DISQUS

Heck no what they did on Yahoo! Answers doesn't fall under free speech; that's clearly libel. I was referencing the WP.com blog that's up right now (there's nothing libelous up there yet, but I do feel, if previous events repeat themselves, there will be). That's basically why I suggested having a lawyer send a C&D to remove the offending blog from WP.com pages before it gets out of hand.

Unfortunately, WP.com hasn't been quick to remove blogs that aren't deemed splogs and which don't overtly break their ToS without some strong arming from legal teams and even then, it's hit or miss. (This conclusion is drawn from previous scenarios.)

Frankly, from a personal stand point, I do believe Automattic needs to remove the blog before things get out of hand. Do I think it will actually happen without some divine intervention? Let's just say I'm not holding my breath. :/

Unfortunately, although it's obviously distasteful, this may fall squarely under free speech since he hasn't actually said anything overtly negative against you yet.

You may need to get a lawyer to send Automattic a notice, since it's only a matter of time before he breaches that fine line of free speech and libel (in my non-legal opinion) That would certainly get Automattic's attention.

It's a shame you have to go through this. Some people simply have far too much time on their hands and have no idea what to do with themselves.

I hear you Vlad. It irks me to find out through other means when a program is being phased out, which is why I try to communicate with my affiliates.

On the flip side, however, e-mail is unreliable. An affiliate network not communicating with their affiliates and their affiliates not receiving that communication are two entirely different things. E-mail fails; cyberspace eats it up or it gets filtered as spam or the ISP is down.

It's always a good idea, on the affiliate's part, to sign up for blog updates and notifications along with anticipating e-mails. (If the network doesn't even have that, then that's a completely different story. LOL)

~ Teli

I also wanted to add, Vlad, that if this change is of enough concern to you, you may want to consider following Loren's instructions for getting Google to reconsider -- that's if you weren't selling links, of course. ;)

On another note, your comment spam plugin may be affecting your site's rendering after a comment is submitted. The last time around, I received a page filled with your site's HTML code (took a quick screen shot if you need it, just e-mail me).

~ Teli

I also wanted to add, Vlad, that if this change is of enough concern to you, you may want to consider following Loren's instructions for getting Google to reconsider -- that's if you weren't selling links, of course. ;)

On another note, your comment spam plugin may be affecting your site's rendering after a comment is submitted. The last time around, I received a page filled with your site's HTML code (took a quick screen shot if you need it, just e-mail me).

~ Teli

Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you’ll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I’ve never seen them do.

Not necessarily so, Jeff.

You're correct that one shouldn't take too much stock in the green bar they see in their browser, but Google does fluctuate and the lowest number isn't always the final number.

Take Copyblogger for intance; although Brian's PR dipped down to 4, his final PR is 7 although it fluctuated between 4 and 7 for days. 4 was his new number, but it wasn't his final number.

If you truly want to see what your future/final pagerank will be, have a look at the PR Digger site that Brian linked out to. It gives you an general overview of what numbers the datacenters are giving off and you can guess your final number by looking at what the majority of them are saying.

In Vlad's case, it looks like you may be heading into a PR2 direction, though I must admit, I didn't take the time to count them.

~ Teli

Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you’ll get… So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I’ve never seen them do.

Not necessarily so, Jeff.

You're correct that one shouldn't take too much stock in the green bar they see in their browser, but Google does fluctuate and the lowest number isn't always the final number.

Take Copyblogger for intance; although Brian's PR dipped down to 4, his final PR is 7 although it fluctuated between 4 and 7 for days. 4 was his new number, but it wasn't his final number.

If you truly want to see what your future/final pagerank will be, have a look at the PR Digger site that Brian linked out to. It gives you an general overview of what numbers the datacenters are giving off and you can guess your final number by looking at what the majority of them are saying.

In Vlad's case, it looks like you may be heading into a PR2 direction, though I must admit, I didn't take the time to count them.

~ Teli

First of all, to ask people to stop linking to you is in a way saying that your site is dependent solely on Google's will.

