I'm taken to thinking about this 'free ranging ' idea that Leigh and I have been bouncing around with for what seems years.....true, I've clung to the belief that as a moderate free ranger that I could maintain a state of presence with minimal input.
Wrong.
Essentially free ranging is the concept whereby an avid blogger for instance uses a 'free' to the web service or product to meet their publishing or maybe social connection needs. Leigh and I have constantly picked on about the value of utilising such seemingly free services particularly in light of the constant costs and upkeep associated with say a dedicated URL and a control panel to implement things that are accessible online.
We all know that the free bit is highly questionable, risky, un-chartered, transitory.....and hence my obsession till now with the naming game.
I'm of the firm opinion that a URL or domain name that closely aligns a readers memory of you to a virtual location is of some value in aiding ( and perhaps abetting) that readers access to a smorgasbord of creations, interaction and contact. Of course, the domain costs money and in Australia you can pay upwards of $10 AUD per year per domain. That means if your doing a little consultancy work and your managing other Client's domains that such a cost becomes a standard line item.....and on costs to maintain it.
Of more interest is the idea that by having a domain, it then opens up possibilities to redirect it and perhaps even mask the URL forwarding address to the online viewer / reader / visitor. So that said, having a domain could well be about face-value ....well, value. An organisation of course wants to marry it's brand identity and it's business name to the URL even though it's common knowledge that many a successful business run websites that bear little resemblance to the original brand identity....and in many cases the website name may have nothing of any semblance to the true operating entity which otherwise pulls the purse strings.
Back to free ranging. An example is my own domain - http://www.alexanderhayes.com....currently in a state of flux as I transgress yet again and build another virtual castle in which to stow my rambling chattels.
I've had the domain name since 1998 and in many cases it's proven very handy for others ( and myself ) to know that despite the online myriad of places and space I frequent that there is a tried and constant crossroads for my contact details, what I'm up to and maybe even something of interest to follow up. It costs me $10 AUD a year to point people to a web presence that is the crossroads to everything despite my contact details changing, job or employment changes, home living changes, partner / wife changing etc. etc.
Till the start of last year I had paid anything up to $250 AUD a year to have my own Wordpress install with access to a Fantastico cPanel arrangement where I could start countless blogs, Moodle installs and wiki's which all required upkeep, updating, vigilance, spam plugin protection etc. Now that's where I'm heading ...the real costs of hosted and costly web presence.
Wordpress for instance requires constant updating and so do it's plugins. Leave them for a while and your inviting the world into your space to hack and spam it. Costly...time cost. Likewise, like others with a creative affliction I'm constantly changing the theme, look and functionality of my websites....more out of a desire for an aesthetic that people find appealing. Essentially. a total and utter waste of time. Look at this theme for instance....does it look like I took three nights to hack a Blogger template to within a millimetre of it's life ?
So....free ranging and conversely paid hosted web presence has it's upside and it's downsides and from 15 years of experience here is what I've discovered.
Upside ( versus ) downside as musings and self questioning which at this late hour will probably help.
- I paid to register a domain name - what happens if I dont pay ? Obviously, free ranging allows me to forget about domains if I wish.....maybe I can find a free domain registrar...like hell.
- Who is "admin" at the free ranging side ? Obviously the only help I'm going to get is from a machine.
- Upgrades.....I can choose to spend hours upon countless and constant friggin hours worrying if my install is correctly cron jobbed and vigilantly protected
- Can I hack the theme....oh...so I can ? Maybe that means I could also actually use widgets AND HTML without the worry of losing yet another skill....
- Ok....so who really offers free online storage....hmmm.......yes those who also offer free proximal advertisements and most likely drill my data to within an inch of it's valid life
- It's disappeared.....or perhaps that which I want to dissipate never actually does....like a FB account.
- Is it free or is it a trial to entice me...get me interested.....reliant......dependent and then pounce.
- Will it stay alive ? Both ways.....what matters most...will it remain ? Can I depend on it ?
- Does it look good ....or is it to darned hard to hide the foundations....
- Will it matter if I dont update, pay my bills or get sick and give up trying to stay ahead...
And so, I'm taking the plunge if only partially.
Here's my ten point plan for the next decade or two.
- Keep the domain name as I can live with the cost and the stigma ( from hard core free rangers )
- Free range my hosting because Google I love you and you know all of my indiscretions.....just don't murder me with them.
- I'll be consolidating.....that which represents projects as an employee that require me to be responsible for constantly checking and rechecking spam be gone......toe the line. Leigh was right...who needs a organisational blog site ( likely to die as soon as you leave )
- Strip it down....blog, keep a career check page, a CV, AV and a few more pages that allow me the freedom to delete more than I create.....I've truly valued the free hosting Leo but it's time to admit it's a complicated quagmire of FTP, lost passwords and ridiculous late night pleas for clemency on the Helpdesk queue
- Diversify....dont keep my eggs all in the same basket....why should I ? ...after all it's 'free' right ?
- Keep it open...where possible keep it in the open. Things that sit in the shade or dark corners disappear or grow mouldy....that is about trusting the machine ......yet keeping banking separate.
- Mobilize it.....love living machine borg driven interactions....who knows, maybe it's a new vocation.
- Let my online be the same as my offline....unencumbered except for children, family, passions and the odd coffee charged vice.
- Let virtues run the program.....especially as a Consultant :)
- Be free.
So, fat chickens...maybe it's time to trust that web 1.0 is over.
My children will thank me for it I'm thinking....providing they friend me first.
The concept of free ranging is sound, the practicality a logistical dream and the nightmare of vigilance seems a thing of the past. What I'm yet to discover is the identity crisis it may feed and the resultant mind / body / soul transformation I'll adopt to stay ahead of myselves.
All manner of them.
That said I best get on with updating this
WP blogsite for work :)
