Matilda Forbes

Blogosphere search engine Technorati recently launched 3 new widgets, including what they’ve called the Technorati Authority widget.

It’s a bit of Javascript code that you can put in your template sidebar to display, live, your blog’s current “Technorati Authority (the higher, the better)” (according to the Technorati blog post on this by Tantek Çelik).

If you’re keen to add the widget in your blog, below is how you can do it easily, for both New Blogger and Blogger Classic blogs.

But read on after that if you’re interested in an observation or two about “Technorati Authority”, and also something about the New Blogger template tag for a blog’s URL.
How to add Technorati blog authority widget to New Blogger blogs with one clickJust click the Add to Blogger button below (UPDATE: this is odd. Blogger Help say you should escape code inside the widget.content and widget.template bits. But escaping anything inside the b:includable tags seems to muck things up so the button below doesn’t work. NOT escaping that makes it OK again. Hopefully this version should work now):

<b:includable id=’main’> techAuth = document.getElementById(’technoratiAuthority’);blogHome = ”; a = document.createElement(’a'); a.href=’http://technorati.com/blogs/’ + blogHome.replace(’index.html’,”) + ‘?sub=tr_authority_t_ns’;a.className = ‘tr_authority_t_js’;a.style.color = ‘#4261DF’;img = document.createElement(’img’);img.src = ‘http://static.technorati.com/pix/icn-talkbubble.gif’;img.alt = ‘Technorati icon’;tt = document.createTextNode(”);a.appendChild(img);a.appendChild(tt);techAuth.appendChild(a);</b:includable>

Step by step instructions on how to add New Blogger third party widgets to your blog: see my post on the Technorati link count widget (the steps relate to the linkcount widget launched last year, but the principles are the same). For this widget I’d recommend leaving it in your sidebar as it’s for the whole blog and not just a particular post. You can see it in mine on the right.

Give it a couple of minutes for things to “take” on Technorati - the badge won’t appear on your blog instantly.

(The Add form tool above is a Magical Sheep production (as in, I have a go at something, and Kirk fixes my mistakes and vastly improves on it!), created for your convenience as people can now make and share their own widgets so that bloggers can easily add third party widgets to their blog layouts with a few clicks without having to know any coding, e.g. the Bluepulse widget, on the now feature complete fancy New Blogger, formerly known as Blogger Beta)
How to add Technorati blog authority widget to Classic Blogger blogs
Copy/paste the following code into your Old Blogger template, wherever you want the blog authority badge to appear:
<script src=”http://widgets.technorati.com/t.js” type=”text/javascript”> </script><a href=”http://technorati.com/blogs/<$BlogURL$>?sub=tr_authority_t_ns” class=”tr_authority_t_js” style=”color:#4261DF”>View blog authority</a> How to add Technorati blog authority widget on other blogging platformsThe code given by Technorati is quite straightforward, use the Old Blogger code above but change <$BlogURL$> to your blog’s URL.

One gotcha which Kirk discovered - you must use your home site URL without pointing to any specific pages. Technorati doesn’t seem to like it, otherwise. So for instance using http://consumingexperience.blogspot.com would work, or consumingexperience.blogspot.com or even consumingexperience.blogspot.com/ - but not http://consumingexperience.blogspot.com/index.html (any “www” is fine, it’s just the .html or similar at the end that will stop it working).
Technorati Blog Authority - what is it, really?Now some thoughts about Technorati’s “blog authority” figure.

See my blog’s authority in my sidebar on the right? At the moment it’s 201. See the screenshot from Technorati below?

Nope, I don’t see a “201″ there either. In fact, at present my blog’s “rank” is 18,653. The closest number to 201 is 198, the number of blogs which have linked to my blog in the last 180 days (this Technorati blog post explains all three of the figures given for each blog on Technorati; a few months ago they tweaked how they produce those blog statistics).

As it happens, last night the two numbers did match - number of linking blogs, and number shown by the widget.

