Media Manager is the easiest way to write about Amazon items in MT. Media Manager provides a simple queue to serve as a central location for you to manage all of media assets for your blog. From here you can... Read More
Monday, August 25, 2008
Mars Explorer 1.6
Mars Explorer 1.6
3D multiplayer racing, flight, laser tag, and adventure.
3D multiplayer racing, flight, laser tag, and adventure.
 | About Mars Explorer Ascend massive volcanoes, race atop elevated plateaus, splash through lava flows, and execute aerobatic stunts using deployable wings while playing laser tag with your friends over the internet! |
Checking your own RSS feeds
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.
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.
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 ;-)
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. Read More
Grab this Led Zeppelin widget now.
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 ;-)
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. Read More
Geek License Plates Show Just How Geeky the Road Can Get (Very) [Nerdery]
Geek License Plates Show Just How Geeky the Road Can Get (Very) [Nerdery]
While this is by far our favorite geek vanity plate, we don't pretend that others don't exist. And frankly, if I pulled up behind someone repping a wireless radio standard for all to see on the back...
While this is by far our favorite geek vanity plate, we don't pretend that others don't exist. And frankly, if I pulled up behind someone repping a wireless radio standard for all to see on the back...
Panda Virus Signature File - 25 August 2008 (Freeware)
The most recent Virus Signature File for your Panda Antivirus Read More
Metal Cube 1.0
Metal Cube 1.0
A shiny rotating metal cube to display in your dashboard.
A shiny rotating metal cube to display in your dashboard.
 | About Metal Cube Who wouldn’t like to have a shiny rotating metal cube inside a window to display in dashboard? ( You don’t have to think of an answer. ) |
Sync2 for Outlook 1.62.0774 (Trial)
This application performs complete automatic background synchronization, even if Outlook is not running. Read More
FeedBurner feed count drop
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.
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.
Read MoreWednesday, August 20, 2008
Bus Stop Swing Set: A Public Transportation Playground [Bus Stop Playground]
Bus Stop Swing Set: A Public Transportation Playground [Bus Stop Playground]
The idea of making public spaces more playful is the brainchild of artist Bruno Taylor. In this project, he modified several London bus stops with swings to brighten the day of busy commuters. Never...
The idea of making public spaces more playful is the brainchild of artist Bruno Taylor. In this project, he modified several London bus stops with swings to brighten the day of busy commuters. Never...
Xilisoft Video Converter 5.1.2.0819 (Demo)
Converts video files between various formats and grab audio from video Read More
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 7.0.0.223 [20 August 2008] (Freeware)
Another virus scanner and detection software from Kaspersky. Read More
Etch-A-Sketch Laptop Case Is More Fun Than the Computer Inside [Etch-A-Sketch]
Etch-A-Sketch Laptop Case Is More Fun Than the Computer Inside [Etch-A-Sketch]
While most of us have acquired too many responsibilities to waste the day away with a good, marathon Etch-A-Sketch session, every time we pull out the laptop to get more work done we can at least...
While most of us have acquired too many responsibilities to waste the day away with a good, marathon Etch-A-Sketch session, every time we pull out the laptop to get more work done we can at least...
Welcome FineTune!
Welcome FineTune!
SpringWidgets welcomes it's first third-party developer uploaded SpringWidget.
Only days after our silent launch of widget uploading, Tony MacDonnell and the rest of the team from Teknision have uploaded a Finetune widget, the first on our platform not built internally.
I have to say that I'm really impressed! The combination of a comprehensive music library, the ability to set a 45 song playlist and being viral is a killer idea. I was able to find all the songs that I wanted to add to create a playlist that truly reflected my musical tastes.
The interface for the widget is fantastic and fun. When you have a song selected, the album art is displayed in a style that looks like a row of CDs sitting in a shelf. It reminds me of the very cool "coverflow" effect that Apple recently put into iTunes.
Of course, with the age of songs that I like, a stack of records metaphor might have been more appropriate ;-)
Here is my live SpringWidget, go ahead and play around:
I've added this widget on my personal blog and my MySpace profile to give it a whirl and I'm very happy with the results. While the size of the widget is not configurable, it's designed at a size that fits nicely into the music section on Myspace and almost any blog sidebar.
