Esotropiart

I have been thinking: technically, it is possible to have dynamic blog entries. Meaning that, if I wanted to, I could write some good ole PHP scripting within any blog entry, and it would execute on the server before being sent to the user, just like any other dynamic part of the page. Duh, that's obvious, nothing exciting or new. But I haven't necessarily written a blog entry that has changing content. In fact, I somewhat avoid it. I think it might even break an unspoken ethic of blogging. Except for obvious spelling and factual errors, which I think are okay to fix later on, typically blog entries are like news articles. Once posted, it is as if they are "in print", etched in stone. Once a newspaper releases a daily issue, it can't take back anything that was said. It seems this sort of logic and ethics go along with blogging too. A different reason applies, however. With printed material, it is physically impossible for the content to change - at least until we have Star Trek-like tablets or ink that changes over time based on tiny microchips in the paper fibers. With blogs and electronic publishing, however, usually entries aren't updated simply because the mind has moved on. No one wants to go back and change or rewrite a blog entry, especially knowing full well that no one will ever read the changes. That's another annoying rule of blogging - no one ever reads old blog entries. If they do, they certainly don't submit comments to them. I wish they would. I wish there was a way to break the linear, "immediate expiration" of blog entries. Once an entry moves from the home page, it is almost certain that no one will read it. It's almost pointless to have an archives or calendar feature. Oh well. Rant all I want, it won't change anything. I do have several ideas to combat this linear expiration, but who knows if I'll ever make the time to develop them.

All that to say, I think I'll try to make a dynamic blog entry in a bit here. I would do it right here, but it'll have to wait until I write the script that makes it all happen. It'll be about an online game I have been playing, Bejeweled 2. I'll try to write a blog entry that will show a graph of my scores. Not that anyone is interested, I just think it will be fun to try. So far I haven't messed with PHP's image libraries. It'll be a good test of my intuition. Not to mention the fact that I haven't made a point of learning much new lately. I don't want my web design/development knowledge to level off. There's a whole lot more I could be doing.