Blogo: Not Ready for Prime Time
*Article Updated* 
When I heard about Blogo, I could barely contain my excitement. A blog editor just for the Mac that had full screen editing, full WYSIWYG control, multiple blog management, image resizing, Twitter integration and simple previews.
I could barely contain myself. When I raced to download the application for my 21-day trial I practically had my credit card in my hand. I almost bought my copy outright but stopped myself to give the software a try. I’m very glad that I did.
Though Blogo certainly has a lot going for it, advanced bloggers are going to want to keep away. It’s feature set is just to limited for people that require advanced manipulation of text and even basic posts are more difficult to post in Blogo than they are in the WordPress or TypePad editing panel.
However, those are the problems that can be fixed, there are other problems that seem to be a bit deeper into the development culture of the product. Read more
Google, Prostitution and Paid Links
When is it against the rules to sell something that you can give away for free? When you’re dealing with sex or links.
This is the kind of hypocrisy that has always smacked me. If I can do something legally of my own free will, the reason that I choose to do it should be of no one’s interest. It doesn’t matter if the “police” are the actual vice squad or simply Google’s spider.
Yet, it does matter and very much. In the real world, at least in the U.S., being or seeing a prostitute can land you in jail and, likewise, selling your PageRank can result in a giant PageSpank.
Though I don’t think paid linking is “right”, there is a certain element here that has me worried as Google has created a whole economy around linking. Before Google, people just linked to help others find information. However, Google recognized that turned it into a search algorithm that remains the best available. Along the way though, linking took on a new significance, one that Google has done little to discourage.
But with that significance and Google’s rise to prominence commercial value became applicable to links. More links meant higher search engine rankings and those meant more customers. Google, understandably, thought this could hurt their search engine so they’ve been declaring an open war on paid linking, reducing or banning sites that participate in it and casting a dragnet that has caught many legitimate Webmasters.
The problem is that this is Google’s own monster, one created by their system. They hitched their wagon to a flawed factor of determining page value and, by becoming as popular as they did, ruined it.
Now, Google is trying to control it and doing it in a way that punishes people that try and profit from the system they created. Though Google is quick to say that they are not trying to tell people what to do with their site, they know full and well that, for a site to survive, they have to bow before the Google Gods. But they are an angry and vengeful God, even when they created the playing field. Read more
5 Steps to Fixing Opera
Somewhere between the sleek look and simple stylings of Safari and the open source can-do-anything-but-make-you-breakfast feel of Firefox, there exists another browser. Opera.
Opera is the almost forgotten brother of the browser war. Though Internet Explorer seems to be the “successful for no good reason” sibling that the others despise and direct their anger toward, Opera is the one sitting in the corner, reading a book and struggling to make friends.
But Opera’s lack of social skills is to be expected. Though the browser has done reasonably well in both the embeddable and the mobile market its desktop application has faltered, unable to gain any real momentum.
The reason is that, much like myself in high school, the browser has spent too much time hitting the books and not enough time learning how to deal with people. The Internet has moved forward and left Opera behind and, if it is going to catch up, it needs to start studying a very different book, the book of real life.
In the meantime, here are five things that, if Opera were to fix, I would seriously consider using their browser full-time. Read more
How Google Screws Paying Customers
If you use Gmail, this was a banner week for you. For the first time in years, you can now skin your Gmail without the need to use plugins, extensions or CSS hacks. This is a feature that I have been craving for months, nay, years.
While I’ve appreciated the efforts of amateur coders and some were able to create some cool themes for Gmail, they were always unreliable, especially as Gmail updated its interface, and the selection was always weak. So, news that Google had launched not one, but 30 plus new themes for its mail service had me, and others like me, dancing in the street.
But alas, my dancing was short-lived. When I logged into my Gmail account, it was not there. Even now, after nearly two days, the option is still not there. My wife is tempting me with her shiny new theme and most of my friends have theirs, but I am alone.
The reason is that I am a Google Apps user. Though I don’t pay for my Google Apps account, many of my friends do and they too are without themes, as well as Labs and other popular Gmail features.
We Google Apps users are getting a raw deal. Whether we are paid or unpaid, we are more intimately tied to Google than most Gmail users and we are getting an inferior product to those that just signed up for a @gmail.com account.
This is no way to treat your customer and is an excellent example of why Google should never, ever, get in the business of customer service. They simply have no clue what they are doing. Read more
My Top 5 Facebook Annoyances
I have to say, after using Facebook for a few weeks, the site has really grown on me. As a Myspace refugee, it seems to me that Facebook manages to be both more mature and lower drama than Myspace.
The inevitable conclusion I’ve reached is that, if you’re not a musician or under the age of sixteen, Myspace doesn’t have a lot for you. Facebook lets you make connections without going through all of the B.S. It’s a nice way to keep in touch without getting drowned in drama.
However, this is not to say that Facebook is perfect, far from it. Though I don’t hate the new layout, I’ve still managed to find a lot of things that annoy me endlessly.
So, before I go bald ripping my hair out, here are my top five Facebook annoyances in order of the number of “facepalms” they’ve caused. Read more
Next Automattic Buy: Too Lijit to Quit
WordPress search sucks. There’s no nice way to put that. If you’re using running WordPress and are using the default search engine, your visitors would likely find it faster to get the information they need with a bus ticket to your house.
Though most of the platform is great, the search has always been the pits. Unfortunately, even as media handling, plugin installation and other features have grown up and become big boy tools, WordPress search has remained as daft as a speak and spell.
However, Automattic has this nice habit of buying up companies that fix their own weaknesses. Need blogger profiles? Buy Gravatar. Commenting system sucks? Buy Intense Debate.
So, in that spirit, I’d like to suggest their next big purchase. Lijit.
It seems simple enough to me. WordPress search stinks, there’s no easy way to fix it, Lijit solved the problem for Automattic and is making a tidy sum doing it.
The pairing seems natural to me at least. But I could be wrong… Read more
The New Facebook Design: Not THAT Bad
It appears, by all accounts, that I chose a really bad time to set up my new Facebook profile. After unofficially boycotting the site for several years, it appears I signed up just in time to be thrown into a civil war over the new Facebook design.
However, as strange as it may sound. I actually got to use both designs and, frankly, I don’t see what all of the excitement is about. Sure, the new layout is different, but it really isn’t THAT bad.
I think a lot of Facebook users need to calm down and think about this a bit more logically. I admit it is a jarring transition and that any change comes with a little bit of pain.
But is it possible that Facebook users are over-reacting, just a tiny bit? Seriously, let’s take a moment to put this in perspective. Read more
