Economics 101

A confession: I know very little about any theories of economics. I know it when I have to deal with it at the supermarket or at bill-paying time, but, generally speaking, I know about as much about economics as your doorstop [maybe a bit less; the doorstop usually reads your paper before you bring it in]. That said, I suspect the above Calvin and Hobbes cartoon is as good a starting point as any for our discussion.

As to the current US financial crisis, I've got no solutions, or even suggestions. For a quick read on how the whole mess started, I recommend this article; it's one that even I could understand [then again, when your barn is on fire, do you really need to know what knocked over the lantern?]. As for sensible opinions on the whole thing, many of my fellow bloggers are taking it up; something tells me you can't swing a cat on the Blogosphere right now without hitting one. I'd have no idea whose site to visit: read around and find an opinion that makes sense to you.

Speaking of economies, the Entrecard system is frequently referred to as "an economy". But since, for most participants, no money changes hands, I think that's just people making themselves feel good about taking part in the activity. Truthfully, I think of at least the advertising element of the system as "fantasy football"; as a participant, you have 'X' number of credits to work with. You use your credits to advertise your blog on those sites which you believe will bring you the most visitors, as a team manager in FF uses his "payroll" to acquire the best players available. The principal difference is that, in FF, all participants have the same payroll to start with, while EC allows the more ambitious to acquire a larger bankroll.

Of course, those who work hard within the rules should be allowed to prosper. But every successful economy throughout history has had one common element: the existence of a strong and secure middle class. Pick any EC category at random. You'll notice a few sites [based, one assumes, on the merit of the blog represented] trading for two thousand EC credits or more, a small group available for hundreds of credits, and a large group of sites selling ads for 128 credits or less. (I recently read a post on one site, celebrating the fact that the blog had reached the top advertising rate in its category. Legitimate congratulations are in order for that blogger. But, and an important "but" at that, if your product is priced too high for the average participant to buy, these large blocks of credits will pass from hand to hand within the "plutocrat" community.)

To be fair, Entrecard has admitted that the problem exists [go here for a recent EC Forum discussion on the matter]. I'm a little sceptical of the "luxury goods" option; anyone competent in PhotoShop or Gimp can make an EC ad look enough like the "golden ticket" sites to make the distinction meaningless. But 10 out of ten for at least considering the issue. As in the real world, there are no simple solutions. Then again, in an artificial economy, no one is hurt when the wrong manipulations are made.

-Mike Riley

When He's Right, He's Right...

This will be a very brief post. It's on a topic that somehow didn't make it into the "Pet Peeves" that started this blog, but certainly bothers more than a few bloggers: those bloggers who use automatically starting music on their blogs. More and more I'm running into such blogs, as well as posts complaining about the issue. Well, Nate Balcom or, as he chooses to call himself, NatBal, is addressing the issue in a graphic way. In this post, he explains why the practice is so annoying, and offers free buttons and links for your use [one of which starts this presentation].

Now, I like music. And I think it's great when someone wants to introduce me to something new, or share an old favorite. But JEEZ LOUISE, CAN'T YOU LET ME CHOOSE IF I''M IN THE MOOD THAT DAY? Sorry [For some reasons, Nate's buttons don't "play well" with my sites. But if I can get them to work, I'll add them. Oh, yeah...].

That's really all I wanted to bother you with right now. Hope things are well with you, and sorry again for that shouting in the last paragraph...

-Mike Riley

Not A Bad Place To Start

First of all, my obvious apologies to those of you who are vegetarian/vegan. I don't
mean to be sliding my meat into your computer [and an apology to those made uncomfortable by sexual innuendo], but it's surprisingly difficult to find an image to illustrate the concept, "Back to basics". My first thought was to use an album cover. But whose? There seems to be an unwritten law that any performer who's worked for more than a few years put out an album under that title. Artists as varied as Anvil, Christina Aguilara, Billy Bragg, the Manhattans, and Olivia Newton-John have all released "B2B" collections. And there are probably hundreds more out there! This was as good a compromise as any, using the meat grinder and what I hope is fresh beef [an apology in advance to anyone contracting the dreaded e'coli bacteria from spoiled meat that may appear on this page].

Anyway, the point to all this is to cite "C & D", artisan crafters [those aren't synonyms, I hope. I'm sorry if they are] from Montreal, PQ, Canada. In their blog ["Catherinette Rings"], there's a post on "5 Basic Blogging Tips". The suggestions are great advice for anyone out there [especially your newby friends who want info from you] and summarised in an easily remembered manner. There's also info on how to add widgets in Blogger, and a long list of sources for widgets, advertising options, etc. Like any collection [including a "Back to Basics" CD], you may not enjoy all of the links, but it's a pretty good starting point [along with our own "Access To Tools"; scroll down the right-hand side, you'll find it]. For what it's worth, their rings look pretty good as well [I'm sorry I'm not a bigger expert on what's hot out there, but they use the word "Steampunk" in one of their flyers, so they must be hip].

