Blogosphere @ MindSay 
blog
Once a week I spend a couple hours reading what the "Blog Pundits" are saying about blogs, blogging and the blogosphere.
Here are some pointers I gleaned from a Pro-blogger site and are worthy of some consideration. The reason I put them here is to clarify a few points for myself and others. They all might sound like common sense, but maybe not.
» Every reader has an opinion… and they’re all correct in their own mind. Don’t be thin-skinned. Realize that folks are going to agree with you, and folks are going to disagree with you. Let them have their own opinion, and encourage conversation.
» Posting the same things as everyone else will render you invisible. Why would someone bother to read your content if they can see the same things elsewhere?
» Some spacing between lines is a must.. If I get annoyed just trying to read your posts, chances are I won’t be coming back and will stay behind the safety of my RSS aggregator.
» Only a very small percentage of your readers will leave comments. If you’re doing this to hear folks respond and praise you, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. Some posts will simply sit there, uncommented.
» Visual Elements - A screenshot of what something should look like, an image demonstrating a certain Photoshop technique, or an image of that new gadget add greatly to the value of your post.
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The following is from a recent post by BlogBloke.
I look around the blogosphere and nothing much excites me these days. I see a lot of copycat blogs and wannabees out there vying for a piece of the pie who are following the same cookie-cutter template with a little twist of their own thrown in for good measure. I see a lot of so-called a-listers that are so desperate to write material every day they are dusting off old books and rehashing the same old same old.
But after being in and around the computer industry for the past 20 years I can now say with total honesty that addiction no longer has a hold over me. It just doesn't excite me like it once did.
For all the talk about web 2.0 technology I see nothing much exciting on the horizon. To me it sounds more like a last gasp by those who are trying their darndest to keep us all interested in the same old game. For me it all seems to boil down to this -- been there and done that, and unfortunately there is no viagra pill that I'm aware of to fix it.
When I first started blogging I saw the awesome power and potential of it all. I saw it as an opportunity for the common person to be heard and to make a difference in the world. In fact I've been quoted on numerous occasion that blogging was the next great publishing revolution since the invention of the Gutenberg Printing Press (yes, I was the first to say it but unfortunately not everyone gave me credit).
But alas, that is what the blogosphere has become. There is so very little original stuff out there that I find interesting. It is now the great recycleshere. Most just clip and paste from another and try to put their own spin on it. And if you're not part of the in-crowd (a-listers) you are pretty much ignored.
The Blogosphere has become the great echo chamber instead of the shot that was to be heard 'round the world.
I see a lot out there that I don't like and sometimes I feel like the proverbial lone voice crying out in the wilderness. All that I see these days is the emergence of more corporate networks, juvenile a-listers jockeying for position, online hustlers trying to dip into my pockets, business interests with their lawyers lobbying the politicians on capital hill, and myspace cadets that are quickly taking over what's left of the blogosphere. Online Video Blogging has become just another form of entertainment like TV's funniest videos. And let's face it, most of the podcasts out there just plain suck.
There are many more I didn't include here.
Really if you want to fill a blog entry with text, but don't really have anything to say...
Type in =rand(x,y)
Where x and y are replaced by numbers.
X would be the number of paragraphs
Y would be the number of sentences in a paragraph.
The text that gets generated is The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. You have to do this in word or wordpad and copy-paste.
Pablo
©2006
Apparently politicians are attempting to render moot the legislation to allow blogging during elections by gaining a "free speech" promise from the FEC.
However, do not let that stop you. A federal regulation can be implemented at a beaurocratic stroke of a pen. If there is legislation, then the beaurocrat cannot stroke his pen.
**********************
Mar 27, 8:17 PM (ET)
By DAVID PACE
WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators brought Internet political advertising under the nation's campaign finance law Monday but declared that all other political activity on the Internet would be untethered by federal rules. The three Republicans and three Democrats on the Federal Election Commission unanimously adopted a rule requiring anyone placing a paid political ad on a Web site to abide by federal campaign spending and contribution limits. But the rule also updates existing FEC regulations to make it clear that all other Internet political activity, such as blogging, e-mail communications and online publications, is not covered by the campaign law. "Individual online political activity will be protected from FEC restriction regardless of whether the individual acts alone or as part of a group, and regardless of whether the individual acts in coordination with a candidate or acts independently," said Commission Chairman Michael E. Toner. The 2002 campaign finance law requires that ads for or against federal candidates be paid for with money regulated by the law, which limits contributions by individuals to $2,000 and bans union and corporation donations. In its initial interpretation of the law in 2002, the FEC said no political activity on the Internet was covered. But a federal court judge ruled in 2004 that the commission had to craft a new rule that at the very least covered paid political advertising on the Internet. The ruling, and the commission's decision not to appeal it, sparked fears among some Internet users that the panel might adopt broader restrictions. But Toner said the new rule gives a "categorical and unqualified" exemption to all individual and group political activity on the Internet, except for paid advertising. Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub described the new rule as "a win, win, win" for all groups anxious about how the commission would respond to the court order. Hans A. von Spakovsky, appointed to the commission by President Bush in January, said the rule would not have been necessary had the commission appealed the court ruling. He urged Congress to pass legislation exempting all types of political activity over the Internet from regulation. Under the new rule, bloggers on the Internet would be entitled to the same exemption from the campaign finance law that newspapers and other traditional forms of media have long received. "There will be no second class citizens among members of the media," Toner said. The rule also allows union members and corporate employees to use their work computers and other electronic devices for political activity without running afoul of campaign law restrictions, as long they do it on their own time and are not coerced to engage in such activity by the union or corporation. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All right reserved. © 2006 IAC Search & Media. All rights reserved.
