I've been blogging for well over 10 years.  I've seen the worst in people, and the best.

That's what happens as you grow older as well.

Along with blogging on Xanga, I also have accounts on sites where I contribute articles here and there.

When Xanga 1.0 was around and we had many of the ISH sites, I enjoyed sharing my faith on Revelife, as well as talking about being a dad and discussing autism related issues on Autisable (which I will still do when it relaunches).

I've discussed various topics on triond, or dealt with social media on another site.

My point is, when you blog regularly, you tend to blog on many different sites.  Each site has it's own audience, it's own platform.

I enjoy talking about being a dad, and connecting with other dad's - especially ones who have a kid with special needs.   Connecting with like minded people tends to open up ideas on how I can improve myself.    So, I will be a contributing blogger to the LifeofDad.com website.

Just another place for me to share some thoughts.

Of course, this blog is my online blogging home.

Until later....

Today marks an Anniversary.  The day my Mother died of brain cancer.

Yes, she died last year, on Mother's Day.

We all knew when the diagnosis came about the tumor, even she did, what would most likely happen.

But I won't reflect on her death, as I know it's something we will all deal with one day.   I will reflect upon her life this year.

My mom was passionate about people treating each other with respect, regardless of their personal belief's.   She was always fair, almost to a fault.

She became a good friend, and although we had our differences, her heart was always in the right place.

She moved several states away from me, and our phone calls became a weekly and sometimes a monthly event - but I looked forward to talking with her about what was going on in each others lives.

I had the fortunate opportunity to visit with her about a month or so before she passed.    And based upon
my faith, I am comforted in knowing that she's just gone ahead of me and I will see her again one day.

I was honored when she asked me to visit an elderly blind neighbor, and read scripture to her.   It meant a lot to my Mom when I did that, and it meant a lot to me as well.  It was an acknowledgement of someones faith, and an encouragement to keep believing.

Although my mom wasn't one to preach verbally her faith, she lived it.
The quote "Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." was something I can honestly say she practiced... whether she realized it or not.

As she was a person who planned every aspect of her life as much as she could, and as stubborn as she could be, she fought and held on - making peace with friends and family.

Her last day was Mother's Day, 2014.  Just a year ago.   Leave it to her to make Mother's Day even more special.

Not long afterward I found this text from her when cleaning up my phone.  I saw it before, but it served as a reminder that she loved me.

I still keep that text, and made a screenshot of it.

It serves to remind me that although she might not be available for a phone call or a visit, I know she's still near.

Happy Mother's Day, three words that now make me realize how important having a Mom truly is.

After blogging for well over a decade on several platforms, I can honestly tell you that spam comments are just a part of blogging.   How you address it is entirely up to you.

With Xanga 1.0 we laughed at, and often joked, about spam comments.  Many folks even got frustrated and made their blog private (sign in lock) in an attempt to reduce or eliminate spam.  Personally I received at least a dozen or more spam comments a week on my blog in Xanga 1.0, and have seen a significant reduction with it with 2.0.

Allow me to share some facts regarding spam comments...

1 - they will happen.  In fact, if you have a blog or website with a comment feature, someone somewhere wants to create a backlink to their site utilizing the comment field.
2 - it's NOT about you.  Spam comments are the poor mans method to create a backlink to another webpage.  In short, they don't target you, they target search engines.
3 - they are usually generated through automation.  Programs have been created to find blogs and make comments on them.
4 - they are bad for websites/blogs, but are easily addressed through appropriate comment moderation.

As annoying as spam can be, there are wordpress plugins that can help eliminate/reduce spam.   But these plugins only can improve when we know how to utilize comment moderation.  So here's a quick 'how-to' ....

When you receive a notification that someone commented on your blog and you check your comments section - here's a quick guide:

After reading the comment and hovering over it - you'll see the options on what to do with it (I have default settings for comments on my blog)

1.  approve/unapprove - IF you approved a comment from a person previously, they will automatically be approved for future comments - and visa versa
2.  Reply - you may choose to reply to that individual comment.  When doing so, that person will be notified of the response (this is the latest update to comments in Xanga 2.0 that has happened)
3. Quick Edit - you may edit someone else's comment.  Most people choose not to do this, but if you have a family friendly site and want to edit out a curse word here and there... the option is there. (I've used this feature on rare occasions on misspelled words or curse words.  If something is way out there I just remove my approval of the comment.)
4. Spam - when selecting this it's similar to moving something to the spam folder in e-mail.  The plug in will be updated and future spam from the IP address/e-mail address will be blocked.   However, comment spam software tends to switch things up, hence the reason why combatting spam is an ongoing process.
5. Trash - this just deletes the comment and has absolutely NO impact on improving spam filtration.

