Amazon have launched an e-book reader called the Kindle and opinions are a-fire. Walt Mossberg, tech expert at the Wall Street Journal, doesn't like it, whereas an investment "expert" at Motley Fool thinks it is going to be the hottest device ever. How can they both be right, or are they both wrong?!!

No Moss without fire

Mr Moss berg was the guy who pimped Apple from ground zero to the current heights. If his opinion counts with all tech products, Kindle has been snuffed out before it has even started.

I’ve been testing the Kindle for about a week, and I love the shopping and downloading experience. But the Kindle device itself is just mediocre. While it has good readability, battery life and storage capacity, both its hardware design and its software user interface are marred by annoying flaws. It is bigger and clunkier to use than the Sony Reader, whose second version has just come out at $300

So he thinks it is a great device for buying and reading lots of ebooks, but (reading between the lines) it is bigger ie closer to real book size than a Sony reader. Is this a negative review?

Where fools fear to read, a Fool writes

When he first saw it, Rick, a Motley Fool investing specialist slammed the Kindle way harder than Mossberg. Big, bulky and how much? $400 to read a few ebooks, I don't think so. But then he had an epiphany, he became a producer of ebooks, not a consumer! ie He wrote a crappy book years ago and decided to publish it with Amazon. Suddenly the Kindle took on a life of its own. ka-ching.

He predicts that the Kindle will take off big big time, because every budding writer in the world can now vanity publish their work to the Kindle Amazon ebook store. (Writers can also price their book as they see fit, and get a 40% split of the proceeds.) According to his hypothesis, sales of Kindles will shoot to the moon when the retail price drops from $399, and all those eager writer publishers become major e-book readers.

Conclusion

So who is right, who is wrong? Does the Kindle replace real paper and books that won't fold properly, however hard you crease them? Is it just a fad product that Apple will do better in a couple of years' time? What do you think? Do you even care because you never read books any more?

Once you start digging into new tech, it is surprising what you find, or get caught up in. Take Feedm8.

SMS yourself a Mobile Version of Ed's latest posts




If you run a site, Ed recommends FeedM8 to
turn your blog mobile

Take a look at a Feedm8 mobile site at work.

See how Opera shrink your fave sites! Surf for free on their simulated phone browser.

Mobile is the future, and these guys have a whack of ideas to make it easy for you and technology-challenged people like me to become cell phone accessible.

After copying and pasting some slick Feedm8 code, and styling a form, I have made it possible for my fans on the move to SMS my mobile feed to their cell phone. And if you look close enough you will see that I am also a good community man (barf) and made info available so that bloggers can create a mobile RSS for their own blog.

And like all good experimenters with no idea about marketing, I left the snazzy blue box in the sidebar, put my feet up and waited for something to happen.

Mobile interest

Amazingly, I have had a few hundred interested clickers, some of whom I hope have at least used Feedm8 to get their own blog onto the mobile web. Good job.

SMS text alert

And most recently, I have gone Beta, dudes, with an SMS text alert dealio. In its purest form straight off the boat, it looks something like this.

Get Text Alerts


Powered by FeedM8

And if you want to make alerts more specific, by topic or keyword, you can.

And to think, a week ago, I had no idea about any of this, but now I know enough to be dangerous.

Check out my sidebar, sign up and become a mobile RSS blog feed expert in a couple of minutes flat. Over and out, and see you on your phone?

I came across the following disclaimer on a Microsoft website and it struck me as peculiar.



If the device is designed to be used by people on the move, how much more mobile can you get than driving a car? I know, I know, it is against the law to use a phone in a car, but considering how much time the target customers for Windows Mobile services spend driving, shouldn't Microsoft have thought of a way for folks to use their niche devices safely out on the road? Garmin did!

Perhaps they should call the genre selectively-mobile devices?

Or MS should educate customers and warn them that mobile is a relative term. This device is only suitable if you are not bed-bound.

Apple bashing

Just to balance the books, I think my Mac Powerbook should have come with a health warning.

