The future of this blog
I started this blog a little over a year ago. I wasn’t living in Taiwan at the time, but the blog was a good way for me to maintain my interest in Taiwan. I also saw the blog as being complementary to my website, David’s Guide to Taiwan, which I had been maintaining for several years. The dynamic nature of blogging allows me to write about a wider range of topics than I can on a static website.
I am not sure how many people actually read this blog. I guess the number is in double figures, although probably at the lower end of that range. The occassional mention on Michael Turton’s blog has probably helped a few people discover my blog. Michael’s blog has also helped me discover a number of interesting Taiwan blogs, too.
Anyway after more than a year of blogging about Taiwan, as of last month, I am finally in Taiwan. I haven’t been posting much more frequently yet, partly because I don’t have my own computer. Internet cafes in Taiwan tend to be smoky and noisy so I don’t like spending too much time in them. It is also difficult to find an internet cafe where I can upload and edit photos.
I hope to have my own computer and internet connection sorted out in a week or two. After that I will aim to post two or three times a week. Sometimes I will post a bit more and other times a bit less. I will continue to focus on similar topics to those I have in the past. Chinese languages (note the plural s) will be a major focus. Other topics will include teaching English, books and movies related to Taiwan, cycling and hiking and interesting places that I visit.
I will also post more photos. I have put some of my best photos at the bottom of the side bar. Just click on the photo to see a higher resolution image in a new window. I will add some new photos there from time to time.
David’s Guide to Taiwan will also get some much needed updates and more photos, too. I am thinking about splitting some of the content of that site in to a new website with it’s own domain name. I really need to learn CSS before I set up a new site though. The HTML coding on the current site is a bit messy, although I am sure most people never notice.
Taiwan is different
Peak oil is a big problem
The Wall-Passer: unique sci-fi romance
Video: Statement of support for Taiwan
Links 8 October 2007
Posted: May 7th, 2006 under Blogs & websites.
Comments
Comment from David
Time 8 May 2006 at 6:14 am
Your boss never called, but I have a job in Taipei now. I must come down to Tainan sometime.
Comment from Edouard
Time 12 May 2006 at 11:09 pm
Hi David,
A friendly advice from another apprentice coder: have a look at free (as in free speech) scripts, and especially content management systems. They are a tad bit complicated to install but they run like a charm afterward and should completely fit your bill. They doesnt involve any html once installed, and work pretty much like a forum.
The most famous CMS (content management system) is php-nuke.
The good news is that they are most of the time free (as in free beer).
If you want to save yourself the hassle of installing these scripts and their management (mostly updating to newer versions to avoid security holes) you should have look for an hosting solution including Fantastico, which a system taking integrally in charge the installation and upgrade of all the scripts provided.
I am using http://www.computinghost.com‘s offer, which for 33$ per yer (2go of space, 33go of bandwidth) seems to be pretty good for the money. I have not had so far any downtime.
That’s not advertising, i am just a happy enthusiast who spend a hell of a time looking around for a good solution till i found fantastico.
I am using for this website: http://www.trot-in.com/index-cms.php
Another really good free script is coppermine gallery, which is an entire system managing your photos from resizing, to user’s galleries, and anonymous upload of file. I am using it at this adress: http://ed.roquette.free.fr/photo
Hope this help, and keep up helping people to know taiwan better.
Edouard
Comment from David
Time 13 May 2006 at 2:01 pm
edouard, thanks for your advice. I know the way the current site is set up is probably the most difficult way to go about it in the long run. I have taught myself HTML and I don’t think learning CSS should be very difficult. I know tools like php will probably give me even more power. I will investigate them a bit more.
I have university degree in Applied Mathematics, but unfortunately I never got interested in computers while at Uni. I graduated a couple of years before the internet really took off. I regret not learning more about computer programming, but I want to make the effort to teach myself more about it.
Setting up a website is both a way of communicating with people; publishing words and photos, and a way for me to teach myself more about computers.
Comment from edouard
Time 13 May 2006 at 7:00 pm
David,
What i wanted to emphasize is the aspect “do great straight out of the box while being completely customizabe and very powerful”.
As a business person i tend to be as pragmatic as possible and measure my time spent carefully. Thus this choice.
But i perfectly imagine you want YOUR baby, as i did in my own time (that gave http://www.trot-in.com).
Please have at least a look at the photo gallery, it is a really a great system.
Ed
Comment from Anonymous
Time 15 May 2006 at 4:36 am
what happened to your job in Thailand?
Didn’t work out?
I thought Thailand would be much more appealing that Taiwan.
Comment from elias shite
Time 7 May 2006 at 11:24 pm
did my boss call you? i gave him your cv ages ago. welcome back to taiwan.