My Picks for the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008

I was not able to make an entry during last year's Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs writing project. Fortunately, Janette Toral has decided to come up with The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008. The writing project is supposed to identify "influential" blogs that were created not earlier than July 1, 2007. While it may be quite challenging to identify blogs that are "gradually gaining influence", I am identifying my choice of Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008 based on the following parameters:

1. Influential blogs are blogs that have the ability to start a "movement". I should have included Macuha.com in my list for his pinay scandal movement but his blog was started somewhere in January 2007.

2. Influential blogs are blogs that are able to convert considerable number of visitors into readers. People won't subscribe to your blog if they do not like or need what you post right?

3. Influential blogs are blogs that make people do what you advocate for and write in your blog. Filipinaimages.com should be in my list but the blog was created in June 2007 (just a month earlier).

-- I have to agree with Quezon.ph that the criteria of "influential" differ from one person to another. My perception of influential blogs may be different from other bloggers who participate in this contest. I hope though that more participants to this writing project will be able to to at least show some criteria as to how they come up with their list of the ten emerging influential blogs.

Here is my partial list of my entries for the The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008. Hopefully I will have this finished this week.

1. prcboardexamresults.com. This website is surely helpful to bar and board exam takers given that the PRC website is always down. Nevertheless, what makes this site influential is the fact that it has gained leadership among Philippine blogs that cover PRC board exam results. As for its readers, the site has gained more than 13,000 subscribers since its creation in September 2007. (Updated May 8, 2008: I am deleting this entry. The reason? I just asked myself how a website that shows PRC results can influence the way people think and act. I have also realized that being a leader does not necessarily mean influential. I am calling this site as outstanding but not necessarily influential).

21. Blog ni Inday. The site is primarily a humor blog that "gathers and shares Inday jokes found online and from SMS messages". What makes this humor blog influential is that it inevitably establishes a new genre of Filipino jokes similar to the Erap Jokes a few years back and institutionalizes these "jokes" by publishing them in a new communication medium, blogging.

2. Filipino Voices.

Update: June 12

Geez, I really find it more difficult to finish my entries. Most of the influential blogs are not "new" enough.

3. Davao Food Huntress. When does a blog on food and dining become influential? I guess it is when people become used to checking it out to know where it is best to spend one's money when eating out :-) I love food and I always check this blog to know where it is best to eat in Davao City. Looking at the number of comments on each of this blog's postS, I can say that there are lots of people who do just as I do. The first post of Davao food huntress is dated August 6. So I guess, this blog qualifies for the top ten emerging influential blogs.

wpthemedesigner.com At last, a Filipino WP theme designer!!!!

4. Mar Roxas for President in 2010. Let me give a personal political statement: I am NOT voting for Mar Roxas in 2010 (unless maybe he stops spending excessive money promoting his candidacy). Nevertheless, I am voting for the Mar Roxas for President in 2010 for the top 10 emerging influential blogs in 2008. Why? Realistically, more Filipinos are likely to vote for Roxas and they would be getting much info about him and his candidacy in this blog.

5. Ready to be Rich.  I am tired of seeing the keyword "make money online" in money related blogs where bloggers usually write about blog monetization and even SEO. Fitz Villafuerte's website is a relief from this as he does not only cater to those interested in blogging but also in giving money making and saving tips to the non web savvy individuals. His blog can potentially instill financial innovation among his readers.

Updated July 6, 2008

6. Fritzified A blog from a really good photo enthusiast! I hope Fritzified will feature more of his photos and make some of them available for other bloggers to use for free :-). We need more Filipino themed photos in our blogs!

7. Sino sila A watch dog of bloggers? Hmmmm.. this site may be visited by more and more "guilty" bloggers in the near future.

8. Project Vanity I guess it is time a pinay gives fashion and beauty tips for fellow pinays. At least most of the products featured in this blog is available locally, I do not have to spend a fortune buying from ebay.com to look and feel better :-)

9. Wifelysteps Moms and wives are the future of the Philippine blogosphere besides reading this blog reminds me that being a wife and mother is cool.

jlozada.com I am voting for this blog for the same reason that I voted for Mar Roxas blog.

10. Online Job Workers Honestly, I am running out of blogs to vote for hahaha so I am nominating my blog. Will this blog be influential too? Hopefully more people will soon visit this blog to learn where they can get legit online jobs. I hope the blog will be influential enough to change people's online earnings and lives.

July 29, 2008

At last I got my 10 picks!

