So, I was flipping through MaximumPC while I was eating lunch and I saw that they had mentioned the K2 theme engine as a must-have. I decided to pick it up and install it. For now, it looks almost identical to the default theme I was using but I'll customize it a bit down the road. I'll say one thing for sure though, it does load faster than the default skin did and it is a lot easier to use.
Some notable improvements include the "type and wait" livesearch box (give it a try, just type something and then wait a couple seconds) and live comments with AJAX (no page refreshes).
I'd like to get it out now that I'm not here to make money from this blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to tell you not to click the ads that are below the menu, I can always use extra money, but the $3 that this site is going to make each month isn't going to change my life. I have a theory on sites with and without AdSense but I want to give it a couple days before I post about it (hint: grab the RSS fees so that you know when I update).
As to the "Get Firefox" banner, I love FireFox. Aside from Opera (which is SO good that it can't be used with most people's sites, at least not yet), it's the best browser out there. I was never big on Google spying on what I'm doing, but I recently started using the Google Toolbar. I have to say, I really do find it useful. If you aren't currently using FireFox, please use the button on the right to download it. The package has both FireFox and the Google Toolbar so you'll get both in one shot.
To be perfectly honest, I kind of looked down on blogs until this past week. There are two things about them that I simply didn't get.
First, why would anyone think that it was a good idea to put their personal thoughts up on the internet? I mean, what if you had a bad day at work, blasted your employer when you got home, and then ended up getting fired the next day because someone at work read your blog (or worse, it got indexed by Google and all anyone had to do was search for your name)? Sure, you might have gotten a load off your chest by letting it out, but how's that going to help when you're living in a box on the corner a week later because you don't have any income?
Second, why would anyone want to read what other people are thinking? I certainly don't care about what random people are thinking. In fact, most of the time, I don't particularly care about what the people I do know are thinking.
That all really changed this past week when I was on a business trip in Las Vegas for PubCon 2006. While there, I met a ton of interesting people, 99% of which run a blog to post news about their personal lives and their businesses. On top of that, every single person I talked to said that, as a whole, positive things had happened to them since they started their blog. In fact, it hadn't been for a blog, I wouldn't have ended up at a lounge with the guys from LinkWorth and had an outstanding time at what essentially stated out as a business meeting that I assumed would be a boring hour or two before we hit the casinos for more Blackjack and Craps.
In any case, I guess I'm a convert. Hopefully now I'll figure out what all the fuss is.