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Experimenting with LoudTwitter Twitter Tweets on My Blog

2008-10-09T17:48:00.009-07:00

Experimenting with LoudTwitter Twitter Tweets on My Blog
Last week I experimented with LoudTwitter, a tool used to post your Twitter tweets to your blog. I wasn’t sure it would work with a WordPress.com blog, but it does. However, with the number of complaints from readers, it was not welcome on this blog. LoudTwitter publishes your Twitter tweets in a blog post once a [...]

Last week I experimented with LoudTwitter, a tool used to post your Twitter tweets to your blog. I wasn’t sure it would work with a WordPress.com blog, but it does. However, with the number of complaints from readers, it was not welcome on this blog.

LoudTwitter publishes your Twitter tweets in a blog post once a day on your blog using XML-RPC. It will work on self-hosted versions of WordPress and WordPress.com blogs. Just sign up your blog and fill in the information, click through the email verification, set the time you want it posted, and it will automatically post that day’s worth of Twitter tweets on your blog.

It’s important to bring your Twitter posts into some social media services, and your blog posts and other social media services into Twitter, but I’m not sure if Twitter really belongs in a blog post unless you are very active on Twitter and the content within your tweets is extremely valuable to your readers. Having spent a lot of time digging through Twitter over the past year, I’m still hunting for timeless content. It’s there, but it’s like sifting for diamonds among the dust.

Here’s why my experiment didn’t work with LoudTwitter on this blog.

Content Not Interesting or Valuable to Readers: While investment opportunities can be overheard at the right parties, if you are at the right party with the right people at the right time, most tweets have little value. A collection of tweets is just a one-sided conversation that may or may not be relevant to your blog’s focus and topic. No one cares much were you are, what you are eating, what television shows you are watching, or your views on politics unless they are friends, family, or obsessed with those particular things. These have nothing to do with your blog on car repair. Or jewelry making. Or building a business. Unless the Twitter content adds to and complements your blog content, it’s not interesting to the readers.
Lack of Category Control: LoudTwitter has no method currently to post the Twitter Tweets to a specific blog post category. It just dumps your Twitter stream direction into a blog post called “Twitter Tweets” in your default post category. This means that if “uncategorized” is your default post category, it is found there. If LoudTwitter had category control, then the content could be put into a category of its own on your blog. You could move that category off your front page and even out of your blog post feed. Those digging for those tidbits of information found within your tweets could still find it, and those wanting to monitor your tweets on your blog could do so. There are better ways to monitor your tweets away from your blog and no one wants to see them as full blown blog posts. Really?
No Control Over Post Titles: LoudTwitter publishes the post title as “Twitter Tweets”, though it does allow you to add content to the beginning and end of your blog post Twitter Tweet summaries. In your most recent post listing, the reader will see:
Not very helpful post titles. WordPress won’t allow duplicate post title names, so the permalink becomes twitter-tweets-2, twitter-tweets-3, and so on. Not very SEO friendly nor informative.
It’s a One-Sided Conversation: Not only are Twitter tweets probably not relevant to your blog’s content, it’s a one-sided conversation. Without the other side of the conversation, there is a huge loss of context. It’s like walking into a conversation just as someone says something that could be a foot-in-the-mouth comment if you don’t know what preceded it. It’s confusing and often useless information.
No Editing Capability on Twitter: I work very hard to ensure my blog posts are as clean and neat as any term paper with careful attention to grammar and spelling - even though some slip through. However, Twitterers tend to tweet while walking down the street, talking on the phone, and doing other distracting things like driving which causes a lot of errors. They also abbreviate terms and phrases that might make no sense to the uninitiated. Once a tweet is released on Twitter, you can’t easily take it back and edit it. To then have it re-published on your blog compounds your gaf.
No Tweets Today? Then What? Busy with recent speaking gigs and traveling, I’ve been offline more than on, so what happens when you aren’t twittering? What’s published on your blog? This Twitter Tweets is an example of what happens. I don’t quite understand why there are two tweets when I wasn’t on Twitter, but there it is. Literally nothing is posted. What good is a wasted empty post? It doesn’t serve your readers. A conditional option would be beneficial to restrict LoudTwitter (or its equivalent) to not publish if you have less than 2 tweets in a day.

Here is an example of the one-sided conversation from my recent experiment.

# 11:46 Idiot Alert: I recorded video atbwe08 vertical not horizontal. ARGH! How do I flip or rotate digital video?
# 11:59 @vegasgeek yep!!! Lay down video - new style. Everyone lays down. So used to still, didn’t think about horz vs vert. SIGH.
# 11:59 @wiredprworks Will be posting how WordPress changed your life video and video of talk after weekend’swordcampportland. Going to ROCK!
# 12:20 @GlendaWH Hey, my new dear friend! lorelleonwordpress at gmail - Your video is ~3 minutes on how WordPress changed your life!
# 12:21 @vegasgeek LOL That’s the solution for sure. But I like the idea of 200 people laying down to watch much better. Fun atwordcampportland!
# 12:53 @bkajino Can’t wait forwordcampportland You know I’m also talking about Woopra??? Will have some goodies for those attending, I hope!
# 12:54 OMG Did you all see that I’m on the cover of Blogger and Podcaster Magazine?! Bunch of my articles in there. Wow! Didn’t know untilbwe08
# 13:11 @GlendaWH Can’t find your card - found Darrell’s so I emailed him with notes. CAn’t wait!!!
# 13:18 Ever have one of those days when you wonder why you blog? Back frombwe08 I shouldn’t but tired out. Need kick.
# 14:21 @WatershedStudio Blogger and Podcaster Rock Star? right? I was so stunned to see my name on the cover. I’m just little ol’ me.
# 14:22 @gregbd Right, but not separate. Your blog is yr online resume today. Social business model circles around it. Start blog first then social
# 14:45 Idiot Alert Off. FOUND IT! How to flip a vertical video back to horizontal. is.gd/31N1 Simple and easy! Whew.
# 14:56 Michael Moore giving away next movie tinyurl.com/5dkqm8 Slacker Uprising. Another example of how free giveaways make money?
# 16:13 @vegasgeek What dates are you thinking for WordCamp Vegas? WordCamp Denver scheduling for Jan and don’t want to overlap.
# 20:28 4 WordCamps this weekend: Portland, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver(BC) WordPresswordcamp weekend!
# 22:06 @MikePerry Thanks. It was a surprise to me atbwe08. Great timing. Blogger and Podcaster Magazine doing some interesting stuff lately.
# 22:07 YEAH! Raw fooder! Check out the raw food porn book “Raw” by Charlie Trotter. Too much trouble to cook but sexy pics.
# 22:08 @vegasgeek Denver wanted the same dates for their WordCamp. Will let them know and maybe they can change them. Thanks much!
# 22:14 @gregbd BuddyPress WordPress Theme on steroids is doing that as are others. Connecting the dots. We need more dot connectors to stop scatter.

Can you really follow it? Does it really add value to this blog?

Twitter is invaluable. With help from those following me, I was able to quickly find a method to flip videos I’d made at Blog World Expo from vertical to horizontal. I was also able to help WordPress and Woopra users find the help and information they needed. I was also easily able to promote my upcoming events and speaking gigs as well as other WordPress events.

It’s the value of my tweets and using LoudTwitter on my blog that I question. If you are hosting Twitter tweets with any service on your blog, is it really helpful? Do you have category and post title control? Does it really benefit your readers?

Site Search Tags: twitter, tweets, loudtwitter, twitter blog posts, social media, experiment, testing loudtwitter, tweets on your blog, blog tweets, publishing twitter tweets, publishing twitter, microblog, microblogging

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Posted in Blogging Tips, WordPress Tips, Wordpressdotcom��

The Menorah for Hanukkah is also available . . .

2008-10-09T17:48:00.007-07:00

The Menorah for Hanukkah is also available . . .
Here's the Menorah for Hanukkah!!!!

A new candle is added and lit for each day of Hanukkah. You can choose from a variety of candles and Menorah colors. I've made this one silver with blue candle, but just click the "Get this widget" to configure in your own way and embed on your page . . .

Thank you Drew and Lani and Michael for creating these great looking holiday treats!

widgets/Menorah.sbw¶m_candleColor=blue¶m_menorahColor=silver&memberId=thespringbox" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="185" height="280" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

Get this widget!