What does Tony have to say about developing on the SpringWidgets platform? - I pulled the following quote from his blog:
"We've used WidgetBox, Yahoo Widgets, Google Gadgets, OSX Dashboard, and so far the Springbox was the most fun, and rendered the coolest final product at the end of the day."
Of course, the real cool thing for FineTune is that they were able to make it down to the desktop months before Adobe Apollo is to become available and they made it there with SpringWidgets. This begs the question: "were there already footprints on the moon when Neil Armstrong landed?"
We are very glad to have FineTune, Tony and his Teknision team on board with SpringWidgets, and we love the product they have built. Go ahead and give it a try and see if you like it as much as we do!
-Don
SpringWidgets welcomes it's first third-party developer uploaded SpringWidget.Only days after our silent launch of widget uploading, Tony MacDonnell and the rest of the team from Teknision have uploaded a Finetune widget, the first on our platform not built internally.
I have to say that I'm really impressed! The combination of a comprehensive music library, the ability to set a 45 song playlist and being viral is a killer idea. I was able to find all the songs that I wanted to add to create a playlist that truly reflected my musical tastes.
The interface for the widget is fantastic and fun. When you have a song selected, the album art is displayed in a style that looks like a row of CDs sitting in a shelf. It reminds me of the very cool "coverflow" effect that Apple recently put into iTunes.
Of course, with the age of songs that I like, a stack of records metaphor might have been more appropriate ;-)
Here is my live SpringWidget, go ahead and play around:
I've added this widget on my personal blog and my MySpace profile to give it a whirl and I'm very happy with the results. While the size of the widget is not configurable, it's designed at a size that fits nicely into the music section on Myspace and almost any blog sidebar.
What does Tony have to say about developing on the SpringWidgets platform? - I pulled the following quote from his blog:
"We've used WidgetBox, Yahoo Widgets, Google Gadgets, OSX Dashboard, and so far the Springbox was the most fun, and rendered the coolest final product at the end of the day."
Of course, the real cool thing for FineTune is that they were able to make it down to the desktop months before Adobe Apollo is to become available and they made it there with SpringWidgets. This begs the question: "were there already footprints on the moon when Neil Armstrong landed?"We are very glad to have FineTune, Tony and his Teknision team on board with SpringWidgets, and we love the product they have built. Go ahead and give it a try and see if you like it as much as we do!
-Don
Bitdefender 2008 Virus Definitions - August 20, 2008 (Freeware)
Can be used with the following Bitdefender products: Total Security 2008, Internet Security 2008 and Antivirus 2008 Read More
BitDefender Virus Definitions August 20, 2008 (Freeware)
BitDefender Virus Definitions August 20, 2008 (Freeware)
The latest Virus Definitions for BitDefender 9, BitDefender Antivirus 10, BitDefender Antivirus Plus 10 and Internet Security 10
The latest Virus Definitions for BitDefender 9, BitDefender Antivirus 10, BitDefender Antivirus Plus 10 and Internet Security 10
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Atom CSS Stylesheet
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
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.
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 …
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. Read More
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"?
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. Read More
Redefining the Widget
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 …
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.
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"?
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.
A Blogger?s Life: Why Blog and When Do You Stop Blogging?
Dr. Johnson’s Cat asks “So: Why Blog?”, a question that plagues many bloggers, wanna be bloggers, and wish-they-weren’t bloggers. Why do we keep on blogging when the fun drains away. And what keeps bringing us back. Googling the phrase “stop blogging” gets 171,000 hits: Ten Reasons Why I Should Stop Blogging; Should I Stop Blogging? 20 [...]
Read More
Dr. Johnson’s Cat asks “So: Why Blog?”, a question that plagues many bloggers, wanna be bloggers, and wish-they-weren’t bloggers. Why do we keep on blogging when the fun drains away. And what keeps bringing us back.
Googling the phrase “stop blogging” gets 171,000 hits: Ten Reasons Why I Should Stop Blogging; Should I Stop Blogging? 20 Questions to Ask Yourself; 29 reasons you need to stop blogging right now; Why Bloggers Stop Blogging; How to Know When to Stop Blogging; Stop Blogging and Get to Work; etc. The tract “What Everyone Should Know About Blog Depression” (Loss of pleasure in the Internet; feelings of sadness, disappointment, anger, self loathing, hopelessness, dementia; passive aggressive moaning and a steady lengthening of the interval between posts) is now three years old.
