Next Generation Search
Saturday, January 26, 2008
For me it has been a ritual to look up every new contact and acquaintance in search engines. But basing on those results, I could hardly form my opinion about people.
Now next generation search technologies seem to be making it easier for me and all those who are interested in people.
The best place to start looking for people is Spock.com - A Great Place for Search. What makes this search engine is its focus on people. At Spock, you can easily search people by names, emails, tags and or any other attribute. You can also customised search results, add to them and make them finer over time. The search is not limited to individuals, though. You can also try and get interesting results when you search for other things like segments or categories.
Try searching 100 Most Powerful Women or African-American actor or medal of honor recipient and see what it brings up. The results are amazing. You could also try amusing and intriguing details about famous people.
One of the most interesting thing about Spock is that it allows you to make your own Manage Your Online Identity. Claim your search result so people can contact you easily. Also add relevant data to ensure that people find the right information about you. Invite people in your own Trust network and start youe own community.
Which is why Spock have won industry acclaim and awards from respected technology luminaries. Spock was also selected as Best of Show at the prestigious Web 2.0 conference and as one of PC Magazine's "Top 25 Websites to Watch" in 2007 in a very short time. Spock was launched into private beta in April 2007. Apart from there Press Page, you can find more about Spock at their interesting and information rich blog.
Now next generation search technologies seem to be making it easier for me and all those who are interested in people.
The best place to start looking for people is Spock.com - A Great Place for Search. What makes this search engine is its focus on people. At Spock, you can easily search people by names, emails, tags and or any other attribute. You can also customised search results, add to them and make them finer over time. The search is not limited to individuals, though. You can also try and get interesting results when you search for other things like segments or categories.
Try searching 100 Most Powerful Women or African-American actor or medal of honor recipient and see what it brings up. The results are amazing. You could also try amusing and intriguing details about famous people.
One of the most interesting thing about Spock is that it allows you to make your own Manage Your Online Identity. Claim your search result so people can contact you easily. Also add relevant data to ensure that people find the right information about you. Invite people in your own Trust network and start youe own community.
Which is why Spock have won industry acclaim and awards from respected technology luminaries. Spock was also selected as Best of Show at the prestigious Web 2.0 conference and as one of PC Magazine's "Top 25 Websites to Watch" in 2007 in a very short time. Spock was launched into private beta in April 2007. Apart from there Press Page, you can find more about Spock at their interesting and information rich blog.
Sponsored Post
Labels: Search
posted by Shirazi @ 1:52 PM,
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Will You Be My Friend?
Friday, January 25, 2008
{This article is written on the recomendation of and dedicated to Shama} A wise person once said that human beings are social animals. This axiom surely rings true for those who have integrated information technology into their lives and are forever online. Now, with the advent of cyber networking, the term socialisation is taking on a whole new meaning.Internet marketers say that social networking is one of the fastest growing online trends. The number of social networking sites seems to be growing daily. Nielson/NetRatings issued a study in May this year showing that the “top 10 social networking sites saw traffic grow 47 per cent over the last year, with MySpace seeing the biggest growth (367 per cent increase) and MSN Spaces (286 per cent) being second on the list. Hosted blogging systems were included in the study,” reads the report.
So how does it work? Social networking sites allow users to create free online profiles where they can display biographical information, photos, hobbies, interests, swap information, throw trolls and flames, and much more. After completing an online profile, users can connect or network with other users’ profiles. As they connect with more and more people, their network keeps expanding. By adding just a few friends to their network, users can end up being connected to thousands of other people across different cultures and societies. These networks can then be used for fun, for bringing together specific groups and arranging activities, and also for serious business networking.
The social networking trend through technology started back in 1998 when Amazon.com acquired PlanetAll. That was a pioneer site, providing the foundation of sharing contact information, basic biographies, and expanding networks through friends’ networks. This was followed by a mushrooming growth of social sites. Now social networking websites claim to have attracted millions of registered users across the globe. That is one reason marketers are looking at these sites with interest.
Like many others, I have been paying attention to social networking on three different sites — Orkut, Facebook and Gather — in the past couple of weeks. I have answered more requests to be “friends” than I ever did in the past and I have been looking at other people’s friends to see if I know anyone. I have also asked a few to join my network of friends. Who does not need more friends? In addition to this activity, I have been reading about other people’s experiences.
