Subversive Blogger Awards, round two

It’s time for round two of the Subversive Blogger Awards.

American author Henry Miller (1891-1980) once said, “The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is different, is evil, dangerous, or subversive.”

Subversive bloggers are unsatisfied with the status quo, whether in church, politics, economics or any other power-laden institution, and they are searching for (and blogging about) what is new (or a “return to”) - even though it may be labeled as sacrilege, dangerous, or subversive.

For round two of the Subversive Blogger Awards, I am tagging the following five blogs/bloggers:

1. Sarcastic Lutheran by Nadia Bolz-Weber (e.g., Why she isn’t that kind of Christian)
2. The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus by Jon Birch (e.g., Hamster Wheel Church)
3. Missio Dei by Jonathan Brink (e.g., Top 50 Possible Reasons Why You’re Not Emergent)
4. Nate Ritter (e.g., Ideas that Change the World via Twitter)
5. novus•lumen by Jeremy Bouma (e.g., The Good of Affluence: A Critique and Evaluation of Capitalism)

The rules of participation are pretty straightforward:

1. If you are tagged, write a post with links to five subversive blogs.
2. Link back to this post on JakeBouma.com so people can easily find the origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the “Subversive Blogger Award” somewhere on your blog (images below) with a link to the post that you wrote.

That’s all there is to it. Keep in mind that this award is meant as an encouragement to bloggers to keep doing what they’re already doing - being subversive (however you interpret it). May we never forget that Jesus (and His message) was the original and ultimate subversive.

Here are the images you can use for your blog, courtesy of Josh Brown and Red Cowboy Designs. All I ask is that you download them and upload them to your own server.

Blog on.

UPDATE: Nate Ritter has graciously designed an additional badge for the award which you can find below. Feel free to use it in addition to or on place of the original badges.

Damn.

When uploading to WordPress 2.5 RC1, I apparently erased all of my themes and plugins, which means I essentially have to start from scratch. It’s my own fault, since I didn’t back up the data beforehand, but damn this sucks.

The irony of this happening a mere hours after the previous post is overwhelming.

UPDATE 03/19/08, 3:17PM:

For those who missed it, for the previous fourteen hours or so my blog looked like this:

I managed to find the folder containing the theme I had been using from it’s original upload back in October. I spent some time changing most of the things I have changed in the past 5 months, and now we’re pretty much back to normal. I still have some things to fix, but at least I can breathe now.

The moral of the story: BACK UP YOUR STUFF.

JakeBouma.com turns 3 years old

On May 1, 2003, I hit “publish” on my first-ever blog post using the pre-Google-owned Blogger. This is what it said:

Who knows what I will post on my newly-created blog, not to mention how often. In fact, there is a fairly good chance that this is the last post I will make. I will probably just forget that I created it. There is also a good chance that I will post diligently… we’ll just have to see. I don’t really know why anyone would want to read this, but it sort of makes me feel special to have my very own blog in which I can post my most intimate secrets and most idiotic ramblings.

Just under two years (and several CMS experiments) later, on March 18, 2005, I purchased the domain JakeBouma.com, uploaded WordPress 1.5, and began taking blogging (somewhat) seriously.

Today this blog celebrates its third birthday. According to the CDC the third year marks the entry into the “Preschool” era, leaving toddler-hood in its wake. Between the ages of three and five, this blog’s “world will begin to open up. [It] will become more independent and begin to focus more on adults and children outside of the family. [It] will want to explore and ask about his surroundings even more.” Shoot, my little website is growing up so fast.

In these three years, this humble blog has racked up 523 posts and 1,079 comments, with an average of 3.5 comments per post (factoring out digressions, which don’t allow comments).

And now for a trip down memory lane. Consider this my proud father moment…

Above: JakeBouma.com 2.0. Version 1.0 didn’t last too long because I deleted the whole thing on accident, so I started again from scratch. I’m actually a little embarrassed of this design, but I’m pretty sure less than 10 people ever saw it.

Above: Version 3.0. I wanted to retain some of the visual aspects of 2.0 while moving to a three-column format. My favorite part about this design was the oft-changing banner at the top (Here’s the banner from the blog’s first birthday. I plan on making a collage of them soon-ish).

And now we’re on the current iteration: 4.0. I plan on sticking with this design for a long time; probably until after the blog graduates from preschool.

