adderslj | Entries tagged with work

Hello. Me again.

Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'm still reading (and commenting sometimes) on LJ. But no, I'm not using it very much. And that bothers me. Why?

Well, while I was at Le Web 3 in Paris at the tail end of last year, I had the chance to catch up with the CEO of Six Apart, as we're enterprise customers of theirs. One of the things he talked about was the sale of LJ to SUP, and Chris prefaced the discussion with "I know you're a Livejournal user, but…"

And that left me thinking: am I really a Livejournal user any more? I mean, I rarely ever post here, and most of the time it's just a push from my Vox. And it's not as if I'm short on blogs to maintain:

One Man & His Blog
Tincan Alley
Leafshine: Lust for Flower
Coffee & Complexity
Fishnets & Fedoras

As you can see, the last two are a little under-maintained right now. :)

So, sensibly speaking, I should just give up on LJ. But I can't quite bring myself to do so, and here's why…
( Read more... )

Current Mood: Full of tasty thought meats

[Poll #1007457]

What are the positive and negative associations that you and those around you have with blogging? Have attitudes changed over time?

Ah, good question, given that my day job* is getting a whole company's worth of journalists up and blogging. And, to be frank, the major problem is negative associations. Journalists' pre-conceived ideas of blogging tend to fall into two schools:

Lonely losers blogging in their underpants in their bedrooms

Rabid, opinionated ranting.

The reasons for those views are pretty clear to me: those are the versions of blogging that have seen the most exposure in the mainstream press, and hence have penetratrated journalists' busy minds. However, I do find it more than a little worrying that so many people who are, by nature, publishing professionals have been happy to just accept the recieved wisdom from another source, rather than exploring the issue for themselves.

As I've pointed out on more than one occasion saying "blogging is all losers ranting in their bedrooms" is a bit like picking up a copy of Horse & Pony and going "not sure I like this magazine business, it's all about teenagers and their horse obsession. It's confusing the medium with the message.

The positive side is the unbridled enthusiasm I see in some journalists' eyes when the idea of connecting directly through to their readers via the blog becomes clear to them. These are the journalists who genuinely care about providing the best information for their readers and want to interact with them. And that's just cool.

*Yes, I did have an evening job in the past, writing game stuff for White Wolf. But I no longer have the time, and they no longer seem to have the money (pay rates down, author comps cut?) to make that worthwhile part of my life.

Originally posted on adam.vox.com

Current Location: Bramfield, Halesworth, Suffolk, UK

This is my 1,000th Livejournal post.

And, like so many that preceded it, it will be almost content-free.

I'm sat in the work Starbucks, drinking coffee, checking e-mail and slowly realising that I've been stood up for a meeting. Ho hum.

Current Location: The Quadrant, Sutton, UK, SM2

My latest work update has been kindly provided by a Guardian journalist.

I may not appear until the end of the article, but my hidden hand is behind the rest.

Current Mood: pleased

So, what have I been working on, that's keeping me so quiet?

Well, as of tomorrow, HJi will be live, with a blog. For hairdressers. And I get to spend the morning at an exhibition for hairdressers. Hmm.

More seriously, we have the Road Transport Blog for truckers and van drivers.

Oh, and something on Biofuels. We haven't had time to put a pretty face on that yet, but it'll come in next week or so.

More to follow…

Current Mood: productive

So, what's been happening with me?

Busy, busy, busy. I've pretty much completed my transition to full-time blogging expert for RBI, and have spent much of the morning on the phone to Six Apart sorting out which version of Movable Type we'll be using.

Otherwise, I've been busy attending a wedding and getting on with the house refurb.

And, of course, playing WoW.

Mum? She's very tired after the final dose of chemotherapy, but is on the mend. We've got a couple of months before they scan her again and decide what the next course of action is. She intends to make the most of that.

So, I'm back in London.

Mum's much better, which is good. (But the next round of chemo is on Thursday...)

