Pentimento

Why You Should Revisit Your Previous Topics

 

Revise, Revisit, Revamp - But Don't Copy

Up until recently, I thought you had to come up with brand spanking new content for your blog every time you'd post. Apparently, I'm slow to learn.  I read other people's blogs all the time, read books and watch re-hasked TV shows, but when it came to bloggin I just didn't get it I guess.I do now though.

What I'm not talking about is taking one of your old posts, copying it verbatim and posting it again. You can link back to them, but search engines will see your copied reposts as duplicate information and that can actually hurt your blog's ranking.

Here are some previous posts with other tips I've shared:

Suggestions For Free RSS Feed Readers

Microsoft Word Hints and Symbols

Photo of Halley's Comet from How Stuff Works - A Discovery Company

 

Suggestions For Free RSS Feed Readers

Which Blog Reader Should I Use?

I have a friend who is currently coming into the twenty-first century and just getting started reading blogs that interest her.  She can't be the only person late for the IT party, so I'm going to tell her, and you, just what's available for reading blogs. Some of it depends on which browser you use, others, not at all. If you already know all this information, just come back and visit in a day or two. 

So, what's that funny orange thingy up there, huh? That is the universal symbol for a 'feed'. You might see them in a rainbow of colors, but most people look for the orange one. That is what you will be looking for in the address line of your browser once you choose which reader service you want to use.

Google Reader

Google Reader is probably the most widely known and used feed reader around.  First, you will have to create a Google account which takes just a few minutes. Once you get the account set up, then click back here, or on the Google site for the link to Google Reader.  Google Reader is easy to use and you can set it up to your liking within a few minutes. I personally like to have mine in "list" view so I can see new blog posts at a glance. 

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Another widely used reader is Bloglines. It has the similar layout as Google's reader page, but with a cleaner more polished look to it.  Smooth and easy to use, with no software to load. Easily customizable too.

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As I have found so often in the past, making a list of anything has probably already been done. I did a search for a list of feed readers and found: 

Top 10 Free Windows RSS Feed Readers / News Aggregators

Did you know?? My other blog is now available for subscription on your Kindle!

iPentimento | Genealogy and History

CMF Ads Are Number One For Publishers and Advertisers

CMF Ads - 30 day ads starting from $0.01

If you're new to blogging and are looking to get some traffic to your blog, why not try spending a couple bucks and advertising on CMF Ads? Personally, I've used several ways to advertise on my blog, as well as on other people's blogs, and CMF Ads proved to be the easiest and most profitable way to go.

CMF Ads have recently revamped their dashboard making it even more easy to find, buy and place ads. You can also connect with other bloggers in the forums where you can find additional information about driving traffic to your blogs and creating eye-catching advertisements.

Confused? Don't be! CMF Ads has a very robust help wiki that covers any question you might have. What are you waiting for? Go straight over to CMF Ads and start making money that pays for your advertising!

Pentimento Friends and Family Update

I hope all my friends know how much I appreciate how often you visit this blog. Sometimes though, real life interrupts blogging and that is what happened a few days ago. On Friday, my brother went in to the ER with pain in his stomach and yesterday we went down to Olympia because he had decided to go ahead with the surgery his doctor had suggested. I had been kind of "out of it" mentally (more than usual?) since Friday and so not posting much or dropping Entrecards. I am aware that it isn't the end of the world if I don't update this blog.

My brother came through his surgery very well, which is always a relief for everyone concerned. Since he is my only sibling and we actually have a very close relationship, you can imagine that I was happy everything went well for Dave.

In the mean time, I just want to say, "It's good to have friends and family". Thanks everyone.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Microsoft Word Hints and Symbols

Say you come here often...or, say you don't *^$)&%@. This could make me very angry, but of course I can't berate you or anything. Actually I ♥ my visitors and really wouldn't cuss at you or anything. But, there have been times when I really would like to put some sort of symbol in my blog post like that heart.

I happened upon a nice little chart on the Jackson District Library that lists all the ways you can change those numbers on the right keypad + ALT into symbols and characters. There are some Word shortcuts too. You can follow the link to the library's page, or download this file: Download Microsoft Word Hints.

