A Chat With Einstein

English: Albert Einstein Français : Portrait d'Albert Einstein (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dr Einstein also studied time in great logical detail. He could explain complex theories to educated and uneducated.  He gave this explanation to his secretary to give reporters and laypersons that were inquiring to the theory of relativity.

"A man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute.  He sits on a hot stove for a minute, it's longer than an hour.  That is relativity."

A fictitious clever interview

Me:  Dr Einstein,  You have been very famous.  If you could do it all over again would you?

Dr Einstein: "If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher.  I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances."

Me:  I can definitely sympathize with the amount of burden your work must place on you.  I can understand that unfortunately ignorance is bliss, and even I sometimes wish that I could live as simple a life as a dog.  Let us say that I wanted to be successful?  What words can you offer me?

Dr Einstein: "If A is a success in life, then A equals X plus Z. Work is X; Y is play; and Z is keeping your mouth shut."

Me: I am really glad to see that play is a critical part of the equation to success, but the Z troubles me.  I suppose there is more discretion in your line of work.

Dr Einstein: "If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare I am a citizen of the world.  Should my theory prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare I am a Jew."

Me:  Wow, you have definitely have made an impact on the world.  I suppose that the theory of relativity is also related to relationships. Perhaps politics is actually the theory of relativity applied to reality.  Why is it that when the mind of a man has stretched so far as to discover the structure of the atom we have been unable to devise the political means to keep the atom from destroying us?

Dr Einstein: "That is simple, my friend.  It is because politics is more difficult than physics."

Me: Haha.. you have a good sense of humor.  So reality is related to relativity how?

Dr Einstein: As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."

Me:  It would seem that you are one of the smartest guys we know.  Why is your passion so great for math, and not for politics?

Dr Einstein: "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."

Me: It is good to have a light conversation with you.

Dr Einstein: "For the rest of my life I will reflect on what light is."

Me:  I am currently writing an article on filtering out what we take into our minds.  The computer terminology GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out).  Do you have anything to contribute to this?

Dr Einstein: "It is the theory which decides what we can observe."

Me: That is exactly what I am talking about.  For instance, if we believe in something called a conspiracy theory then we will find facts to support our theory.

Dr Einstein: "Man has an intense desire for assured knowledge."

Me:  That is the truth!  But we also must make sure than we are looking in the right places.  There is so much information out on the internet we literally can learn whatever we want, and if we want to believe in aliens there is so much stuff online we could positively convince ourselves anything is true.

Dr Einstein: "Given the millions of billions of earth-like planets, life elsewhere in the universe, without a doubt, does exist.  In the vastness of the universe we are not alone."

Me: Personally I have never seen any.  I am also aware than the eyes believe themselves, but the ears believe others.  I can only take your word for it.

Dr Einstein: "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it.  One should earn one's living by work of which one is sure one is capable.  Only when we do not have to be accountable to anybody can we find joy in scientific endeavor."

Me: It is true that when one pays you for your work you are obligated to please them with the results. I find that my recreational writings are more enjoyable to me than projects I endure at work.  Writing is easier for me than coding, but also allows me to express my creative side. I like to remain hopeful that science has our best interest in mind.

Dr Einstein: "Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken."

Me:  Well you really crushed my optimism there pal. I really wish I could grasp the concept of your equations better, but math is not my strongest suite.

Dr Einstein: "Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.

Me:  I guess they would be..

Dr Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Me:  Now I can not help but be reminded of Zen philosophy.

Dr Einstein:"If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

Me:  It is fascinating how you have found so much truth in your quest for knowledge and yet still value the whole.

Dr Einstein: "It would be possible to describe absolutely everything scientifically, but it would make no sense.  It would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure."

Me:  I agree..

Dr Einstein: "But, on the other hand, every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with out modest powers must feel humble."

Me: This has been a fascinating interview, and we are about out of time.  Do you have any last words to leave us with today?

Dr Einstein: "No path leads from a knowledge of that which is to that which should be."

Me:  Thank you for your imaginary time Dr Einstein.  Your final thoughts really have me thinking about my blog.  Path o Zen.  We make choices all the time based on the knowledge we have.  What if what we thought was fact was in fact not.  What if they are not relevant?

"It is wise for a fool to learn the quotes of wise men."

Sources: The Buddhist Blog, Aliens the Truth, Albert Einstein Quotes, 

Information, Perception, and the Internet

GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out

Check it out on Wikipedia Here

Cool techie looking thing on the top
of a building in downtown San Diego.