TheSpringBox 1.1.3

2008-10-09T17:48:00.005-07:00

Hey Guys. Today we've got an update of our desktop platform for you. Most of the updates are purely cosmetic, but we hope they will improve you SpringWidgets experience:

Visual Updates

Lock your widgets on your screen

Performance updates

Widgets are now stored under My Documents

Happy Holidays Everyone,
- The SpringWidgets Team Read More

FreeTime

2008-10-09T17:48:00.003-07:00

Time-tracking Widget for Project Management tool FreeTime Manager. Sign up for a free 30 day trial at www.freetimemanager.com Note: This widget requires a username and password from FreeTimeManager.com for usage. Read More

Barack Obama's $3 Million 'Overhead Projector' Actually Pretty Cool [Gadget Politics]

2008-10-09T17:48:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama's $3 Million 'Overhead Projector' Actually Pretty Cool [Gadget Politics]
During the last Presidential debate, John McCain delivered this line about his opponent with withering contempt: [Obama] voted for nearly a billion dollars in pork barrel earmark projects,...

Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!

2008-10-09T17:47:00.009-07:00

Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!
How creepy is this widget?!!!!

--His eyes move when your cursor is idle,
--his eyes follow your cursor when your cursor is close to his face, and
--CLICK ON HIS HEAD!!!!! IT BOBBLES!!!!!

CREEPY!!!!

See the widget on the Dead Silence movie page inside MySpace at:

www.myspace.com/deadsilencemovie

Get this widget!

Slim PMV

2008-10-09T17:47:00.007-07:00

Slim PMV
Displays the current processor load (P), RAM usage (M), system volume (V) and updates every second. Provides independent changing or muting of the system volume via a slider and a button, respectively, the latter of which also serves as a mute indicator. The colors are customizable. Place near the top of the screen to "blindly" mute or change the volume by simply dragging your cursor all the way up. If in the upper-right hand corner, just drag your cursor to the top right and click and your volume will mute.

Lifehack?s Writing Tips

2008-10-09T17:47:00.005-07:00

Every once in a while, Lifehack tackles writing tips and tricks. Recently, two great articles caught my eye. Just Keep Writing! motivates you to just keep writing, inspired with quotes from famous writers on what they believed kept them writing. If you feel the writing spirit waning with your blog, these are some great motivational tips. If [...]

Every once in a while, Lifehack tackles writing tips and tricks. Recently, two great articles caught my eye.

Just Keep Writing! motivates you to just keep writing, inspired with quotes from famous writers on what they believed kept them writing. If you feel the writing spirit waning with your blog, these are some great motivational tips.

If you are already feeling blogger’s block, then it might be time for some of the tips in Break Through Writer’s Block. While I rarely suffer blogger’s block or writer’s block - I always find something to write about - I do get bored with my writing. If I’m bored, I’m sure you are. Boredom leads to procrastination, which eventually slows down my production as I can’t find the motivation to keep coming up with witty and intelligent things to say every day.

This article is a great resource with tips to keep you on the blogging path and kick your ass if you start blog-foot dragging.

Site Search Tags: writing, blogging tips, blog writing, writer’s block, blogger’s block, block, writing tips, how to blog

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Posted in Blogging Tips, Writing��

MPS Lens 1.5.3.5

2008-10-09T17:47:00.003-07:00

MPS Lens 1.5.3.5
This application helps you magnify a certain area around the cursor. This application helps you magnify a certain area around the cursor. (read more)

Beat 100.9 FM 1.0

2008-10-09T17:47:00.001-07:00

Beat 100.9 FM 1.0
Beat 100.9 F.M.

About Beat 100.9 FM
You are radio listeners of the best electronic radio station of Latin America.

Please help find Madeline

2008-10-07T17:10:00.007-07:00

Please help find Madeline
British 3 year old Madeleine McCann was abducted from her apartment bedroom in Praia da Luz holiday village(Algarve, Portugal) on Thursday 3rd of May 2007. There is currently a £100,000 reward for the safe return of Madeleine.

Get this widget!

If you have any information please call the police on (00 351) 218 641 000.

For more information, downloadable posters, and to donate to the cause, visit the official website set up by Madeleine's parents: www.bringmadeleinehome.com

If you have information on Madeleine please use the phone numbers above and do not try and make contact through SpringWidgets.

This post is independent of any media or law enforcement agencies and has no connections to the McCann family and is here to promote awareness only.

Get Media Manager

2008-10-07T17:10:00.005-07:00

Media Manager is a free Movable Type plugin designed specifically for Movable Type 3.2 and above. Download Media Manager now!... Read More

3 things you really want to know about RSS

2008-10-07T17:10:00.003-07:00

3 things you really want to know about RSS

I have been doing some digging into the statistics for Newsniche to try and discover what you are really interested in when it comes to RSS. So I have come up with the imaginatively titled 3 things you really want to know about RSS. So here are the most wanted to know things about RSS in reverse order.

RSS publishing tools

The third most popular topic is on RSS publishing tools. Rather than an article this is a section of the site dedicated to letting you know how you can publish RSS on your site. Being able to publish RSS on your site means that you have a constant stream of updating content for your readers.

Which is the best RSS feed reader

The second most popular item on the site is an article on Which is the best RSS feed reader. You certainly want to know which is the best way to read your feeds. This is not surprising as RSS is all about being able to have information from your favourite sites available to you without having to visit every you like frequently. Why not subscribe to their feed and have the content come to you.

Using Javascript to display RSS

I guess deep down everyone wants to display RSS using Javascript as the number one most read article is Using Javascript to display RSS. This is an article I wrote ages ago showing you how you could easily place content from an RSS feed on your site using a snippet of Javascript. That is so 2006.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Please help find Madeline

2008-10-07T17:10:00.001-07:00

Get this widget!

Install Feed Manager

2008-10-07T17:09:00.011-07:00

Install Feed Manager
There are two options when installing Feed Manager: Download and install the Feed Manager archive manually Install via the Plugin Manager plugin for Movable Type...

AirG: The Wii Guitar that Fits in Your Palm [Wiimote]

2008-10-07T17:09:00.009-07:00

While games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero require huge peripherals to play, the AirG for the upcoming Wii title PopStar Guitar fits in your hand. Just slip the Wiimote into the AirG case and you can... Read More

Yahoo! Fantasy Standings

2008-10-07T17:09:00.007-07:00

Yahoo! Fantasy Standings
---Supports the following--- Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey Types: Rotisserie, Head-to-Head, Salary Cap, Pick'Em League Access: Public, Private ---Other Info--- -Salary Cap and Pick'Em for football only -Pick'Em ids have 2 types, individual and league --Id Formats Individual: league_id/team_number (ex: 67374/2) you can find the information in the url. League: league_id (dont't need slash)

Atom CSS Stylesheet

2008-10-07T17:09:00.005-07:00

Feeds were never designed to be consumed by humans. They were meant to be processed by machines. That is why feeds are in XML. However, many Internet users find themselves one way or another looking at the XML of a... Read More

55-Alive! Widget 1.0

2008-10-07T17:09:00.003-07:00

55-Alive! Widget 1.0
Allows members to view new articles, manage their messages, and view friends online status. Allows members to view new articles, manage their messages, and view friends online status. (read more)

Mini Video to PSP Converter 2.09.15

2008-10-07T17:09:00.001-07:00

Convert all of your video files to PSP compatible format. Convert all of your video files to PSP compatible format. (read more) Read More

Over 20 Billion Buttons Served in April

2008-10-02T20:12:00.005-07:00

Over 20 Billion Buttons Served in April
It’s already been 18 months since we launched, an eternity in Internet time, and AddThis is continuing to grow very fast. Here is a graph we wanted to share with you. It gives a good idea of how fast our button is spreading. The graph shows how many times the button has been served [...]

It’s already been 18 months since we launched, an eternity in Internet time, and AddThis is continuing to grow very fast. Here is a graph we wanted to share with you. It gives a good idea of how fast our button is spreading. The graph shows how many times the button has been served each month since we started in October 2006 - over 20 Billion times in April alone (that’s 7,500 per second).

We have recently done a lot of under-the-hood work, to keep up with this fast growth. Stay tuned, we are also working on a lot of cool new features, including more analytics, more customization.

We've Got Widgets!

2008-10-02T20:12:00.003-07:00

We've Got Widgets!
As anyone following the site can see, we've put a few new widgets in the gallery since last week.

We've added widgets from the NBC Show Heroes, Harper Collins Booksellers, American Idol, Rotten Tomatoes, Ask Men, Fox Sports, Career One, 20th Century Fox, FX, Speed Channel, News.com.au, and about a couple hundred of your own customized ExpressWidgets!

Heroes

Get this widget!

