November 21, 2007
Blogiversaries
It almost passed by without me realizing it, but The Liberty Papers is now two years old. It’s come a long way in the last two years, from a third-rate blog that nobody has ever heard of, to a second-tier blog pulling in thousands of visitors each day. I’ve had a lot of fun over there, including having the chance to meet several of the contributors in person while traveling. Head on over and give some congrats.
Oh, and it did pass by without me realizing it, but The Unrepentant Individual has now passed 3 years! I do pretty much neglect the blog these days, as I find I have little to write about other than personal news, and keep all of my political writing over at TLP. As I adjust to parenthood and get more free time, though, I hope to find some clearer focus for the blog, and keep it to write about things I’m truly interested in.
Until then, you can always stop by for baby pictures!
Wyatt and I out for a stroll:
Wyatt getting ready for his baptism:
March 19, 2007
News At The Liberty Papers
Over at The Liberty Papers, we crossed over the 100,000 “unique visitor” mark back in late January. Needless to say, myself and the other contributors were a little happy to see that.
In the 55 days since that occurred, we racked up another hundred thou, and we just crossed the 200,000 mark.
I doubt that many of you who used to read this blog for political reasons haven’t found your way over there. But if you haven’t, or if you’re politically minded and would like to check it out, head on over. The site is updated more often, and there are quite a lot of good conversations in the comments.
(Note: To give a sense of perspective, The Unrepentant Individual has had about 80,000 unique visitors in the 29 months I’ve had it open. If The Liberty Papers has a couple more good days, it will get close to that number THIS MONTH).
February 1, 2007
Travels
Well, the month of January is finally over. I managed to rack up over 10,000 frequent flier miles, and I’ve been so incredibly busy that I’m barely able to remember what day it is. Of course, the fact that my new work arrangement allows me to wake up, throw on some pajamas, and head to the basement, probably impacts that.
February looks like it should be a much slower month. And then it gets crazy. My sister-in-law is getting married at the end of April, and my wife will be heading back to California in early March to be a part of all the showers, parties, and other festivities. I’ll be going out there at the beginning of the trip (we’re flying the dogs out there), and will again be out there at the end of the trip to go to the wedding. In between, I told my boss to load me up with as much travel as he wants, so I doubt I’ll regularly sleep in the same city more than 4 nights in a row…
I’ll try to be a little less of a bad blogger this month. But, in the meantime, I recommend heading over to The Liberty Papers. Especially for all of you who originally came here for the political content, I really devote most of that stuff over there. For everyone else, hang tight. I’m sure there will be a lot of interesting reports of impending fatherhood…
January 14, 2007
Traveling Again…
I’ll be in CA all week, and in company meetings most of each day. Posting will be light.
In the meantime, head on over to The Liberty Papers, where the posting is more frequent and much more interesting that it is here.
December 23, 2006
Light Posting
I’m headed to CA for Christmas in about 5 hours, and likely will be shuffled around different places without high-speed internet access until I get back here on Jan 4. I may get some posting in, and I’ll try to get posts related to the Purdue/Maryland game, and a few BCS bowl predictions in, but don’t expect there to be much going on…
November 27, 2006
Blog Maintenance…
As you guys have probably seen, I now have implemented “Categories” over there on the right sidebar. Unfortunately, since I haven’t been using these at all in the past, I have to go back through old posts and assign them to categories. Which sucks. Bad.
Only about 900 more to go! That’s about 18 months worth. Since it takes roughly an hour per month, I think I’ve got my work cut out for me.
November 23, 2006
Making Theme Changes…
People for a long time have complained a bit about my color scheme, that there may not be enough contrast between certain colors. Being colorblind, I never had a problem, but I was starting to get sick of the weird-looking graphic on the side, and decided to make some changes.
But, as I mentioned, I have no eye for style, and so any assistance, suggestions on colors, etc, would be highly appreciated. I’m a boring guy, so I was going to do everything in shades of gray, but that didn’t look good… So I’m looking for some suggestions. Thanks!
Also, if anyone has any idea why my “Categories” and “Archives” text is so tiny, let me know. I’m using Wordpress php functions to pull that up, so that might be part of it. But I’m not sure how to make it better.
November 9, 2006
Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!
On Nov 9, 2004, I explained to the world why I voted for George W. Bush. Over the last couple days, I’ve explained why I didn’t vote in the mid-term elections. What’s significant about the change?
Nothing, except that the Nov 9, 2004 post also marked the creation of this blog. That, of course, would make today my 2 year blogiversary! Again, looking back, I can say today that I would have made the same vote now that I did then. And yet, I see a difference today that almost makes me happy to see the Republicans get smacked upside the head, with the only downfall that it actually benefits Democrats.
2 years… Looking back on it, it seems like it’s just flown by. In that time, I’ve put up over 1100 posts here, become a founding member of the Life, Liberty, and Property blogging community, starting participating at The Liberty Papers (later to take over the reins of administration when Eric left the blogosphere), and now find myself at a crossroads. Some days, I wonder what I can find to write about. Other days, I have a million thoughts, but I’m too busy to actually post. And when the stars align properly, I can actually put content both here and at The Liberty Papers.
I’ve taken to making The Unrepentant Individual a more “personal” blog, talking about interests like college football, beer, poker, and general observations on life. I’ve worked (not hard enough) on making The Liberty Papers an internet home for classical liberals, but more needs to be done there. All this while balancing the increasing demands of work and travel, home life, and the surprisingly time-consuming yard work and hobby of brewing beer. But blogging is still rewarding, especially so when I get comments from all of you readers. So as long as that stays constant, I’ll be here.