The “blog authority” figure is in fact the number of blogs who have linked to yours in the last 6 months, so like share prices it may go up or down. Why the widget shows a slightly different number from the live search on Technorati’s site is beyond me, but I suspect the widget may take a while to catch up.

Here’s a couple more screenshots to illustrate - in relation to Liz Strauss and John Tropea’s blogs. You’ll see that “authority” really is the number of blogs linking to their blogs; and that for them, at the time of this post anyway, the widget and Technorati’s page do match:

Screenshot of Liz’s info on Technorati:
Liz’s blog authority badge:
I’ve used screenshots so you can compare the two, but if you want to see the live widget it’s here: View Successful Blog’s blog authority

Screenshot of John’s info on Technorati:

His blog authority badge:John’s live widget: View Library Clips’ blog authority

So, this is a little confusing. Technorati have introduced another concept, “authority”, which isn’t in fact explained by them explicitly anywhere that I can see. And it is different from “ranking”. Why they haven’t introduced a widget for “ranking”, I’m not sure - it would be easier for most people to follow, I think (the higher the rank, the better). Maybe they will, at some point?
New Blogger’s data tags: homepageUrlNow, a thought and questions on Blogger’s data tags.

With New Blogger’s layouts approach using widget tags, there are data tags which have replaced the classic Blogger template tags.

In New Blogger, the equivalent of the old tag which gave you the URL of the blog seems to be <data:blog.homepageUrl>. However, unlike the old Blogger equivalent, BlogURL, that data tag doesn’t produce the main home URL of the site - for the homepage URL it in fact prints out, e.g. in the case of my blog, http://consumingexperience.blogspot.com/index.html. Yup, with the “index.html”.

Result: you can’t use the tag with the new Technorati blog authority widget, it just won’t work (see the note above under other blogging platforms). Kirk, who spotted this, had to do his usual Javascript jazz to strip out the index.html from the URL output by the data tag, in order for the Technorati widget to work properly.

We’re curious as to why Blogger designed the new data tag to do that. Will they be coming out with an alternative data tag that just produces the homepage URL, without the “index.html”, for use in third party widgets that only function properly with the base URL? Maybe Pete, Eric or Lexi or someone else from Team Blogger might be able to enlighten us?

UPDATE: as mentioned above, another oddity is that if you try to include the form for adding widgets within a Blogger post, the Blogger post editor does something funny to the code. You’re supposed to escape the bits inside widget.content and widget.template but the post editor just extra escapes it so the tags and script inside the template, once the widget is added, won’t work properly.

I’ve had Blogger post editor do weird things to my posts before with lots of extra ampersands and semicolons in particular, when I’ve tried to set out example code within a post (or edit a post with code in it). I’d be interested to know if others have had that problem too. I’ve had it since Old Blogger. I guess that it’s not a priority for Blogger as I suspect relatively few of their users post code. Maybe the lesson is, if you have to have code, or forms, put them somewhere else other than in a Blogger post (like upload them to Google Pages)!

Tags: Technorati, blog authority, blogosphere, Blogger, Blogger.com, blog, blogging, blogging tools, blogs, widgets, New Blogger, Blogger Beta, Old Blogger, Improbulus, Consuming Experience, A Consuming Experience

My Original comment on a forum:

picturephoning.com: “Tele-Barcode: The Case of ColorCode”

Found on Textually.org which found this on RFID in Japan;

So, how is the Korean ColorCode being introduced in Japan? ColorZip (the company who owns the technology of ColorCode) announced recently that they are collaborating with two Japanese TV broadcasting stations (TBS and Fuji TV) to develop a system for integrating TV programs and wireless websites.

The system that broadcasts ColorCode will likely be put into real use this summer. Consumers can easily access wireless websites related to TV programs by simply taking a picture of a broadcasted ColorCode. For example, such websites may allow consumers to participate in voting, download sample music clips, buy products, or apply for free gifts.

It sounds like ColorCodes can be read from a distance more easily than other 2D codes.