Orkut is still an invite-only website popular among Pakistani students and young people, in general. Facebook has been opened to common users only recently and is not yet well-known in this part of the world. Previously, Facebook was for students of educational institutions that were registered with the service. Gather is more erudite and a newer launch.
Orkut does a few things in different ways by trying to deal with different human emotions. It is faster than other similar social networking sites. Unlike most services focusing on promoting a single type of social connection, Orkut allows three aspects of users’ lives: personal, social, and professional. Killers like karma ratings, communities or flagging through “hot” and “crush” lists make it different (call it cool). Everything else is almost the same: the user interface with photo thumbnails and many other features are similar to that of Friendster and its predecessors.
Initially, only 1,200 invitation were sent out mostly to Google staffers. The rest followed through invitation by initial members. Orkut, like all social networking services, has been designed to promote a set of predetermined behavioural traits instead of enabling users to do what seems most interesting and useful to them. Email me if you still need Orkut invitation.
Facebook is another extremely popular site among students in a more connected world. Now open to everyone, Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg of Harvard University. It kept expanding to schools, colleges and universities over time. None of the Pakistani universities were on the network though.
On September 11, 2006, Facebook announced that it would officially open to all internet users, a move that was hardly met with approval by current users. Soon after, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid email address. It “is a social utility that connects you to the people around you,” reads the home page of the service. One of my online friends told me that the service now lets anyone sign up outside the listed networks. Thus, I joined.
Another comparatively recent entry in the ever-growing list of social networks is Gather. This site has combined features of weblogs and social sites. What’s more Gather members are paid for their participation with “Gather Points” or cash for most frequent contributors. Though at the moment the “Gather team is working out system to make payments to members in most countries including Pakistan,” explained a Gather staffer when I asked about payments.
“Gather is a place for you to connect with people who share your passions. It is a place where you can contribute thought, art, commentary, or inspiration,” writes Thomas Gerace, founder and CEO.
What are the reasons to flock on social networking sites, besides massaging one’s ego and reaching out to kindred spirits? Peter Kollock looked into the motivations for participating in online communities and interactive sites. In his research paper titled “The economies of online cooperation: gifts and public goods in cyberspace”, he outlined three motivations: “Anticipated reciprocity — the expectation that one will receive useful help and information in return. Indeed, there is evidence that active participants in online communities get more responses. Increased reputation — in general, individuals want recognition for their contributions. Sense of efficacy — individuals may contribute valuable information because the act results in a sense of efficacy... a sense that they have had some effect on this environment.”
Here in Pakistan, we are just beginning to get ready to jump on social networking bandwagon. User interest in social networking websites is growing with an increase in members — a great starter in a conversation that will go on for quite some time.
Where is your cyber social circle?
Tags: Social Networking, Orkut, Facebook, Gather, Friends, Life
posted by Shirazi @ 10:53 AM,
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Content is King
Content is a king on the Web. This is because most people use the Web for information. They need quality information. The more useful the content a website has the more successful it will be. Content is what drives any website. If your content can attract and hold that attention of users, you are poised to achieve your objectives.
What is a good content? Good web site content should have an appeal to the target audience. It should be original. It should be interesting and absorbing. It should be easy to assimilate and it should be able to engage the readers and possibly generate interaction.
And where from come quality contents? Who will write the web site content when everyone in the businesses is busy doing other equally important jobs?
Creating good content is professional job better done by experts in the field. Thanks to ProWebContent that they offer service to create content for you. Their experts deliver what every you need in affordable prices and in time. Their experts have experience in medical industry, real estate, lender, broker, e-commerce, online retail to name just a few. Ask the skilled writers at ProWebContent.com to write content for the web site and take your web presence to next level.
What is a good content? Good web site content should have an appeal to the target audience. It should be original. It should be interesting and absorbing. It should be easy to assimilate and it should be able to engage the readers and possibly generate interaction.
And where from come quality contents? Who will write the web site content when everyone in the businesses is busy doing other equally important jobs?
