chris nixon : nixonbyname.com

In a month which has seen some pretty major changes in NixonByName it’s also been a month that’s seen a huge increase in visitor numbers. I now feel a motivated to provide some proper content. I hope you are not disappointed over the coming months. This blog will always cast it’s net wide and take inspiration from whatever inspires.

Here are the top five posts from April 2008.

1. (L) China (H) Human Rights Violations: Apparently today Chinese internet users are saying “enough” to international bullying. Here’s my tuppence worth.
2. FriendFeed Interesting People: A top ten of the most interesting people I follow on FriendFeed. Scoble, Hawke and Arrington all make an appearance.
3. Productivity: Todoist: A post from 2007 that’s getting new attention. I’m a big fan of productivity tools. Here’s my take on a great GTD online application.
4. Apparently You’re an Audience: NixonByName has been going for nearly a year now, but with the recent relaunch I’ve only just discovered the size of the audience.
5. Getting the Hang of It: My favourite photograph so far of my wife and daughter together. Both look so happy that it’s now the desktop background on my PDA.

Well thanks very much for paying attention over the last month. I appreciate that people are interested in what I have to say. Even if it is sometimes ill thought out and badly judged.

Yours Aye.

The Eyes Have It by Chris Nixon

I have changed the comment system of NixonByName.com over to Disqus in a bid to further “socialise” your comments. The Wordpress comment system is very good, but it’s very blog-centric rather than user-centric. The downside for me is I lose a little  “control” over your comments. The upside is that it will be much easier for you to track your comments, your replies, and your contacts comments. Hopefully this will provoke a little more discussion.

Comment spam is handled very well by Wordpress and Akismet, so I was concerned about how Disqus handled this problem, but by all accounts it works well and very little gets through.

I think this is definitely the way forward. If all goes well here, the same system will be put in place when Photografr.com is re-launched in the near future.

I hope this goes down well with you. I’m very kean to know what you think about this new blog system. I’ve heard very few negative points about Disqus, and my personal experience of the system has been very positive. I look forward to reading your comments on my ill though-out opinions in the future.

Yours Aye.

In three weeks time, I’ll be taking part in the City of Aberdeen 10k for the third year running (pun definitely intended).

I’m not the fittest of guys, but I try and run 3-5k at least three times a week, and when I have the spare time (i.e. never) I try and get a longer run at the weekend. After last year’s event, I took a two week break, and then quickly started training for this year. The distressing thing is that I feel less fit now than I did then even though I’ve put in more training.

My intention this year is not to put any sort of time limit on myself, but to get to the end while still enjoying myself. This is, of course, completely unrealistic. As soon as I get down there on the day I’ll start wanting to finish in 45 minutes. This is equally unrealistic.

I’m not a naturally a long distance runner. I’ve always been better at the sprint. I’ve got two theories as to why this is.

1. I’m fairly big built. Not really in the fat bastard sense (though it has been known) but in the rugby player sense. It’s a big frame to carry longer distances.
2. I’d rather just get the running over and done with.

I bolt off the line as fast as I can then struggle for the last 7k with a stitch. Not a good tactic at all. It even gets embarrasing when the old lady who you barged past at the start runs past you at 9k with sympathy and a kind word of encouragement.

I guess this was written to sort out my own thoughts about something that I’m not really looking forward to. I’ve been focussed on being a Dad and the run hasn’t really been on my radar until now, and now it is…it’s only three weeks away.

Today’s run was hard going. Tomorrow will be much better. I’ll keep you updated on Twitter and Friendfeed.

34 by Chris Nixon

Watch the Light by Chris Nixon

The Belle of the Ball by Chris Nixon

Classic Revisited 1: Every now and again, I’m going to go back to an old photograph and re-process it the way I would do now. I think it will be nice to spend some time with photographs I haven’s seen in a long while. This was taken in Pollenca in Mallorca, Spain. It’s a view back on the resort from it Northern point.

Cliché by Chris Nixon