I learned working with software about GIGO. Garbage In Garbage Out. I learned that whatever you put into a computer will determine the results.

We have a tendency to search out things out of curiosity and fantasy.  It started when we were children when we wanted to touch the bright fire. I have seen my nephew burn his finger on a flame.  He was totally caught off guard, and surprised.

When we are conscious about what we put into our minds then we can control the outcome.  Just as when we eat junk food.  It may feel good today, but we pay for it tomorrow.

Endless Information

Zen Garden in the middle of the Oahu Intl Airport.
Zen in the midst of chaos.

You can find anything you ever wanted to read about on the internet. When I first got on the internet in 1997 I remember thinking that things would never be the same again.  People could search an endless collection of information and learn anything they could want.  I was fascinated that you could search entire databases of micro-films that you would previously have to check out at a library, and entire shelves of books were now at a fingers touch away.

If you wanted to do just about anything in the world you could gain the know-how with a few hours of hard study and google at your fingertips.   When I was in college I was afraid everyone would turn into crazed sex perverts when I learned that more than half of e-commerce revenues had come from the online pornography business at that time.

I was relieved to see that soon mainstream entertainment would change this dreary statistic.   Now there is so much money flowing across the network I don't know where to look to find that statistic they put in my textbook in 2002.

You can not hide by turning your computer off.

Some people are afraid of their online identity revealing too much about them. There are many articles about all sorts of agencies collecting, mining, selling, and analyzing our every move.  People are afraid of getting on Facebook that have absolutely nothing to hide from anyone.You can let everyone else talk about you on the internet, or you can be a part of it yourself.  There is no way to avoid it.  Just because you don't have a Facebook account doesn't mean someone isn't posting a picture of you anyway.  Illusions of anonymity are futile.  Your name is going to be in someones computer somewhere, or a traffic cam, web cam, phone cam, drone cam, and on and on.

Being a part of the internet is simply being aware of your online identity. You may not access your online banking, but it is online 24/7 whether or not you do.

Relevance and Interpretation

Everyone of us can remember something different than we do now.  As a child I believed it was a perfectly innocent arrangement on Three's Company for a single man to live with two professional women.  I never caught the sexual jokes and innuendoes. I did not understand why this man would think this way toward these women and it made no sense to me in my third grade mind. I did not understand the prejudices that caused Jack Tripper to have to pretend to be gay around the landlord. I focused instead on the fact that Jack made the girls laugh, and everyone looked happy for the camera.

It was the feeling I liked when I watched the show.  Children will not be swayed toward violence by violent TV.  They may just as easily sway far away from it.

The Data Miners

The seal of the U.S. National Security Agency. The first use was in September 1966, replacing an older seal which was used briefly. For more information, see here and here. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I used to worry about those that have access to so much data.  Working in IT I have learned that you can find anything you put into a search. The information that has to be filtered to protect our country would drive any one man insane.  You are looking for keywords that would threaten people and trying to determine the rants from real threats.  The people that are looking for this information believe they are keeping us all safe.

The problem is that we are emotional creatures,  and often people say whatever they want on the phone without discretion. People that are absolutely not a threat, and not a harm to anyone but themselves.  From time to time people will believe they have figured out why everything sucks for all of us and say things that they know are hot air, but a computer doesn't.

This is a brand new system to keep us safe, but there is no way to know for sure what would have happened without this new measure of security.

The government investigates more potential threats than you will ever be aware of. There are going to be bugs, it was made by men.  There are going to be mistakes as well, but unless it is harming humanity we would dare not judge it.

Value of Information

As a young business student I did not understand how data was worth so much money.  I couldn't make the connection at the time.

Wouldn't this picture be more valuable with additional information?
It is a mine entrance at Black Diamond Mine in the East Bay Area. 

Information is the most valuable thing we have. Information wins wars, protects lives, shines light on the guilty and spreads the justice to all.  It is the neurons of society that connect every one of us to each other. Information could make you rich, just the slightest bit applied with the right leverage.

This is how riches are gained, governments exist, and I know enough to type this article.  I learned to type because of information passed down to me through Mavis Beacon (early typing software). Prior to that I could just hunt and peck at the keyboard.  That knowledge with practice allows me to somewhat coherently make some sort of sense when I write.

Information like atomic energy can be used for great good, or it could cause chaos. It is important to know how data can be used to use it best. 

