Autoplay problems

Sorry, guys, but all of a sudden, I'm having autoplay problems.

It doesn't seem to be a problem with YouTube videos, but only with those from Comedy Central (from what I've seen so far, at least). The videos start automatically, even when I include code that's supposed to prevent that.

As you might have noticed, it's a particularly big problem when there are multiple videos on the same page. Then again, maybe it's only a problem with my particular browser (Firefox) or settings? I just don't know.

As I say, I've never had this happen before, and I haven't figured out how to fix it. Nothing I've tried so far has worked at all. So, my apologies if this has been a problem for you. I'm aware of it. But that's about all I can say.

Edit: OK, I fixed this at my end by going to the list of Firefox plugins and turning Shockwave Flash from "Always Activate" to "Ask to Activate." I don't know why this is necessary, all of a sudden, but it works. I just have to give permission for each video that I want to see.

Five years

I started this blog five years ago, today. It's been fun, though I've certainly slacked off this year. I'm not even trying to post like I was. (Yeah, I'm still posting a lot, but mostly just videos I stumble across.)

But that's the way it goes. I hope it's still entertaining for a few people, but it's not a job, and I'm not going to make it a duty. As I said earlier this year, you shouldn't expect anything. I'll post something when I feel like it (especially when it's easy, like YouTube videos), but that's all. Sorry.

I do appreciate my few readers - and, especially, their comments. And I don't plan to stop. But,... as I say, don't expect much. :(

Here's my problem

(Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

That last pane is when I started blogging. :)

Blogging

OK, if I've still got readers left, you're probably wondering what's going on. Rather, you're probably wondering why nothing is going on - here, at least.

Well, I don't know if I can really answer that. I always slack off in the summer, but it's not summer now. I guess I've just got other things I want/need to do.

No, I'm not quitting entirely. But I wouldn't expect much. Heck, you haven't been getting much for awhile now, but from now on, I won't feel guilty about it. You've been warned. :)

I still enjoy blogging, and I've got a million things to write about. I'm a dozen books - no exaggeration - behind on book reviews. I've got new computer games to talk about. And I've got a million - OK, slight exaggeration - links saved, mostly about politics and religion, intending to post something,... eventually.

But I'm not getting any of that done, and it's time to recognize that I probably won't. So I'm not going to worry about it. I only do this for my own enjoyment, after all. If it becomes a duty, a chore, what's the point?

I still haven't continued reading the Bible, and I definitely want to do that,... sometime. I've got a long, long way to go, and if it's not the most entertaining book in the world, if might be the most bizarre.

And I'm always finding things online that cry out for a blog post. But although I've been saving the links, I rarely get around to actually writing anything. So, again, don't expect much. In fact, don't expect anything. Seriously.

As I say, I'm not quitting entirely. But I'm only going to post something when I feel like it - and lately, that hasn't been very often. I'll probably continue posting videos, since those are quick and easy. But even then, I'm going to keep to no schedule. Expect days, or even weeks, to go by with nothing new.

Sorry. I appreciate the few loyal readers I've had, and I certainly appreciate the comments. But I keep cutting back, and I still can't keep up with everything I want to do. It's time to acknowledge that. This has been lots of fun, but it's going on the back-burner now.

I'm back

I'm back!

Yeah, you didn't realize I was gone, huh? Well, my computer has been in the shop all week, and it's seemed like months to me!

Of course, it's not unusual that I skip a few days blogging, especially in the summer. And I posted a lot last weekend - mostly because I couldn't play games (video card problem).

Meanwhile, with my computer being down, you would have thought I'd be caught up on everything non-computer related, huh? If you didn't know me, I mean... :)

Well, it's certainly not going to get done now!

Busy

Sorry about the scarcity of blog posts lately, but I've been busy picking strawberries, cherries, and gooseberries - and then sitting for hours in the evenings watching YouTube videos as I pick through the fruit and get it ready for the freezer.

As usual, I've got a million things to blog about, and I'm still reading and playing computer games, but... something's got to give.

I did pick the last of the strawberries today. (They're really in a mess, so it's going to take me awhile to cut out the bad spots.) But I'm still picking cherries, and I've got more gooseberries to pick, and now the raspberries are ripening, too. (Luckily, raspberries are no trouble at all to freeze, because I don't have to do anything to them first.)

