to a website I run that is *not* a blog: http://web.surgtech.info/ ). Speaking technically, I need to refine my Analytics and AdSense reporting so I can tell what's happening. Not such a big deal with low traffic at the moment, but I'm grateful to have the "problem" trigger that curiosity which will answer a larger need in other areas.

I've got a total of 3 blogs, and as of last night all 3 are set up with Google Analytics. You're obviously looking at one of those blogs, Byte the Bullet. I'm trying to keep this one set to my half of an open discussion on monetizing skills and resources via the Internet. The other two are here:

• Slacker Tools
  http://slackertools.blogspot.com/
  A series of posts covering free and open-source software (FOSS).
  
  
• Take Me to School
  http://takemetoschool.blogspot.com/
  An educational experiment – passing on my knowledge (and adding to it in the process) of computers and hacking in a practical-yet-philosophical lesson series.
  

Anyways, I'm proud to report that this is not what I do. I'm not a blogger! I'm a hacker. Pshh. Silly rabbit.

But blogs are interesting. I worked for a small newspaper for 5 years, and this brings back some of those same feelings; reporting things as I observe them. I have so slacked on my writing skills. That's on purpose, by the way. Gives it a relaxed feel. ;P

I like being the one who does things more than I like being the one who talks about them. ;]