It is time to stand up for Free Speech. The government has used the IRS to muzzle Pastors and Ministers of the Gospel concerning politicians. The ministers are free to speak, but if they do the IRS cancel's their tax deductible non-profit status. In essence it is government extortion to keep Christians quite under the misuse of the so-called "Separation of Church and State" belief. There is no such language in the Constitution. Now certain Congressman (McCain in particular) are trying to muzzle the "Free Speech" Blogs during electoral campaigns.
I am certain this should raise the indignation of both Conservatives and Liberals. I have my info from a decidedly Conservative group (Gun Owners of America). If you are a Liberal do not let that sway you. This is one of those rare occasions in which Liberals, Conservatives and Americans can unite in one agenda:
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Will Congress Ditch John McCain's Internet Regulations?
-- Vote coming soon to preserve online political speech
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Monday, March 27, 2006
Gun Owners of America alerted you a couple of weeks ago to
legislation -- introduced by Texas Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Ron
Paul -- that will exempt the Internet from regulation under federal
"electioneering" laws.
The bill, H.R. 1606, was supposed to come to a vote on March 16, but
it was inexplicably pulled from the House calendar. The good news is
that bill is now back on the calendar, and it is scheduled for a vote
as early as Wednesday.
Unless the Hensarling-Paul bill is enacted, many major blogs and web
sites could be shut down for 60 days before any general election --
and for 30 days prior to any primary -- making it much more difficult
for groups like Gun Owners of America to criticize anti-gun
candidates.
These regulations have resulted from two court opinions that followed
the passage of the Incumbent Protection Act -- a law sponsored by
Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold. One opinion upheld the
McCain-Feingold law almost in its entirely [McConnell v. FEC]. In
the other -- Shays v. Federal Election Commission -- judges ordered
the Federal Election Commission to regulate the Internet.
The FEC is still mightily fighting the court to minimize the
regulation of the Internet. But who knows if they will prevail, or
if a future administration will take a much different view. This is
why H.R. 1606 is so important.
The danger, as it stands now, is that if Hensarling and Paul are
unsuccessful in exempting the Internet from FEC regulation, many
major blogs and web sites could one day be construed to be engaged in
"electioneering communications" because they praise or criticize
candidates. And, if this happens, they could be shut down for 60
days prior to an election -- or, at least, subject to a "gag
rule" on
what they are allowed to say.
ACTION:
1. Contact your congressman. Ask him to vote for H.R. 1606, a bill
to exempt the Internet from McCain-Feingold.
You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Representative a
pre-written e-mail message such as the one below.
2. Take action and then please forward this alert to your pro-gun
friends and family!
----- Pre-written letter -----
Dear Representative:
The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on H.R. 1606, a bill
by introduced by Texas Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Ron Paul to
exempt the Internet from regulation under federal "electioneering"
laws.
Unless the Hensarling-Paul bill is enacted, many major blogs and web
sites could be shut down for 60 days before any general election --
and for 30 days prior to any primary.
Please support H.R. 1606. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Do read Jason L. Miller's article (staff writer for WebProNews) at http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20050809EMarketingNewsAlertBlogReadersYoungRichandMale.html . Seems Young, affluent males spend time reading blogs more than other constituencies.
Jason points to comScore Network's http://www.nickdenton.org/images/comScore%20Blog%20Report.pdf article for full details.
I was particularly interested in noting only about 30% of the online population had visited blogs, and of that, the demographic composition is younger, wealthier males with high-speed connections and are much more likely to shop online.
Jason almost makes me wonder (but not too long) what the women blogs were about that were so interesting, see bullet item "Of the 400 largest blogs observed, the most popular blogs were (in order) political blogs, 'hipster' lifestyle blogs, tech blogs, and blogs authored by women (women's blogs, if I were to guess, are probably often visited by young men)." Likely not counted cross stitch (smile). Oh well.
Mindsay didn't make the top five and my blog didn't make the top 4 blogs. Oh well again (smile).
He didn't mention anything about link strategies, keywords and search engine value for blogs, which helps niche markets considerably even if young affluent males are not being marketed to, but that is likely another article at another time.
For those few non-young affluent or non-male who travel blogs looking for counted cross stitch charts today on http://www.carouselcharts.com, it will be a tad slower this morning. I'm catching up from a couple of sick days so it will be later this afternon before the freebee goes live. Do look for it then.
More details later.
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