You know, I shouldn't be so far behind, because I had an extra day this week. I went to get a haircut yesterday, and my barber said that she had the appointment scheduled for Friday. I said, "It's not Friday?"

What can I say? I'm retired. It sure felt like Friday. In fact, for the rest of the day, it still seemed like Friday. It was like I'd gained a day, but I went and had lunch, then picked up a book when I got home and... that was it. I spent the rest of the day reading. So much for my extra day, huh?

OK, I've got to get started on those strawberries. I'm not looking forward to it, but it's got to be done. And they'll definitely be welcome this winter.

Spring

(Markham)

It's spring. No, it doesn't look like that picture here - certainly not yet. In fact, it's supposed to snow tonight. (Not much, unfortunately. We really need the moisture, and while I'd rather have rain, I'll happily take snow right now, if that's what we get.)

But it's still spring, and that means I need to cut back on blogging. Or try, at least. (Yeah, I need to cut back on playing computer games, too, but that's going to be harder. I'm still playing Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead almost obsessively. Man, that's a great game!)

Anyway, until next winter, don't be surprised if I go a few days at a time without posting anything. And when I do post, it's likely to be something short and quick, like embedding a video clip from YouTube. I've got a million things to blog about - I always do - but I need to get some other things done, as well.

Don't worry, I still plan to continue with my Bible series. Unfortunately, Leviticus has been boring as hell, and I've still got one more post to finish that book. And I'm sure I'll be continuing with my latest adventures in Cataclysm. As I noted above, I can't seem to stop playing the game, so I might as well blog about it, huh? :)

This is an election year, too, so the crazy will be out in force. Already, the Koch brothers - or whoever is funding this particular right-wing group - are already bombarding me with political ads on YouTube. Hey, guys, I wouldn't vote for that lunatic anyway, but your anonymous campaign ads are so annoying, I'd vote against him, just out of spite, for that reason alone!

Of course, this is Nebraska, so some right-wing lunatic is bound to win every statewide race. But don't get me started. :)  Anyway, I'll still be blogging regularly, but probably - hopefully - not as much as during the winter.

I hope you stick around, though. Thanks for reading my posts, and thanks for your comments!

Four years

(Steven Love)

So, today is the fourth anniversary of my blog.

Yup, this is it. February 27th.

Um, I guess I don't have anything else to say about it, though. I'm still enjoying writing these posts, but I don't even look at reader stats anymore. (Maybe if they were better, I would. Heh, heh.)

...

OK, back to Cataclysm then, I guess. :)

I'm back

Yeah, I'm here. I've had my computer in the shop - nothing major, just an intermittent problem I've been trying to track down. No big deal.

Of course, I haven't been posting much, anyway. It's summer, and I've been busy. But yesterday, it rained (finally!), so I got some reading done. I've read four books in the past few days, in fact. Now if I can just find the time to write reviews.

But I've also got to start netting my grapes - especially the early ones. Just as soon as I can get my raspberry canes tied up. And, well, lots of other stuff, too. What can I say? It's summer.

I can't wait for winter! :)

I've got Step One covered

(Savage Chickens)

I just can't figure out why I don't have more readers. Clearly, I've got Step One covered, right?  Hmm,... I must be falling down on Step Two, whatever that is. :)

That's interesting... blot stats

Yeah, I haven't been blogging much this summer, and my blog stats show it. Actually, they dropped last summer and never recovered much. But they're not looking great now, either.

No problem. I'm sure I repeat myself. And I write this for me, mostly - just a way to get things off my chest. A good rant never hurt anyone, right? :)

But I do glance at my stats each week, both from StatCounter and the internal stats here. And for the past couple of weeks, my post with the most 'hits' - by far - is this one, from a year and a half ago, about "Mitt Romney's Bain Capital problem."

Why? I have absolutely no idea. Has there been something new in the news about that? If so, I haven't seen it. And I did a search myself without finding anything recent, at least at the top of the results. Blogger also lists the "search keywords" which presumably led people to my blog, but there's nothing even remotely relevant there, either.

