Hi folks -- a comment from Journaler Lori of Lori's Laurels reminded me that I wanted to highlight one of the videos she uploaded to UnCut Video. It shows what loyal dogs do when vacuums attack family members:
You can see all of Lori's posted UnCut videos here.
If you want to embed UnCut videos in your own Journals, it's pretty easy -- on each video's page, there's a link that says "Snag an embeddable player."
Clicking that link will pop up a window with the video player code -- just copy and paste that code into your own Journal entry -- just make sure you're in HTML editing mode -- the drop-down menu in the editing toolbar says "HTML", not "Text."
(Note that if you click the "Blog this" link on the video's page, it will put a hyperlinked thumbnail picture in a new entry, not an embedded video.)
Journals Editor Jeff will be doing a follow-up tutorial entry on how to embed UnCut Video in your Journal, with step-by-step instructions and pictures, in his Pixel Pusher blog.
As always, when you see a video you like, show your appreciation by leaving a comment and rating.
If you have your own UnCut video that you'd like show off (like Lori's), send me or Editor Jeff an e-mail, or leave a comment with the URL, and we'll take a look.
Thanks -- Joe
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Just Causes? (Or, We've All Got Issues)
Hi folks -- in my Journals
Anniversary badge entry, I got a comment that pretty much took me to
task for mentioning a Journals Anniversary feature, the J-Land
Pet Memorial Journal, but then not also highlighting Our
Beloved Angels, which is a pet loss support and pet prayer
circle blog.
I don't mind criticism. But it got me
thinking.
I get a lot of requests
to feature people's blogs, every day. Some of them are just regular
people's personal blogs, from folks who just would
like some more visitors.
However, some of
the requests come from folks blogging for a particular cause, agenda or
issue.
There are a lot of causes
out there.
Some are good; others... not so much. I
try not to judge the individual merits of someone's cause, though
I will say that having a clean, coherent, legible, literate and currently-updated
blog will go a long way (and not just with
me).
Causes that folks are passionate about come
from all over the map; some are for special events, like 9/11
Victim Memorial Bloggers. Others are for ongoing efforts,
like reform
of the San Diego Juvenile Justice
System.
There are Prayer
Rings.
There are also people fighting
persecution, solicitations for charities, seekers of missing children,
victims of crime, conspiracy theorists, political crusaders from across
the spectrum, proselytizers for religions big and small, advocates for
every disease and medical condition you could ever think of, and people
laboring against injustice of every stripe.
(We're
all doomed, by the way.)
Oh, and
petitions. Don't forget
petitions.
Now, please don't get me wrong: I'm not
trying to dismiss people, or the causes they're passionate about. And
I'm not trying to paint people with the same brush. People are also
looking for all sorts of different things when they send me their blog
to look at. Some are just looking for a few extra
eyeballs; other folks are convinced that if they get their
cause out in front of enough people, things will snowball, public
opinion will be mobilized, and wonderful things will
happen.
As a programming person, Lord knows that
I've seen (and I admit it, pitched) more than a few projects -- some of
dubious worth -- that we very earnestly felt would take off if we
just got it in front of a few million people on the
Welcome Screen or something.
The cool thing about
all this Web 2.0 and social media noise is that it isn't all about
using a shotgun, mass audience approach to try and cover as many people
as you can, hoping you hit a fraction of a percent of interested people.
Instead, we have the opportunity, using tools like
search, tagging and, most of all,
finding like-minded people (in blogs, boards, forums
or whatever) and really engaging them to try to
build a constituency for whatever it is we're doing -- promoting a
cause, or just trying to meet a few other cool
people.
Anyway, all that's just a lot of sound and
fury, signifying nothing (or in my case, a long-winded
apologia for why I haven't put your cause blog out
in front of the world, using the awesome powers at my disposal, which,
trust me, aren't all that awesome).
I'll still be
highlighting people's blogs and Journals, and we're always working on
new ways to feature people's blogs. And I promise that if you send me a
blog to look at, I'll look at it -- after all, that's part of my job.
However, I make no guarantees after that.
Just
please keep in mind that, just like there are a lot of sets of eyeballs
out there, there's a lot of content and causes out there, too.
