Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

Tweeting What I Want

Not to name, names and they do have there own opinions but if you don’t like all the talk about the new Apple product just shot off Twitter for the day.

Here is my opinion on this kind of thing. I like to think it is a passion of mine to keep up with the tech news and especially Apple News. I like Apple’s stuff, I don’t know why but I do and I don’t want to try and defend it. I just do, and shouldn’t need too. Anyways when I see people complaining about how there are to many tweets about the Apple announcement I think they need to step back for a second. Obviously there is a reason for all the tweet and I know there are multiples of the same things but when it comes to Social Media and Tech this is a big thing. Hell Apple kept saying “The Internet in your hands”.

If people are tweeting about it, it is because they want to and are passionate about it. My advise to those who don’t like all the tweet is unfollow or turn twitter off for the period of the hype. In a couple day it will all go away and we’ll move on to the next big thing.

I’m just say’n!

Where am I going.

For the last 3 months I have tried to figure out where this blog is going.  What am I to write about?

Every once and while I write about what’s going on in my life, where I’m going, what I am doing, what is pissing me off, why I am happy for once, etc. This all makes sense since the blog is about me, but I don’t think that is what I want it to be or maybe it is…

I like blogging to inform people and I don’t think everyone that finds there way to the blog wants to read about my everyday troubles. I’ve tried writing about thing that are interesting to me, such as social networks, wordpress, blogging itself but there is already so much about that in the blogosphere that it is not worth doing. I have thought long and hard about what it is that I excel at, my top most interest, what it is I do to relax and enjoy myself, what my niche is.  Continuously I come up with nothing, I just might be a very boring person.

I was currently on a more local idea of Yellowknife. I have always loved this placed, although we have had our rough patches it will always be home. I would love to be like Miss604.com and blog about Yellowknife and its Social Media but I am just not out in the community enough. I could give it a solid effort for the summer but come August it would all crumble beneath my feet, as I will be leaving Yellowknife to go to school. I can’t wait the next 2 years to go by so I can make an attempt to figure out what life has in store for me so I am not always up in the air about it all. Getting a permanent job will be very relieving as well. I recently wrote a post about my opinions on some articles in the Yellowknifer (local paper) and some of my opinions where very strong. I have gone back a couple times to edit it and even take some points out. It is not so much that I am afraid of voicing my opinion but rather protecting future possibilities. I mean who knows where I will work or what I might do when I come back to Yellowknife, I certainly don’t want to start ticking people off before hand.

Now I feel my readers, if any anymore are getting tired of these blog posts. I know only time will tell what this blog is going to be about. Currently I have a semi topical blog going at www.canliving.ca. It is a blog about my Canada Living and includes stuff like preparing for summer, getting the camper ready, putting away the snowmobile, preparing a simple but delicious meal, etc. Check it out and subscribe.

Did South of 20 Actually Go South?

You know as much as I enjoy reading all the blogs and articles online I enjoy sitting down and picking up a newspaper. New Media may be taking over but old media still has something about it I like.

Now although some people have there “opinions” on the Yellowknifer and sometimes I do too, I still enjoy reading our little local paper. Today was no different, there were many articles in the paper today that were of interest. Mr. Humphries shared his thoughts on how we can avoid a recession by opening all dumps nation wide to salvagers. Shelagh Montgomery wants to take down the oil sands and make everyone walk everywhere let Alberta know that Yellowknife wants to halt the oil sands production with out thinking about all the jobs and money that would be lost. Then we had a bunch of other things, Rock & Ice Ultra, Headframe discussions, Caribou drinking Beer Caribou Carnivals Beer Garden and so on.

The one thing I love reading in a paper is the columns and opinions of people. I guess that just comes from being a blogger and doing the same thing. Reading someones views on something is not only informative but it give you a different perspective on the topic. Whether I agree with them or not I think about it. I go back to the quote I had in my last post. I write to not only entertain but to engage readers in discussion and make them think. That is what I want to be able to do as a writer blogger.

