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Combat Comment Spam

May 16, 2012 By

Are you overwhelmed by comment spam on your blog that is powered by WordPress?  Are you sick of checking your spam comments for legitimate spam?

I know that I was, and so I have taken a big step and opted to stop receiving comments directly on my blog posts.

As a blog owner that hasn’t reached a status similar to the likes to Darren Rowse, Michael Hyatt or John Saddington and have hundreds of legitimate comments on each blog post.  I am certain that these bloggers certainly face thousands of spam comments as well since their comments are open for all people to comment.

With their large following, they have decided to create a team of people to be Community Leaders around them that can help with the moderation of comments and the general day-to-day running of the blog.  Unfortunately I don’t have a community around me, and can’t employ someone to manage my incoming comments here on Itsonlybarney.com, so I have decided to read comments left for me using my contact form, or you can join the discussion on social media where I post links back to the article.

What are you doing to combat comment spam?  Does it work for you?

 

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Weekend Away

March 19, 2012 By

I don’t want to the do the cliche blogging thing of posting an apology post about not blogging, and I am doing my best not to be that kind of blogger.

This last weekend my wife and I chose to spend some time away from home and have a long weekend getaway up the coast to visit some friends of ours. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t anywhere as kind as we had hoped that it would be.

The main reason for the weekend was a quick getaway after two months of a bad rostering for Melly in which our weekends haven’t lined up, and this was the first opportunity to spend a whole weekend, plus more together. As well as that, we caught up with our friend Nathan Killick who is now working as the senior minister at Camden Haven Anglican Church. It is always good to catch up with Nathan.

Other than that, our weekend consisted of lots of relaxing due to the rain and thus limiting outdoor activities, however we found the Vickers Fudge factory at Wauchope for some amazing fudge. We bought just a few of the the 50 flavours of fudge that they manufacture. Lucky for me, we can buy them online.

Apart from the rain, the weekend was very relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable. We’re already planning our next weekend away, however we are still undecided the direction to head.

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Life Dreams

March 5, 2012 By

Do you know how some people share with you that if they could give up their day job and do anything in the world, they would do X, Y, Z?  Do you have that something that you want to do for the rest of your life if money wasn’t an issue?

Well I don’t have one!  Obviously I am one of a kind that doesn’t have some ultimate goal in their life.  Does that mean I am broken?  It certainly feels like I am.

All my friends know me as the pessimistic bastard that I am, and that I can’t see the good things in life, and will always looks at the most depressing aspect of something.  Obviously that is the way that I am programmed, and that God intended me to be.  However, what annoys me most is those people who are the optimists are always telling me that I need to look at the good things in life, look at the positives and the good outcomes from something.  The problem is that I just can’t see those good things.

I generally try to work with the tried and tested, the proven answers and solutions.  The only reason I would consider changing is because it is a simpler method, or it gives better results than I am getting using my method.

I’m stuck in my ways, I have no dream job that I want to do, there is no hobby that I could do for the rest of my life if money wasn’t going to get in the way.  Obviously I am a boring person.

How do I know what my dream job and hobby would be? In the 27 years of life that I have lived through, I am still yet to find that lifetime dream.

Do you have a life dream?  What is it?  I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

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Beating the burnout blues

February 28, 2012 By

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/beating-the-burnout-blues-20120222-1tmr3.html

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Personal Branding

February 6, 2012 By

Being the web junkie that I am, I have accumulated a number of domains over the last few years, some of which feature my name.

Having started and failed many times over in terms of a successful blog, I do wonder whether I should create a resume and personal branding website using those domains.  I know that I am not actively looking for a new job, but there is the possibility that someone is looking for a Civil Engineer in Sydney that has my expertise and experience.

Not only that, but the personal branding page will differentiate me from Andrew Barnett the forex trader, Andrew Barnett the web developer from Melbourne and Andrew Barnett the wigmaker.

Now I just need to create a design that I am happy with, or to find a theme that I am happy with.

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Firefox Flaw

February 1, 2012 By

With Google Chrome overtaking Firefox in the last couple of weeks as the second most popular browser, I actually wonder if this flaw is something that is one of the driving reasons between the shift towards Google Chrome.  I use the incognito browsing feature of Chrome regularly, and the way that Chrome handles incognito windows is the reason behind why I use Chrome after using Firefox for many years.

Firefox’s “Private Browsing” feature saves all the open tabs in Firefox, and changes the browser into “Private Browsing” mode.  So I am stuck with a single window, and trying to tweak features and widgets within WordPress, while checking out the changes on the front end as a logged out user, the “Private Browsing” feature of Firefox isn’t really all that helpful for me.

I use Google Chrome and have both a normal browsing window, and n incognito windows open at the same time.  I can make changes in the WordPress back end in one, and use the incognito browser windwo to view the site as a logged out user.  I simply swap between the two like switching between two applications.  I can easily refresh & you don’t have to wait for the browser to reload, and then the website to load.

I do hope that Mozilla considers following Google Chrome in having two browser windows open, one set to “Private Browsing” mode and the other in normal browsing mode.  I would probably consider switching back and using Firefox more regularly than I currently do.

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Protein Seems to be the Key

January 20, 2012 By

One of my earlier posts on the blog that I shared with my Facebook “friends” seemed to cause some form of stir.  I have managed to cause many a stir on Facebook with my status updates, and this was certainly one of them.

