I just love Netvibes more each day!

I really do! This is a great feature were I am able to reply to comments made on my blog without having to hunt through my blog. I just work down the list on the left and it opens the page right at the precise comment section I need! Fantastic!

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How to boost traffic to your blog - Internet Writing & Blogging - Helium - by Paul Dice

Finally I have managed to find sometime to write a new article for the Helium site.
This article came about by reading a comment left on The reality of working from home - Self-Employment - Helium - by Pablothehat from bluebeaverbeer on the Bloggingzoom site.
I love that sort of small suggestion which can lead to an act of creativity. They always seem to be the best. Thanks bluebeaverbeer !



How to boost traffic to your blog - Internet Writing & Blogging - Helium - by Paul Dice

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For Bloggers, By Bloggers: Blogging Zoom | Fresh Geeks - Stay Fresh with the Internet, Tech, and Blogging

To compliment my take on Bloggingzoom, Fresh Geeks have produced a most excellent article on Bloggingzoom's site. Read it and weep if you have not signed up to this.


For Bloggers, By Bloggers: Blogging Zoom | Fresh Geeks - Stay Fresh with the Internet, Tech, and Blogging

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Al Jazeera English - News - Saudi Defends Rape Victim Verdict

Surely religion and state exist to serve the people, not the other way round?


Al Jazeera English - News - Saudi Defends Rape Victim Verdict


BBC emails on the Saudi Rape Case

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It's 4 in the morning and once more the dawnin' has woke up the wanting...

Well it is 4 am and I am wide-awake (again!) My erratic sleeping pattern has haunted me, and those I have lived with, for years.

Even as I small child I would wake up very early and sneak downstairs and play with my toys or get my bike out of the shed and ride round and round my grandmothers backyard until someone woke up and called me in for breakfast.

Now, as a 'grown-up' I get up and switch on the PC and check my visitor stats to see who has had a look at The Tao of Blog and send them a thank you if I have their contact details and drop by their blogs.

If I am still too sleepy to complete anything constructive, I will just settle down with a cup of tea and do some mindless clicking on the two traffic exchange sites I am experimenting.

I still have mixed feelings about using them. On the one hand it can be quite interesting to see where in the world some of my fellow mouse abusers live, (or in my case mouse pen abuser), but on the other hand, is it just a waste of time and energy?

Most of the members from these exchanges don't hang about on The Tao of Blog for long. Like me, I guess they are generally they are too busy trying to amount a pile of credits to have the time or the inclination to delve deeper into the site, but a few do, and that is what give a sense of satisfaction. I could say that it is because of the interesting content, but in reality, they maybe just bored and need a break from clicking, or are distracted from the pc and just leave the window open for a few hours without reading any of it. The visitor stats cannot tell you these things.

When I need a break from all this mindless ad watching, with endless repeats of the same ad on both networks, I catch up with a few of the many blogs I enjoy reading, like the latest from Gina over at Preposterous Ponderings via my feeder on Netvibes. Then over to David Byrne’s Journal to get his latest take on New York and to Don William’s My 2 Cents for the Day to see if he has managed to kick his 'Mac Habit.'

I guess nothing has changed really, 'cept I no longer have a bike and yard to ride around in, just the vastness of cyberspace.

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What is Cyberbullying? - Guest Authors - Internet Safety-For Our Children's Sake

I dropped round Rose DesRocsher site this morning and she had put a link to an article on Cyber-bullying written by her son.

If you have looked though the Tao of Blog you will know that this one subject which I have a personal vested interest, having had to not only deal with a cyber attack but the process which surrounds reporting such an attack to the police.

I do not know the age of the author but he has produced a very well researched and written article on a subject which concerns anyone who uses the Internet, particularly if one uses social networking sites or Instant Messenger networks.


What is Cyberbullying? - Guest Authors - Internet Safety-For Our Children's Sake

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Why I Failed To Make Money Online Blogging: A must read article for novice bloggers

I really wished I had come across this posting a few months ago..I would have took that crappy job I was offered.

This is a really great post, with lots for the novice blogger to think about and apply!