Wordpress Upgrade Horror: Automatic Upgrade Plugin Won't Work

I finally decided to upgrade my WP 2.1 blog to the newer version of wordpress last week because of the "security vulnerabilities" of the older version. Excessive bandwidth usage in two of my blogs also prompted me to decide to upgrade.

I upgraded my personal blog Rhodilee dot com using the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade Plugin without having any trouble at all. Unfortunately, the plugin won't work in my other blogs including this blog and my niche blog Online Job Workers.

So what do you do when the wordpress automatic upgrade plugin does not also work with your blog? Here are some suggestions:

1. Use another wordpress upgrade plugin. The instant upgrade plugin for wordpress is another plugin that does the same thing as the wordpress automatic upgrade plugin. Nevertheless, wordpress users who installed their blogs via fantastico (such as in my case) will not be able to use it.

2. Upgrade via fantastico. I considered upgrading my site via fantastico hoping the upgrade will be as easy as installing a wordpress blog. Unfortunately, I was neither able to upgrade using fantastico because upgrade to wordpress 2.5 and 2.5.1 is not yet available due to "bug fixing and testing", according to my hosting provider. Nevertheless, here is a good tutorial on How To Upgrade Wordpress 2.3.x+ Via Fantastico.

3. Upgrade your blog using Filezilla. Wordpress actually recommends the use of filezilla to manage a wordpress site and using filezilla to upgrade to wordpress 2.5 or 2.5.1 may be a good option that you have if you can't automate your upgrade. To upgrade using filezilla, download the filezilla client and read this article: Upgrade WordPress Guide How To Upgrade WordPress. If you are stuck on how to upload and download files using filezilla, read this post.

I was able to upgrade my sites using filezilla.

Downloading Youtube Videos

Videos posted on youtube takes some time to load. This especially applies to popular videos and highly seached videos like "mririan" that may be too slow to buffer. This might be the reason why many people are looking for ways to watch youtube videos more conveniently in their computer by searching for a free youtube downloader online. There are also copyrighted videos that are uploaded but will inevitably be deleted in the video sharing website so many find it convenient to download the youtube video while it is still available.

How to download youtube videos
Fortunately, there are youtube downloading softwares that claim to make it easier to download videos from youtube. A free software from Biennesoft, for example, allows users to download from sites like youtube and use this as a convert the video to whatever format they like. This youtube converter can then convert the videos into formats compatible with iPhone, iPod and similar devices. Youtube downloading sites like downloadyoutubevideos.com, on the other hand, merely requires the url of the video and provides a downlink to saving your file. It however requires that you have an installed FLV video player to save youtube videos.

If you are a voracious youtube or zootube video downloader though, your computer might need more Memory to store all your video contents.

File Attachments Spammers Use to Infiltrate Your Inbox

Because more and more people have already become aware of spam mails sent as plain text such as the 419 spam mail, spammers now use different tactics to pass through spam email blockers and antivirus anti spam softwares. Some of these spam messages are so cleverly structured free anti spam programs may not be able to block them.

So how do spammers manage to get through free email spam blockers, fre anti-virus software and free spam blocker softwares? They send spam through email attachments. The following are four types of attachment spam you may receive in your inbox. Read through and you might just realize the last attachment you opened today actually came from a spammer:

1. Photo and Image files. Image spam is effective in circumventing free spam filter because image spams may be considered merely as images by email client softwares. This perhaps explains why you may still receive emails with images that sell watch replicas and online pharmacy products regardless of your spam email blockers. How to get rid of this type of spam? Do not read email messages with images that come from people you do not know.

2. PDF files. Another type of spam that many email anti spam programs may not be able to filter is Pdf spam. Make sure that you check out who your mail sender is when you receive PDF files especially if you are the type who always receive PDF files in your mailbox. PDF spam is a spam threat that is considered as a development out of image spams.

3. Excel Files. Business people who often use excel program are most at risk of opening spam emails with excel files. With the advent of spammers using excel files as attachment, security experts also say that spammers may also inevitably use powerpoint and word documents as spam attachments. Understanding and combating spam messages that use excel files and other attachments can be read at the GFI software white paper on "Attachment spam-the latest trend".

4. Zip files. Zip files are usually used when downloading and sharing files in the internet. People also use zip files to make it easier and faster to send bulky data over email. Unfortunately, spammers are also using zip files to make it similarly easier and faster to spam mailboxes. According to SC magazine, spam mails that contain zip files usually use the following or a variety of these words: Invoice and document; alert, invitation and notice. Watch out for these words especially when opening emails with zip files that come from unknown sources.