Weird, isn't it? I'm happy enough for that particular post to get hits, because it's a long post, drawing from a variety of sources, leading up to a point. But as I note there, it's mostly just an introduction to my follow-up post on "Our Bain Capital problem" - and that one hasn't had any hits at all (well, not many, at least).

This stuff isn't important, I know, but it's strange, isn't it? Normally - almost every week - my most popular post is the one I wrote about house sparrows. Yeah, that's one of only six posts I've written which are even loosely connected to birds (this isn't exactly a nature blog), but apparently a lot of people in the world are looking for information about sparrows and find themselves here. (I'll bet they're surprised by that!)

But not last week. That house sparrows post wasn't even in the top ten last week. I guess, for some reason, all those people who normally search for sparrows suddenly lost interest last week, instead becoming curious about a failed presidential candidate's past business dealings.

Or is Blogger just making all this stuff up? :)

One neat thing I discovered today was that a link to my post about "How to deal with sexism" was added to the description (at YouTube) of one of the videos I embedded there. I didn't get a ton of hits from that, but apparently 19 people clicked on that link last week. (I thought it was neat because the link was posted at all, not so much from the traffic I got.)

Week after week, most of the hits I get - at least when it comes to older posts - are about computer games. Mostly, people seem to be looking for information about less commercial games - Dwarf Fortress (always popular), Cataclysm, UnReal World, etc. That's understandable, and it's great, too.

Unfortunately, these are games which are still in development - and continue in development for years and years, in fact - so I'm not sure how much help my older posts will be. Still, that apparently leads to hits on my computer games page, too - at least, that tends to be the most popular of those pages - so it's all good. :)

OK, none of this is important to anyone but me. Actually, it's not even very important to me, but I find it interesting. When it comes to blog stats, I understand some of this,... but some of it makes no sense at all. Well, maybe if I knew why people were suddenly interested in "Mitt Romney's Bain Capital problem," it would make sense, huh?

Any ideas?

Strawberry season

Yeah, folks, I'm still alive. Just busy with strawberries.

And games, of course - Arma 3, Distant World: Shadows, Expeditions: Conquistador. And I read an 850-page book last week, while ferrying Mom around town, but I haven't had time to write a review.

But mostly, I'm swamped with yard work. I picked strawberries today until I ran out of containers to put them in, so now I'm going to watch videos while I pick through them and get them ready for the freezer.

And then back out to pick more strawberries, if I last that long. Plus, with all the rain we've been getting, the lawn needs mowing again. And the squirrels are destroying my apricot crop, so I really should do something about that. And most of my fruit needs thinning,... and spraying.

It's not all going to get done, I'll tell you that. I just got too far behind this summer. As usual. :)

I'm doing my part

(Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

Spring

Just a heads-up that I won't be posting as often, now that spring is finally here. It'll probably vary a lot, depending on the weather and what I find to post, but I'll be a lot busier now than I was this winter.

I'm likely to post video clips, because those are quick and easy. Indeed, I've been posting more and more of them, anyway. But don't call the morgue if I miss a day or two. :)

And baby is three

(Zazzle)

Has it been three years already? Yes, I started this blog three years ago today, February 27, 2010.

Looking at last year's post, most things are still the same. I'm still blogging nearly every day. I'm still spending way too much time at it, yet I can't even come close to blogging about every interesting topic I find.

And it's still fun. Make no mistake, I'll quit the minute it stops being fun. (Although, 'fun' isn't always the right word. 'Catharsis' might be closer, for many posts.)

Last year, I mentioned how I'd started to get more readers. I write this for myself, of course, but it's always good to get readers. Unfortunately, this year has been a huge disappointment in that respect. My readership declined last spring and summer, and it never recovered. In fact, I think it's still declining (and it never was very large).

I'm talking about returning readers, because that's what matters to me, but even new visitors, even page loads, are anemic. I really don't understand that, because I've got a lot more posts now. Wouldn't I be getting more Google hits, just from that reason alone?

But I don't care about that, I really don't. (No advertising here, so no worry about 'hits.') I don't understand how those stats are compiled, anyway. Do I get a hit when a blog page just comes up in a Google search, without anyone needing to click on the link at all? Certainly, I don't seem to get many comments - and almost none from non-regulars - even from posts with a lot of hits.

