A Day In The Life - Grace

I received this email in February from a woman who used one of the breast cancer templates I created to design her friend's breast cancer journal, A Day in the Life

Hello T~

I wanted to let you know that I have created a blogspot template for a friend based on your goinpink_evening template.

Tuesday evening I received a panicked email from one of my blogging friends. She's recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She found your template, and tried to install it. Unfortunately, she was unable to understand the HTML after switching back to the Classic Blogger format. She was afraid she'd lost all her widgets in the process. She asked me to help her out, and sent the .zip file for the template.

I decided to use it for inspiration. She loved the header graphic, and the color scheme you'd created, so I took it from there.

Anyway, long story short, I want you to know that I've given you credit, and a link. If you'd like to go take a look at the site, you'll find it here.

From one geek to another, thank you for your inspiration... it made the gift to my friend a joy to create.

Warmest Regards~
~C

That note made the tears and hair-pulling I went through to build those templates (quickly - Pink For October was around the corner) worth it.
And seeing the final result filled me with so much pride.

I also noted how she credited herself and I on the side bar.
Template created with love for Grace
by :: CeeCi
Inspired by :: WoodNotWood
Awareness Template#4
Just beautiful.
Please swing by and show Grace your support on her brave journey.

 

Currently Reading: The Red Door by Charles Todd
Look for the review soon on my blogcritics writer profile page.

BlogExplosion 2010 Problems in the blogosphere

Anji, one of my co-blog-reviewer-approvers on blogexplosion, recently wrote a few posts on problems that we've been having since the loss of contact with the blogexplosion owners and senior administrator.
BlogExplosion: Problems logging in and surfing

This post is a message for her and all others who might be having the same concerns.

Anji, I did manage to locate some older blog posts about BE having this same problem sporadically over the years. It seems to occur every couple of years. 2006, 2007, Blog posts complaining of no support/admin responses and thumbnails not being updated, etc. Those posts correspond with changes in ownership and management.

I have a feeling that what has happened is our senior *volunteer* admin finally gave up trying to keep up, particularly in light of the fact that he was working for free -- He maintained the site. Dealt with server and script issues. Added new blogs. Updated thumbnails. Created new ideas to keep the site fresh and interesting (He did a great job there, but that had to be majorly time consuming.) Responded to emails. Checked every forum post and deleted the spam. Checked each site that received a *flag* for content. Responded to member complaints about other blogs or comments that had been left by members on their profiles.

I have a feeling that the straw that finally broke the camel's back was the constant complaints and gripes at him from us, the members. Complaints that 'admin' and 'support' were not responding to emails and thumbnail requests quickly enough. That sort of thing...

I know there were others helping him before, but they didn't appear to last long. I had no idea that 'admin' and 'support' was really just one guy, trying to do it all alone-- and for free, until you told me. He never said anything about it on the forum or in email responses. I think we all would have been a bit more patient had we known that. And a bit more appreciative of his efforts to keep the community happy and the site interesting.

I'm sure the in-boxes for support and inquiries are over-flowing with duplicate email requests sent multiple times by the same people-- and spam. I don't think he'll ever look in there again. I don't think he'll ever come back. He obviously got just as much support from LiveUniverse as we did. None. And he has a job and a family.

I think what will happen (as portended by the past) is that ?LiveUniverse? -- or current owner -- will eventually do a spot check (probably an annual or bi-annual audit of sorts, or to pretty it up for sale, again) to make sure everything is up and running. They'll see there is no senior admin and take back control of it.

They'll probably delete all of our approval accounts without notice--we just won't be able to login one day-- they'll clean out the support requests and admin emails (they know that there are thousands waiting for approval and more coming in every day, if someone needs support badly enough they'll send a fresh email when they see there's new management) They'll add new advertisements and apps. maybe even give the whole place a shiny new look.

Then suddenly a new admin group will appear. They'll set about fixing what needs to be fixed and BE will take off again with a re-newed enthusiasm...
until the next break down or sale.

Don't fret Angie Baby. These things are cyclic. We're just feeling the same stress that our 'admin' felt; like we're personally responsible for each and every member's satisfaction and all of the guilt that comes with not being able to keep everyone happy.

I'm kicking back and enjoying the time I have left to approve blogs.

Information For New Members

I'm thinking we should create a standard email we can send to new members as we add their blogs. Just to let them know that BE is in a holding pattern, and to be patient. That support is not currently available, and they should not make any site purchases until further notice.

But they should log into their accounts and go to 'surf member blogs' to start earning credits and that they need to go to the 'assign credits' page after each surfing session to move the new earned credits into their blog account. They can also choose the option to have those credits automatically assigned -- then they won't have to do anything except have fun surfing blogs and meeting new bloggers.


