Let me start with a little more information on my thought process. I have long stated that I am not expecting to have a lengthy life. My mind wandered to some admittedly dark thoughts about the uncertainties of life. While I am not going to give up on living, I feel like there are things that I need to accomplish before I go. Since I have no way of knowing when my time will come, I need to start making some progress toward these goals.
For years, I have had a number of ideas that I have kept to myself. I have heard stories about people giving away ideas, and others would capitalize on those ideas without the person truly responsible getting anything back. I have essentially hidden some of my ideas out of fear that this could happen to me. One thing that has recently become clear to me is that I will never be able to properly follow through with any of these ideas.
The way I see it, whether or not my life could be considered successful comes down to one thing. Will the world be a better place for my having existed? So far, the answer is clearly no. When looking at how I currently handle my ideas, my views of success entered my mind. If I have ideas that have any potential benefits to society, is it better to hide those ideas or risk the negative consequences of giving them away? I think I need to open up.
My biggest concern is that when I go, my ideas will go with me. While they are not all gems, I have a lot of ideas that I feel can help society in one way or another. I don't want to lose those ideas. This is why I have decided to introduce My Idea Outlet. This will be a publicly accessible collection of several thought-related projects of mine. I will gradually add to these projects over time, and hopefully I will eventually share all of the important ideas that I have. Of course, I will not shut down my thought process. I can guarantee that My Idea Outlet will never be complete.
Currently, I have a huge backlog of pictures. It's already tough to keep up with all that I have going on. While my backlog is primarily due to projects that are now complete, I really don't think that I can justify maintaining my workload on existing projects while adding another. To compensate, I will have to make cutbacks elsewhere. I will go ahead and provide details for the various components to my online presence below.
Random Rants and Ramblings
Random Rants and Ramblings has been used primarily as a tool to vent about various frustrations unrelated to education (see The War Between Schooling and Education below). Considering my stressful lifestyle, I am not going to harm my mental health by depriving myself an outlet to show what I really believe. The bulk of my posts will continue as usual. There is one exception. While I find it interesting, I do not feel that the Washingtonian Weather Index has much practical value. Yes, it helps show that not everyone is obsessed with hot and sunny weather, but that point has already been made. I don't feel that I need to maintain this project. I will be nice enough to finish the year, so expect my December summary in a couple days. In place of the weather index, I will likely add a monthly summary from My Idea Outlet.
I have been working on a series about hanjie that also has limited practical value. I am going to keep that one going just because I don't want to leave an ongoing series with a definitive end incomplete.
I have been working on a series about hanjie that also has limited practical value. I am going to keep that one going just because I don't want to leave an ongoing series with a definitive end incomplete.
The War Between Schooling and Education
Similar to Random Rants and Ramblings, The War Between Schooling and Education can help me vent about my frustrations. Additionally, this is an issue that absolutely needs to be addressed. It won't do anybody any good if I silence myself in regards to education. I am not currently planning to make any changes to this blog.
Mental Exercises
While I do find it frustrating that almost all mental exercises these days rely on finding an answer that someone else wants you to find, I feel that my personal involvement in creating more open exercises is not particularly important. In my Mental Exercises blog, I feel that I have already shown the concept. I have decided to take a year off the development of this blog. Since I develop these exercises a full year in advance, you should not be able to see much of a difference until 2017.
After the year is up, I will reevaluate this blog. It's possible that I might end up abandoning the blog. It's also possible that I could restructure the blog. Perhaps I will cut down to the development of one or two exercises per year. Maybe I will outsource the work. I don't know because I have not yet explored the possibilities for this one.
Pictures from a Sub-Amateur
Although I don't feel that Pictures from a Sub-Amateur has particular value to society, I will be maintaining this blog. I feel that entertainment is a need, and I view the time I spend outdoors and taking pictures as a valuable form of entertainment. As I am taking these pictures, I might as well share them.
I should probably point out that the mess my life turned into hindered work on challenges. I will probably try to get back into those pictures in the new year, but details on the 2016 challenge have not been finalized.