I do care about returning readers, even though I write this mostly for myself. Has there been a change in the kinds of posts I write? That sort of thing is hard for me to notice. I just write what I feel like writing, and I don't restrict myself at all. Have you noticed a change in the past year or so? If so, was it welcome or unwelcome?

Lately, I've been posting more about computer games, and I know that's not popular with some of my regular readers. But Gregg, much as I enjoy your own blog, I'm not particularly interested in your home repair instructions, either. (Although, living here, I suppose I should be!)

Otherwise, politics and religion dominate, as usual. I haven't been posting many book reviews lately,... but I said the exact same thing last year, when my readership was high higher. Maybe I'm posting more videos? Videos are just so easy, though. And I'm addicted to YouTube, I think.

I'd be interested to hear what you like and what you don't, and if you've noticed any changes here. I'll probably continue posting whatever I feel like, though. Heh, heh. This is mostly for me, after all. And yes, I know my posts are way too long. But maybe I'll listen to complaints if I get enough of them, you never know. :)

(I should note that my proportion of hits from mobile devices has been increasing - not surprisingly. But I don't know how my blog shows up on them, since I only see it in Firefox. I'm not good at graphic arts, so when I began the blog, I just picked a ready-made template. Of course, extraordinarily long posts probably aren't ideal in the age of Twitter and text-messaging, anyway, huh?)

I look at my stats every week, because I find that sort of thing interesting. Week after week, the one post which almost always gets more hits than anything else is this post on house sparrows from almost a year ago. It's funny, because I used to be a very active birder, but I don't do that now, and I've hardly written any other posts about birds.

Well, as house sparrows are the most common bird in the world, "sparrow" and "house sparrow" seem to be very common search terms, too. But I never get any comments on that old post, and none of those people seem to return here (reasonably enough, I guess). As I say, I have to wonder whether I'm getting hits from Google searches, without anyone actually reading the post at all.

My posts about computer games, even old posts - especially about Dwarf Fortress - always get a lot of hits, too (but, again, almost no comments, so I do wonder if they're even being read). Going by Google searches, Dwarf Fortress is still very popular, apparently - or maybe just so difficult to learn that gamers are searching for help. :)

So, if I really cared about hits, maybe I'd make this a birding or gaming blog. On the other hand, none of those people ever seem to return, so that probably wouldn't make much difference in what I do care about, return visitors and regular readers. (Of course, I don't typically blog about birds. And as a game-player, I'm far older than most gamers, so my concerns probably aren't theirs.)

Finally, I get hits from all around the world - mostly from the United States, of course, but you'd be surprised at how many countries show up in the stats. (If you're wondering, Germany is second on the list this week, and France third. But Russia and the UK frequently take those positions.)

One country which almost never shows up is the most populous nation in the world, and the nation with the most internet users, China. I got hits from China one week only and never again. I wonder if that was their government, checking to see if I ever blogged about politics? (No, never. I promise.)

Of course, I don't know if the Chinese are allowed access to any part of the rest of the world. Either way, it's clear I'm not going to get any return visits from there, huh? But I'd still like more return visits from somewhere. :)

Maybe I'll start blogging about celebrities.

Blog changes

FYI, I made a few changes to the Pages section of my blog (at the right, just below my profile). I removed the page of series posts - since I haven't been adding to them recently - and replaced it with a page about skepticism and another with links to posts about PC games (similar to my page of book reviews).

In neither case are these complete. If you want every post I've written about books, games, or skepticism (or religion), use the tags ("labels") just below the Pages section. But the appropriate page would be easier if you're looking for a specific topic.

Note that the series posts are still there. The Non-belief series is simply listed under Skepticism, and the Great Games series under Computer Games. (Duh!) I'm not sure if I'll continue with the latter series, though, since my memory is fading when it comes to the games I played decades ago.

PS. I made a lot of changes and added a lot of links. So please let me know if you find any problems.

Still here :)

(pages of life)

FYI, I'm still here. I'm just switching to a new computer, so I haven't been able to post lately.

And, unfortunately, I had three blue-screen crashes in the first five minutes with the new computer, which hasn't helped much. I think it's a peripheral, since I've unplugged everything and it seems to be working now. One way or another, I'll get it figured out.

