- As you can probably tell, the look and feel of the blog has changed once again. This time, however, I got the blog set up so that when I take DJ's Random Thoughts into that next stage of evolution I was talking about some time ago (which is still a long way off at this point), I'll be ready to go. The blog content and posts themselves are still the same (with one small addition) but now I finally have the ideal look and layout that I'm happy with and going to keep from this point forward. I didn't expect to make changes to the layout again so soon but since the last edition I came across some programming scripts made available only recently that finally let me turn DJRT's look into what I've envisioned for it with the layout and functionality I've been aiming for since I started here on Blogger. I can expand or contract things when necessary and not worry about messing up the general look of the blog anymore and page loading overall on DJRT should be much, much quicker for all of you. I hope you all like the changes.
- The biggest thing I changed on DJRT is that I've moved a lot of gadgets & links that used to show up in several different places around the blog to their own individual pages (now accessible in the new menu underneath the main header pic at the top). I moved the links previously at the top of the site and the About DJ section to their own individual pages. I've also moved the archive to it's own page as well (something I couldn't do until recently) under the title "Past Editions." Also, I've moved the big Facebook "like box" and Paypal donation gadgets to a combined "Contribute" page where you readers can help DJRT with things such as liking the blog overall or making a financial contribution. To the right of the title pic I've also placed links to the Facebook, Google Plus, and the new Twitter sites dedicated to DJRT (more on the Twitter addition in the next blurb) as well as links to add DJRT to your RSS readers and subscribe to DJRT through e-mail. Last month I said that I was going to add a DJ Facts blurb from time to time, but instead I recently found a randomizing script that made it possible to put it next to the title pic in the same way I did for my old "DJ Online" site. A "DJ Fact" will show up on every page with a different factoid about me or something I came up with just for kicks. Individual facts will change by either visiting other pages on the blog or refreshing this one...and there are a lot of them so repeated facts won't happen that often. Refresh the page now to see it in action for yourself...do it a few times even...then come back to this point and continue reading this edition.
- On New Year's Eve a couple of weeks ago, I didn't go out anywhere. I was thinking about doing Akron's First Night but I wasn't sure about the weather for that night so I decided to play it safe (still feel like I missed out though, especially since the weather turned out alright). I did do something a couple hours after midnight, however...I joined the dark side. That's right, folks, I now have a Twitter account for both the blog and myself (one account) under @DJsRndmThoughts. I don't have that many followers there yet so if you have a Twitter account, add me so I know you're there and so I can add you too (if I haven't already). I tried Twitter a few years ago but it wasn't doing anything for me so I shut that account down after a couple of weeks. Since I am now actively trying to promote DJRT as much as possible, having a Twitter account now makes sense. I have found there's a lot more that interests me there now than when I tried it out previously and am now following a lot of people and organizations I have personal interest in. I've also found myself tweeting something whenever I'm on there and liking it...I guess that makes me a twit now. Anyway, in regards to Twitter and DJRT, the latest editions should automatically post there (at least I hope they do) and I also have added a "Tweet" button after the Facebook share button on individual posts so that you can tweet a link to the latest or your favorite (or not-so-favorite) editions of DJRT on Twitter.
- The subtitle to this edition is called the "chain letter" edition. It has to do with a trend I've noticed all over social media for years now. A lot of people I know and others post some of the most beautiful things or link to some of the most helpful links on the web with the absolute best of intentions, but then there's always something posted at the end that, at least for me and other people I know, is a turn-off. That would be the phrase "let's see if you repost this" or "repost if you like this" or "send this to some number or all of your friends" or something along those lines. On the surface, such a statement seems rather benign and innoculous. You see something and it looks so good you would like to see it elsewhere. It's supposedly "all good" and again done with the best and noblest of intentions. I need to get real on this here, folks...it's not like that, at least not in an initially recognizable sort of way. The bottom line is that the way the repost request statements at the end are designed takes the focus away from whatever a particular person is posting and almost always squarely turns it on the person posting it instead...in a very limited mini-peer pressure fashion, mind you, but that's what it does regardless of intentions. What the repost line does is make it appear that the person posting whatever is mildly challenging whoever is receiving whatever they're posting. A lot of times people don't want to be challenged whatsoever when they are doing regular everyday activities, checking up on social media like Facebook or Twitter being one of those activities. Anything that shows up as even a hint of a challenge to those folks, myself included sometimes, turns on a mild alarm bell that makes people question the intentions of the poster. Questions such as "why do they want me to repost?" or "what is this person trying to do?" come to mind.
By itself, the repost line might not actively do anything alarming right off the bat, hence why it seems so benign, but it can plant a seed of doubt, however small it may be, about the poster in the back of any one mind. It may eventually turn out to be nothing and that's probably a good thing. But let's say that something questionable happens regarding a poster or their character at some point that really perplexes, hurts, or angers other people or yourself even and the poster wants or is even desperate for you to believe in them. This is when that seed of doubt sewn in by the repost line (even one) can come into play. How likely are you going to believe them given this seed planted beforehand? Something like this can even mildly influence your opinion of them one way or another. In a way, a post with the repost line is like a chain letter in that if you don't do what is suggested, something bad is going to happen immediately or eventually. The difference is that with a chain letter it's usually the recipient that gets the bad voodoo but with the repost line posts it's the sender.