(click to enlarge)


I'm making my predictions based on information from the web and in old newsletters I received from BE about how these problems occurred, and were resolved, in the past. I've listed the BE NEWSLETTERS that I think are significant, but you might want to read them all for their historic value. The changing personalities of the owners, admins, and the site as a whole.

Sept 28, 2004 Meet Thomas and Jeff: The guys who created blogexplosion issue their first email newsletter.
April 24, 2006 Blogexplosion Sold: BlogExplosion has been sold to Stephen Sartain.
May 3, 2006 Under New Management: Meet the new blogexplosion management Lewis Johnston and Stephen Sartain
June 9, 2006 Ooops and Ouch: BlogExplosion is up for Sale again
June 17, 2006 Blogexplosion Sold (Again): "The new owners are a large group." This is where the mystery begins... a large group of what?


I have one more piece of information I'd like to share for people who have submitted a blog at blogexplosion for review and have not yet been approved.

In 2008 the senior administrator and resident geek Chris created an algorithm to move those who are serious about becoming community members to the top of the approval list. Here's what he had to say about it on the forum.

Hi Susan

It sounds like you may have been caught by my blog verification algorithm. If a user does not attend (log in to) blogexplosion for more than 30 days their blog is moved to another queue.

The idea of this is to ensure only blogs with active owners are reviewed. With such a huge backlog I had to find a way to bring legitimate blogs to the front of the queue.

For an idea of whether it works or not there is still over 4000 in the queue waiting for their owners to come back.

They will not be processed unless the owners return and log in at BE -- because you came back your blog was automatically rushed to the front of the queue.

Once the queue drops to less than a 30 day backlog all blogs will be reviewed in the order they are submitted

Chris







Currently Reading: What Will Happen in Eragon IV by Richard Marcus
Look for the review soon on my blogcritics writer profile page.

The AT&T Facebook Glitch

: a harbinger of doom for the future of mobile Internet users?
AT&T Phones Hack Facebook Accounts
Please. Bear with me while I take a moment to brag.

This, my latest article on blogcritics.org has been the headline on the sci/tech section since the 22nd. It was also a front page feature. I'm flattered, honored and, honestly, surprised. My eternal gratitude to our Technology editor.

I had promised to try to avoid writing geek there, but I couldn't help myself. I tried to make it as humorous as possible rather than just another technology article. You must check out the link to mashable under "Bill Gates threw his hands in the air and announced that he was out of there", a mock up of a fake Bill Gates Facebook page created by PC World. It's hilarious.






Currently Reading: Web of Deceit by Darlene Cox
Look for the review soon on my blogcritics writer profile page.

Haloscan Closing - export comments to a new system

I've got an app for that.

Recently Echo announced that they're closing Haloscan commenting.
They've given users two choices:
1) Export comments or lose them.
2) Pay for the formerly free service and upgrade to Echo.
Needless to say people are confused.
I've been watching and waiting for my notification.
It came last night in the form of an email.

Haloscan is being shut down on: Feb 04, 2010
The Haloscan hardware and software is physically failing and we have no choice but to discontinue the service. (yeah. sure. right.)

Two Options: Switch to Echo or Export your comments FREE.
Although we can't rescue Haloscan, we are trying our best to limit the negative impact on users. To do this, we have worked hard to provide 2 options for Haloscan sites.

Log in now to make your choice and continue without interruption
I don't really see a choice here. It doesn't support popular blogging platforms.
Or spellcheck. Obviously.

Haloscan upgrade FAQ

Their blog has gone crazy as some people vent anger and others just sound desperate and depressed.
http://blog.js-kit.com/2009/12/09/haloscan-is-getting-upgraded-to-echo/
http://blog.js-kit.com/2009/12/15/announcing-a-new-brand-mission-and-customers/
It's a little strange to see such self congratulatory and uncaring attitudes towards disappointed potential clients. For myself, I don't intend to comment on sites using Echo. I can't even begin to express my disappointment in finding that Technorati has become a client, I can only pray that they'll realize how much commenters dislike Echo and dump it. And I also pray that they won't force it on us at blogcritics.org, but we are sharing one umbrella so to speak... they are we and we are them.
Every site that I've seen using echo so far has dumped it.
Commenters hate it.

There's an old geek saying
If two wrongs don't make a right... try three.
It has nothing to do with the fact that they've monetized. At least not from what I've seen. I wouldn't mind paying for my commenting system. I would have happily given them $12 a year to continue to use haloscan. Most users would. But I keep hearing the same complaint. People don't like Echo. Geeks like Echo, at least the idea of it. But readers don't like it. And in the face of the 'F Off' attitude of its administrators I can't say that I would ever trust them either. Too self-serving. Too set in the mind frame that data aggregation creates community, rather than people.

