Blogrolling 2006-12-09

Items of interest from the blogroll.

• Laurence Simon (Is Full Of Crap) is glad that nonsense ends soon.


• Andi's World says the situation at Bethesda needs fixing.


• Kevin (EckerNet) looks at a sick idea.


• Chicagoray says racism exists.


• SarahK (Mountaineer Musings) wants the old Dubya back.


• Spacemonkey lost a family member.


• Rachel (Pereiraville) says Entertainment Tonight sucks [language warning]. [via Harvey (Bad Example)]


• Frank J. (IMAO) says cheating ain't cheating if you don't get caught.


• RightWingDuck lists other ISG recommendations.

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Headline News 2006-12-08

From CNN:
Defense secretary laments Abu Ghraib in farewell
Had so much more torture planned

From CNN:
Hussein attends genocide trial
Likes hearing about genocide

From WKMG:
Deputy dons elf suit to catch speeders
Reindeer ticketed

From WDIV:
School may be named after coach
Coach to be named soon

From WDIV:
Man throws microphone at judge
Simon Cowell injured

From KOCO:
Man finds cocaine in store's toy department
Couldn't remember where he left it

From KETV:
Woman tries to prove she's not dead
Wants out of casket

From ABC News:
Thanks, Superman! Paralyzed 3-Year-Old Walks
Christopher Reeve now glad he's dead

From ABC News:
Dad of Chelsea Clinton's Boyfriend Lands in Jail
Hillary, Bill express disappointment: "What an amateur"

From ABC News:
Lohan Turns to Al Gore for Help
Hasn't said anything stupid for nearly a week

Blogrolling 2006-12-08

Items of interest from the blogroll.

• Rick Moran (Right Wing Nut House) says don't give up.


• ALa (Blonde Sagacity) says Gore is wrong about our "worst mistake."


• La Shawn Barber looks at St. Paul.


• Don Surber says Cindi Lauper was right.


• Goovyvic (Fiddle Dee Dee) volunteers at the school.


• Seawitch lists her favorite Weblog Awards finalists.


• Irina Tsukerman (The IgNoble Experiment, a.k.a. Live Dangerously!) says Israel doesn't need to justify itself.


• Politics In Alabama looks at the changing scene in the state senate.


• ArmyWifeToddlerMom says Kids, Christmastime, and the Commisary -- what could go wrong?


• The Skipper (Barking Moonbat Early Warning System) finds the perfect companion.

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Good In The Neighborhood

The Wife and I decided to eat at Applebee's last night. We normally stop at one of the restaurants in Columbus, because they're no-smoking. But we stopped at the one in Phenix City last night. And I'm glad we did.

Not only was the food good (as always), but we found out about something the folks at the Phenix City restaurant are doing for a neighbor.

Now, let me say up front, they aren't promoting this. When I asked about it, they were willing to tell me more details, but explained why they weren't promoting it. But it's something I'd like to share. So, here goes.

The Phenix City restaurant has information inside the restaurant (this is key) that reads as follows:

A Member Of The Applebee's Family Has Been Diagnosed With Huntington's Disease.

This is a rare and fatal disease especially when diagnosed in children...

We here at your neighborhood Phenix City Applebee's are trying to give this young man the best Christmas we can possible give him, if you find it in your heart to help us give this young man a great holiday season please see your manager on duty.

Any donations will be matched by Applebee's.

Thank you,
Your Phenix City Applibee's Family.

Now, let me reiterate: They are not promoting this.

When someone comes into the restaurant, they are given this information. But the restaurant isn't advertising it outside. The manager on duty I spoke with explained that they didn't want to use this to get people into the store. He made it clear that they are not using this to get people into the restaurant. Rather, they are only telling it to people who are coming to the restaurant already.

I admire their efforts to raise money for an Applebee's family member. And I admire the fact they aren't using this to get people into the restaurant. In fact, they're making an effort to not use this.

But they don't control what I blog about. And they certainly didn't ask me to blog about it. Or even hint that. They simply answered my questions.

This isn't an Applebee's promotion ... or even something the Applebee's company is sponsoring in any way. It's something the employees at the Phenix City Applebee's are doing on their own, with local management approval.

If anyone reading this is in the Columbus-Phenix City area, I'm asking them to help out. Applebee's isn't. But I am.

Oh, and unless you have gone into the Phenix City Applebee's, you don't know about the pancake breakfast they're having Saturday (tomorrow, December 9) morning. They're serving from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM, before their regular hours. Money from that goes to the family also.

It's nice to know that the Neighborhood Applebee's is also a good neighbor.

