I have now settled into a fixed style of blogging. Monday to Friday, there is the Tech Talk on a specific theme. At times, the series carries on for more than a week. On weekdays, I publish five additional posts which are mostly snippets of things I found interesting. On Saturdays, there are three more such posts while on Sundays, there are two. So, in a week, there are thirty blog posts on various topics mostly related to technology along with five Tech Talk columns. This routine has remained largely unchanged over the past year or so.
The Tech Talks are written in a continuous sitting on the weekend (mostly Sunday mornings). I keep a few topics on hand, but it is only when I sit in front of the computer and there is the pressure of a deadline that the real topic emerges! After writing out the Tech Talk, I send it to my colleague, Atanu Dey, for a language review in part because I dont like reading what I have written again! Atanu runs an editors eye on the writing and comes back with corrections and suggestions, which I then incorporate into the Tech Talks.
I create most of the other blog posts in advance so that I am not scurrying around in the morning trying to find items to publish! I spend time reading almost daily, and whenever I come across something interesting which Id like to remember and share, I put it as part of the blog. At any given time, I have a dozen or so blog posts in draft mode waiting to be published. Every morning, the decision is mostly about picking a section of those posts to be published on the blog.
This may not be blogging in the classical sense of the which is writing out ones thoughts. I tend to do that in my Tech Talks like this one. The discipline of reading and blogging helps me build and extend my mental maps of the world of technology. Comments from readers help embellish this process.
This has meant a significant time commitment from me considering that I have a full-time business to manage in Netcore, and investments in nine other companies, at least a few of which require some attention at any point in time. The reading-blogging combo has helped me a lot in putting together a set of ideas for the future. Many of my initiatives dont work out, but there are learnings which I use for the next set. I am willing to make big bets on the future (mobile internet, utility computing, event web, rich content over broadband and mobile, mobile payments, among others), and prepared for failure not necessarily of the idea, but of the venture.
Over the past year, the time available to me has reduced because of Abhisheks arrival into my life. I have had to give up a few things. But my commitment to blogging has remained unchanged.
Tomorrow: MyToday
TECH TALK Four Blog Years+T
