Raible Designs

10 Years Ago...

Wouldn't you know it, I missed my 10-year blogiversary. 10 years ago yesterday, I wrote my first blog post. This was shortly after reading Dave Johnson's article about Roller. I originally started this blog to share a bunch of tips and tricks I'd learn while doing web development, particularly with Java and Struts. Since then, I've written 3,086 entries and received 13,462 comments.

I found that writing technical blog posts was a great way to remember things and share knowledge. According to Google Analytics (which doesn't track my RSS/Atom feeds), here's my most-visited blog posts since 2006.

• Tips for Productivity and Happiness at Work - April 14, 2006
• Play 2.0, A web framework for a new era - November 16, 2011
• Ajax Framework Analysis Results - April 23, 2009
• RE: Moving from Spring to Java EE 6: The Age of Frameworks is Over - October 16, 2010

I also started it to document my life, so I could remember the details of significant life events and fun family vacations. I wrote about Abbie's and Jack's arrival. I penned a story about growing up at the cabin, twice. In April 2004, I wrote about buying a 1966 21-window VW Bus. Yes, I'm still restoring it. No, I don't know when it'll be done. This year I hope.

I blogged about Abbie and Jack's first day of school, I wrote about almost all of Abbie's birthdays; Jack's 5th, 4th, 3rd and 1st. Some of my favorite comments are on Jack's got a bead stuck in his nose! I blogged about getting a divorce 5 years ago. I wrote about visiting the real Oktoberfest the next year.

I wrote about my Dad's retirement, my sister's wedding and my Mom's retirement.

I met Trish in June of 2010 and mentioned her name for the first time in September 2010. I introduced her to the kids in November and we started traveling the world together. We journeyed to Antwerp/Amsterdam, Fort Lauderdale/Key West, Crested Butte, Alta, Las Vegas, a hut trip in the Rockies and Kraków. And that was just in the first 6 months! We got engaged last November.

I summarized the years several times, in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank the ones that made the last 10 years possible:

• Keith at KGB Internet. Hosted here since day 1, for $20 month*.
• Dave Johnson, for creating Roller and continuing to maintain it all these years.
• Java and Tomcat, for your rock-solid stability through the years.
• The Open Source Movement, for providing so much to write about.
• My Family, for giving me with so many adventures and memories.

* Thank goodness he doesn't charge me for bandwidth. It's a little heavy on the bits.

Update: As part of this 10-year celebration, I've updated the look-and-feel with help from Gillen's Army.