Daily Tech Bits

Weekend Reads 13 June 2008

It’s almost the weekend, so I thought I’d share some of the interesting posts I’ve read this week. The first is a post from a Guardian UK blog on the Future of Journalism. It looks at how microblogging can be used in this way. Once again, the question of citizen journalism is under discussion, with Twitter as the main means of ‘demystifying journalism’. I don’t know that I agree with the article, but it raised some interesting points.

It occurred to me that Twitter is often included in discussion about the changing news process, and there have been many discussions online about how to use Twitter as a reporting tool. But while Twitter has huge potential for publishers, it is, at its core, a communication tool. It’s like round looking at a phone, trying to plan some editorial that uses the phone - when actually the thing to do is just to use it to talk to people.

Next up is Darren Rowse’s analysis of the differences between Plurk and Twitter. It’s all about how conversations happen, and he illustrates with some screenshots of responses to the same question on both services.

The other thing that I like about Plurk is that conversations are contained and don’t get as mixed up as they do on Twitter.

I have to agree that following conversations is easier on Plurk.

Finally, as the browser wars hot up again, Lifehacker has done a speed test comparing the latest release candidates for Firefox and Opera with Safari and IE7. IE7 takes no prizes, but the other browsers each win in one category. Happy reading.

Blogging Tools

If you’re less effective than you could be as a blogger, maybe you need some new tools to streamline your processes and leave room for the blogging mojo to flow. A good place to start is with Lifehacker’s list of top ten tools to get blogging done.

Lots of these are Firefox add ons, though there are some stand alone ones as well. My favorite, thought it’s at the bottom of Lifehacker’s list is Autocopy, a Firefox extension that automatically copies highlighted text to the clip board. Check out the full list.

Weeding Out The Scrapers

If you’ve had your own blog for a while, then you’ve probably come across the scrapers. These are the people who steal your content (in whole or in part) without even the courtesy of acknowledging the source.  They put your content on their blogs so they can make money with Adsense or their advertising of choice. Meanwhile, there’s not much you can do about it. Or is there?

Actually, there is, and this rant from my friend Jen on the Domestik Goddess blog tells you how. If this seems a strange place to find this info, rest assured that Jen harbors a not so secret geek inside her and knows what she’s talking about. Here’s how she sees the situation, using the analogy of an artist going into a gallery:

One day, you waltz yourself into a brand-new gallery with a brand-new original collage under your arm, full of optimism, chin held high. You’re sure that today’s the day you’ll break through into the big-time art world… but shock! The gallery walls are already covered, top to bottom, with perfect copies of your original work!

Needless to say, you don’t have to take this lying down.  Jen shows you how to fight back in Pond Scum Scrapers: No More Ms Nice Blogger.

Someone To Watch Your Words

You may not mind much on your own blog, but what if you are doing a guest post for a blog that will get lots of attention? You want to make sure that your blog post looks its best, and is not only chock full of stellar content, but completely error-free.  Now there’s a way.

Lindsay Stordahl is editor in chief of Quick Post Edit, a service that offers a 24 hour turnaround on proofreading and editing your posts. Grammar, sentence structure and punctuation are all fixed by the team of editors. This service happens online. You upload your file and get your corrected blog post back within a day.

Of course, this service isn’t free, but paying $2 for this service probably won’t break the bank. That’s the rate for checking a 500 word post, with slight increases for longer posts. If you have a rush job, then you can pay a bit extra to go to the head of the queue. It’s probably better than ending up with egg on your face. (Tipioff from Entrecard.)