(Heck, maybe we take one day a week and just bundle up the random "promote my blog" requests and put them out there, with
no guarantees of anything. The problem with that, though, is that the value of doing it could get diluted awful quick.)
Fortunately, there are a lot of different methods
to get your message out, too, and most of them don't depend on some
knuckle-dragging, stick-in-the-mud information gatekeeper like
me.
Thanks --
Joe
Anniversary badge entry, I got a comment that pretty much took me to
task for mentioning a Journals Anniversary feature, the J-Land
Pet Memorial Journal, but then not also highlighting Our
Beloved Angels, which is a pet loss support and pet prayer
circle blog.
I don't mind criticism. But it got me
thinking.
I get a lot of requests
to feature people's blogs, every day. Some of them are just regular
people's personal blogs, from folks who just would
like some more visitors.
However, some of
the requests come from folks blogging for a particular cause, agenda or
issue.
There are a lot of causes
out there.
Some are good; others... not so much. I
try not to judge the individual merits of someone's cause, though
I will say that having a clean, coherent, legible, literate and currently-updated
blog will go a long way (and not just with
me).
Causes that folks are passionate about come
from all over the map; some are for special events, like 9/11
Victim Memorial Bloggers. Others are for ongoing efforts,
like reform
of the San Diego Juvenile Justice
System.
There are Prayer
Rings.
There are also people fighting
persecution, solicitations for charities, seekers of missing children,
victims of crime, conspiracy theorists, political crusaders from across
the spectrum, proselytizers for religions big and small, advocates for
every disease and medical condition you could ever think of, and people
laboring against injustice of every stripe.
(We're
all doomed, by the way.)
Oh, and
petitions. Don't forget
petitions.
Now, please don't get me wrong: I'm not
trying to dismiss people, or the causes they're passionate about. And
I'm not trying to paint people with the same brush. People are also
looking for all sorts of different things when they send me their blog
to look at. Some are just looking for a few extra
eyeballs; other folks are convinced that if they get their
cause out in front of enough people, things will snowball, public
opinion will be mobilized, and wonderful things will
happen.
As a programming person, Lord knows that
I've seen (and I admit it, pitched) more than a few projects -- some of
dubious worth -- that we very earnestly felt would take off if we
just got it in front of a few million people on the
Welcome Screen or something.
The cool thing about
all this Web 2.0 and social media noise is that it isn't all about
using a shotgun, mass audience approach to try and cover as many people
as you can, hoping you hit a fraction of a percent of interested people.
Instead, we have the opportunity, using tools like
search, tagging and, most of all,
finding like-minded people (in blogs, boards, forums
or whatever) and really engaging them to try to
build a constituency for whatever it is we're doing -- promoting a
cause, or just trying to meet a few other cool
people.
Anyway, all that's just a lot of sound and
fury, signifying nothing (or in my case, a long-winded
apologia for why I haven't put your cause blog out
in front of the world, using the awesome powers at my disposal, which,
trust me, aren't all that awesome).
I'll still be
highlighting people's blogs and Journals, and we're always working on
new ways to feature people's blogs. And I promise that if you send me a
blog to look at, I'll look at it -- after all, that's part of my job.
However, I make no guarantees after that.
Just
please keep in mind that, just like there are a lot of sets of eyeballs
out there, there's a lot of content and causes out there, too.
(Heck, maybe we take one day a week and just bundle up the random "promote my blog" requests and put them out there, with
no guarantees of anything. The problem with that, though, is that the value of doing it could get diluted awful quick.)
Fortunately, there are a lot of different methods
to get your message out, too, and most of them don't depend on some
knuckle-dragging, stick-in-the-mud information gatekeeper like
me.
Thanks --
Joe
Monday, August 7, 2006
Get Bloggy
Hi folks -- sorry, been catching up on a bunch of stuff from over the weekend. Here's a quick hit from Sunday -- a blog-theme (of sorts) from cartoonist Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy:
Thanks -- Joe
Tags: get fuzzy, darby conley, satchel
Thanks -- Joe
Tags: get fuzzy, darby conley, satchel
Friday, August 4, 2006
AOL Journals Three-Year Anniversary Badge
So a few folks have been pinging me lately about the upcoming AOL Journals Three-Year Anniversary. (Like I would forget.)