So, if you are getting a lot of spam comments - don't delete them... just click them as spam.   As the data comes in for The Xanga Team, they can improve the technology to help you manage your blog in this area.

For more information - check out these links:

This one from wordpress.org shares what wordpress does to combat spam on a regular basis.

https://codex.wordpress.org/Comment_Spam

If you're really trying to understand spam and how to control it - this page is a good reference to start with

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/control-blog-comment-spam/

And for those of you who do like to eat Spam - I'm sure your local grocery store has it available (but please don't send me any).

Until later, back to the grind...

First I'd like to share that this post is in response to people in the public eye who utilize their platform to speak poorly of others.

Be it a celebrity, a blogger, or for whatever reason you have to speak publicly on whatever platform...

It's not often I speak out against someone, as I strongly believe that we all have a right to share our thoughts openly and honestly.

To be honest, I'm not even going to 'call-out' any individual in this post as I don't want to give them anymore publicity.

The reality is that we claim freedom of speech as a right...

But with this right, this freedom to speak our minds, also comes with it the responsibility.

The responsibility to be kind....

- bullying, in all of it's forms, is the result of people ridiculing others based on fear or some other nonsensical thought process that makes one believe they are better then another.   When we speak unkind things towards another person or group - it is saying "I am better than you!" or "you are nothing!"

By being kind to one another, we show respect.   We don't have to belittle someone else's belief or physical or mental challenges to prove we are better than they are, do we?   (absolutely not!)

So many children and adults have been bullied to the point to where they 'can't take it anymore' and thus take their own lives in the process.

The phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"... didn't understand that we hold life and death in what we speak.

So much power is held by what we speak, that we need to remind ourselves why we have two ears and one mouth... so we listen twice as much as we speak.

For those in the public eye, their words carry far more weight due to the influence that they have with their fans and followers.

If someone speaks ill of others because they are overweight, then a significant portion of those who follow them will also take those words to heart and mock and joke those who are overweight in a similar fashion.

Yes, we have freedom of speech in several of our countries worldwide.   Of course you have the opportunity to speak your mind and say what you want.  That freedom came at a price of others giving their lives to make it possible for you to share what you feel what you want to share.

Before you even open your mouth, understand that others already committed a sacrifice to make that opportunity available.   Use each opportunity wisely.

Therefore, allow me submit one thought....

Will the words you choose end up being ones that may cause the harm of others?

I hope everyone is well and had a great weekend.

Right now I've finished my first cup of coffee and have been in thought as I catch up with all the questions and concerns regarding Xanga.

Many people have messaged Xanga's facebook page regarding a few items in question... so here's what I've been able to gather so as to provide a bit of understanding and hope...

1 - Top of the list is in regards to response time from 'help@xanga.net'.    Realize that it's usually Eugenia who has been responding to everyone's e-mails, and she was out for a short period of time and is back doing a bit of catch up to help everyone out again.  Thanks for your patience.

2 - Next on the list is in regards to people being concerned about their subscription running out come the beginning of May.  I've messaged John/Marc and Eugenia as to make sure we address this issue appropriately.

3 - there has been a lot of interest from folks wanting to get back onto Xanga.   IF you have a xanga username and know what your e-mail address was that is associated with the account, then you should be able to get your account on Xanga upgraded.   New accounts are not yet available.

4 - The team is working on getting more (older accounts/ photos/ videos) back online from the old servers.   At the same time I found this out from John,  I also received e-mails and messages that some folks were missing some photos from their accounts... so that should explain what happened on that note.

5 - Spam filtering was being updated.   Now many have issues with spam on their accounts, ie... spam comments.   With the site now wordpress based, it's easier to block spam commenters.   There may be a flare up of spammers - but as things progress the spam blocking software should improve over time.

6 - reply comments notification is now active.    John and the Team upgraded the notifications that let you know when your comment is replied to.   Right now, it's best used when you 'REPLY' to a comment.  New comments on existing posts are not yet notifying everyone involved in the comment thread.    For those who are facebook geeks, this means that our blogs comments are responding similar to a facebook business (ie fan) page.

As soon as I get a response from John and/or the team, I'll update everyone with the information.

If you have any other questions/concerns - feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks.

For those that aren't used to using wordpress, I was asked to make some posts to help get more folks acclimated to operating this platform...

Much of what is shared here can be found elsewhere online - in wordpress forums and the like... so it's not anything new...

But, since we're more accustomed to things Xanga 1.0 - might be good to have something to help translate...