How cool is it that SpringWidgets is driving the viral widget on the official Heroes MySpace page! I don't know if you are a fan, but here at SpringWidgets, we are all fans of Heroes and this is one of the only shows that we refuse to miss!

Look through our gallery and you might also discover a Heroes feed in an ExpressWidget or two!

Get this widget!

Harper Collins
Take a look at the upcoming books section of Harper Collins Booksellers. Every upcoming book they offer will sport a widget that you can take with you to count down to the release of your favorite upcoming book.

ExpressWidgets in the house!
Even though it's only been a week since we had our soft launch of the ExpressWidgets beta, we're being bombarded with new widgets. My guess is that even with the tens of thousands of SpringWidgets RSS Readers that were created before we introduced the new process, we'll see this gallery grow rapidly.

For those of you who were brave enough to jump on board right away and found a thing or two that you would like changed about the express widgets process, we've been listening! We've upgraded the profiles so that they now show the widgets that you have "expressed" and we've also built in an "edit" and a "delete" feature for your widget in case you have a change of heart after you've published.

Simply log in using the button on the upper right of this page to view and edit the widgets that you have in our system - you can change the default size, header image, gallery tile and color of the widget using your edit page.

American Idol chose to have our technology drive a few bobbling heads made especially for their contestants. Now you too can put a Sanjaya Bobbler on your blog. Check out their site for more information

If you have a few minutes, take a stroll through our gallery and take a look at the variety of creative and colorful solutions that have been added. Chances are that you'll find quite a few that you can add to your page or blog.

This has been a busy couple of weeks here, and we have pushed out quite a few new widgets and features. We're hard at work on some other stuff too that quite honestly blows the doors off any other widget platform out there, bar none. But more on that later . . .

Promote Your Widgets!

2008-10-02T20:12:00.001-07:00

We've been upgrading our site over the past few weeks, adding robust search and sorting, better widget description pages and building in some new tools that can be used promote your widgets.

Almost every upgrade we added is focused on making your widgets easier to find and the promotional tools are free to use with any widget in our gallery, so I thought I'd invite you all in to try them out.

No matter if you have uploaded a great new custom widget or created a quick express widget, all the new tools that we have just added in will work to help you promote your SpringWidget!

So, what's new?

1. Tagging In case you don't know what they are, "Tags" are just words that describe your widget that are used when someone searches our gallery. "Tagging" allows you to make it easier for users to find your widget.

You should tag your widget with words that describe the content or nature of your widget. For example, the springwidgets blog is all about news on the SpringWidgets platform, so I'd tag it with "springwidgets", "widgets" and "widget news" but I'd leave out more obvious words like "blog" and "news" because they really don't help users find content that is specific to my blog.

2. Star-Ratings Another tool to help you promote your widgets is our new ratings system. You can rate any widget in our gallery and users can sort by the best rated widgets. The more that you rate, the better the system gets! Help us out and rate a widget or two in the gallery today.

Here is an important tip - we let you rate your own widget so you can start the ratings yourself... Go ahead, give it a try.

3. Favorite Widgets Every time a user "favorites" your widget, it's added to a list of favorite widgets on that users profile! The better your widget looks and works, the more likely you'll have fans.

Want to favorite a widget? Just click the "favorite widgets" button on any widget in our gallery. Much easier and faster than saying "What was that widget called again?" and banging your head on the desk. :-)

4. Social Bookmarking Links Automatically add (or help vote up) any widget in our gallery to the various social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit. These sites are great ways to promote your widget and find new users. Just click the icon and follow the directions to get started. The great news is that once you submit your widget with these links, users can vote your widget up with a click or two!

5. Widget Search The best way to be found is to make sure that you are accurate when describing your widget. Any user can search our gallery for your widget and find results based on your developer id, widget title and description and tags.

The more accurate and descriptive you are, the more likely that a search will include your widget in front of interested users.

6. Tag Clouds and "Sorting by" Navigation Users can now search by Ratings, Tag Clouds, Name Sorting, and Most Recent Widgets.

Since users will be looking through the gallery with these tools, the more descriptive you are when entering your widget into the gallery, the better!

7. User Comments The more talked about your widget is, the more users are likely to trust adding you to their page or desktop. Get the conversation started by adding your own comments to the widgets you like.

Find a widget you like? let the creator know that you like it. Just feel like saying "thanks for letting me use your widget?" That's ok too. We hope that the addition of comments will be a popular and helpful feature for everyone.

Now get out there and start promoting yourself!

We are continuing to make improvements every day and we'd love to have your input on what to build next, so pop on over to the forums and tell us what you think!

Thanks,

Don Read More

Redefining the Widget

2008-10-02T20:11:00.013-07:00

Redefining the Widget
Last year at Widgets Live, the announcement of the SpringWidgets platform redefined what a widget could be. At the time of our launch there were three categories of widgets: desktop widgets, web widgets and a special subsection of web widgets that would work on social networking profiles.

We changed all that by inventing a widget platform that allowed for the first time, the ability to use a single, updatable and configurable widget file to reach all of these destinations. We took it further by incorporating in the ability to “pop” any SpringWidget you find on the web onto your desktop with just one click.

Since our release, there have been a few companies that have announced a similar product offering - YourMinis and Netvibes are examples we feel are well done.

I'm going to give you a little sneak peak behind the curtain where we are quietly working on redefining the widget once again, and perhaps in the process spur another round of inspiration.

For the most part, online widgets have been exactly what the limited definition has made them out to be …

A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation.

Thanks Wikipedia

Reading this, I’m thinking about the widget landscape and in my head I’m starting to challenge the entire box that we have collectively put widgets into, trying to look past the simple definition and look at the transformative nature of what a portable chunk of code can do.

Is the widget just a visitor on the web page or can it be much more and control and interact with the web page it’s on? If widgets are like parasites, can a parasite define the host?

Can a widget be a portable “experience?”

Envision if you will a Widget that no longer sends the user off to another site to personalize itself. Imagine a widget that is not content to stay within the confines of it’s own little box, but rather can interact with the page it lives on. The “Transformative Widget” would take over the page it’s on; integrating it's content within that page and transforming it based on a click.

If the Widget is not just a chunk of code, but rather a portable experience, imagine the infinite ways we can expand the brand experience within the social network itself. Moving code and embedding Widgets can create a better way to immerse the user in an extreme brand experience. The widget then becomes an ad that is user embedded, user selected and more powerfully engaging and interactive than any traditional advertisement that is available - and just as performance oriented.

If a user allows the widget to brand the entire page, is that a "Widgetview", an "Ad Impression", or a "Pageview"?

So if SpringWidgets is ready to challenge the Widget Landscape it’s safe to say that the launch of THE FANTASTIC FOUR Widget is the next step in redefining the Widget. The transformative nature of TFF Widget is completely apparent once you start using it on your MySpace profile and the brand experience is more immersive than anything possible with a widget prior to the Fantastic Four widget launch.

This is only one of the many transformative widgets that we are engaged in and only represents a small amount of our R&D efforts. Over the weeks and months to come, we'll be rolling out some truly fantastic products that will not only transform the widget, but transform SpringWidgets as well.

We would love to have you on board as we make these transformations, so please feel free to download our API and put your own thoughts to work in redefining what a widget can be.

FeedBurner feed count drop

2008-10-02T20:11:00.011-07:00

FeedBurner feed count drop

You may have noticed on Saturday (3rd November) that you FeedBurner feed counter was reporting a much lower level of subscribers to your blog. Here at Newsniche the counter dropped by nearly a hundred subscribers.

FeedBurner blame Google for the glitch as the Google feedfetcher bot had gone out on Friday night and was up late Saturday. This was probably due to drinking too much GoogleJuice the night before, those bots can't hold their drink. As a result none of the Google Reader subscribers were reported in the stats for Saturday.

Google Feedfetcher drops ball

At the time like me you may have worried even panicked when you saw a massive drop in subscriber numbers. If you have more than one blog then you would have figured out the drop was across the board and due to some glitch.

These sorts of glitches although usually temporary can cause a webmaster a lot of unnecessary stress. These things happen, my advice is don't hit the panic button, do a little investigating then report it if needed. More often than not these things are temporary. I have learned by experience if you do too much tinkering thinking it's something you have done you end up making things worse. All you need to do now is explain to your advertisers why your stats dropped.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Dealzmodo: $600 720P Planar Projector [Deals]

2008-10-02T20:11:00.009-07:00

Dealzmodo: $600 720P Planar Projector [Deals]
In case you've had your eye out for a cheap, quality projector, this Planar PD 7130 over on Woot is a pretty nice deal. It features 900 lumens of brightness and an impressive 4500:1 contrast ratio...