This is the story I read.

Information Overload

In school I read a story about a woman who got a radio that picked up conversations of everyone in her apartment building.  She got curious and so involved it drove her mad. When I work in IT I purposefully ignore personal information.  I do not want to know everything about everybody.  I have to concentrate on me and those I love. There is no sense in teasing the curiosity of snooping. If you do not trust someone looking for targeted information on them will feed the distrust. It is only you that will suffer from jealousy.

Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretense of keeping it alive.  ~Havelock Ellis, On Life and Sex: Essays of Love and Virtue, 1937

"If you suspect a man do not employ him, if you employ him do not suspect him." ~ Chinese Proverb

Tormenting Yourself with Information

This was my perception of this sign on the BART.

It is not hard to see how someone can easily get hooked into their own worst fears online.  Lets say you are on Youtube and are fascinated with comets.  Now you see a video that claims Comet ISON is actually going to crash into earth and kill us all. You watch that video and a series of others all with very thought out and convincing arguments.

At this point you log out of Youtube and try to get the negative crazy ideas out of your head.  The next morning when you log back in to Youtube there are now 10 more videos about comet ISON because Youtube saw you got interested in it.

Now it is three months down the road and Youtube thinks they know you.  They provide lots of sensational videos for you to look at.  Now you are sure the world is going to end so you start participating in discussions that will always lead to losing $$$.  Whether it is buying iodine tablets to survive radiation poisoning, or a donation to a nobel cause.  If you do not purchase anything you will be left to watch the propaganda over and over until you become depressed.

When you see it in your front yard that is news, when you see it online it is someones perception.

This is when you should take a look at the number of visitors your videos are getting. If there are only
30 views and it came up on your front Youtube page you will realize that you are one of the very few that watched it.  Try to break out and search for whats popular.  What do most people believe?  What do the experts think?  And ALWAYS consider the source.

Be aware of a man of one book. ~ English Proverb

Our Opinions Change With New Input

Enlightenment is knowing ourselves.. Wisdom is knowing others. 

As we grow in the way that we best benefit others we benefit ourselves.  Unless we want to live far out in the boonies in a cave, hunt for our food with stones, and rub sticks together for our heat we are going to benefit from the internet.

As we live our lives we will learn what makes us comfortable.  This will change as over time.  You may like horror movies and later on prefer thrillers. What we put into our body and mind is very important to be aware of.

Technology is advancing quickly and information can be found faster than ever.  Do not overburden yourself with information that does not pertain to you.  Concentrate on finding information relevant to you and you will find it benefits you.  Maybe not today, maybe tomorrow. 

Too Little Time

Looking up at my office building.

Sometimes you just don't have the time you need to complete the projects you would like.

We must always evaluate ourselves to make sure we are accomplishing our goals. For several years I have been putting off writing articles about a number of very interesting subjects in leu of working on web application development.

How much time do you actually have?

Time management is something that constantly needs to be guarded among aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals. You may be able to do a fantastic job on a project, but the time it will take you to get certain projects done can make your productivity appear slow.

During the times I was attempting to start my own business I would work very long hours on endless projects that I determined were critical to the operation of the business. I realized I would need more time quickly. Traveling around to clients would steal away from my development time.

The first thing to go when you are looking for more time is sleep. You can eat at your desk, and sometimes even work on your commute, but pure unadulterated time comes during those hours you would normally be resting. These are quiet times to work and enable you to dive right into your projects without interruptions. While it is hardly an issue to steal time from yourself in this way, it is hardly sustainable. You will burn out your brain and have a hard time developing sentences by the end of the week.

Our time is obviously limited by the hours of the day. I learned a very valuable lesson about business and synergy. You cannot start a business entity by yourself, and it would be hard even with a dedicated team. Unless you have the time to do what you do well and still have time to sell it to others you will find that most businesses are off limits to individuals anymore.

Using Your Time Wisely

It is not the length of anything that determines quality.  We also don't always do what we want to do.  Sometimes we must do things that we would rather instinctively not do.  In these times it is best to try to enjoy what we have to do to keep our heads up. 

Whatever your specialty or job is there are aspects of it you hate and those you love.  You will never get away from the things you hate doing, so you might as well learn to enjoy them. 

Given enough time and materials each of us could build our own building.  Buildings go up in a matter of months however.  There are teams of people that swarm in to build a structure.  Each individual does something they have acquired skills doing. They do not worry about learning all the aspects to building a structure because they do not need to.  

