What's this newfangled Digg icon?

The addition of the icon is an attempt on my part to try drum up more readers.

"Digg is a social news website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and voting and commenting on submitted links and stories. Voting stories up and down is the site's cornerstone function, respectively called digging and burying. Many stories get submitted every day, but only the most Dugg stories appear on the front page."

It appears that you have to register (free) in order to participate. I'll probably add del.ico.us and a couple others because they don't require registration, I think, which would make it easier for you.

If you see a photo you really like or a post entry you think is really good, click the Digg button, which will take you to a new webpage. Enter a few words describing the post, and hit submit a couple times. That's all there is to it.

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Ice delay...

We had an ice storm overnight and my district had two hours delay or were closed. Which means if I want to, I can just stay home and not use PTO. Hurrah. I'll probably go in, though.

I used the time this morning to find a different blog template. I like this one better, and don't worry - I will be adding a bit more color. I chose the header (the picture) because now that we've had our "big snow" - a whopping 2 and half inches under the ice - I'm definitely ready for spring!

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Possible new layout

I'm not really happy with this one, and probably will look for a different template to use. Edited to add: The blog template I tried last night is now gone. Scroll down to see the screenshots.

Problems are many, as you can see. If photos aren't 400 pixels wide - like the vertical ones in the posts below - then the text of the post gets all screwy and it also somehow screws up the subsequent posts. I don't like that and I have no clue how to fix that.

Unless the creator of the template fixes them...I'm moving on.

I was searching for a different template that let me display my pictures a bit more creatively. I liked the polaroid in the header, it's cute. And for a personal blog, it's ok to be a little cutsey. That's the only reason I went with this one.

For posterity, I made a screenshot of this, so after I change the template yet again, this post still makes a bit sense.

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Archive - Blog Headers

March 2010

February 2010

January 2010

December 2009


November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

August 2009

July 2009

June 2009

May 2009

April 2009

March 2009

February 2009

January 2009

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Ads in the blog

KSko was asking about the ads in my blog, why I have them and what they're for. I'm sure some of you have seen similar setup on other blogs and websites.

Basically, how they work is: Companies pay an ad company (like Google) to handle their ads. Google (or any other online ad venue) turns around and offers a very small payment in return for someone like me to host these ads. Every time someone clicks on one of these ads on my blog, I get a...I think, it's a penny. This is my "payment" for hosting these ads.

When I get a sum of a minimum $100, Google will paypal or mail a check to me. I have had the ads on my blog for 3 months so far, and have accrued a grand total of $1.27.

But I am conservative in how many ads I have on the blog. I don't like it when websites or blogs plaster ads all over the page - they can be annoying and disruptive. If my readership base grows, however, I might reconsider that. The blog currently averages about 10-12 daily readers, so I feel it's not really worth annoying what few readers I have with more ads.

Incidentally, if you ever see an offensive ad, please feel free to drop me a note, and I'll tweak the ad filters to block them.

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Inspiration...

Now and then, I look at blogs out there in the blogsphere for ideas and inspirations. This is my current favorite right now: www.dooce.com. Not for the content, but rather, in layout and design. And better yet, the author of this site makes so much money from the advertisements on her blog that both she and her husband no longer work. How's that for inspiration, huh?

I think this blog will get another revamp in the near future, nevermind that I didn't finish the current one.

In other news...When I buy a house (if I ever do), I will make sure that there aren't dozens of old oaks surrounding it. Sure, they're pretty, but when you get this...

The trees lose their appeal. That pile is about 3 to 4 feet deep and about 15 ft wide.

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I wrote a post, but

I'm too chicken to post it. It's not PG-rated and family read this blog.

In other news, I think I have to give up on wearing underwear. Thanks to my genetics, I have a very flat ass and panties either bunch up at the bottom, due to lack of meat to fill it out, or give me insane wedgies.

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Blog layout

I'm getting close to the design I have in mind. Unfortunately, for me to do anymore work, it'll take a few days for me to figure out how to add design features that I want. My knowledge of html coding is very rusty. So, don't expect anymore major changes for awhile. The color scheme will remain as is - black, very pale gray (because stark white is hard on the eyes) with red accents.