Blogging goals for 2008

In the last four months, JakeBouma.com has gained a lot of exposure in the blogosphere. As with any blog, this is partly due to my efforts (blog redesign & contest, frequency of posting, quality of content, etc.), and party due to the readers. In addition, I was honored to be selected as a member blog for The Daily Scribe.

It is my hope that in 2008 JakeBouma.com continues to grow in popularity and readership and that I continue to be faithful to the medium of blogging. Therefore, I am laying out a few goals for 2008 to give me something for which to aim.

Increase my RSS readership to at least 200. Right now it fluctuates between 85 and 95 (it was only 20 at the end of August).

Increase my Technorati authority to above 100, and rank in the top 50,000 (I’m not sure how the two are tied together).

Increase my average daily unique visitors to 250 (right now it averages at around 120).

Increase visibility through social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon. (Here is my Digg profile and StumbleUpon profile… let’s be friends).

Design a new logo for the top of the blog.

If you have your own blog, I encourage you to come up with some of your own goals for 2008. If you’re a reader, what would you like see for JakeBouma.com in 2008? Leave a comment and let me know!

(ht: Daily Blog Tips)

Review: Web Hosting Choice

The following is a sponsored post:

Web Hosting Choice is an “advertisement free guide to choosing the right web host for your personal or business site”.

If you own a self-hosted website or blog of any king — whether it’s big or small — finding the cheapest web hosting service that has all of the options you need is a big priority. That’s where Web Hosting Choice comes in. They have a large database of web hosting services that you can search based upon your website’s particular needs.

Say you’re looking for a website host and you want to pay $5 or less per month with no setup fees, and you need 500mb of storage. You can simply plug all of that information in their search, and they’ll give you a list of web hosting services that match your needs, and they even provide ratings of some of the services. The advanced search page has a bunch of plan details, features, and payment options so you can find exactly what you need without paying for extra junk.

If you’re setting up a self-hosted website for the first time, the quick start guide will walk you through the process, which can be a bit scary at first. Sadly, they make no mention of blogging platforms and their respective installation processes. Their front page says they can help both small websites and large e-commerce websites alike, but it seems like they cater more towards e-commerce and business websites. If they really want to increase their market share, they’ll add information for those looking to set up blogs, which are much easier and user-friendly than messing with FrontPage or Dreamweaver.

So if you’re looking for the right web hosting option for your particular needs, Web Hosting Choice will make the process a little less painful than a Google search.

The Daily Scribe

I am proud to announce that JakeBouma.com has been accepted into The Daily Scribe, which bills itself as a “growing compendium of exceptional Christian expression”. TDS currently aggregates content from 23 different blogs. Most (if not all) of them are far superior to mine, and I am humbled to have been accepted. From the website:

Only the highest quality Christian writing and expression is aggregated on the pages of The Daily Scribe. All of the writers featured are dedicated activists in their respective fields and faiths. Their’s is a passion which is obvious, mature and tuned - well tuned. Each aggregated member represents quality and honesty.

You can learn more about The Daily Scribe on their “About” page.

You’ll also notice the new badge on the right sidebar, just below the subscription section. Fancy, huh?

I encourage you to head over there and check out some of the other blogs; there’s some really good stuff. If you’re interested in becoming a member of TDS, you can submit your blog here.

The Subversive Blogger Awards

Today I would like to officially announce a brand-spanking-new blog meme called the Subversive Blogger Awards.

American author Henry Miller (1891-1980) once said, “The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is different, is evil, dangerous, or subversive.”

Subversive bloggers are unsatisfied with the status quo, whether in church, politics, economics or any other power-laden institution, and they are searching for (and blogging about) what is new (or a “return to”) - even though it may be labeled as sacrilege, dangerous, or subversive.

To kick off the Subversive Blogger Awards, I am tagging the following five blogs/bloggers:

1. Pomomusings by Adam Walker Cleaveland
2. Mattopia by Matt Cleaver
3. iamjoshbrown by Josh Brown
4. Headphonaught’s Nanolog by Thomas Mathie
5. soupablog by Paul Soupiset

The rules of participation are pretty straightforward:

1. If you are tagged, write a post with links to five subversive blogs
2. Link back to this post on JakeBouma.com so people can easily find the origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the “Subversive Blogger Award” somewhere on your blog (images below) with a link to the post that you wrote

That’s all there is to it. Keep in mind that this award is meant as an encouragement to bloggers to keep doing what they’re already doing - being subversive (however you interpret it). May we never forget that Jesus (and His message) was the original and ultimate subversive.

