277th Friday Blog Roundup
BlogHer had a good post this week on publishing full or partial feeds. I obviously publish a partial feed now. Posting a full feed wasn’t a problem for the first few years of this blog, back when the blogroll was small and traffic was under 1000 visitors per day. I posted a full feed because I know it’s more convenient for those who use a feed aggregator to read blogs. Hell, I prefer full feeds–they are certainly easier.
About two years ago, spammers started to lift posts from my blog using the full rss feed. In other words, I’d post on Stirrup Queens, and because people had set up my feed to run on a spam blog, it would appear there too. Annoying, right? Except it turned into a larger problem, namely, that if someone searched for “endometrial biopsy” in Google, the first page showed Stirrup Queens and a bunch of spam blogs. Making the informative post that Carolyn wrote look less legitimate because it was appearing here and on spam blogs, and also pushing any real blogs off the front page of Google, so no one could find your post about your endometrial biopsy.
But this wasn’t the only problem–I link to people a lot, both through the weekly Roundup and random posts. The entire LFCA is a flow of links out to other blogs. And the blogs I was linking to were also getting picked up by the spammers. Which is why you may notice that I try not to link to external blogs in my first paragraph, the one that shows up in the feed. That way, I protect your blog as I protect mine.
So, that’s the reason why I have a super annoying partial feed, a solution that I picked up at BlogHer. And I am grateful that you still read me with this pain-in-the-assiness between us, but it has curbed a lot of the spammers because they’re just not as interested in partial feeds (which is not to say that the partial feed doesn’t show up places too, but you now need to get to the 4th page in a Google search to see them). And it helps keep the useful information that appears in posts such as Operation Heads Up useful.
I know there are some people who emphatically state that they won’t read blogs that publish a partial feed, and that’s totally within their right. I personally don’t care whether the person publishes a full feed or a partial feed, though I have to admit that I rarely read a blog post if I can’t see the first few lines (as in, only the title or a quote from the middle of the post is published in the feed) mostly because it feels like wasted time. I don’t mind starting to read the post in the Reader and then continuing on the blog, but I hate reading a summary of what I’m about to read. See, we all have our little preferences. And I also prefer cooking blogs to truncate their feeds. I have one that I read and if I want to skip to the next post because I don’t like the recipe, I have to scroll through 30 pictures to get to the next post.
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Weebles Wobblog has opened up her annual limerick contest and these are my submissions (post your own entries on your blog and enter by March 1st):
There once was a Dragondreamer
Who was quite the post weaver
She contemplated UFOs
And crocheted hats with bows
And nothing ever seemed to peeve her.
Lindsay, obsessed with her Greys
Could sit on the sofa for days
And stare at McDreamy
Without getting screamy
Though Patrick makes it hard to behave
I wish I could enter more than two because I think these will really make my MFA program proud that they gave me that degree.
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The Weekly What If: what if you had a monitor in your house that could tell you as you woke up whether you would have a good day or a bad day before you ever left the house (it has been programmed to know your view of “good” or “bad” so you would always agree with the machine by the end of the day). Would you want to know? Would it be worse to know you are going to have a crap day and have to get through it or would it be better to know that it’s going to be terrible and not deal with anxiety all day?
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The food store was sold out of our usual brand of chips–Route 11 potato chips–so I went to buy a bag of Kettle Chips, knowing that they’re pretty similar and saw that they were now making a baked version. I’m usually not a fan of baked chips simply because they don’t look like they are made out of potatoes. But something told me that it would be a good idea to buy a bag.
Holy McShittersteins, these were the best fucking chips I have ever had.
I got the salt and vinegar ones, which were so insanely good, I could have finished the whole bag standing up in the kitchen. They look like real slices of potato–like a normal chip–as opposed to the baked ones I’ve had before that look like freeze dried…something. My only complaint is that there is no sour cream and chive flavour in the baked version. The lesson learned is that impulse purchases can sometimes be a very good thing.
