Getting Back into Blogging about... Me

Originally, the whole idea behind a "weblog" was to give people who weren't traditional content publishers an opportunity to express themselves. The phenomenon grew from a place for people to rant to a full-blown source of news for many.

I have always been a niche blogger in that I create blogs based upon whatever topic I want to cover and write from there. This particular blog was supposed to be a place where I could talk about more personal issues as well as place links to stories and other forms of media that I enjoyed.

I got away from the concept mostly based upon personal bandwidth that wasn't enough to keep up with everything happening professionally. After a long spell of writing only about those niches that appealed to me professionally, it's time to switch gears and revise the good-ol' personal blog for JD Rucker.

That's me. More to come.

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Read more about me here or feel free to contact me at JD Rucker.

Gas Prices are Down. Will SUVs Go Up?

That's the real question, isn't it? The gas price explosion of the last couple of years has made casually buying a sports utility vehicle a thing of the past. People are more aware of gas mileage than ever before, so will the drop in gas prices make it easier to sell them?

I don't think so. Now that people are more conscious of what is going on in the world with the environment, many feel good about their decision to get out of the Expedition and into the Prius. More importantly, many people were caught off guard by the sudden hike and they found themselves making life-changing decisions based upon it.

SUV sales will stay low.

They won't make the same mistake twice. SUVs will remain a luxury for a while to come.

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Read more about J.D. Rucker on this blog.

Call for Causes on Social Media

A couple of articles that I wrote last week received strong feedback from social media users. The concept: social media sites, with all of their power, should be able to do more in the way of promoting charities and other causes.

Social Media Charities

Social Media and its Users for Causes

This is a topic that I feel strongly about as there are very few things that take up more of my time than social media and charitable events. If there was a way to combine the two, it would personally save me a lot of time.

Then, of course, there's the matter of it being the right thing to do.

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Read more by JD Rucker on this blog.

Rugged Laptops: At These Prices, Why Not?

Over at TechScienceReview, we took a look at one of the most innovative creations to come to computers, and I never even knew they existed before.

These technological wonders called rugged laptops absolutely blew my mind. Considering that they are about the same price as many normal laptops, a guy like me who is on a plane 5 times a week really needs one for the go.

This article goes into detail and offers a video that really puts it all into perspective. When it comes to rugged notebooks, there's really only one thing to consider -- how much?

Read more about computers on my blog.

Social News Watch Wants Digg to Give People Another Chance

With all of the recent bannings, it's no wonder that the front page of Digg has decreased in both total number of Diggs as well as quality in content. The front page, already in shambles since the introduction of the Recommendation Engine, has taken a turn for the worse and started focusing on stories that just should not have made it.

Over at Social News Watch, one story points to the heart of the trepidation that has engulfed the top end of the Digg community. They are banning people left and right and the bans are permanent. If they listen, they will realize that they shouldn't make the bans against script users permanent.

It's not rocket science. People made a mistake. Give them a second chance, Digg.

More Digg Ban Stories will be coming to my blog soon.

Automotive Blog Network: TK Carsites Blog on Driving Sales

With so many industries coming to the table across the blogosphere, having the automotive industry start to make a play is a nice change. Over at driving sales, TK Carsites has a blog that has 4 of their top executives leaving posts.

It's actually very refreshing seeing information from a vendor that car dealers can use. Advice, predictions, and trends fill the posts with informative commentary from people who understand the business.

More stories about automotive blogs will be posted to my blog soon.

Spreading Out Across the Blogosphere

Over the past several months, I have received a few invites from people who want me to guest-post on their blogs. It's an honor to receive requests from anyone, but I have to admit that some of the requests have been a bit intimidating.

I have always declined because my job has required a lot of my attention. With a family of 5 and a ton of professional duties, it has never been prudent for me to do it.

Until now.

As things have progressed at my work with an automotive marketing firm, I am finding that I have more free time available to work on things. As a public figure for my company, it has even become prudent to "spread my wings" and get my name out there for others to find.

With that said, I would like to ask that anyone who needs a guest blogger, please keep me in mind. I am not a "professional" blogger who gets paid for my work, but it's okay. There are so many great writers out there who do not make money on that I can only hope to be considered part of their ranks. That, of course, would require that my writing is great, which is definitely up for debate.

Still, I consider myself competent at it. I write about a variety of topics - not just automotive - and any opportunity to contribute gives me a way to get my name out, so I am definitely open to it.

If interested, please simply leave a comment here or contact me at jd.rucker.oboy@gmail.com

See you on the internet!

Automotive SEO Video of JD Rucker

Here's me:

Stories I Wrote that hit the Front Page of Digg, part 1

Here is a partial list of stories that I authored that made it tot he front page of Digg. There are several others, but most are on websites with which I cannot mention my involvement. Enjoy.

Why Democrats Love the Pickens Plan - 806 Diggs. An article that touches on the Boone Pickens plan for alternative energy sources that would free some of the United States' dependancy on foreign oil.

Fake Hookers + Fake Credit Cards + Fake 13yr olds = Marketing? - 1389 Diggs. When a story goes viral, it's possible for the source to get a ton of traffic and a lot of backlinks. When it's a spoof, but a lot of people believed it to be true, well, it can get ugly.

Recommended Flaw: 31% of Digg Homepage submitted by 10 Users - 3400 Digg.

iPhone was Dugg. Way Dugg. - 1559 Diggs.

Read more about JD Rucker.

Digg Recommended Flaw: 31% of Homepage submitted by 10 Users

This one hit 3400 Diggs and 309 Comments.Posted to popFAIL.Original Description:A look at the last 500 front page stories on Digg reveals that 10 submitters control a mind-boggling 31.4% (157 out of 500). Some of the names on the list are familiar to the front page, while a few have found new success using Digg's new Recommendation Engine.

read more | digg story