Why I Failed To Make Money Online Blogging

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Spam, Spam, spam,spam

When I was doing the usually sort through of my email accounts with Mailwasher earlier this morning I came across this email.

My first thoughts were, 'Who's? Yours or mine?'



Flipping spam!!

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The El- Meme Effect

The El- Meme Effect

I don’t really go for these chain letter type things. Either the bin or delete in my world.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Divinyl for roping me into this whole affair. May your stylus go blunt and your LP’s get those awful folds over edges on the inner sleeve.

8 things I am passionate about:
Like DV, all aspects of music, but particularly having a good jam with some great musos.
(The Hat is off to Paul Dowler aka Elv, Paul C for the healing, Johnny Fingers and Beryl, Just play the fucking note!! That note! Just play the fucking note!
Gary Potter, you are far too talented for me mate!
Rodders!!! And even my Ex-wife, you were a great singer and guitarist girl!)

Sci-Fi Films. I remember going to the cinema by my aunt to see loads of sci-fi films when I was a kid, no more than 10. Thanks Av, you are a star! You started my life long love affair with Sci-fi.
The company of intelligent people who work with enlightened self and community interest.
Reading widely.
Writing.
The Truth.
Justice.
(I would also like to work tirelessly to end world hunger and single-handedly stop the deforestation of the planet.)

8 things I want to do before I die:
Keep breathing,
Become a better writer and to earn my way through life from it.
Avoid ending up as a washed out opium addict, shanghaied and sold in to servitude.
To find where I truly belong.
End my life as a Temple Ball roller in Nepal, the hours are bad but you get to lick your hands.
To finish the Course in Miracles.
To remember who I was before I was born.
To die without fear.

I liked Divinyl’s suggestion and will take the liberty of using that.
8 experiences that have changed the way I view the world:
Walking passed the body of my dead dog on my way to school when I was 7.
Surviving several road traffic accidents.
Losing my mind on my 25th birthday.
Finding my mind 3 years later.
Getting married. (see losing my mind again)
Getting through 3 miscarriages.
Getting divorced.
Helping my friend seek justice after she had been gang raped.

8 songs I can listen to over and over again:
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Bee’s Wing – Richard Thompson
Anything – Moody Blues
Underwater Love – Smoke City
Off shore – Chicane
Weather the Storm – Massive Attack
Gimme a Pigfoot – Bessie Smith
Wild Billy's Circus Story - Bruce Springsteen

8 things that attract me to my friends:
Difficult this as I don’t really have many old friends that I stay in contact with much but I guess….
A well developed sense of humour.
That the passing of time and the distance between us does not diminish the acceptance of each other.
They are able to separate truth from illusion and know the difference.
That they understand that I will drop them at any time should they contravene any of my principals regardless of how genuine, honest, trustworthy or funny they would like to project themselves.
That they know that I will never lend them money.
That they don’t have to be very intelligent, just malleable
They can be as quirky and individualistic as they like as long as they are not self-obsessed.
That they would fucking answer their email!

Tag a further 3 people mmmm unless I pick someone at random…He! he! he!?

Ok so the folks from MyBlogLog I nominate, are………….. (Drum roll)
Emmy, labyrinth_sofia and House…...

‘Never will I do this again’… (Neil Armstrong)

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Nice to get feedback...Ring! ring! Wonder if is that my agent on the phone?

It is great to get some feedback from our readers.
Working with Children

Yes, yes I know ..the meme..it is in progress!!!

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Any blogging advantages in joining Traffic Exchange sites?

Sorry that I have been neglecting my post for a few days, went a bit absent without leave!

Actually I have been exploring if there are any blogging advantages in joining Traffic Exchange sites in an attempt to get more visitors to my blog.

This has had some mixed results. The first few days were going quite well. I had increased my visitor count and heck, some of you were even sticking around to read this crap.

The last few days though is a different story.. yesterday and today seems to be my worst day for visitors since I started, mmmmm? Is there a connection? Or is it just Turkey Bloat?

That question is relevant on several levels.

By joining these sites in the hope that you may draw new readers and hopefully subscribers, is very time consuming, but the first few days is spent looking round the site, trying to understand the small print. (Thank FireFox for zoom!!)