"Don't use this laptop computer on your lap, it may burn your skin."

Seriously, the base gets so hot it will make your leg sweat in under 10 minutes, and after that, you are on your own. The markings after 30 minutes of surfing in your shorts are not quite as extreme or permanent as those earned from a cup of MacDonalds scalding coffee in the lap, but way beyond what you would expect from a tool designed for laps.

I see from this article in Endgadget that Apple caught on with the next generation of hot MacBooks and have actually dropped the term "laptop" from their spiel. About time.

Matt and Jessica Flannery were living in Africa when they saw how enterprising people were when it came to setting up businesses with almost no money. It gave them the idea to set up an on-line micro-loan system that has so far allocated $10m to budding entrepreneurs around the world.

As a former vet of the Band Aid era, I can wholeheartedly say that Kiva is cool, sustainable and not in the least way a charity. They have my vote, and my money.

Yoh, kiva, a perfect formula to make a difference

With the help of Paypal, online organisation Kiva, has bridged the gap between the haves and have nots but want to do something about it. At last, they have made it easy for us comfortable individuals in the West to finance micro-loans for enterprising folks throughout the Third World. That's right, you finance and get back your money, (not donate) and you can support a small business ventures overseas on a proper business footing.

Check out the Kiva home page and all becomes clear. You look through a list of people all round the world with projects in need of funding. Pick the person you want to support. In a few clicks your $25 is transferred to Kiva and immediately allocated to that person via Kiva's partner micro-loan company in the field. Congratulations, you just helped launch a small business venture.

And most important, for all the cynics out there, this is not a donation into a vacuum deal. You will get your money back when the loan is repaid at the end of the year! What is not to like?!!

Risk v reward

In principle, you get your principal "loan" back in full. That makes for a hell of a twist, or a massive deviation away from a traditional charitable donation. Participating in a Kiva project is a bit like sending back a Remembrance Day poppy or a Red Cross badge at year end and getting a full refund!

Kiva are very business-like though, and ask you to be aware of the inherent risk of a micro business loan. ie

Of the $2,027,035 of loans with completed loan terms, the default rate is 0.2%. However, past repayment performance does not guarantee future results. When you lend money, you may lose all or some of your principal. You should be aware of the different types of risk and find the right loan option for you, with respect to repayment risk and social return. Quote.

In the current atmosphere of foreclosure and delinquency rates in America, risk is not quite the word I would be using.

Kiva community

Stick around the site, and not only can you see exactly where your money has gone, but you can keep uptodate with progress from the real human being benefitting from the loan.



The program is all about linking and participation, so you also see the other side of the micro-loan equation, as in the lenders, their circumstances, their motivation to lend some cash in $25 blocks. Yes $25 blocks! one or several as part of an on-going plan, as you wish.

Check 'em out. Oprah has and she liked it, and so did News Week... and Mrs Ed and me are enthused too. Enough said. And if you are looking for ideas for Christmas, forget my online stores for meaningless humor books and DVDs. Send some Kiva gift certificates. They are all very iTunes-esque - as in, easy and personal, in an online gifting kind of way. Click on, it is addictive and about the most fun you can have with a keyboard.

K is for change

I have a feeling this Kiva deal is going to change the world, seriously. Kiva will prove to others who doubt the motives of the West, that us everyday folks aren't all tarnished with a myopic multi-national corporate brush. When these hands-off micro loans take root, it won't take long for the word to spread around the globe that everyday folks in America and Europe do have a heart, don't give money with strings attached, and do like to see other people doing well off their own efforts.

Remember, Kiva is cool and show-cases real people in need of a few hundred bucks' loan so they can provide for themselves forever, not just a day. This is the classic lend them money for fishing lines and they can eat for ever deal. Clickety click.

(Now, where's the map. I need to double check that Namibia is where I think it is.)

