August 31, 2004
1:37AM
Morning, World! Don't worry--won't make midnight blogging a regular thing here, but a case of insomnia has hit hard (summer heat wave combined with the lack of a functional air conditioner), and it's a pleasure to finally be able to work with a complete site.
I'm able to see the site's stats clearly now, and let's just say I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors (both to Bill's List and to other pages). Traffic flow to BL is so heavy, in fact, that I put an "ad" there for Unity.
So let's see if this pair of sites can create a perfect storm of Internet traffic after all...
August 29, 2004
2:56PM
Well, there have been a few glitches, but the transfer of this site from one host to the next seems to be going more or less as planned. Everything will be back up once I'm able to upload all the relevant files from my work computer.
Have a nice one!
August 25, 2004
1:59PM
So life in the twenty-first century continues to roll right along. I wonder how future historians (hey there folks) will sort through this slow explosion of records being generated by the birth of the Internet, all these blogs, photos, e-mails, postings, and whatever else may come down the pike. Personally I hope I'll be able to maintain and expand this blog and the site surrounding it through a lifetime, and perhaps leave it as a testament to the future once I pass on (a sort of virtual "Hammons Was Here"). Hopefully, of course, that passing is in the distant future.Nice to see that the good ole U-S-of-A is cementing its position at the top of the Olympic heap. It's interesting, and probably telling, that the Chinese are not too far behind, particularly in the gold medal count. Historians will probably look back at this moment and last year's first Chinese manned space expedition as the first of many milestones in that nation's journey to regional (if not global) dominance. Let's just hope other milestones don't include Taiwan.
And it was a trip to watch the women's marathon on Sunday. Mizuki Noguchi and Deena Kastor's medal achievements are a testament to the power of high-altitude training (Noguchi stayed in the Alps until three days before the event, and the Sierras-based Kastor blew away both of her own countrywomen). That fact made this blogger check out the scene in Leadville, Colorado (elevation 10,152 feet above sea level), but I think I should wait until I'm cranking out sub 2:30s before I even consider such a move ;-).
August 20, 2004
5:00PM
Winding down another week here. Nice to see that the traffic on the Unity site is on track to break another monthly record (that mention of the 2012 Olympics on the home page seems to be snagging a few extra google hits these days).Did I just say that a mention of New York City's bid to host the 2012 Olympics seems to be driving traffic to that page? ;-)
And I think I'm going to apply for for the New York City Marathon's Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge (hey, you never know). I took the second e-mail from them as a sign.
Have a pleasant weekend, if I don't post again before next week...
August 17, 2004
1:39PM
Just thought I'd make an entry here. It's ironic that I haven't updated this blog in five days, seeing as how I now have home internet access (a beautiful thing...just plugged it in, "restarted," and started surfing).I suppose I'm just taking things one step at a time here. The first thing I did was get set up with new security software (very good thing). Then I started e-mailing...last night was actually the first evening in a while that I left the computer off and just chilled out with a dvd.
So I'm in no rush to revamp my whole life around my new Internet connection. The next thing will be to set myself up at my new computer so that I can update both this site and Unity (then actually update both sites). After that, it'll be time to consolidate hosting services for both sites. Then, finally, I'll see how I might be able to further increase traffic on the pair.
Thanks for reading my effort to sort things out in my own head. Almost forgot to mention that I improved my mile by two seconds on Saturday. Came in between Rob Gloria of Clifton, New Jersey and Daniel Matheson of New York (hey there, guys). Two seconds and a cloud of dust...
August 12, 2004
12:48PM
Life is better than ever, and I'm still plugging away at it (maybe it's good because I'm plugging away at it?).Anyways, the Cable Guy came this morning, and now I've got a modem set up. Now, maybe one of these days I'll get my computer back from the shop, and we can see if it actually works.
A phone call, and then back to the grindstone. There's no better feeling than being on top of things at work, and I'd like to keep it that way.
August 10, 2004
12:25PM
Realized that I needed to update the title here, and hey, I might as well make an entry while I'm at it.What can I say? Life is good--I have no complaints.
Cheers.
August 9, 2004
12:18PM
Plugging away at another Monday here. Nice to see that I'm starting to get e-mails from race directors asking me to update Unity's "races" page. E-mails out of the blue shouldn't be surprising, seeing as how the traffic on that site has doubled since April, and the month of August is supposedly a time of low Internet usage. Things look very promising for a slow, steady growth in our viewership through the fall. Which is just fine with yours truly...I'm in this for the long haul.August 6, 2004
1:03PM
I've reached Friday afternoon in a state of happy tiredness...been getting to bed late, then downing a second cup of coffee every work morning. And I've been enjoying life in between the coffee and the sleep.I should get the computer back from the shop on Monday, and Time Warner is scheduled to arrive on Thursday. I've learned with computers to wait until you can actually use whatever it is you're trying to set up before you start to get excited. That said, I think having home Internet access will make my life a heck of a lot simpler. Right now the situation feels almost like when I was running from both my gym on the West Side and my apartment on the East Side, and trying to do it all on one pair of running shoes.
Anyways, one thing at a time. Once I get set up on Road Runner, I'll look into shifting my wrhammons.com hosting service to Register.com...they're just more user-friendly, and I'm dying to get a clear picture of the traffic on this site.
And it was a pleasure to post Unity's endorsement of John Kerry on the home page. One of my local contacts with the Kerry org mentioned sending me some info on one of their fundraising events, and she gave me an idea for a new page on the Unity site.
But I'm saving that for next week. Right now, I'm going to do my best to fill up my afternoon with some productive low-brain-power work for my employer and get the heck out of here.
And let's hope Ali al-Sistani turns out okay...this blogger won't even begin to describe the adverse impact that his death would have on whatever semblance of stability there is in Iraq at the moment.
Arrivederci!
August 4, 2004
1:08PM
Just spent another lunch break revamping the site. "W.R. Hammons: The Man. The Legend. The Website." Ha! Always best to never take yourself too seriously.I hope my viewers like the tiger image. I suppose yours truly is developing himself as a brand. I think I resent that word, though. Let's just say that the consistent use of a powerful image in association with my name could do wonders for name recognition, now and further down the road. And maybe keep 'em coming back for more...
August 3, 2004
12:11PM
Just finished doing a touch of work on Bill's List. Too bad that Unity's ranking in the search engines has fallen sharply (perhaps it'll get another wind when we post our Presidential endorsement on Friday)...but this site's traffic seems to be holding steady.Not much else to say today...