I should probably point out that the mess my life turned into hindered work on challenges. I will probably try to get back into those pictures in the new year, but details on the 2016 challenge have not been finalized.
My Idea Outlet
As I have already explained, My Idea Outlet will be new this year. I have struggled to figure out the best format. I want to take a gradual approach that isn't too linear. It seems like the best approach to developing this concept would be to use something like OneNote.
Just sharing OneNote files will be insufficient. I want to be able to easily share the changes. I also don't want to give up on all possibilities of getting something back for my work. I feel that the best way to handle this is to gradually share the changes being made in an environment that would allow some options to eventually monetize My Idea Outlet. This means that advertising has to be an option.
Technically speaking, I don't think there are any sites set up for what I'm trying to do. I'm probably going to have to find something that's close enough. Here are my general guidelines for what I feel I need.
I could keep with Blogger for this one, but Blogger was really not meant for numerous short posts. The gradual approach I want to take seems like it would be a better fit elsewhere.
I have been eyeing Tumblr. Their website is primarily meant for frequent short posts. It looks like they allow multiple blogs for members, allowing me to isolate my ideas from anything else I could do with their service. Scheduling also appears to be a part of their platform. That just leaves those two final requests of mine.
Monetizing is a bit of a problem since Tumblr does not provide any of their own solutions. That said, there are numerous websites explaining how to add advertisements to make money. Of course, this is all a long-term option for me. I threw together advertising in my blogs, but my reluctance to socialize and conform has kept my blogs too small to generate any revenue. The fact that it's possible is sufficient, but I would only bother if I saw some traffic first.
Feedback is another potential problem. Although I don't like to socialize, I do not believe in one person fixing all of the world's problems. I have to be open to other ideas and problems with my own ideas that I need to fix. Tumblr does not appear to be the best in regards to feedback, but there are at least some options. They have an instant messaging service, and Discqus can be added for a commenting system when I'm ready for it.
I want to make it clear that My Idea Outlet will not be about sharing all sorts of brilliant ideas and filtering out the bad. Most of my ideas will be insignificant. There will be brainstorming components, and sometimes I will look at a flawed core idea just as a basis for coming up with new ideas. This will create a great deal of variability. This will include the educational rights organization that we desperately need and should already exist (but with deviations, some significant, from what I'm going to write). It will also include a nonsensical sports organization that I use to explore how to address problems I have with the current sports world. Each project will include a description to further explain the general value and the approach being taken.
There will also be some issues with the initial structure of My Idea Outlet. What I need to do to get this thing started will not be the same as what I will need to do once I have properly established the concept. This means that there will be some changes throughout the year in regards to how I post changes, when I post changes, and how I handle things in the background.
To help sort everything out, I will add another OneNote document. This document will be used to explain how My Idea Outlet works and better describe the purpose of what I'm doing and why. In many ways, I'm going to treat the explanation like the other projects in My Idea Outlet. I will gradually expand and post the changes.
Since I will be adding Tumblr, I might play around with the service outside of My Idea Outlet. Again, I'm not social. I don't expect to be active elsewhere at Tumblr. I have set up two Tumblr blogs that will get started in the days ahead, and they can be found below:
Just sharing OneNote files will be insufficient. I want to be able to easily share the changes. I also don't want to give up on all possibilities of getting something back for my work. I feel that the best way to handle this is to gradually share the changes being made in an environment that would allow some options to eventually monetize My Idea Outlet. This means that advertising has to be an option.
Technically speaking, I don't think there are any sites set up for what I'm trying to do. I'm probably going to have to find something that's close enough. Here are my general guidelines for what I feel I need.
- Setup designed for frequent short posts
- A way to isolate My Idea Outlet from any other presence that I would ever have on the same service (I like to keep options open)
- Ability to schedule posts, preferably without having to rely on a third party
- Options to monetize in the future
- Possibilities to allow feedback (Also not an immediate need)
I could keep with Blogger for this one, but Blogger was really not meant for numerous short posts. The gradual approach I want to take seems like it would be a better fit elsewhere.