And why shouldn’t people be depressed? According to a recent study (via Jakob Nielsen via grow-a-brain) visitors to websites on the average read only 20% of the text; 28% tops. People starting blogs only to abandon them within months, or even weeks, is such a commonplace that you’re surprised this hasn’t become a a ubiquitous trope on sitcoms. Where indeed are the reality shows where the participants, instead of holding out to the last “What have we learned?” episode, instead wander off seriatim, not so much called back to real life as completely unsprung by despair.
Which of course begs the question: why blog at all?
The first comment asks if blogs have a “good until” date stamp on them - and if they should.
The author, Chris Hodge, tells a lively and beautifully written story about his own path through the blogosphere, blogging, stopping, blogging, stopping, finding a sense of renewal, and then depression again. It’s a great tale of a typical blog experience and challenges you to think about why you blog, but most of all, why you keep blogging.
Related Articles
- Have Your Favorite Bloggers and Blogs Run Out of Steam?
- How to Know When to Stop Blogging
- Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus
- Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression
- Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike
- Blog Struggles: Surviving the When Blogging Goes Bad Blues
- Thou Shall Not Blog
- What You Don’t Know About Blogging Can Hurt You
- What Are You Not Doing With Your Blog
Site Search Tags: blogging tips, how to know when to stop blogging, stop blogging, why blog, what keeps you blogging, how to blog, blog writing, blog struggles
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
2008 Miami Hurricanes Football Schedule Widget 4.0
Clicking the Miami logo displays the Hurricanes Football Schedule with kickoff date, time, TV and scores from previous games.
Read More
 | About 2008 Miami Hurricanes Football Schedule Widget Instant automated access to the latest Miami kick-off and schedule information for the 2008 Miami Hurricanes 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 Miami Fight Song. - National Champions 2001, 1991, 1989, 1987, 1983 Go Canes! |
New Tech Converts Heat into Electricity, Saves You Gas [Science]
Furukawa, a Tokyo-based tech company, has developed a thermoelectric conversion material that's said to be able to boost the fuel efficiency of cars by 2% by converting about 7% of exhaust heat into... Read More
Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
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!
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!
Awesome Photo Gallery/Google Maps Mashup
Awesome Photo Gallery/Google Maps Mashup
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...
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...
The best way to get your band's blog on Myspace.
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.
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 ;-)
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.
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.
Grab this Led Zeppelin widget now.
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 ;-)
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.
New Features - New Faces - Happy Holidays
New Features - New Faces - Happy Holidays
Only a few more days and it’s already 2008. How time flies! We hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. Here is a brief message with the latest news about AddThis. More Analytics. To help you start off the new year, we have upgraded our stats interface to give you more analytics about how your [...]
Only a few more days and it’s already 2008. How time flies! We hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. Here is a brief message with the latest news about AddThis. More Analytics. To help you start off the new year, we have upgraded our stats interface to give you more analytics about how your [...]
Only a few more days and it’s already 2008. How time flies! We hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. Here is a brief message with the latest news about AddThis.
More Analytics. To help you start off the new year, we have upgraded our stats interface to give you more analytics about how your content is bookmarked and shared by your visitors. Here are the new features:
- bookmarking/sharing trends over time (day, week, month, year)
- enhanced ‘Top Bookmarks’ report
- audience breakdown by country
- export to various formats (e.g. CSV, Tab, Excel)
- enhanced ‘Top Bookmarks’ report
- audience breakdown by country
- export to various formats (e.g. CSV, Tab, Excel)
To try it, just go to your account ! By the way, we will be adding even more analytics soon. So be sure to add our widget now on all your pages, so that the tracking can already begin. Also, be sure to tell your friends about AddThis.
Our Team. Our team is expanding as well. We are excited to announce that Brian Jones has joined AddThis. Brian is a sys/admin/infrastructure guru; he founded Linuxlaboratory.org, created Python Magazine, helped found php|architect magazine, and is the co-author of Linux Server Hacks 2 for O’Reilly publishing. Brian is already working hard setting up tomorrow’s infrastructure for AddThis, making sure AddThis can continue to deliver its great service reliably as it continues to grow.
We are hiring. We are currently looking for a front-end guru. If you live and breath AJAX, Javascript, and PHP, and are obsessed with creating the best possible tools for users, then we want to hear from you. We offer very good salaries and great benefits, and even the possibility to work from home.
