How to Find Blogs to Follow on Blogger

Unlike Tumblr or WordPress you can’t simply do a search for blogs or blog posts under the category of, say, photography. And the thing is, that’s exactly what you want to do. You want to be able to search for blogs or blog posts related to particular topics so you can read and follow them.

So, since Google won’t let us search Blogger for blogs and posts on differnet topics, how do you find blogs to follow on blogger?

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How to Sign Up for and Use Google AdSense

Before I get into any detail, I’ll quickly explain what Google AdSense is, for those of you who aren’t entirely sure. AdSense is a program from Google which allows you to display ads on your blog or website. Every time someone clicks on one of those adverts, some money is paid to Google by the advertiser. But if the ad is displayed on your site or blog, you’ll be paid a percentage of that money. This makes Google's AdSense program a great way to start making money online.

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The Walking Dead Season 3 - Trailer

The trailer for AMC's "The Walking Dead" Season 3. It actually looks great. I'm especially happy that it looks like this season will focus much more on the dangers posed by other survivors, who are probably a bigger threat than walkers in the long run.

The first episode airs in October. I can't wait.

Best Reviewer - Make Money Listing Things You Like

http://www.squidoo.com/best_reviewer

I'm going to tell you about a site called BestReviewer.com
This is a pretty cool site to try out if you feel like making a little money online.

The basic idea behind the site is to build lists called "tops". These are just lists of things you believe are good. For example: the 5 best phones; the top 7 Twitter accounts; or your top 10 favourite songs. In essence, you list your favourite things. How easy is that?

Okay, I mentioned making money. This is remarkably simple; what you have to do is sign up for a Google Adsense account (which is free), and once you're account is approved, you'll be able to display ads beside your "tops". You can also display Adsense adverts on your blog or website.

To learn more how to set up and use Google AdSense, read this.

And you should; every time someone clicks on one of your adverts, you get a bit of money. What's nice about Best Reviewer is that you get 100% of the money from clicks, whereas most sites pay you roughly half and Google gets the other 50%. Create more tops, and you'll get more traffic. And more traffic means more money to be made from ads. It's not even that difficult; if you care enough to make a list, you can be sure there are people on the web looking for it.

If you want to try it, click here to sign up to Best Reviewer and start making some extra money from listing the things you like.

The Cure for Writer's Block - 750words.com

There’s really nothing worse than writer’s block. Well, there are worse things, but there’s probably nothing quite so frustrating. Unfortunately, the only way to “cure” writer’s block is – funnily enough – to write. But how on Earth do you write when you don’t have anything to write about? It’s a pickle, no doubt about it.

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SEO - Blogger Vs. WordPress

Which is best for SEO and How Does Self-Hosting Fit Into the Equation?

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5 Handy Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

There are plenty of little tasks you do regularly on the computer and the each take a little time. And when you add them all up, they take up a lot of time indeed. Not to mention the fact that fiddling around with a mouse can be pretty frustrating when you're doing the same thing over and over. To make things easier and quicker, try using these useful keyboard shortcuts.

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Comic Sans and Kardashians

For those of you who use Google Chrome, I have a couple of very clever extensions you might want to download. 

The first is called Comic Sans Surfing. It turns all text on the web into - you guessed it - Comic Sans. This would be quite fun to try out, don't you think? Even better, install it on your friend's computer while they're in the other room, rather being boring and just fraping them.

The second extension is one you might actually want to use all the time. It's called Kardashian Blocker. This one also does pretty much what it says on the tin; it blocks websites which are “known for hiring the Kardashians to sell or market products. It will also block media websites including TMZ and E! for spreading Kardashian friendly propaganda under the disguise of news.” How about having that on your internet, eh?

How to Legally Download YouTube Videos

There are a number of programs and services out there that allow you to download YouTube videos. Not all of them are legal, most of them are complicated and slow. Thankfully, there is a better way.

Steps:

1. If you’re not already using it, download and install the Google Chrome web browser.
2. Visit the Chrome Web Store.
3. Search for: YouTube Downloader: MP3 / HD Video.
4. Click "Add to Chrome."
5. Go to YouTube and watch any video. You’ll notice a download button has been added below the video. Clicking this will allow you to download the the video with various levels of quality and in different formats. The number of options depends on the video; if it only streams in 240p quality, you won’t be able to download it in 360p quality or higher.

N.B. This extension previously allowed users to download the video’s sound as an mp3 file, though Google has now put a stop to this. However, the creator of the extension set up a petition here– which has garnered over 900,000 signatures at the time of writing– and is now meeting Google to discuss the matter.

Google, Let Us Find Blogs. Please.

