Monday Mission:

1. Have you ever accidentally deleted something from your website or otherwise screwed it up? Share your tales of woe, won't you? Last month, I deleted the style sheet for my site and it looked bad until I could fix it.

2. When was the last time you did a total backup of your website (including databases) to store offline? Do you have some sort of schedule set up? I can't remember when but I know I need to do it again. I last did an export of my MT entries on the 17^th last month.

3. If your entire site was deleted, and there was no way to restore it, what would you do? Would you start over? Give up? How would it impact your life? Well, I'd be upset and then start all over again. However, parts are saved on hard drive, on CDs, and there is always the handy Internet Wayback Machine.

4. Not having a blog for several days gave me a lot of time to reflect on blogging. I asked myself some serious questions, now it is your turn. Just what do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Why are you doing it? To make the world a better place, to satisfy your own vanity or what? Is the time you spend blogging really "time well spent?" It's my way of expressing myself. I think it's well spent because I get to vent and then move on. I'm not getting anything bottled inside of me.

5. Do you think having your own web site/blog has changed you as a person? (For example, given you more confidence in yourself, enhanced your creativity, encouraged you to improve yourself, given you a flair for web design, etc.) Flair of web design, yes. Maybe a little more confidence, but not too much. My creativity is still about the same.

6. One of the main reasons I get so much "comment spam' is because I've allowed my site to be indexed by Google. One one hand it is great to come up high in the rankings on so many searches, but the drawback is I get a lot of comment trolls and comment spam (hmm, do trolls eat spam?). Do you let Google index your site? Do you often search certain topics on Google to see your rankings? What are some of the good and bad things about being listed in Google? I hate getting the sick freaks out there. I know I do The Thearch and mock queries. I know the vig-rx loser uses Google to find his victim. Yet, I still let Google search because I might actually help someone or be interesting to some one.

7. I've often thought that I need a "Blog Buddy" and should start up a "Blog Buddy System" site. The idea is based on the same "Buddy System" every child is told about when they go on a field trip. Your Buddy looks out for you, you look out for them. You keep an eye on each other and if something goes wrong, you take charge and help. The "Blog Buddy System" is the same - every blogger has one other blogger who watches out for them. There is 100% total trust between the two. Each allows the other permissions to post on their blog. Each blog has a "Blog Buddy System" icon linking to each other's site, so readers know who your Buddy is. If your Buddy doesn't post for a few days or a week or whatever seems out of character, the Blog Buddy picks up the phone and calls them. There may have been an accident. A family emergency. Or, perish the thought, the death of the Buddy. The Blog Buddy is responsible for carrying out the wishes of their Buddy. Be it logging into the site to make announcements, keeping silent, or closing down their blog. Whatever has been agreed upon, but the Buddies watch out for each other. What do you think of the "Blog Buddy System" idea? Do you have a "Blog Buddy" in your life? Would you like one? Have you ever thought about what would happen to your site if you died and who would tell your readers? Well, if something happened to me, my sister would probably do the posting of it. As for Blog Buddy, well, that is an interesting question. I've thought about it before. Who would care if I did disappear? However, I really don't know how I'd answer this question. It's too sad at the moment and after last night's baseball game, I don't want to get depressed.

BONUS: If you hide away from me how can our love grow? Never heard that song before.

Posted by Shawn at October 17, 2003 11:20 AM in Monday Mission.