What are the benefits or downsides of building an maintaining your own blog site?

Blogs are incredibly easy to start up and maintain. You can upload pictures, links, essays, rants, videos; the possibilities are endless. However, there are many pros and cons to running a blog. Blogs have a reputation of being domains for opinionated people who love to rant about politics, conspiracy theories, religion, and a ton of other subjects. Blogs also have a tendency of all looking the same. Websites who offer blog services (Blogger, Wordpress, etc.) give people the option of using their templates, and because the templates are convenient and easy to use most people take advantage of them. Also, if a blogs must be maintained regularly or else people stop following them, and when nobody visits the blog it becomes useless. Of the many benefits blogs have, the best is that it is extremely easy to create an effective blog that is easy to navigate through. There are many templates to use and this is beneficial because it gives one the opportunity to keep things organized. Also, it gives people a place to find new posts and information that they are looking for. Blogs display the newest post on the front page and it has the date on display in the post as well. Blogs make great additions to websites. Instead of cluttering a website with secondary information, you can put this on a blog that will archive it, and push back old information. Also instead of having to step into dreamweaver and create a new webpage, you can make a new blog post that will save you half of the time and be just as effective. Blogs on their own can be cliche, but when made as an aid to a website they can be an excellent tool.

Baby Owen

Photo of the day

Goodbye my good friend. You will be missed...


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Location:W Ball Rd,Anaheim,United States

Photo of the day

Good to be back at it's a grind. Coffee is not as good as the locally grown stuff in NC but this place has memories and great people!




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Location:Valley View St,Anaheim-Santa Ana-Garden Grove,United States

Photo of the day

Madyson on her birthday.


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Location:S West St,Anaheim,United States

Photo of the day

Some texture






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Location:W Ball Rd,Anaheim,United States

Photo of the day

Helga Viking with red flash


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Location:W Ball Rd,Anaheim,United States

Photo of the day

We have a hopeful new addition to the family! Just gotta get mom to approve.





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Location:W Ball Rd,Anaheim,United States

Photo of the day

It's been an incredibly busy summer, and I have had absolutely no time to post up photos. Now I am back to a more regular schedule so we are gonna give this a go again!






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Location:W Ball Rd,Anaheim,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Outside of NC state. I took this one with the hipstamatic app.






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Location:St James Church Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

It has definitely been a while since I have posted! I will do my best to make up for it.




This is outside of NC states campus

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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

My second home


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Location:Airport Blvd,Morrisville,United States

iPhone photo of the day

The heavens descending!


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Location:St James Church Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

The clouds cracked open


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Location:St Marys St,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

King of the castle!


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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Jesus is watching!


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Location:Capital Blvd,Neuse,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Atlanta at sunset


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iPhone photo of the day

A storm is a comin'


Hipstamatic kodak film

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Location:Sydney St SE,Atlanta,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Gettin all shot up!



Hipstamatic 1969 film

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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

I will be waiting for you at the top



Hipstamatic black keys film
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Location:Park Ave SE,Atlanta,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Knocking on your door


Hipstamatic infared film
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Location:Park Ave SE,Atlanta,United States

iPhone photo of the day

My sleeping quarters in Atlanta



Hipstamatic, infared

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Location:Glenwood Ave SE,Atlanta,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Blurry lights



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Location:St James Church Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Out of the plane on my way to Alabama


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Location:Unnamed Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Another shot of downtown Raleigh



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Location:Unnamed Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

I would consider retiring here


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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

IPhone photo of the day

The way stained glass reflects



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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Some scenery from downtown Raleigh




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iPhone photo of the day

The railroad by the wolf pack


Hipstamatic with an infared filter. Near NC state

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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

My favorite spot in Raleigh so far...



This was taken with a new feature on the hipstamatic app. This is the view from the Morning Times coffee shop that I have been doing some work at. It's a two story shop so it's pretty sweet.

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Location:Wade Ave,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Where is the third little piggy?


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Location:St James Church Rd,Raleigh,United States

iPhone photo of the day

The train near the wolfpack



Shot with hipstamatic. This is near Pullen Park in Raleigh, NC. It's right by NC state university, home of the wolfpack.

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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

IPhone photo of the day

A nice little accident


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Location:N New Hope Rd,Raleigh,United States

Iphone photo of the day

Rene's horse


Hipstamatic app.

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iPhone photo of the day

A true southern porch





Took this shot with hipstamatic app. This is the porch of a house my YouthWorks team and I were fortunate to stay at before getting started on our work in Raleigh. Thanks Rene!

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iPhone photo of the day

Pause 2010


Couldn't take a new pic today. This is a recycled one.

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iPhone photo of the day

The tall grass of Alabama.


Done in Photoshop mobile. This picture was taken during a walk to a really nasty lake behind the YouthWorks training site.

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Location:Washington Dr,Moody,United States

iPhone photo of the day

16th street Baptist Church Birmingham, Alabama.

This church holds historical significance becuase it's bombing in 1963 helped raise awareness in America for the civil rights movement. The bombing was done by Klu Klux Klansmen, and it ended up killing four African American girls. The Klansmen were not punished for their acts and the U.S. began to get a better idea of the atrocities and injustices that African Americans were going through.

Today the church is still serving in the community and holds weekly services. The church is a symbol of the resiliancy of the African American people, and it stands as a reminder of Americas past mistakes that should never be repeated.


Edited on Photoshop mobile

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone photo of the day

The flowers of Moody, Alabama



Edited in Photoshop mobile, adjusted exposure, and added a little bit of contrast.
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Location:Washington Dr,Moody,United States

iPhone photo of the day

The Rockies



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Location:Pena Blvd,Denver,United States

iPhone photo of the day

Gettin ready for work



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iPhone photo of the day

Tori Barela



Photo taken with hipstamatic app, seriously the funnest app I have right now.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone photo of the day

Frank at it's a grind


I took this shot with an app called hipstamatic. Probably the best iPhone camera app out right now.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone photo of the day

The dirty stache



Jason Pojars stache, edited in Photoshop mobile.
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone photo a day

I am going to start posting one photo a day from my iPhone. The app store has so many aps for photography and I want to make use of them! I will edit some pictures and some I will leave alone. I will be using apps like color splash, vintage camera, and photo shop mobile. Let the experiment begin!!



My brother and I were playing basketball against my uncle and my dad. Things got a little rough and my brother got a bloody nose due to an elbow from my uncle! This is his blood on the cement.

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Data Electronics

For Higher Resolution click here.

I spent a week documenting the workers of Data Electronics (a circuit board plating factory) in Santa Ana, CA. What drew me to this factory is the opportunity that they have given many of their workers. Many of their workers came to the factory not knowing English or Spanish (the two dominant languages in Santa Ana), and some of the workers spoke only in a dialect (languages not known by the modern world) that is virtually impossible to understand unless you have grown up speaking the language. The factory has had patience with many of its employees by teaching them the skills to do their jobs, and in some cases how to read and write. Many of these individuals would have had to work in unskilled jobs that would pay them low wages, but Data Electronics gave these individuals an opportunity to have a higher standard of life.

The slide show above was made for my photojournalism class, and below are some of my favorite shots from the week I spent with the workers of Data Electronics.

Shailesh Vagahashia. Possibly the happiest individual I have ever met. This picture captures him perfectly. He is always laughing and smiling.

Justino Bautista. He spoke nothing but dialect when he first came to America. Now he can speak Spanish fluently and knows enough English to get around.

Francisco Bautista. With the money he has made at Data Electronics he has managed to buy land and build a home in Mexico that he plans to go live in, in a year.