Here's a couple to get your started:

• Alt + 0153..... ™... trademark symbol
• Alt +  0169.... ©.... copyright symbol
• Alt + 0174..... ®... .registered trademark symbol
• Alt + 0176 ...°....... .degree symbol
• Alt + 0177 ...± ... .plus-or-minus sign
• Alt + 0162... ¢...... the cent sign
• Alt + 0161..... ¡...... upside down exclamation point
• Alt + 0191..... ¿..... upside down question mark

I find these things so you don't have to. ☺

Vote For Daisy At Weblog Awards

If you haven't done so yet, please head on over to the 2008 Weblog Awards. Scroll down to Best Pet Blog category and vote for our friend Daisy the Curly Cat. Daisy's blog is one of my favorites and if you're not already a regular visitor, one visit there will convert you into a fan. Let's help Daisy win!

How To Get Your Firefox 3 Scrollbar Back

Admittedly, I am pretty slow sometimes. OK, much of the time. It takes me hours to figure out things that would take the rest of you a nano-second. Like tonight...I spent hours trying to get my right side scrollbar back so it was visible. Yes, I can scroll with my mouse, or using the arrow keys, but who wants to go to all that trouble when you can just move a page up and down quickly using the scrollbar?

I Googled my question to see if anyone else had a missing scrollbar after the recent upgrade to Firefox 3, but the results were not what I was looking for, so I went to the FF support page and did a search there. No luck. I even downloaded a new Firefox theme, thinking it was just a problem with the default one they use. But that didn't fix the missing scrollbar problem either.

As it turned out, the fix was pretty simple. All I had to do was clear my cache. Sheesh! 

By the way, if you aren't already using it, you might want to try CCleaner. The original name was Crap Cleaner, but I guess the PC police made 'em clean it up or something. Just kidding. I have no idea...Anyway, check it out. It's a free download and really does a slick job of cleaning up your computer. Enjoy! (No, I am not an affiliate. Just a fan).

Are You Using Technorati Faved Fans Yet?

It's been a while since I updated my Technorati Fans using Internet Duct Tape's handy-dandy program called Technorati Favorite Your Fans, so I fired it up today and guess what?! I was able to add 78 fans who had favorited me! Thanks to everyone who faved me, and I am happy to return the favor.

So, what is TFYF's, you ask? And more importantly, where can you download it?

This is a program that connects to the Technorati.com service, finds everyone who has favorited your blog and automatically favorites them back.

I love this program, and I think you will too. Technorati Favorite Your Fans download page.  Enjoy!

Now More CommentLuv For All Of Us

If you're a Wordpress blog author, you probably already know about CommentLuv being a top-notch plugin. If you aren't familiar with Comment Luv, here's how it works.

After downloading the plugin and installing it on your blog, CommentLuv will find your last blog post and add it to the end of your comment on someone else's blog after you submit it. All you have to do is register your blog(s) for free and verify your site. 

Andy Bailey has really gone beyond the call, and made CommentLuv work beautifully for more than just Wordpress blogs. Now, it is available for...

Wordpress

Drupal

DotClear

Blogger

Typepad

What could be better than saying 'thank you' to your visitors by linking to their latest blog post title? I think this plugin is very special and I think you will too. If you really, really luv the plugin, why not vote for it at Open Web Awards? Fill in with this information: Blog category: Blog Plugins  Company to nominate: CommentLuv  The only thing left to do is add your email address and hit Submit! Oh, and enjoy a surge in blog comments. 

This Baby Boomer Uses Facebook Too

My blog friend Patricia Rockwell at Communication Exchange recently noted, Facebook isn't just for kids anymore. Well, unless you count Baby Boomers as kids. After all, "65 is the new 45", so I hear.

As a matter of fact, I am a member of Facebook, and have been for at least a year, if not more. Since it's a free site, I don't see why more people aren't using it for social networking. I do have a MySpace account too, but I rarely go there. It seemed a little too "teeny-bopper" to me when I check it out, so I haven't been back.

So, what do I do on Facebook? I have joined groups, and connect with my blog friends that also use Facebook. My friend Alison in Scotland and I play Wordscraper (it's like Scrabble) almost daily, but the place I have been spending the majority of my time lately is at the Genea-Bloggers group. Just a few months ago there was just a handful of people. As you have probably guessed, the main interest of the group is genealogy, which of course is my addiction. Currently, the group boasts 227 members and it's growing almost daily. As each person in Genea-Bloggers adds their blog to Blog Networks I am able to track and visit them easily just by going to that application.

Something that works quite well for me is that whenever I post to this blog, or my genealogy blog iPentimento, I have it set up where it automatically posts a link to Facebook too. It's all about the networking in blogging, especially if you are trying to interest more readers.

For me, it was pretty easy to learn my way around Facebook. And, if you need help, a friend is just a link away. My overall experience has been that there is a lot more to do on Facebook than I have hours in my day. You are welcome to add me to your friends if you are so inclined.