Stitch Says: in the US, if these small codes were displayed on the television screen during a program the station would receive thousands of calls and complaints about a program error or worse, some obscentity! Seriously, though, we’re so out of step with some of these advances that it’s going to take a tremendous amount of education on the part of the first companies to deploy this new technology to raise general awareness to the point where there is any sense in making the investment. That said, this is probably a very good intermediate step for interactive broadcast television particularly for homes that have begun using some kind of media hub with integrated PC/Web access.

I can even foresee a time when there’ll be a code-capture feature built in to remote controls that lets you navigate the codes displayed on screen, click them and via a picture in picture display view the additional information, or even make a purchase, all without significant interruption of the on-screen action. In fact, capturing, storing (bookmarking) these codes could be a great way for advertisers to gain a foothold in the living room. The more I think about potential applications for this technology the more value I see for advertisers once the initial obstacle of consumer education is overcome.

Of course, the ultimate goal, and in my mind best final result would be that this technology is sufficiently developed that taking a picture of the code in a mobile phone can mash up the code against the location of the person taking the photo as well as their m-commerce profile, and thus would serve them via their phone (instantly) and later via their pc (if their profile supports the action) information and options geared specifially to their tastes, buying habits, resources and other preferences. Now that’s the kind of marketing I want. I see a vacation to Tahiti offer pictured in a travel agency’s window; I take a picture of their colorcode, and within moments, I have the option to book a trip that has been bounced off my calendar, and checked against the rules for the fares offered. Before I’m half way down the block, I have first class seats (I always fly upgrades, and with a companion) for a 10 day trip during my next vacation (which has been blocked out on my calendar since last February, but which hasn’t yet been allocated for a specific trip), I’ve got King size beds in all my hotels, vegetarian meals on the flights for my companion, and transportation via my favorite car service scheduled both to and from the airport for the dates of my trip. My email “away” message has been preset, critical services (like pet care and plant watering arranged via automatic calendaring with my service providers or I’ve got reminders waiting for me to make those arrangements if they’re not pre-set), and my co-workers (either that I want to make jealous or that have a genuine need to know) have been notified of my pending trip.

No that’s the vision. One shot could do a lot! In fact. I’m claiming copyright on that last! That’s a great marketing slogan for a company that could offer that suite of services. Wow. Now I want to go to Tahiti…

Ah well, when I get back from the blogosphere, I still have work here on my desk; but I will definitely be monitoring this development to see when my vision comes alive.

If you’re looking for some fantasy pickups, check out my Waiver Wired column at RotoWorld.

The hot topic in fantasy and real baseball: Tim Lincecum vs. Cole Hamels on ESPN Sunday night.  It will be hard to match the Felix Hernandez-Daisuke Matsuzaka contest, but baseball fans everywhere will be tuned in.  Hop on over to RotoAuthority - the closest to guess Lincecum’s line wins a free fantasy guide.

Check out the recent MetsBlog Talk Radio transcript - Buster Olney discusses Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano trade possibilities.

Couple of blogs to check out: We Love Daisuke! and Starting Aces (a Red Sox blog).

Those who may be tempted to write off the poisoning of a former spy as a one-off incident might want to look across the Atlantic, to Canada.

When Hampel was arrested, he was carrying what the Toronto Star has described as “the signature tools of a 21st century secret agent.” Among the items seized: $7,800 in five different currencies, several bank and credit cards, three cellular phones, password-encrypted SIM cards, two digital cameras, a short wave radio and a fake Ontario birth certificate. And he was traveling under the third Canadian passport he had been issued since 1995.

Russia is doing its best to flex its muscles again. Or so it would seem.

The most interesting angle on this, however, seems to be the implications for the criminal justice system. The suspect is being denied access to some of the evidence against him on national security grounds. And the article linked to above suggests that the Canadian government may seize on this as justifying further legislation. I’ll look into this further, and if there’s anything in it, I’ll write a bit more about it.

For now, though, the most amusing story I’ve heard concerning this is that Hampel was allegedly caught with a lot of Canadian cheat sheets. A primer in the basic facts of Canadian history. I suspect this guy might be, in the words of Andrew Mackinlay, a piece of fluff. Thrown up by the Russians to hide something a lot more sinister.