Unlike the airlines, technology company stocks have taken off this year. Prices are higher than ever and climbed quicker than ever. And, if anyone tells you that this is a repeat of a 1990's tech stock bubble on the back of a fast buck, think again. Even as America jitters over tumbling house prices and meteoric oil, much of tech is still holding firm.

Long term quality wins

On-going winners, like (AAPL) Apple, the iPod, iPhone and Mac folks; (AMZN) Amazon, the biggest on-line retailer on earth; and (SYNA) Synaptics, of touchpads and touchscreens fame have a few basic qualities in common. They are examples of great companies with cool technology, good management, spreading tentacles overseas, and a story that goes back several years prior to this recent meteoric stock price rise.

For their troubles and foresight, the Jobs, Bezos and Lees, the hard working and inspirational driving forces behind these companies, are now richer than we can ever dream of. However, before you start spitting nails and quoting fat cat stories, the biggest winners overall in the 3 above stories are the company owners ie the people who invested in shares in these companies. Annoying but true.

Don't you just love those shareholders who did no actual work, beyond putting their money where their mouths were, and running the risk of going gray with worry / losing their shirts. There is a lesson about patience and belief in there somewhere!

Microsofty, not so soft any more

I tacked Microsoft on the end of the charts, because they are a special case of long term success. For years they have done nothing, floundering under the weight of their virus-ridden XP and Internet Explorer, but like all great companies, they have had something big up their sweaty Steve Balmer sleeve!

In this case, they almost did an Apple (5 years after Apple!) and tried to start Windows from scratch. It didn't quite work that way, but finally they launched Vista, tacked on an X-Box gizmo to their armory, and as sure as night follows day, the years and years of development and billions of investment is starting to pay off. I believe they made $5bn profit last quarter, 4 times the value of Synaptics whole company!

For evidence of how blood, sweat, and tears of laughter can bring you untold success in tech, I bring you this age old favorite.

Think long term tech

At the moment the US stock market is in disarray, and all these tech stocks are down a bit. Luckily, these companies' stories haven't changed and their business overseas is growing apace to more than compensate for sad US consumer prospects. Make of that what you will. I am not a stock adviser but I like what is going on in tech and retirement is never that far away, especially if a stock or two pops unexpectedly!

I will keep the charts in the side bar so you can see where our tech friends are heading.

OS9 User News has launched a contest to promote security on the internet. The starting point is a screenshot of your desktop followed by a few tips on secure software.



The picture on my Mac desktop is a gnarly old tree stump. Sadly it's appeal is spoiled by endless files accumulated during a weekend of blogging. What you see is a bucket-load of material, mainly images in Photoshop, that needs to be sorted away or deleted. Tomorrow may never come, but if it does, I will try to be a tidy boy and do the right thing.

Secure from the desktop to the internet and back again

Let's talk security! Without wishing to trash Windows, if you are scared to surf the internet, scared of viruses and scared to click on emails, consider a Mac. There are no viruses to worry about and there are only a few simple steps to secure the computer and protect yourself from casual attack.

A Mac is still vulnerable to human engineering, ie no operating system on earth is going to protect people who respond to dodgy dialog boxes! "Click here on a file you have never asked for. It was just delivered to your desktop by sender unknown and we want you to look at it." These folks will likely be victims of on-line nastiness, but in general, with the inbuilt firewall running, and not using the admin account on-line, I have found surfing and blogging to be totally secure and fun on a Mac.

Ed's blogging suite

From left to right, Safari browser, Subethaedit editor, Rapidweaver blogging software, Cyberduck FTP software and Photoshop - these are the tools I use to keep the Pisstakers going.

Rapidweaver and Photoshop are fun to use, and the fun browser, editor and ftp software have extra security features, which I will talk about briefly.

Secure ftp with Cyberduck

I upload The Pisstakers to the server via Cyberduck, freeware ftp software from a guy into ducks.

Without boring you rigid, ftp is how you upload stuff from your desktop to a server. With Cyberduck, it is easy to take security to a new level with the sftp protocol which prevents all but the most determined prying eyes from taking a look at files en route.



