It's live!

JoshCanHelp.com is up and running!

Please take a few minutes to check it out and let me know what you think in my comments. "Official Release" going out soon.

BTW...

My reader count, which got all the way up to 14 (WHOA!!!!), is coming back down. If you read this blog on a regular basis and like it, please help me by..

-> Adding me to reader.google.com or another feed reader. Email me if you need help!
-> Forwarding posts you like out to your family and friends
-> Commenting (try to compete with kat! It will be fun!)
-> Signing up for Digg and adding the articles that you like

The best way to combat environmental damage is to keep learning and keep teaching. Make your mark by doing what you can and help me reach a wider audience.

Thanks!!!

New MPG figure for me

I goofed it up a little bit because I reset my miles prematurely (which is ridiculous because, being the MPG nerd I am, I have been looking forward to this fill-up for weeks) but new estimate is 25.0. It went up because I've been commuting to work.

I think I went a few more miles than that but this is right in the range of the last one.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for:

- My friends, family, and everything in between that keep me going through everything. I need you more than you might think I do. Take care of yourself and stay in touch.

- My health, mental stability, and employment. I never take these attributes for granted and I'm glad I know how to retain them; I spent years trying to do away with them, glad that's over.

- The skills, talents, abilities, and capacities people keep telling me I have (I won't admit to them... not ever).

And, because you've been good, here's a treat :)

Joshisjosh: Branding Me

I read a lot of marketing stuff lately and I'm not entirely sure why. For some reason, I find the topic fascinating on so many levels. There is the science behind how people read and react to stimuli. There is the creativity that lies within the methods of getting attention. There is the sociology tacit in pushing/pulling people in a certain direction and how you do it.

The more I read, the more I learn. The more I do, the more I understand. Just like with any craft, practice begets ability so my practice is in the form of where I work and my side "jobs." "Jobs," here, gets quote marks because I'm working for free for the time being. One of the projects is for my dad (the Business Ferret financial analysis software [no URL yet]) one of them is a joint project between us ("The Book" those close to me know about... eyesofatexan.com coming soon), one is a mental project for my friend, Jay (computer building business... need an affordable computer? geko010 at gmail.com. Need a gaming masterpiece? geko010 at gmail.com. Most capable, helpful, friendly person that ever graced the computer industry), and one, the one this blog is about, is my own project (me). I'm branding me. Complete with a name, a logo, and a product (me).


I'm a student, a teacher, a resource, a blog, a source of ideas, a motivator, an idealist, a consumer...

How do you brand yourself? By being as you as you can possibly be and making it as public as ever. I'm representing myself as completely as possible with a blog following what is important to me, art and writing from my own hands and screen, and a transcript and resume of work that I am very proud to display. I'm networking the best way I can by being myself instead of trying to fit into something (I do that enough at school and at work). I'm reaching out to people that I resonate with and vice versa to make something happen (change the world or go home, see number 2).

joshisjosh.com coming soon.
Bachelors in Science coming soon.
"The Book" coming soon.
The Business Ferret coming soon.

Lots to look forward to; lots of work ahead of me... that's how I like it.

I'm google-able!

Maybe I'm a big nerd or maybe I'm just totally full of myself but finding this on the first page of a Google search made my day (ahem... week):


Lessons to come out of this little win:

-> Pay attention to your blog! Write great content about your passion then go do things that relate to your passion and post about it.

-> Describe appropriately! Add photo tags, labels, titles, etc. Blog-illiterate folk have NO idea how much back-end works goes into making these things look right and perform properly for search engines.

-> Don't post just to post! Like this post... don't do that, no reason. There is no need to make yourself try to feel better with some random, ridiculous notion you might have. Also, patting your own back with your blog is SO blase. Who cares? Get over yourself.