I wake up, power-on the laptop, and wait, nothing unusual. Mac OS X will be loaded soon. Soon after, an alert from NetNewsWire informs me that there are new stories and blog posts which need attention. You know what, it is right after this moment when I realize that today I am in blogging paradise. The great thing about this day, it happens everyday, and you should know that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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So, the past few weeks while looking up information on some mobile devices, laptops, and other technology products on YouTube, I saw many people on the site giving reviews on things.  I saw 12 year olds declaring themselves a “technology master” and “computer genius.”  I just wonder how bad it is really getting with other bloggers.

Anyone can create a website and claim they are an “expert” on any subject.  People—I must make a reference to my general theory of almost everyone being a stupid consumer—will accept anyone as an expert as long as they act as such.  If I went on my technology blog and started asking people what a URL was, I would instantly lose credibility (by the way, the answer is universal resource locator).

Why I consider myself a technology guru in particular, is because I spend many hours of the day researching topics on technology.  The technology sections on Wikipedia read like the Bible to me.  It just fills my thirst to know more about everything.  I love doing this stuff.  I dedicate myself to it.

It all raises a question of what an “expert” or “guru” is.  It just seems odd how people will give anyone authority on any subject without doing the proper research on them.  Whenever I read an article from someone I like, I want to know if they really have the experience and dedication to have their opinion be worthwhile.

After all, when I could write an article about how I think the moon is going to collide with the earth one day, and it makes it on the front page of Digg or Reddit, I think those people should understand that I have almost no knowledge on the subject.  Yet, many people might respect my opinion as if I am a rocket scientist.  It would be stupid of those people to accept my theory!

What is the point of this post?  Well, it is to inform you that all these “experts” and “gurus” are just people.  Anyone can claim to be an expert, but how do you actually qualify someone as one?  You should get to know authors you read constantly, and while every opinion matters, if someone represents himself or herself as an authority, it should be up to the readers to scrutinize them heavily as such.

Bloggers are starting to get messy, and if you are a blogger, I must urge you to check your facts.  Voice your opinion, but back them up with facts as well.  Learn what a journalist is, and try to make strides in telling the truth.  I hate nothing more than seeing someone straight up lie on a blog post.  It makes me feel like my credibility is being shot as a fellow blogger.

I love the topics I talk about.  I love writing.  I love technology.  However, it is not up to me to decide if I am an authority, but it is up to you.  Keep bloggers honest, and keep the industry alive.

So, there have been a few themes that I really have enjoyed using in the past on WordPress.com, but some of them just have a few minor issues that could be solved with one or two lines of CSS code. It annoys me.  As a result, I have been thinking about forking out the $10 $15 for the CSS customization upgrade.  I am sure you will notice a huge difference on the blog if I do.

If you want to read the story on what happened to my blog, you can check that out on Performancing.  What is done is done, and while my previous hosting company might have been the scum of the earth, I will prevail.

My task is to move around 120 – 140 articles over to a new site.  The interesting thing is I am probably going to end up doing it all by hand.  I would love to think it was just as simple as a copy and paste job, but it will not be that easy.  I will also have to carry over all the images as well.  I could, possibly, drop all the images, but I am not sure if I want to do that.

The bad thing is that I have hundreds of people that are trying to get to my content through Google, and all they end up seeing is an error page.  It just ticks me off that those people have to see that.  I don’t want to waste their time.  I have to fix that soon.  It will all be done by the end of this week.

Life goes on.

Subscribers

People benefit from having a community of bloggers that can be searched for. I seem to be benefiting from this as well. It is primarily the tagging functionality that is getting people to visit my blog.  So, if you are reading this, be sure to use really descriptive tags.

Think about what others will search for, and use that as a way to generate tags for your posts.  Try to pick both generic and specific tags for your posts. However, don’t abuse the system. If I went to a blog with no related content via a tag, I would probably be upset and never visit again.

Ironically, I never really expected to gain any subscribers with this blog, but I am starting to think different.  I thank the 4 of you that have subscribed, and I hope to make it more with time.  I will try posting at least every other day.  My main motivation for writing is knowing that I have helped at least one person with my words. Feedback from any of my readers is icing on the cake.

WordPress Theming

Anyways, I decided to install a new theme for Tech In Demand.  I actually like it more for its “magazinish” type look.  I’ve always been a fan of magazine themes for WordPress, and I am going to stick with the one that I installed.  I hope to customize it furthermore, and perhaps—if this blog gets popular—I will invest some money for the CSS customizations and try to mimic that design here.

Virginia Fires & A Terrorism Threat

(Image Credit: Associated Press)

The border between Virginia and North Carolina is currently suffering from heavy wildfires. It has actually gotten so bad that nearly 60 miles away I can smell the burning.  It has actually managed to give me a serious headache, and the fires are expected to get worse.  The officials think that the fire was started on purpose.

I think it is something that America needs to look out for.  It is not that hard to think that terrorists could start setting fire many of our forests with the intent to cause serious damage. Areas around here in particular are just starving for some rain. It is a scary thought, but until we find better ways to fight wildfires, there is little we can do.  We just rebuild.