Creating good content is professional job better done by experts in the field. Thanks to ProWebContent that they offer service to create content for you. Their experts deliver what every you need in affordable prices and in time. Their experts have experience in medical industry, real estate, lender, broker, e-commerce, online retail to name just a few. Ask the skilled writers at ProWebContent.com to write content for the web site and take your web presence to next level.
posted by Shirazi @ 9:37 AM,
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Geek or What?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Labels: Geeks
posted by Shirazi @ 11:26 AM,
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Orkut
Monday, January 21, 2008
It is an online community website designed with the goal to make the social life of users more active and stimulating. Orkut's social network can help users both maintain existing relationships and establish new ones by reaching out to people they have never met before. Who they interact with is entirely up to the users.
Many people, specially younger adults, feel that their friends are the most important aspects of their life and try treating every single one of them accordingly. Orkut's "invitation only" policy creates a sense of mystery and curiosity, so that one wishes to join, without even knowing what it is. However, if you are able to manage an invitation, being on orkut is not a bad deal after all. After a bit of initial hesitation, one tries to reach out to new friends. Who does not need more friends? And you can always find some interesting people on Orkut. Some of the Internet's most prolific and influential writers share their random thoughts with the world here.
The trend of social networking through technology started back in 1998 when Amzon.com acquired PlanetAll. That was a pioneer site having basic functions such as sharing of contact information, basic biographies, and expanding networks through friends' networks. Following the phenomenon set by social networking sites Friendster, and followed by many others like Emode, Evite, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, currently Google's Orkut is pretty hot with Web surfers. Joining orkut is near the top of the wish list of many web users and netsurfers, young and old alike. Orkut gained a huge popularity boost when Google integrated this service with its own brand name. Google, it seems, possesses a Midas touch.
Google started out as a modest search engine, but since its inception has come a long way. It is undoubtedly the most popular search engine on the Web, with many features that make it efficient and unique. It also offers some useful software tools and services as well, such as Google Groups (Usenet), image search, news, answers, Froogle, Gmail, blogger, catalogs and now Orkut. Orkut was the hobbyhorse of Google's User Interface Engineer Orkut Buyukkokten (orkut.com explains this in its FAQ page in the help section, under 'how to pronounce "or-kut"?', but I wonder how one can utter the tongue twisting Buyukkokten). The story is that Orkut was a project that Buyukkokten created in that 20 percent time that Google allows its employees for personal pursuits to encourage creativity. Good idea! Earlier, there was a rumour that Google is interested in buying Friendster, like it did Blogger.com - one ofthe most populous blogging sites on the internet. But Orkut was launched instead. Maybe Google will put an icon for Orkut and Gmail each on its already popular toolbar.
Orkut does a few things in different ways by trying to deal with different human emotions. It is faster then other similar social networking sites. It is not yet crowded with users or ads. Unlike most services focusing on promoting a single type of social connection, Orkut allows three aspects of users' lives: personal, social, and professional. Killer features like karma ratings, communities or flagging through hot and crush lists make it very different (read cool). Perhaps the best thing thus far is the exclusiveness of the people in the Orkut network. Since the site is invitation only,it is still an exclusive and close-knit community where one finds "friends of smart and interesting people, well, smart and interesting." The rest is almost the same: user interface with photo thumbnails and many other features are similar to those already offered by Friendster and its predecessors.
At first only 1200 invitation were sent out, mostly to Google staffers. The rest followed through invitation by initial members. Orkut, which now counts almost 1,727,500 members, like all social networking services, has been designed to promote a set of pre-determined behaviour traits instead of enabling users to do what is most interesting and useful to them. It is sort of weird to read which of your friends are your fans. I also wonder what to do with 'friends of friends' besides spamming them. Exploring through search options one comes across many pages of people who, while writing their profile and character traits, seem to have borrowed some of the adjectives from others. Exceptions do exist, but clicheslike "friendly, unique, fun, lovable, talented, cute, crazy, sexy, honest, romantic, elegant, likeable, smart, frank" are very common. Here too one mayfind people who have registered with invented names. It is a very interesting experience to send an invitation to a friend and then find out they have already added you to their orkut network under an asumed name.