The first Traffic Exchange I joined was sometime ago with Bravenet.



Bravenet provide you with a piece of code which you insert into you site. This enables Bravenet to send a pop-under window , which is similar to a pop-up window, except rather than being on top, it opens a window below the current one, of another member's web page. Likewise, your web page is sent to someone' else when they open theirs.

It tends to be a very passive type of advertising, generally you hardly notice them there and this leads to speculation of their efficacy.

The only other problems I have encountered have been when poorly coded sites grab your processor time, but this is easily remedied by closing the window. The other problem I have encountered is with their website not allowing me to log in recently. It seems to be having problems with cookies and not being to access my account without a bit of a struggle. As this is a recent development I need to look at and sort.

Apart from those areas, the amount of traffic from Bravenet has been rather steady, if not many, though the level of active involvement with this exchange is minimal, apart when one has to close a troublesome site.

Bravenet also offer several other services such as free web hosting, widget and blogging resources, ftp, affiliate programs and money earning opportunities which I will explore in the coming months.
Along with splitting the Atom, building box girder bridges...nod to Monty Python.

(The Sands of Time eh?..A painful reminder of the brevity of it all in the Japs Eye of Life, no offence meant.)

The second Traffic Exchange I signed up with I briefly reviewed in an earlier post, is TS25 or it's full title of Traffic Syndication 25.




This site is a lot more demanding of your actual time. Once signed up you are give a selection of websites to view with an exchange rate between you and those who see your website or blog.

A very basic outline of how it works.
For viewing blog and web pages on a 15 second timer, you earn credits which can be bought, sold or exchanged for more traffic to your site.

There is a community and affiliate side to Traffic Syndicate 25 as there is to Bravenet and nearly all of the others that I have viewed.

To be honest, it can be totally boring. Most of these ads are for other sites offering all similar services, increase traffic, or amazing health drink promotions to the latest in how to earn a billion by having a cheap and tacky website. blah, blah, blah, blah...
Occasionally an interesting site does come up and you are able to bookmark these in your profile.

I spent a whole two days just about clicking from one site to another, bit like Sky really, and I managed to earn nearly 2000 points, and gaining a star rating, but talk about tedium.
Anyway by the end of the second day my partner exploded. 'You have been sitting on your arse for two days for what exactly?..'

Trying to explain the concept to my partner that points make whatever, did little to appease this neglected Tyrant who demands constant worship.
I had to confess that when trying to convince her, I was starting to have my own doubts.
Can this sort of approach actually yield any any meaningful blogger/visitor relationship?

(Though will I still be living here tomorrow if she doesn't calm down should be my more immediate concern!!)

Despite the hell hath no fury thing, I joined another site, EasyHits4u, which is similar to the TS25 site.



I haven't used this much as yet, nor have I explored this site thoroughly busy sacrificing a few doves on pain of banishment, you know, that sort of thing.
I will keep you all posted on my adventures in Traffic Exchange and my relationship developments.

Hits from Bravenet and Ts25


Absolutely dreadful hits that day!

But this one restored my faith.....



and I do like to know what sort of people have been looking at my blog. Glad to see I am getting a fan base from all sectors of society. Covert? I think not! Moonlighting? LOL

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Blogging Zoom Zooming | Internet Marketing | Strategy & Services

I have just taken a look at Courtney Tuttle's recent posting regarding Bloggingzoom's meteoric rise in popularity.

(Now there's a phrase which defies actuality. Meteors, in their natural habitat of space never rise or fall, no up or down in space.

You may get away with over there and over here, but never up or down.

The only time we humans generally encounter meteors is usually in the down phase by entering the atmosphere. As far as I am aware, no human has ever seen one leave the planet.)

Anyway I digress. (It's my blog and I'll digress if I want to!)

It seems that Bloggingzoom is just what the blogger ordered, even outstripping Courtney's own site!
Blogging Zoom Zooming | Internet Marketing | Strategy & Services

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Paul Dice: Helium – Where Knowledge Rules

Paul Dice: Helium – Where Knowledge Rules

Helium recently sent me an email asking if I would consider changing my pen name to something a bit more professional.
At first, I was taken aback. What is wrong with Pablothehat? It is me, my cyber me, it's..

