Sometimes, I do my own pinging. It's something I like to do. It makes me tingle all over. OK, that's a lie. I just like to Pingoat now and then. It's an addiction, ok? I was hurt and crushed today when I, just a meek and lowly farmgirl from Kansas tried to get into see the Wizard of Pingoat and this is the message I got! I'll get you my pretty, and your little goat too! ::::cackle:::
So many times I go to write a post and think, "Oh man, someone has probably already written about this!". But, as I go through and look at other blogs I read, as well as in advertising and magazines, they do just that.
I believe it is called rehashing, but it obviously works for blogs (Problogger, Copyblogger, DoshDosh, etc.). Not that it's wrong or anything. I think it's a good way to keep your information "out there" and viable.
So, if you've been reluctant to write an article on a topic in which you've written before, go ahead. Change it around, add some new information, a new slant, but keep the 'meat', the thrust of what you would like to tell people.
I don't mean to just copy and paste your old article and repost it. Search engines don't like that much. Do create a new title or even new graphics to enhance it too. The veteran bloggers might have heard your message before, but people search every day for your topics, and you might just catch their eye with your brand spankin' new rehashed article.
Somebody broke my blog!!
I don't know what they are doing over at MidPhase, but they sure aren't hosting my other blog iPentimento. I started having problems with the blog on Saturday, just when they started doing some maintenance, but the blog was up and running last night. Then, this morning when I wanted to put a post on the blog, it was just not there. No way to log in, nothing. I checked MidPhase's Status blog and this is what I found.
ESC21 undergoing FSCK
By Sebastian Ostrowski | May 17, 2008
ESC21.midphase.com required a file system check (FSCK). We do this in order to maintain the integrity of the drives and to prevent future file corruption. We have no current ETA but we are trying to get it up as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
Topics: Service Outages |
Comments are closed.
Anyway, if you look for iPentimento and can't find it, don't blame me. I even went so far as to write to MP/AN today but got no answer so far. Maybe the next step is to call them? I just hate it when crap doesn't work right! Grrr! Sorry this is happening. Maybe I will have to get a new blog host. Any suggestions?
It seems like it happens all to often...I go to leave a comment on a Google Blogger blog and the comment pop up box is screwed up like below. It was happening some time ago too, and then the problem seemed to go away. I was just trying to leave a comment on "A Little Piece of Me" and ran into the same thing. It isn't just that blog though, it seems to be happening on other Blogger blogs. You would think the owners would complain.
Luckily, Claire is nice enough to have her blog settings so that you have several ways to leave your comment ID, especially the "name and ID" choice. I find that the easiest to use for me...how about you all? I like the bloggers that use the Google Blog service, but the format for the blogs leaves a LOT to be desired.
I saw a post about this today on another blog and I think it is something that needs to be addressed here on Pentimento too: Blog Begging
I have noticed that many blogs, including this one have subtle requests for donations, but some are just downright blatant. I mean, if they do ask you for a donation, that's fine. You can choose to do so or not. No harm done if you don't. I don't think anyone should be blogging if they can't afford the price of the service. If you got into blogging because you thought you were just going to get rich, it is like thinking you are going to win the lottery. Not likely!
So, if you need a college education, a new computer, money for a nose job, etc., don't post it on your blog. It is just going to turn people away at best. If I like what you write and you have a place to donate, I might drop you a buck or two if I have the money. Good blogs should be promoted to the max. Wanna read some good blogs? Here are some links to ones you might like:
No little birds were harmed in the writing of this post. :)
I sure hope someone doesn't say that to me, but if they did, I know where I can go to get a new Entrecard design to make a better impression. I happened upon Romelo.com in my Entrecard travels and it was a pleasant surprise to see the nicely crafted designs he is offering.
Click on the link to visit his blog and check out his other 4 design sets. Oh, and please don't tell me my Entrecard is ugly...just drop yours on me!
I commend Typepad for asking for input from their users on what they would like to have new for their blog choices, but I have yet to see the thing I would like to have, and that is to be able to center text and photos in a post. I realize that this is a very basic user friendly service, but gee, I don't always want to wrap my text around a picture. And, if I don't want to do that, then I have to have it on the left hand side. I don't think changing to a WYSIWYG format for posting would be all that difficult.
And, while you are at it Typepad, how about some "smilies". New themes are nice, but how about adding some functionality to the posting area?
Yes, that is a blatant advert for my other blog, iPentimento. If you're interested in genealogy, stop on by for a visit!
I admit it. Every blog I visit these days, I look for an Entrecard widget to click on it. You see, I am a lazy blogger when it comes to discovering new sites. Not that I'm not interested in other peep's blogs. It's just that I like to find them fast and in the easiest possible way. I first read about Entrecard on Blog About Your Blog when it first launched, and now what was unique (seeing the cards on blogs) has become the norm.