July Top Services: Facebook, Google, and MySpace

2008-10-02T20:11:00.007-07:00

We looked at our large amount of bookmarking/sharing data for the month of July. Here are the results. The top services are Facebook, Google Bookmarks, and MySpace … followed by Live, Delicious, and Digg. Google Bookmarks has enjoyed first position for a long time, but now Facebook is suddenly taking over. We will be sure to [...]

Google Bookmarks has enjoyed first position for a long time, but now Facebook is suddenly taking over. We will be sure to check this data again next month, to see if this trend is continuing … this space is changing fast.

Checking your own RSS feeds

2008-10-02T20:11:00.005-07:00

Checking your own RSS feeds

Are you checking your own RSS feeds, are you subscribed to your own feeds. If not then how do you know your feed is working properly. This is something I have come across, I have noticed on both my own and other bloggers feeds that sometimes your feed breaks.

The simplest thing you can do is subscribe to your feed in your feed reader. Create a separate folder to accommodate just your own feeds so you know exactly where they are. Now every time you make a post your new post will appear in your feed reader.

When you do your usual daily RSS trawl you will be reminded to check your feed. If there is anything amiss you will know about it sooner rather than later. I have emailed many a webmaster to tell them that their feed is broken. I mean who reads their own feeds, right.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Multi-Media Screensaver 1.1.551

2008-10-02T20:11:00.003-07:00

Multi-Media Screensaver 1.1.551
Can transfer media player to screensaver Can transfer media player to screensaver (read more)

Install Plugin Manager

2008-10-02T20:11:00.001-07:00

Install Plugin Manager
Download the Plugin Manager installation script. Save the file locally as pm-install.cgi. Upload the pm-install.cgi file you just saved via FTP or some other file transfer application into Movable Type?s root/home directory. This is the same directory in which...

Build A Snowman 2.0

2008-10-01T14:37:00.011-07:00

Build and customize a snowman.

About Build A Snowman
With 38 different items to mix and match with, you can build a snowman as unique as you! Snow is not needed! Just a little time and imagination. The widget can be easily placed anywhere on you dashboard to give it some wintry decor, even in the middle of the summer. Intelligence not required! The back customization board is easy to understand and you can build a snowman in seconds!

Install Feed Manager

2008-10-01T14:37:00.009-07:00

There are two options when installing Feed Manager: Download and install the Feed Manager archive manually Install via the Plugin Manager plugin for Movable Type... Read More

Flash Intro and Banner Maker 2.5.106

2008-10-01T14:37:00.007-07:00

Flash Intro and Banner Maker 2.5.106
Create Flash Intros, AD banners and ecards in just a few clicks! Create Flash Intros, AD banners and ecards in just a few clicks! (read more)

How to style an Atom Feed

2008-10-01T14:37:00.005-07:00

How to style an Atom Feed
In order to have browsers render an XML Atom feed into HTML such that it is far easier for users to read, there are two things you must create. The first is an XSL stylesheet which instructs the browser on...

V1.1.2 of the SpringWidgets SDK is available!

2008-10-01T14:37:00.003-07:00

V1.1.2 of the SpringWidgets SDK is available!
We published a new version (V1.1.2) of our SDK today - adding the following features/functionality:

"Right Click" menu support
New Fixed Size widget template
Option to remove Default Close Button
Event for content pasting - (CTL-V)
Title attribute in OPML
Larger text node wrapping in OPML

We made these modifications based on the feedback we've received since our launch from developers and users in the community - so please keep the feedback coming.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

DigiClock

2008-10-01T14:37:00.001-07:00

DigiClock is a simple and customizable digital clock. DigiClock features: General clock options. Choice of Widget size. Customizable body colors. Customizable text colors. Chime/Alarm options. Button control options. Timezone setting. Read More

Atom Feed XSL Stylesheet

2008-10-01T14:36:00.007-07:00

Atom Feed XSL Stylesheet
One of the key features of Feed Manager is the ability to render a virtually illegible XML feed as HTML so that it is more easily understood by a person. The secret behind this feature is a simple XSLT stylesheet...

Critical Bug Fixed: "'mt_pluginmanager' doesn't exist"

2008-10-01T14:36:00.005-07:00

Critical Bug Fixed: "'mt_pluginmanager' doesn't exist"
It took me far too long to track down a simple error a number of people were reporting with Plugin Manager, but I did track it down, and did finally manage to fix it. Long story short, the deployment mechanism...

Critical Bug Fixed: "'mt_pluginmanager' doesn't exist"

2008-10-01T14:36:00.003-07:00

It took me far too long to track down a simple error a number of people were reporting with Plugin Manager, but I did track it down, and did finally manage to fix it. Long story short, the deployment mechanism... Read More

RostovDonWebCam 1.2

2008-10-01T14:36:00.001-07:00

RostovDonWebCam 1.2
Opera Widget that will let you view a live webcam feed on your desktop from Bolshaya Sadovay in Russia Opera Widget that will let you view a live webcam feed on your desktop from Bolshaya Sadovay in Russia (read more)

IP Laboratorium 5.60

2008-09-29T21:07:00.019-07:00

IP Laboratorium 5.60
A simple to use tool that can be used to find out different IP's. A simple to use tool that can be used to find out different IP's. (read more)

Shiver Me Timbers!

2008-09-29T21:07:00.017-07:00

For the fans of Captain Jack!...

A SpringWidgets Pirates of the Caribbean countdown clock to put on your profile or blog!

Those of you who have seen my MySpace profile and noticed the skull and crossbones that I use as my profile picture, you have probably figured out that I'm a big fan of pirates.

So much so that I figured that we just had to create a countdown to what will probably be, in my opinion, the biggest movie of the year . . . Pirates of the Caribbean!

Being somewhat piratical ourselves, the team can really relate to the need for blue ocean waters, treasure and wearing silly three cornered pointy hats.

By the way . . . take a look at the bottom of the widget...

Fans of our widgets will notice that the "pop" button has moved from the upper right to the lower left of the widget and it now has a couple of friends, an "options" button and a SpringWidgets logo.

Don't worry, the Pop button will still give you one click downloading of the widget to your desktop if you have the SpringWidgets application installed . . . we just moved it so that it would look better on some of the odd shaped widgets that we are seeing in the gallery.

If you take a moment and click on the options button, you can see that we have added in a few, well... "Options" to the widget. You can now copy the code directly in the widget, download the widget from the menu, jump to the customize/share it page and learn more about the widget you are looking at.

I hope that you like the changes and find that the added functionality enhances your widget experience. If you like the widget and have a moment, stop by our community page and send a note to the team letting them know.

I'm going to go dress up like a pirate now and try and find some buried treasure.

-Don Read More

3 things you really want to know about RSS

2008-09-29T21:07:00.015-07:00

RSS publishing tools

Which is the best RSS feed reader

Using Javascript to display RSS

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

John Chow vs Shoemoney RSS competition

2008-09-29T21:07:00.013-07:00

John Chow vs Shoemoney RSS competition

RSS is now one of the most valuable metrics on the net. Increasing your RSS subscriber count is a measurable way to show the popularity of your site. As RSS is an opt in way for readers to view your site contents, they can easily stop being a subscriber at any time.

It shows how far RSS has come when John Chow and Shoemoney start a competition to see who can get the most new subscribers in a month. Notice how it wasn't a competition to get the most traffic or the most subscribers to an email list but who can get the most RSS subscribers.

Why RSS subscribers

John and Shoe are both canny marketers and know the value of RSS. RSS is a transparent metric that shows a loyal readership. If a site starts to slide in it's content then readers will no longer subscribe. They would rather gain an RSS subscriber than an extra visitor.

Whilst the challenge is a bit of fun there is also a serious reason John and Shoe have gotten together to run this little competition. At the end of the competition they will both have a larger loyal subscriber base. This competition has gained them a large number of new subscribers which generally means more revenue for them.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Toshiba HD DVD Players Get Firmware Update [Firmware]

2008-09-29T21:07:00.011-07:00

There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. You have not awaken in a crazy, alternate reality where HD DVD won the format war. But Toshiba has unrolled the... Read More

See You in Las Vegas at Blog World Expo

2008-09-29T21:07:00.009-07:00

I’m going to be joining everyone in the blogosphere at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas this weekend, September 20-21, 2008. Not going to be there? You are missing out on what could be a record breaking event. I will be there with Woopra, Layered Tech, and WordPress. I’ve peeked at the Conference Schedule and there [...]

xpo2008.png?w=286&h=124" alt="" title="Blog World Expo 2008" width="286" height="124" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2892" />I’m going to be joining everyone in the blogosphere at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas this weekend, September 20-21, 2008. Not going to be there? You are missing out on what could be a record breaking event.

