The Vagaries of the Internet
October 6, 2005
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Blogging, Technical Functions : Trackback,
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I've been on the Internet since 1981.
Yes, you read that right. When I was at Carnegie Mellon University I had ARPANET access, part of the the Dept. of Defense network that hooked together MIT, CMU, Dartmouth, Stanford, and a few other universities that were working on computer-related defense work. 
ARPANET evolved into the Internet we know today.
Since I've been around so long, the Web is filled with old Usenet things I wrote and thought would have vanished into the ether ages ago. It's weird to Google yourself and have page after page of hits come up, even before blogging put us all out there in force.
Even then, I have a few comments to make and questions I want to ask:
1. Spam
Having had the same e-mail address from 1996, years before there was such a thing as robot e-mail harvesters, I get my share of spam. Lately, I'm getting almost 150 e-mails a day, 80% of that spam. Now I've got my Eudora filter cranked to maximum efficiency, so 99.999% of that gets trapped, but I still have to wade through the Stygian pit I filter it to just to ensure a real message doesn't get sent there by mistake. That happens, obviously.
But what is with the spam lately? For me, at least, it's tripled in volume since just a few months ago. I now have to run a second set of filters on it to kill the most worthless of it so I can scan a few of what's left for signs of real worth. Anyone else having the same issue with the amount of spam they're getting?
2. Blog searching and structure
When I set up Cerulean Sanctum, I made what I thought were good organizational choices for handling my archives and older posts. This (like the e-mail address gleaning robots) was before the advent of blog search engines. My problem now is that I'd like to have an API on this blog to search my archives and current posts, but no API allows you to tell it that your blog files exist in more than one place, like mine do. I can either search the current posts or the archived posts, but not both. Google's new blog search feature would rectify that because it allows you to search for the blog title alone and that would fix the problem. The issue there is that they don't have an API or localized code for it right now. Are there any other blog searches I can stick in my Blogger template that would overcome the issue above?
3. CSS, MySQL, and more
Yeah, I know that there are some real geeks out there, but honestly, despite being no mental slouch, I'm lost when it comes to understanding the weekly flux that occurs in Web page design. I've been hankering to make significant changes to Cerulean Sanctum, but the process is so grindingly slow with regard to my inability to grasp even basic page design anymore that I'm about ready to punt the whole thing. I keep praying that Apple Computer will come up with the killer blogging app that will save us—like Apple's done a bazillion times before—and free people who are more interested in just plain old design from having to memorize the entire CSS chart in order to move one little onscreen box from here to there. Anyone else with me?
4. Changes will be coming here
As painful as it promises to be, I need to make massive changes to my entire online persona, so expect to see a revamped Cerulean Sanctum and more in the coming months. Those changes will break every known link here and cause major pain for you and for me, but it's got to be done, so expect it in the next few months.
5. Thanks for being a reader
Readership of Cerulean Sanctum continues to grow. I thank everyone who comes here. I know my blogroll needs to be expanded, so if I'm not reciprocating with your blog at this moment, I will try to rectify that in the future.
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CSS, MySQL, and more… Amen! I taught myself HTML when I started blogging and since have learned how to poke around a mess with CSS but I still can’t make any significant changes in my blog style. I’m just not that good. I can transform something that is already there like the header or sidebar, but I’m just not elite enough to make my blog look totally original. And I barely know even what MySql is.
Dan,
As for your archives, do you update your blog via Blogger? Or do you do it FTP? Seems to me that if you did it via FTP, that you could consolidate all of your archives in one spot and make them all searchable that way.
Or you could move to WordPress…
I def. know how you guys feel. I’ve taught my self the bare basics of html but that is about it. I wish I knew how to really personalize my site. Learning how to get a masthead for my blog would be a good place to start…but I don’t even know how to do that. lol
I am very slow thinking when it comes to CSS and HTML, but I love messing with it for hours on end. I consider it a hobby and plan on working, very slowly!, on my new domain.
Wordpress is wonderful.
I have been seeing an increase of spam too, despite my filters.
You, too, make me think, and you don’t necessarily follow the crowd. I got mad a few times, but rethought your position.
1. Yes, more spam. especially drug spam
2. No Idea
3. Agreed. I don’t know if this is flameworthy but… CSS is not the panacea it was touted as being. If you choose to stay with blogger, I imagine you could still build a page based on straight html and use the call tags. MySQL is not that complicated, just a database. Consider it online MS Access.
4. Kind of tied with 3 but if you are planning major changes now is the time to think change of platform. I like wordpress but there are a few other good ones out there.
I really like that blogger plugin for word but sounds like you are a mac guy so that would not matter that much.
5. No, thank you. For me, your blog fills a void. Most blogs, mine included, do little more than split hairs. Though there is nothing wrong with that per se, there is a lack of genuine doctrinal writing on the charasmatic movement. I can find a thousand blog drones who pronounce the judgement of God or the error of the “other” christians. I really enjoy the depth of your articles and the balance of the “Spirit-led” viewpoint with good old common sense. I point to the homeschooling series as case and point. Talk about grabbing the third rail!
I honestly do not know how you lead a productive life and still have time for the amount of writing you do.
Blog on!
Count me in as a new person who loves your blog. If I can ever figure out how to add a link to mine I will link yours
Meanwhile, I find that this blog makes me want to be more like Jesus, and for that I am grateful.
Dwayna
p.s.—I think your blog is my favorite so far that I have ever found. I sense the Holy Spirit at work…You are a gifted “blogger”
One more thing about this blog—you don’t know how much it means to me to meet a fellow believer who is very knowledgeable and yet HUMBLE. I tire so much from the arrogance found among Christians who are prolific in teaching, writing, pastoring, etc. and full of themselves! This should not be, as our gifts mean NOTHING at the foot of the cross, and this includes knowledge and intelligence. I sense humility in you, Dan. Maybe God has let you have many “disappointments” to keep you as a humble vessel, despite your gifts and talents. I thank Him for that.
Makes me want to “stay low” at the foot of the Cross!
Dwayna
AMEN! to what Dwayna said. In spite of the burgeoning world of Christian Blogmania, there is something about Cerulean Sanctum that really stands out. If I have time to read nothing else, I always drop in here. There is something very winsome about the man behind it and I am sure it is his christ-likeness, forged in some part by the aforementioned “disappointments”. There is a spiritual blessing on Dan’s posts that gives it a whole different feel to most other blogs. Maybe he is a prophet?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Blessings to you, Dan- I’m so proud of you!