A Welsh View

How Do I Determine Who Reads My RSS Feed?

As a Typepad user, is there a way of determining who reads my blog via a feed reader? I'm pretty sure that Typepad doesn't offer any way of doing so. I'm also sure that the free version of SiteMeter doesn't tell you either. Are there are any free third party tools that will give me the information?

Start Your Own Blog In Just 51 Easy Steps

Kuo5hin's 51-step guide to becoming a blogger. [via]

Mozilla Related Blogs

A handy site aggregating posts from Mozilla related blogs. [via]

Welsh Chavs

I've just been looking at my referrals and have noticed that I am top on Google for 'Welsh Chav'. Just so my regular readers know, and that anyone arriving here after searching for Welsh chav knows, despite getting 35% on the Chav Test, I am not a chav. Incidentally, the title of this post will probably bump me up in the results for 'Welsh Chavs' (currently in 14th position)

Beer Blogs

Hail The Ale linked to me earlier on today and it's the first time that I've visited a beer blog. I'm surprised that it hadn't occurred to me to look for beer blogs. As I was so impressed with Hail The Ale I thought I would see what else is out there. Here's a list of some that I have found.

beer.emptyfree.com
OnTap
The Brew Site
A Good Beer Blog

Any others?

Analogue Blogging

A guide on how to blog using a notebook, prefereably a Moleskine. The guide includes how to include comments, links (internal and external), categories and metadata. An interesting idea but aren't blogging tools supposed to take away the hassle of hand coding entries and organising them? Wouldn't you spend more time adding all the extra information rather than actually making entries?

An Interview With A Comment Spammer

Related to my earlier rant about trackback spammers, The Register has an interview with a link spammer, or "search engine optimiser" as he prefers to be known.

According to the spammer, who's unapologetic about spamming and says that "it's nothing personal", actually blames bloggers for the spam comments that appear on their blogs.

"It could be argued that a website owner is actually inviting content to their site when they allow comments"

Sure, there's nothing like a few bestiality links to boost a site's popularity. He also says that the nofollow intiative will not work and "there will always be trackback spamming". Tell me about it!

Damn You Trackback Spammers!

First there were comment spams, now there are trackback spams. Despite the weird stuff that I post on my blog, I am not interested in bestiality porn.

I hate how I am powerless to stop people (or machines) from posting trackback spams. When you are receiving a one a minute to different posts it's difficult to block all the IP addresses being used. I feel powerless.

Update: Thanks to TypePad for doing a grand job in quickly deleting all the spam trackbacks that I received.

Wish Me Luck!

I've got an exam today. It's Systems Analysis and Design which I'm not looking forward to but should do ok in it. I've done 5 days solid revision and I'm still not confident. After the exam, I'm going down the pub to unwind so I won't be updating the site until later on this evening.

2005 Bloggies

The nominations for the 2005 Bloggies have been posted. Unfortunately, I'm not liste, but I should be bitter. The usual suspects are there with a few surprising ones. And congratulations to Lee from Tokyo Times for being nomiated for Best Asian Blog.

Google Dog

Googledog is the the dog that blogs. Each day a new hat, and sometimes some goggles. [via]

Pro-US Iraqi Blog A Fake?

BBC: Iraq blog spat leads to web chaos

A pro-US weblog by three Iraqi brothers has become the unlikely setting for a huge web spat after conspiracy theorists alleged it was a fake.

Iraq the Model, a weblog detailing the more positive aspects of the US-led occupation of the country, is one of the most popular Iraq sites on the web.

But some anti-war activists said it was a CIA-sponsored propaganda tool.

The brothers strongly denied the claims, but the row has led to severe ructions in the online Iraq community.

Trust the tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists to come up something like this.

Reaching The 1,000,000 Milestone

I've just passed the 1,000,000 hits milestone. Whilst this is tiny compared to many big sites, this is a major milestone for me. It's one that seemed like would take a long time to reach but it was part of my original long term goals.

To be honest, I've achieved many of my blogging goals such as being linked by people that I admire, high-traffic sites and sites that I frequent daily.

I've also got to know different people, although I've not physically met any of them.