An over attachment to a mental construct which has served its purpose..Yes.

Had I actually been too attached to this persona? Was it time that the child put away childish things?

So, after deciding that it would probably be, for my future writing opportunities, the more logical thing to do, change the old Moniker for something approaching a name more suited.

This was more difficult than I thought. Should I go for taking up one of my Irish or Scottish ancestors names? Should I try combining the two? Should I consider the great writers or thinkers of our world, and look for inspiration amongst those illustrious people?

I was starting to feel like an expectant parent, trying to find a favourable magical name to give their offspring. To endow this fragile persona, a name that will command the very stars, open all the doors and bestow riches and success upon this treasured loved one.

Finally, I decided the simpler the better.

I am not a very complicated person, and I could not have remembered anything so well constructed as to be able to hide within it, an encrypted copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So looking along the bookshelves at many of the publications that I have amassed over the years. Books that have helped me, influenced me and educated me.

Suddenly a copy of Luke Rhinehart's, The Dice Man winked at me! Seems appropriate.


Pablothehat - AKA - Paul Dice.

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AtomFilms: D.R.A.F.T.

I love animation, have done since I was a kid. Even tried my hand at a bit years ago on my old Atari system, hours of fun and head scratching.
As I have got older I have developed a better appreciation of all the aspects which go into producing this irreverent artform.

This was the first thing I watched on Atom Films, and it still has tears coming from my eyes.


AtomFilms: D.R.A.F.T.

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B-52 Nukes Headed for Iran: Air Force refused to fly weapons to Middle East theater

If there is one thing that I can be accused of is that I am a natural cynic, particularly when it comes to those who class themselves as leader, movers and shakers.

My friend is also a cynic, and he kindly sent me this little snippet, not really explored in the mainstream media to any great depth, which could lead me on to a whole new level of cynicism.

(See! That's why I don't have Sky!)

Best we look to those learned people who have seen, experienced and commentated up the concepts of leadership, power and ego for some insight.

'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Lord Acton, Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887

'It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. ' David Brin (1950 - )


One of my favorite piccies. Haven't come across a good one of Tony yet, but I have this one of Gordy in his last job, facing difficult decisions which effects the well being of many.





B-52 Nukes Headed for Iran: Air Force refused to fly weapons to Middle East theater

We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom. Stephen Vincent Benet (1898 - 1943), Litany for Dictatorships, 1935

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Traffic Syndicate 25

Me, well I am just a sucker for a marketing tool with great legs!
It seems to work like exchange students. You sign up and look at their members websites and they syndicate yours.
Seems a nice, simple arrangement.

(Taken from their website)

How does it work?
ts25 is a unique traffic generating system built on a solid foundation of nearly 100,000 members worldwide. When you register for your FREE ts25 account, you will immediately be able to tap into this enormous and rapidly growing group of potential customers that are waiting to see what you have to offer. And by simply checking out what our other members have to offer, we will give your website all this exposure absolutely FREE. Plus, if you really want to get a lot of exposure to your website in a hurry, then we have some great deals on traffic. Getting traffic to your website has never been this easy!

(Well, we will see!)

Traffic Syndicate 25

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Change the channel! This is boring!!

Yep it is always the same. You decide to take a break from slogging a dead blog. Just want to relax and chill for a bit. ...Mmmm? Wonder whats on the net to watch?

So I start my other virtual PC..my media one...boots up..start a couple of copies of Winamp...

Oh no! What a dilemma!!!

The Man in the Iron Mask or Daffy Duck! The Man in the Iron Mask or Daffy Duck!

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Hand Build Hedgehog Scratching Gingerbread Sheep from Flour...

So I am sat in front of the PC, it's doing the usual, defragmenting one hard drive, virus checking another, uploading a picture file to Blogger...so what do I do with the spare bit of processor power ?.............


isnoop.net's fridge 3.0. Play with my magnetic words.