I have been eyeing Tumblr. Their website is primarily meant for frequent short posts. It looks like they allow multiple blogs for members, allowing me to isolate my ideas from anything else I could do with their service. Scheduling also appears to be a part of their platform. That just leaves those two final requests of mine.
Monetizing is a bit of a problem since Tumblr does not provide any of their own solutions. That said, there are numerous websites explaining how to add advertisements to make money. Of course, this is all a long-term option for me. I threw together advertising in my blogs, but my reluctance to socialize and conform has kept my blogs too small to generate any revenue. The fact that it's possible is sufficient, but I would only bother if I saw some traffic first.
Feedback is another potential problem. Although I don't like to socialize, I do not believe in one person fixing all of the world's problems. I have to be open to other ideas and problems with my own ideas that I need to fix. Tumblr does not appear to be the best in regards to feedback, but there are at least some options. They have an instant messaging service, and Discqus can be added for a commenting system when I'm ready for it.
I want to make it clear that My Idea Outlet will not be about sharing all sorts of brilliant ideas and filtering out the bad. Most of my ideas will be insignificant. There will be brainstorming components, and sometimes I will look at a flawed core idea just as a basis for coming up with new ideas. This will create a great deal of variability. This will include the educational rights organization that we desperately need and should already exist (but with deviations, some significant, from what I'm going to write). It will also include a nonsensical sports organization that I use to explore how to address problems I have with the current sports world. Each project will include a description to further explain the general value and the approach being taken.
There will also be some issues with the initial structure of My Idea Outlet. What I need to do to get this thing started will not be the same as what I will need to do once I have properly established the concept. This means that there will be some changes throughout the year in regards to how I post changes, when I post changes, and how I handle things in the background.
To help sort everything out, I will add another OneNote document. This document will be used to explain how My Idea Outlet works and better describe the purpose of what I'm doing and why. In many ways, I'm going to treat the explanation like the other projects in My Idea Outlet. I will gradually expand and post the changes.
Since I will be adding Tumblr, I might play around with the service outside of My Idea Outlet. Again, I'm not social. I don't expect to be active elsewhere at Tumblr. I have set up two Tumblr blogs that will get started in the days ahead, and they can be found below:
- MaritimeOrca (Personal and experimental)
- My Idea Outlet
Flickr
I am not going to make many changes to Flickr for the same reasons that I mentioned for my photo blog. There is one thing that I think I would like to change. The way I have handled my challenge photos has generally involved including something challenge-related to the picture's description. Sometimes, my pictures end up with weird descriptions that don't fit well with other descriptions. I am planning on using the challenge descriptions on the blog only and use more typical descriptions at Flickr.
Google+
Google+ hasn't changed much for me. I don't enjoy socializing, and I just haven't been able to embrace Google+ as part of my life. It's still easy to automatically post from Blogger, so this presence will be maintained.
eBird
eBird recently added their own photo uploading service. That service is probably better for the birding community, so I will likely use it. Of course, I have a huge backlog right now. I might still use Flickr for older pictures, but I have not yet made all of my decisions. Regardless, it will take some time before I gain enough ground on my pictures to start adding pictures to the checklists, and even pictures uploaded to eBird will likely appear on Flickr as well.
Recapping Changes
- The Washingtonian Weather Index will no longer be maintained.
- Development of Mental exercises has been put on hold. I have enough developed to keep regular posts through 2016.
- OneNote will be used to document and share a number of my ideas.
- My Idea Outlet will be a new Tumblr blog featuring changes from the OneNote documents.
- I will also play around a little with a personal Tumblr blog.
- Challenge pictures will no longer feature challenge-associated text in the description. You will have to visit my photo blog for that text.
- If I ever gain ground on my photo backlog, I will be uploading some pictures directly to eBird in addition to Flickr.
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