Where to Find and Buy a Wii

There is currently a shortage of Wii specifically in US and UK. Nintendo has in fact removed its ads in the UK because of the wii shortage. People here in the Philippines is luckier though because it is much easier to find a Wii. I was scouring ebay.ph yesterday when I saw somebody selling a brand new Nintendo wii and nobody has bid on the PHP 21,000.00 (504.444 USD) game console yet.

I checked ebay.com and there sure are available Nintendo Wii Game consoles  but looking at the number of bids (10-30 bids on ending soon items), a Wii that has been bought from ebay.com is sure to be very expensive.

4 Ways to Protect Your Email from Spammers

There are so called email harvesters that glean the internet for email addresses. Once, your email is "harvested", then expect spammers to spam your mailbox with anything from free download indian and pakistani scandal clips to phishing email messages. While it helps that the two popular webmails gmail and yahoo have built in spam blockers, it is inevitable that phishing and hoax mails can get through your inbox.

So how do your protect your email address from spammers and email harvesters?

1. Avoid exposing your email address. The best way to protect your email address from spammers is to avoid displaying your email address especially in your blogs or websites but in case you feel obliged, the following may help:

2. Display your email as an image. Instead of displaying your email as text, use an image instead. Humans can read this, robot email harvesters won't.

3. Use an alternative format when displaying your email as text. E.g mail(@)yourmail.com.

4. Use a captcha program. Captcha (Completely Automated Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart) can now be used to protect your email. The reCAPTCHA Mailhide for example, requires people to solve a reCAPTCHA before they will be able to view your email address.

Bit Torrant sites to download movies and games

Warning:
Torrant sites may provide free to download files. Be advised however that they are also popular sources of rogue anti virus protection programs such as green av, windows police pro and personal guard 2009.

What is a bit torrent?
Bit torrants or torrent files are used for file sharing over the internet. Movie download torrent allow people to download classic television and anime shows. Bt torrent download sites also have a wide array of audiobooks, games, software, muzika (music) and downloadable bit torrent for mac.

Torrent sites are considered as violative of copyright infringement laws but bit torrent users argue that these sites give options to overpriced soft wares. Bit torrent freeware may even cause the prices of original programs to become relatively lesser. Torrents, however, are not safe to download. A lot of viruses malware, spyware and trojans come with these files. Some torrent sites provide forums on the torren files contents which may help in identifying which bt file is infected or broken and even give information about the download speed.

How to use bit torrent
It is essential that the torrent has a high amount of seeders and leechers. Seeders are those who upload the files. A high number of seeders mean faster download speed. Leechers on the other hand are those who are downloading the file. Downloaders are generally advised to read the forums before downloading a file to prevent viruses and malicious soft wares. Seeding is considered as the "ethical thing" to do after the download is complete. Additionally, you may check out this post by myowntechblog.blogspot.com on how to use torrent.

Bit Torrent Sites
Choosing the right torrant sites is crucial. Trust is the key in choosing your site for downloading movies, games and musics. Some of the popular bittorrant sites include Torrentreactor.com (bit torrant downloader); Torrentspy.com (closed since March 24); Thepiratebay.org (bit torrent download website best for downloading TV shows such as Prison Break, Heroes, Naruto, Avatar, Desperate Housewives and even High School Musical); Sumotorrent.com (bit torrent free download site) and Pinktorrent.com which is a popular source of adult and porn bit torrents.

How does bit torrent work?
Different free bit torrant sites require different download applications that need to be installed in the computer. Torrentreactor requires Azureus that requires JRE (Java Runtime Environment); Torrentspy requires bittorrent downloader; and all other sites may use ?torrent or micro torrent

Your internet speed will be compromised if you use torrent downloader applications. It is suggested that you leave your computer open overnight or for as long as it takes to download the file. Multiple downloads are also possible.

New Naruto Games for 2008

The popularity of the Naruto TV series brought about the introduction of other Naruto products like the new naruto games for the nintendo wii, online playable naruto games and naruto games for psp. Naruto is an animated manga series about a boy named Naruto Uzumaki. The animation series originated from Japan but is now widely popular in many parts of the Western world where the Naruto series has been translated to cater to English speaking fans particularly in the United States.