AddThis Trends. As most of you know by now, each month we publish a report of the top most active bookmarking/sharing and feed reader services. Below is the report for the top bookmarking/sharing services for November. You can find more reports here.
Top Bookmarking / Sharing Services - November
Don’t have our widget yet? If you don’t have an AddThis widget on your website or blog, click here and get it now. It will really help your visitors share and remember your pages, and help you gain visibility in the search engines by the same token.
Happy holidays and best wishes for 2008!
10 Gadgets For Guys Who Hate To Cook (But Love to Eat) [Thank Giz It's Friday]
Look around. You probably have soda cans, pizza boxes and take out containers lying all over the place. Come on man, just because you are a lazy bachelor doesn't mean you can't enjoy a little home... Read More
iLead DVD to Blackberry 4.0.2 (Trial)
iLead DVD to Blackberry 4.0.2 (Trial)
Convert multiple DVDs to Blackberry at a time and automatically shut down computer when job is done.
Convert multiple DVDs to Blackberry at a time and automatically shut down computer when job is done.
Social Trends for September
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 [...]
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
Olympic Medals Dashboard Widget 1.0
Olympic Medals Dashboard Widget 1.0
Keep up to date with the latest live medal counts with this Mac OS X Dashboard widget.
Keep up to date with the latest live medal counts with this Mac OS X Dashboard widget.
 | About Olympic Medals Dashboard Widget Keep up to date with the latest live medal counts with this Mac OS X Dashboard widget. |
iLead Video Converter Pro 3.0.3 (Demo)
A useful video encoding software that allows you to easily convert your movies to the preferred format Read More
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... Read More
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Liz Strauss is Going to Break the Web
Liz Strauss is Going to Break the Web
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few have done before.
SimplyHired "job search" widget launched Monday
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
Read More
http://springwidgets.com/simplyhired
Read More
Liz Strauss is Breaking the Web and Pushing WordPress
Liz Strauss is Breaking the Web and Pushing WordPress
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers is attempting to “break the web” today at noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6). As part of her Showcase Your Blog series, she will be using the future post feature in WordPress to publish a blog post a minute showcasing more than 250 blogs. Has anyone set up WordPress [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers is attempting to “break the web” today at noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6). As part of her Showcase Your Blog series, she will be using the future post feature in WordPress to publish a blog post a minute showcasing more than 250 blogs. Has anyone set up WordPress [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers is attempting to “break the web” today at noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6). As part of her Showcase Your Blog series, she will be using the future post feature in WordPress to publish a blog post a minute showcasing more than 250 blogs.
Has anyone set up WordPress to do this before? Maybe some splogs or scrapers, but this is an exciting example of how a community project can use the WordPress future post feature, and push WordPress and the server to keep up with the server and database load. Liz is part of the b5media network, so this is a test of their setup as well.
Liz tells me that the blogs she is showcasing are excellent, some of the most exciting, beautiful, and social blogs around, so you are in for a treat as you watch her Blog Showcase churn out, minute by minute. I wonder what the traffic count is going to be on her blog’s front page. Luckily, she’s using Woopra to track her traffic, stats, and visitors live. What fun!
Go check out the minute-by-minute Blog Showcase! You can also follow the Twitter stream at b2show.
F1 News 0.1
F1 News 0.1
Get all the F1 News in one Widget fresh in your Dashboard.
Get all the F1 News in one Widget fresh in your Dashboard.
 | About F1 News Get all F1 News Sites: - Formula1.com - Grandprix.com - F1live.com - F1complete.com - GPupdate.net - Flagworld.com - F1technical.net and more… Get all F1 Team News: - Scuderia Ferrari - BMW Sauber - ING Renault - AT&T Williams - Red Bull Racing - Toyota Racing - Scuderia Toro Rosso - Honda Racing - Force India - McLaren Mercedes |
FeedBurner feed count drop
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.
ExpressWidgets from SpringWidgets!
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
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
Redefining the Widget
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 …
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.
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"?
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.
Power Blogging Tips: Comment on Blogs From Within Google Feed Reader
Power Blogging Tips: Comment on Blogs From Within Google Feed Reader
One of the most frustrating aspects of reading blogs through feed readers is the process of commenting on blogs. The typical step-by-step process is: Scan through the blog post titles. Find an interesting title and click on the title to open it and read. Want to respond or read more? Open the post title in a new browser [...]
