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by beth blakely

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TECHREPUBLIC BLOG ROUNDUP NEWSLETTER for August 24, 2005

CHECK OUT IMPROVEMENTS TO TR BLOGS

Have you visited our main blogs page lately? If not, check it out as
we've made a few improvements.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5258-6257-0.html

First, we've improved the newest and hottest blogs feature. We had been
listing the title of the blog itself. Now, the New and Hot blogs are
listed by post titles. This provides you with a bit more context before
you click.

Second, we added a Featured Bloggers listing. These special folks are
hand-picked members and TR staffers who consistently offer tech focused
and informative entries. (If you think you should be on that list, send
me an e-mail and I'll make sure your blog goes in front of the
committee.) The featured blog post changes every half hour. You can
view all the featured bloggers here.

* E-mail me to be considered as a Featured Blogger
mailto:beth.blakely@techrepublic.com (Please use "Featured Bloggers" as the subject.)

* View all Featured Bloggers
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5212-6257-0.html?query=featured%20bloggers

If you're really into RSS feeds, you can subscribe to all posts from
the featured bloggers or all new blog posts. (If you need a little
tutorial on using RSS feeds, check out this edition of the Blog Roundup
newsletter.)
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=96&threadID=179284&start=0

I'll bet you know what's coming next... I want to know what you think
about these blog improvements. We're working hard to provide better
ways to surface blogs and help you to find what you need. Use this
discussion to let us know what you think about our progress so far.

Miss an issue? You can view the Blog Roundup archive here.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5260-1-0.html?query=blog%20roundup%20newsletter

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Use this link to
automatically subscribe to the Blog Roundup Newsletter and have it
delivered directly to your Inbox every Wednesday.
http://nl.com.com/MiniFormHandler?brand=techrepublic&list_id=e131

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THIS WEEK'S BLOG ROUNDUP HIGHLIGHTS

There are several great new blogs to check out this week. Here's a
sampling:

* AN EXPERT'S GUIDE TO ORACLE
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=610372

* AKSEL SOLUTIONS ("A development blog with a focus on Visual FoxPro,
RSS, software development and business in general.")
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=4203374

* KEVIN RAGSDALE - FOXPRO CONTEMPLATIONS
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=4073015

* C# MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=4205849

* OBSERVATIONS FROM A TECH ARCHITECT: ENTERPRISE IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
& SOLUTIONS
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=2293799

There's been some buzz about The new Google desktop. PETER SPANDE was
skeptical at first, but after just one work day, he's decided he likes it. Check
out his post, "Google desktop, after 8 hours" to find out why.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=174663&messageID=1834571&id=1583166

RAMON PADILLA asks, "Does your IT department even have shared values?
Or is it just an amalgamation of people doing prescribed work from 8 to
5?" If you don't know the answer to that question, find out exactly
what he means in his post, "Is your IT department governed by shared
values?"
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=178820&messageID=1833984&id=2235984

Mac owner HUTCHTECH has published a startling statement: The Mac is not
perfectly secure. Find out why he risked being thrown out of "The
Disciples of Steve" to bring you this important information in his
post, "MAC OS X: All This and Total Security Too...Another Mac Myth
Bites the Dust."
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=176583&messageID=1832870&id=2899447

GEOTUBE has renamed his product. Find out the new name in his post,
"Computer Cleaner has a new name!"
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=177437&messageID=1833950&id=4166121

AKSELSOFT provides a look at how Tod Maffin of ILoveRadio.org is
helping "locked out" Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) employees
find their voice through podcasts. Get the scoop in akselsoft's post,
"So this is what happens today when a network goes on strike."
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=179675&messageID=1835003&id=4203374

--------------------------------------------------

BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: RUSSELL AND THE BEST OF MOBHAPPY

We are pleased to announce that TR is now the home of THE BEST OF
MOBHAPPY. We're getting a weekly digest from the writers of Mobhappy, a
mobile technology blog written by Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html?id=4206033

In his first post, Russell explains "Why DRM Will Kill Mobile Music."
Keep rockin', Russell.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=179899&messageID=1833399&id=4206033

--------------------------------------------------

JUST FOR FUN

Have you played Guess-the-Google yet? LIGURZA turned us on to this fun
little game which we never, ever play during TR work hours.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=179456&messageID=1828201&id=3978166

KELVIN LIN has written a love letter to someone or something called
Hippo. I'm not sure what to say... Take a look and see what you think:
"My Hippo, My Love, My everything."
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=176227&messageID=1834668&id=4037086

JDCLYDE recently took a trip to Niagara driving "grandma's van." Find
out how the trip went and what he thinks the Canadians should improve.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=173960&messageID=1833425&id=1040999

Want to find out where THE TRIVIA GEEK gets all his great ideas for the
Geek Trivia newsletter? Check out his post "Save Geek Trivia...and the
Wikipedia" and vote about the subject of his next column.
https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257-0.html?forumID=99&threadID=173893&messageID=1834613&id=1383826

--------------------------------------------------

FEEDBACK: DID WE IMPROVE THE BLOG PAGE EXPERIENCE?