-Mike Riley

"the lab" is back in session...

Yeah, Summer is over [for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway]. I took an unannounced vaca for the end of August [saw Joan Jett in a free concert, among other things. Pretty cool], and now, we begin anew the pursuit of Better Blogging Through Science. Hope you had a little rest as well.

Regular visitors to the lab have noticed that I almost never mention WordPress. There's a simple reason for this; I don't know anything about it [Any WordPress users who'd like to contribute an article or two on the subject are welcome to write their insights as Guest posts; I still offer 500 EC credits for any published submissions. Contact me here if you're interested]. Anyway, I have found another site with a variety of WordPress themes; namely, WebFrap. It's well laid out, and has an attractive selection of themes for your consideration, and download. If you use WP, check it out.

Similarly, I'm not into customizing my site [I'll be honest; I'm trying to teach myself the necessary programming language. Let me tell you, French was much easier]. So far, I've learned how to use widgets, add a photo or two, and, just recently, how to use those damn hyperlinks in my copy [see above and below. It's so easy on Blogger, you'd think I'd gotten it before now. Well, no]. The Woman I Love laid much abuse on me before I picked up this amazingly easy trick [especially as I'm running a site dedicated to blogging tips]. But, despite the embarrassment of loving a man who couldn't hyperlink, she was patient, and I have now risen in her esteem to
"Average". Ah, romance...

Where was I? Oh, yeah, customization. One way many bloggers give their sites a distinctive look is through the use of non-standard icons. A great source for ready-made icon packages is IconzWorld. The site offers a wide variety of icon packages to download and use in your blogs. Visit and use.

Finally, a belated tip of the tam o'shanter to Jordan McClements. He's making a generous offer, that addresses a common need of many bloggers; royalty-free illustrations for postings. Most of the time, bloggers wishing to use photos on their sites just download them from their website of choice [yeah, I've done this. I'm not proud of myself, but there you are]. Given the number of blogs x cost of pursuing legal redress against a violator, the odds may well be in your favor. But consider your annoyance if one of your posts was lifted by someone. Anyway, Mr. McClements is very generously offering the use of over one thousand photos from his collection, for non-commercial blogs, as well as MySpace users. The collection in question can be found here [while the vast majority of the photos are Irish rural scenes, there are also photos from elsewhere in Europe, the United States and Canada.. And, just as Toronto has played cities around the world in the movies, a night sky over Belfast might "do' for your moonlight needs. Take a look]. Jordan has also helpfully provided instructions on how to upload his photos for use; find that info here [Blogger users who lift photos through their browser, then add them to their blogs should caption the photo "Photo courtesy of IrishViews.com"].

Hope your Fall [or Spring, below the Equator] finds you well. As always, more to come.

-Mike Riley.

Bagpipes And Bargains

At the last Celtic Festival The Woman I Love and I attended [a birthday gift from The Woman], a member of one of the pipe and drum corps in attendance opined that I was actually Scotch-Irish, instead of Irish, as I had always believed [his theory had something to do with the way my last name is spelled, and need not be repeated here. For that matter, my family has lived in America for at least a century-and-a-half, so why my ancestry is entering into all this is beyond me. Oh wait, now I remember. It's setting up an explanation in the next line or two]. Anyway, his opinion made me think. I don't consider myself "tight" by any means, but if I can get something useful for nothing, I'm certainly not against that. If you're like that also, this article may be for you.

Microsoft Office(R), in its various versions, has become known as the "standard" in office software [of course, just about anyone can use word processing, spreadsheets, and drawing programs, as well as other nifty features. But Office (R) is pricey. What to do? Well, the most popular answer nowadays, and one that puts absolutely no drain on the bank account is Open Office.Org. Its URL is [you guessed it]: http://www.openoffice.org/. Its story is intriguing.

Back at the turn of the century, a company known as Sun Microsystems bought a software package called StarOffice from a German company. No huge news, right? Wrong. StarOffice was developed in open-code, meaning it could be used by most operating systems with small modifications. Sun was using a lot of open-source programs [still does], and their operating platform of choice was Unix, also open-source. In an attempt to stem the tidal wave that was Office(R), Sun put StarOffice on the market. For free. Ever since, they've shaped the open-source community's development of Open Office . org [hereafter, at least occasionally, OO.o. Neat abbreviation, huh?].

Open Office.org calls them by different names, but matches Office (R) feature for feature. Indeed, if work computers use Office (R), you can almost always assimilate those documents into OO.o [At the moment, the only fly in the ointment seems to be the Mac's OS/X; OO.o 'doesn't play well" with it, although improvements along this line are said to be imminent. Stay tuned...]

Next time, some more freebies to help you use your computer like a pro for less [free, actually, but who's telling? Not me...].