One of the most frustrating aspects of reading blogs through feed readers is the process of commenting on blogs. The typical step-by-step process is: Scan through the blog post titles. Find an interesting title and click on the title to open it and read. Want to respond or read more? Open the post title in a new browser [...]
One of the most frustrating aspects of reading blogs through feed readers is the process of commenting on blogs. The typical step-by-step process is:
- Scan through the blog post titles.
- Find an interesting title and click on the title to open it and read.
- Want to respond or read more? Open the post title in a new browser tab.
- Scroll around your tabs to get to the tab you just opened.
- Read the blog post.
- Comment on the blog post.
- Close the tab (or leave it waiting for a response or add the comments feed to track comments).
- Hunt for your feed reader tab.
- Find it and move onto the next post title of interest.
- Repeat.
How would you like to cut this down to only a few clicks? And how would you like to comment on blog posts directly from Google Feed Reader?
Enter the Google Reader Preview Enhanced Greasemonkey Script
The Google Reader Preview Enhanced Greasemonkey Script (GPE) works with FireFox and the GreaseMonkey extension. It adds a small link called Preview to the Google Feed Reader bar which allows you to mark posts with stars, share, and other tasks for that post.
The view of the post through the feed isn’t pretty. In this example of an interview with me on Blogging Without a Blog, ironically talking about handling our feeds, you can see that it shows the text quite plainly with my blog’s logo, and none of the pretty associated with the blog’s design, as it should.
With a click of the Preview button, it loads the blog post directly into the iframe of the post feed. It is now the post with mostl of the pretty - but more importantly, also direct access to the blog comments.
I wanted to respond to the comments on the interview, so I scrolled down and read through them all and responded directly from within Google Feed Reader. I submitted the comment and could even read through and check it out without any problems.
Since installing Google Reader Preview Enhanced Greasemonkey Script, the new sequence of reading and commenting on a blog, and bypassing the feed excerpts to read the whole blog post, is as follows:
- Scan through the blog post titles.
- Find an interesting title and click on the title to open it and read.
- Want to respond or read more? Click Preview.
- Read the blog post.
- Comment on the blog post.
- Move onto the next post title of interest.
- Repeat.
There is another benefit to the Google Reader Preview. I publish the WordPress Wednesday News on the Blog Herald once a week and always fret over whether or not to use the link top a blog or post I want to recommend via the feeds or open the post and copy the “real” link from the actual post. Which is better?
Which is also more helpful to the reader? What about those using accessibility devices for the blind and visually impaired or disabled which require screen readers? Less and less websites and bloggers are using the required HTML anchor tag title attribute, so the URL would be read aloud. Which sounds better?
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bloggingwithoutablog/DWWZ/~3/350183009/
or
http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/interview-with-lorelle-vanfossen-part-5-managing-350-feeds/
When in doubt, I can preview the post and grab the clean URL direct to the site.
Greasemonkey Script Helps Grab Feeds
There are a lot of amazing Greasemonkey scripts for FireFox at Userscripts.org. Another favorite of mine that I’ve used for over a year is RSS+ Atom Feed Subscribe Button Generator.
You may have noticed it in the examples above. It automatically searches for any feeds listed within the blog post you are viewing in your FireFox browser and adds small feed icons to the top left corner of the web page screen.
In this example of how the feed links appear on this blog, The icons represent my feeds for post feeds, all comments feed, blog posts via XML-RSD feed, Lorelle on WordPress post feed via Feedburner, and the RSS2 blog post feed. These are generated by default within the WordPress.com Theme and some I’ve added, like the Feedburner feed.
Find a blog post you like and click on the feed link you prefer and it will automatically load the feed into your feed reader. No more hunting for that darn orange feed icon. If it interferes with the blog’s design or access, which it does when I’m trying to access the WordPress.com bar, a click of the X and it is closed for that pageview allowing access.
While it recognizes and displays different icons for RSS and Atom feeds, I wish it displayed a different icon for Feedburner and FeedBlitz feeds, and other popular indirect feeds to help the user know the difference. As all WordPress blogs have post and comment feeds, I’d also love to see a different icon for those to improve visual recognition of which feed to choose to add to my feed reader.
I love tools, tips, add-ons, and extensions that make blogging faster and easier. Do you have any Google Feed Reader tips or Greasemonkey scripts that make your life blogging easier?
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
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