Hello, World!

Considering the overwhelmingly popular demand, I've decided to start a weblog. (Okay, so it was only two people who casually suggested it. Details, details.)

Why would anyone want to read what I have to write? Well, in a larger perspective of life, most people won't. However, a few things may appeal to a few people... and, on the Internet, "a few people" can mean quite many. Therefore, I'm going to record all things webloggish here.

Here are the things that might be of interest to potential readers (you):

1. I am an alpha-geek[1]. Geeks are trendy now, or so I hear. I used to publish simple HOW-TOs about Linux, OpenBSD, and other miscellaneous geekery. I've been wanting to resume that practice again for some time, and hey, here's my chance. Writing small tutorials is quite gratifying, even if the information is available elsewhere. Sometimes people are looking for something explained in just a certain way, and the more ways it's explained on the Internet, the more likely they are to find what they need.

2. I am a community leader. No, not in any really important way; I'm not a mayor of a city, or president of the chamber of commerce, or anything like that. However, I have helped with a couple of fun geek-centric[2] community projects that had a net positive effect for those involved. I'm proud of these efforts. I want to encourage others to do similar things, because it's something I really care about. I can do that by talking about it here.

3. To my pleasant surprise, I was recently hired by Google, Inc. Google-related blogs are getting pretty popular now (Xooglers is an excellent example) so I thought I could contribute to the phenomenon (NDA permitting, of course :)

4. I'd like to think that I'm not a typical geek. This isn't to say I'm any better or worse than my fellow geeks--I am undoubtedly not the smartest, that's evident by some of the horrendous code I've written. However, if I can contribute a unique perspective to the culture as a result of coming into it from an unusual avenue, well, then that's a good thing.

Now for the hook. One way I've found to keep track of weblogs like this one is to use Google's[3] personalized homepage and atom-feeds. Feeds are great for keeping track of weblogs that interest you.

• Go to your Google homepage (or use http://www.google.com/ig to create one!)


• Click "Add Content" (upper-left corner of the screen)


• In the "Create a Section" box, put http://eater.org/blog/atom.xml


• Click "Close"

Thereafter, you can view the most recent posts from this blog, as well as any others you care to add, everytime you load your Google home page.

So, thanks for reading this far! I look forward to reading your comments; immediate feedback is a great aspect of this medium[4].

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[1] An alpha-geek is like a normal geek, only much more aggressive and in-your-face about it. It's both annoying and endearing at the same time.

[2] To play the EaterBlog-Drinking-Game, take a giant swig of beer every time the word "geek" appears. (Don't drive or operate heavy machinery after playing the EaterBlog-Drinking-Game.)

[3] I use a lot of Google services. This is not (just) a shameless plug for my employer. I actually find them quite useful :) This theme will repeat itself throughout this weblog.

[4] The other great aspect is that I can go back and edit my posts. This way, if I'm ever wrong about something, it doesn't matter because I'll be right the next time you refresh.