September 8, 2005
Starting a Blog
This is my first post on my new blog. The blog is a sort of present I made to myself for my 40th birthday. Which is today.
I know I could have use any existing blog software or (even easier) a blog hosting service for free. But having played with web technologies for so much time, and having to build a small blog for a client, I decided to go ahead and roll out my own blog. What you see is the (unfinished) result of a couple of days of work. I'll get back later describing the technologies behind this blog, for now suffice to say it runs on a Debian Linux box, uses servers written in Delphi and compiled with Kylix, and is based on an XML document architecture.
What else? I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about, but I'll certainly include Delphi stuff, XML, web development, .NET, Linux, open source software, and anything else technically oriented. I know I'll have to resist posting about politics and related issues, but I'll try to do my best.
And in case you don't know me, I'm the author of 8 Mastering Delphi books published around the world (the last was released a few weeks ago), an advanced Delphi tome (Delphi Developer's Handbook), three C++ books, online books (more on those another time), and many articles and conference papers. You can find out more on my "regular" web site, www.marcocantu.com. I'm also the proud recipient of the Spirit of Delphi award.
This is all for now. Not much for a first post... but I'll need to get back to get the feedback portion working. If you want to talk back to me for now you'll have to use my regular newsgroups on delphi.newswhat.com. See you soon.
11 Comments
Starting a Blog
Hi Marco, Congratulations with your birthday and your blog. I wasn't able to leave a comment using IE6, but I could leave one just fine using Firefox. Question: will you make the source code for your weblog available as well? Perhaps as part of bonus chapters for your new book? (as you perhaps know, my ECO 2 / ASP.NET weblog project can be downloaded as part of my articles for Bitwise Magazine). Talking about your book: Mastering Delphi 2005 is a huge volume again - and it looks better than ever! Groetjes, Bob Swart (www.drbob42.com/blog)Comment by Bob Swart [http://www.drbob42.com/blog] on September 9, 21:45
Starting a Blog
Happy birthday, Marco!! Your blog site is pretty cool! Congratulations!! Btw, How do you prevent the usual comment-spam? Is it on your ToDo list or has it already been taken care!? Thanks, SarahComment by Sarah [] on September 9, 23:07
Starting a Blog
Happy Birthday, Marco! I just turned 39... Somehow I don't feel quite as old now ;-)... And congrats on another excellent book. Just got my copy a couple weeks ago. Finally, welcome to the blogsphere! Allen.Comment by Allen Bauer [http://blogs.borland.com/abauer] on September 9, 23:38
Starting a Blog
You mispelled the word "syndication" in the link for the RSS feed. You have it spelled "syndacation" with an 'a' instead of an 'i'. Time to change editors :)Comment by Matt Lee [] on September 10, 00:07
Assorted replies...
Bob, I'll check the IE problems ASAP. Mozilla is my default browser, and I did check the site with IE but not everything. As for the source, the site is based on XSLT an XML-based script. The core servers, including the script processor, are closed-source for now. Sarah, I'm reducing comment spam by having a moderated forum. The drawback is I have to look at it often. I also belive that using a custom site prevents automatic engines to fill in the fields (but I might be too optimistic on this). Allen, thanks. You know, I still haven't got the author copies of my own book! Matt, thanks for the correction. I'll fix it immediately.Comment by Marco Cantù [http://www.marcocantu.com] on September 10, 00:28
Starting a Blog
Happy birthday to you, Mr.Cantu. Your book <<Mastering Delphi 5>> is my first Delphi book, and really helped me a lot. Even now I still have this book on my bookshelf. Glad to see you started blog, looks good.Comment by Alex Seaver on September 10, 11:00
Starting a Blog
I'll be watching with interest. How about sorting your blog in reverse date order, newest at top.Comment by Jason Chapman [http://www.jac2.co.uk] on September 10, 12:14
Starting a Blog
Congrats and Happy Birthday...and what a great way to celebrate! I just wanted to support the other requests that you make your code available, or at least write a blog that would help those of us who do not know how to do one get started! Your books have taught me almost all I know about programming and Delphi so I know any instruction you are able to give on a project like this would be great!Comment by Robert Meek [http://www.TangentalsDesign.com] on September 10, 16:36
Starting a Blog
I'm late, of course, but happy birthday, nonetheless. Mine is October 12th (38 years). Quite a lot from the times of Turbo Pascal 1 and CP/M machines...Comment by Luis C.M. on October 1, 10:49
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Starting a Blog
Comment by Craig Stuntz [http://blogs.teamb.com/craigstuntz/] on September 9, 20:10