I will be there with Woopra, Layered Tech, and WordPress.

I’ve peeked at the Conference Schedule and there is so much going on, I don’t even know where to begin.

In addition to the Blog World Expo Exhibitors in the Exhibition Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the incredible collection of speakers and workshops, and the crème de la crème of the blogosphers attending, there are also events within the main event, including:

These specialty meetings and workshops cover niche areas and specific issues that confront bloggers within those specific areas. So much of it crosses borders, though, I’m having a tough time deciding which to attend.

I do know where I will be Sunday, September 21, from 3:00PM - 4:00PM. I will be on a panel with my buddies, John Pozadzides and Liz Strauss, covering The Stats of High Performance Content and Marketing.

I will also be occasionally found in the Exhibition Hall in booth 220 with Layered Tech, Woopra, and WordPress. If you want to talk about servers, web hosting, and the grid, I’ll let you talk to the other guys there, but if you want to talk WordPress or Woopra, I’m ready!

I hope to see you there!

NEXT: Next weekend, September 27, 2008, is WordCamp Portland, Oregon - September 27, 2008, where I will also be making noise. The event is sold out and there is a waiting list. It’s going to be great!

Other upcoming events where I will be speaking and attending include:

Site Search Tags: lorelle, lorelle speaks, converences, events, woopra, blog world expo, wordcamp portland, blogworldexpo, blogworldexpo2008, wordcampportlland, hawaii, blog events, blog conferences, blog news, conference news

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

The best way to get your band's blog on Myspace.

2008-09-29T21:07:00.007-07:00

The best way to get your band's blog on Myspace.
While I was looking through the widget analytics data the other day, I noticed just how many bands are using our RSS reader to deliver news to their fans into social networks like Myspace and Facebook and start pages like iGoogle, Netvibes and Pageflakes.

Get this widget!

Grab this Led Zeppelin widget now.

Of course, I'm going to show my age here, but I had to ask who Timbaland, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Rich Boy were, and I had no clue about The Wreckers, Robin Thicke or Faith Hill but when I found out that the official Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson's Thriller profiles were using our widgets I had to spread the word.

Admittedly, Timbaland may get a bit more play these days, but I spent so much time listening to my Zeppelin albums and tapes that I wore them out. And the Beastie boys Licensed to Ill was awesome and played non-stop while cruising in my 66 Mustang in the 80's. (I really am old)

If you have a band, take a look at how some of the other artists I mentioned above implemented the widgets on their Myspace pages and feel free to use our widgets or our platform to promote your own news or events to your fans.

We don't charge for bands to use our RSS reaader, so it's probably the lowest cost investment that you'll make in your popularity. If you are feeling generous, we'll take concert tickets, CD's and backstage passes if you have any to spare ;-)

Get this widget!

If you are a band and add a SpringWidgets express RSS reader to your page to promote your website or blog, please add a comment below and let us know where to find it.

Rock on and build your own RSS express widget today.

xCuts 1.2g

2008-09-29T21:07:00.005-07:00

Puts a full reference of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts at your fingertips in the Dashboard.

About xCuts
A utility for looking up Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts, something that recent switchers from Linux or Windows probably need to do quite a bit! This widget lets you easily browse or search the contents of its MySQL-powered database, which it accesses over the web using Ajax. The xCuts are organized by Category, Scope, and Object, and you can even drill down to a second cross-referenced level if you need to. Or just use the fast live search form.

xCuts includes tips on the use of certain shortcuts, and it’s designed to let you copy and paste shortcuts to external documents. This resizable widget uses the terrific Script.aculo.us effects library to work its visual magic. When you’re done, click the title to compact xCuts down to a tiny lozenge for later use.

Convenient Download Bundle

2008-09-29T21:07:00.003-07:00

For many installing Perl modules is difficult within their environment, and for those people we provide a simple and easy to install bundle of all the necessary perl modules for Plugin Manager. Instructions Download the bundle. Navigate to the MT_HOME/extlib... Read More

Twelve Clock

2008-09-29T21:07:00.001-07:00

A clock with the true look of a six digit LED broadcast clock or similar clock. Read More

Question of the Day: Is No Desktop Syncing Good or Bad For Android? [Question Of The Day]

2008-09-25T19:09:00.019-07:00

One of the most puzzling announcements to come out of the release of the T-Mobile G1 was the fact that there would be no desktop app to sync your data. While you will be able to sync you contacts and... Read More

Twitter Tweets

2008-09-25T19:09:00.017-07:00

Twitter Tweets
This is an experiment to check out LoudTwitter. For the next week or so, I will be playing around with this and getting feel for how it works and how to customize this to work with your WordPress.com blog. Stay tuned for more news. Apologies to those annoyed by Twitter rambling. It annoys me, too, which [...]

This is an experiment to check out LoudTwitter. For the next week or so, I will be playing around with this and getting feel for how it works and how to customize this to work with your WordPress.com blog. Stay tuned for more news.

Apologies to those annoyed by Twitter rambling. It annoys me, too, which is why I need to learn more about how to maximize Twitter content and help you learn along the way.

Are you using LoudTwitter or a similar republishing tool for your Twitter account? How is it working for you? Any tips for me?

07:20 Getting a lot of great interest in #sobcon09 in May 2009 Chicago. You going to be there? I will. Can’t wait. #
10:56 #wordcampvancouver is this weekend in BC. Will you be there? Wish I was. I’ll be #wordcampportland. #
11:36 Looking for digital video editing software. Finding crap. Suggestions? #
11:36 @wordcampbham I’m sure #wordcampbham is going to be fantastic. I need some promo material to help, so contact me! #
11:38 @backon_online #wordcampportland is going to rock. I am so excited to meet up with new-old friends and NEW NEIGHBORS! Love being in portland #
11:41 @jeffr0 Thanks and eager to get news on your new WordPress podcast! How’s that going? #
11:41 @secretsushi WordPress 2.7 is due later this fall. A demo will be featured at many of the WordCamps this weekend - so stay tuned for peeks. #
11:42 @duanestorey Some friends of mine are heading to #wordcampvancouver this weekend. Glenda and Darrell. Treat them like honored guests for me! #
11:43 @kwbridge You can email me answers on how WordPress changed your life at lorelleonwordpress at gmail. Thanks! #
11:44 @mollermarketing And you did great answering how WordPress changed your life! You are a video star! #
11:46 Idiot Alert: I recorded video at #bwe08 vertical not horizontal. ARGH! How do I flip or rotate digital video? #
11:59 @vegasgeek yep!!! Lay down video - new style. Everyone lays down. So used to still, didn’t think about horz vs vert. SIGH. #
11:59 @wiredprworks Will be posting how WordPress changed your life video and video of talk after weekend’s #wordcampportland. Going to ROCK! #
12:20 @GlendaWH Hey, my new dear friend! lorelleonwordpress at gmail - Your video is ~3 minutes on how WordPress changed your life! #
12:21 @vegasgeek LOL That’s the solution for sure. But I like the idea of 200 people laying down to watch much better. Fun at #wordcampportland! #
12:53 @bkajino Can’t wait for #wordcampportland You know I’m also talking about Woopra??? Will have some goodies for those attending, I hope! #
12:54 OMG Did you all see that I’m on the cover of Blogger and Podcaster Magazine?! Bunch of my articles in there. Wow! Didn’t know until #bwe08 #
13:11 @GlendaWH Can’t find your card - found Darrell’s so I emailed him with notes. CAn’t wait!!! #
13:18 Ever have one of those days when you wonder why you blog? Back from #bwe08 I shouldn’t but tired out. Need kick. #
14:21 @WatershedStudio Blogger and Podcaster Rock Star? right? I was so stunned to see my name on the cover. I’m just little ol’ me. #
14:22 @gregbd Right, but not separate. Your blog is yr online resume today. Social business model circles around it. Start blog first then social #
14:45 Idiot Alert Off. FOUND IT! How to flip a vertical video back to horizontal. is.gd/31N1 Simple and easy! Whew. #
14:56 Michael Moore giving away next movie tinyurl.com/5dkqm8 Slacker Uprising. Another example of how free giveaways make money? #
16:13 @vegasgeek What dates are you thinking for WordCamp Vegas? WordCamp Denver scheduling for Jan and don’t want to overlap. #
20:28 4 WordCamps this weekend: Portland, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver(BC) WordPress #wordcamp weekend! #
22:06 @MikePerry Thanks. It was a surprise to me at #bwe08. Great timing. Blogger and Podcaster Magazine doing some interesting stuff lately. #
22:07 YEAH! Raw fooder! Check out the raw food porn book "Raw" by Charlie Trotter. Too much trouble to cook but sexy pics. #
22:08 @vegasgeek Denver wanted the same dates for their WordCamp. Will let them know and maybe they can change them. Thanks much! #
22:14 @gregbd BuddyPress WordPress Theme on steroids is doing that as are others. Connecting the dots. We need more dot connectors to stop scatter #
22:15 @bkajino Woopra is very sweet. I wrote that article (wrong byline), too, after first public preview (hours). It’s even better now. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Posted in Blog Babble��

Optical Illusion Of The Day

2008-09-25T19:09:00.015-07:00

Optical Illusion Of The Day
This Widget pulls the latest illusion from Mighty Optical Illusions website (www.moillusions.com) and shows it on your desktop. If you click on the image, browser takes you to that particular illusion's description and comments.

