The first challenge of starting a blog is picking a domain name.  This is much more difficult than it sounds.  Almost every conceivable word combination is registered.  Mind you, most domain names are not being used, but the fact someone registered the name means it’s not available.  So…brainmower.com it is!

On Privacy:  with the proliferation of Web2.0 social applications there are dozens of ways to keep in touch with people.  Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Brightkite and more.  Friendfeed now offers 41 services you can publish to and aggregate on a single site.  As I shared the idea of a blog with friends one commented that he was not comfortable with the intrusion on his privacy that results from publishing information to various sites.  This made me consider how to integrate a blog with my personal life.  Where does the blog intersect with my life?  What is off-limits?  What is safe to share?  Twitter has made me very aware of my internal filter.  This blog is sure to be a learning experience as well.

Another friend said something about blogging that hit home.  With the Internet, there is “no being anonymous”.  I agree, the Internet is a social medium, not a series of static webpages.

The caveat:  I am a single male with no kids.  This greatly lessens my hesitation in “going public” with my thoughts.  However, if I had kids I would rethink the idea of posting my thoughts in a public forum as it could have an impact on those around me.

Anonymity?  Who needs it!  Not me!