The official launch date for AOL Journals was August 21, 2003 (Journals went beta July 29, 2003).
As in previous years, Journalers are self-organizing around the anniversary date -- since it's really all about you guys, I try to stay out of the way, and just support what you guys do by highlighting your efforts and procuring the occasional updated AOL Journals 3-Year Anniversary badge graphic:
I published it to the AOL art servers, so you can even hotlink the image with no problem.
Here's the HTML, if you want to copy-and-paste it (make sure you're in HTML mode):
<img alt="AOL Journals 3-Year Anniversary Badge"
src="http://cdn.digitalcity.com/blogs/aol-journals-3-year-badge-154x168.gif" width=154 height=168>
Other than that, it's all in your hands.
Here's what Viviansullinwank has to say; as she notes, this is an all-inclusive celebration, so it doesn't matter if you've been Journaling for 3 years or 3 days -- join in the fun.
Onestrangecat is another one of the instigators, check out her entry.
Sugarsweet056 is working on a pet memorial page for Journalers who have lost pets over the past year.
Also, Nightmaremom has some snaggable anniversary graphics you might be interested in.
I know there are more entries that I've missed. Here's a suggestion so that everyone can find each others' anniversary postings -- tag your anniversary entries with something like AOL Journals Anniversary.
This will be the second entry in a row that I've pitched tagging, but by tagging your entries, you label them for the blog search, and clicking the tag shows you other entries that also share that tag.
To tag your entries, you can use the Tagging Beta, or just copy and paste the following code (again, making sure that you're in HTML editing mode -- the pulldown in the formatting toolbar says "HTML", instead of "Text"):
Tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/aol+journals+anniversary" rel="tag">AOL Journals Anniversary</a>
[Addendum: Note that tagging works on older entries, too -- you can tag something after you first publish it. It might not get picked up immediately, but it should still get picked up.]
Thanks, and have a great weekend everyone.
Tag: AOL Journals Anniversary
The official launch date for AOL Journals was August 21, 2003 (Journals went beta July 29, 2003).
As in previous years, Journalers are self-organizing around the anniversary date -- since it's really all about you guys, I try to stay out of the way, and just support what you guys do by highlighting your efforts and procuring the occasional updated AOL Journals 3-Year Anniversary badge graphic:
I published it to the AOL art servers, so you can even hotlink the image with no problem.
Here's the HTML, if you want to copy-and-paste it (make sure you're in HTML mode):
<img alt="AOL Journals 3-Year Anniversary Badge"
src="http://cdn.digitalcity.com/blogs/aol-journals-3-year-badge-154x168.gif" width=154 height=168>
Other than that, it's all in your hands.
Here's what Viviansullinwank has to say; as she notes, this is an all-inclusive celebration, so it doesn't matter if you've been Journaling for 3 years or 3 days -- join in the fun.
Onestrangecat is another one of the instigators, check out her entry.
Sugarsweet056 is working on a pet memorial page for Journalers who have lost pets over the past year.
Also, Nightmaremom has some snaggable anniversary graphics you might be interested in.
I know there are more entries that I've missed. Here's a suggestion so that everyone can find each others' anniversary postings -- tag your anniversary entries with something like AOL Journals Anniversary.
This will be the second entry in a row that I've pitched tagging, but by tagging your entries, you label them for the blog search, and clicking the tag shows you other entries that also share that tag.
To tag your entries, you can use the Tagging Beta, or just copy and paste the following code (again, making sure that you're in HTML editing mode -- the pulldown in the formatting toolbar says "HTML", instead of "Text"):
Tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/aol+journals+anniversary" rel="tag">AOL Journals Anniversary</a>
[Addendum: Note that tagging works on older entries, too -- you can tag something after you first publish it. It might not get picked up immediately, but it should still get picked up.]
Thanks, and have a great weekend everyone.
Tag: AOL Journals Anniversary
Blogging About and From the War in Lebanon
I haven't talked to date about how bloggers have been dealing with the war in Lebanon. Obviously, it's been a hot topic, even though in the US it seems to be competing with such important topics as Mel Gibson's meltdown, the enigmatic baby-Cruise and the heat wave (which, fortunately, seems to have bent, if not completely broken).
