Wriging Clips

Duplicate content due to scrapers

Tyme — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:03:33

In most cases a webmaster has no influence on third parties that scrape and redistribute content without the webmaster's consent. We realize that this is not the fault of the affected webmaster, which in turn means that identical content showing up on several sites in itself is not inherently regarded as a violation of our webmaster guidelines.

How To Effectively Quit Blogging and Still Send Traffic to Your Startup

Tyme — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:29:38

Alan Stern of Center Networks does a video based *cough* on Jason Calacanis decision to stop blogging.

Vonnegut Is Genius

shadowsun7 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:30:23

A wonderful excerpt from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, about World War Two. Powerful prose.

Three Statistics That Lie

Tyme — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:40:22

I love the line about lies; "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics". You can use numbers to tell any story you want.

In the realm of web statistics, there are three numbers that are great to use if you want to tell lies. They are:

- RSS subscriber numbers
- Facebook app install numbers
- Follower numbers on Twitter, Friendfeed, Tumblr, or some other social media service

Overcoming writer's block

Menthos — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:11:38

Do you have to complete a piece of writing but are putting it off? A report, a blog article, or a letter? Are you finding that the moment you sit down to write, your mind seems to go blank? Crap! Writers block! What can you do about it?

Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website

Tyme — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:16:32

Certainly, achieving visibility in Google's search rankings can be a mystery. To help solve the riddle, USA TODAY sat down with Google's Matt Cutts, an engineer and active blogger, who has five easy tips on how to "optimize" your site so Google and the rest of the world can find it.

Atari goes after site after it posts negative, early review

Tyme — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:31:43

Game reviews come with a good amount of baggage. In most cases, the publisher assigns a date that you're allowed to run your review, but then allows some sites to break that date. What happens when you try to buck the system? According to one report from Germany, lawsuits.

Drudge Retort Was Posting Whole AP Articles

Scrivs — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:27:14

So, Drudge Retort got on AP's radar due to the posting of entire articles with exact headlines which all parties agreed constituted copyright violations two months BEFORE the most recent spate of DMCA Take Down Notices. Technically, Drudge Retort got onto AP's radar because those posts were flagged by software used by AP called Attributor. This is a data mining spider similar to the bots and web indexers used by search engines; content companies can use it to track the use of their content on the web. It is very important that people understand this because it makes clear that the AP is not on some wild rampage through the blogosphere, lawyering up to to go after every blogger who quotes an AP story in any way. Yet that is how this story has been portrayed including by a lot of people who should know better but are having too much fun bashing AP.

Technorati Launches Blog Ad Network, Technorati Media

Scrivs — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:46:52

Ads are sold on a CPM basis. They will not make revenue guarantees, says Jalichandra, but the split between parties is negotiable. He declined to state what rates have been negotiated with beta partners. This is similar to what Six Apart promises, which is also targeting the long tail of blogs.

Blogger arrests hit record high

cooper — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:58:33

Increasing blogger arrests for expressing views on human rights, and political issues.

AP Goes After Bloggers For Posting Article Headlines And Snippets

Tyme — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:14:38

Rather than just going after the big aggregators (surprisingly, Google settled), it appears that the Associated Press is going after bloggers for merely posting a linked headline and a tiny snippet of text from the article.

Movable Type Security Trumps WordPress, Not Much Of A Newsflash

Mike — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:40:04

Six Apart has had the more stable and secure blogging platform for awhile now and Anil finally puts it into words with some hard facts (from the Dept. Of Homeland Security) to back it up.

How to Publish a Book in 2 Weeks for $200

Tyme — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:50:10

Here’s a technique you can use to publish a non-fiction book in a fortnight. I recently wrote a book in a few days and had a published version in one week. To do this, you must use a print-on-demand self-publisher and not a traditional publisher. Business books work best with the method. Fiction requires an entirely different approach.

Blogging--It's Good for You

Tyme — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:39:18

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits.

Improved SEO documentation

Tyme — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:30:57

Google updated their documentation. Take a look for optimal SEO optimization.

Blogging is Jogging with "B" and "L"

Scrivs — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:12:03

This is kinda like blogging. Blogging is 90% mental, you need to constantly be up on your game to present attractive and interesting information to your readers. You need to always think of what will bring the viewers in and what will keep them coming back. Sometimes this means you need to change the look of your blog, the type of entries or just getting out there and saying Hullo to fellow bloggers. Annnd, unless you get a response, a "Good job!", comments, views etc. you're going to get frustrated and it will be easy to give up.

Interview with Mike Rundle of 9Rules dot com

rileycentral — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:42:51

Mike Rundle, co-founder of 9Rules and several exciting subsites, including Chawlk.com answers some questions about his company and the goals of 9Rules.com

The Pocket-sized Guide to Blogging

Scrivs — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:57:53

The purpose of this post is to lay out the key principles of successful blogging in one place. The details of each point aren’t here — that’s where your own knowledge comes in — but I think it should be helpful in terms of reminding us about the skills and habits that are most important to what we do.