Internet users seem to get tired of things soon. Other than email, which has not changed significantly over the last three decades, there have been many activity forums (Usenets, blogs) which rapidly gained popularity and then people started losing interest in them. For now Orkut is expanding every moment. Every time you refresh your Orkut homepage the number of people you are connected to through your friends will be increased. It is only a matter of time before it goes mainstream and the network grows to a point where everyone who wants to join is already in. Those who have closely followed the evolution of Google may know that sooner or later Google will find a way to include text ads on the site in some way. Their AdSense is very efficient in that. But while the service is still invitation only and users are eager to join, it should be a good idea to make it more customizable,giving users more liberty. Communities' updates can be shown on the homepages of individual users in some effective and unobtrusive way. More buttons on the individual home page will also help.
Many people, specially younger adults, feel that their friends are the most important aspects of their life and try treating every single one of them accordingly. Orkut's "invitation only" policy creates a sense of mystery and curiosity, so that one wishes to join, without even knowing what it is. However, if you are able to manage an invitation, being on orkut is not a bad deal after all. After a bit of initial hesitation, one tries to reach out to new friends. Who does not need more friends? And you can always find some interesting people on Orkut. Some of the Internet's most prolific and influential writers share their random thoughts with the world here.
The trend of social networking through technology started back in 1998 when Amzon.com acquired PlanetAll. That was a pioneer site having basic functions such as sharing of contact information, basic biographies, and expanding networks through friends' networks. Following the phenomenon set by social networking sites Friendster, and followed by many others like Emode, Evite, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, currently Google's Orkut is pretty hot with Web surfers. Joining orkut is near the top of the wish list of many web users and netsurfers, young and old alike. Orkut gained a huge popularity boost when Google integrated this service with its own brand name. Google, it seems, possesses a Midas touch.
Google started out as a modest search engine, but since its inception has come a long way. It is undoubtedly the most popular search engine on the Web, with many features that make it efficient and unique. It also offers some useful software tools and services as well, such as Google Groups (Usenet), image search, news, answers, Froogle, Gmail, blogger, catalogs and now Orkut. Orkut was the hobbyhorse of Google's User Interface Engineer Orkut Buyukkokten (orkut.com explains this in its FAQ page in the help section, under 'how to pronounce "or-kut"?', but I wonder how one can utter the tongue twisting Buyukkokten). The story is that Orkut was a project that Buyukkokten created in that 20 percent time that Google allows its employees for personal pursuits to encourage creativity. Good idea! Earlier, there was a rumour that Google is interested in buying Friendster, like it did Blogger.com - one ofthe most populous blogging sites on the internet. But Orkut was launched instead. Maybe Google will put an icon for Orkut and Gmail each on its already popular toolbar.
Orkut does a few things in different ways by trying to deal with different human emotions. It is faster then other similar social networking sites. It is not yet crowded with users or ads. Unlike most services focusing on promoting a single type of social connection, Orkut allows three aspects of users' lives: personal, social, and professional. Killer features like karma ratings, communities or flagging through hot and crush lists make it very different (read cool). Perhaps the best thing thus far is the exclusiveness of the people in the Orkut network. Since the site is invitation only,it is still an exclusive and close-knit community where one finds "friends of smart and interesting people, well, smart and interesting." The rest is almost the same: user interface with photo thumbnails and many other features are similar to those already offered by Friendster and its predecessors.
At first only 1200 invitation were sent out, mostly to Google staffers. The rest followed through invitation by initial members. Orkut, which now counts almost 1,727,500 members, like all social networking services, has been designed to promote a set of pre-determined behaviour traits instead of enabling users to do what is most interesting and useful to them. It is sort of weird to read which of your friends are your fans. I also wonder what to do with 'friends of friends' besides spamming them. Exploring through search options one comes across many pages of people who, while writing their profile and character traits, seem to have borrowed some of the adjectives from others. Exceptions do exist, but clicheslike "friendly, unique, fun, lovable, talented, cute, crazy, sexy, honest, romantic, elegant, likeable, smart, frank" are very common. Here too one mayfind people who have registered with invented names. It is a very interesting experience to send an invitation to a friend and then find out they have already added you to their orkut network under an asumed name.