I'm just going to put it out there that Google really needs to add feature to find posts and blogs hosted on Blogger. Right now, the only ways to search for blogs on specific topics are as follows:

1. To use Tumblr or WordPress to search for specific tags along with Blogger or Google. And then follow the links to blogs. And then copy the URL's to the Reading List. 
2. To search for them using Google itself. As with the previous method, this is a little complicated and clumsy. Say you wanted to find blogs about photography. This is what you'd type: photography site:blogspot.com

And these would be the results:

I should make one thing clear: that's pathetic. Google, you need to do 2 things. The first is to give us a search box that we can use to find posts/blogs from labels and keyword searches. The second, is to stick a follow/unfollow button at the top of every blog (just like Tumblogs) so we can stop messing around with copying and pasting URL's.

Tumblr and WordPress make it easy to search for posts or blogs on any subject you like. The fact that Blogger doesn't is a major failing. I hope this isn't an oversight on Google's part and that they are, in fact, creating a solution. But until one arrives, this great blogging service still has one enormous flaw.

Cutting

The sad thing is, a bunch of people apparently agree with this.

Divorce Lawyers

The current G+ mobile app

It's damn good. It actually makes me want to use Google+ just for the hell of it. It looks so elegant. I mean, it's probably the sharpest looking mobile app around, certainly within the social media bunch. And it works very nicely too; none of the annoying lagging in the Facebook mobile app.

If you use Google+ there's no reason not to download this app. Of course, there's no reason to use Google+ but, hey, who am I to tell you what to do?

I could be wrong but...

There seem to be a lot more openly gay people in Tel-Aviv than at home. I'd love to know whether it's just a numbers thing? Or if society here is maybe more accepting, so it's a little more apparent? Israel is a relatively young country after all, only 70 or so. Britain, on the other hand, is ...well, I don't know how old it is exactly, but it's pretty damn old. Whatever. I just find the difference interesting.

Lockheed SR 71 "Blackbird"

"Let's outrun a missile today."

30 Minutes Free Wi-Fi

Saw this at a Premier Inn. It's funny. It's cute. It's brilliant.

Look fair and square at the world

"We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world — its good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness; see the world as it is and be not afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men. When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible and not worthy of self-respecting human beings.

We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create."

Bertrand Russel

Sheldon is Sad

One empathises.

Don't You Wonder

‘A thousand years ago we thought the world was a bowl,’ he said. ‘Five hundred years ago we knew it was a globe. Today we know it is flat and round and carried through space on the back of a turtle.’ He turned and gave the High Priest another smile. ‘Don’t you wonder what shape it will turn out to be tomorrow?’

Lord Vetinari, Terry Pratchett's "The Truth"

"Science is a match..."

"Science is a match that man has just got alight. He thought he was in a room - in moments of devotion, a temple - and that his light would be reflected from and display the walls inscribed with wonderful secrets and pillars carved with philosophical systems wrought into harmony. It is a curious sensation, now that the preliminary splutter is over and the flame burns up clear, to see his hands lit and just a glimpse of himself and the patch he stands on visible, and around him, in place of all that human comfort and beauty he anticipated - darkness still."

H.G. Wells, "The Rediscovery of The Unique"

Amy Farrah Fowler on The Doctor

"For someone who has a machine that can travel anywhere in time and space, Doctor Who sure does have a thing for modern-day London."

True Terror

"True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country."

The Road Not Taken

This isn't my favourite poem ever, but it's definitely up there.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood 

And looked down one as far as I could 

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 

And having perhaps the better claim 

Because it was grassy and wanted wear, 

Though as for that the passing there 

Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 

In leaves no step had trodden black. 

Oh, I marked the first for another day! 

Yet knowing how way leads on to way 

I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 

Somewhere ages and ages hence: 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - 

I took the one less travelled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

StumbleUpon

Hear ye, hear ye, I've got some advice for you. StumbleUpon. You might have heard of it, but you probably haven't tried it. Please, do so.

In case you're not totally sure what StumbleUpon is about, let me explain. It's a way of searching the web - or rather, a huge catalog of web pages about a bunch of different topics. You can search by topic, or by all categories, and you'll be taken to web pages selected at random. When you're taken to a page, you can like or dislike it, and this will help the system find better, more relevant pages for you. If you happen to find a cool website or useful article while surfing the web, you can add it to StumbleUpon's catalog so other people can stumble across it in the future. It's a great way to find loads of amazing things without any effort. 

If you use Google Chrome, I recommend you take a look at the Chrome Web Store and download the StumbleUpon extension. I'd say it's the easiest way of doing things. My previous post, "Set Your Sights", is about a brilliant video which I would never have found if hadn't been for StumbleUpon. Check it out. If you like it try StumbleUpon for more cool stuff like it. If you don't, try it anyway for completely different cool stuff.

Set Your Sights

Just thought I'd share this video, 'cause it's pretty cool. If you'd like to know, the song in the background is "Wolves" by The Good Natured. Enjoy.

The First Sign of Madness

Talking to yourself is probably the only way to be sure of getting an intelligent conversation.