The only thing about Entrecard that is a slight drawback is that they are getting so much traffic that it slows down their site and sometimes you can't get into the dashboard. Right now though, all it takes is a re-load and you can get in. It isn't a major problem (yet), but I hope they will be upgrading their site
soon to handle all of us who have jumped on board.
Don't let the above paragraph put you off from using Entrecard. It is far worth the small trouble to reload for the trade-off of tons of more traffic. If you have more questions about Entrecard before joining (it's FREE) click on this Entrecard Help link.
Before signing up for Entrecard you should create a 125 X 125 card and have it ready to upload to use as your Entrecard. Take a look at what other cards look like and see what catches you eye. That way, you are ready to go when you subscribe. You already have a logo? Great! Use that for your Entrecard.
Just a little tip about using the site that some people might not know: Each day Entrecard allows a bigger site to drop an entry into your inbox. This is not something that will show up on your blog. BUT, if you click on it you get 5 extra Entrecard points added to your account so you can buy ads on other sites.
Affiliate Lounge had the test, and I had some spare time (there are 75 questions) so I took the SEO Quiz on the site of the same name. Truthfully, I was surprised I did as well as 40%. Take the quiz and see how you do too. No doubt, much better than me. Good luck!
I am going to play the "female" card and tell you that I have changed my mind. Pentimento will stay online for a while longer. But, the focus might be changing. So far, I have kept it pretty family friendly, or so I thought. Maybe not, but I tried. I am not going to make this something really sleazy or anything, but from time to time you might see some humor on here that you wouldn't have seen before. My other self-hosted blog iPentimento will be my main one from now on, with a mostly genealogical focus with stories like my most recent one, Chinese History In My 1954 Cookbook.
In the past year I have learned a lot about blogging and making blogging friends. When my father-in-law was here for a visit one time he asked me who taught me to cook. My answer was that everyone I had come in contact with (mostly) had taught me something about cooking. The same goes for blogging. All of these people have taught me something about blogging.
One of my first contacts was my friend Susan Reynolds. She and I have been friends for over a decade. Her original blog Artsy Asylum got me started. I unashamedly copied a lot of the things she did on her blog when I first began. Now, she is battling breast cancer and has an additional blog aptly named Boobs on Ice.
I can't forget one of my other first contacts, my friend Saj Sharazi. He lives in Pakistan and his blog is Light Within. I think of him often these days, and send him warm regards and safe travels.
One of my most valued blog friends is Chris Lodge. He has helped me so many times and never yelled at me once! He probably wanted to.... Chris is now blogging less and working at another job there in Scotland, but his blogs Thermal (humor, wit, etc.), Blog-Op (if you are learning to use Wordpress, this is your blog. Tons of good info and help!) and Auto-focused (photo blog with amazing shots) are not to be missed.
Chris also has a sister, Alison, who is no slouch herself in the photo taking department. Her Eleanorblog has more than photos though. A true historian, she gives us insight into British history with her genealogical sleuthing.
This last Friday I was the proud and happy recipient of 50 *Entrecard credits and an upcoming spot on Blog About Your Blog's blogroll. I was very surprised to even win considering I was a doofus and called Matthew "Mark" by mistake. BAYB is one of my favorite blogs. Matt keeps it real by always giving us quality content plus some personal insight into his life.
And what about this new phenomenon Entrecard, huh? Are you using it? Why not? I have one on iPentimento, but I will be putting one on Pentimento too. Entrecard has been such a great success because it is simple to earn points and free. You get lots more traffic than other methods, and in the process you are finding new and interesting blogs to add to your blogroll or StumbleUpon.
So, as I said, Pentimento will stay online. Even so, if you would please subscribe to iPentimento too, I would really, really appreciate it. Thanks!
In an effort to cut costs in the new year, I am thinking of letting this blog go and just having one blog. I have many subscribers for this blog, and maybe they will sub and/or link to iPentimento and we shall see how it goes. This blog costs me almost $15/mo, and I can't justify that amount of money.
I began blogging with the hope that I could make a little bit of money with it, and for a while it was all good. Blogsvertise sent some opps my way, and I did some for CreamAid too, but my main money-making was with PayPerPost. And then, along came the Google debacle with Page Ranks taking a nose dive, and the pseudo war was on, with the paid link posties taking the hits. And for what? Advertising revenue? OK, fine. You don't need me to blog for your businesses, and that's ok by me.
Truthfully, I am tired of writing two blogs and spending more than I am making. So, this is goodbye. At least for this blog. I will wind it down slowly to make sure I have tied up all the loose ends and then it is adios. Thanks to everyone who made this blog what it is. I appreciate each and every one of you!