Internet users seem to get tired of things soon. Other than email, which has not changed significantly over the last three decades, there have been many activity forums (Usenets, blogs) which rapidly gained popularity and then people started losing interest in them. For now Orkut is expanding every moment. Every time you refresh your Orkut homepage the number of people you are connected to through your friends will be increased. It is only a matter of time before it goes mainstream and the network grows to a point where everyone who wants to join is already in. Those who have closely followed the evolution of Google may know that sooner or later Google will find a way to include text ads on the site in some way. Their AdSense is very efficient in that. But while the service is still invitation only and users are eager to join, it should be a good idea to make it more customizable,giving users more liberty. Communities' updates can be shown on the homepages of individual users in some effective and unobtrusive way. More buttons on the individual home page will also help.
Labels: Society, Technology
posted by Shirazi @ 12:59 PM,
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Blogger Beaten to Death
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Chinese blogger has been beaten to death by Government authorities for the crime of attempting to record a protest on his mobile phone.
When Wei was present at some sort of confrontation or protest by local villages against municipal authorities when more than 50 municipal inspectors turned on him, attacking him for five minutes {Via TechVrunch and CNN}.
posted by Shirazi @ 10:15 AM,
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Where are the Parking Garages in London?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
All those who live in bigger city are alive to parking issues. Those who live and or work in busy districts have to face parking problems day after day. Sometimes, it is too bad to miss an appointment, or any other timed opportunity only for not being able to find a safe parking space.
Founding members of Par Let – parking spaces management company – have come up with an excellent idea that has turned into a practical business. But they leaned it a hard way. They faced problems (like Car stolen, Car vandalised, Wrong change in the morning, Main car parks being full by 7:30am, Dark, dingy and smelly multi storey car parks and Extortionate pricing) and thought a plan to search available London Garages and parking spaces and manage them. Given the demand due to similar frustrations by fellow Londoners, they have a solution now. Explore their site and search for parking garage where ever you need. Approach them, have a contract and you have a dedicated place for yourself. No hassle.
At the same time, if you have a spare garage or parking space (lucky you) to let and generate some extra income, approach Park Let Ltd.
Having a garage in busy city like London is no less than a blessing. Try them whenever you need.
Founding members of Par Let – parking spaces management company – have come up with an excellent idea that has turned into a practical business. But they leaned it a hard way. They faced problems (like Car stolen, Car vandalised, Wrong change in the morning, Main car parks being full by 7:30am, Dark, dingy and smelly multi storey car parks and Extortionate pricing) and thought a plan to search available London Garages and parking spaces and manage them. Given the demand due to similar frustrations by fellow Londoners, they have a solution now. Explore their site and search for parking garage where ever you need. Approach them, have a contract and you have a dedicated place for yourself. No hassle.
At the same time, if you have a spare garage or parking space (lucky you) to let and generate some extra income, approach Park Let Ltd.
Having a garage in busy city like London is no less than a blessing. Try them whenever you need.
posted by Shirazi @ 4:12 PM,
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This is a Kind Blog
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Labels: Blogs
posted by Shirazi @ 12:21 PM,
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Blog Platforms
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Weblogs are a new form of web publishing and communication, comparable to e-mail or instant messaging. A growing number of start-up companies are doing whatever they can to popularize blogging, with millions of people worldwide maintaining online personal journals that deal with everything, from politics to posting new pictures each day.
The practice is destined to revolutionize the way people distribute and acquire information. The buzz about weblogs, or blogs, as they are commonly known, is being augmented by competition among platforms and software that are making it easier to set up and write blogs.
There are many services and software available for users who wish to start their own blogs. A quick search produces lists of blogging software, platform and providers available on the web. One good source is about.com http://weblogs.about.com/od/listofweblogsoftware/index_a.htm. However, it really depends on the requirement of users and personal preferences. Do users require a great deal of functionality and rich features for business, organizational and professional blogs or simply want to have a platform for personal pleasure?