There's one other goal that I'm hoping to achieve. I'm hoping that I will be able to blog about it on Tuesday. That's providing that it comes off. If it doesn't, I'll still blog about it.

Thanks to all my regular visitors and to those that drop by searching for random weirdness.

When That One Post Draws A Crowd

Sometimes you create a post that manages to get noticed by lots of sites and as a result your traffic goes through the roof.

A few weeks ago I posted an entry that contained a few links to tsunami footage and for over a week my daily hits were above 10,000. Just as the hits were starting to subside I posted an entry that contained pictures of the 100lb woman eating the 6lb burger (11lb with trimmings). If you haven't read the story here it is.

Yesterday I noticed an increase in traffic when some forums started linking to the post but today the hits have gone through the roof. High traffic sites such as Attu, Jaggle and Ollo (that one's new to me) have linked to the post as well as about a dozen forums and as a result I'm registering about 1,600 1,900 2,100 3,500 hits an hour.

I've had newspapers such as The Cincinnati Post asking where I have got the pictures from so that they can use them. I'm the first in search queries for "6lb burger", "100lb woman" in Google. It's crazy! At the moment, practically every hit I'm getting is for the pictures.

Obviously there's no way of judging which news stories are going to be big traffic pullers, but when you get one there's such a buzz that goes with it. If only I could get all those visitors to click on the ads ;o)

Photoblogging At The Same Time Everday

09h09 is a blog where the author takes a self-portrait everyday at 0909 and posts it to his blog. Also, Ten:Ten, a similar idea, just a different time.

Category Poll

I have started a poll to see just how many people use, or don't use, the categories. Feel free to vote.

Update: Feel free to post a comment saying how often you use the categories, why and which categories you like best.

Category Removal

You may or may not have noticed that the categories have gone from the left hand side of the site and from each of the posts. I'm not sure how many of my regular visitors use them so I don't know if people will miss them.

The reason for getting rid of them is that since the categories date back to when I first started this blog they have each grown to be extremely large. In particular the game category is very large and contains hundreds of images. I have noticed that people have posted a direct link to the category and some people who visit refresh the page frequently. This results in a very large page with many images being served very frequently, resulting in a lot of bandwidth being used.

Thankfully I am not being charged for the extra bandwidth that I am using but if TypePad started charging it would probably cost me quite a bit. I want to see if not listing the categories helps reduce my bandwidth. If you need to use the categories they are still there, I have merely removed the links to them. If you need to use them use this address - http://xo.typepad.com/blog/category name.

Welsh Politicians Turn To Blogging

The BBC have an article on how Welsh politicians are turning to blogging as a way of communicating to voters. Whilst some think they are good ways of communicating, others are sceptical...

[Rhondda AM Leighton] Andrews, to be fair, has obviously considered whether his, or any other political blog, will draw in readers outside those who have an established interest in politics anyway.

"There's part of me that suspects that far from driving up political interest, a blog will simply attract the already committed," he wrote in his first post.

I see political blogs as just another way of regurgitating the same old crap that politicans come up with.

Blogger Stats From The Guardian

The Guardian have some stats about the bloggers and show that most bloggers are experienced (i.e. online 6 years or more), tend to have a low household income and half are under 30. Here are the full stats.

Male - 57%
Under age 30 - 48%
Broadband at home - 70%
Online six years or more - 82%
Household income over $50K - 42%
Degrees - 39%

Unremoved Comment Spam = More Comment Spam

For those who are unlucky enough to receive comment spam in their blogs, how many remove it within 24 hours? If you ignore it or don't remove it quick enough, maybe you should take a look at this post to see why it could spell trouble.

Blogophobic Companies/Organisations

The Blogger's Rights Blog has a list of companies and organisations that have "fired, threatened, disciplined, fined or not hired people because of their blogs". The list is currently at 28 and there are one or two more in the comments. [via]

How To Build A Better Blog

Leave It Behind has ten ideas for building a better blog. Some are so obvious but how many of us actually do them? [via]

Writing Better Blog Headlines

Robert Scoble is asking bloggers to write better headlines and this is not the first time that he's mentioned it. I remember taking note the first time he mentioned it and I try my best to make my headlines as descriptive as possible, not only so that they get noticed in RSS aggregators but also I find that the feature higher in search engine results. Whilst witty headlines can be funny, sometimes people will skim over them because they are looking for a particular topic or event. Save your wit for the content of the post.