Other Mac ftp software does the same sort of job. Some are free, some you have to pay for.

Secure browsing on Safari

I expect I will get flamed by Windows users who have found Safari security flaws, but by and large, for years Safari on the Mac has been safe for browsing. It is easy to prevent any downloaded files from opening without your knowledge.

There are exploits in the Mac Operating System that can originate from Safari, but only if you are really really unlucky. And as long as you don't surf as an administrator, you would be the unluckiest surfer on earth to be crippled from internet related exploits when using a Mac.

(The big secret to Mac OSX is that you are warned of any software that tries to install itself. Only the administrator can give software the go-ahead to install itself. Simple security, but very effective if you aren't click happy.)

Subethaedit

This is a basic text editor with a twist. You can collaborate with other users on-line using Rendezvous and everyone can make alterations to text on the fly. Pretty clever. And really secure if you follow this advice to set up a SSH tunnel!!

(I have done it, but only as an experiment. Email is good enough for someone like me, but more determined writers may find this option rather interesting.)

Conclusion

The Internet is taking over computing. Surfing and on-line social interaction is on the rise and we are getting used to downloading everything from images to bank statements to software. Bottom line, the issue of security isn't going to go away, so just make sure you deal with trusted sources only. and don't just say Yes willy Nilly to every request to install plug-ins and so-on on your computer.

And remember, don't buy anything online or enter very personal info on a site unless you can see that lock in the browser bar!

Join the contest and publish your desktop screenshot and let the world know about some cool secure software you use.

Today I have been struggling for a tech idea to write about. But never let it be said that I am lost for new material. Ka-ching, a very thorough post from Untwisted Vortex saved my bacon and filled me with original inspiration.

Google alerts. What can I say? They are ground-breaking and very useful, (or as Google would say: )

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

I cannot add anything else to the conversation, except I have the alerts installed and every day the Googloids send me an email to let me know who has written about topics I am interested in - ie I get loads of links to stuff written about me and the Pisstakers. Interesting innit.

Oh yeah, Google alerts are very easy to set up and (gross exaggeration) they are really cool.

Before I drift into "topic rehash mode as performed by thousands of other blogs" go see RT. He explains better than me how useful the Google alerts are for tracking backlinks. I am just a pisstaker, after all.

Technorati Alert

I just thought of a new angle to this conversation. Google Alerts cut out the need for bloggers to ever go to Technorati to see who has been writing about them. Yeah, that is pretty useful, because the comprehensive listings from Google alerts will prove that Technorati don't have every link logged, which is proof that their rankings are less than reliable and not indicative of everything that is going on on the internet! Yes sir, Google alerts provide more comprehensive "internet chatter" info than Technorati. Google are great. Technorati suck el grande.

Wait a minute, a new alert - Google aren't great. They are a good idea turned into a huge bad behemoth that has its fingers and hooks on every drop of personal info on the internet. Quick, stop the alerts, you are just playing into their hands. They will work out what you like and try sell you something you don't want.

Before this degenerates any further, go read RT's post about Google Alerts, it is much more illuminating than this. And don't forget to follow the advice in this other post of his and leave a comment.

A few times over the past year I have delved into the next big thing - the mobile web - and again, I am banging on to web site owners about the need to think cell phones. There are a billion phones a year in circulation, which dwarfs the number of computers by quite a margin. And with data prices dropping all the time, cell phone surfing isn't going to remain the game of choice for the privileged few for too much longer. Don't hold back and miss out on traffic.

iPhone has revolutionised the mobile web, but...

iPhone has obviously taken the mobile web to the next level with a real browser onboard. What you see on your computer at home you get on the iPhone, and give or take a bit of finger scrolling, it is quite easy to navigate a proper web site. (Users with stubby spatulate fingers like mine may beg to differ.)