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And now, the blogs…
Holy Moly Toledo(s)! has a post about a radio show discussing Nadya Suleman. Balancing both sides of the issue, Soo.See points out that there are no free rides when judging another person. That attempting to reach parenthood in one person isn’t noble and foolish in another. Because like so many other things, it’s a slippery slope once we start judging another person’s decisions. I like this post because it neither condemns nor celebrates Suleman, but instead simply asks people to think before throwing stones.
Four of a Kind has a post about being finished with having children. Once they receives news about the chance of having another child with the same medical conditions as Molly, they make a soft decision to end family building, but she states: “That said, it is one thing to come to that decision on our own and felt very different to me last week when I was under the impression that someone else, the Pediatric Geneticist, was discouraging us from going down that road again.” I love the end of the post, bringing together the concept of the alpha and the omega. It’s just a gorgeous read.
Creating Motherhood has a post about making a wish. It’s a tiny, beautiful post, and you will laugh by the time you hit the last line.
Dreaming of Quiet Places has two letters that she needs to write (and not send) to her ex-husband; one stating the things she misses about him and one to vent her anger. It is a powerful post, dissecting the ending of a marriage, yanking up memories from deep wells of hurt. It is cathartic to read on her behalf; I can’t imagine how cathartic it was to write it and get it out of her head and heart.
Lastly, IF Optimist, then… has a post about the overwhelming fears she has during pregnancy. She admits, “Now I feel their presence, they are tangible in a new way that my heart cannot describe. The thought of losing it all fills me with dread.” It is the last paragraph that speaks so loudly to me, that is familiar and makes my heart race just from the memory of it. And my only advice, since she asks for it, is through it. Is just wading through and feeling what you need to feel. Because denying those feelings don’t make them disappear. So talk them out, writes them out, and watch the clock if it brings even a minute of comfort.
The roundup to the Roundup: why I have a partial feed. Limericks! Answer the Weekly What If. I love baked Kettle Chips. And lots of great blog posts to read.
24 comments
Nope, I wouldn’t want to know what kind of day I would have. I’d worry about making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Plus, the element of surprise is fun, sometimes! Besides, I’ve already lived with waiting for the other shoe to drop – it was miserable, whether it did or not . . .
OH – and BAKED Kettle Chips!!!!! (I live for the S&V variety also) :0)
I was getting scraped, too, back when I had full feeds. I didn’t realize until this discussion on BlogHer that the two were connected.
Holy McSheisterstein! You are so blog savvy.
Awesome limericks, by the way. You should send them to the department head.
I need those chips.
Not that I want that machine, but if I had one I would be ok with it. I think it would make me more easy going because I would blow off the little things that normally annoy me. Overall, I would probably have more good days – unless that reaction is predicted by the machine…but then it would predict a GOOD day and then stuff WOULD annoy me, making is NOT a good day. Do you see my circle?
Thanks for the explanation of the partial vs full feed. Now I can smother my dislike for the partial as now I know why the need is there. 🙂
No, I wouldn’t want to know how my day would be like first thing in the morning, just like I don’t read horoscopes. The power of suggestion is huge, and I’d rather find out along the way.
Hmmm…not a fan of kettle chips generally, but the baked ones sound intriguing.
Normally, I like to be informed and have no surprises. But I don’t really know that I would like to go through the day waiting for the bad things to start happening. I am officially undecided on this one.
Also, the anti-spammer tips you give are wonderful! As are your limericks.
It’s Mother’s Day in the UK next weekend, and I for one am feeling it.
I don’t wanna know whether it’s going to be a good day or a bad day ‘coz I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive (just a little bit) but that can be enough to ruin my whole day (esp. if I’m told it’s going to be a bad day)…if it’s going to be a good day, MAYBE my imagination will run SO wildly as I try to guess what it is and when the real deal comes, I may be disappointed ‘coz it’s not “as wild/colourful/fun” as my imagination. So it’s safe to say I’d rather not know. :-)))
Love your limericks! They describe them both so well.
I love kettle chips, but out of route 11 chips, that’s just criminal!
