Writers Block Live » Announcements

Life, the Universe, and Backup

Mike Evangelist — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:40:58 +0000

If you’re looking for backup software for your computer, I hope you’ll check out Crashplan. Not just because I work there, but because they have the best backup solution out there. They also have a new blog, where I occasionally post. It’s at www.crashplan.com/blog

The blog is named in honor of our favorite question from our favorite book (which also inspired the name of the company, for those who don’t get the ‘42′ reference.)

Site Reopened for New Users & More

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:39:12 +0000

I finally got around to updating the site to the latest WordPress and updated the special iPhone-friendly format as well.

This, in turn, allowed me to install a user verification plug-in, which will make it practical to (finally) reopen the site for new users, while hopefully keeping the spammers to a minimum.

I’ve also been testing the WordPress app on my iPhone, thinking it might enable me to take advantage of downtime (in airports, etc) to get this project back on track. Now I just have to think of something to write!

Site Repair and Upgrade Completed

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:54:00 +0000

I just completed the upgrade to the latest version of WordPress (the older versions obviously had a few security holes). I think I managed to find and reproduce all the formatting changes I’ve made over the years, but if you see anything that’s not displaying properly, please let me know.

We’ve Added a Special Look for iPhones

If you’re using an iPhone or iPod Touch to visit WritersBlockLive, you’ll now see a new layout just for those devices.

Site Registration Re-opened

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:20:02 +0000

Some time back I was forced to close registration for this site, due to the huge wave of ‘fake’ registrations being made by spammers (in advance of their attempts to post comment-spam). It pissed me off so much, I just said ‘fuck it’ and shut the whole thing off. Well, I’ve mellowed a bit, and decided to try it again.
I also reactivated the email contact form so you can reach me directly.

Bummer. Tera Patricks Dies of Cancer.

Mike Evangelist — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 19:55:23 +0000

I was saddened to read today that Tera Patricks, of www.mac360.com*, passed away after a long fight with cancer. My heart goes out to her friends and family.

I always enjoyed her approach to Mac journalism, and will miss her wit and style.

*looks like her site is down right now, due to intense traffic.

Weapons of Mass Destruction – Sixties’ Style

Mike Evangelist — Tue, 30 May 2006 13:26:16 +0000

My house is getting too full of stuff, so as part of my spring cleaning I’ve decided to sell my prized Johnny Seven OMA One Man Army toy gun. If you grew up in the sixties, you probably know this was the ultimate toy for any young ’soldier’ in 1964. The owner of this awesome weapon could easily defeat an entire neighborhood of kids armed with their pathetic cap guns and Lone Ranger six-shooter.

It is in superb condition, and ready to bring back a million great memories for its new owner. If you’re interested, check out the eBay auction

With all kinds of dangerous projectiles and yummy, choking-hazard small parts, they definitely do not make them like this anymore!

Here’s an article I wrote about it last year, a bunch of new photos.

Back From Oblivion, and Off to Las Vegas

Mike Evangelist — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 11:09:58 +0000

After much aggravation (and some yelling at my hosting company) the site is finally working again. I had to revert to a backup that was a few days old, so some comments and user registrations were lost. Sorry.

I’m leaving this morning to attend the NAB show in Las Vegas, but I’ll be writing more soon.

I’m Not Actually Dead

Mike Evangelist — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 17:43:14 +0000

I’ve been away for longer than expected, but I finally made enough progress on my old projects to take a few minutes to ‘come up for air’. I’ve got a few new articles percolating, that will appear shortly.

My new Intel iMac arrived the other day, so I spent some time figuring out what that’s all about. Basically it’s just another Mac; albeit one that some of my software won’t run on. The feature that’s gotten the most reaction from my family and visitors is Photobooth. It’s a riot.

I also had a ‘guest spot’ in a PC Weenies cartoon. It’s here.

The big news for me has been that I finally completed a DVD I’ve been producing about a musician friend of mine named Shawn Phillips. I shot it on location in Texas, Los Angeles and South Africa, and did the entire thing myself (which is probably why it ended up taking five years to finish). Any of you who may know his name, can read more about it at the Shawn Phillips DVD site.