10 Characteristics Of A Successful Blogger

Mike — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:32:55

Although being a successful blogger is not an easy task, it’s not one that should frighten you. Before asking yourself if you can be one, take a moment to think about what you do and how you do it, and see how many characteristics you can tick off from the following list.

8 Different Types Of Headlines Which Sell

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:30:12

Thinking of a good title can be as hard as thinking of a topic. This article gives some tips on how to create an article that "sells". In this case you aren't selling a product you're "selling" the article or your blog.

Beyond Blogs

Tyme — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:54:20

Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then.

Finding your breadcrumbs

Tyme — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:20:47

As I was writing my post about evangelism this morning I began thinking about something else that not only relates to bloggers but even to those folks who enjoy spending their time being a part of the conversation. For bloggers though this spreading of our ideas, our thoughts and conversation can cause worry and concern over loss of readership and for a large percentage - ad dollars.

12 Traits of Successful Bloggers

Scrivs — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:25:31

I was just doing an interview on an Aussie radio station and was asked to name some traits of successful bloggers. My initial reaction was to giggle - because no two successful bloggers are the same - however as I began to answer I realized that there are some common traits among bloggers who gain popularity. Here’s a list, presented in no particular order, of some of the traits of successful bloggers that I observe.

The Top 7 Secrets to Writing a Cracked.com Top 7 List

Scrivs — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:48:25

As editor of a pop culture blog and a former writer for Cracked.com, I deeply understand that The Amusing Top 10 List is possibly the most effective vehicle of internet comedy delivery in the universe. But while these posts might seem like Digg-baiting link lay-ups, a certain art and a craft goes into writing them. And like most fine arts, list writing can be totally encapsulated in an easy-to-digest eight step guide.

Post your blog on Between the Lines

Tyme — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:25:52

Between the Lines (ZDNet site) is looking for new blogs.

Rethinking Blog Comments: Much More Than Just A Quick Way to Get Web Traffic

Scrivs — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:06:01

A comment left on a popular blog may be viewed by a few hundred people in one day. Multiply that by the lifespan of the blog and you’ll see that a simple comment may say a lot about you. Every blog comment is usually permanent. It’s not just a hyperlink but a long-term representation of your brand.

What Makes A Blog Great?

Scrivs — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:08:39

What’s the secret? It’s simple: a good blog is a guy/girl writing about a topic he/she knows a lot about. The value of such a blog is in the fact that no general-purpose (or even specialized) journalist can come close to the level of knowledge, depth and passion a blogger can reach. Of course, not all bloggers are that good; in fact, most aren’t.

How to Increase Engagement and Authority With Quotations

Scrivs — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:22:46

A great quotation is gold to a perceptive writer. You can instantly boost reader engagement with the right bit of wisdom or wit. And when writing to persuade, you can bolster your arguments by pointing to the words of the well regarded.

Five great ways to increase comments

Tyme — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:18:01

Unfortunately, not every post will generate the reaction you’d like. In fact, it has been demonstrated that 90% of people who use online communities do so without contributing, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.

That means that only 1% of your readers are consistently leaving comments. Let’s coax those lurkers out of the woodwork. Here are five simple ways you can increase the number of comments your blog receives.

Top 10 Security and Protection Plugins for Wordpress

Tyme — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:24

With every site you build there are going to be security risks and issues, there is no way around this, it is going to happen. All we can do is minimize the damage, be ready for it and take action.

110 Best Books: The Perfect Library

Scrivs — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:26:58

From classics and sci-fi to poetry, biographies and books that changed the world… we present the ultimate reading list.

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop

shadowsun7 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:31:14

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

Why Blog? Reason No. 92: Book Deal

Scrivs — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:31:14

And then on March 20 Random House announces that it has purchased the rights to a book by the blog’s founder, Christian Lander, an Internet copy writer. The price, according to a source familiar with the deal but not authorized to discuss the total, was about $300,000, a sum that many in the publishing and blogging communities believe is an astronomical amount for a book spawned from a blog, written by a previously unpublished author.

Content owners should drop Yahoo for Google

Tyme — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:31:55

Yahoo made a huge critical blunder today: they decided to compete with their customers. Today they launched a content site called Shine dedicated to women. It looks really slick, and they make a point of talking about all the great editors they have working on it from Jane and the Wall Street Journal.

Ummm..... hello!?!?!? isn't Yahoo's business to PARTNER with sites like Jane and the WSJ? Isn't the point of the Yahoo Publisher Network to support and grow publishers and newspapers!??! What next a consumer electronics site to compete with Engadget and Gizmodo, or a sports site to compete with ESPN and Sportsline? A gossip site to compete with PerezHIlton and Gawker?

Seven Deadly Words Of Book Reviewers

shadowsun7 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:55:23

The seven most used words in book reviews. Hilarious.