Oh my world?! What a surprise to see me in the roundup! An honor, thanks, Mel! 🙂
I’ll have to go and look for Route 11. I’ve had the kettle chips, and those are yum! I’m on a chip-thing right now, and I’m thinking if I try them out, if they’re as good as y’all say they are, I’m going to be in trouble!
And no on the machine. I agree that the power of suggestion is strong, and even though I listen to the horoscope on the radio, I often forget what it even said by the time I’m at work. But a machine that would “start” my day, may have more ‘power’. And besides, if it’s going to end up a certain way anyway, the machine wouldn’t help in changing the outcome, right?
And so good to know abt the feeds!! Off to read more, and the other blogs.
Honestly, to be able to be told means that it is predestined which takes away all possibility that I have control over my life. I like to think that I can change my attitude, that I get to decide if it’s going to be a good day or a bad day. Initially I thought, yeah, I ‘d like to know…so that I could change it if it was supposed to be a bad day. But then, if you could be told, that means you couldn’t change it, so…I’d rather not know. 🙂
I do love my McDreamy, it’s true 🙂
Thanks for explaining the RSS partial vs full feeds. You are the only one I click over to read the full feed for 🙂
Thanks for the shout-out. I was wondering why I was getting more traffic today. 🙂
I am sooo glad you explained the feed stuff. I don’t mind partial feeds on most blogs, but like you if it is just the title chances are I will skip it and then miss it. (& this may be a dumb question but how does a regular blogger person find out if their posts are getting spammed out to other sites?)
Do NOT buy the Utz Grandma Kettle chips. Do not become smitten with the folksy packaging, the cute drawing, the cheap price. I bought a bag a few weeks ago and ate one and immediately knew something wasn’t right. Turns out they fry them in lard. ugh. I feel ill just remembering that. *shiver*
& HELLS YES I would would to know if the day was going to be good or bad. So much of my off days are just because I feel ill equipped for what life has lobbed at me. If I knew it was a button down the hatches kind of day I would at least try to wear fun underpants.
I always wondered why you only did partial posts on readers. That makes perfect sense so thanks for clearing that up. It doesn’t tend to make that much of a difference to me one way or another I just wonder why people go one way or another.
I’m laughing my ass off at the Holy McShittersteins. That is so funny. I love salt and vinegar chips though and those sound good. Granted I surely don’t need another food to become attached to.
I don’t think I’d want to know if I was going to have a bad day. If I knew it was going to be a bad day I wouldn’t want to go to work and then I’d probably lose my job for too many absences. Easier to just not know.
Argh. Now all I can think about is Kettle Chips and I’m going to have wait for another 30 days to get them (Japan’s idea of potato chips is… different in my experience). The countdown is on!!
Would I want to know I was going to have a bad day? Don’t think so. I’m not sure how that would help me.
And again, I feel like a dummy. I don’t even know what the difference between a partial feed and full feed is from the readers perspective. I don’t see anything out of the normal here!
I’m missing something, right?
And, I wouldn’t want to know. The bad days would be made worse just by knowing they were going to be bad, and the good days would suddenly have this expectation to live up to. I would much rather be surprised – good or bad!
Thanks for the limerick shoutout. It made my day.
Love the term Holy McShittersteins. I think that will join fucknuttery and assclown as one of my favorite words learned on blogs.
I wouldn’t want to know if a day would be good or bad ahead of time.
This has just started to happen to me… the spam blogs. I didn’t know how they were doing it (can you tell I’m hopeless with All Things Tech?). Thanks so much… I might have to make some changes.
So *that’s* why. I find it only a minor irritation – much better option than the spammers.
I am guilty of putting a content summary on my update notifier – so I’m sorry that irritates you – but I think that might be the better option also. It helps me not blindside someone on a bad day. I have been trying to keep it minimal.
Bea
FYI you don’t need to scroll through 30 pictures of Ham Surprise in cooking blog posts. In Google Reader, if you press the letter J you can Jump to the next post. K takes you backward in case you didn’t mean to jump.
NOW I understand why you moved to partial feed. Thank you so much for explaining, I can deal w partial feed when I get why 🙂
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