Cisco, Joost, and Google Knols
What does Cisco, Joost, and Google Knols have in common? Actually, the first two have something in common. The third is just something I wanted to add to this post.
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What does Cisco, Joost, and Google Knols have in common? Actually, the first two have something in common. The third is just something I wanted to add to this post.
Read the rest of this entry »
That’s it. I’m admitting it. I’m officially a photography nut. This past few days were very enlightening to me. Ever since we got Cap, a Canon EOS 350D DSLR camera (aka Digital Rebel XT), I have been experimenting with it on how to get the best picture, studying lighting techniques, shot angles, and the rule of thirds. I also realize that there are things that you can’t control, no matter how good your equipment is.
For a refresher on what these things do, aperture controls how blurred the background is, ISO controls the intensity of the light that should be captured, and shutter speed controls how long the lens opens up to capture light.
Here’s what I learned, so far:
This past few days, at least a couple of websites have posted articles about the failure of Technorati’s ranking system, referred to as Authority. Blogstorm’s Patrick Altoft wrote an article about how to get banned from Technorati’s Top 100 list. WLTC’s Jeffro2pt0 followed up with an article about Technorati lacking authority, or at least that’s what the title of the article says. Both articles promoted discussions as to how ineffective Technorati’s ranking systems are, and how the banned websites used as examples should not be penalized by being banned from the list.
What’s all this fuss, anyway?
Upon reading the top 10 tips as offered by Jorn Barger to novice bloggers, I began thinking about my blog and what it really is. I don’t have a bunch of links. I don’t log the URLs to the sites I visit everyday. And for the third tip, finding your idea articulated better elsewhere already, I still think I wrote the said idea better, it being my blog after all. However, I realized that if I take this blogging seriously and make this blog a real blog, I’d have zero ramblings on the front page (something I wanted to let every netizen know what ticks me off), and a bunch of links that may or may not be useful to everyone.
At least, not immediately. You may be wondering if updating something is a necessity. In truth, yes it is. It is highly necessary to update whatever you have (software, firmware, etc.) to avoid getting your system compromised. However, when it comes to WordPress plugins, whenever a plugin update comes by, make sure you read up on what has been changed. The update may or may not work for your current setup so make sure you have the minimum system requirements, at the least. The reason behind the title of this post is because sometimes, the update is not fully tested and might have severe repercussions once implemented. Although it is not the intention of the plugin author to destroy your site, it is definitely a good idea to beware of whatever update comes by.
Take the Akismet plugin update for example.
Anne Zelenka of GigaOM posted an article about WordPress becoming the next social networking profile, which basically makes me think about my blog and it becoming a social network. The article talks about blogs in general, and WordPress as the platform in particular, as a social network. Although it wasn’t mentioned in the article, I’m assuming that they were referring to the WordPress application and not the WordPress.com “free blog” site. Anne did a good job in pointing out the trend that is currently happening in social networking circles.
Reading one of WLTC’s post, I learned that Turk Hit Box is giving away a free custom WordPress theme, designed from scratch. Of course, it is based on something the blogger prefers. To be eligible for a free custom WordPress theme, your site has to have a PR of 4, older than 8 months, more than 50 feed subscribers, and an irremovable footer link to Turk Hit Box.
I reviewed what the Turk said in his post about giving away the WordPress theme and why one should try to get one. I agree with his points about having a professional design, and it being a must.
As I have said before, all custom wordpress themes will be designed from scratch using Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Do not underestimate the importance of design. A nice looking wordpress theme with functionality can bring additional visitors and rss subscribers. A Web 2.0 feel is [as] important as the content of a website. Redesigning your blog can have tremendous effects on your traffic & income.
This maybe true, but what does actually drive traffic to your site? Is it the theme or is it the content?
I have been a fan of the written word for a long time. Digital or printed, it doesn’t matter, as long as there is a way for me to read it, and as long as it is written by a good author (as recommended by friends), then yeah, I’ll read it. Currently, I’m on a Neil Gaiman-fanboy phase, and as such, I’m hunting books written by him, digital or printed. Little did I know that there was some sort of rivalry between the two, digital and printed books, and that Rob Neville took the time to point out 10 reasons why ebooks suck.
For me, however, I don’t see the point of arguing which is best. It’s all user-, or reader-, preference anyway. Any book that shouldn’t be read are books that are poorly written, incoherent, and unintelligible books (and most of the time, it appears as an instruction manual transliterated from some obscure language, making it utterly useless). But having read the article mentioned above, I had no choice but to think about it. What else am I supposed to do anyway when a thought suddenly comes into mind.
So I asked myself, are ebooks really that bad?
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I’ve been waiting for a long time to get access to the final destination of WordPress Themes. Unfortunately, the site is still not able to open up its doors due to some major house cleaning. What are they cleaning that takes a very long time (read: 5 months)? Well, some Theme developers, to make ends meet, sell their designs. And in selling them, they also add some links to their benefactors that are quite not WordPress‘ cup-of-tea. Some benefactors are spammy. Some are legit. Some are penalized by Google. Some not. However, PR is nothing when the site is only after hits, not ranking.
Last Sunday, after celebrating the Eucharist, my wife and I decided to see the movie, The Golden Compass. I have heard of buzz before about the movie not being shown here in the Philippines, as previously announced by the MTRCB that they have yet to review the movie and decide if the movie is fit enough to be shown in local theaters. I just shrugged the buzz and went my way, living my life one day at a time. I never really given it thought about the fuss around a kid movie, and only recently have I heard and read about the influences behind the movie.
Religious groups have been campaigning and forwarding emails asking the recipient to boycott the movie. The reason being is that the writer, Philip Pullman, of the said movie is an admitted atheist/agnostic and is hell-bent on killing God. Wait, if the author is an atheist, does that mean they don’t believe in heaven and hell? Anyway, the author wants to kill God by writing a trilogy of books and making a trilogy of movies that promote non-obedience to authority. All because he hates C.S. Lewis‘ Chronicles of Narnia. Please correct me if I’m getting this wrong. Philip Pullman wrote a series of books that is basically the anti-thesis to the mythology of Narnia. How, for fuck’s sake, did Narnia become synonymous to any religion or being for it? And how did the Golden Compass become evil?
Let’s see.
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