www.25YEARPLAN.com

There are times when I feel I am regressing in my knowledge of certain things. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that due to my own inability or unwillingness to keep up, some technologies have passed me by. This is not a new revelation, nor is it particularly distressing - I am quite content with my newfound ignorance. However, when I decided to take off my “network administrator’s” hat, it was short order before I was choking on the dust of the younger, faster and tech-savvy whiz kids of the World Wide Web.

About four or five years ago and after about ten or more years removed from actively working in the world of computer networking, I finally accepted my role as an end-user. No longer building the fastest machines around, not able to afford the never-ending cost of keeping up with the cutting edge, I threw in the towel. In 2004 I committed the final act of heresy - I became the owner of Mac. I didn’t intend to jump ship, but since my penchant for running my machines with their cases constantly opened had waned, one by one my PCs fell into disrepair - and like the proverbial Timex watch, the Mac kept ticking.

Although my end-user status does allow me to keep up to date on the new and ever improving gizmos, gadgets and now widgets that keep coming onto the scene, I have been slow to take advantage of them. I have been “online” in one form or another since the early 80s. From telephone coupler modems connecting to the Stanford University VAX mainframe in high school all the way to the broadband access I enjoy today, I have been connected. But of late, I have only availed myself of the pre-packaged, mostly free interfaces from which others can access my work. For the past 18 months, that interface has been Blogger from Google.

I like Blogger. I like how easy it is to set up and maintain and I like that it is one of only a few “mainstream” weblog packages. It has served its purpose and for the immediate future it will continue to. The biggest drawback has been that the URL is entirely too long. Although I am happy to have the first part - 25yearplan - the second part - .blogspot.com - gets a little difficult to explain and even more so for others to remember. It’s all just a bit too cumbersome. That’s why I registered 25yearplan.com as my domain. I now own it - it’s mine. The old .blogspot URL and links to it still work and until I take the next step of having my blog (and future web site) hosted elsewhere, it will, but today typing “25yearplan.com” into the URL field on any browser will take you there (here) as well.

I feel as though I have taken a small, but important step to establish my unique identity on the web. As the weeks and months come and go, there will be more to announce and exciting new directions to take as my world literally expands. I am leaving the roadside rest-stop and merging back into the ever-increasing traffic of the information super-highway. I’m well rested and ready to go. I wonder what the speed limit is these days?