2008 Ole Miss Rebels Football Schedule Widget 4.0

2008-09-25T19:09:00.013-07:00

2008 Ole Miss Rebels Football Schedule Widget 4.0
Clicking the Ole Miss logo displays the Rebels Football Schedule with kickoff date, time, TV and scores from previous games.

About 2008 Ole Miss Rebels Football Schedule Widget
Instant automated access to the latest Rebels kick-off and schedule information for the 2008 Ole Miss Rebels football games. All games are listed with the date and time, home or away, TV scheduling plus the scores from the previously played games.

- Team logo hot link to the team’s Official Athletic Web Site for the absolute latest information on scheduling.
- Button to play Ole Miss Fight Song.

National Champions 1960

HOTTY TODDY!

We've Got Widgets!

2008-09-25T19:09:00.011-07:00

Get this widget!

Have a Studio! 0.1

2008-09-25T19:09:00.009-07:00

Have a Studio! 0.1
A Piano, a Sampler and Sound fx’s for your Dashboard

About Have a Studio!
Use your Keyboard to play the Piano, click on the Samples for some Beats and enjoy your little studio in your Dashboard ! Credits to ButtonBeats.com for the Piano Synthesizer !

Facebook Climbing to 3rd Spot

2008-09-25T19:09:00.007-07:00

Facebook Climbing to 3rd Spot
The October data are in! Facebook is continuing its amazing climb, taking the 3rd spot away from Del.icio.us. Favorites are back, stealing the first position from Google Bookmarks. Again, Favorites here means “browser bookmarking”, for any browser. On the Feed Reader front things are much more quiet. There was almost no changes between September [...]

The October data are in!

Facebook is continuing its amazing climb, taking the 3rd spot away from Del.icio.us. Favorites are back, stealing the first position from Google Bookmarks. Again, Favorites here means “browser bookmarking”, for any browser. On the Feed Reader front things are much more quiet. There was almost no changes between September and October.

Top Bookmarking/Sharing - October 2007

Top Feed Readers - October 2007

We've Got Widgets!

2008-09-25T19:09:00.005-07:00

As anyone following the site can see, we've put a few new widgets in the gallery since last week.

We've added widgets from the NBC Show Heroes, Harper Collins Booksellers, American Idol, Rotten Tomatoes, Ask Men, Fox Sports, Career One, 20th Century Fox, FX, Speed Channel, News.com.au, and about a couple hundred of your own customized ExpressWidgets!

Heroes

Get this widget!

Beyond Sync 3.5.8.135

2008-09-25T19:09:00.003-07:00

Beyond Sync 3.5.8.135
A file synchronization product that allows you to synchronize files between folders A file synchronization product that allows you to synchronize files between folders (read more)

iPod Taking Some of the Blame for Problems With Metallica's 'Death Magnetic' [IPod]

2008-09-25T19:09:00.001-07:00

iPod Taking Some of the Blame for Problems With Metallica's 'Death Magnetic' [IPod]
If you purchased Metallica's new album Death Magnetic, you may have noticed that it sounds like complete shit. But don't blame Metallica, producer Rick Rubin or mastering engineer Ted...

BoomCooler: A Portable Party In an Ice Box [Cooler Tunes]

2008-09-24T02:53:00.001-07:00

BoomCooler: A Portable Party In an Ice Box [Cooler Tunes]
Throw in a cooler, some speakers and mix with a little hillbilly inspiration and you have yourself a BoomCooler. Billed as "the ultimate portable entertainment system," the BoomCooler makes it easy...

Promote Your Widgets!

2008-09-24T02:52:00.017-07:00

Awesome Photo Gallery/Google Maps Mashup

2008-09-24T02:52:00.015-07:00

I recently was contacted by James Sanders who created a really cool Photo Gallery and Google Maps Mashup. They installed and customized the Photo Gallery Plugin such that a little thumb tack is displayed on a map of the world... Read More

Queen of England Buying the World's Largest Wind Turbine [The Queen Of Green]

2008-09-24T02:52:00.013-07:00

Queen of England Buying the World's Largest Wind Turbine [The Queen Of Green]
We don't know how much it cost her, but word is that the Queen of England has put down some mega-bucks to buy the world's largest wind turbine. The 10-megawatt monster machine built by Clipper...

Redefining the Widget

2008-09-24T02:52:00.011-07:00

Last year at Widgets Live, the announcement of the SpringWidgets platform redefined what a widget could be. At the time of our launch there were three categories of widgets: desktop widgets, web widgets and a special subsection of web widgets that would work on social networking profiles.

We changed all that by inventing a widget platform that allowed for the first time, the ability to use a single, updatable and configurable widget file to reach all of these destinations. We took it further by incorporating in the ability to “pop” any SpringWidget you find on the web onto your desktop with just one click.

Since our release, there have been a few companies that have announced a similar product offering - YourMinis and Netvibes are examples we feel are well done.

I'm going to give you a little sneak peak behind the curtain where we are quietly working on redefining the widget once again, and perhaps in the process spur another round of inspiration.

For the most part, online widgets have been exactly what the limited definition has made them out to be …

A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation.

Lighthouse Cams 2.5

2008-09-24T02:52:00.009-07:00

View lighthouse webcams from the East Coast, Great Lakes and West Coast. Select an area or cycle through all webcams. Choose from 5 seconds to 30 minutes.

About Lighthouse Cams
View lighthouse webcams from the East Coast, Great Lakes and West Coast. Select an area or cycle through all webcams. Choose from 5 seconds to 30 minutes. Also check hotels near those lighthouses from back of widget. Links to the Travel Widgets Lighthouse store also on back. Report webcams that are down.

Brought you you by TravelWidgets.com, the most tech savvy travel site on the internet featuring dozens of widgets and iphone web apps to help book travel and track the latest travel deals. Book hotels, air, car rentals, cruises and show tickets and activities. Save on air and hotel packages. Have you visited Travel Widgets yet?

Get Media Manager

2008-09-24T02:52:00.007-07:00

Media Manager is a free Movable Type plugin designed specifically for Movable Type 3.2 and above. Download Media Manager now!... Read More

The best way to get your band's blog on Myspace.

2008-09-24T02:52:00.005-07:00

Get this widget!

Grab this Led Zeppelin widget now.

Get this widget!

John Chow vs Shoemoney RSS competition

2008-09-24T02:52:00.003-07:00

Why RSS subscribers

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Shiver Me Timbers!

2008-09-24T02:52:00.001-07:00

Please help find Madeline

2008-09-19T17:34:00.017-07:00

British 3 year old Madeleine McCann was abducted from her apartment bedroom in Praia da Luz holiday village(Algarve, Portugal) on Thursday 3rd of May 2007. There is currently a £100,000 reward for the safe return of Madeleine.

Get this widget!

news4mac 2.0

2008-09-19T17:34:00.015-07:00

news4mac 2.0
The most recent news for Mac users from the most trusted sources

About news4mac
The news4mac widget allows you to display the most recent Mac news from the most trusted sources. It’s compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. You can also submit your own news story at news4mac.com

Speed Video Converter 3.1.13

2008-09-19T17:34:00.013-07:00

Speed Video Converter 3.1.13
An application for converting video files of various popular formats An application for converting video files of various popular formats (read more)

July Top Services: Facebook, Google, and MySpace

2008-09-19T17:34:00.011-07:00

How to Remove WordPress.com Ads From Your WordPress.com Blog

2008-09-19T17:34:00.009-07:00

How to Remove WordPress.com Ads From Your WordPress.com Blog
Matt Mullenweg has just announced that you can go “ad-free” on your WordPress.com blog. While you may have never noticed, those who are not logged into WordPress.com will see ads on blogs across the WordPress.com network. two years ago, WordPress.com started experimenting with Google ads to help support the cost of the experimental and state-of-the-art multiple [...]