What do you think about the changes to the main blogs page? Let us know
if you're enjoying the TR blog experience and what should be at the top
of our feature development list in this discussion.

If you've got suggestions or comments about the Blog Roundup, send me
an e-mail. If you're recommending a blog for the next newsletter,
please include a link to the member's blog and a sentence or two about
why you found it helpful.
mailto:beth.blakely@techrepublic.com (Please use "Blog Roundup" as the subject.)

6 replies

by jdclyde

I think things are coming along well.

I personally do not understand why to view blogs from my contacts there isn't a link on the "my contacts" page right next to the "posts by my contacts". My contacts page should give me this one-stop-shopping experience, yes?

I am still befuddeled about the link to for blogs. As a firefox user, when I click on it, I still just get an error? There are a few members that I would like to be notified when they blog as it is usually some good stuff! (garvin for one)

The last thing that would be cool is to have a page where just the poster could see how many hits they get on their blogs. I would hate to see it just out in the open as it always looks tacky on web sites AND could make some members sad :( if everyone sees they get no hits. Others of us would see if we are just spitting into the wind or if what we blog does get noticed.

Just a thought.

Oh yeah, emoicons doen't work in blogs why? Really had to get your intent across without them sometimes, especially when your as sarcastic a person as I am. ;\

by beth blakely

First, a question: What does "I am still befuddeled about the link to for blogs." mean? I'd love to answer the question, I'm just not sure what it is.

I agree on the link to view Blog Posts From my Contacts on the Contacts page. That's been on that "little fixes we'll make all at once" list for a while. I'll see what I can do to get that done.

We do want to eventually give you the power to see how many hits you're getting to your blog, but truthfully that's pretty far down the list.

I often wish I had emoticons for my blog posts. Alas, we must trade emoticons for the ability to use html in blog posts. Let me think about how we can solve this little dilemma.

Thanks so much for responding. We <3 feedback.

by stress junkie

... I had read Kelvin Lin's love letter to Hippo, then I later wanted to find it but I didn't remember where I had seen the link to it. I tried to search the TR site for the word hippo and found that the search did not include the blogs.

So, idea #1 is to have the word search include blogs.

Idea #2 is to have a directory listing of all blogs. I don't see anything on the main blog page that allows you to see any blogs beyond the ones that are specifically highlighted at that moment. The blog and blogs tags don't provide any kind of comprehensive listing of blogs. I seem to recall that some time ago a blog directory was said to be planned.

The most difficult part of that, as I try to imagine implementing one, is the organization. Sure you could just extend the listing of most recent blogs but that doesn't really help. One approach would be to list blogs by member name. In other words you would just have a list of members that have a blog. Another approach would be to list the master blog title. Again that wouldn't necessarily be very helpful. I can't think of a great way to organize a comprehensive blog listing but any listing would be better than none.

So I think that having the site word search extended to include the blogs would be helpful. I could at least have found the love letter to Hippo easily when I wanted to find it the second time. A comprehensive listing of blogs would be great. There may not be a great way to list them all but any listing would be good.

I'll close by saying that I sympathize with trying to think of great ideas. I often try to put myself in the place of the people responsible for implementing things before I comment on those things. I know that it isn't easy.

Keep up the good work. :-)

by stress junkie

Hey Stress those are great ideas!!! We'll get right on them.

====

See Beth? That's what you are supposed to write.

by beth blakely

zzzzzzzzzzz *snort* uh huh? what? Sorry Stress J. You did catch me snoozing. I forgot to subscribe to this conversation. See replies above.

by beth blakely

Stress J.,

Re: searching blogs. We're working on it. And by working, I mean we're begging every chance we get to make that happen.

Re: directory listing of all blogs. That's another one of those things that's on the "little things we need to fix list." The "How do we organize it?" question is also one we have struggled with.

Great feedback! At least we're on the same page in terms of "what we need."

Thanks!

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