As I finished the paper and thought about all the things I had just read and who wrote them I only wondered what happened to the “South of 20” column. The weekly article that was write by a student or a person under the age of 20 hence the name South of 20. I said that I loved reading peoples columns and if there is one thing I love reading more than that it would be articles writen by young people. I think young people have more to offer than most think, I just think they don’t get the chance to say it. This is also why I try and encourage my friends to blog and vioce their opnions. Everyone has something to say they just need to find the right place to say it.

Photo Credit: The MediaMentor

Pick That Theme!

Well as it seems I have finally decided on a theme for my blog I though I would explain a little about the importance of a good theme.

A Blog Theme
The theme is what people see first, it is the most important thing about your site other than the content. So that is why you need to pick the right one. There are hundreds and hundreds of themes out there for you to pick from so finding the right one isn’t always easy.

What do you want? Because of the very many configurations of themes it is best to decide what it is you want in the theme before you start looking. Do you want two sidebars? Just one?  What do you want to put in the sidebar, Flickr Badge, Twitter updates, blogroll, etc? Do you want a header with a picture and the title of your blog or just the title? Do you want page tabs above or below the header or just have them in the sidebar? Would you like full posts of the main page or just snippets? The list of question can go on and on. I bet at this point you think wow I didn’t realize there was so much to think about.

One of the main things to think about is “How visible is my content?” Your content is why people will be coming to your site therefore it is the most important thing on your site. So you want it visible easily and quickly. You want the colour of the font to show up the best it can against the background colour, as well as having the font size readable but not to big.  You also don’t want all your sidebar widgets distracting your readers. I’m sure there are many more tips on making your content visible and I’m sure I will touch on more soon.

The last thing I want to talk about in this post is something I’m not even good at, so I guess this post is another one of the “do as I say not as I do” posts.
Don’t Change! Since starting The Bushman 7 months ago I have had 7 main themes as well as some random ones I would throw up to try. That is what not to do. It is all right to change your theme every once and a while but not every month.  You don’t want to confuse your readers by always changing the look of your site; they want something that is constant and always there. You want them to be able to navigate through easily with out have to relearn where everything is.  I would suggest if you are going to change your theme ask your readers first, write a post explaining to them that you are interested in changing the theme and ask them for there opinion. A good way to gain loyal reader is get them involved.  A mistake I made was I wanted to go to fast. I constantly wanted a theme with more sidebar space for the extra things and then at one point I hit the peak and have now settled with a theme with less clutter in the sidebar.

So when you’re out there looking for the best theme for you, try and remember some of those things. Also when you are looking don’t automatically rule out paying for a theme sometimes they can be the best for your site and what you want to do.

If you have any tips or suggestion on picking a theme let everyone know below.

Lets Get a Intro: Follow Up

Clare made an interesting point when he commented on Lets Get a Intro. He said that He likes to post at least 2 posts every 3 days but lately has been able to post more, so I thought it would be an excellent time to go deeper into scheduling post times.

If you do decide to schedule you posts, say 2 a week. That’s excellent, especially when you are having a hard time coming up with ideas for new material. The pressure is on the, deadline is approaching and you are able to get something done because of it. But lets look at the other end of the spectrum; you are writing more than 2 posts a week what are your options.

1. You could publish those posts as soon as you finish writing them.
Pro: Gives you reader’s new material quicker, they become more interested with you blog.  Your followers grow as your style is established quicker.
Cons: Your readers start to expect the same amount of entries from you all the time. Your quality of writing goes down because of the rate your posting. Posts become unexpected and even unwanted because of conflicting scheduling.

2. Don’t publish right away. Publish it on the next empty publishing date
Pros: You are consistent about when entries are published. Readers know when there will be new content from them to read. Your posts become strong because they don’t need to be published right away. You are able to edit them a day or 2 later and make changes you other wise wouldn’t have.
Cons: You forget what will be published on that day. As you get more popular your readers want more. You over analyze posts and make them to reporter like instead of your own opinion.

I’m sure there are many more we could list here, but I’m sitting in the middle of a field trying to get internet so this post con publish tomorrow morning.
Just to let everyone know that I don’t even take my own advice, I don’t schedule posts on The Bushman because it is a more personal blog. Made up of what ever comes to mind at the time. When or if I ever get this project of mine rolling I will defiantly schedule posts, especially considering I will be going to school in the fall.