The traffic continues to swamp my blog from a Netherland website.  It has blown through the 1 GB for the first time and the month is not over.  Cooperman is going to freak!  Mike, I really don't know what is going on.  Hey, maybe I can make some money if you place some ads on my blog, Mike?  Hmm... probably not a good suggestion, eh?

You people like pictures of city?  Just wait - I have some amazing sunset pictures over Toronto.  I will put it up tonight - come back and check it out.  Ok, I am a bit sarcastic.  I am not going to push away success so I will cater to the needs of the viewers and readers.  I will create a portfolio of city pictures that I have taken from all over the world  

Yesterday, a record transmission of 86.3 MB and 412 distinct hosts served.  What is puzzling is the traffic originating from one primary source - skyscrapercity.com.  Over half the traffic originated from this Netherland based website.  My curiosity is killing me - who are these people and what are they up to?  I generally do not care where they come from as long as they come.  But, with over 50% of yesterday's traffic coming from one source and this has been building - I am flattered and curious.  So, if you are an individual from this website and you read this - drop me a note?  I did see some of my Toronto skyscraper pictures on the skyscrapercity.com, which is totally fine as long as it is for non-profit.  So, don't be shy! 

This blog has been up and running for about 7 months and it has been a fun time for me.  The news about blog is everywhere and even Bill Gates has recognised this phenomenon - oh, wow.  More importantly, Webster is adding this as a new word for their 2005 edition.  So, what is all this about?

Blogging is about giving people an easy way to publish on the web.  This is a very powerful concept because there are so many people on this planet and most of them have something to say - some actually have valuable insights into their area of expertise, which makes them the ones to read.  But, knowledge is not the only reasons for blogs to be read.

As I am researching this space  I find that there are as many things to wrtie about as you can dream up.  The common thread of the popular blogs are that they are very well written.  Some of the interesting ones are of course the sex related stuff.  Hey don't laugh because porn was the first real commercial business on the Internet.

What do people write about on sex?  Well, one couple blog their daily lives and their activities.  Another blogger was a hooker and you can imagine her day - well actually, you can read it.  It all makes for fun on the Internet.

As a side note, which I think is funny - I had an ex-colleague who was in the process of getting engaged to advice a big company on the opportunities of VOD (video on demand).  This is a household name in the world.  He asked me what has been the experience of VOD.  I have some experience here   Off the cuff, I said "Tell them porn is where all the money is on VOD."  For you Canadian readers who have Rogers or any cable offering that includes VOD, check it out!  Count the titles for all the movies that are not Adult.  Now, count all the movies under Adult.  The stag category alone has 111 titles, which is almost 3x more than all the regular movies and that is just one category under Adult.  My friend said "I hear you but how do I bring this across to the Board of Directors?"  Blog it!  (joke)

But essentially, it's more than RSS (real simple syndication) and Moveable Types and what have you.  It is essentially giving people an easy way to publish on the Internet.  All the stuff techies like to talk about to make what they are doing seem more important, new and cutting edge, it's here today gone tomorrow.  Talk to all the Fortran programmers.  So, don't get intimidated by 3 letters acrynoms.  Blogging is just a way of publishing on the Internet or Intranet (private company network).      

By definition, technology is a moving target.  In a world of moving forward, what we created today will have to be re-invented for tomorrow.  This is what makes the technology industry so much fun because it is dynamic.  The Internet is just a new way to communicate.  And blogging is an easy way to communicate to everyone on this planet that has an Internet connection.  What you do with blogging is the real value proposition.  

What do you do with blogging?  I have heard from so many people that they just don't know what to write.   Write about your thoughts on things and everyday life.  Be true to your inner voice.  You may never be famous because no one cares about what you write.  Going through the excercise, however, will help you think more clearly.  It challenges your mind.  And at the end of the day when we stand back, we may see the voice of humanity as we record of our sorrow and joy, our challenges and accomplishments, our fear and our dreams - and truly understand we are all very much alike.      

I don't know what puts me in this type of mood - must be that curry spring roll I had for a snack half an hour ago.    Burp...

This was an appropriate article at this time of my life.  I had bough a GameCube for my 7 year old son and this has created a lot of friction between mother, child and father.  To end the nagging and behavioural problems, I just took it away for good cause I HATE complains. 

Detailed survey findings are as follows:

• Forty-five percent of gamers volunteer at an average 5.4 hours per month.
• Sixty-one percent of game players engage in some type of religious activity for several hours each month.
• Ninety-three percent of game players read books or daily newspapers, while sixty-two percent often attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater.
• Fifty percent spend time painting, writing, or playing an instrument.
• Ninety-four percent follow news and current events, and 78 percent report that they vote in most of the elections for which they are eligible.

