Saturday, September 29, 2007

To Blog Or Not To Blog

People who blog often find it hard to post a new weblog on a regular basis, especially those who are particularly meticulous in terms of the kind of information that they post in their blogs like me. If you are blogging just for the sake of posting something even if it does not make sense, you wouldn't feel the same degree of difficulty. You see, blogging needs a good train of thought for you to be able to compose an interesting log about your fields of interests. You need to take time to sit down, ponder on what you want to write about, and finally work your way through the keyboard to input the information that you want to share. Yet there is no specific guidelines as to how you should create and record your blogs. In fact, a blog can go any which way you want it to be.

Let me just say that once you have made it a habit to blog, you kind of feel an itch to write a blog as often as you can. It almost makes you feel like you have this growing need to speak out, be heard or just be able to vent your thoughts through your blog. The question though is, do you really have the time to do it?
In my case, after all the things that I need to accomplish in a day, with my current schedule, it is virtually impossible to blog as often as I used to. But like I told you, once you are into blogging, you're in for that urge to blog. It's just a matter now of creating a balance between the different priorities, so that blogging can proceed without compromising other daily tasks which are more important.

Why should you blog?

  1. Blogging is as good as any hobby. If you enjoy it, keep on doing it.
  2. Blogging frees your mind of hassles and perhaps unpleasant thoughts. It's a good way to ventilate yourself mentally.
  3. Blogging is an excellent way of record-keeping. This is especially useful if your blog covers topics on useful tips, sites, howtos, utilities, tools, practical solutions and just about anything that can come in handy at certain times. I've been basically going back to my blogs to refer to stuff that I can use to solve problems as such as computer-related ones. I tell you, my blog has really been useful to me personally because what I particularly know now, I don't necessarily remember all of it three months later.
  4. Blogging is an art. It's a form of free expression, thus, however you do your blog, you impart a bit of your artistic inclinations.
  5. Blogging is a powerful tool that manages to break through global boundaries and different cultural genres.
  6. Blogging is free media. It's your personal free press. Use it, but use it responsibly and effectively.
  7. Blogging sharpens your mind ( with good practice) and enhances your communication skills.
  8. Blogging helps update your know-how on things that interest you. Why? Because to effectively blog you have to be informed, and to be informed you have to read. Reading allows you to absorb fresh ideas, information and simply updates your basic knowledge on anything under the sun.
  9. Blogging has commercial value. If you know how to do it, blogging can bring financial rewards.
  10. Best of all, blogging allows you to compete with the rest of the world, as everyone tries to bombard everyone with limitless information. It's just a matter of who among us can impart the most useful kind of information to any audience at a given time. Information is power, remember that.
Why shouldn't you blog?

  1. If the last time you had a good night sleep was when someone accidentally hit you in the head and you passed out.
  2. You are too stressed to even spell "BLUG".
  3. Your blog is more of a punishment than a treat.
  4. Your blog is sending all kinds of red flags.
  5. Reading your own blog becomes a painstaking task.
  6. Your blog is a comprehensive array of well-crafted back links from other blogs.
  7. Your blog is turning the rest of the world against you.
  8. Your blog is just a waste of prime internet realty.
  9. Your blog is absent. When? When you write about something and there's really nothing there.
  10. When blogging is really not your thing. Find something else to waste your life on.
No, don't listen to me! Come on guys, you know better than that. Blogging is blogging. To each his own. Live and let live.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Nuvi 680: Cruising In Style

K. I must admit that I don't drive without my nuvi 680 in hand. It always sits on my dashboard, so I am totally worry-free as I take point A to point B. It is basically my travel guide which of course never runs out of patience if I insist on taking a different route. You see, the funny thing is, try to imagine somebody looking at a map and guiding you as you drive. If it was a real passenger in your car, chances are when directions are not followed, it's going to lead into an argument or an altercation. With the GPS (global positioning system) though, you're the boss. It is typical to hear, "...in 0.3 miles turn left on ..." from your GPS device, but if you miss the turn, you'll hear, "...recalculating..." and if you miss again, and again, your GPS device always will recalculate for you (without yelling at you!)

I'm sure a lot of people don't even know that this technology exists--the capability to be tracked by satellite wherever you are within continental USA, Canada, Europe. And for some who know, perhaps the thought of having a GPS device in their vehicle doesn't entice them. Well, technology is not for everyone, but for the lucky few who appreciate the advances of technology, you're in for a more convenient life, not necessarily simpler, though.

So what does the nuvi 680 do? Basically, it is a more feature-rich device compared to the nuvi 660. Both the nuvi 660 & 680 employ an MP3 player, a hands-free speakerphone which is bluetooth enabled so you can make and receive calls from and to your cellphone using the nuvi, preloaded maps with categorized POIs(points of interest), bigger touch screen, extras like cruising speed and simulator, option to travel using shorter distance or shorter time, loud speakers, voice options for the audio guide (male or female). The nuvi 680 does even better with MSN direct. As the nuvi 680 is mounted on the vehicle dock, MSN direct is activated giving you up to the minute information on traffic, weather and even a comparison on gas prices. Wow,that's really useful!

These GPS models are a bit pricey compared to their other counterparts, but you always get what you pay for. Honestly, the GPS is so useful to me that I actually own both the nuvi 660 and the nuvi 680, so I'm never without it when I'm on the road. Tip: You can always compare prices and get good deals using pricegrabber.com.

I got mine about $300 cheaper compared to retail prices from electronic stores even at sale prices.

The nuvi always gives me a kick everytime I hear, "...recalculating...". I hope one day they'll make one that is more humanely involved, one that says stuff like, "Moron, I told you not to go that way!" or "You're helpless, you cannot even drive your way out of a trash can!" or "That's it! You're on your own genius!" I think that will be more fun. It will be of course, limited edition for the witty few funny people. I'd be the first one to get it as soon as it is available.

Before I forget, the screen of the nuvi is easy on your eyes and the graphics on the monitor adapts to whether it's daytime or nighttime automatically, so you can easily see where you're going whatever time of day it is.

Anyway, the nuvi is a nice little work of genius, that I can never do without. It's as if it is surgically attached to me, indefinitely. Get one now, and live large.