Technology is fast becoming the new engineering for information management. Most applications have many different aspects to them.  Not all of them can be done by one individual. Somebody that thinks creatively cannot be counted on for logical right brain thinking such as math, and vice versa.  It is important that hiring managers hire the right person for the right job.  

Delegation and Efficiency

Delegation is the act of assigning responsibility to individuals.  This can be done at random as is a common practice among many managers. They have a staff of individuals and assign task randomly based on how empty the workers plate is. 

We all know our limitations better than others do.  We know whether we enjoy math or not.  Generally we learn about ourselves as we grow older and know what we have become good at and what we suck at.  I can do far more things than I enjoy doing.  My resume list all the things I know how to do, but when you are hired for the less enjoyable things you listed on your resume you are setting yourself up for either a challenge, or depression. 

Ideas to manage your time better

• Do more of what you enjoy doing, and do well.  Master the things you are successful at. 
• Instead of listing everything you can do on a resume, list what you want to do.  Tell them you are not good at the other stuff, and let the hungry man figure it out. 
• Take note of how you spend your time.  Head scratching doesn't do anything. 
• Balance - Remember to use your right brain (logic) and left brain (creativity) alternatively. Too much logic will result in apathy, too much creativity will result in despair. 
• Delegation.  Find out what people do well, and enjoy doing.  Give them more of this sort of work, you will see an increase in productivity and happier employees.

The real truth is that none of us really actually knows what we will be doing tomorrow.  Soon after writing this article my sister went in for emergency surgery and suddenly what I thought I would be doing was nothing like what I was actually doing.  You have to accept change when it happens.  

"Resistance to what is, is the root of all suffering." 

Here is an interesting article from a Buddhist view about suffering. 

Time management is the subject of endless writing. It is our own most valuable possession.  Everything we do is because we love something or some cause.  We go to work to earn money to feed our families and ourselves.  In that respect I believe that everything we see and is made by men was created because men love something.  
Sometimes we overlook such topics until we wonder where all our time went.  There are many great ideas regarding this concept. If you have any wisdom to share about time management please comment below. 

Keeping it Simple - Best Blog System

Wordpress, Technorati, GBC stickers (Photo credit: Titanas)

Finding the Best Blogging System

This is a journey that I am still on.  I have changed blogging platforms several times and have enjoyed the benefits of each one. If you trust me and simply want the best blogging solution then just scroll to the bottom.  For those of you that may need a different solution than me it would benefit you to read on.

There are millions of CMS systems out there, and it is possible to build your own.  I like feature rich blogs that are capable, reliable, easy to use, and efficient. I also like the ability to control all styling and content

Goals for my personal Blog

• Efficient
• Social media features (share, comment, interact)
• Ability to easily add photos and videos
• Reliability
• Low Maintenance (Time issue)
• Own domain (Nerd)
• No distractions -  (minimized forced copyright notices, distractions, and overall cleanliness and appearance. 

... a migration story.

I chose to go with a self hosted version of Wordpress. Wordpress.org provides you with the application to install on your own hosting account for free.  

With many of the features of their own blogging service (aka Wordpress.com), it is a full featured blogging system with many more features that you can ever imagine.  You can install third party plug ins, and modules to accomplish just about anything you want to on your blog.

Some of the features that sold me on Wordpress.org were.

•  Cheap (free software on my own hosting account.)
•  Easy to update. (Excellent mobile app for iPhone to create post from anywhere with pictures.)
•  Location Detection (Every time I would make a post it would record the location I posted from.)
•  Flexible design options. (You can create a home page to look exactly how you imagine it, plus thousands of third party themes. )
• No Coding Necessary (Since there is a module for just about anything you will rarely have to mess with code.)
• Beautiful Interface (From their full screen editor to their dashboard and stats, everything is easy to use and looks amazing.)

I used a self hosted Wordpress site for about 2 years.  There were several nuisances that I must inform you of if you decide to go this route.

Cons...

You will get spam comments almost everyday.  This is ok if you want back links to web sites, but it did not build any traffic to my site and created lots of work to delete them. One of my sites received over 5,000 comments in three months.  In order to delete them I had to delete the entries from the database or spend hours deleting them 50 at a time. 

There is a service you can add to prevent the spam comments, but it cost $5 a month.  I have seen a few other plug ins that were free, but I never tested them. 

