I got a comment over the weekend suggesting that I could really take things to the next level with photos, illustrations, and videos. I don’t know if it was a serious comment or spam (the link provided looked very suspicious), but I’ll address the comment.
Yes, it would be nice to do more, but my time and available bandwidth are limited. What you see here is typically the result of an hour of work per day, and some days I really don’t have that hour to spare. That’s why you don’t see more photos and illustrations here. I get a better return on my time producing text, so that’s where I focus my time. And video’s requirements are much higher. To produce professional-quality video takes about an hour of editing and production per minute of runtime. I don’t have that kind of time. I can produce 600-1,000 words of text in the same amount of time as one lousy minute of video.
If I did have that kind of time, I’d probably get a better return on investment collecting certifications instead.
And besides that, my primary motivations for blogging are to keep my writing and my system administration skills sharp. Due to emergencies, I have had a couple of photographs published, but I’ve never considered myself a photographer, never harbored any motivation to be a photographer, and don’t especially enjoy photography. It’s been several years since I’ve done video production and I don’t especially miss that, either. And I absolutely detest being in front of cameras.
That’s why I do what I do. I write nearly every day, and I keep the computer this runs on working properly. I’m a one-man shop. And when I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, I find other things to do.
What I have found helps, in my experience, is to post twice a day. The ideal would be to post something about technology in the morning and something about trains in the evening. That’s not something I can do every day, but doing it when possible would pay dividends.
The other thing that’s likely to pay dividends is getting a faster web server up and running. No ETA on that, as of yet. I have the hardware, but the hardware isn’t cooperating.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.