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Adopt an animal with WWF

Well I could try and write a diatribe about how to support this is a worthwhile endeavour, that because we are a sentient life form which is able to think outside of it's own existence and consider the plight of other lifeforms and how natural and human activities causes changes in environmental factors, threatening the existence of all life on this planet.

But I won't. Just do what you can.


Adopt an animal with WWF

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At Last I'm Free

I came across this site whilst responding to someone visiting my site today.

If I can, I do like to thank those who have taken the time and trouble to visit my blog, it just seems right.

I know of course, that as my vast internet empire expands, I will employ thousands of minions to do that for me. Now, while it is still small enough to be totally hands on, it is a privilege and a pleasure to acknowledge the effort and interest of my fellow blogrine.

Anyway.. This site ..

What struck me about this site was not the mutual backslapping to gain visitors, or the sites dazzling array of useful tips or spells which would magically open the hidden dwarf doors of Blogmoria, it was the naive honesty of the writer to reveal all of their current, if meagre earnings from their net endeavours, and to express it with an air of optimistic, infectious enthusiasm as regarding the future of their blogging ambitions, which I found to be both inspiring and strikingly familiar.

So.. thanks Forest. :-D


At Last I'm Free

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Socialstream

Socialstream

If you read my previous article on how I use Netvibes to bring all of my profiles under a Unified Home Page, well this is an article on a similar theme called Socialstream which is a Google-sponsored project Master's program at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute where they are looking also towards Social Networking Unification.

(Maybe I could get a grant!! LOL)



(Taken from the Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute's website)

This project was guided by three goals that built upon each other:

Initial Task: Rethink and reinvent online social networking

Refined Focus: Discover the user needs related to social networking and explore how a unified social network service can enhance their experience.

Prototype Goal: Create a system for users to seamlessly share, view, and respond to many types of social content across multiple networks.

Directed to help improve the online community orkut, the project's scope was not to simply redesign the interface. Our team considered how online social networking could bring greater value to users, especially for ages above twenty. After initial brainstorming and research, we chose to focus on the effects of a new model for online social networking: a unified social network that, as a service, provides social data to many other applications. Our user research examined needs related to online as well as offline social networking and considered how they related to a unified social network service model. Through this user research we identified a set of archetypes that represent common behavior patterns that existed across multiple study participants and also formulated a summarized list of their high level needs.

I will keep an eye on developments for a follow up.

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BloggingZoom / User / Pablothehat / Submitted

Well I spent quite a bit of time on the BloggingZoom site this morning, setting up links to my Helium posting as they are sadly lacking in readership, and without readers, how do we know we are progressing as writers?
I really love this site, I love the idea, I love the layout, I love it's simple, uncluttered interface.

If you haven't signed up yet it is because you are in a coma.




BloggingZoom / User / Pablothehat / Submitted

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BloggingZoom / Upcoming

One thing that I really enjoy and that is how helpful and community minded many of the people I have met on the net. I like to visit as often as I can, those sites I have reviewed earlier in The Tao, and one of these by Grizzly I visited this morning.

He was reviewing a social networking site Blogging Zoom which is set up for bloggers to bring more traffic, created by two more internet guru's (don't you just hate cliques!) I had not yet encountered, Courtney Tuttle, and Vic Franqui.

Apparently this social networking site is more geared to us 'Little Bloggers of the Lower Shire', those of us who are trying to gain a tentative, hairy, bare-foot hold on the Steep Winding Stair of Darkest Blogmoria.

By joining and submit your blog or article posting to Blogging Zoom along with a short description of what the item is about. It is then cast, like bread on the waters (pearl's before ..poof...go away little demon! ) to be voted on by other users.

This will hopefully start a community of bloggers who are all helping and supporting each other.



The creators site.



See your postings get listed where they can be voted upon by our peers...

You can monitor your posts progress in real time!


Once I signed up and had my first couple of posts up and running on BloggingZoom, I included it on my Netvibes page, where is mashed in quite easily.

As part of the incentive for spreading the word around about BloggingZoom if you create an article about Blogging Zoom and publish it on your site you will get a link from his Alexa ranked/ PR3 site.