In my last post I quoted from a speech written by Robert Greenleaf where he wrote that the “bee fertilizes the flower it robs.

Plans for infrastructure and development in city
JNNURM funds will help meet the city’s infrastructure needs, writes Poornima B V

It has been estimated that Bangalore city alone needs Rs 22,536 crores for infrastructure development, according to a study conducted by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The estimate was made as part of a study on the infrastructure needs of several cities in the country, according to J Manjunath, Chief Finance Officer, JNNURM.
The term renewal, in the JNNURM context, refers to the entire spectrum of urban services, institutional frameworks, and governance. The idea was to renew existing systems, identify gaps and propose an action plan to fill these gaps.
According to the study, as a city grows, not only do the core areas get denser, but large peripheral areas also get included in the city. Infrastructure development and its objective in this scenario would be to reduce congestion, and provide better services in all sectors. In the current growth rate scenario, the city’s population will reach 98 lakhs by 2011 and 170 lakhs by 2021.
Since Bangalore’s establishment in 1537, the traditional areas have played a key role in the city’s development. These areas are still the centers of conventional trade and economic activity, but constrained by inadequate infrastructure facilities, primarily due to the lack of space and a burgeoning population. Old and traditional areas in Bangalore comprise Chickpet, Cubbonpet, Cottonpet, Majestic, Gandhi Nagar, Vasanth Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Richmond Town, and Chamarajpet. These areas are characterised by a dense population with a density 3-4 times higher than the average of other BBMP areas.
According to Manjunath, the estimate was carried out based on the infrastructure needs of the city and the Greater Bangalore area too, but did not include some 110 villages in the outskirts that need to be included. A revision is therefore likely in the near future.
Key areas for
development
The proposed implementation plan for urban renewal involves redevelopment of traditional areas, diversion of traffic in these areas by introduction of ‘one-ways’, enforcement of new parking regulations, ban on entry of heavy goods vehicles in such areas, widening of roads, removal of encroachments, provision of appropriate transport system for commuters, development of pedestrian walkways, construction of cycling zones, demarcation into transport and utility zones, maintenance of open spaces, and improvement of civic services.
According to Dr Rajan Sridhar who has studied the city and its development in detail as part of his doctoral studies, Bangalore grew faster than it could be mapped. As part of his study on ‘Planning strategies and design guidelines in Bangalore Metropolitan Areas’, he concludes that the need of the hour is development that’s transit-oriented. There’s a need for clear-cut traffic-free zones in central areas and provision of dedicated lanes for fast moving traffic, he says. There’s also a need to create separate lanes for cyclists with separate pathways for pedestrians. A planned strategy and design guidelines for open spaces and parks is a must, according to him. He also proposes that the colour of roads must be changed to green or lighter colours, terrace gardens and vertical gardens must be encouraged and just as rain water harvesting has been made compulsory, terrace gardens needs to be encouraged too. “Mixed land use has no meaning if we don’t preserve our natural valleys”, says Dr Rajan, an alumni of IIT, Kharagpur, currently working with an architectural firm. The natural topography of Bangalore and its high altitude can be used to advantage, according to Dr Rajan. PPP models
There’s an increasing need for public-private participation (PPP) in the area of infrastructure development and various PPP models have been proposed. The State Government is now keen on this in the development of infrastructure. The chief minister recently made an announcement seeking the services of an empanelled group of private consultants, whose services could be used to undertake these projects.
In the first quarter of the current year, the State received Rs 94 crores for improvements to arterial roads of Bangalore and Rs 98 crores for basic urban services. Projects worth an estimated Rs 1,900 crores will be submitted by the BBMP for clearance under the JNNURM. The State Government had set aside nearly Rs 650 crores in the budget (including the part to be funded by the Centre) for the JNNURM projects. Under the JNNURM, the Centre’s participation for any project would be to an extent of 35 percent, the State Government’s participation would be 15 percent and the balance of 50 percent would have to be borne by the civic bodies.