Please let me know if you notice any problems or funkiness while using the page.
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It's a beautiful day. I'm going ot take a break from the computer and go enjoy it.

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Surprise!

Notice anything different?

This current color scheme will be changed to a less dark one. Maybe similar color scheme as the original blog. Definitely a different picture. Angels aren't my thing. I've subbed in a temp image for now. One main reason for the change - I was tired of the empty space in the old blog, and wanted to find a template that maximized the space. I also wanted to try find a design that was a bit more sleeker and modern. I couldn't find any templates that I was happy with, so I decided to go with a template whose layout was close to what I was looking for, and make tweaks to it.

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8/15/08 Edited to add: The funky colors are because I'm trying to figure out what part of html code is for what feature. So I'm using colors to help with that.

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Possible changes to blog

I've been pondering trying to make some extra cash on side. As opposed to actually getting a part-time job, which would be stressful for both myself and my golden boy, I've been thinking of alternatives.

One of the possibilities is to blog for moolah. This could happen on two fronts - one, here on our beloved Póg mo thóin! blog and second, by writing blog entries for other sites elsewhere.

In order for former to happen, I will attempt to expand on the limited range of topics that I post about on here, and install lovely, annoying ads for readers to click on. That earns a few cents a click. And the more readers I draw, the bigger potential there'll be more ads-clicks. Doesn't sound like much, but hey - if it pays for a night out on town, I'm all for it. I will investigate to figure out the best client for ads - hopefully I can find one that's not too annoying.

And the latter. Well, that's fairly obvious...research and write.

In short, expect some changes to this blog in the near future.

Also, I need to get off my rump, take more pictures and write more - and try to market them. I've been in a bit of a rut lately, and I think having a set goal to work toward will help fix that.

Photoshopping my pictures will be in a bit of a stall for the moment - my trial photoshop expired. I'm very sad. The counter kept saying 30 days, so I thought I got lucky and had a glitchy version, but no...it abruptly dropped to 0 yesterday. I tried reinstalling, but I think I screwed it up. Or Adobe has blocks in place to prevent that. Either way...

JC of Texas, get off your ass and burn me a copy already! Please?
KR - I have your bridal shower pictures fixed up, but I didn't save them as JPG before the trial version expired. Whoops. You'll have to wait a little while longer for them. If you want, I can send JC's address to you and you can send little imps to annoy him until he burns a copy.

This weekend - Girls' Weekend Out! Three whole day at the beach! I can't wait! Sun, sand, ocean, magaritas and hawt fab girlfriends! Hopefully there'll be cute guys to ogle.

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'Round the World

I use a free program to figure out how many readers I have for this blog (I average about 8 daily readers), and about 25% of that are new visitors. One other feature the program has is it lets me know where the readers' IP originates from. It isn't very specific -- I can't see your actual IP address so don't worry, but it does tell me the country, state and town. What it doesn't do, however, is tell me how often a particular IP hits this blog.

It's fascinating for me. Especially when I see foreign countries on the map. I always wonder if they like the blog, how they found it. Will they read it again (I also wonder that for U.S. readers)? Can they read it (especially in non-English countries)?
Here's a list of non-U.S. countries for the past 30 days:

• Brazil
• Turkey
• Latvia
• Ireland
• Spain
• France
• Germany
• Canada

As for U.S. I haven't gotten readers from all 50 states. Yet. Soon!

And please remember to comment, even if it's to say "God, that was a boring post. You just wasted 30 seconds of my life." I don't mind that. Really. I'm still figuring out what I want this blog to be about.

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Yoohoo!

Leave a comment!

I was reading, in between working on projects, an article about how to improve a blog's number of readers. One tip they offered was to encourage a blog's reader to post comments. Even if it's just to say, "I liked this post," or "You just wasted five minutes of my life." For whatever reasons, the number of comments a blog receives is an indicator of its success - and the more successful it seems, the more readers flock to it.

So...Comment away! Click on the "comment" link to do so. Constructive feedbacks are always welcome. Suggestions on layout, articles, pictures and so on.

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