BT managed to break my broadband while I was away. They changed the configuration settings needed to connect, as it turns out, but didn't inform old, old users who had the original settings in their modems. So, after digging out the instructions for reconfiguring my modem, it's all up and working again.

After I sorted that out, Lorna and I watched the recent film version of Pride & Prejudice, which I rather enjoyed.

And now I'm back at work, hectically busy and very tired.

Ho Hum.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Procter Street, Holborn, Greater London

I love it when software works well.

For example, I'm working remotely in Suffolk while keeping a weather eye on Mum right now. My work phone is redirected to my Skype account.

Now, when I answer an incoming call, the system automatically pauses iTunes while I have the conversation, and then unpauses when I'm done. It's such a little thing, but it makes life so comfortable.

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: #373 Daily Source Code for Monday April 24th 2006

Going through my RSS feeds this morning, it strikes me that I sometimes forget how lucky I am. I look at the number of people who are hoping, dreaming of making their living through writing - and realise that I've been doing that for 12 years.

My job may aggravate and annoy me at time, but at least I'm doing what I wanted to do: earning a good living through writing. And I should remind myself how lucky I am sometimes.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Today, I'm better.

Last night, I flopped out on the sofa and watched Charlie & the Chocolate Factory on DVD, before fixing myself some dinner and pottering around online while Lorna watched TV shows about real trauma victims and extreme plastic surgery.

I even managed a good night's sleep. even if I did dream about large black bugs attempting to take over the world with chopsticks and chittering noises.

Today, has been meeting hell, design heaven and position confusion.

And no, I'm not elaborating.

So there.

Current Mood: confused

Dear Reader,

Today I am struggling. There's been a lot on my plate recently, and today my body seems to have gone "whoa there, old boy. Mid-30s now. You can't handle this like you used to".

There are exonerating circumstances, of course. I stayed up slightly too late last night beating up elite trolls in the Hinterlands with

kit_hartford and others. The allergy-I-always-forget-I-have has kicked in as spring insinuates itself into the landscape, leading to surprised outbursts of pollen from plants that thought we were skipping summer this year.

But the work stress (even though there are Developments Afoot, which will make life Interesting and possibly even Exciting), family stress (even though Mum is doing very well, thank you) and home stress (even if the lovely Lorna is doing most of the work) just caught up with me today.

So, basically, I'm knackered.

How about you?

Current Mood: exhausted

Working from home today - more precisely, Mum's home.

She had her first dose of chemo yesterday, a six hour process at the hospital, and I'm up here just in case.

I am working, with my work phone routed through to my Skype account. And it's working seamlessly so far. I particularly like the way that it automatically pauses iTunes when a call comes in, or goes out. Better integration with Address Book would be nice, though.

Current Music: Blogs and RSS technology

Y'know, having technical support change your login name for the first time in eight years leads to serious confusion on a Monday morning.

Now, coffee.

Current Mood: tired

Bizbuzzmedia presents:

EG Blog

So, as of late this afternoon, I'm now a professional blogger.

Yes, blogging is part of my job.

Current Mood: accomplished

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One Man & His Blog

June 2013

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Page Summary

adders: signs of LJ life detected
(no subject)
On Vox: QotD: What Blogging Means
Millennial Post
Work Update
What the Adders has been doing
Adders MacUpdate
Back in the Smoke
When It Just Works
Blessings, Counting of Same
Today, I Will Not Be A Drama Queen
Today, I Shall Be A Drama Queen
Skypeing from Home
(no subject)
Bizbuzzmedia
An Old Pro

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Adam Tinworth's online journal

A journalist, an internet link and a LJ client

Entries tagged with work

adders: signs of LJ life detected

(no subject)

On Vox: QotD: What Blogging Means

Millennial Post

Work Update

What the Adders has been doing

Adders MacUpdate

Back in the Smoke

When It Just Works

Blessings, Counting of Same

Today, I Will Not Be A Drama Queen

Today, I Shall Be A Drama Queen

Skypeing from Home