The first thing that you need to get started is to choose software to blog. Consider this before making a choice - different blogs software offer different features. It is important for users to have an idea of what these features mean, depending on the intended purpose and needs of a blog. Of course, it does help if you are relatively good with computers - some blog software require a bit of work and basic knowledge of HTML, among other things, to set them up and get going. However, quite a few beginners do not wish to spend too much time on setting up blogs. This also excludes blog software like WordPress, Movable Type and Drupal for beginners, because they need installation and a bit of configuration.
Blogs have become one of the most convenient ways to display photographs on the web. Those who want to include photos should know how different blog software handle graphics. Some software allow uploading images to the server and then placing them in the blog, whereas others require the uploading of images elsewhere and then include HTML codes for them within the blog post. Similarly, some software can post or integrate different files, such as moving images, sound files, .pdfs, or word processing files.
There are many free platforms available, but by paying a fee one may get software with better support options. Similarly, in-built aggregator and subscription through Atom and RSS feeds, permalinks, archives, comments, track backs, use of post categories and group blogging are a few other features the users should know about before starting.
Two of the most famous blog services are Blogger and Movable Type. Blogger is probably one of the best places to blog even though it may lack some of the more sophisticated features. It is great for bloggers of every type.
Personally, Blogger was a great introduction to the field of blogging. Since February 2003, I have had a blog on Blogger. It offers ease of posting which I enjoy. Blogger (Blogspot) became a leading service when Google purchased Blogger.com from Pyra Labs in the same year. Earlier, it was supported by text ads but now Google has removed them. Google has started AdSense that allows users to include pay per click Ads on their blogs or sites, instead.
Undoubtedly, the service is a favourite among Pakistani bloggers. Search engines may be more likely to pick up your blog if you are using Blogger. One can add almost anything in the template and enrich blogs at this site.
Posting on Blogger is easy: open an account, enter plain text or a HTML code in the editor, spell-check it if you like, and click the post button. Previous posts are chronologically listed.
Those who have the Google Toolbar on their computers, can simply click on the BlogThis! button on the Toolbar and quickly post a link to the page being viewed. The comments feature has recently been updated, making it more functional and user-friendly. There is also a "mail this entry" feature. It is free, which shows that Blogger has more registered users than any other service.
TypePad is another service with good support for content postings. It is priced between $4.95-14.95 per month. Blog can include one or more photo albums, which automatically generate thumbnails and attractive display pages. Books, music, wish lists and links can easily be added. Typelists automatically appear as sidebars, flanking the posts.
A little knowledge of HTML is essential. TypePad blogs are inviting and easy to navigate. The service's comment system leaves you in charge. You can enable comments on a per-post basis and hold incoming comments by pending approval. Visitors can read posts or check out your lists of books, music, links, or friends.
In order to attract more users, all services are changing rapidly. If the weblogging software one is using does not have some features, they are probably on their way in the next update. Moreover, there are many sites dedicated to specific plug-ins and add-ons. You can add Blogroll to organize links to other blogs that you wish to put on to your own site. Another example is NotifyList, which is one of the many sites that can host your own mailing list. Just make sure to check if these features are compatible with the weblogging tool being used.
Having said that, here is my recommendation. Start anywhere. Spend a couple of days testing different blog software and try to get a feel of the way they work. In any case, whichever blog software or platform you choose, just have fun and keep on blogging. I have observed that bloggers start with services like Blogger and later, when they learn more, they shift to other services like TypePad. So where you want to blog? That is the question.
The practice is destined to revolutionize the way people distribute and acquire information. The buzz about weblogs, or blogs, as they are commonly known, is being augmented by competition among platforms and software that are making it easier to set up and write blogs.
There are many services and software available for users who wish to start their own blogs. A quick search produces lists of blogging software, platform and providers available on the web. One good source is about.com http://weblogs.about.com/od/listofweblogsoftware/index_a.htm. However, it really depends on the requirement of users and personal preferences. Do users require a great deal of functionality and rich features for business, organizational and professional blogs or simply want to have a platform for personal pleasure?
The first thing that you need to get started is to choose software to blog. Consider this before making a choice - different blogs software offer different features. It is important for users to have an idea of what these features mean, depending on the intended purpose and needs of a blog. Of course, it does help if you are relatively good with computers - some blog software require a bit of work and basic knowledge of HTML, among other things, to set them up and get going. However, quite a few beginners do not wish to spend too much time on setting up blogs. This also excludes blog software like WordPress, Movable Type and Drupal for beginners, because they need installation and a bit of configuration.