Offered at Jo's Cafe: TGIF Specials of the Day

Headline News 2006-12-07

From CNN:
Soviet spies face being unmasked
Russian Trick-Or-Treat to end soon

From CNN:
Admirers mob Clinton in Vietnam
Former president tells crowd, "Now I wish I hadn't dodged the draft"

From CNN:
Human body parts found inside croc
Following Irwin's death, crocodiles run wild

From CNN:
Sri Lanka: No Ban on Rebels
No Right Guard, Speed Stick either

From CNN:
Bainimarama replaces police chief
Thought they were hiring Bananarama

From CNN:
Rains bring no relief to Somalis starving after drought
Complain, "can't eat rain"

From CNN:
Man held over U.S. embassy gunfire
Threatened to drop him, torture claimed

From CNN:
Mexico police seize 20 tons of meth ingredient
Big party planned

From CNN:
Lightning blamed for Sago Mine explosion
God sued

From KERO:
Cesar Chavez to be inducted into Hall of Fame
Also, some guy named 'Reagan'

Blogrolling 2006-12-07

Items of interest from the blogroll.

• Neptunus Lex remembers Pearl Harbor.


• EckerNet explains how to convert someone.


• Laurie (Soldiers' Angels New York) says Walter Reed needs help.


• The Florida Masochist looks at the name game.


• Michelle Malkin follows the Deborah Frisch story.


• Wild Bill (Passionate America) says global warming is a hoax.


• Texas Fred is a Weblog Awards finalist.


• Steve H. (Hog On Ice) gets an award.


• Pamela (Atlas Shrugs) isn't impressed with the Baker Report.


• Wild Thing (Theodore's World) isn't impressed with Baker either.

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Picking A Blogging Platform: WordPress.com II

Continuing our look at blogging platforms, we're looking at paid services. And today, we're looking at WordPress.com.

Yes, we looked at WordPress.com a little while back ... when we were looking at free platforms. But there's a paid version of WordPress.com. Sort of.

WordPress.com is not WordPress

We convered this before, but we need to cover it again, because it confuses lots of people: WordPress.com is not the same as WordPress.

Here's the difference. WordPress is a blogging software application. If you have WordPress, you still need a Web host.

WordPress.com is a service of Automattic. It's a free blogging service that runs a version of the WordPress software called WordPress MU.

Yes, WordPress is a platform. So is WordPress.com. WordPress software is free. But it doesn't include hosting. WordPress.com is a blogging service that includes hosting, but has limitations. Earlier, we talked about using WordPress.com as your blogging platform. And we will again.

Here's why we're talking about it again.

WordPress.com Is Free, But...

Yes, you can use WordPress.com for free. But there are some functions that you can buy as an upgrade. And that's what we're going to focus on today.

Reviewing briefly, the free version includes:

• Categories


• Nested categories


• TrackBacks


• Spam filtering via Akismet


• Schedule posts


• Extended posts ("Read the rest..." kind of thing)


• A large selection of templates (50, as of this week)


• Widgets (in most templates)


• Image hosting (within total disk limit of 50 MB)

There's also lots you can't do with the free version:

• You can't edit your templates


• No JavaScript (which means limited SiteMeter functionality, no Blogrolling.com blog rolls, or anything else that requires JavaScript


• No ads. The Terms Of Service (TOS) don't explicitly forbid it, but the FAQ says no ads

The free version of WordPress.com serves most bloggers' needs. But not all. That's where the "paid version" comes in.

Paying For Upgrades

WordPress.com has upgrades available. For a yearly fee, you can get functionality added to your site. But right now, only a few upgrades are available.

The first upgrade WordPress.com offered was custom CSS. It costs $15/year for this. If you're really, really good with CSS, you'll love this. I've used it, and it's quite powerful and effective for templates that are designed with this feature in mind. The bad news is that most templates weren't built with this in mind. The WordPress.com verison of the Sandbox theme is very customizable, I've found.

The next is unlimited private users. This only matters if you want to have a private blog. By default, WordPress will allow 35 "members" of a private blog. The $30/year upgrade gives you unlimited members.

You own domain name will cost you either $10/year or $15/year. If you already own your domain name, then it's $10/year. If you need to register a domain name, $15/year covers that, too.

The latest upgrade is extra disk space. Since you can upload images for your WordPress.com blog to their servers (but currenly can't delete them), you may run out of space eventually, since the limit is 50 MB. You can add from 1 GB ($20/year) to 10 GB ($90/year).

Currently, there are no upgrades that address the JavaScript limitations, HTML editing, or ads. You still can't have that, even with paid upgrades.

Worth It?

Is it worth it? Well, maybe. Personally, I find that you can get all these features, and more, for less with another hosting service.

But, if you only want one or two of these features (say, domain name or custom CSS), then it's probably cheaper to go this route than a standard Web host.

Next

We'll continue to look at paid services for blogging. And we seek your input on paid blogging services.