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Assorted Bob Web Bob

Change is good … I think

If you checked in this weekend, you probably noticed more than a bit of turbulence here. My Movable Type blog got bunked up, mostly through my own doing, and rather than try to unravel it I decided to make a fresh start. I was a full release behind on Movable Type, so first I tried upgrading. Bad idea. I had multiple issues, most of which focused on the admin. The javascript in there wasn’t working right and I just wasn’t willing to try to figure out what was wrong. The new templating system in MT 4.23 also left me completely befuddled. So I took the fresh start to another level.

When I set up a Word Press blog for Maroon Ventures, I was incredibly impressed with how easy it was to install, modify and manage. So I switched to Word Press and so far I have no regrets.

A few things to be aware of:

  • I’ve turned the main page of Opposable-Thumbs into the main page of my blog. So now going to http://www.opposable-thumbs.com/ takes you straight to the blog instead of the static HTML page/links that used to be there.
  • I redirected everything from the old blog to the opposable-thumbs.com page. I didn’t bother to try to connect the old URLs to the new ones. I don’t think enough people read or bookmark items in this blog to make that worthwhile. If you’re looking for something specific, give me a shout and I’ll help you track it down. I did import all the entries from the MT blog into this one (612 of them dating back to 2002), so everything should be here, albeit with new URLs.
  • I’ve reversed the redirect. It was having some unintended effects since I have image links and other stuff in there. I’ll need to create a more surgical redirect when I get time …
  • I haven’t settled for sure on a theme yet, so the look and feel might change as my whims change.
  • Still a lot of nits to pick. If you spot one, please shoot me a note. I’ll link all the static stuff from the old site in here somewhere, but I doubt I’ll bother with switching the design to whatever theme I settle on …
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Web Bob

Beauty beneath the sea …

My friend Ken has posted photos from his latest dive trip, and as always they’re stunning. This time he was diving at Roatan, Honduras. If you’re looking for a way to procrastinate away some odious task, this is the perfect diversion …

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Media Bob Techno Bob Web Bob

Discovering Internet radio …

I know I’m a bit of a late-comer here, but I’ve become addicted to Internet radio, even to the point where I paid $4.95 to try Radio Io for a month ad-free. At $50/year, it’s a lot cheaper than XM/Sirius, and it provides a pretty wide range of stations. I’m listening to a progressive rock station as I write this, and I’m also frequenting everything from radioioGrunge to radioioNewgrass to radioioJambands. It didn’t take much tinkering to repurpose an old Mac laptop to work with my stereo and wireless network for streaming purposes.

So this post on A VC caught my eye today. Apparently, CBS Radio is positioning itself to be a key player in Internet radio. Much of the focus is on TargetSpot, which apparently allows targeted ad avails to be delivered in streams.

So I started wondering. If they can rig Internet radio so that targeted, relevant ads are appearing in streams instead of the endless jewelry ads Radio Io was feeding me, would I feel compelled to spend $50 a year for ad-free streams? Probably not. And those satellites that XM and Sirius launched into orbit? How long before they’re as useless as the person who paid tons of money to put category 5 cable throughout his new house only to have wireless technology negate it a few years later?

Things are moving fast. I love it …