Hari's Corner

Humour, comics, tech, law, software, reviews, essays, articles and HOWTOs intermingled with random philosophy now and then

Two years of blogging

Filed under: Internet and Blogging by Hari
Posted on Thu, May 10, 2007 at 16:25 IST (last updated: Wed, Jul 16, 2008 @ 20:26 IST)

I don't know how many people would have noticed this, but tomorrow will be the second anniversary of this blog. This is as good a time as any to get some feedback from my readers, because that's what encourages me to keep blogging. I know that a lot of bloggers like to say "I do it for myself - not for others" but I don't think I am one of those who could have written a personal journal without caring whether people acknowledged it or not. Luckily, I've got a lot of friends who read the stuff that I churn out regularly, so this is also a great opportunity to thank them for bothering to comment on what I write.

I've always tried to keep this blog light-hearted, reader-friendly and with original content. I've also avoided politics, religion and other major world issues because, quite simply, there are other places on the web where people can freely discuss them to their heart's content. To me, this was just a way to share ideas, information and connect with people and I'd like to keep it that way. I also think that's what has allowed me to make friends from people from all over the world with diverse backgrounds and cultures. I value goodwill a lot and I think I've been able to build it only by avoiding negativity. It's so easy, I think, to use a blog as a rant-machine. While controversy might be a great way to attract a large number of people in a short time, most of those people would hardly stick on to read other, useful content. You gain short-term popularity and a lot of hits from popular news and social-networking sites, but you also end up alienating readers and creating a heavy, gloomy atmosphere. I have learnt that it's better not to express one's opinions on certain subjects online, because, no matter how well-intentioned you might be, there will always be a group of people who will get offended and hurt. I do believe in Freedom of Expression, but I strongly think that the choice of withholding that expression sometimes has greater value.

Now a mention of my circle of friends online. :) I've tried to mention everybody I can think of at this moment, but if I've missed you, my apologies. Please do post a comment here and I'll rectify the omission as soon as I can.

First and foremost, a special mention goes to Drew (a.k.a. trickykid) who hosts me for free on his server. Without his support I don't know whether I could have kept my forum LiteraryForums.org online. He is a moderator and a long-time contributor at LinuxQuestions.org. I cannot thank him enough for his help and support! :)

Ray (a.k.a xavierp) has been a great friend for a couple of years now. He is another moderator at LinuxQuestions.org and that's how I got to meet him. He is also a long-time contributor at LiteraryForums.org and has a pretty unique blog too. He is always that unflustered guy who goes about his business without fuss and without getting hassled and has a refreshing sense of humour.

Floppywhopper doesn't have a blog (as far as I can tell), but is another good friend I met through LQ.org. He has been a contributor and moderator for LiteraryForums.org for seemingly forever now. His encouragement has kept me going with LiteraryForums.org for all these years now.

Alison (a.k.a titanium_geek) is another good friend. She is an independent thinking blogger and another good contributor at LinuxQuestions.org. She does write about a lot of issues (environment, coffee and food - you name it ;) ) but is always concise and never bores you with long, rambling essays or rants.

Max (a.k.a J_K9) is yet another LinuxQuestions.org member. He is the project leader of Mira groupware and writes about the current events in the Linux and FOSS world. So if you're looking to contribute to a worthy FOSS project, head over there!

Dominic (a.k.a. OneAndOneIs2) is yet another LQ.org friend. He writes mostly technology articles (but also with some personal stuff thrown in) and always keeps me thinking about issues. He has a talent for writing, and is most famously recognized in the FOSS world as the author of that classic article, Linux is Not Windows.

Sudipta Chatterjee is another good friend of mine online. His articles are always an interesting read and his opinions on life's issues are deliciously different and insightful with a touch of philosophy. Also has a somewhat naughty sense of humour (which I can appreciate).

Shrinidhi Hande got to my blog through my real-world friend, Logesh's blog. I liked his take on issues and his unique style of writing. He doesn't blog about the usual things most bloggers write about and that's what attracted me to him in the first place. His straight-faced humour is really something distinct and quite delightful.

R.T. Cunningham (or RT) is a recent acquaintance, but he has now become a very good friend, because he really reaches out to other bloggers and does a great job of it. His writes at a frenetic pace and there's always something new on his blog every day. A retired US marine now living in the Philippines, he has a broad world vision and is always willing to help out fellow bloggers. In fact, the idea for this post is partly inspired by his idea of blog drive-bys. Thanks RT!

Corey Thompson is a blogger I found through RT. He seems to have an interesting blog and I've only recently blogrolled him. From what he writes, he looks like another kindred soul.

Logesh is my real-world friend who has now connected with me online. I must thank him for commenting on my blog because real-world friends always promise to read my blog and never do so. He writes two blogs, one in English and one in Tamil, but I must ask him to write more, because he hardly ever updates them!