Here are the images you can use for your blog, courtesy of Josh Brown and Red Cowboy Designs. All I ask is that you download them and upload them to your own server.

Blog on.

Four point oh!

The picture, as you have obviously inferred, represents me turning on the power to JakeBouma.com 4.0 (in reality, I was turning on the power to Milwaukee). If you’re reading this in a feed reader or email, click through and test drive the new design!

First of all, I would like to offer a sincere “thank you” to everyone who participated in the JakeBouma.com 4.0 prize giveaway. All of the winners have been selected and notified via email. Thanks to all of the prize sponsors as well. The prize giveaway obviously couldn’t have happened without them.

The new iteration of JakeBouma.com is the biggest overhaul to the website in nearly two years, when i switched to the previous theme. Before that, the design of JakeBouma.com was disastrous - like watching Ben Affleck try to act.

The design is based on Nathan Rice’s WordPress theme ElegantBlue, which I modified a bit to my liking. Much thought went into choosing this particular design (see below); I actually tried a couple of different themes before settling on this one. In addition to the new theme, many things have been added/enhanced/tidied up. I encourage you to poke around a bit, but here are a few of the modifications and reasonings:

Content is the main reason this blog exists, so I wanted to make reading more user-friendly and intuitive. The wider main column and larger font achieve this.

Navigation of specific pages (Contact, Archives, etc.) is clearer, with tabs at the top of the page. In the previous design, pages were listed in the sidebar.

I added a “Popular Posts” section to the sidebar for two reasons. (1) This makes it easier for first time visitors here to get an overall “feel” of the blog without having to dig through the archives, and (2) because there 400+ posts, I can highlight some oldie-but-goodie posts that might otherwise be utterly forgotten.

The Music page has been totally revamped and the About page has been kind of revamped.

Individual digressions now have a unique permalink page (example), making it easier for myself and others to link to them.

Anyway, it’s really late and I’m really tired. Rather than continuing to list increasingly minor redesign details, I’m going to go to bed. Leave a comment and let me know how you like (or dislike) the new design!

The JakeBouma.com 4.0 prize giveaway

To celebrate the redesign of JakeBouma.com (sneak preview above), I am holding a prize giveaway as a way of saying “thank you” to everyone who reads and supports this blog. Check it:

The prizes:

A one year subscription to Wired Magazine, courtesy of Josh Brown.

Two custom designed blog headers (one per winner), courtesy of Red Cowboy Designs.

Four pounds of raw North Carolina honey (two pounds per winner), courtesy of Jimmy

Four bars of hand-made glycerin honey soap (two per winner), also courtesy of Jimmy

One personalized watercolor sketch from a Moleskine, courtesy of Paul Soupiset. Check out his awesome Moleskine art.

Lifesong by Casting Crowns and Welcome to Diverse City by TobyMac (one per winner), courtesy of Stuart Delony.

A one year subscription to Relevant Magazine.

A copy of Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope by Brian McLaren

A signed copy of Cries from the Castlegate Empire by Evoka

How to enter:
You will receive one entry for subscribing to my website either by RSS or by email. In the first update, you’ll see a secret word at the bottom (e.g., “The secret word is _______”). Just email me the secret word for your entry into the giveaway.

You will receive two entries for blogging on your own website about this giveaway. You can describe the giveaway any way you want to, but you must link back to this post from yours. After you’ve posted, email me the URL so I can verify and add your entries.

To maximize your chances of winning, subscribe to JakeBouma.com by RSS or by email, then email me the secret word, and write a blog post of your own about the giveaway. You can have a maximum of three entries.

Details:
The deadline for entries is Wednesday, October 24th 2007, and the winners will be announced here on Friday, October 26th 2007. Winners will be selected using a random number generator (random.org).

There is a maximum of one prize per person, and prize sponsors are more than welcome to enter the draw (but obviously not to win your own gift). When you submit your entries, feel free to let me know which item(s) you would prefer, and if you’re selected as a winner, I’ll do my best to award you that particular prize. Good luck… and tell your friends!

Blog Action Day - Making effective transportation choices

Today is Blog Action Day, a day when “bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind.” This year’s issue is the environment. Participating bloggers are encouraged to write about any topic relating to environmental issues. Because I have recently been looking for a car, today I’ll be writing about making good choices in regards to transportation. To do so, I will be enlisting the help of a wonderful book called The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices.