From my reading of both online and offline literature about weight loss fat loss, all points of view in that discussion have been covered in some form or another, all with success.  I think that this is the main reason between my confusion between which path to go down, as their methods conflict with each other, yet the end result is somewhat similar.

The one and only thing that I have seen in common with all the various methods of dieting and working solutions for fat loss seems to be eating lots of protein.  I have heard that when you have eaten a minimum 20 grams of protein in a meal, that your body registers as being full even if the stomach isn’t full.  I think that is what I need to incorporate most into my diet, the rest will be drowned out.

Now my next biggest problem is to work out which high protein foods I can get my hands on easily.  Eggs are one source I have heard, can you recommend any others?

BTW, I am down 1kg in a week!

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Weight Loss Reading

January 18, 2012 By

I’m not sure if I have shared with you that I am keeping a log of what I do for each workout. They can be viewed right here on the site.

Since I initially started thinking about my goals for 2012 back in November of last year, I’ve done some reading, especially in terms of weight loss, and seen conflicting stories & books about what to do.

brain over brawn

First up, I read a book called brain over brawn. It is an eBook that you can download for free directly from the website, or purchase a paperback copy from Amazon. It isn’t a book that gives you exact eating and exercise, just a formula to follow that will help you along your path to weight loss success.

The author of brain over brawn shares his success through modifying the balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in your diet,  and that there are two types of meals you should have, and they need to be eaten in a specific pattern.  Seems rather complicated to me, especially when not knowing what I will be doing different days of the week.  The author says it can be achieved by basic planning, but seems like lots of change, not something that is conducive to changing a habit.

brain over brawn also recommends the Pareto principle, otherwise known as the 80/20 rule, when it comes to exercise, 80% of the results comes from 20% of the workout, you just need to determine which 20% of the workout to keep.  There are some suggestions for exercises, but I don’t recall reading anything about specific quantities to achieve results.

Four Hour Body

The book I am currently reading now is Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss (author of Four Hour Work Week). Having read a few chapters of this book, it suggests that by changing a few things in your lifestyle, and working to “minimum effective dose (MED)” will give you the required results. MED basically says that if you need 10 minutes to tan, you only spend 10 minutes in the sun and no more, anything more than 10 minutes is wasted time. I suspect this is driven by his principles in his first book, Four Hour Work Week.

Time Ferriss also shares that you can have dramatic results with minimal change from your current lifestyle.  Some would say that “if it sounds too good to be true, it must be”.  I lean on that side of the fence, but if someone as successful as Tim is staking their reputation on the line, then maybe there is some truth to it.

Others

I’m open to reading other books, realistic books & programs that make changes easy and simple, will work with lifestyles that get out of whack easily and often, and achieve results.

Which books have you read about weight loss?  What advice can you give a man starting a journey?

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Week 1 2012 Update

January 6, 2012 By

Since posting my 2012 resolutions, both here on the blog, as well as on Facebook, I’ve been checked up on a number of times, especially after posting about Wednesday’s gym session.  I like this accountability thing, & I hope that it continues throughout 2012 until I achieve my goals, especially my weightloss goal.

As part of my weightloss goals, I’ve added a custom post type here to my theme to separate my gym workout sessions from the rest of the blog.  You can find all my workouts throughout 2012 easily, but they cannot be searched using the website search tool.

After Wednesday’s workout, I feel I have some Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), and helping my brother out on Thursday probably wasn’t the best recovery, but the plan is to head to the gym today for some light weights for my arms, hopefully it will assist with some recovery (if someone has knowledge, I’d love to hear from you), plus some more heavy weights for my lower body.

As you can probably tell, I need to do some tweaking of the design, especially when it comes to the workouts section of the blog, but I will work on that shortly, not sure how to set it out, but will work something out.

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My Take on the Kindle Keyboard

January 3, 2012 By

I have been using the Amazon Kindle Keyboard for about a month now, Melinda purchased it for me as an early Christmas present.  I thought I would share my thoughts about the Kindle Keyboard.  This review is coming from a person who has never been a big reader.

I have never owned and eBook reader until the Amazon Kindle, however Melinda does own a Sony eReader. Having now used the Kindle, I must admit that I am wishing I had picked one up sooner.

I have not been a big reader of fiction or biographies, however since receiveing the Kindle Keyboard, I am up to my third book, and considering I haven’t picked up a fiction book for a number of years, I am even surprised with myself having read so many.

Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good

  • I picked up the Kindle Keyboard for $AUD139 from Big W.  Mind you I did buy it at a discounted price because of a sale;
  • The Kindle is sized about the size of a standard book and is easily held;
  • The pages turn quickly and easily with the use of the page turn buttons on both sides of the screen;
  • Battery life is amazing, I have charged the device once when I first owned it, and the battery indicator says that it still have approximately have charge.  I have used the device almost daily and read for a good hour or so each time;
  • Collections can be easily used to categorise/navigate your book collection.

The Bad

  • I’ve struggled to use the highlighting feature of the Kindle Keyboard, possibly it is because I’m still getting used to it;
  • The built in internet browser is limited to text based sites only, but that is to be expected given an e-Ink display

Having used both the Kindle Keyboard and an older Sony eReader, I do prefer the Kindle, primarily because of the page turning buttons.  Navigation was a breeze I am definitely reading much more.

For a person that had hardly read, the Kindle Keyboard has been a blessing.  The Amazon Kindle Keyboard can only improve with each iteration.

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