16 December 2002

Weblog Metrics: 'bots redux GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- I have set aside way too much time to perform a line analysis of a single day's record of Web traffic to my blog. I've documented how updating this blog triggers a half dozen different spiders into trawling its index page. All prominent aggregators make XML-RPC calls to Weblogs.com and other aggregators get told by Radio that there's been an update. If your blogging tool does not have XML-RPC ping capability, it won't tell major spiders that it's been updated. No XML-RPC ping, no indexing. The biggest Blogging tool (Blogger) does not have a list of recently updated weblogs. Tha means no indexing for the search engine content. [Chris Gulker and Kiruba Shankar]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Blogging for the Underemployed INDEPENDENT co uk -- Among other things, Chris Gulker wonders if there's "a correlation between the meteoric rise of blogging, the practice of keeping a frequently-updated online journal, and the rise of unemployment in Silicon Valley and other tech corridors. When you're not working, you don't have to worry about the boss objecting to you working on a blog." [London Independent and Chris Gulker]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Year in Ideas NYT -- Have a look at the New York Times Year in Ideas review of the year that was 2002. Jenny Levine thinks "it's a fascinating read, littered with technology highlights we'll look back on fondly some day. Image from The New York Times. Click to expand. [The Shifted Librarian and What Irish Visionaries See]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Open Source Web Designs OSWD org -- Open Source Web Designs are freely-usable page layouts and graphics styles, suitable for a range of sites. You can select designs according to whether they meet W3 guidelines. [Column Two and Jenny Levine]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Blogging with K-Logs Improves Listening HALMACOMBER -- A lot of the mis-coordination on projects is the result of project participants not listening. Broken signals increase the uncertainty on projects. Actually, k-logs can help projects fail fast. Reading the k-logs of the people on the team (or perhaps a consolidated feed built from their individual feeds) is a key aspect of how you understand what is happening on the project, how you can tell if it is failing and understand the issues [Hal Macomber and Phil Wolff and Matt Mower]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Googleopoly Challenges WIRED -- Both Wired and Newsweek have stories about Google this week. Wired's long feature talks about Google's moral divining rod, personified by founder Sergey Brin. Brin trys to follow the engineer's ethos, which Google's mission statement sums up as "Don't be evil." He's faced with new challenges from governments, religions and overly litigous entrepreneurs are all trying to influence Google's activities. As Cory Doctorow notes, Google really has become a critical piece of the Internet's infrastructure. [Wired and Newsweek and Slashdot and Cory Doctorow]   [Comment on Shoptalk]