The Most Difficult Blog To Read

Warning! Do not spend too much time trying to read this site, your eyes will hurt. [via]

Family Guy: The Blog

I wish I knew about this earlier. Fox have a blog covering the return of Family Guy. Whilst it's not updated that often it does have a few cool videos. [via]

2005 Bloggies

Just a little reminder (but it's more like a hint), that the nominations are open for the 2005 Bloggies. Feel free to nominate me for Best British or Best Undiscovered blog or whatever category you think is appropriate.

De-Lurking Day

Today has been christened De-Lurking Day. It's a day when lurkers of a blog creep out of the woodwork and post a comment.

I have got a few regular commenters, some who post after finding a post on Google, others who post random crap and some who think that I am actually Bill Gates.

So feel free to tell me how long you have been visiting, how you found the site, where you are from, what you like about my blog, etc. You never know, you may like it and comment again. [via]

Six Apart To Buy Livejournal

Om Malik is reporting that Six Apart, the company behind TypePad, is going to acquire LiveJournal for a mixture of stocks and cash.

If the deal goes through, then Six Apart will become one of the largest weblog companies in the world, with nearly 6.5 million users. It also gives the company a very fighting chance against Google’s Blogger and Microsoft’s MSN Spaces.

Blog Readership Grows In 2004

MyWay News: Blog Creation, Readership Rises in 2004

Readership of online journals known as blogs grew significantly in 2004, driven by increased awareness of them during the presidential campaign and other major news events, according to a study released Sunday.

Twenty-seven percent of online adults in the United States said in November they read blogs, compared with 17 percent in a February survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Blogs that cover the tsunami disaster and relief efforts are bound to boost readership further, said Lee Rainie, the project's director.

2005 Bloggies

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2005 Bloggies (Weblog Awards). If you enjoy reading a Welsh View and feel it is worthy of a nomination, fill in the form here. Closing date for nominations is January 10th.

Technorati: 20,000 New Blogs Every Day

According to Scoble who paid a visit to Technorati yesterday, 20,000 new blogs are being added to Technorati everyday! That's a lotta blogs.

SE Asia Earthquake Blog

A blog has been set up that is dedicated to the SE Asia Earthquake. The blog has lots of emergency numbers and contact info as well as statistics and names of those who died. The site also has what could be an interesting link. The link is to satellite photos of the tsunami but at the moment the two links on the site are swamped.

Nadolig Llawen

Click picture to interact. [via]

Amputee Blog

A bizarre blog that collects "articles about amputees as a result of the War on Terror". Here's the current (incomplete) list of servicemen and women who have lost a limb. [via]

Blogging: "Online Phenomenon Of The Year"

The Sunday Times' Doors Award 2004 have given the "Online Phenomenon of the Year" award to blogging.

"They are as old as the web, but 2004 was the year they exploded into the British consciousness, took part in world-changing events and, crucially, started to flex moneymaking muscle."

Blogs4Xmas

Give the gift of blog this Christmas with Blogs For Xmas. Either select some blogs from the ones provided or add you own, enter the receivers email address and starting December 25th RSS feeds of the blogs you chose will be emailed to the person.

Introduction of Adverts

You may notice that there are a couple of ads on the left hand side of the site provided by Google. I always wanted to kepe A Welsh View ad free and tried for as long as I could but being a student means that money is hard to come by and any additional cash that I can get is a bonus. I'm not sure how much these ads will generate but from other Typepad sites that have included the Google ads they have been fairly successful.

Fred over at A VC is getting a few dollars a day from the ads and he gets around 1,500 hits a day. Lately I've been getting between 3,500 and 4,000 hits a day so I figure that I stand a chance of getting something from it. Also I may need it if Typepad decide to start charging for extra bandwidth/diskspace. This month my stats predict that I will use over 62Gb of bandwidth! A hell of a lot more than my alloted 2Gb/month.

I'll let the ads run for a while and see how successful they become. Hopefully they won't be too obtrusive.

I've also replaced the FreeFind.com search box with a Google one. This one should be much better and provide better results.