Matt Mullenweg has just announced that you can go “ad-free” on your WordPress.com blog.

While you may have never noticed, those who are not logged into WordPress.com will see ads on blogs across the WordPress.com network. two years ago, WordPress.com started experimenting with Google ads to help support the cost of the experimental and state-of-the-art multiple user free blog service. The intent was not to cover your blogs with ads, like many free blogging services do, but to show an occasional ad discretely within your WordPress Theme.

Since few complained or noticed, the experiment continued, helping to keep WordPress.com free and add a lot of free features that might have been paid upgrades.

These ads were so rare, I never saw them. So I forgot about them. I’ve written a lot about the WordPress.com Terms of Service policy that prohibits adding ads to your WordPress.com blogs, so I was dismayed a few months ago when I got a few emails accusing me of special favors from WordPress.com because I had ads on my blog. They were seeing the WordPress.com experimental ads. Unfortunately, one of the ads was - shall we say - inappropriate, a problem many have with Google’s ad program.

Still, this bothered me. I talked to the WordPress team about this and they agreed that users should have the right to determine whether or not to have WordPress.com ads on their blogs. As Matt explains:

At the same time it’s easy to imagine blogs that would never want ads on them: businesses, startups, non-profits, political activist sites, the list goes on. Google Adsense analyzes the content to show contextually relevant ads, but that might mean a link to a competitor. Because of this we’ve introduced a premium option that gives you control: the No-ads upgrade.

They’ve been working on this new feature for a while, trying to come up with a secure and affordable way for users to continue to support WordPress.com by permitting ads on their blogs, while allowing those with sensitive or special interests to not host ads. They’ve finally done it, and I applaud their foresight and integrity.

Removing Ads from Your WordPress.com Blog

Before you start jumping to remove ads from your WordPress.com blog, remember that those ads, most of which you will rarely ever see, help bring in income to keep WordPress.com going. If they don’t bother you or your readers, leave them alone. Why not?

You are using one of the most powerful, state-of-the-art blogging platforms, a service that will survive the Digg-effect and high traffic surges without charging you; a service that keeps bringing you options and features without charge; a service that gives you a platform upon which to express yourself proudly - and is incredibly SEO friendly. Why not help them continue to keep this service free for everyone?

If you do feel a compelling need to remove ads from your WordPress.com blog, go to Upgrades.

Scroll down to No-ads and select the option.

The cost to remove ads from your WordPress.com blog is 30 credits annually (USD $30 if you haven’t earned any credits) which comes to eight cents a day.

Whether you keep or remove ads from your WordPress.com blog, why not take a little time to give back to WordPress.com and other WordPress.com users by browsing the WordPress blog network and get to know your fellow WordPress.com members. You can use the Random Post feature in the gray dashboard bar at the top of your WordPress.com blog when you are logged in, or visit the WordPress.com Blogs of the Day which lists the most popular blogs by language, or the WordPress.com Tags list.

If you are familiar with how WordPress.com works, then why not help out in the WordPress.com forums and get to know the volunteers and staff there as well as your other fellow WordPress.com members. It’s a simple way to say thank you for this powerful free blog service.

I Want to Put Ads on My WordPress.com Blog

A lot of WordPress.com bloggers want to put ads on their blogs to make money for themselves. While some free blog hosts permit that, don’t forget that WordPress.com is also a testing site for many of the latest features of WordPress development.

While the world has to wait for the release of WordPress 2.7, WordPress.com users are already using the new sticky post feature and will soon be playing with other new features as part of the new WordPress Administration interface redesign, a continuation of user interface improvements from the previous version of WordPress - long before anyone else.

This means that WordPress.com has to stay clean of code that will screw up not just one blog but all the blogs on the WordPress.com network powered by WordPressMU. While most ad code is harmless, opening up WordPress.com to Javascript and other code languages opens the door up to malicious code, too. It’s a security risk WordPress.com isn’t willing to take, and I support that policy.

If you want to monetize your blog, get the free version of WordPress and pay for cheap hosting. Some hosts are offering web hosting for under USD $10 a month. With the full version of WordPress, you can not only add ads, but customize the whole look, add all kinds of cool WordPress Plugins, and really tweak your whole site to maximize its revenue potential.

WordPress.com has always been about blogging, about freedom of expression and creativity. It’s not about the code. It’s about the words. WordPress.com is working overtime to make sure we have a place to share our words with others around the world - no holds barred.

Site Search Tags: wordpress news, wordpressdotcom, wordpress.com, wordpresscom, ads, ads on blogs, blog ads, advertising, blog advertising, monetization, advertising on WordPress.com, WordPress.com ads, make money, make money with blogging

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Posted in WordPress News, Wordpressdotcom��

Speed Video Converter 3.1.13

2008-09-19T17:34:00.007-07:00

Speed Video Converter 3.1.13
An application for converting video files of various popular formats An application for converting video files of various popular formats (read more)

Checking your own RSS feeds

2008-09-19T17:34:00.005-07:00

Checking your own RSS feeds

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

ArcaMicroScan 2008.09.19

2008-09-19T17:34:00.003-07:00

ArcaMicroScan 2008.09.19
A scanner for a quick and complete virus check as well as cleaning of any possible infections A scanner for a quick and complete virus check as well as cleaning of any possible infections (read more)

His Compass Bible Search

2008-09-19T17:34:00.001-07:00

This Widget allows you to search the Bible using His Compass Bible Search from His Compass Ministry Read More

RSS Hugger

2008-09-19T17:33:00.001-07:00

Collin LaHay has come up with an idea called RSSHugger, it's a site that allows webmasters to promote their RSS feeds by adding them to the site. You can add your own page but it will cost you 20US dollars (10 is you blog about RSSHugger).

RSS Hugger seems to be a cross between an RSS directory and a wiki. Collin wants the directory to grow to 50,000 blogs which he claims is 0.00045 percent of the blogosphere.

The idea behind the new site is to create buzz and generate new RSS subscribers for RSS feeds that are added to the site. When you buy a page you basically get your feed headlines displayed on your own page within RSSHugger. Whether or not enough buzz is created to generate any new subscribers to members feeds remains to be seen.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

CopyTrans 2.55

2008-09-15T07:28:00.017-07:00

CopyTrans 2.55
This software's unique incremental iPod backup allows to add the latest iPod changes into iTunes or a specific folder. This software's unique incremental iPod backup allows to add the latest iPod changes into iTunes or a specific folder. (read more)

Modified New Zealand Wool Resists Blowtorches, Dog Bites, Sharp Knives [Flameproof]

2008-09-15T07:28:00.015-07:00

Call it cliche (or just inevitable), but those sheep-herders down not-quite under have created the ultimate fabric by weaving a synthetic textile fiber called Vectran with ordinary sheep's wool. It's... Read More

UAV Courier Pigeons Deliver Medical Supplies, Sans Awkward Number Two's [Robo Pigeons]

2008-09-15T07:28:00.013-07:00

UAV Courier Pigeons Deliver Medical Supplies, Sans Awkward Number Two's [Robo Pigeons]
Here's a great example of a robot originally developed for war being reused to help those in need. These tiny UAVs were once spy planes, but today they could deliver medical samples from isolated...

Proportions 0.1.6

2008-09-15T07:28:00.011-07:00

Proportions 0.1.6
A small widget to easily and fast calculate arithmetic proportions

About Proportions
A small widget to easily and fast calculate arithmetic proportions

EasyMPEG MX 3.3.6 Build 109

2008-09-15T07:28:00.009-07:00

The fastest MPEG/VCD/SVCD/DVD Editor in the world The fastest MPEG/VCD/SVCD/DVD Editor in the world (read more) Read More

2008 Indiana Hoosiers Football Schedule Widget 4.0

2008-09-15T07:28:00.007-07:00

Clicking the Indiana logo displays the Hoosiers Football Schedule with kickoff date, time, TV and scores from previous games.

About 2008 Indiana Hoosiers Football Schedule Widget
Instant automated access to the latest 2008 Indiana kick-off and schedule information for the 2008 Indiana Hoosiers football games. All games are listed with the date and time, home or away, TV scheduling plus the scores from the previously played games.