But I also have to figure out where everything is. It's not just that I've been using Windows XP for six years, since I'd even set that up to be as close to Windows 98 as I could get. I like to know where everything is on my computer and what everything is, and Microsoft tends to fight me on that.

Or maybe it's just a matter of teaching an old dog new tricks. :)

Computer crash

(image source)

Sorry to disappear like that, but my computer crashed. It's been down all week.

I just now got it back - this is the very first thing I've done - so don't expect too much until I get caught up with everything else.

And no, I didn't get a lot of work done while it was down, either. When I don't have a computer, I'm always too depressed to work. :)

I did read five books this week, so I suppose I'll be writing reviews of them, eventually. But otherwise, I kept wondering what I used to do when I didn't have a computer. I was completely lost without it.

If you're wondering, it turned out to be just a bad video card. I upgraded to a better card, while I had the chance (if I'd sent the old card back for warranty replacement, my computer would have been down for weeks), but after they replaced the card, the repair shop told me that the motherboard is going bad, too!

I'm on my third motherboard (my third video card, as well), but this one isn't under warranty because it was a replacement for the last one that went bad. Apparently, the warranty doesn't reset. Surprise, surprise.

Well, my computer is working again, for now, but the motherboard could go at any time. Fun, huh? Maybe I need to bite the bullet and buy a new computer...

But not today.

Pruning

I haven't been blogging much lately, and that probably won't change right away. I've got a million things to blog about - thanks for the links you've been sending me! - but I'm not sure when, or if, I'll get to them.

I've been pruning my fruit trees, and it's been such an incredibly warm March that everything is bursting out at once. I just can't keep up with it. I've got my trees and bushes pruned, and I'm starting on my grapevines, but they're already starting to leaf out, not just bud out.

And it will be the raspberries after that, and - sometime - get my garden started. (I wanted to plant some cold-weather crops weeks ago, but I just haven't had the time.) The grass is getting long, too, which isn't a big deal, but does take time away from everything else.

Anyway, I'm just behind on everything. (You should see my email Inbox!) But I'll still be blogging. I'll try to post some things without much commentary, because those are quick. As I said, I'll try. You know how hard it is for me to say nothing. :)

And I do want to post my second year in Summitspear, my Dwarf Fortress fort. It's been nearly a month since my first post, but I've had little time to play.

Yeah, I know those aren't popular here, but I have a lot of fun writing them, and my vote trumps yours. Heh,  heh. Frankly, just the fact that they're fun to write probably means I'll get to that before most of the rest of this stuff.

OK, I just thought I'd give you a heads-up. I don't want to lose the readers I've got (each one as precious as rubies, I assure you). I'm not dead and I'm not losing my interest in blogging. But I did say that I'd be slowing down once winter was over, and I'm especially busy right now.

Spring

(ScienceNOW)

It's March, so I declare it spring. (You know, I've never understood making the equinox the "official" start of spring. What does that have to do with spring? Spring, after all, depends on your location.)

At any rate, spring, for me, means a whole lot more work - mostly outdoors, but also trying to catch up on all of the indoor work I should have been doing all winter. So I really need to cut back on blogging.

Yes, I've said that before. It's just hard to do. And considering how far behind I am already,... well, it's really pretty ridiculous. I've got tons of things I'd like to blog about. And I haven't even looked at some of the links people have sent me. Well, I'm really behind on my email in general.

Nevertheless, I need to switch modes here, from winter to spring. So if I don't post anything for a day or two, don't call the rescue squad. I'll probably continue to post quite a bit anyway, but I'm going to try to cut back.

Likewise, if I'm a little slower on email, don't be surprised by that, either.  As I say, it's spring!

PS. Wondering about that illustration up above? Expecting a robin, maybe?

(Dulcy's Doorstep)

Well, robins are certainly a sign of spring - early spring, even. But I've got a snake pit under the garage, where a whole bunch of garter snakes are probably having wild, passionate sex - if not now, then soon enough.

And it won't be too long before my whole yard is overrun with snakes. OK, it will be awhile yet. Snakes don't like the cold. So maybe I should have gone with the robin in the first place. :)