Web badges…they’re everywhere. It’s nice to see a consistently sized graphic image replace boring text links although they can become like those super-annoying animated GIFs when overused.

In any event, I couldn’t find a scuba diving logbook badge so I created one with images borrowed from Google Images, Photoshop, and Brilliant Button Maker. Download, use, enjoy.

In mid-January Divester posted about Scuba Diving Safety written by Dan Orr and Eric Douglas. Dan is President of DAN and Eric has written Flooding Hollywood that I mentioned at Divester.

Eric dropped me a note a few days ago that Scuba Diving Safety is available for pre-order. Price is $21.95 and ships in April.

If you’d rather dive into some fiction check out Eric’s other novel and short stories.

While I was writing for Divester I maintained a list of news sources by way of RSS. I’ve made them available for download (OPML format) if you want to make your life a little easier when searching for diving news. You may find them more useful than the DiveClips web site.

One of my common complaints about the scuba diving web-blogo-sphere is the vast number of sites that are redundant or left to die without any activity. I’ve another hundred or so sites that didn’t make it into my RSS reader, most of them falling into this category.

For visitors coming here after news of Divester’s retirement, hello!

It was a great run thanks to Willy’s devotion. Sadly, there isn’t a replacement for Divester and where you thnk it would exist (something centralized from PADI or ScubaDiving.com), it doesn’t. But you can be sure that wherever you find Willy, you’ll find the center of the diving blogosphere.

My personal blog (hint: you are here) is a hodge-podge of topics but stick around. I’ll resume posting “eco-ocean-friendly” stories for subjects that really light me up. If you’re a recent Mac convert or considering becoming one, stay tuned for a project I’m launching in mid-February.

Drop me a note if you keep a blog and I’ll add you to my RSS reader.

It all started with Gizmodo. My realization that blogs are more than a place to rant about this or that. They are a platform for spreading the word about a topic in less than 200 words instead of three newspaper columns. The content comes fast and furious, even titalating at times when it’s so new you can smell the ink drying.

I quickly learned there is more than just Gizmodo…much more. Why did these bloggers pound out so much content? What else besides the subject matter was driving them? Were they some sadistic group of volunteers with too much time to kill?

Then I found Divester, a blog dedicated to scuba diving. More than just trip reviews - a mix of everything from the environment to accident prevention to animal trivia to interviews. Right up my alley so I started reading stories and posting comments. I rose to the top of the comment chart and figured it was time to ask my questions.

I’ll leave the answers for another time, but it comes to this: write about your passions and be passionate about writing. Did I mention you also get paid for it?

September 4th marks my official entree into that world. It’s the first (real) step in my pursuit of a creative career with my words. Much thanks to Willy and the WIN team for giving me the chance.