The poll was conducted in September, 2004, for the ESA by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., and surveyed a random national sample of 802 adults.

OK.  This poll was comissioned by a special interest group related to the industry and the way the questions were designed could have an impact on the results. 

The reality is, however, gamers are not crazy psychotic people who will go out and kill after playing Grand Theft Auto.  Sure you get the few who do strange things like commit suicide after the player felt he was betrayed by an on-line friend in the massive multi-player role paying games.  And, there are some who just go over the edge with their gaming obssesions.

Yes, I can game all weekend when my family is gone somewhere.  I can sit down on a Friday evening after work and game till the sun comes up.  I go to bed and wake up at noon and game till the next morning.  By Sunday, after several food deliveries (you need food to keep gaming) and no leaving the house since I got back from work, I do feel a bit in-human.  I am not deranged and I bet I am more successful than a lot of other people who think gaming is bad.  What is the problem?

I think people that do that like to solve problem and overcome challenges.  I have a deep focus on everything I do and that shows in gaming.  I will master anything I choose to do.  And, that has been my life and secret to my modest success in life.  I have taken 3 years off to spend time with my family and travelled around the world with them.  I was considered one of the best in what I do in a competitive environment - the investment industry.   I run 3 to 4 times a week for a total of 10 to 15 miles.  I am a gamer!!!  

Gaming is the new frontier for software development.  Most applications takes one or two years to develop.  Look at Redknee (see stockmarket ramblings in January 2005).  two three years and they are running.  Now, look at how long it took to develop Doom 3 or Half Life 2 - 4 to 5 years.  

The future of gaming is in the educational aspects of gaming.  SimCity is a great game for people who want to understand how cities are built and how they grow.  It was designed by urban planners as they incorporate rules like "If you put your residential more than an hour travel from your industries, your city is not going to grow because real life stats have shown the longest sustainable commute is one hour."  I hope more games like this come to market.

Even the crazy fantasy stuff teaches me about what it takes to succeed.  Warcraft is a good example.  You have a choice to develop a wide array of units for war.  Try to do too much and I guarantee you will loose.  Success is dependent on focus and doing a few things really well - that's it, just like life.  I noted this as I found that producing just 3 types of combat units is enough to win against the computer or on-line players.  I have a friend who chose to go for powerful units at the top of the pyramid and I kick his arse.  

To end this rant, gaming is good!  Those who hate gaming are those who are the problem ones - not the gamers as you can see they are successful people by the survey and by my experience.      

I just had to get this off my chest! 

If this keeps up, this blog would be a victim of it's own success.  For the month of December, 6,588 distinct host served, 903.3 MB of transmission used out of the 1 GB limit (opps), and 6,619 pages viewed.  The most popular category was the Stock Market ramblings with close to 700 visits compared to a bit over a 1,000 for the Main Page.  A distant 3rd was the Fish section with "German Ram" as the key search word that led the audience to this site.  And, Blog is growing. 

I had lunch with Mr. Imclone (cause he made me soooo much money) this week and we talked about our wives and things they could do while they were at home raising the family.  I said that they (the wives) should do something woth the Internet - like blog!  He told me that a mutual acquaintance's wife took to blogging and over the last 7 to 10 years built up a huge knowledge base on wines (starting from ground zero).  Well, she is now considered one of the top ten authorities on wine because of her blog.  So ladies, let's get with the program!

I started this blog out as a product evaluation for Tucows who is the provider of blogware.  It has gotten a little bit out of hand - heeheehee   I don't want to think that I was instrumental in pressuring Ross to provide a better way to embed pictures for blogware but the end result is that embedding pictures is a lot easier now than when I started (than again once you figure it out it just becomes part of the workflow).  The next feature should be SPELL CHECK!!!  Ross promise that is in the next rev.

If you have been keeping an EYE on CES, you would have read about Bill's view on blogs (in addition to the blue screen of death during his presentation).  Apparently, the next revision of Office and Outlook would support blogs and stuff inside these applications.  Watch out people!  The Black Hole is growing.  Do you remember spell checkers and gramma checkers and on and on of little add-ins and plug-ins?  Where are they?  Inside Office the Black Hole of productivity software - heeheehee.  I guess it is not so much different than the math co-processor disappearing into the microprocessor.  Anyways, watch out Tucows, Goggle, LiveJournal, AOL etc...  But than again, its such a huge market surely there is enough room for everyone? right? 

Thanx again for you patronage!  Best wishes for the New Year!