Anyway, the Wall Street Journal did a piece last week (picked up by other papers) on how bloggers on both sides of the conflict are blogging, not just to communicate with their countrymen and observers, but folks on the "other side."
Here are some other blog search results for "Lebanon":
Sphere (they also have featured blogs on "Middle East") | Technorati | BlogPulse
Also, the folks over at AOL UK gave me a heads up -- Dominic Nutt, British journalist and Christian Aid's Emergencies Editor, is in Lebanon and is blogging his observations in an AOL UK Journal, appropriately-titled Lebanon.
Taking what I can only call a quick, cursory look, here a small sampling of Journals that come up when you do a Journals search on Lebanon -- most are political bloggers, so I will highlight main pages, not particular entries:
* Old Hickory's Weblog - I'm not sure why, but Bruce seems to have a lock on the first page or so of search results. He's coming from the left side of things.
* Freedom's Domain - Laura comes from the right side, and she's taking a more personal angle, highlighting some of the debates and responses she gets in other forums.
* Martellazos - John lives in Miami; not surprisingly his latest entry is about Castro, though he's got a running tally on the Middle East conflict, mixed in with Stargate commentary and updates on his washer-dryer.
* THE NEWS JUNKIE'S VOICE - Jofarr9's entries about the conflict have an eye towards commenting on the media's coverage of events.
Again, this is just a sampling of political Journalers.
If you're looking for like-minded readers or potential debating partners, consider tagging your entries with the relevant descriptive label or "tag." Using tags does two things:
1. It labels your entry so that it can get picked up by different blog searches.
2. It acts as a link to that particular blog search (in this case, Technorati), so that you can see what other blog entries share that tag.
Thanks -- Joe
Anyway, the Wall Street Journal did a piece last week (picked up by other papers) on how bloggers on both sides of the conflict are blogging, not just to communicate with their countrymen and observers, but folks on the "other side."
Here are some other blog search results for "Lebanon":
Sphere (they also have featured blogs on "Middle East") | Technorati | BlogPulse
Also, the folks over at AOL UK gave me a heads up -- Dominic Nutt, British journalist and Christian Aid's Emergencies Editor, is in Lebanon and is blogging his observations in an AOL UK Journal, appropriately-titled Lebanon.
Taking what I can only call a quick, cursory look, here a small sampling of Journals that come up when you do a Journals search on Lebanon -- most are political bloggers, so I will highlight main pages, not particular entries:
* Old Hickory's Weblog - I'm not sure why, but Bruce seems to have a lock on the first page or so of search results. He's coming from the left side of things.
* Freedom's Domain - Laura comes from the right side, and she's taking a more personal angle, highlighting some of the debates and responses she gets in other forums.
* Martellazos - John lives in Miami; not surprisingly his latest entry is about Castro, though he's got a running tally on the Middle East conflict, mixed in with Stargate commentary and updates on his washer-dryer.
* THE NEWS JUNKIE'S VOICE - Jofarr9's entries about the conflict have an eye towards commenting on the media's coverage of events.
Again, this is just a sampling of political Journalers.
If you're looking for like-minded readers or potential debating partners, consider tagging your entries with the relevant descriptive label or "tag." Using tags does two things:
1. It labels your entry so that it can get picked up by different blog searches.
2. It acts as a link to that particular blog search (in this case, Technorati), so that you can see what other blog entries share that tag.
Thanks -- Joe
Followup on Some of Your New AOL Strategy/Free Plan Questions
Hi folks -- just following up on my entry yesterday about the New AOL strategy.
Some folks are having a hard time wrapping their heads around this; it's understandable, since it's a pretty different way of doing things for us (which is kind of the point), so here it is again:
Thanks -- Joe
Some folks are having a hard time wrapping their heads around this; it's understandable, since it's a pretty different way of doing things for us (which is kind of the point), so here it is again:
- If you connect to the Internet through someone else (by using cable, DSL, or another dialup provider), you can get the AOL service for free.
This is the same AOL service that you already know. Same software. Same storage. Same screen name. Same Journals.
You can keep using the AOL client software; if you use AOL.com for some stuff (like Webmail), you can do that; if you use both the AOL software and AOL.com, you can do that, too. Basically, you can keep doing what you're already doing.