I have had an enjoyable morning reading “Moving At the Speed of Creativity” this morning. Wes Fryer must have had some cup of coffee this morning (hopefully at Starbucks with his wife - grins) because he is cranking them out today.

I truly enjoyed his “My Journey of Faith” and I applaud him on his boldness to state his faith in his blog!! Way to go!! And his post on adult blogging was quite interesting. Though I am not 50 yet — however, getting very close — I was a bit saddened by the low amount of bloggers of our age group — but feel certain that that number will climb as more teachers find out about blogging and jump on the blog train!!!

But what I enjoyed the most this morning was his “If I had” blog posting. What a fun and educational read that was. It really made me think — and if I might, I would like to add mine as well here —
If I had the money: I would pay off all my debts.I would take 3 of my best friends to Europe for a summer.I would buy myself a Mac notebook.I would a buy a home (with a porch and picket fence) and buy a Newfoundland puppy.
I would donate a lot of money to create scholarship funds for kids who struggle to pay for college and have to drop out due to lack of funds.
I would move to Savannah, GA.
I would give all the kids I nannied $100,000 to pay off college loans and create a nest egg.I would have lasik eye surgery.
If I had the time: I would learn another language.
I would volunteer more.I would sit on a mountaintop to watch the sunrise and then drive down to the beach to watch the sunset.
I would ski more.
I would learn how to be a better writer.
I would host more sophisticated online projects.
I would learn how to cook.I’d spend more time with friends. If I had more self-discipline and/or motivation: I’d be sure to spend more time alone with God each day.I’d start an exercise plan.
I’d travel more.
I’d deep clean my home.I’d save more money each month and spend less on money on frivolous items.I would read more books of substance rather than books of entertainment. If I didn’t have a real job: (grins — this one was easy!)
I would stay in my pj’s until 10 occassionally.I would enjoy Regis and Kelly a couple of times a week……..I enjoy hostchat!I would visit more museums. If I had more power: I’d fight for equal pay for private school techers compared to public school teachers.I’d provide teacher training opportunities for teachers to understand technology and how it can impact their classrooms.I would rewrite computer curriculum so that it becomes woven in seamlessly rather than a stand alone.
I would take my elected officials out to lunch once a month to find out exactly WHAT they are doing and how they are representing me.
I would take away the barrier of standards and just make sure that kids are learning and using what they know.
I’d create a way to evaluate teachers in a more productive and positive way and I would do away with tenure and establish a scale that evaluates the teacher more on how they teach and how students are learning rather than how long they have taught.Thanks Wes –
Jennifer

Technorati Tags:
Wesley Fryer
Technospud

In an effort to improve this blog, I went back over the whole year of posts and tagged each of them. There are plenty of different tags, but here are a few to get started.
accessoriestips and trickscommunityother blogscar useVistavideo postsbest of
Enjoy!

This probably made a mess for those of my readers who were on my old-style RSS feed. Make sure you subscribe using this link.

Some links of interest:

sad news about Joe Zawinul: Jazz News: Jazz Legend Joe Zawinul Dies at 75 and Sid Smith’s Postcards From The Yellow Room: Joe Zawinul 1932 - 2007

also news of Thomas Hansen: MIC Norway: Saint Thomas 1976-2007

Singer-songwriter Thomas Hansen, aka Saint Thomas has passed.

New issue of Rock Sound magazine, includes a free CD with tracks from the likes of Oceansize, Les Savy Fav and High on Fire.

Electric Proms

GIGWISE, Siouxsie Sioux And Chemical Brothers Join Electric Proms

Siouxsie Soux, Ray Davies and The Chemical Brothers are among a number of acts who have joined the line-up for this year’s BBC Electric Proms.