-Mike Riley

Open Lab: A Little Of This, A Little Of That

What are we now, a little less than a month into the new "liaison" between EntreCard and SezWho? Maybe it's time to take a Polaroid, as it were, of the situation [not to change the subject, by the bye, but did you hear Polaroid is giving up making film, and film cameras? Like most manufacturers, they realize that the marketplace is going digital. But, as someone who's taken one or two risque photos with Polaroids, thereby avoiding sending explicit film to a processor and risking their refusing to print photos (actually happened to an acquaintance or two). Like many people my age, I'm missing my youth]



First thing I've noticed; people don't seem to be jumping on SezWho as much as I expected [this could be tech-related; there are still those demon issues with some platforms, especially Blogger. This site is one of two I still can't get registered. My other two (all four are Blogger, in case you're wondering) are running fine with the SezWho widgets]. Maybe I'm just visiting sites that haven't signed up, but random selection should give me a higher percentage of SW sites. On one hand, bloggers are an independent breed, and will go to a new feature only when they're ready. But I'd suspect Graham and the EC front office might be disappointed with the turn out, what with the strong boost they gave the new hook-up.

Another issue [this one connected, I think, with the concept of SW] is comments vs drops. Look, we all figured that there would still be more "drop and run" types than "commentors". Fair enough. But I've yet to notice any real "bump" in the number of comments I get. Of course, of the two sites I have that are currently working with SW, one is a humor/general blog [probably hard to make comments about, except of the "you suck" or "you rock" variety], and an history blog about Niagara Falls daredevils [again, not too encouraging of comment, although a few people have tried. At any rate, the "rating" stars only show up on the original post, not the "comments". SW needs to fix this for Blogger-users ASAP].Anyone else want to write about their SW experience? Comment at the end of this, or at least leave a link to any posts you've run on the subject.

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Regular readers of these ramblings know I love toys. I'm talking about web-based or downloadable, FREE tools to create images for blogs. In fact, there's a link list for several of them already. Just scroll down the right-hand column until you get to the "Access To Tools" picture. Yes, it was created at one of our link sites. Today, courtesy of the fine folk at Despair.com via Regretful Morning, a program that helps you create parody versions of those "motivational posters" that so many offices and schools have displayed [usually, such posters don't bother me too much. But I always wondered why the "Effort" poster was located outside the Men's room, while the Ladies' room was marked by a poster entitled "Adventure"] Anyway, here's the link: [http://diy.despair.com/motivator.php].

That's all I've got...

-Mike Riley

Harry Houdini On Promoting Your Blog

...and I can already see a few of you in the back taking bets on whether I can use the career of the greatest magician who ever lived as a lesson to bloggers. Sucker bet, my friend, sucker bet. Of course I would not bring up an example that I hadn't already considered carefully [especially one dressed only in swim trunks and manacles].

(For the uninformed: Harry Houdini is believed by most experts to be the greatest magician of the 20th Century, and very likely the greatest of all time. Among other feats, Houdini
-made a live elephant disappear on stage,
-regularly accepted challenges to escape from specially-built
packing crates, handcuffs, and other restraints,
-popularized escaping from straitjackets - in full view of the
audience,
-escaped from many jail cells around the world while wearing only
swim trunks, and after being thoroughly searched [I'll tell
you why he did this momentarily].
The experts will tell you that there are magicians working today who can duplicate many, if not all, of Houdini's illusions. What made his performances memorable, however, cannot be duplicated: the skill with which he manipulated the audience into believing that he was doing exactly what he told them he was doing.)

All right, you know the whom of this presentation. Now here's the why.
In addition to his unarguable magic skills, Houdini worked hard on his promotions as well. Harry would frequently announce his presence in a city by escaping from the local jail, or freeing himself from a straitjacket while dangling from a 15- or 16-story building at the busiest intersection in town. He gave newspaper interviews on magic. He was one of the first performers to see the potential of doing radio appearances. Houdini frequently said that his stunts and [usually] unpaid radio and newspaper appearance got him more newspaper space, and thus more free advertising, than anyone else of his era.

O.K., I hear some of you saying; I can't escape from handcuffs, or from a glass box filled with water [two more Houdini feats]; how can I get free publicity like that? Well, if you blog at least semi-regularly, you probably have some skill you're reasonably knowledgeable about. Why not write an article for your local newspaper [or weekly tabloid] on what you know about? [Those weekly papers are usually more than happy to have someone provide some copy for free. And some of those papers even pay a token amount!] If you do, make sure you include your blog's web address somewhere in the piece. Call up your local radio station, and offer to talk about your interest for free. If your community's cable-tv system has a public-access channel, it's likely that one or more shows on the station are on the lookout for possible interview subjects. Sometimes you have to overcome shyness to get on those programs, but it's all just one more opportunity to get your message out. And, in that immortal lyric from The Hokey Pokey,
"That's what it's all about".

-Mike Riley