New Naruto Games

Naruto games are similarly as popular as the TV series considering the number of people who want to look for naruto games cheat and download free naruto games. So whats new in naruto video games? New Naruto games are being introduced this year 2008:

Naruto: Ninja Destiny

The Naruto: Ninja Destiny is a 3D fighting game for the Nintendo DS. Nevertheless, a number of game reviews consider the Naruto: Ninja Destiny as a clone of other Naruto fighting games like the Naruto: Clash of Ninja.

Naruto Shippuuden: Shinobi Retsuden 2

A sequel to Naruto: Shinobi Retsuden, the Naruto Shippuuden: Shinobi Retsuden 2 developed by Takara Tomy is expected to be released on April 24, 2008. Reviews of this Nintendo DS 3D Fighting game are expected to come out soon after the release date.

4 Sites to Search for the Most Popular Keywords in the Internet

There are several SEO advantages if you know the most popular keywords in the internet, you will learn what people search for which will give an idea what's hot and what's not in the world wide web. To put it simply, knowing what the most popular keywords are will allow you to drive traffic to your site.

Here are four sites that can be used to research for the most searched items in the internet:

Yahoo Buzz. Yahoo buzz identifies the most popular stories through a buzz score that is based on people's searches, votes and emails. Hot items are often displayed as feature stories in the yahoo page but the yahoo buzz site itself provides an hourly update of the top 10 keywords on yahoo.

Google Zeitgeist Hot Trends. Googel displays its top 100 keywords at the Google Zeitgeist Hot Trends.The keywords are based on US searches. Country specific top keywords can be found here. The results for the top 15 keywords by country are updated monthly.

Lycos 50. Lycos features its top queries on a weekly basis in the Lycos 50. Particular terms are excluded from the list such as country names, automated queries, pornographic and four letter words. Misspellings and plurals are also considered when counting the searches for a particular keyword.

Technorati. Technorati does not only display the most popular blogs and sites in the internet. It also displays the top 15 searches, top videos. top movies and top news.

The most popular keywords in the internet may be very competitive. This is why I suggest using related keywords when writing about these popular search engine terms.

New adsense alternative for publishers

Google has been releasing a number of new rules recently including the display of a privacy policy in sites that display google adsense. The company also requires their publishers to make google ads distinguishable which can otherwise affect ads click through rates. There were also publishers who were banned from adsense which is why news of companies which can potentially replace adsense as a source of revenue among publishers can really be interesting. Just recently, I read at Techsagar about India's first google ads alternative, Adzant.

I am not sure if Adzant is available to international publishers but I already signed up to receive an email notification once the company becomes fully operational. The company reportedly offers publishers different options for selling ads. I just hope that the ads that will be displayed are targeted to my traffic. I do not want to be posting ads about traveling to France when my blog post is about cooking adobo.

Will Google eliminate the 336 x 280 ad format?

After requiring adsense publishers to post privacy policy in their sites, Google has again announced new rules that should be observed by bloggers who monetize their sites with adsense. This time, publishers are prohibited to place ads under a title or section which will give out an impression that the ads are not ads.

I am quite uncomfortable with this because my adsense monetized sites generally display adsense right below the post title. Worse, I always enumerate things in my sites so I generally use titles such as Wednesday jobs for writers; Beautiful Free Blog Templates for New Blogger, etc. See this screenshot from Jobzonline:

This new adsense rule update also prohibits the use of ads near links or texts that have the same colors and line spacing as the ads. To make things easier to understand, Google is eliminating ads that can "trick" non web savvy users to click ads that look like part of the site contents.

Uh-oh, this will really make me busy updating my sites the next few days.

The ad format that works well with my sites is the 336 x 280 size and since most adsense publishers use this format to make the ads look like part of the site content, (yes, "trick non websavvy users" as you may say), will Google eliminate the 336 x 280 or similar ad formats soon? If that happens, that will surely be a bad news for me and a number of adsense publishers out there.

New Google feature to predict tomorrow's events

Google Australia announced a new Google feature called the gday which can predict news events, sports results and actual text contents of blogs and newspaper columns "24 hours before they are written".

Using a technology Google Australia calls MATE (Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation), gday can predict what will happen in the world wide web a day before they will happen but before you get crazy over this google feature, the announcement is actually one of Google's hoaxes for April fool's day.

Google's official blog version of April fool's day offering, on the other hand, is the announcement of a project Virgle whose goal is to establish permanent human settlement in planet Mars and before you head on to your gmail to send some email using Gmail Custom Time, remember too that this is also a part of Google's april fool's day hoaxes.