People tend to forget that it's not necessarily about PageRank, but it's about your "traffic" rank (to invent a word). If the people who link to you do so with good intentions, then let those links be.

What truly matters are the people they are sending to read the valuable content you have here.

Keep providing good content, helping people, and everything should sort itself out in time. Nothing is carved in stone yet, and until your Google rankings and traffic start dropping, it's nothing to worry about really.

Just my 2 cents. ;)

~ Teli

First of all, to ask people to stop linking to you is in a way saying that your site is dependent solely on Google's will.

People tend to forget that it's not necessarily about PageRank, but it's about your "traffic" rank (to invent a word). If the people who link to you do so with good intentions, then let those links be.

What truly matters are the people they are sending to read the valuable content you have here.

Keep providing good content, helping people, and everything should sort itself out in time. Nothing is carved in stone yet, and until your Google rankings and traffic start dropping, it's nothing to worry about really.

Just my 2 cents. ;)

~ Teli

Where are our heroes? Well, when you look in the mirror, you're looking at one.

We need to be our own heroes. Everything starts with the individual and as more join in, it snowballs.

Not to veer too far off topic, but for explanation's sake, take the environmental issue. I cannot force anyone to do their share, but I can try to lead by example.

I make sure to recycle, carry a Green Bag whenever I go shopping, and am mindful of what I "put out" into the world. My sister constantly teases me about it, but I make sure to do what I believe is right and hope it inspires others -- that's really all we can do.

I read the article and it certainly incited anger within me. Although I can't fly out to New Orleans and help rebuild the city, I certainly can (and have) donate to the cause, nudge others and hope my "little bit" helps. As more people do the same, the snowball effect happens, or at least, that's my hope.

Thanks for not letting this topic fall into the dark abyss of "the back of the mind".

~ Teli

Incidentally you do not have to register to comment - in fact, I’m not even sure what the point of registration is. I’d turn it off if I could figure out how.

Options=>General

Scroll down to the "Memebership" section and remove the check mark next to "Anyone can register". Click "Update Options" and you're good to go.

Hope it helps.

~ Teli

Incidentally you do not have to register to comment - in fact, I’m not even sure what the point of registration is. I’d turn it off if I could figure out how.

Options=>General

Scroll down to the "Memebership" section and remove the check mark next to "Anyone can register". Click "Update Options" and you're good to go.

Hope it helps.

~ Teli

Well, there's also a new service called Buy Blog Comments that actually sells comment outsourcing services, so the comment you received may or may not be a result of that.

The reason I think it may have been a spin-off, but possibly inspired by the service, is because I received the exact same comment that you did -- word for word -- and BBC is all about "unique" comments. However, it is something else to be wary of when going through the comments that bypass Akismet or your other spam filters.

Just a head's up.

~ Teli

That's a mighty long list, but useful nonetheless.
:)

Not that you actually *need* to make the list longer, it seems that Newzie (http://newzie.com/) has been overlooked though -- it's a feed reader for Windows.

I'm not affiliated with them, however, I've used the software and its pretty good for organizing and managing news feeds.

Right now, it's marked beta, but it's been stable for me.

~ Teli

If something catches my attention, I link. But, I'll admit that I've been guilty of linking for more than a few of those reasons listed.

Sometimes it's difficult to find content or anything link worthy outside of your small circle of friends because that small circle of friends is all we know.

Maybe it's time to do a "spread the link love" game where we all link to some new blog that we've never heard of before...just because. :)

~ Teli

This reminds me of referrer spam; it serves no useful purpose except to aggravate the website owner and separate fools from their money.

My blogs have been trackback spammed for quite a while now, but none actually makes it through. For my OptiNiche blog, I actually enable trackbacks selectively on certain posts -- that combined with moderations, plus Akismet traps them all before they see the light of day.

As already mentioned, the only reason these people do it is because of the 1% rule. Basically, it will make it through on 1% of the blogs and these spammers don't really care that these blogs are worthless or have no traffic, they just want the back link.