Blogs have become one of the most convenient ways to display photographs on the web. Those who want to include photos should know how different blog software handle graphics. Some software allow uploading images to the server and then placing them in the blog, whereas others require the uploading of images elsewhere and then include HTML codes for them within the blog post. Similarly, some software can post or integrate different files, such as moving images, sound files, .pdfs, or word processing files.
There are many free platforms available, but by paying a fee one may get software with better support options. Similarly, in-built aggregator and subscription through Atom and RSS feeds, permalinks, archives, comments, track backs, use of post categories and group blogging are a few other features the users should know about before starting.
Two of the most famous blog services are Blogger and Movable Type. Blogger is probably one of the best places to blog even though it may lack some of the more sophisticated features. It is great for bloggers of every type.
Personally, Blogger was a great introduction to the field of blogging. Since February 2003, I have had a blog on Blogger. It offers ease of posting which I enjoy. Blogger (Blogspot) became a leading service when Google purchased Blogger.com from Pyra Labs in the same year. Earlier, it was supported by text ads but now Google has removed them. Google has started AdSense that allows users to include pay per click Ads on their blogs or sites, instead.
Undoubtedly, the service is a favourite among Pakistani bloggers. Search engines may be more likely to pick up your blog if you are using Blogger. One can add almost anything in the template and enrich blogs at this site.
Posting on Blogger is easy: open an account, enter plain text or a HTML code in the editor, spell-check it if you like, and click the post button. Previous posts are chronologically listed.
Those who have the Google Toolbar on their computers, can simply click on the BlogThis! button on the Toolbar and quickly post a link to the page being viewed. The comments feature has recently been updated, making it more functional and user-friendly. There is also a "mail this entry" feature. It is free, which shows that Blogger has more registered users than any other service.
TypePad is another service with good support for content postings. It is priced between $4.95-14.95 per month. Blog can include one or more photo albums, which automatically generate thumbnails and attractive display pages. Books, music, wish lists and links can easily be added. Typelists automatically appear as sidebars, flanking the posts.
A little knowledge of HTML is essential. TypePad blogs are inviting and easy to navigate. The service's comment system leaves you in charge. You can enable comments on a per-post basis and hold incoming comments by pending approval. Visitors can read posts or check out your lists of books, music, links, or friends.
In order to attract more users, all services are changing rapidly. If the weblogging software one is using does not have some features, they are probably on their way in the next update. Moreover, there are many sites dedicated to specific plug-ins and add-ons. You can add Blogroll to organize links to other blogs that you wish to put on to your own site. Another example is NotifyList, which is one of the many sites that can host your own mailing list. Just make sure to check if these features are compatible with the weblogging tool being used.
Having said that, here is my recommendation. Start anywhere. Spend a couple of days testing different blog software and try to get a feel of the way they work. In any case, whichever blog software or platform you choose, just have fun and keep on blogging. I have observed that bloggers start with services like Blogger and later, when they learn more, they shift to other services like TypePad. So where you want to blog? That is the question.
posted by Shirazi @ 1:53 PM,
, links to this post
Din Mein Charagh
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Din Mein Charagh explores annals of history, philosophies, biographies, autobiographies, and literature spread over centuries. Abbas Khan has mediated upon what he finds life building and has put them up in his eleventh book entitled Din Main Charagh. His other published work includes three novels and seven short story books: Zakham Gawah Hain, Tu Aur Tu and Mein Aur Umrao Jan Ada (novels), Dharti Binam Akash, Tensikh-e-Insan, Qalam, Kursi Aur Wardi, U’s Adalat Men, Jism Ka Johar (short story books) and Reza Reza Keenat and Pal Pal (afsancha -- shortest story books).
The historic stories in Din Main Charagh seem to get better over time, whether they be fiction or fact. They have a mystique about them even in the world of today, where some insist that past values are dying. In literature and life alike there's something to be learned from what Abbas Khan has compiled. I have had the pleasure to translate Din Main Charagh because I believe that, what Abbas Khan tells us is worth knowing.
