Something new...

I've added a pinterest board over in the right hand column. Now, when I run across an interesting link I want to share, I'll pin it there, and you can see it here. This will (maybe? mostly?) replace the link lists, which I thought were a kind of boring/cop out sort of post anyway -- there was no thinking/substance in 'em.

Widgets, and thoughts about privacy and identity...

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by social media these days. (Aren't we all?)

So, I'm making a few changes to the blog. I've added widgets to the sidebar with Twitter and Goodreads feeds, so when you stop by to check in you'll have something fresh to see, even if I haven't posted in a while.

I thought about adding a facebook toy as well, but I'm really not liking facebook at all these days (it's getting to be all broadcast, with little real interaction) and I'm maybe even going to wean myself away from it. In my ideal world, social media would consist of twitter and blogs and not much else.

I'm also toying with the idea of moving from thorg.com to a name-based domain. Back when I first started this blog, anonymity was important to me -- my daughter was just a kid who still had college applications and job interviews ahead of her, and no online presence of her own. In those days, I worried that people googling on her name might instead find the deranged rantings of her crazed mother, and could hold that against her.

But that was a long time ago. Emmie's all growed up, with a post-bacc job that has insurance and everything! Her online profile is much higher than my own (she's surely got a higher klout score than I do, if, in fact, people still use klout -- do they?). And we live in an age where we no longer really have any reasonable expectation of privacy, anyway (if you're clinging to any sort of illusion of privacy, you're not really paying attention). So, perhaps it's time to not only give in to, but maybe even embrace identity branding? What do you think?

Anyway, that's what I'm contemplating this chilly Saturday morning while the sun struggles to make its first appearance in a while. How about you?

Playing around with things a bit...

What do y'all think of Dynamic Views?

(I've got some ideas about where I might take the blog here in a bit, if only I can find the time. Perhaps the long evenings of winter will give me the space I need to come back here...)

Ha!!

(by Alex Gregory)

Outta Here...

I'm off on a little trip in the morning. I'm not taking my computer with me, so I won't be posting until I get back. Everyone needs a break once in a while, eh? I'll be back next week, and leave you with these questions: will Alberto still be AG when I get back? Will sniveling weasel and girlfriend-blamer Paul Wolfowitz still be running The World Bank into the ground?

Oh, and I won't have a chance to post thoughts on tonight's debate, but would love to hear your take on it! If you make a post about the latest faceoff, post a link in the comments and I'll check it out when I'm home.

Outages

It's been a rough day here. The blog was down from last night until just a few minutes ago, and a big storm took out the power here three times this evening. All the plans I had to put up some pictures have been foiled for now, but I did spend some time looking into blogging software (if anyone has any suggestions, please share!). I'm thinking about switching over to blogger if I can manage to find the time I'll need to deal with the hassle...