There are other bloggers on my blogroll who I've either lost touch with or who haven't updated their blogs in ages. But regardless of whether I've mentioned people individually or not, I have to thank all of them for linking back to me and acknowledging me as a part of their circle.

And finally, if you have been a reader of my blog and I don't know about it, please take this opportunity to introduce yourself. :)

17 comment(s)

  1. Way to go Hari...Great going...btb Thanks for the mention and link:smile:

    Comment by Shrinidhi (visitor) on Thu, May 10, 2007 @ 19:22 IST #
  2. No problems, Shri. :grin:

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Thu, May 10, 2007 @ 21:15 IST #
  3. [...] out that I wasn’t when I checked the Technorati stats. Both Chris from Blog-Op and Hari from Hari’s Corner had written nice things about me while I was out. Swelling commenced. My head got so big, I looked [...]

    Comment by My Head is the Size of a Watermelon - Untwisted Vortex - Living in a Different Land (visitor) on Thu, May 10, 2007 @ 23:35 IST #
  4. Happy Anniversary Hari!Thanks a lot for mentioning me! I feel really glad..It is your Cartoons which mademe attached to ur blog! i know i'm the who encouraged you a lot in that!As your wish, i will surely write more in my blog..btw.. you should write more and more world issues too..

    Comment by Logesh TamilSelvan (visitor) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 01:13 IST #
  5. Logesh, no world issues here. Adhellaam arasiyalvaadhingalukku thaan. :razz:

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 07:34 IST #
  6. Dai dog.

    Comment by Ram (visitor) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 12:03 IST #
  7. Dai, Tekno... :lol:

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 12:08 IST #
  8. Happy bithday...anniversary....whatever :)Lots of LQers listed there, the first community I joined properly on the web. I always enjoy reading your blog, so keep it up!

    Comment by ray (visitor) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 15:47 IST #
  9. Thanks Ray. :smile:

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 15:53 IST #
  10. Hari, your blog has been a real inspiration to me because you manage to write so much and yet keep it interesting. You must give me the secret! ;)LQ is a great community and I'm glad I got to meet so many of you over there - I just wish I still had the time to visit as often as I used to.You have continued to motivate me throughout Mira's development and have definitely contributed to the architecture decision and documentation process, so for that I thank you as well.Here's to many more years of Hari's Corner!

    Comment by J_K9 (visitor) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 18:45 IST #
  11. Thanks, Max. I didn't think I would be able to inspire anybody, but maybe Papa Hari did... :lol:Actually, there's no secret. I really work hard on my articles/draft and have rejected hundreds of posts. What you see is the end product of a lot of editing (which still have a lot of mistakes). But there are times when I am able to write smoothly and freely. Sometimes I even have to edit published articles for spelling/grammar mistakes. I do take a lot of pride in delivering original content and I hope the result has been satisfactory. I always look for more feedback and I'm genuinely interested in knowing what type of content you're looking for.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Fri, May 11, 2007 @ 20:58 IST #
  12. Thanks for the plug Hari and I must confess, the only blogs I read are the ones I host myself, except for Max's blog. There are a few I stumble upon but other than that, my time online is limited most days.

    Comment by drew (visitor) on Sat, May 12, 2007 @ 09:41 IST #
  13. thanks for the positive comments, Hari! two years... wow. I appreciate how polished your posts are, yet still are light, yet serious when they need to be. :smile: How's that for a compound sentence. Yeah, keep up the good work. I kind of miss the cricket stuff... would be interesting to have your perspective on it. :smile: Of course, this could be one of the "unspeakable" opinions. :smile:Your humour gets me chuckling too.

    Comment by titanium (visitor) on Sat, May 12, 2007 @ 12:47 IST #
  14. Drew, no problem. :)Alison, I did start a Cricket blog separately (Back Foot Drive), but I've not found the motivation to write about cricket so much. It's more that I've been disgusted by the game that's seen the murder of such an eminent personality like Bob Woolmer. And of course, Australia keep winning all the time ;)Humour, of course, is the hardest part and I wouldn't give that up, because it always challenges me to find new ways to entertain my audience. :)

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sat, May 12, 2007 @ 16:29 IST #
  15. Hari, I'm simply honoured by the mention, not to cite the kind words you had for me there. Here's wishing Papa Hari's blog a thousand new adventures in the times to come, and the Geeky and Meeky series a thousand more fun-days :)P.S. - I'm catching up after some time, and so I must say that the b2evolution review saga was really interesting to follow, and as always, Papa Hari's advice column showed me light in troubled times :) Keep 'em coming!!

    Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on Sat, May 12, 2007 @ 19:46 IST #
  16. Thanks Sudipta. No problem about the mention. Your thoughts are always interesting to read.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sat, May 12, 2007 @ 20:26 IST #
  17. [...] Hari of Hari’s Corner [...]

    Comment by My Favorite Unpopular Posts - Meme - Untwisted Vortex - Living in a Different Land (visitor) on Mon, May 14, 2007 @ 22:13 IST #

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