It's a sad state of affairs, but bloggers do need to be ever vigilant.

~ Teli

It would be unethical, in my opinion, if it started listing information not publicly available about you and your website. This is very much possible since it allows people to edit any website's information.

Scenario: John B. Average becomes miffed with Jane B. Average (his competition) and decides to post all of her private information on the site. Jane B. Average has no idea this site exists, but starts wondering why strange people are e-mailing her, calling her, or even driving by her home. See where I'm going with this?

As is stands now, I don't believe AboutUs.org is unethical, but I don't care for it.

It's not a registrar or whois look-up service; the owner should give website owners the ability to opt-out of appearing in the list. Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and even The Internet Archives give webmasters a way to opt-out of their directories, and so should AboutUs.org.

My 2 cents.

~ Teli

And you most certainly have them Judi. May angels be with you and your family.

As the victim of credit card fraud recently - they got my numbers because my new credit card was sent out in the mail at the wrong time - and I'm still doing damage control because of it. Luckily I caught it early on.

It's sad the lengths people go to in order to steal. It's sickening...

Judi, I see your point and agree with it. Wendy, I also see your point and agree with it. To say I have no religion would be stretching it, however, I'm more spiritual than religious.

When I was younger, I attended the Jewish Community Center with my friends - many of which were Jewish and one of my really good friends (Yani) would invite me over for some of their holidays - I remember, his mom even gave me a gift on Chanukah which I still have to this day...it was that special to me.

I didn't look at it so much as - seperating our two religions (my household was Christian), it was more of a sharing of our religions.

I appreciated learning about the history of Chanukah, why it's celebrated, the menorah (sp?), dreidel and all the wonderful songs from friends and in school - which I still admittedly sing :) - learning about other religions and cultures through school and friends was one of the most enriching experiences I've ever had and only hope that my future children would get to experience that as well.

Christmas, for all intents and purposes as it is portrayed in the stores is commercialized...I still don't understand what Santa Claus or Pine Trees really have to do with Jesus being born in a manger on the 25th of December. In my opinion, it's simply a way to legitimize the holiday as being "non-religious" and a way for companies to commercialize and profit from it.

Trying not to be ignorant here - but once the companies can learn to monetize from Chanukah the same way as they can with Santa Claus, et al - then Chanukah will become "more main stream".

But to make my point (I think I have one) and not take up too much space on your blog - you are right that religion should be somewhat seperated, however, it is something I believe we should all learn about. Ignorance does not breed tolerance. Not everyone has a diverse community and I was blessed in that sense. I was able to learn about other cultures/people first hand - not everyone is so privileged.

Going back to history - look at the foundational roots of this nation - mainly Christian/Catholic...while true seperation of church and state would be a lovely concept, it's still one that would be "foundationally" hard to implement (as I'm sure many have witnessed).

It really does all boil down to the individual, their level of tolerance, and their openmindedness.

Just my 2 bits...

ROFL - you know - I'm to the point where I can't even throw away my Gmail invitations (they just keep giving me more)! Maybe there is some other super secret exclusive Gmail beta that we don't know about, hmmmm.That is funny :)

Or you can go with the motherload of tab customization :)Tabbed Browser Extension

Hope that helps someone out there :)

Some kind soul read my request on the MyFonts site and took the time to make it a font! I'm not going to name names

That is amazing, it's still wonderful to know that there are still amazingly kind people in this world who are willing to help. And whomever you are, do good things and good things happen - don't stop doing good :)...

This sounds like an interesting project, I know it will come out smashing Judi

Hi Judi,
I was having such a cruddy morning until I came by your blog and this story is a hoot! Thanks for the smile :)...

"emotional over leaves" ROFL

Judi,
I used the same word on my blog (scary) and for many of the same reasons...you've put so eloquently into words what I've been trying to say all along...I completely agree with the statement "a leader's faith should be his guide."

For some odd reason, I keep thinking about history class and how America "came into being" in the first place when I think about this election...