- Team logo hot link to the team’s Official Athletic Web Site for the absolute latest information on scheduling.
- Button to play Indiana Fight Song.

Go IU! Fight! Fight! Fight!!

Social Trends for September

2008-09-15T07:28:00.005-07:00

Social Trends for September
Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed [...]

Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed down to the 8th position by Reddit and StumbleUpon in April, and then went back up all the way to the 4th position in July pushing down Digg and MyWeb.

As expect, September’s mover is Facebook, going from 5% in August to 7.1% in September. Delicious however lost a little bit of traction. Favorites (browser bookmarking) have also increased, but this is mostly due to the fact that Favorites are now also included in the drop-down widget.

Google Reader continues to grow and lead the feed reader market (up 1.4%) while MyYahoo and Bloglines are standing still. The mover for September is Live, which moved up 2%.

To see more trends, click here.

Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - Ranking Over Time

Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - September 2007

Top Feed Readers - September 2007

Selling RSS subscribers a sad day

2008-09-15T07:28:00.003-07:00

Selling RSS subscribers a sad day

There is a new site that is selling RSS subscribers. The idea behind this is that the more subscribers you have the more valuable your site will be. This is based on RSS being the new metric for measuring a site based on Mark's theory that an RSS subscriber is worth 30 dollars.

RSS for sale

I think this is boarding on criminal, it basically promotes the faking of RSS subscribers to fool readers into thinking a blog is popular. It is lying to advertisers by artificially inflating the RSS subscriber count but worst of all the site seems to be selling RSS subscribers so the site or blog owner can sell their site at a premium. This is fraud.

Remember these are fake RSS readers they are selling. All that happens is that your FeedBurner counter reports more subscribers. As FeedBurner is owned by Google I am sure RSSxplosion will not last long.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Social Trends for September

2008-09-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Google Reader continues to grow and lead the feed reader market (up 1.4%) while MyYahoo and Bloglines are standing still. The mover for September is Live, which moved up 2%.

To see more trends, click here.

Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - Ranking Over Time

Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - September 2007

Top Feed Readers - September 2007

Elephant Widget 1.0

2008-09-15T07:27:00.001-07:00

Elephant Widget 1.0
An animated walking baby Elephant.

About Elephant Widget
The ECOLIFE Foundation has partnered with savetheelephants.org to reduce encounters with wild Elephants by water-seeking students of the Samburu school, by providing them with reliable, safe, and close-at-hand drinking water. This helps both the Elephants and the People.

Press the Space Bar for the Elephant sound.

For more information please visit our web site.

Progressive Traffic Widget 1.05

2008-09-13T15:54:00.019-07:00

This Yahoo Widget will show real-time traffic reports for major cities in the US. This Yahoo Widget will show real-time traffic reports for major cities in the US. (read more) Read More

SimplyHired "job search" widget launched Monday

2008-09-13T15:54:00.017-07:00

SimplyHired released a widget on SpringWidgets this Monday (2/5/07) - a SimplyHired "job search" widget!!!!! More will be announced "officially", but wanted everyone that might drop by the blog to know they should go grab the widget and put it on their page or pop it into the desktop launchpad.

http://springwidgets.com/simplyhired

widgets/Simply Hired.sbw" flashvars="param_keywords0=Developer¶m_location0=Atlanta, GA¶m_distance0=5&memberId=thespringbox" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="250" height="350" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

Get this widget!

The value of an RSS subscriber at 30 dollars

2008-09-13T15:54:00.015-07:00

Have you ever wondered how much each subscriber to your RSS feed is worth. Well according to Mark over at 45n5 that magic number is currently $30. Mark arrived at this figure by dividing the price blogs have recently sold for by the number of subscribers to the blog.

I have previously made predictions about RSS playing a more important role back in October 2006. It looks like RSS is now an important metric to measure the success of a site and it is also starting to play a larger role in deciding the monetary value of a blog.

RSS subscribers and their value

Although Mark's use of RSS as a measurement of value was just a bit of fun it does show that RSS is a valued metric. A year ago most webmasters and readers would not have placed much if any value in the number of subscribers you have.

As RSS becomes a more valued metric the value of the RSS feed itself will grow. There are going to be more advertisers willing to buy advertising in an RSS feed and the value of RSS will grow. This is because many RSS subscribers do not click through to the website itself but use the feed to consume the content.

This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.

Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!

2008-09-13T15:54:00.013-07:00

Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
We're finished the Kinara widget for Kwanzaa!!!!

A new candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa. Click on "Get this widget" to put it on your page!

widgets/Kinara.sbw¶m_color=wood&memberId=thespringbox" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="238" height="260" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

Get this widget!

mst Password 1.6.22.67

2008-09-13T15:54:00.011-07:00

mst Password 1.6.22.67
With this application you can easily recover lost passwords in a matter of seconds. With this application you can easily recover lost passwords in a matter of seconds. (read more)

Widget Tester

2008-09-13T15:54:00.009-07:00

Widget Tester
Widget Tester provides a workbench for testing JavaScript code. Code may be entered into a multi-line text area or by dragging a text string or a text file onto the JS button. Simple commands may be entered directly into the command line. The Widget executes (i.e. evaluates) the code and displays any results in the debug window. The Widget can be used to examine and set global variables, and to execute expressions and functions. Widget Tester incorporates Douglas Crockford's JSMin (JavaScript Minifier) program.

3D Screaming Skull Cover: Dress Your PS3 Up for Halloween [PS3]

2008-09-13T15:54:00.007-07:00

Halloween is going to be here before you know it, so it is time to start getting prepared. But why should you be the only one getting dressed up? Throwing this screaming skull cover over your PS3 not... Read More

ExpressWidgets from SpringWidgets!

2008-09-13T15:54:00.005-07:00

It’s a day to “Express” change . . .

Today we’ve launched our ExpressWidgets service…

http://springwidgets.com/express/getFeed/

Up until now you could use our RSS Reader Widget to brand and add a blog to your site or desktop, but you could not add that finished blog widget to our gallery so that other people could find it and share it.

Today we changed all that!!!

As of right now you can use our ExpressWidgets process to create your own uniquely-branded Widget(s) and have those widgets instantly added to our gallery just like any other widget. Build as many as you want and add them to our growing gallery of blogs and desktop Widgets so other users can embed, pass along and bring them to the desktop.

It’s pretty cool. We “expressed” the RSS Reader first. We think it’s the easiest build process for you to quickly syndicate and distribute your blog or audio and video podcast content. Best of all, you can uniquely brand your ExpressWidget to match your website or blog, making it a truly one-of-a-kind Widget out in the WidgetSphere.

To make sure that the end product is as good as it can be, we've added a new way to customize an Express RSS Reader - you can now skin the "chrome" around the content so that it better matches your blog or site. (This is a feature that has been requested for a while and we are happy to be able to push this feature live today).

And for our many Feedburner users, your burned feeds will continue to give you the industry leading analytics and metrics for which Feedburner is known. If you have your Feedburner feed handy, drop on in to the ExpressWidgets process now and add your blog to our gallery to get some free exposure.

Talking about exposure… We’ve also added in a few familiar buttons on the display pages for your widget. Anyone can now Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us and otherwise bookmark your widget directly from the widget view in the gallery – guaranteed to lead to at least a couple of hundred eyeballs on your content ;-)

Go get’em tiger! Read More

Facebook Climbing to 3rd Spot

2008-09-13T15:54:00.003-07:00

The October data are in! Facebook is continuing its amazing climb, taking the 3rd spot away from Del.icio.us. Favorites are back, stealing the first position from Google Bookmarks. Again, Favorites here means “browser bookmarking”, for any browser. On the Feed Reader front things are much more quiet. There was almost no changes between September [...]

The October data are in!

Top Bookmarking/Sharing - October 2007

Top Feed Readers - October 2007

Ten Facts You Should Know About the LHC [Questions Questions]

2008-09-13T15:54:00.001-07:00

Ten Facts You Should Know About the LHC [Questions Questions]
Neatorama has put together a good list of 10 basic questions on the Large Hadron Collider. It doesn't answer questions like "Why the heck can't Michael Zeller quote Star Trek correctly?" but it...

window xp widgets

Experimenting with LoudTwitter Twitter Tweets on My Blog

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TheSpringBox 1.1.3

FreeTime

Barack Obama's $3 Million 'Overhead Projector' Actually Pretty Cool [Gadget Politics]

Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!

Slim PMV

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