But, if you run a blog or full blown website, don't be suckered into thinking that Apple have cut out the need for you to consider re-designing or adapting your own theme for the web. Even Apple know they are a 1 or 2% minnow in a mega pond, so most phones that browse the internet will have the "normal" 2" screen. No one is going to enjoy the experience of surfing your 14" wide site with one of those.

So what do you do?

Redesign for a fully mobile site

For a mini version of a full site you could rejig your theme for a handheld view. Bonsai Studios did a great job shrinking the pisstakers theme so that it looks splendido on Opera mini. That option cost some money though, and requires a bit of thought - you have to forgo a lot of the glamor of your snazzy theme and really strip it down to the bare essentials, especially with navigation. This expensive and time-consuming option is classier than a text only feed, but the investment may not suit everyone!

Go the RSS feed route and try out FeedM8!

There really is nothing to worry about financially or creatively if you adopt the service from the FeedM8 guys. Not only will they turn your site's RSS feed into a thing of beauty on a tiny cell phone screen, they even set up a few simple ads that could earn you a bit - or a lot - of income when users click on them. What's not to like?

How do users get the Pisstakers, or any other site, on their cell phone?

No wizardry required - it is easy.

1 - SMS the mobile feed details to your phone direct from the sidebar form on The Pisstakers site; or

2 - Load the Pisstakers mobile feed URL straight into your phone's browser. Not too hard. And it really works.

Feedm8 affiliate dealio

Whatever you do, don't bury your head in the sand and think mobile doesn't apply to you. The cell phone browser heads are coming, and coming fast. And with browsers comes Google and all the wannabe advertisers too.

The Pisstakers are set up with Feedm8 and we are hoping to benefit from the power of their affiliate mobile web network. Why don't you take your blog mobile, and earn more? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, especially traffic.

RT at Untwisted Vortex has noticed a trend in blog comments - a downward trend. He is not referring necessarily to his own blog, but in general, there seems to be less and less commenting going on. He calls for a change in habits, especially bloggers' habits. I'll also stir it up a bit more and say that blog fans need to take a look at themselves too!

The commenting issue

Someone like me would broach the dropping comments situation with a rant - and get absolutely nowhere. If you read the epilogue to this post you will see why!

RT's plan for a more chatty blogosphere

RT has a constructive and rather cunning plan to put the commenting world to rights.

Be warned, he is a big guy, so you better do as he says, otherwise...

First off, every man, woman and child should start making the effort to comment more. Remember, if nothing else, comments are subliminal messages telling your fave bloggers they are doing great, crap or otherwise. Engaged bloggers are good bloggers, which makes for a better blog gene pool - win, win.

If humanitarian efforts aren't your thing, maybe a bit of an arm twist from an ex-Marine will help.

For those of you who are willing to participate, I'm starting a comment contest as of right now.

Make a comment on a blog you read ... and (also) let the blogger know about the contest.

If you run a blog, you can also feed the comment contest frenzy...

You, as the blog author of your own blog, need to count how many comments per commenter you receive. Every week, ending in Saturday, send me the name, URL, and comment count of the person who commented on your blog the most (ties are okay). I will pick a weekly winner from all the submissions.

So, tell your readers to comment, tell your workmates to comment, comment yourselves. Comments mean prizes!!

My constructive comments tip to bloggers

Take a look at what your articles look like in various RSS feed readers and email subscription format. If there is a lack of comment links, (readers often strip out javascript) then start adding in a comment here link manually within your posts.

My veiled threat to blog fans

[In a hushed spooky voice] "Beware the double-edged side of RSS. Cut down on the number of fave blogs you set yourself to get through. Don't cave into the need to read a gazillion posts a day. Think, ponder, respond."

Epilogue: Ed's initial (censored) idea to raise the level of commenting

Get an education, and learn to comment, you lazy bastard visitors. Tell us what is going on in that thick skull of yours so we can write stuff you want to read.

I know, I know, surfing the 'net is done in a blur these days, no time to ponder, just click, speed scan and move on, but it doesn't have to be that way. Recall the happy days before addiction, when there was time to visit the bathroom between Stumbles. Remember when you enjoyed the hassle of contributing to a conversation! Comment, comment, comment."

