Tag: Blogger

Links will return

I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries, so I want to make it clear that I’m going to unveil a new blogroll as soon as I’m able. I want to try Blogger’s “live links” feature, but it’s going to take a little time.

Piece of cake

I can’t believe how easy it was to switch to a new template. I think it’s a huge improvement, and I haven’t even added a photo to the header, which I plan to do soon. I’m going to hold off on the HaloScan comments — let’s just see how it goes for a while.

What do you think of the NewsTrust widget on the left? I think it’s a neat idea, but I’m curious to see whether it slows down loading to an unacceptable degree.

Comment trouble?

I received an e-mail a little while ago telling me that some of the comments to this post had disappeared. My correspondent wondered whether it was deliberate. It was not. Among the comments that are now gone was one I wrote to frequent Media Nation commenter O-Fish-L. Not sure what’s going on.

Perhaps the time has come to chuck the whole thing and turn comments over to HaloScan.

Cracking down on hit-and-run attacks

Well, I’ve done it. I just changed the settings of Media Nation so that you now have to register in order to leave a comment. What pushed me to flip the switch were some of the truly ugly comments made about Robert Novak’s brain tumor, as well as the news that Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin is going to require registration. A terrific “On the Media” story about commenting on news sites was a goad as well.

The last time I considered this, I was talked out of it by a few smart people who explained the downside of registering with Google, Blogger’s corporate owner. (I’ve given my life to Google, but that’s my choice.) But those days are now long gone. In addition to Google/Blogger, you’ve got five options: OpenID, WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad and AIM. With all those choices, registration should be a burden to no one.

Nor have I eliminated anonymity. I don’t mind pseudonyms. I think someone who adopts a consistent persona, like Mike B1, can be as valuable a contributor as someone who uses his or her real name. It’s the totally anonymous hit-and-run attacks I’m trying to eliminate.

There’s something in it for you, too. I’ve also changed the settings so that as long as you are commenting on a post less than two weeks old, it will go up immediately, without my having to moderate it first. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. We’ll see how it goes.

More: I’m not going to be around much today. But if you run into any problems posting comments, send me an e-mail at da {dot} kennedy {at} neu {dot} edu.

Spyware versus spyware

Hmmm … within the last 20 minutes, I started getting a message that my Mac has either a virus or a spyware problem whenever I try to access a Blogspot blog. The message, from Google (which owns Blogspot), begins:

We’re sorry … but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now.

It happens with both Firefox and Safari, but I have no problem accessing non-Blogspot sites. I could install a spyware-wiping program, but this review says wiping out all my private data, including cookies, should accomplish the same thing. Which I just did. No go.

Interestingly enough, I can’t even view Media Nation, although I can get into Blogger in order to post, edit and moderate comments.

Thoughts?

11:25 a.m. update: Shhh! I just switched to a neighbor’s WiFi connection, and everything works fine. I’ll try rebooting our network later today.

1:15 p.m. update: Seems to be OK now, without rebooting.

On the plus side

The Weekly Dig’s Web site loads a lot faster than it used to.

You know, guys, there’s this thing called Blogger. It’s free, and you can set it up in about two minutes. You could use it to get some of your content online while you continue with the endless redesign. What do you think?

Adam Gaffin points out that it’s not July anymore. But what I want to know is this: Isn’t it kind of pushing things to run a vodka ad, complete with audio, on an “under construction” page?

Google Documents and Blogger

For some time now, I’ve been looking for a way to post to Media Nation without having to do it from directly within Blogger. Well, I just read in MacWorld that Google Documents has a publish-to-blog feature, so I’m giving that a try.

What are the advantages? First, it’s got a roomier, easier-to-work-with window than Blogger. second, it has more features, like strikethrough. It’s not ideal; unlike Ecto, I have to be connected to the Internet to use Google Documents. But I could never seem to get the settings right for Ecto.