subject: What it is and why you need one [print this page] It is hard not to at least notice the word "blog" or "blogging", with the frequency it seems to pop up in subjects ranging from politics to pornstars. Odds are that you have noticed it unless you have been living in a cave for the last four years. But even with that kind of familiarity of the word, few can say exactly what a blog is.
To understand the blog, first of all a little history is in order. The word "blog" is short for the word "weblog". A weblog is a word coined early in the internet age to designate a journal or diary type page mainly consisting of personal thoughts and reflections. Most of the time it is updated frequently and can range in topic from the mundane to the profound. Sound familiar? It should. What it really is when you get rid of the hype is the good old fashioned diary which has been with us almost as long as language itself.
How long have "blogs" been with us? Well, one of the first instances could easily be ascribed to a work called "Kakheperresenb's Complaint", written by none other than the egyptian scribe Kakheperresenb himself. (Please don't try to pronounce the name. You WILL get a headache. We will call him "K" from this point forward.) "K" made one of the first recordable blog entries in history circa 2000 BC. Of course "K" didn't have the resources and technology we did today and his audience was probably limited considering the fact that most of the population was illiterate.
"K" left with us the memorable phrase, "'Would I had phrases that are not known, utterances that are strange, in new language that has not been used, free from repetition, not an utterance which men of old have spoken.'' Obviously even then people with a blog were STILL trying to figure out what to write!
But no seriously, the blog IS the way to reach fame and fortune and make a little money on the side. Just ask Darren Rowse, whose most recent (August 2005) income total from Adsense was a little over $16,000! Yeah, that WAS three zeroes behind that 6. Not bad for a guy writing his own comments and ramblings about everything from sports shoes to bad movies. Of course Darren went so far as to even take a course in college on "Entrepeunerial Blogging". Needless to say he must have paid attention.
But you need not take a course to have a good blog that generates hits. Blogger extroidinairre Chris Wright started his by simply posting job openings for engineers which he came across during his own job search. Word got around and before long he realized his hit count was going up and up and up You get the picture. If you write something interesting that people need to know they WILL come to you invited or not. As Chris's own story perfectly illustrates.