Here's what Paul had to say in comments.
I agree with him whole-heartedly.
Now of course I wish I had never gone with Haloscan in the first place. I have a selfhosted blogger blog using my own template. I no longer have the code to put my blogger comments back in place, so find myself facing the prospect of upgrading to a service that I don't want to use, or losing the facility of comments altogether.

All the guides about reverting from Haloscan to Blogger assume that you use the new blogspot templates, so sadly I cannot undo what I did three years ago. Coincidentally, JS-Kit appears to believe all Blogger users are on blogspot sites, as trying to sign in with my Blogger identity didn't work, as my blog isn't on blogspot...

Coming to the Rescue of the Blogosphere

Thankfully, there is a very kind person providing a service for free to transition comments from Haloscan to a new comment platform. (I found him and it's one poor guy collecting all of those xml files through email and transferring them for free. I can't imagine how many are emailing him for help.)

Please export your files from your haloscan account before emailing Kirk.
It's easier for him to pull them from the site, but they may be gone before he can get there. So best to have that back-up on hand just in case.
The comments will be transferred into tridentscan. It's just like haloscan.

Go to this site http://tridentscan.jaggedseam.com/ to get email information.
And Please Be Patient.
He's just one guy.
One great guy who embodies the spirit of the blogosphere.
Community.

So, who's next?
I know there are some programmers out there who can whip up something to help out.
Put your thinking caps on.
We need you.





Currently Reading: Web of Deceit by Darlene Cox
Look for the review soon on my blogcritics writer profile page.

How to Spice Up Your Blog - The One Brick Shy Gadget

I now have an iGoogle gadget named for me.

Gadgets Directory, whom I linked in my Blog Explosion post created a thing for me. A thing which looks like this...


And does this...


I have no idea what this thing is but I want it.
They call it the One Brick Shy Gadget. Of course it may just be my RSS feed through iGoogle, but that's okay. It's mine. All mine.
It is proof positive of what many have long suspected-- I am a gadget.

Come stare in wonder at the page upon which it resides.
ONE BRICK SHY Gadget

I also added a signature to my posts thanks to this great post called How to Create a Stylish Signature on spiceupyourblog.com


It is beautiful, no?

Make sure you read Paul Crowe's instructions when making your signature. He has many useful suggestions and instructions on adding your signature to each post automatically.



Currently Reading: My Life and Other Lies: Tales from the Writer's List by Steve Pitt. The review is up on A Geek Girl at blogcritics.org

Blog Explosion

I'm an admin for blogexplosion.com. A free traffic generating community for bloggers. We currently have 106,807 blogs in the directory and we're looking for quality writers to join. This site is for bloggers, not for sellers, not for corporate websites. Just blogs.

The subject doesn't matter. There about fifty categories, from podcasts and video blogs to anime, gaming, technology, blogging tips, business info and personal diaries. The only requirements are that they are written in English, that they are updated at least monthly and that comments are enabled. All sites are reviewed by (mostly) real human beings and we try to keep up a standard that weeds out junk and spam blogs.

I review websites for admission into the blog explosion directory. This is a labor of love that I took on as a result of my desire to find well-written blogs. I enjoy reading interesting sites. I'm always fascinated by the eclectic mix of writing and topics that roll through my dashboard.

Last night I had intended to visit the blogs I follow, but when I popped into Blog Explosion I found a large number of blogs that needed reviewing. I set aside my own visits to make sure that these writers waiting for their acceptance emails were not held off too long. We get hundreds of new blog requests daily. It has added up over the holidays as admin members spent time with their families--as they should.

The problem I'm increasingly running into is the number of spam and advertising blogs that are being submitted. This is a site that runs as a community. With 'Battle of the Blogs' you can pit your blog against another and members will vote on their favorites, they offer free blogging services and the chance to get to know other bloggers with similar interests. After you log-in you gain visits by visiting blogs in the directory. This increases your traffic as well as helping you find interesting new sites and writers.

Not to mention all of the useful blogging/technology information you find on Blog Explosion sites like Gadgets Directory or the great photography and biting wit of runswithscissors. The chillingly fascinating chronicles of True Crime journaled at In Cold Blog.

Anais Nin's Diary has been called 'The Liary' due to the heavy re-writing that Nin did to get it published, and yet it is still a brilliant, creative, erotic piece of lying literature--Much like UnpopularTruths "When my fake editor came to me with the chance to conduct a fake interview with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger – noted pants-around-your-feet enthusiast and unapologetic photo-op horn-thrower – I jumped at it like a chicken on a dough dish." Okay. Maybe not so much erotic, but brilliant and creative definitely.