The aforementioned book lists the following five things as “priority actions for American consumers” in regards to transportation:

Choose a place to live that reduces the need to drive.
Living closer to work and stores will cut down on your commute, which can significantly affect your overall health and sense of well-being while at the same time benefiting the environment.

Think twice before purchasing another car.
Buying a new car sends an indirect message to auto manufacturers to keep making new cars. “When you picture that new car in your driveway, imagine instead the four tons of carbon and nearly 700 pounds of ordinary pollutants pumped into the atmosphere as a result of its manufacture.” If you do buy a new vehicle, make an effort to ↴

Choose a fuel-efficient, low-polluting car.
Choose a type of car that meets your everyday needs, and then look for the most fuel-efficient and least-polluting car in that class. I have been looking at cars for a couple of months now, and I am looking seriously at the Toyota Yaris. The 2008 model Yaris has the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid car. The idea here is this: do research! Don’t just buy a car on a whim because it looks cool; consider its impact. These sites are a good place to start: FuelEconomy.gov, GreenerCars.org, and UCSUSA.org

Set concrete goals for reducing your travel.
Create a “travel budget”, and try to reduce the amount of driving you do by 20%. Log your daily trips and odometer readings. If you reduce your driving by 20%, you’re lowering your household’s total contribution to global warming and air pollution by about 5%.

Whenever practical, walk, bicycle, or take public transportation.
I am lucky that my church is only about 6 blocks from my house, so walking is an appropriate option. If walking or bicycling aren’t serious options, consider taking the bus or train instead of driving to lessen your impact on the environment.

Another JakeBouma.com redesign is in the works

It’s been just under two years since I last did a complete redesign of JakeBouma.com, and the time has come for another one. The truth is, I am completely fed up/disgusted with the current look of the website, and I’ve been meaning to do a complete overhaul for quite some time.

In addition to overhauling the look and feel of the website, I’ll be adding a few new features and updating a bunch of content (the Music page comes to mind). The redesign will be launching sometime in the next two weeks.

To celebrate the launch of JakeBouma.com 4.0, I will be holding prize giveaway/competition. More details on this will be forthcoming, but I would suggest subscribing to the JakeBouma.com RSS feed or signing up for e-mail updates to keep up to date.

If you have something that you’d like to donate as a prize for the giveaway in return for a link to your site, contact me via the Contact page and let me know what you’d like to offer!

Free entry into a $4000 prize draw

In order to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of his blog, David Airey (along with the help of several sponsors) is giving away over $4000 worth of blogging-related prizes, and all you have to do to enter is to write a blog post about the giveaway. Easy enough, huh?

And if the $4000 in prizes isn’t enough to entice you in itself, here are just a few of the things being given away:

A custom WordPress theme design from Nate Whitehill of Nate Whitehill dot Com.

$60 of books from Amazon courtesy of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.

One year’s hosting from Media Temple and blog setup from John Boardley of I Love Typography.

Logo / blog header design from Jonathan-C. Phillips of Smart Wealthy Rich.

Blog review and email interview published on Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak.

A Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, kindly donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog

$25 via PayPal courtesy of Gayla McCord of Mom Gadget.

There are PLENTY more prizes being given away, so what are you waiting for? Blog about it and get yourself entered into the drawing!

I’m an addict

74%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I laughed out loud at the final question of the quiz: “Are you planning on blogging about your addiction to blogging when you finish this quiz?”

Who are you?

I’ve maintained JakeBouma.com for over two years now, and I’d like to get a better understanding of the demographic of my readers. This blog started out very humbly, and because I am now getting about 1,000 visits per month on average, I’d just like to collect a little hard data.

If you read this blog (even sporadically), please comment on this post with answers to the following questions. Thanks!

· Name:
· Age:
· Profession (if student, write school name):
· Location:
· Why do you read JakeBouma.com?:
· What’s your favorite feature of JakeBouma.com?:
· What is your least favorite / if you could change something, what would you change?:

Don’t be shy… comment away!

Blogging Rosebud

I’m posting from Valentine, Nebraska, just south of Rosebud Indian Reservation. I will be posting often throughout the week over at MyUnderground, and I’ve already posted about the eventful journey here.

I’ll also be taking tons of pictures and uploading them as I go to my Flickr page.

I’m off to a meeting.

JakeBouma.com is 'Pressed and Minted, too.
All content on JakeBouma.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.