Why You Blog

From Frank Paynter’s golden goodies vault of Recycled Bits. Frank asked ‘Why Do We Blog?’, back in Nov, 2004. Take a moment to read the responses, and then select the links to see who is still blogging today (or at least, blogging at the same url). Interesting read.

I found a great quote from Madame Lévy at La Vache Qui Lit:

    ‘I blog because I get a pinging in my brain when I cruise other blogs that no drug can match.’

Your Blogroll, a better drugstore.

Popular LinksList

Popular Urls to the latest web buzz at PopUrls.com, simply nice. Be sure to scroll down for all the link goodies.

Find all the latest on the web at digg, delicious, furl.net, reddit, flickr, tailrank, fark, shoutwire, slashdot, newsvine, news.google, news.yahoo, wired, metafilter, and more. Yes, all in one place!

Simpla 1.01 WordPress Theme

Simpla V1.01 Overview:
2 column clean, minimalist theme
Support for Sidebar Widgets: Yes
Header Settings: No
Sidebar position settings: Defaults to right only

Download Simpla V1.01 by Phu Ly.

Regulus 2.1.3 WordPress Theme

Regulus V2.1.3 Overview:
2 column customizable theme
Support for Sidebar Widgets: Yes
Header Settings: Yes
Sidebar position settings: Yes, right or left
Download Regulus at BinaryMoon.

Updated April 24. 2006:
Binary Moon updated Regulus to 2.1.3
* fixed widgets unregister bug
* fixed search box for sites in sub folders (could have sworn I had done this already)
* added the ability to hide the blog title and description. Useful for people who use custom header images
* added type attribute to style tag (for validation)
* added edit post link underneath the title for logged in users (as with version 2.0)
* changed code and pre tags to use monospaced fonts and add a couple of extra styled doohickies
* fixed minor validation error(s)
* fixed sidebar css issue
* added back admin panel for all sidebars (including widgeted bars)

Updated April 19. 2006:
There seems to be an issue with Configuring some of the Widgets with the Regulus theme. The RSS Widget can be configured, but when selecting the Calendar or Flickr Configure for example the Configure popup does not open. I tested this on White As Milk Theme, and the Widget Configure works fine on that theme.

Updated April 18. 2006:
Updates to the Regulus Theme are in the 2.1.1 Release. Some of the Options have gone away, but they are probably those which can now be addressed with the widgets.

- Added support for SideBar Widgets!
A big THANKS to Binary Moon for the Widget update to their theme.

- Page order appears to work correctly in this release of the Regulus theme. I previously posted about page order not functioning. Still seems theme dependent, as ‘White as Milk’ theme does not reroder pages correctly.

- In this release of Regulus there is an option to move the sidebar to the left. I like reading left to right, and prefer left sidebars for some reason. The default is sidebar on the right.

- You can add your own header, by providing a URL link to your own image. Make sure to note the image dimensions in the options section so that it renders appropriately.

960+ Wordpress Themes

Updated 07/21/2006

You will find an extensive listing of Wordpress 1.5 and 2.0 Themes (960+) at How to Blog.

The themes that include Wordpress Widget support (sidebar editor) are noted, as well as those that were tested in Wordpress 2.0.

OPML Reference List

Updated March-28-2008

What is OPML?, via Wikipedia.

Using OPML 101, a screencast introduction to OPML.

Getting Acquainted with OPML, e-book with 14 wide-ranging uses for the OPML format.

OPML Draft Spec, the OPML draft specification.

OPML Editor, download free for Win or Mac.

OPML Editor Support start page.

OPML Editor FlickrRivr, Flickr River tool for the OPML Editor.

OPML Editor To Twitter, post to your Twitter account via OPML Editor.

OPML Editor newsRiver, tool for the OPML Editor.

What Can I do with OPML? What you can do with the OPML Editor.

Wordpress Tool for the OPML Editor.

Instant Outliner, OPML Editor Instant Outliner tips for success.

Portable Rivers for the OPML Editor.

Unofficial OPML Documentation, what is OPML and the OPML Editor?

Changes.opml.org, recently updated OPML Editor blogs.

JOE, Java Outline Editor.

OPML Search, search within thousands of OPML files.

Opml Manager, an online webservice for maintaining your own opml-file.

Optimal Browser renders valid OPML from any source in a tree-like view ideal for browsing.

Optimal OPML Wordpress Plugin, a plugin for your WordPress blog.

Grazr, an RSS Reader/OPML Browser application.

OPod, an AJAX OPML and RSS viewer.

OPML Reader extension for Firefox.

Changes.opiumfield.com, a site where you can add your OPML outline. Rendered in Grazr.

OPML Icon Project, OPML needs an identity?

Report on IE7 B2 Browser

Comprehensive review of Internet Explorer - IE7, Beta2 by
Dan Glazman Some excerpts:

Feeds management has nothing impressive. In fact, it’s even poor compared to the first shareware aggregators available on the Web for IE6. On the contrary, the presentation of feeds in the content window is superb, and clearly suffers from the
lack of an improved feeds manager.

Overall, and if I compare Firefox 1.0 or Firefox 1.5 and IE7b2, Firefox is far ahead of IE in terms of usability, accessibility, extensibility.

Grazr OPML Viewer Test

Testing the Grazr OPML Viewer in the sidebar at the sandbox site.

Update: Removed the Grazr viewer from the sandbox sidebar. The Grazr site was experiencing slow server response.

OPod OPML Viewer Test

Testing the OPod OPML Viewer at the sandbox site.

Update: Removed the OPod viewer from the sandbox sidebar. The Grazr site was experiencing slow server response.

OPML in a Web Browser

Update: 10/15/2006, sorry but the previously listed URL for OPML and XSLT is no longer valid.

OPML and XSLT, nuts and bolts:

    OPML in the Web Browser
    Since OPML is designed to represent information that real people usually want to look at, and since web browsers are accustomed to dealing with hierarchical data, OPML is an ideal fit. The following files allow you to view, edit, and format OPML files in a web browser:

      opml.xslt [text]
      opml.css [text]
      opml.js [text]

Chitika account suspension, ClickFire

The webmaster at ClickFire posted about his experience with Chitika eMinimalls contextual ad service and his account suspension.

    I think it’s important for other webmasters to understand the risks of jumping on the bandwagon of a hot new web advertiser and to anyone who may consider investing time or resources in such services.

    I, and I suppose other unsuspecting webmasters are casualties of Chitika’s youth and extremely rapid growth.

ClickFire is a Views, Tools and Content site for Webmasters.

Chitika site states, it helps web publishers generate revenue using innovative publisher-side advertising and merchandising solutions and services.

iPod hi-fi lanyard system

Got iPod? Well now you need to get the latest new fun accessory for your iPod from The Joy of Tech. Portability. Reinvented.