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Hi-Tek Peru
Your technology connection in Lima
Well Blog This!
By F. P. Nagle

Editor's Note: This is the ACAP Newsletter's inter-active column. You can reach the interactive forum at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Hi-Tek-Peru - where ACAP readers and others can sign up, ask questions raised by this column, post comments and suggest future column topics. It is also available for general discussion on technology issues pertinent to expatriates in Lima. Go to this web site and click on “Join this Group” to participate.

So you think your high tech, with-it, know all there is to know about everything on the web and what's happening now. Do you have a Blog? If not, you may want to check out the following links to create your own Free Blog: http://www.blogger.com/start or http://weblogs.about.com/od/weblogsoftwareandhosts/a/topfreeblogs.htm just to name two free sites.

Do you need a blog? Do you want a blog? Now you're probably asking; “Just what is a blog in the first place?”

The word is taken from the two words “weB LOG” or you may consider it a daily diary. The electronic, high tech part comes in when you realize that it is published on the internet (web) and is available for the entire world to see. But it doesn't stop there. Blogs are open so others may add comments or additional information. With added features, such as trackback, blogs allow others with similar (or dissimilar) views to attach their blogs (discussions) to your entries, so when others visit your blog they not only add comments directly to your blog but can also connect to other “bloggers” who have commented as well.

A further definition, taken from http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/blog/ is: “A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.

People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.

Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.”

If you do a search of Google, you'll find close to three hundred million results for the term “blog.” Some examples of what you'll uncover include:

1) Tech blogs: http://blogs.zdnet.com/

2) Current events: http://www.blogsofwar.com

Although called “blogsofwar”, the site contains current information and the September entries relate to Hurricane Katrina and relief and recovery efforts as well as comments on how well or poorly the government responded.

3) Directory of Blogs: http://jenett.org/ageless/ Just to name one, this site contains a listing of blogs in sequence by the blog owner's age.

So back to the question: Do you need a blog? The answer to this lies in how public you want your life to be. In the age of electronic communications it now seems that electronic mail and targeted forums (subject for another article) are no longer enough for millions of people. They now want their life, philosophy, feelings, emotions and everything else to be documented for the world to see. One interesting use of a blog I've seen is the daily reporting of news from different countries from a personal viewpoint as opposed to the normal “slant” from news channels.

On a lighter note, you can find thousands of humor (daily joke blogs), photos (daily photo blogs) and even a blog on traveling in Peru at http://www.davestravelcorner.com/blogs/jim/

So now, “Do you want a blog?”

Create a blog for your next trip and document all the great places you visited, including word, photos and now video (vlog). You can add to your blog from anywhere in the world and have it instantly available to family, friends and the rest of the world as well! You may even get a response from others who may be in the same place at the same time and make a whole series of new friendships in your travels.

Maybe you have some fantastic recipes you'd like to share with others, as well as add to your own personal recipe collection.

A final caveat, if you can't take criticism, a blog may not be for you. Since it is open, and comments can and WILL be made, you need to be prepared for viewpoints that differ from yours.

Have fun “blogging” and if you do create a blog, why not sent the address (URL) to the Hi-Tek Peru forum and share it with other.

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