SOME RANDOM DUDE

I think by now many folks that frequent this site know that I am putting a lot of time into clever ways of giving back through this blog. Comment Love has been a lot of fun to keep up, but I really do not want to stop there. A few months ago, I subscribed to GOOD Magazine and have absolutely loved it. For those of you that personally know me, to think that I would actually read a magazine, let alone enjoy it is more than a slight surprise. However, GOOD’s content hits a area of deep passion for myself and I would like to share it with the readers of this site.
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I thought this would be a perfect topic for discussion as it is extremely pertinent due to recent events. Over the past couple weeks, I have been approached multiple times about putting advertising on Some Random Dude. I have been very clear about my thoughts on the subject, but I thought it would be even more interesting to hear your thoughts.

I was telling a colleague of mine about the present offers I have been getting and how I would most likely be holding off on them. He suggested that the opportunity for ad revenue could open up an interesting possibility for this community in the form of a community fund. If the community agrees on advertising, then ads will go up. All the money brought in from advertising (after taxes of course) will go back to the community in the way the community desires. This whole method is quite intriguing to me as it is adding a very large democratic element to the regularly closed-door environment of advertising. In addition, the advertising will be directly benefiting all the right people - the folks who bring in the revenue to begin with.

So, I leave this all up to you. Please leave your comments and/or email me directly if you feel it is more appropriate. I think giving the community a say on this topic makes sense in so many different ways. At the very least, I am pretty sure it will open up a lively discussion.ads, advertising, blog, community, discussion, money, online advertising, revenue, site, some random dude voting

Have you noticed that lately I write more about this blog than actual articles? That is definitely a problem - hopefully all these proposed changes will be done soon and I can get back to actually writing again.

I have updated the Comment Love section of the site to show the full list of commenters for the current month. As can be expected, Kellie and Wild Guess are on a whole other level. In addition, I added Twitter updates to the front page although they may move around by week’s end - please give me your thoughts on where they are and if you find them useful. Also, if you have not added me to your Twitter friends list yet, by all means, head on over to my Twitter page and do so. I like friends.

There are a few other minor tweaks to the site that I would like to knock off and then I will get into refining different visual and functional elements of the site. The photoblog is slowly coming along due to extra responsibilities in the last week. Still, I hope to have it publicly launched soon (I am refraining from any deadline or timetables). blog, comment love, deadline, photoblog, some random dude, timetable, twitter updates

I have been playing with Twitter for the past few months now and I have decided to temporarily take the plunge and devote much more time into it. I am planning to integrate my Twittering into this blog - which required this plugin, which required a Wordpress upgrade which ended up creating all hell with some of my plugins, which ended up clearing all my tags once someone commented, which required me to frantically try to get my site back to normal.

Good times.

If you Twitter, by all means, please head over to my profile and add me as a friend. I have been very resistant to the social networking scene as I feel many, if not most, lack substance. What I like about Twitter is the fact it is a tool that can be used however one desires - the social aspect is merely a feature. Due to this flexibility, I am going to give it a go.

Integrating some aspects of my Twittering to the blog should not take too long so they should be popping up in the next couple weeks… Along with the photoblog and the functionality updates to Some Random Dude… Yes, I know I bit off more than I can chew. Still, I think this could add a lot to the site, so I am looking forward to trying it out. Please let me know your thoughts and, by all means, Sign up for an account and add me as a friend so you can join in on the fun.
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After an extremely hectic and dramatic late April/early May I finally got a chance to actually get back to work on implementing some new features on Some Random Dude. Photography has become a very important part of my life and slowly eats up more and more of my interest. I feel I have learned so much about the craft in the past 6 months - which has shown me that I know very little about it. If anything, this revelation of my utter incompetence has fueled my desire to continue down this path.

As photography becomes a larger part of my creative life, I thought it only appropriate that this blog reflect the same. The current format of Some Random Dude frankly does not deal well with the photography format - all attempts to force the medium of photography on this blog has brought about a lot of effort with mediocre results. Because of these problems, I made the decision to create a photoblog within this blog. My hope is that the photoblog will be updated 2 or 3 times a week to better reflect the amount of photos I take. As expected, the photos will now be more of a reflection of where my photography is and less of a “greatest hits” collection.
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