Karl Blog: November 2006

It never ceases to amaze me how much my writing is whored about.

Three weeks ago, I stumbled across a ten-year old article of mine online, while searching for the lyrics to Mas Que Nada.

And just last week, I crossed a guide to online marketing in the search results... while searching for a specific breed of sheep, to help complete a crossword puzzle.

Then, about ten minutes ago, I was searching for a pre-made VB .NET text processing function... and I actually stumbled across an entire chapter from one of my books!

And that reminded me... "Oh yeah, I've written a couple of books!"

Many visitors to my main site come from the programming world, and I realized that I've never mentioned my books here on the blog.

So, let's change that now...

I've written exactly two books on Visual Basic .NET development. The books have survived a good few print runs and have been translated into a couple of languages.

Okay, so Agatha Christie I'm not.

But "karl moore visual basic" is still one of the most popular terms people use to find my website.

Now, when I entered the technology development industry, there were exactly two books I wanted to buy -- but weren't available.

Firstly, a guide that took you from knowing absolutely zippo, through to being a pretty hot VB .NET programmer. No publisher offered a tutorial-style book that spoke in plain ENGLISH.

And so I wrote one: "Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials."

Secondly, I wanted a book containing all of those crazy chunks of code developers spend HOURS trying to write. Stuff that would take your programming to the next level -- and make your next application "supercool" (as I used to say in those days).

And so I wrote "The Ultimate VB .NET Code Book!"

The books have received some fantastic reviews. And if you're interested, you can read a couple of the interviews I made when they were released... such as this one, or this one.

There were a couple of others... but, heck, I'm disorganized.

Now, it's been three years now since my last computer book was released and I don't have plans for any more. I've been approached with a number of offers -- but at this time, I'm retiring from the tech programming world.

Both of the books are still totally up-to-date however... and will turn you into a programming guru WITHOUT having to read a dozen 1500-page draft excluders.

So if you're interested, check them out: "Karl Moore’s Visual Basic .NET" (Amazon: USA, UK) and "The Ultimate VB .NET Code Book" (Amazon USA, UK).

Big thanks to everyone that has supported my writing work, and especially those that have bought my book(s).

Thanks for reading -- and enjoy!

Labels: books, recommendations, technology, writing

One good online friend of mine is Steve Pavlina.

On his site, he chats about the ease of trying out a new pattern or habit for just 30 days. And how it isn't necessarily as difficult as you might think.

It's really quite surprising how quickly habits can be gained -- or dropped.

A few years ago, I began taking our family dog Billy out for a walk each day. Initially, it was a chore. Then it became a habit.

Now, a day simply wouldn't be whole without us both taking in a fresh walk together!

So, what could YOU try out for just 30 days?

Here are a few tips from Steve's site:

* Give up TV. Tape all your favorite shows and save them until the end of the trial. My whole family did this once, and it was very enlightening.

* Give up online forums, especially if you feel you're becoming forum addicted. This will help break the addiction and give you a clearer sense of how participation actually benefits you (if at all). You can always catch up at the end of 30 days.

* Shower/bathe/shave every day. I know YOU don't need this one, so please pass it along to someone who does.

* Meet someone new every day. Start up a conversation with a stranger.

* Go out every evening. Go somewhere different each time, and do something fun -- this will be a memorable month.

* Spend 30 minutes cleaning up and organizing your home or office every day. That's 15 hours total.

* List something new to sell on eBay every day. Purge some of that clutter.

* Ask someone new out on a date every day. Unless your success rate is below 3%, you'll get at least one new date, maybe even meet your future spouse.

* If you're already in a relationship, give your partner a massage every day. Or offer to alternate who gives the massage each day, so that's 15 massages each.

* Give up cigarettes, soda, junk food, coffee, or other unhealthy addictions.

* Become an early riser.

* Write in your journal every day.

* Call a different family member, friend, or business contact every day.

* Make 25 sales calls every day to solicit new business. Professional speaker Mike Ferry did this five days a week for two years, even on days when he was giving seminars. He credits this habit with helping build his business to over $10 million in annual sales. If you make 1300 sales calls a year, you're going to get some decent business no matter how bad your sales skills are. You can generalize this habit to any kind of marketing work, like building new links to your web site.

* Write a new blog entry every day.

* Read for an hour a day on a subject that interests you.

* Meditate every day.

* Learn a new vocabulary word every day.

* Go for a long walk every day.

I might just take up one of these challenges during January of 2007. And, naturally, I'll keep you posted.

Read the full "30 days to success" article at Steve's site by clicking here.

Labels: inspiration, self-development