Say "goodbye" to Superfloo.us!
Brad Chin
Originally, I was going to post a piece of artwork to commemorate this entry (as well as make it more visually appealing), but chances are, the Squarespace iOS apps wouldn't handle it properly anyway, and I'd either end up with: an entry with image and without text — or vice versa. Besides, how many "Dear John" letters come with attached graphic design and imagery? Not that that's what this is...
It's been a few years since I'd registered this domain and setup this blog, and a lot has changed between now and then; for me, probably for you, America, and our planet. Entropy is a fact of life; and I suppose, in some sense, so is blogging.
Blogging is definitely changing, but did we change it, or is it changing us? Years ago, I remember telling people that Twitter was going to be the next big thing — I got replies like, "why do I need this?" and "but I already have Myspace!"
'Superfluous' begins.
Originally, I just wanted something funny — a catchy name, something self-deprecating and light — and a play on the word "superfluous" seemed to fit. After all, blogs are somewhat superfluous in general, and I felt... something like "pride," using a "dot us" domain name.
But here we are, in 2011, on the precipice of world annihilation according to the Mayans and some other honey crusted nut bars. Re-registering a dot us domain is expensive, and none of that money really goes to making this country better (I think).
All I've done is fund Bob Parsons' hunting trips. Some large game had to die — because I wanted to be funny.
So, I'm going to change the name of my blog — that'll teach him and President Obama a lesson! Yeah! A whopping few dozen people read my blog; in case you weren't aware, they're the keys to the hearts and minds of America — my readers. Bless you all.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure about what to call my blog; if not "(not) superfluous," then what?
By the way, I just want to mention quickly: Damn you, Bono. I write many entries on my iPad, and when I use HTML for "Header 2" (H2), iOS decides to auto-correct, because I must've meant U2. Why can't you learn, damn it?! Someone get on Apple about this, stat.
Got any 'new blog name' suggestions? I'm actually interested in what you think — yes, I know how unusual that is. I see the irony; people usually come to me for advice, and here I am, using my blog to try and talk about renaming my blog.
I don't know how easy Squarespace will make the renaming process. I haven't asked them about it, but I hope it's simple, because I've had enough Squarespace trouble. There is a lot that I like about Squarespace, most of it is awesome, actually — but for me, the little things are often most upsetting.
Presently, I have a special Squarespace rate plan — I was grandfathered in... can you believe that? I'm a grandpa! If I were to simply open a new account and close this one, I'd have to first migrate the content somehow, and I don't know how many (if any) links will need to be recoded. Maybe it's more trouble than it's worth.
I just thought that, if I were to rename my blog, perhaps I should do it sooner rather than later. I would've just used "Bradtastic," but I was warned that my unprofessional content might bite me in the ass one day if directly associated with some kind of "business website..." though in my mind, it's not too hard to figure out whom wrote what.
Lastly — because this blog is random superfluousness, I guess it doesn't have to exist. I can always "write for me" and not share it. Every now and then, someone will send me an email or say something, making it clear that they've been here and read my ramblings — and every once in a while, someone will benefit (somehow) from this blog. I have too many other projects to work on, and another blog that I do want to do more with, so maybe I actually kiss Superfloo.us goodbye, archive all of the entries, and move on.
I won't be shutting down or renaming immediately, so let me know what you think. My domain expires soon, however. Also, "no reply" is a valid enough response.
I’ve created a support ticket on this “issue” to learn more of the details — and consequences — of my impending decisions, as well as to determine alternative solutions. I will most likely follow-up on this via Twitter (@Bradtastic)
I was contacted by Squarespace support within minutes of creating my ticket. Essentially, I can change my account name (aka domain.squarespace name), and it won’t effect my legacy plan. This, I might do.
For whatever reason though, (not) superfluous is not popular. Anymore. It used to do okay… in fact, earlier this month, when I was writing about iPad software, I had visitors. At the moment though, it seems like no one really cares.
I already know that my readers don’t comment, and I kinda get that. I usually don’t comment, either. To solve this, I think I’m going to install DISQUS — because (if I understand this right) the service allows people to “comment” via Twitter entries. People love Twitter.
Well, that’s that — for now. The world will go on just fine without something superfluous or not, and I will have just that much more free time to work on… well… another blog, I guess.
superfloo sign off