Quality links are our life blood.

Check this out, this is a great idea and just might work if we all support each other.

By the way, did I mention that it is free? No? Well just shows how enthused I was!!!

Yes, there is no fee for this service, which sorta restores one's faith in your fellow human..for five minutes anyway!!



BloggingZoom / Upcoming

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Managing all those Social Networks getting like hard work?

It is hard work all of this socialising. When you are paying attention to one, you are negleting another, ( at least that's how my partner feels!!)

Keeping on top of all those profiles in these different social networks and blog directories like facebook, myspace, blogcatalog, bloggertalk, mashable, technorati, zimbio, linkedin, xing, bebo, orkut, flickr, bravenet, decayenne, friendster, hi5, studivz, mybloglog, plazes, asmallworld .......is a lengthy, time consuming exercise if you solely rely on techniques as bookmarks.

I have found by using the Web 2.0 facility Netvibes you can bring all your feeds, your logging profiles and web pages to your own personalised home page!

See the screen shots below.

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Miroland's Audio & Video Blog

Could this be the Holy Grail of Web 2.0 of which I seek?

If not that well it certainly seem the one stop shop for all you blogging questions.

Teodor Miroslav Muntean hails from Romainia where he has been involved with business consulting since the early nineties with experience in small business consultancy, writing and publishing, targeted traffic strategies, article marketing social networking, Web 2.0. He terms himself as ' a Coachable Coach and Netpreneur', though I am not too sure what that means?

His site seem packed with streamed video from renowned experts in the field such as Tim O'Reilly (who?) and explanations to the concepts of Web 2.0 and Social Networking.

Now, if I can just stop blogging long enough to actually learn something.......


Miroland's Audio & Video Blog

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1984 - Chapter 1 - George Orwell - Read Print

'Now children, please take out you reading material and commence reading from chapter one...'

No, I don't think George Orwell's, one of Britain' finest authors and prophets of social change, 1984 is going to find itself on the National Curriculum soon...don't want the natives restless what?

Now this is a good site, all those works of Literature that do not need shelf space or dusting can now be yours!!


1984 - Chapter 1 - George Orwell - Read Print

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MY 2 Cents 4 the DAY

Are you an Apple Mac user?

Are you one of those social climbing trendy types who bought a Mac because

a) It was refreshingly expensive and thereby reflected your social standing at the time?

b) You wanted to look down on the plebeians next door who are Windows cripples?

Are you now finding that you end up talking to yourself because;

a) No one around you has the same hardware as you and

b) You have developed a groove in your forehead from the amount of times it has hit the keyboard?

Fear not My Mac-owning Mate!

Here is a site ran by a professional.. a photographer who purchased a Mac because he knew it was the best tool for the job.

(Construct a sentence from the following: Cat, pigeons, set, the, amongst, the)


MY 2 Cents 4 the DAY

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Rose DesRochers - World Outside my Window

I felt very honoured today that my blog was visited by Rose DesRochers, the founder of Blogger Talk Blogging Forum and the Today's Woman Writing Community.

Ms DesRochers is an established writer with a 20 year pedigree in published poetry and a freelance writing.

Her site is very clean, uncluttered, (as in contrast to my own LOL. Mmmm... a make over in the near future I think, then one for the site while I am at it! LOL.)

She blends her postings with as varied subjects as blogging tips, Meme, adding flavicon to your site, adding tag clouds, to Manties, which are apparently panties made just for men...to lead in lipstick.

(And no, that is not an open invitation to make some remark about my taste in dress sense Gina LOL.)

Her style of writing is as easy as a conversation with an old friend and she coveys information without any unnecessary verbiage, a skill which often alludes me.

An informative and approachable site.




Rose DesRochers - World Outside my Window

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How to Make Money Online for Beginners

As you all know, I am constantly looking out for interesting or useful websites and blogs that might help us to get to grips with this 'Black Art' of trying to earn some cash from the net.
This is one that was recommended via the MyLot site.
It seems well designed and concise in its construction and the advice it gives is well geared towards the novice blogger. (That would be me then!)


How to Make Money Online for Beginners

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