Blogger


Interface

Blogger doesn’t want me to use the Create Post window today and keeps timing
out trying to open it. So I’m going to see if the mail-to-post works.

I’ve found a few interesting things so far. Go sign the petition against ID
cards- http://www.no2id-petition.net/. I’ll put a proper link inthere when
I’m allowed to.

No Photo Friday or Deputised Experts until Blogger stops being pissy.

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.786 / Virus Database: 532 – Release Date: 29/10/2004


Look at me! Look at me!

via pinksocks, two articles about publicising your blog. I’d already read the Blogger one, and have setup the NavBar and made a few other changes based upon it, but the Scobleizer one is new to me.

They’re all common sense suggestions, but someone had to say them out loud I guess. If I IM’d, emailed or forum’d more I’d be well in. As it is I’m trying for a variation on suggestions 6/6b, call it 6c- Do something offline that gets attention. Spinneyhead still registers very high in Google searches for Perfect Sex Toy (and the Fleshbot post about the project comes out top if you stick the phrase in quotes). So I really should get one of my own Perfect Sex Toy long sleeves and wear it out so people’ll go search for it.

The other big offline project is the grafitti/ signage book, because I’m going to put it on CD and try to get it sold in Magma and Urbis and reviewed by City Life.

Failing that, I’m still trying to cause an outcry about that time I shot Tony Blair.


Testing

Hmmm. Blogger is a pain in the arse when it comes to pinging the trackback system. I had to read the Movable Type explanation of trackbacks to learn how it can be done, and there’s no explanation of how I ping manually.

This links to the trackback URL of my post from earlier about speed limits. I’m going to see what happens when I click on it. That didn’t work.

It looks like people with MT can leave trackback info for my Blogger submitted posts, but I can’t return the favour.

There has to be a way……


(Fairly) Early adopter

SPECIAL NOTICE

As an active Blogger user, we would like to invite you to be one of the first to try out Google’s new email service, Gmail.

Would you like to give it a whirl? YES / NO

Okay. I’m having a little trouble logging in at the moment, but when it’s all sorted spinneyhead[at]gmail[dot]com will be used for all blog related mail. I’ll even put an email link back at the top of the page.


Britney Spears caught in blatant trawling for hits scandal

Yes, the wondrous silliness of search requests is back. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you’ll see two lists of referrers- most recent and most common. As I write this, the most recent 20 are-

? MSN Search: britney naked pics — More Useful Everyday

I’m really not interested in seeing Britney naked, clothed or in any state in between. Brittany Murphy, maybe, but not Ms Spears

? Google Search: nemi cartoon comics

Nemi is cool. It’s pretty much the only reason to read The Metro.

? Google Search: where is the nissan skyline in grand theft auto 3 for ps2 in english

I don’t know.

? Google: britney spears topless

See above.

? UKBlogs Aggregator

Resistance is futile! You will be aggregated!

? blo.gs: ping a weblog

? Google: meaning of the word bint

It’s derived from the Arabic word for girl or daughter, I think.

? blo.gs: ping a weblog

? BLOGGER

? BLOGGER

? Spinneyhead

? Google: “the best positions for getting pregnant”

Nobody in this house is pregnant, but Spinneyhead is one of only two results for this search.

? blo.gs: ping a weblog

? Google Search: spinneyhead

People are looking for spinneyhead. Cool.

? MSN Search: stileproject — More Useful Everyday

Stileproject used to be a regular stopping off point, but I haven’t been back there in nearly two years. I wonder if it’s still as vile and disgusting as I remember?

? Google Search: countryside sex pics

Nope.

? Google: saul steinberg 9th avenue buy

? Flat8 – Summary

? Google: erotic bitpass

Hold on a minute, I’ve just had an idea………

? New Links

And yes, I am only reproducing these results here to reinforce the Google rankings etc.


Pack up your troubles

I should have done it last week, but this weekend, Spinneyhead will be moving to a new server and a new, possibly temporary, URL. Props out to Tim for sorting out Spinneyhead’s new home. Today I’ll transfer the files, tomorrow twiddle with the Blogger settings and Sunday say a teary farewell to my online home for the last four years.


Even more wedding pictures

I’ve put some pictures from Sabs and Griff’s wedding into the photo album. Honestly, you’d think most of Spinneyhead had attended or something. I’ve downloaded Damian’s pictures and will resize them, change them to house style and put them up later.

I’ve also added a few pictures to the November and December galleries.

(The Blogger interface was down all of yesterday, so I tried to post this news using the e-mail portal- in the hope it would at least get queued and appear when everything was sorted out. If it starts to sound like an echo chamber in here then Blogger got mail.)


Moonlighting

Monitor Duty, which has been in my blogroll for a while, was looking for contributors with less of a DC slant. So I volunteered this morning and got back a reply early this afternoon saying ‘Welcome to the club.’ I’ve just posted my first post. I usually have a couple of comic related pieces every week that I can share with the MD people, and it shiuld increase my traffic, so it’s all good.

Well, there is one niggle- they have Movable Type. There’s nothing wrong with Movable Type, quite the opposite, but it does show up where Blogger is lacking. Having said which, I remain a Blogger loyalist at least until my free Blogger hoodie arrives.


Interface

Bits of the new blogger interface are screwed up. I just lost a long post about my journey in (major accident on the M56 = gridlock in South Manchester and an extra hour on my journey) and work (I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing, but I’m certain it’s not meant to be button monkey on the photocopier like I was yesterday).

Bugger.


Wish list

I’m updating my Amazon wishlist. If you’re feeling generous, please send me one of the items listed. If you’re not that rich, then how about dropping a few pennies in the tip jar. I’d like Spinneyhead to pay for itself, covering hosting fees and subscriptions to Blogger Pro etc., and maybe one day take the whole photos section completely digital (thanks to Damian for giving me his old digital camera. I’m going to take a few test photos with it later today.)

Whilst I’m at Amazon, I would like to recommend Interface by ‘Stephen Bury’ (actually Neal Stephenson and Frederick George working together), which the system recommended to me, but I’ve already got. It’s a neat story about political manipulation and the power of the focus group taken too far as a medical chip in a Presidentail candidate’s brain- put there to help him recover from a stroke- is used to manipulate his actions on the election trail. It’s a prescient satire on Wubble U (except that the candidate being manipulated is a decent and intelligent man who is appalled when he discovers what’s going on.) I’ve stolen the chip- in- the- head idea for my Union Jack proposal, to be used in a slightly different way.