You may notice a new little badge on my blog today. It certifies that this blog (so far) is "Family Friendly". I was hoping it was. If you think your blog is Family Friendly too, you can get your own badge here. There are several designs to choose from. They are sponsored by Structured Settlements, so if you object to their link being in the badge, don't get one.
It's only Thursday, and yet, I have had a tough time blogging this week. Monday was uncertain because of the storms and uncertainty that I would even have power to fire up the 'confuser'. We did have the lights go out, but thankfully, nothing of blogging importance was lost.
Tuesday, I began having problems with Firefox. There had just been a new version released and I thought maybe it was the problem I was having with PayPerPost pages reloading and reloading. It would begin on that site, and then continue on any I visited afterwards. The solution turned out to be that I had to run FF in safe mode to see if it was an add-on causing the problem, and to make a long story short, it was. I think it might have been the eQuake add-on, but I can't be certain.
I finally got that fixed so that I didn't have to keep switching between IE7 and FF, but in the process, I had posted a couple questions in the Firefox forum, which got me noticed by someone who took exception to my signature in there. It reads like this:
You are always welcome at iPentimento and my other blog Pentimento. If you like what you see, please subscribe! Thanks for visiting!
Today, I got a personal email from someone saying, "Please remove the link to your commercial site from your signature. There are those who consider that kind of advertising in these forums to be off-topic spam and therefore in violation of the rules."
I replied politely that I didn't have a commercial site and that it was just two blogs, asking what made them commercial. (I try to keep my own original content equal to, or more than, any ads, etc.). I sincerely thought I was doing OK, and considering all the other blogs I see with the same amount of ads, etc., I don't consider them commercial either. His reply was, "You mean other than "get paid to review my post" and the host of advertising?"
I really had better things to do today, but I did send him a reply: "Both of my blogs always have more original content than advertising. If you looked at the posts on iPentimento this week alone, you will see that the majority of them were non-paid. If there is any advertising on my blogs it is there to help provide extra income for me since I am disabled. I try very hard to infuse both my blogs with quality content, and I think your accusation is unfounded. Are you someone official with the forums, or just offering your opinion?" (I see he is a "Moderator").
At this point, I don't know if I am right or wrong. If I am breaking some rules, I am not aware of it. I haven't heard anything back, but I would bet money that he never actually looked at any of my other posts on the two blogs. Some people have nothing better to do than be a pain.
UPDATE: Well, the last missive came through about 5 minutes ago. Here is his reply to mine: I am a MozillaZine moderator and have been for over three years. I did not look at the posts on iPentimento. I only took an initial look at the front of the site. It seemed to be mostly advertising and most of that is "here's how to make money doing whatever on the Internet...." I was asked by another forum volunteer to take a look and contact you about the link in your signature. I'll tell you what I will do. Leave your signature alone for now. If we (the moderators) get another complaint about the content, I will let you know about the then multiple complaints and we'll discuss how to rectify the situation. Fair enough?
I replied, "Seems fair enough to me. I do hope that those who complain about blogs will actually take the time to look at them thoroughly, not just make snap decisions and then report them."
Maybe I just don't like being told what to do.... What really irks me is that this all came about because I was asking for help with the Firefox browser.
If you haven't heard of this before, join the club. I hadn't heard of person to person lending (other than the last time I bummed some dough off my mom) until I read an article this week in the Kitsap Sun where they talked about Prosper.com and LendingClub.com.
The premise and purpose of the two sites is to by-pass the banks and lend or borrow directly from other people. Her is a short excerpt from the About page:
People who want to lend set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. People who lend can easily diversify using "standing orders", which automatically make many small loans to different borrowers.
Borrowers create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender. Then the auction begins as people who lend bid down the interest rate. Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrower and lenders.
I can imagine that traditional banks are probably not too keen on this idea of person to person lending. They have held the monopoly on that corner of business for a long time. But, I can also see why this modern form of lending has come about. Since this is a strictly USA endeavor, it kind of brings to mind the Kennedy quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". Change that to "countrymen" and you have person to person lending.
For a complete explanation for the Prosper.com site, or to join click here. As I was writing this post, I decided to go ahead and join Prosper. so that link is a referral. I have not joined Lending Club. Since I am not a blog mogul yet, one person to person lending site enrollment is enough for now.
It's just a simple request, and one I am happy to comply with: mention Blog About Your Blog on your blog. As Matt's site hovers between 5000-6000, he is trying (with some help from his friends) to get it above the 5000 mark. Wanna help him? He always has some really helpful blogging tips, and I am happy to join the bloggers helping him reach his goal. Besides, there are some cool prizes for the lucky someone who wins (contest is over, but why not help anyway?).
