Day #1 of 30-day blogging challenge

Ever since I began using FaceBook, I’ve kind of let my blog rot. It’s just too damned easy to post on FaceBook, because I hold my blog posts to a higher standard. And due to inertia and habit, I end up with all of my posts on FB. Some of these have turned out to be worthwhile (shocking, I know!), but have you ever tried to go back and dig up a FB post older than a month or two? It’s a serious pain in the rear! No tags, no easy way to search by date, nada.

So now New Year’s Day 2014 has come and gone, and of course everybody is making resolutions. The folks at WordPress have taken this opportunity to issue a 30-day blogging challenge which I’ve decided to participate in. The assignment/challenge for today (day #1) is to write a “who I am and why I’m here” post. So here goes!

I’m Jim, and I’m blogging because I have things I want to share with you. (Yes, you!) What kinds of things? Well, my hobbies and pastimes are likely subjects. I have a lot of hobbies, but of course one can only engage in a few at a time. What I’m currently pursuing is electronics, physical computing, and the “internet of things” (IoT). Many of the projects I’m doing involve Arduino micro controllers, Raspberry Pi computers, and wireless communications (wifi, r/f remotes such as used for garage doors, ZigBee mesh networks, as well as ham radio). Some projects use the Internet or my home network, web servers, or communications gateways (e.g. email, SMS messaging, Twitter, etc.), so I’ll be writing about how I set those up and maintain them.

If you’re interested in electronics or want to learn what the heck the “Internet of Things” is, stick around. And if you couldn’t care less about that, stick around anyway! Doubtless I’ll get interested in other things over the coming year, so the topics will change. It’s a certainty that I’ll be posting some recipes, if nothing else.