Publication of the book from Multan is another good thing that proves that voices can still be heard in this din, provided the voice is strong enough. Abbas Khan's is a very strong voice.
Available @ Caravan Book Center, Multan Cantt, Pakistan [Tel: 92-62-4544714]
Extract from the book: Human beings live in four prisons as per empirical observations of one scholar.
First are natural restrains. Humans are bounded by natural environment, seasons, atmospheric conditions, other living beings, calamities and every thing else present in the eco system.
Second confine to humans is history -- the chronology of the past. It is so very difficult to get rid of the past.
Third is society. Humans simply cannot live oblivious of the societal traditions and customs. It is not possible to live alone nor is it workable to violate folks, mores and norms of society while living as its part. And last is own self. Envy, love, anger, joy, desire, sex, prejudice, self-indulgence and fear compel humans to restrict behind the walls of own self.
How can one throw away all these yokes and truly set free. Science can take control of nature. Understanding of philosophy can free the humans from burdens of what went before. Knowledge of social sciences can steer them safely through the society. But getting away from self is the most daunting of the tasks. For that one needs altruism. And that can only be attained through passion for others.
posted by Shirazi @ 2:24 PM,
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Internet Reputation Management
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Savvy organizations (and individuals) have standing operating procedures to monitor what comes along when some one searches them on the Web through search engines. The moment some thing appears in results that can affect their name negatively, they promptly take action.
In the age of Internet marketing, reputation is as precious as any other business assts. It needs to be efficiently managed, closely guarded and saved from any misinformation or negative publicity.
Internet Reputation Management (IRM) has made reputation management easy. IRM – a group of experts - offers services to manage Internet reputation. IRM suppresses the negative results to be displayed in subsequent pages of search results and replace them with the positive ones.
Explore the site – neat and uncluttered – and learn what Internet Reputation Management offers and what they can do for you. They have wealth of information on the site. Users who have stakes on the Internet must go through their Internet Defamation page.
I suggest that every one should monitor related keywords and keenly observe the search engine listings. The moment some thing unwanted comes up, take action immediately, before that negative publicity takes away your visitors (read customers). Remember, it takes time to build a positive reputation but it can be tarnished in quickly.
In the age of Internet marketing, reputation is as precious as any other business assts. It needs to be efficiently managed, closely guarded and saved from any misinformation or negative publicity.
Internet Reputation Management (IRM) has made reputation management easy. IRM – a group of experts - offers services to manage Internet reputation. IRM suppresses the negative results to be displayed in subsequent pages of search results and replace them with the positive ones.
Explore the site – neat and uncluttered – and learn what Internet Reputation Management offers and what they can do for you. They have wealth of information on the site. Users who have stakes on the Internet must go through their Internet Defamation page.
I suggest that every one should monitor related keywords and keenly observe the search engine listings. The moment some thing unwanted comes up, take action immediately, before that negative publicity takes away your visitors (read customers). Remember, it takes time to build a positive reputation but it can be tarnished in quickly.
Labels: Internet, Reputation Management
posted by Shirazi @ 11:08 PM,
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About
What is a blog to you?: Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?.
Contribute your thoughts in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why? How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories, motivations and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension) in a post and send in word document.
Email: emaildiogenes(at)gmail(dot)com
Labels: Blogs
posted by Shirazi @ 1:27 PM,
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What is a blog to you?
Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, science, also economics. Blogs are different to different people. Fine Art of Blogging asks you to share your views on what is a blog to you?
Please contribute your thoughts on blogging in general. In particular, write how you blog? Why? How blogging matters in life and work? Success stories and inspirations. Answer these questions and more (add what you feel is important dimension for you) and email me.
Fine Art Claimer
My blogs are a resource for my writings. More often, I blog informally, sharing impressions, generating ideas to see how they invoke reactions, keeping track of others’ work in the fields of my interest, or simply ranting or pointing out things that come to my attention.
Also, I use blogging as a platform to prune ideas. This is where I meet others and share experiences. “I am neither geek, nor nerd, I am not a hacker, a phreaker, a programmer or any variety of technoid dweeb.”