You might want to grab the little gizmo that Engtech created for faves too. Check out my post "Are You Using Engtech's Technorati Faves Program?" and watch your Technorati links rise! Don't forget to fave Pentimento too! 
I have compiled this giant list of pings from various sources, and I thought I would share them all with my friends. I mean, if you can't help your friends ping...sheesh! Don't say I never gave you anything! Hey, if you like this post...buy me a caffè e latte. :::wink wink::: I take PayPal!
courtesy of Email Icon Generator
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://1470.net/api/ping
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://bblog.com/ping.php
http://bitacoras.net/ping
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC
http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc
http://blogmatcher.com/u.php
http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc
http://coreblog.org/ping/
http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt
http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
http://ping.amagle.com/
http://ping.bitacoras.com
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/
http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.myblog.jp
http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://ping.weblogs.se/
http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2
http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/
http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://rpc.pingomatic.com
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php
http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b
http://www.bitacoles.net/ping.php
http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://www.blogoole.com/ping/
http://www.blogoon.net/ping/
http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates
http://www.blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1
http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php
http://www.blogsnow.com/ping
http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://www.mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php
http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
http://www.reader.google.com
http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php
http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2
http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/
http://xmlrpc.blogg.de
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/
Twitter is a fun little gizmo that you can have on your blog sidebar that will let everyone who visits your site know what you are doing as you update the feed. I don't have a problem with Twitter itself, but it does present a problem if I am posting for an ad. If the paid ad site like PayPerPost or Loud Launch finds that it is taking too long for Pentimento to answer, it just rejects the post. I had to take Twitter off my blog just for that reason. Sad to say, but I think that when it comes to putting things on my blog, I tend to be like a kid in a candy store and I "want it all". Consequently, that makes for a jumbled messy kind of blog. I am working on it!
Are you a new blogger with lots and lots of questions about how to build a quality blog, but you feel you have no central place to get information? Maybe you would like to share what you have learned with those who are just starting out? One of the places I have just started frequenting is Bloggst. It is a fairly new site for bloggers, but it is very well laid out and organized.
Here are some links to the articles you might find helpful.
All by Lars-Christian
Important Terms and Phrases All Bloggers Should Be Familiar With
But don't take my word for it. Head on over to Bloggst and check it out for yourself. Let's all contribute and help each other succeed.
This policy is valid from 10 March 2007 This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact webduckie AT yahoo DOT com. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.
The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest. To get your own policy, go to Disclosure Policy.org
What would our blogs be without links? But the only way to get them is to send out some 'bait'. Hence the term, "linkbaiting". Some people dislike it; some don't care either way. What do you think?
Yes, I think the term linkbaiting is OK; or
No, I think the term linkbaiting is bad.
That's the discussion going on over at Copyblogger. Maybe you have thought of a better term than linkbaiting. Brian Clark prefers his term of "viral copywriting", but I bet he is open to any serious suggestions of a better term.
No, this isn't a new recipe that I found. Well, on second thought, it might be a recipe...for disaster. At least to all those spammers that like to send their automated programs out to search the web and harvest our email addresses. No doubt you will know when your address has been harvested because then you start receiving invitations to sex clubs, dating services and the Nigerian's want to send you money.
"These links will redirect email harvesting bots to trap sites that will feed it with an almost infinite loop of dynamically generated fake email addresses, mostly on known spammer owned domains! This will render their harvested lists pratically useless and of no commercial value". [Quote from the Spam Poison site]
Thanks to Chris Lodge at Thermal for posting this link for Spam Poison today!
Will someone please tell me what the heck is so great about Digg? Every time I go there and log in, it then tells me I didn't submit a search string. So, I submit one and it tells me that if I want to vote on the article I need to login. Hello? I don't have a lot of time to blog, so if I am going to do it, I want to use sites that actually work! Obviously, DIGG works for someone, or they just make up all those posts, but I am going to take my little blogging self somewhere better. I definitely do not dig DIGG.
Link: New Year New You.
Mega-coach Kim Fulcher has released an entire site dedicated to women and success with several blogs and dozens of authors. They have a special promotion just for today:
I don't have a Blackberry (yet) but if you have one, I know the best site you can use to find new wallpaper, games, video generator programs, etc.. It is MobileSoftMarket where you can shop for productivity tools, and e-books.
- Productivity Tools
- EBooks
- Desktop Tools
- Games
- Wallpapers
- Videos
They have programs and ebooks for Symbian, Palm, Windows Mobile and the PSP as well.
I am getting a 15% discount off all products in their shop right now. You can too! Just enter the discount code "ONGKAE" at the end of the purchase process.
"The best place for mobile content shopping!"
This has been a paid post.
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My blog is worth $196,459.92.
How much is your blog worth?