The reason I'm talking about this is because something I don't know all the details about apparently happened to an old friend of mine who used to post stuff, mostly Christian-related items but interesting stuff nonetheless, that would end with the "repost this" line in some fashion. After trying to figure out what happened, all I could get out of it was that he did something that really put certain people off and I saw a lot of their complaints followed up with sentiments like "I hate it when he asks us to repost this ****" and one particular sentiment that brought about this topic today, "Knew this ****** repost this **** wuz him frontin" (that was the actual post with the expletives in asterisk). His Facebook account was deactivated soon after a while back but it's something that's been on my mind for some time now.
For me personally, I face doubt from a lot of people to this day and faced a lot of it throughout my life. In the process of trying to deal with it, I have almost been obsessive with trying to figure out what kinds of things made people doubt me whether it be through my words, my actions, or just doubt in me as a person overall. There are times where for the life of me I just don't know where it comes from but it seems I am rather attuned to when some type of doubt exists somewhere, whether it be with me or others, probably because of this obsessiveness. This is one of those things that I do know about that I have seen raise doubt firsthand. The repost thing may not seem that harmful, but it is a potential seed-planter and may be used against you or someone you know down the line. Don't get me wrong, I want to see a lot of what you guys and gals find and want to share with me...a lot of times, it makes my day...but if you can remove that one single line you might save yourself a lot of future headaches. I would suggest at the beginning of the post put something like "I found this online and wanted to share it with you" or something like that which is something I've done in the past in DJRT and elsewhere. I don't want the people I care about putting themselves inadvertantly in situations, even in well-intentioned ones, where this kind of stuff gets used against them like what happened to my friend.
- You know, I'm posting this on Friday the 13th. Somewhere out there, Jason Voorhees is stalking yet another teenage noob near someplace called Crystal Lake that will most likely survive and be scarred for life. I pity that person...really, I do...
- I've been putting this off but it's time...my assessment of the 2011 season for the Cleveland Browns. Like I've said before, they did better than I expected them to. Why do I say that? Several pundits actually claimed that they could have gone winless this season or at least have a 2 and 14 record (they ended at 4-12). They had a new coach, new scheme, no real offseason to practice that new scheme, no offensive coordinator, no standout wide receivers, and yet they managed to eke out four wins with most of their games competitive. They even managed to put the hurt on a few people, namely the QBs for the Bengals, the Raiders, and the Steelers. The Browns' defense was pretty good for most of the season but they petered out near the end with injuries and tired legs being why. The offense was so putrid at times it was obvious they needed an offensive coordinator badly (they're getting one soon, thank God). Special teams was a letdown for most of the year with the exception of punter Brad Maynard (no touchbacks) and one TD after a kick by Josh Cribbs. For next season, they do have some pieces in place but they need more, especially at the wide receiver position. With two first round picks and a stable front office for the first time in years, I am looking forward to next season.
- Keeping on a Browns-related topic for a moment, I want to state now that what I say is the fan in me talking and is targeted at specific people and not an entire group of fans as a whole. Last weekend the Steelers lost to the Broncos and most of my Steeler fan friends were really gracious tipping their hat to the Broncos and I really admired that. What I'm about to say is not aimed at them whatsoever. This is aimed at particular Steeler fans or anti-Cleveland folks I saw bashing Cleveland for cheering when the Steelers lost and I have a question to ask them: Where in the blue hell do you get off saying that Cleveland fans can't celebrate here or aren't real fans? Seriously, you're the same folks I saw celebrating when the Browns would lose any game and trash talk them every chance you got but when you don't get the outcome you want and Browns fans cheered, you whined and moaned and complained like big babies...you know who you are. You wanna know why they were celebrating? Here's why: the Browns were assured a decent draft position based on the Falcons loss, but when the Steelers lost they got a slightly better one. In other words, a Steelers loss is the Browns gain. In a rivalry such as the Browns/Steelers one, every victory against the other team however small is celebrated...you'd do the same thing if that happened to us and I'm pretty sure it has. Face it, you know you would. That's what you do in rivalries. You want to spout your hateful, oversensitive diatribe about Cleveland or its fans, that's your prerogative, but if it's because you can dish stuff out but can't take the heat, then get the heck out of the kitchen before you inevitably get burned, you whiny babies! Okay, fanboy mode off....sorry about that folks, had to get that out of my system.
- DJ Customs: on a lighter note, I want to share a custom pic with you that I had initially set for the last edition but decided to wait until now. This is a background photo for those who love God. It's a composite I put together from four separate photos and turned them into background images for desktop and laptop computers. I've posted five separate versions depending on your individual desktop sizes that you can download from here: #102 - God 0001. Here is a preview of the pic here:
- Song on repeat: "Mediate" by INXS. This is a song that actually served as the second half of their hit "Need You Tonight" which I liked. Michael Hutchence, the former lead singer who passed away 15 years ago, would have been 52 this month. He was such a good artist and it's a shame he can't see what his music brought to people even today. May he rest in peace. Here's the song:
- SLP to the following: Aunt Sue, Aunt Sandy, Diane, Holly, George, Maggie, Ernest, Cara, Debbie, Bob, Lynn, Jenny K., Rob G., Anna, Kenda, Isaiah, Pastor Cory, Dawn, Paula, and Al (Finodi).
That's it for this edition. I know I came off harsh at a couple points but understand I do care, I do give a damn about certain things and I'm not going to hide that. Whatever happens, so be it. Until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