And watching election coverage on Tuesday, I heard folks like Brit Hume giving his thoughts on the blogosphere. It’s a way that ordinary people are finding a voice in our political process, and it’s generated more interest in a mid-term election than we may have seen in decades. People are actually starting to pay attention. As someone who now has a voice, I feel like I’m actually invested in the outcome. As more and more people feel that way, we might actually start to see some better results.
Quotulatiousness linked with Brad Warbiany celebrates his second blogiversary
Below The Beltway linked with Poking Up Admist The Rubble
October 4, 2006
I Hear China Has Some Good Proxy Servers
As some of you probably noticed, I had a couple of links on the left-hand sidebar that were ads for PartyPoker and two Casinos. I had an affiliate relationship with them, that while it never actually produced money (since I didn’t promote them much), might have been lucrative if people had signed up through my links.
Well, thanks to Congress, that’s over.
From PartyPoker:
PartyGaming will no longer accept wagers from US Customers once the Act becomes Law.
Customers resident in the United States or accessing us from US will no longer be able to access our real money gaming services. Customers will still be able to use the play money and any non-gambling services we may offer. They will also be able to cash out their present balance if they wish to.
From CasinoPartners:
Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act by
the United States Senate on September 30, 2006, and in line with the high level
of service that we have always provided to our affiliates, it is important for
us to advise you that our clients have decided not to accept wagers from
residents in the United States. We will therefore stop handling U.S.-based
traffic effective October 4 2006.
Thanks a lot, Congress. You’ve given a new meaning to “The Land of the Free”. It now holds about as much meaning as you’ve let the 10th Amendment have…
I never thought I’d say this, but it might be time that we here in the USA are going to have to start using proxy servers, like the Chinese, to make sure we can go to the places online that the Feds have determined are too dangerous for us to access.
September 25, 2006
Headed to Boston
Headed out for a tradeshow. Normally that would mean I’ll have down time in a hotel, but not this week. The wife realized that she had a free hotel in Boston, one of her favorite cities, and that she had all sorts of frequent flier miles available. So she’s heading out with me. That means when I’m not doing show-related work, I’ll be doing the tourism bit with her, and probably won’t be able to post much at all. I’ll schedule a Purdue post for Tuesday, but don’t be surprised if I’m not responding to comments.
August 3, 2006
New Blogroll Entry
I’ve added a site over on the blogroll. DraftNewt.org is the rallying point for all those who would like to see Newt run in ‘08.
Of course, he’s already running, whether he’s declared or not. If he didn’t have designs on the Presidency, he wouldn’t be seen on just about every cable news show in existence. But I know how the game is played, and he has to have his “grassroots” support before he can formally declare. I’m happy to be a part of that group.
I recommend, if you’re actually a believer in small and efficient government, like me, check it out. And if, like me, you think that the person best able to actually bring that about would be the man largely responsible for the Contract With America, you might want to consider joining and helping out. Like me 
May 25, 2006
New CafePress Design
Up at Unrepentant Merchandise.
Yep. Considering that nobody has decided to become poker or casino players, or have filled my pockets with royalties from the wonderful advertising affiliates I have on the sidebar, I actually have to start offering real products.
So here’s my second attempt, after the Stuck on Stupid products that netted me $12. If you think it’s cool, buy one. If you don’t want to buy one, but still think it’s cool, pass the link along. Ya know, help a brotha out!
April 17, 2006
My Blog-Foster-Parent
Time to kill a metaphor.
When I started blogging, I did so because my coworker, Wilson, had stopped blogging. I had started reading his site for the little amount of time he was writing, and got hooked on blogging. After he stopped, I constantly got on his case to start again; when that proved unsuccessful, I started The Unrepentant Individual.
So Wilson would be the best description of a “blogfather” I may have had. But he was a deadbeat dad, an absentee who had shirked his responsibilities. I was an outcast, looking for attention and support, having been abandoned to fend for myself. Eric, from Eric’s Grumbles, became Wilson’s replacement. In essence, while he isn’t a “blogfather”, he became my blog foster parent.
Why have I chosen today to beat this metaphor to a stinking pulp? Because Eric is leaving the blogosphere. He’s making a big career change which will make his job much more public, and will be unable to continue blogging. While we’re sad to see him go, at the same time, some congratulations are in order. A career is more important than a hobby.
Eric has done a lot to advance liberty in the blogosphere. Eric started the Life, Liberty, and Property blog community. Eric started The Liberty Papers. Eric managed the Carnival of Liberty for most of its existence. And now, he is passing the torch. I’ll be taking over The Liberty Papers, and Doug from Below the Beltway will be taking over most of the LLP community.
Below The Beltway linked with Losing A Good One
How old is he now Brad? He sure is cute, keep posting those baby pictures.
Comment by Lucy Stern — November 21, 2007 @ 8:08 am
I almost forgot, have a Happy Thanksgiving….
Comment by Lucy Stern — November 21, 2007 @ 8:11 am
Just over three months…
And Thanksgiving should be fun. We’re headed to Chicago, and it will be the first chance my family has had to meet Wyatt!
Comment by Brad Warbiany — November 21, 2007 @ 8:16 am
Not to be a dick… but DAMN your baby got hisself a bigass head
Comment by Chris Byrne — November 27, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
Chris… So do I. Hopefully his body grows into it
Comment by Brad Warbiany — November 28, 2007 @ 9:45 am