Today's post is in reference to the following link: https://en.support.wordpress.com/videos/youtube/

To share a video off of youtube, for example, just put in the URL, but make sure it's NOT hyperlinked.  The platform will take care of the rest.

There are other ways to format the video for your post - as the article will show.

Yep, that's it.

Feel free to chime in with your tips, ideas, questions, etc...

Embed away...

These past few weeks I've been tackling a few things around our home...

From trees being removed, to putting up new fences, spring cleaning, and getting things ready for the end of the school year.

These, along with the usual online stuff I normally do, it's been busier than normal.

But I like doing things that are constructive and keep me moving and active, don't you?

I have a serious challenge remaining still for too long.  It frustrates me when I need to keep still.  But sometimes sitting still allows us to reflect on things a bit more... so I remind myself.

In any event, here's a couple of things to keep on the lookout for:

April is Autism Awareness Month, so there's going to be some posts about that topic this month.   I am encouraged that the folks at www.playingforchange.org will be doing a bit of collaboration for the series we're working on for The Autism Channel.   Here's one of their music videos...

For something a bit more Xanga related, expect some announcements soon - as some testing is already being done on a couple of new features to be launced.  One has been requested by many folks since the launch of 2.0.

Ok, back to the grind....

It took 10 years to find the right company to fell a tree that was between our home, and that of our neighbors.

Why so long?

Cost.

We sought over 13 quotes to get all of our trees trimmed, and to take care of a very large willow oak.

Who did we end up going with?   Our 14th quote - Atlantic Arbor.

It's a small company with a small team of dedicated guys who took their time taking down each limb piece by piece... for three days.

Here is the final epic cut....

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=952429304770165

Now that the tree is gone, a new fence is up - and I've been cleaning up the yard ever since.
(we also got a lot of firewood out of this deal)

Ok... back to work... (house work/ yard work... and online work)

This past week I was asked to head up the social media side of the SonRise Music Festival.

The official 'title' provided to this volunteer opportunity is Social Media Director.

The SonRise Music Festival is a 3 day praise and worship session that includes top Christian Music artists and ministries that come together on the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach, VA.  The heart of this organization is to address homelessness.

It's an annual event, and this year it's dates are scheduled for June 12th, 13th and 14th.

Last years event included such artists as "Switchfoot", "Sonicflood" and "Francesca Battistelli" amongst several others.
I'm looking forward to sharing this years line up - but first I've been focusing on updating all of their social media outlets and doing the usual prep work for what's coming down the line.

An event like this is actually an answer to prayer, in that I needed some experience like this to learn more about putting on an event.

So, if you have an interest in this project - and are on some social media outlets - here are the links:

Main Website: http://www.sonrisemusicfestival.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sonrisemusicfestival
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sonrisefestival
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sonrisefest
Stay tuned, as ticket sales will be announced soon (with early bird specials)... along with who's performing, etc...

Until later....back to the grind...(with more Xanga and Autisable updates)

Ok, what in the world am I doing talking about this guy?

Well, let me do a bit of an introduction, first.

I worked with Jimmy back in the mid-late 90's.   Jimmy, at the time, was a big dude.   Let's just say that when I say I'm a big guy at 6'4" and 343 lbs... Jimmy was even bigger.
(here's a link to his site that shares his story more:  http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/about-2 )

Back in the 90's I was in a lot better shape, around 260 lbs and very fit.   That's what happens when one gets older and also sits on his but for about a decade doing desk work... but I digress.  (and Yes, I'm working on my lifestyle changes)

But Jimmy had his own share of challenges, and his wife was one of my co-workers/employees at the warehouse where I worked.

One of the nicest couple's that I know, Jimmy and Christine are always a joy to be around.   Then they moved away from Virginia and began a different journey.

I caught up with Jimmy awhile back, and he lost a LOT of weight.  About 180 lbs.   He's actually smaller than me!!!  (ugh... talk about some competitive motivation)
This past week he asked me to help him out with some social media tweaking, to help him streamline some things.

He did have two facebook pages, and some cross-promotional apps needed to be applied to his facebook page.
So, I'm helping him out a little.

Merged both his facebook pages, added some apps, and I am helping to get him up to speed on some social media/website stuff.    Hey, it's what I do.

But, Jimmy is very active online - and interactive with his audience and the people who like what he's shared about eating healthy.   He's written several books, gone on many speaking engagements, been on TV - and practices what he preaches - cause its worked for him!

So, here's his tweaked Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/livinlowcarbman

Nice to be able to help out a good friend.   And for those interested in what he's sharing - check out his website as well: http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/

I'm glad I have the opportunity to help him out... and to share his story.

Until later... back to the grind....