And then there's My Kafkaesque Life. It takes a special stroke of creative genius to take a picture of an unpublished post and make it a post. A shy guy. It says all of the things he would never say directly in a post.

Now that is brilliant.

One of my dirty little vices~ I could easily blow an entire afternoon reading the book reviews, rants, recipes and plain kvetching of The Library Lady Rants "Yes,I am aware that people can't read simple instructions. Hell, I'm a librarian, who would know better?" As a matter of fact I have blown an entire afternoon reading her. In my pajamas, drinking hot tea. What can I say? Showers are over-rated.



Last night I wasted hours wading through money-making blogs that offer nothing in their posts except links to on-line stores and advertising disguised as blog posts. I couldn't unleash that feculent bilge on this community of bloggers who have devoted themselves to creating a unique, entertaining and informational presence within the blogosphere. I hit the reject button so many times I chipped a nail. Frggg

So now I'm turning to you. If you can write and you have a unique style, information to assist bloggers, or just humorous observations on your daily life, please. Please. Add your blog to Blog Explosion. I'd rather chew off my own toes than have to sit through another night of viagra/creatin laced drivel.

HNT ascii drawing

A reader made an ascii drawing from my profile picture.

Pretty cool, right?
Click to enlarge.


Have a geeky HNT!

See the man, OS!





Currently Reading ~~ Salt Dancers by Ursula Hegi
When she was young her mother disappeared without a trace. Now grown, Julia has returned home. Pregnant, still haunted by her father's abuse and her brother's betrayal, she seeks to reconcile her long buried anger and find peace with her past.

Going Pink For October

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.
~Barbara Bloom

That time is almost upon us again.

Are you ready to Go Pink in October to show your support for breast cancer awareness month?

The Pink For October site is down, but that doesn't mean that we can't still show our support by decorating our blogs in Pink, carrying the Pink Ribbon and adding the button to click for free mammograms.

Here are the buttons and link if you need to copy them.






The link is http://thebreastcancersite.com


I still have the free pink blogger templates to download -- or just to look at for inspiration.

Here they are:
Here are the Pink For October Free Blogger Templates.
Email me if you need help.

• Pink Template - Hott Pink


• Pink Template - Hearts


• Pink Template - Feathers


• Pink Template - Evening


• Pink Template - Skyline


• Pink Template - Roses


• Pink Template - Simply Pink


• Pink Template - Erotic


• Pink Template - Pink and Purple


Learn how to revert to classic blogger and how to switch back to new blogger.

Here are the zip files to download these templates.

If you just want to make an easy switch I'll be adding some of the hex color codes so you can just change your background color to pink.

Do you have a breast cancer story?
Please feel free to share.
These are the stories that inspire and empower us all in our Race for the Cure.

Free Pink Templates for October

It's about that time. Breast cancer awareness is almost upon us.
Are you Going Pink For October?
Are you ready to learn how to revert your blog to old / classic blogger?
And how to switch back to new blogger as well?
You'll need to know how to back-up your blogger template.
The process is really quite easy, but it does take a lot of copy /paste if you're used to using blogger widgets.

I'd advise starting a 'template_test' blog so you can practice before going live on your home blog.

I'm starting to work on some new additions to the free 'going pink for October' blogger templates. I have to make some corrections to the old templates as well. Some are not working in Mozilla as they should.

You'll see the templates move up on the sidebar as we get closer to the date.
And as always, I'm happy to help anyone who needs it, whether you're using one of my templates or another you've found elsewhere.

Boobiethon 2009
October 1st-7th
And it's time to start thinking about your Boobiethon pictures. Bloggers baring it all to save the bOObs.
You can see some of last years submissions in the Boobie Gallery.
Don't forget to send out your Boobiethon Tweets.
Remember: It's for a good cause.

Here's the HNT I did with my daughter on Breast Exams. The Greatest Gift. It's important to teach them yourself. You're the only one who can really show them correctly.


Here's a way to waste 5 minutes.
A 41 Question Personality Test from www.41q.com
My Personality Test results.



Not at all accurate, and yet... completely accurate.
Much like my horoscope in the newspaper.
If you take the test make sure you post your results in the comments. I'm more interested in others than in myself as my results clearly show.

Nottingham Outlaws

This is my band.
This is our album cover.



The Band Meme

You are about to have your own band and create its album cover!

Follow these directions to the letter.
It's fun and requires no thought at all.

Go to......
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the
title of your album.
3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together and
make your band's album cover."




I got this a while ago from kuanyin moi at Blog-Blond.

If you create an album cover please link to it in the comments.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!





Technorati Tags: humor, music, meme, blog-blond, bands, woodnotwood