Luxist

Luxist is a blog dedicated to the luxury items that many of us cannot afford. It's noce to look though. [via Scoble]

Blog Is The Top Word Of The Year

C|Net: 'Blog' top word of the year

A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 words of the year.

Merriam-Webster said Tuesday that "blog," defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

Blog will be a new entry in the 2005 version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

The Buzz Of Being Linked Or How I Was Waxyed

I love the buzz of being linked, particularly when it's by a site with a large readership. Yesterday I posted a cartoon about what life was like before the Internet. Today, Google Blogoscoped linked to the post and quickly, Waxy picked up on it. Then Hot Links linked to it followed by a host of other sites. As Waxy is such a well read site I can see my traffic staying high for a while.

24in48

24in48 is a group moblog that involves 24 people sharing their lives in New York over a 48 hour period. Today is the last day so take a look before it ends. With 24 people all moblogging at the same time you can expect many updates. [via Linkfilter]

Typepad Woes

Since Typepad introduced the WYSIWYG interface I have been having no end of problems trying to format posts so that they look the way I want them to. I have resisted posting anything because on the whole I am pleased with the service but today I noticed that I am not the only one with problems.

I tried using the WYSIWYG feature but found that when switching between the compose post and edit HTML tabs, HTML tags were being added or removed which caused the post to look differently. Consequently, I have switched back to the plain text version so that I can have full control over my posts. I have created a ticket and the developers are looking into the problems.

Are any other Typepadders experiencing problems?

Dallas Maverick's Owner Fined For Blog Post

Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban has been fined by the NBA for publicly criticising the league. What's wrong with a little free speech? [via Off On A Tangent]

Delta Flight Attendant Suspended For Blogging

A Delta airlines employee has been suspended for blogging. According to "Diary of a (grounded) Flight Attendant" she was suspended without pay for posting inappropriate images (see here). She joins the likes of other bloggers who have been censored, suspended or even fired for blogging.

See:

The Life Of A Paramedic - Censured!
Jeremy Zawodny - Fired For Blogging
electicism - Of blogging and unemployment
Blogcritics - Starbucks' blogging barista fired fairly

[via Boing Boing]

BritBlog

BritBlog is a blog directory for British bloggers. You don't have to live in Britain to be featured in the directory, you just have to be British. The directory currently has a few hundred blogs and a nifty map featuring a selection of those blogs. It is featured in this week's Online section in the Guardian so hopefully more people will add their blogs.

'Job Blogs' Spill The Beans

The Guardian: "...a new group of anonymous webloggers has emerged en masse, but this time they are covering more mundane territory. Job blogs bring frontline news from the modern workplace, documenting its stupid routines, petty frustrations and inane management-speak."

Here are a selection featured in the article...

Call Centre Confidential
The Report Card
Doing Less Harm
The Policeman's Blog
Diary of a Fast Food Life
My Life as a Morrison's Employee
Natural Born Liars
British Politics

A Great Day For A Welsh View

It's been a great day here at A Welsh View. First I pass the 500,000 hits mark, then Coolio's sends me a ton of visitors and now I'm featured on SearchEngineWatch because of my post on Clusty yesterday. Can it get any better?

Update: It just got better. I've just been linked on Engadget. Apologies for blowing my own trumpet but it gives me a buzz to see my blog linked on other sites.

Update 2: It gets better, now I'm on Linkfilter

Half A Million Hits

As I post this I am approaching the half a million hits mark - a milestone that's been in my sights for some time. Next up, 1 million!

Blog Catalog

Blog Catalog: The Ultimate Blog Directory

"Blog Catalog is a listing of Blogs from all around the World. The Blogs listed in Blog Catalog range from Political Blogs to Sport Blogs. Blog Catalog is the ideal site for users looking to Submit A Blog and for users Searching For A Blog."

There should be plenty of useful blogs here. [via Scoble]

Don't Steal My Bandwidth

Don't you hate people who steal bandwidth? This site has been linking to an image on my site for about a month and today it finally got to me. It was a rush job so that's why the image is a little stretched and the image was one of the first that I came across that I thought was appropriate. The site seems to have a habit of linking to other peoples images. Don't do it!