Smalltown Supersound label sampler

DOTSHOP.SE - Various Artists: The Portable Supersound

11 tracks, 75 minutes long Smalltown Supersound label showcase compilation for a friendly price
Smalltown Supersound (STS122CD)

“The Portable Supersound” is an excellent label compilation showcasing the status of Smalltown Supersound in 2007/2008, featuring the current roster with two new signings.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Arp “St Tropez”
2. 120 Days “Come Out, Come Down”
3. Tussle “Warning”
4. Sunburned Hand Of The Man “Half-Under”
5. Mental Overdrive “Spooks”
6. Lindstrøm “Contemporary Fix”
7. diskJokke “The Dinner That Never Happened”
8. The Lift Boys a.k.a. EYE “Anarchy Way”
9. Bjørn Torske “Hatten Passer”
10. Toy “Don’t Be”
11. Lars Horntveth “Tics” (Four Tet remix)

Artists

Adele

Adele London based teenager signed to XL recordings, destined to be popular with the media in 2008 - serious singer-songwriter type music: MySpace.com - ADELE - South London - Soul / Acoustic / Pop - www.myspace.com/adelelondon - Probably will get Mercury Music Prize Nominated in 2008.

Boxcutter

New Boxcutter album will be released on October 8th on Planet Mu: BOXCUTTER - Glyphic

Discussion: dubstepforum.com :: View topic - Boxcutter - Glyphic

The Cult

Side-Line: Comeback album The Cult also available as double disc set

Nancy Elizabeth

debut album: DOTSHOP.SE - Nancy Elizabeth: Battle And Victory

Leaf (BAY60CD)
September 17th, 2007

Listen: MySpace.com - Nancy Elizabeth - Acoustic / Folk - www.myspace.com/nancyelizabethcunliffe

John Foxx

Side-Line: New double disc edition of John Foxx’ ‘Metamatic’ album

Frog Pocket

New Frog Pocket album titled Comes on Primates !! to be released September 24th on Planet Mu.

MySpace.com - frog pocket - Ayr, UK - www.myspace.com/frog_pocket

HTRK

Avant-Garde Pop band: HTRK have 3 london gigs lined up.

17 Sep 2007 20:00
The Locust + HTRK @ Scala Kings Cross, London and South East

25 Sep 2007 20:00
These New Puritans + HTRK @ White Heat soho, London and South East

29 Sep 2007 23:00
Behind Bars V (HTRK on at 3 am) Stepney, London and South East

MySpace.com - HTRK - down under, AU - Down-tempo / Other / Club - www.myspace.com/htrk

Intronaut

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - INTRONAUT: New Song Posted Online

Limbonic Art

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - LIMBONIC ART: Another New Song Posted Online

Another new track from the resurrected symphonic black metal masters LIMBONIC ART, entitled “Seven Doors of Death”

Mar De Grises

Chilean Avant-Garde Metal band Mar De Grises are recording a new album: Myspace.com Blogs:mardegrises2 MySpace Blog

Steve Mason

Ex Beta Band Steve Mason Completes Black Affair Album — News — AngryApe

Meshuggah

New album delayed till early 2008: BLABBERMOUTH.NET - MESHUGGAH Explains THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Tour Cancellation

Nuclear Blast Records has moved the album release to January/February of 2008.

New Order

New Order set for reunion? - Rock and pop - Music - Entertainment - Manchester Evening News

NO sooner have the original band members of New Order gone their separate ways than rumours surface that the group may be reunited - for a one-off tribute to the late, great Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.

Pluramon

shoegazer sounds from Germany.

1 new track [So] from the upcoming Pluramon album The Monstrous Surplus: MySpace.com - Pluramon - 2-step / Psychedelic / Shoegaze - www.myspace.com/pluramon

The track sounds very My Bloody Valentine inspired. Best MBV rip off of the year?

Andy Weatherall

New Mix compilation: ANDREW WEATHERALL: Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi

tracklisting and review: features | Andrew Weatherall Sci Fi Lo Fi Volume One, [PS] Progressive-Sounds includes Killing Joke’s bloodsport.

White Rainbow

Album coming out on Kranky: Brainwashed - White Rainbow ‘Prism of Eternal Now’

listen to tracks: MySpace.com - WHITE RAINBOW - PORTLAND, Oregon - Healing & EasyListening / Afro-beat / Minimalist - www.myspace.com/whiterainbowwhiterainbow