Less comments? What the bloody hell do you expect when it is so inconvenient to add your 2 cents direct from those fricking RSS feeds and subscription emails that have no comments links!! We have to do an extra click to comment on those sites. Ridiculous!)

It is no secret that millions of people are plagued with laziness. Others are non-opinionated and wouldn't comment even if you paid them. Others suffer from surf saturation, (too much to read, too little time to respond).

Overall, most blog visitors are barely able to turn on a computer. Even if you made a general announcement on the front page of MSN, offering a million dollars per new visitor to your site, they still wouldn't be able to find you, so of course there aren't many comments.

As you can see, it is better to tackle this issue the RT way.

What do you think of commenting? Does your heart race when you see a new comment? Does your heart stop when you leave a comment and you realise you missed the point of the article? Do you not comment on principle?

Share, and comment oh beloved, smart fan :)

I mentioned recently how my mailbox was clogging up with poker related spam. I hold my hand up, it was all my lazy ass fault. My junk situation was a classic case of np-gigo aka no protection from garbage in, garbage out.

I had no filters set and guess what, not even Apple's email software can recognise spam, unless you teach it. Doh. So much for intuitive! But now, it is under control and my trash is filling at the rate of 50 gambling mails a day.



The trouble is, it took longer to complete the filters than just delete stuff as it comes in!



I am OK for now, but you know they are going to be attacking later with modified spellings - piker, cassino, hold em - and my junk filter is going to be longer than the arm of the federal law designed to stop spam.

Stopping spam

The trouble with laws is they are easily circumvented. Spammers in Thailand certainly don't care about laws outside their country.

I think the best way to end spam is to call it something else, or embrace it as correspondence from people who need companionship - problem solved.

Who says Windows is the only way to go? A scan through the details of visitors to this site revealed some interesting insights into obscure operating systems still (or already) in use today. Boffins, man your stations. Non geeks, prepare to glaze over - or maybe not.

Portable Playstation

They aren't just for playing killing and maiming games. You can do constructive things, like surf the internet for Naked Zwinky info provided by the biggest name in that important field of endeavor.



I wonder if they have used their PSPs on the Net Disaster site, the place where you can destroy other web sites in a variety of creative ways?

OS/2

I said what? I remember my brother was looking into the IBM OS/2 wonder Operating System back in the 90's. He decided not to go that route, due to built-in obsolescence - a kind way of saying, Great idea, but this is going nowhere! Judging by the death of the business version, Warp 2, he was, of course, spot on with his assessment.

IBM has announced... Effective December 23, 2005, the products are withdrawn from marketing and the product CDs will no longer be available.

End of Standard Support for both products is December 31, 2006

Support beyond December 31, 2006, will be available for a fee

My theory on the OS/2 lurker.

1 - The person accessing the Pisstakers via OS/2 is so deeply invested in it, they can't afford to migrate to something more current. Therefore, they come to this site in the forlorn hope of reading about other people who got caught up in something from which there is no escape.

2 - They love OS/2 so much they don't see anything wrong with being in a minority of 12 world-wide users. In fact, they always feel more comfortable being part of a small group, and probably visit here on a Saturday - the quietest day of the week.

3 - They are one of the support guys who thought they could make a fortune by supporting OS/2 fanatics. However, the market is so small that they have oceans of time on their hands to read The Pisstakers day after day.

If you are truly a pernickety, get-all-the-facts-straight kind of person, get the full OS/2 story from Toasty tech. I'm just a pisstaker after all.

Symbian and Sun Solaris

I think I will leave these for another day. I don't want anything to steal the thunder of PSP and OS/2 just yet.

If you live in a basement and spend your spare time staring at a computer screen, eating chips... and you feel like you are missing out on life - you are!!! But hey, there is no excuse for ever being short of ideas for activities, and more importantly, you need never be short of people to meet up with. Thank you Meet up.

