Watching Launch of Kepler Space Mission Live

I love the Internet. As I write this, I am watching the launch live of the Kepler Mission on NASA TV from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Kepler satellite will be launched into an Earth-trailing solar orbit to get above the Earth’s atmosphere for a clearer view of outer space with its […]

The Art of the Fan-Based Blog: Continuing to Fight the Good Fight

By DB Ferguson of the No Fact Zone Now, if you’ve been following my series on The Art of the Fan-Based Blog, you’ve got a blog, you’ve got readers, you’ve got content. Have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah. Burnout and how to keep fighting the good fight for your celebrity, readers, and fellow fans. Here […]

Blog Struggles: Trackbacks Count

At a blog conference recently, I overheard the following exchange over a laptop as part of a blog review exercise: “For your blog to be successful, you need more comments on your blog posts.” “I have plenty of comments on my blog. See, this one has 14 comments.” “That post has only one comment. The […]

The Real Benefits of Sponsoring a WordCamp

Roxanne Darling, the organizer of Podcamp and WordCamp Hawaii, October 24, 2008, is encouraging everyone to help make this Podcamp and WordCamp a success and supporting their sponsors by blogging about them. While you should blog about them and support sponsors of WordCamp and WordPress Events, there is a bigger benefit to being a WordCamp […]

Writing Better Blog Post Titles

I’ve written a lot about writing and creating powerful, effective, and attention-getting headlines and post titles on your blog, but more needs to be said on the subject, especially for blogging teachers and students. The following are not effective nor attention-getting post titles: March March 2006 March 17, 2006 Today’s News Homework Today’s Homework In […]

Blog Resources: Researching the Research, Finding the Facts, and Seeking Supporting Evidence

As part of my ongoing series on blog resources, covering the many online resources I use to help me blog, you can tell that I don’t deal with rumors or guesses. I like facts. I don’t mind a few estimates, but I like being right when I make a claim or statement, so I work […]

Blogging Resources and Sources to Help You Blog

As a blogger and professional editorial and technical writer, I have collected a variety of online resources and references to help me write, blog, and work. The following are a list of Internet resources, sources, references, guides, and tools that help me with my basic blog writing research and publishing. I use these resources to […]

Weekly Digest: Catching Up, Speaking San Francisco, Future Post Mixup, Talking to Blogger Talks, and More

Yikes, it’s been a rough few weeks. Along with some nasty business stuff, which is actually normal in my line of work, I was supposed to be on my first real, non-working vacation in 14 years, which turned into a workation. What should have been normal was much less fun than usual as my husband […]

Cancer Blogs and Bloggers

Over the past year, National Public Radio’s blog and radio series called “My Cancer” has been an amazing portraly of life living, and dying, with cancer. Called NPR: My Cancer, it is frank and open, discussing the daily aspect of life with cancer. A lot of times, I sit at my computer, trying to figure […]

Blogs and Conspiracy Theories

Ian of Letters from Home asked me about my article series on the Blog Herald about conspiracy theories and blogs, wondering why I was doing such a series: …what’s the point of this series on conspiracy theories? Why encourage people to muddy the waters further? Is it all in the name of generating hits, traffic […]

Blogger’s Choice Award Winners Announced

It appears that I’ve come in third in the Blogger’s Choice Awards for the Best Blog About Blogging category. Above me are Darren Rowse of Problogger.net and a newbie on the block, Blogging Basics 101. I’d love to showcase the others who came in below me on the list, but it appears that the counting […]

Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus

Last week, I covered the meaning of blog focus and the benefits and reasons to narrow your blog’s focus by your writing style or content. As part of this ongoing series on Blog Struggles, today I want to cover how to find your blog focus, and tomorrow, how to change your blog’s focus. Finding your […]

Are Tags Working For You?

I asked this question on the Blog Herald: Are Tags Working? After Pam of Grassroots Science (Alaska) reminded me recently about the flaws in tags, the lack of consistency and control, I’m asking you again. Are tags working for you and your blog? With the advent of tags built into WordPress 2.3, a whole new […]

100,000 Edublogs

James Farmer announced 100,000 Edublogs on his popular Edublogs.org, the online education tools and community of blogging educators. Edublogs was the first WordPressMU run site, with WordPress.com following soon after. I’ve long been a huge fan of Edublogs and the work that James Farmer has been doing to make blogs free to educators and students. […]

16 Tips for Blog Idea Brainstorming

By John Pozadzides (“Who is that eh?!?” … exactly.) In the last week at least 5 people have asked me, “how do you come up with so many interesting articles?” To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to write about this topic if Lorelle hadn’t asked me to (anything for you Lorelle!) because I’m […]