Tedious updating. Wordpress does a remarkable job of providing you with updates.  Your dashboard will light up when there are updates to install every few weeks.  Of course any time you update the installation you will most likely have to test all your plug ins to make sure they work too. If the automatic update does not work you will have to put off writing that new blog entry and open your ftp program and get to work. I have spent as much as 8 hours updating the software then resolving plugin issues that resulted from the update.  Make sure you back up regularly! If you break your site or corrupt your database you will need to reload your web site, or start again from scratch.

Wordpress as a Service

Since I really enjoyed using Wordpress most of the time, and to resolve the update issues above I looked into Wordpress.com. You can start a blog right away for free and they only charge for individual services.

As your site grows in visitors they have elite memberships and plans you can upgrade to.  They do an amazing job at providing a well updated blog service on fast servers.  As a blog member you will be part of the Wordpress community and receive blog visits regularly from the community. Be prepared to spend some money if you go with this service though.  I would recommend starting with another service when you first get started blogging.  Wordpress.com is like Apple is to PC. More expensive, but you do get what you pay for.

Reasons I chose not to go with Wordpress.com

• In order to map your own domain to your site (i.e. tommysblog.com) you have to pay $12 per year.
• Their basic starter package is $99 per year.
• You cannot advertise on your site without splitting the revenue 50/50 on a free site and must apply with them to run ads.
• Their ping times were slower than Typepad, faster than GoDaddy, and comparable to Google.
• With so many options I was looking for a platform that would allow me to map domains for free, and concentrate on what I love to do. Write.

With exactly what I was looking for in mind I began to look for a service that would meet all of my needs.

• More time writing and less time maintaining.
• Fixed expense that is easy to predict.
• SEO compatible.
• Simple.
• Fast.
• Efficient.

TypePad

That is when I found Typepad.  I started looking at the blogs I follow and noticed a number of them were using TypePad.  I had not heard of them before, and was hesitant to sign up with them.  Luckily they will give you a 14 day free trial, before you pay $15 a month.  I tested their service and am very happy to have found them as a blogging platform.

Reasons I Chose TypePad

• Easy to use.
• Fast servers.
• SEO compliant.
• They maintain the software.
• No need to mess with code to make a great blog.
• Easy to map domains to your site using CNAME Alias on your domain account.
• No hidden charges.
• As many blogs as you wish.
• You can add authors to your blogs without confusing them with too many options.
• Junior authors cannot modify the settings, or design of the site.

Once I chose to go with TypePad I began the chore of porting over my blogs from my self-hosted Wordpress site.  Of course, such an operation could not possibly be expected to go thoroughly smooth, and I did run into several issues.  I will say though that it was much easier than some migration jobs I have had to do and I am confident that anyone with limited coding experience could figure it out. 

TypePad is reliable, and hassle free blogging at its simplest. I would definitely recommend them as a stable blogging platform.  

Further Adventures in Blogging.

On my quest to find the perfect blogging solution for me I abandoned TypePad and re-visited a number of solutions including Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, and Piwigo. 

Then I was introduced to Coldfusion.  I began working as a Coldfusion developer and embraced the technologies I was learning.  Coldfusion is an interesting scenic route in programming.  There are features that are made easier by Coldfusion such as the manipulation of Pdfs, but others that will turn into an ugly spaghetti mess faster than you can move to the next project.  

For Blogging there are very limited options for a solid blogging platform.  I tested Mura, BlogCFC, Mango, Teapot, and Coldbox. 

• Mura - Works well most of the time, however it did not fit my taste. 
• BlogCFC - Works, but limited features and plugins compared to other CMS.
• Mango -  I thought I would love Mango, but some nuances made me miss Wordpress. 
• Teapot - Honestly this was the best system for me to learn the workings of Coldfusion.  Teapot has virtually no features but the programming code is clean and simple.  There is lots of room for developer improvement and is an excellent empty foundation for building your own Blog in Coldfusion. 

The absolute best Coldfusion blogging system was ContentBox by Luis Majano.  Luis is the creator of ColdBox platform on top of which ContentBox was created.  Luis is a very active developer and excited about his projects. You can reach him and he  is always enthusiastic to share his passion for coding and salsa dancing.  Until recently Luis used Wordpress for his personal blog and is now using his very own ContentBox.
ContentBox is still in its growing stage and has several bugs, but with Wordpress setting the standard ContentBox is well on it's way to becoming a solid secure platform.  

Adobe Business Catalyst.