The snappily named Meet Up site claims to be able to hook you up with cool like-minded people in your locality. Hang out with non-threatening folks who share your interest in knitting, crochet and sewing. If that is too racy for you, kick back with fellow star gazers and observe the galaxy, or discuss your chihuahua issues with keen enthusiasts living just around the corner. The sky is the limit at Meet Up.



And if you have any reservations about pow wows at watering holes, meet up with local wine-makers for a gut-wrenching time.

It all sounds good and dandy, meeting like-minded individuals, but sometimes you might be better off staying isolated in your basement. You know what I am talking about if you have ever been to the sort of event where you walk in, realise these people really aren't your kind, and wish you could walk straight out again, but you get spotted.

Would you use the service? Have you? Care to share?

As an accidental world leading authority on naked Zwinky, I feel it is my duty to bring you more digital nudity.

Over at Siliconera, I was engrossed by an article on a Nintendo nipple oversight. Shock horror, in Kid Icarus there is a Syren with no top on.

The article is a bit gamer nerdy (ie way over my head) but the comments are heated and well worth a read.

My opinion, for what it's worth

Run for the censors, people, this could corrupt the minds of millions and ruin the right hand action of millions of impressionable gamers.

On the plus side, it could be quite educational for the mal-educated and sheltered. A bit like the phenomenon of city center kids who think milk comes from bottles, not cows, this Nintendo oversight could quash myths about what a nipple is. ie it isn't a heinous blurred out body part exclusive to physical freaks like Janet Jackson. Everyone, digital or real, has them.

(Your mileage may vary, of course! If your name is Scaramanca, the man with the golden gun, you have 3 nips, and if your name is Ed you had one of yours ripped out by a doctor at birth.)

After a roasting from the money-grabbing money-making blog community, Blogrush went ballistic behind the scenes and addressed many issues.

According to an email, they manually removed 10,000 dodgy blog / splogs that were sallying their reputation. After re-aligning their crossed eyes, they also re-jigged a dash board that outlines all their stats in crystal clear fashion. ie After being accused of blowing chunks, they moved mountains in order to blow hot.

But looking at my dashboard results, are the BlogRush team actually still blowing chunks?

The BlogRush stats

From left to right, you have:

"Blog title" (obvious)

"Syndicated" (ie number of appearances on other blogs' BlogRush widgets)

"Readers" (how many times a post has been clicked on and read)

"Buzz" (no idea about that metric.)

"Readers" is the vital column for me! Ouch!

Is Blogrush widgetry worth the real estate for 2 leads?

If I were paying a fortune per pixel squared, no, BlogRush would have been an expensive waste of space, but thanks to A Small Orange, The Pisstakers is a cheap operation to run, so, hosting the widget isn't a financial issue for me.

Is Blogrush a good idea badly executed?

In theory, content is king, so, BlogRush is a good idea, displaying 5 random humor posts from around the internet. (The content should be pretty hot and relevant, especially after the weeding out they just did to eliminate the crud content.) Positive execution of a good idea.

The dashboard is fairly clear, the widget script is simple and seems to load fast. Technically, BlogRush can boast positive execution.

Their marketable name and service seem to generate media interest on a big scale (for right and wrong reasons!)

So all round, the widget and the viral potential are on the ball.

Why is it only generating a handful of traffic?

I think the poor execution in the equation is on the side of the bloggers like me! I certainly haven't placed the widget in a prime position. In fact, it has been located so far down my right sidebar it may as well have been in the dark.

In terms of visitor numbers, it is a wash between Blog catalog near the top and BlogRush at the bottom. Both are crap for business (the way I have used them!)

So what is the Pisstakers' strategy? I am going to give the BlogRush widget a month in pride of place and see what happens. If it doesn't buck up, then it will get demoted till a better content-rich widget comes along.

What about you guys? Is it handy to quickly reference other humor posts from the side bar widget, or is your RSS reader already full enough with blogs you like and there isn't enough time in the day to read any more?