der5er

Motivated by General Geekery

Political Tool: Richmond Sunlight

Written By: der5er - Jan• 09•08

I heard on the radio this morning about a great website that allows Virginians to track the bills submitted to the State’s General Assembly.  So, this morning I went to check out Richmond Sunlight.

I’ve signed up and started adding a few bills to my ‘Photosynthesis’ tracker.  Of course, I haven’t looked through all of the bills that have been submitted, over 1400 of them, and the GA isn’t even in session for 2008 yet! 

The site is very ‘Digg like’ for those who know what Digg is.  For those who don’t: It allows you to vote and comment on each bill, and will provide anyone (through the front page) a quick list of the Newest, Most Viewed, Most Voted, Most Tracked, and Most Discussed bills.  If you want to see what another user is tracking, you can simply click on their user name.  Here are the bills der5er is tracking.

I’m going to keep an eye on this, and it will probably help provide material for one of my New Year’s resolutions. 

Is there anything like this for the Federal Government?  Other states?

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Home for the Holidays: Resolution Time

Written By: der5er - Dec• 31•07

The Kids, before ChristmasWell, it’s that time of year when we all decide what we’ve been doing wrong and resolve to do it all right for the next year.  Well, at least for the month of January!  In the spirit of the season, I’m posting my resolutions here for all the world to see:

  • Run more, and more consistently.
    • I did great while I was training for the 8k.  I ran 3-4 times a week and regularly ran 8-10 miles a week total.  I’d like to up that to 10-12 miles a week since I’ve signed up for the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10k in April.  In keeping with running more, I’m actually reaching for a goal of completing a half-marathon instead of the 8k this year.
  • Post more, and more consistently.
    • I would like for der5er to become a modest second source of income for my family.  At my current rate, we’ll make about $1 for 2007.  All of the professional blog sites say one of the keys to making money online with a blog is consistent, frequent posts.  I hope, by February, to have a schedule for myself that I can keep up with.
    • der5er LogoIn addition to this, once der5er is more popular, I’d like to start selling der5er.com branded T-shirts.  At the right is the logo I’ve come up with so far (thanks to our resident artist Leanna for her consultation on this a couple of weeks ago). 
  • Migrate Shirleyannesheart.com to a new web host.
    • I migrated der5er.com a few weeks ago and can’t believe how much performance improved.  I hope that migrating to a new host will solve the occasional e-mail problems that we have at home.
  • Time management.
    • This one is on my list every year, whether I publicly admit it or not.  I think I’ve done a little better in 2007, and I plan to do even more in 2008.  I was just looking through my weekly planner for 2007 and it looks like I didn’t even use it from April through June and from August through October.  This time around, I plan to use it every week.
  • Have more fun!
    • I know, I probably have too much fun as it is.  But with 3 great kids and a beautiful wife, you never really have a short supply of fun!  I just don’t always take the time to enjoy it as much as I probably should.  So, I’m going to try to put my phone on vibrate more or–better yet–turn it off and have fun with my family.

I think that’s about it for me.  What are your resolutions?

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