The only things that aren't included are things that are already premium services (like say, AOL Call Alert) -- also, 24/7 live customer help is not included (this includes telephone, e-mail and live chat support -- if you switch to the free plan, you won't get live help, though you can still get the help docs at help.aol.com).
For current members, think of it this way: Take everything you do today with AOL. Subtract the bill and live help. That's what the new free plan is. - This is new since yesterday -- because you demanded it, you can now change your plan online -- you don't have to do it via phone. Just can go to Keyword: Change Plan (AOL in-client link only); you'll see a screen that looks like this:
Keyword: Change Plan (AOL in-client link only) - Journaler Joseph Manna, who just happens to work in Member Services, has a few good entries of his own talking about what this all means (he's the guy who told me about the Change Plan keyword), including what other plans are available (there's an unlimited dialup+live help plan for $9.95, and a low-usage plan for $4.95 [you have to talk to Billing for the low-usage plan]), etc.
Check out his blog, Happenings.
(That means go bug him.) - Update: UK Journaler Pharmolo (of Northern Trip) and CA Journaler (that's Canada, not California) Plittle (of Aurora Walking Vacation) remind me to remind you that all this stuff about the New AOL and the free plan only applies currently to US AOL folks. I am not sure what the plan is for International, since those are all separate businesses. Apologies for being unclear -- it's my nationalist point of view talking.
Thanks -- Joe
Thursday, August 3, 2006
About the New AOL Strategy & Journals
Hi folks -- well, it's been all over the news; you should have gotten an e-mail from AOL CEO Jon Miller; and AOL Audience group president Ted Leonsis just blogged about it, so I thought I would say a few words about the New AOL strategy.
Since my track record shows that I've been wrong at least as often as I've been right on these sorts of business/strategy things, I will restrict myself to talking about how it affects you, the Journals user.
Short answer: It shouldn't affect your Journals at all.
In a nutshell -- if you have already have Internet connectivity (either broadband, like cable, DSL or satellite, or dialup via another provider), you can switch to the free AOL plan, which pretty much gets you everything except 24/7 phone customer support. [Update, 8/4: Clarification -- with the free plan, you won't get 24/7 live customer support -- that means phone, e-mail, and chat help. You can still access the help documents at help.aol.com, but if you want access to live help, you will probably want one of the paid plans.]
This means that you can keep using the AOL client software; you'll keep your existing Screen Names, and you'll keep your stored data like Favorite Places, AOL Pictures, Mail, and of course, AOL Journals.
If you want to switch to the free plan, you just have to call Member Services and request this.
I'm not really qualified to talk about the specifics of the plan, the broader implications of the New AOL strategy (see Ted's thoughts on the strategy), or pretty much anything else, so if you have questions, check out the New AOL Strategy Frequently Asked Questions Page, and call Member Services if you're interested in switching to the free plan.
I am fairly certain that you won't be subject to an endless Member Retention pitch when you try to switch to the free plan.
Thanks -- Joe
Since my track record shows that I've been wrong at least as often as I've been right on these sorts of business/strategy things, I will restrict myself to talking about how it affects you, the Journals user.
Short answer: It shouldn't affect your Journals at all.
In a nutshell -- if you have already have Internet connectivity (either broadband, like cable, DSL or satellite, or dialup via another provider), you can switch to the free AOL plan, which pretty much gets you everything except 24/7 phone customer support. [Update, 8/4: Clarification -- with the free plan, you won't get 24/7 live customer support -- that means phone, e-mail, and chat help. You can still access the help documents at help.aol.com, but if you want access to live help, you will probably want one of the paid plans.]
This means that you can keep using the AOL client software; you'll keep your existing Screen Names, and you'll keep your stored data like Favorite Places, AOL Pictures, Mail, and of course, AOL Journals.
If you want to switch to the free plan, you just have to call Member Services and request this.
I'm not really qualified to talk about the specifics of the plan, the broader implications of the New AOL strategy (see Ted's thoughts on the strategy), or pretty much anything else, so if you have questions, check out the New AOL Strategy Frequently Asked Questions Page, and call Member Services if you're interested in switching to the free plan.
I am fairly certain that you won't be subject to an endless Member Retention pitch when you try to switch to the free plan.
Thanks -- Joe
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