In 1979, there were only 89 breweries in the United States. Beer had been in steady decline in since its heyday in the 19th century. However, beer has been making a dramatic comeback in recent years. There are now over 6,000 breweries in the United States alone. Combine that with all the breweries in the […]
Language Translation Methods
Over 16 years ago, I wrote a Chinese-English translator in PHP. I learned a lot from the project (including a lot of Chinese slang). It was frustrating getting the encoding conversions right, but the end result was an understandable translation. I stopped working on it when Google rolled out their own translator, which appeared […]
Google Life
As Google grows, the products they produce are continually changing my life by changing how I organize and gather information. The next decade should be even more exciting, as Google and its parent company Alphabet continue to push their boundaries into new fields such as home automation, artificial intelligence, and life sciences. Here is a […]
Blog Idea #23 Revisited: Add to the Domain Name
If the domain name you want is taken, sometimes you can tweak it a little to find a version that is available. You can add prefixes or suffixes like -blog or -site. Engadget.com added the en- prefix. Friendster.com added the -ster suffix. You can also add an article like the- (theoatmeal.com) or a- (alistapart.com). Sometimes, […]
Rethinking the Way We Post to Blogs
Although there are no official standards for blogging, many conventions have come into widespread use. Most blogs are treated as online journals, where the author writes thoughts and post them to the public. It doesn’t have to be done this way though. It is your blog and you can follow whatever conventions you see […]
Ideas: The Cookbook Project
These days with recipes so readily available for free online, fewer people are willing to pay money to buy a cookbook. Cookbook writers have to up their game. For a cookbook to be successful now, it needs to offer something the free online cookbooks do not. Either the print book has to be beautiful […]
Destination: Osaka, Japan
In 2002 on my way back to the United States from Taiwan, I took advantage of a deal from the airline where I could stay in Osaka for a week before I took the connecting flight back. I stayed in Osaka and made a foray into the neighboring towns of Kyoto and Nara. Unfortunately, the […]
Manage Your Personal Projects and Life
I have morning routines, and I have night routines. In between, there are about 12 hours that is my “Day.” I run my life the same way I would run a business. Everything I do during the Day should fall into one of my projects. The Day is the time to get stuff done. A […]
If I Was CEO of Microsoft…
It’s likely that your phone can do almost everything Windows 10 can do. So what is the point of your desktop? It used to be that you need the desktop because it is more powerful than your phone. Instead of owning the desktop OS market, Microsoft is now trying to compete with Android and IOS, […]
Blog Idea #80 Revisited: Write for a Print Publication
You don’t have to limit your writing activities to the internet. Print publications like local newspapers, newsletters, and magazines also have audiences. Try submitting articles or letters to your favorite newspapers, newsletters, or magazines. When you do, see if you can also have your web address or blog name listed in your byline. When deciding […]