Since I work with adobe products on a daily basis I decided to take a look at what Adobe had to offer for hosting. 

I found they have an outstanding software as a service site they refer to as Adobe Business Catalyst. Adobe allows you to start with one of their own professionally designed templates, or create your own using virtually any of the Adobe Creative Suite Products. 

With ABC you will never have to mess with the databases, coding, or anything you do not like to do.  If your dream is to start an e-commerce site, and you care not about jQuery plugins, coding, or updating this is your option. 

• Cons: ABC is very expensive compared to other hosting options, however if all you need is a basic blog then you can get the Marketing package for $18 a month and use products like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Muse, and Animate to create stunning visual appearance to your page.
• Pros:  They take care of updating, coding, and testing new features so you can concentrate on your projects. 

My Final Choice.

I am a full time developer so I do not have a lot of time to do all the things I would like to do.  Being a developer has hindered my development in writing because I am always trying to create a better vessel to carry the information in.  

My experience with each and every one of the systems above has given me plenty of experience in understanding various structures of organizing and transmitting your information. Technology is growing at a speed that no single person can keep up with.  

I created a blogger account back in 2008 and skipped over them in lieu of chasing more features.  Google has done a fantastic job creating a simple, reliable, non-coding blogging platform that allows me to concentrate on writing. Since Google also owns Picassa, I can add my photos through virtually any device and any location. I can display additional information such as photo locations, and easily embed albums to entries.  

For me this is the absolute best blogging platform. 

Reasons Blogger is my solution.

• Efficiency - No coding, updating, or other maintenance.. You will never be bothered with a version number and broken plugins cause the original developer never fixed it. Thanks Google!
• SEO - Google is focused on getting your information to those looking for it. They already have the social media features such as Facebook, and Google+ integration built in. 
• Management - Since existing social media accounts are used to interact with your site there is no need for me to keep records of my readers data.  I don't need your personal information, just your interaction. 
• Mobility - You can post via email, the mobile blogger app, and many other blogging clients such as LiveWriter, MacJournal, and MarsEdit. 
• Reliability - Content I posted in 2008 was virtually untouched and worked just as I did when I originally posted it.  (Try loading Wordpress with plugins and watch it deteriorate over time. )
• Extendability - Can seamlessly snap into an iframe in another website. You can use <b:if></b:> tags in the template for controlling which sections appear on what pages, device, or based on another variable. Template is a single HTML file making navigation a breeze to learn (don't let the 2000 lines of code scare you, it is small compared to most CMS templates. 

Ties in with my other Google subaccounts.. Gmail, Youtube, Picassa, and Google+. 

Since everyone is looking for something different I cannot tell you what system would be best for your application.  I have thought all the above were the solution for me at one point.  You cannot go wrong testing any of the above platforms and the experience will only help you find what your truly looking for. 

If you have found a great solution for blogging and would like to share it please leave it in the comments for our readers. Or if you have any updated information that would be useful.  Everything changes.  I can remember thinking Blogger charged for hosting, but perhaps that has changed too cause it is free now. 

What is Pathozen?

Zen concepts have developed from many schools in different countries.
Applying zen principles to my life I live my own path.

It is an idea that came to me June of 2012. I was trying to figure out a theme for a web portfolio. During this time my life was less than fruitful due to many failed attempts at starting a business, and I had worked myself into a frenzy too many times to find any pleasure in writing code anymore.  I decided that this would be a path of zen, meaning that regardless of the outcome I would work on it when I wanted to, and see what it becomes.

Pathozen.com has changed many times since it's inception as an idea. I sometimes write random articles, but they are always about my experiences, or path.  Sometimes I go about things Zen and sometimes not, but that is a good goal.  Zen is not some sort of excitement, but concentration on your everyday activities.  It is practicing everything.  It is about self improvement and discipline.

 Zen is the Zen that you seek.  What is Zen for one person may not be for another, and I have had little formal training in Zen and do not claim to be a master.  I am a student like everyone else. This blog is a reflection of my path.

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked. Where do you want to go? responded the Cheshire cat.I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

The beautiful thing about the internet is that what you write just sits there until someone seeks it.  Many of the things I blog about are things I would never bother my friends and family with.  Hours of thought organized into articles.  Writing is my outlet.  My blog is my outlet.   

Zen

"Before enlightenment
chop wood - carry water,
after enlightenment
chop wood - carry water"

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
~ Taoist Proverb