Trouble is, once I start meddling, I can't stop...
I have been monitoring the return of blogrolling. It is not yet working to my satisfaction. From your point of view, the worst aspect is that the blogs are still sorted alphabetically (with extra lists down the bottom for ones that were added after the Great Fallover), rather than by the most recently updated. From my point of view the worst aspect is that it doesn't 'remember me'. Even though I have an idiosyncratic PC set-up, all other sites that should (ie not online banking) do remember me, except MySpace, which I use even less than my previous levels of seldom.
I have decided to ditch Bloglines and have switched to Google Reader. I feel a bit bad about this, it's like switching from OpenSource to Microsoft or from an mp3 player that works to an ipoo, but I was looking for better functionality and I think I might have achieved it. I was sicking of Bloglines too frequent database errors, and the load time. What appeals most about the Google Reader is that I can list all unread items by date order, without having to decide which blog to read first. I suspect this will be even better when again build up a backblog.
I have decided to start again with Twitter; this enables me also to update my Facebook status, and have some passing record on here of the banality that isn't fit for a blog entry in itself.
I am still ambivalent about Facebook. I can see that it has benefits over old-fashioned email and telephone calls. I have Friends who include family members from both my and Jimmy's families. I don't need electronic communication to keep in touch with them; on the other hand it's a nice way to keep the wheels turning over in between seeing them (which is too frequently at funerals and not enough at other events).
With relations and with friends from the past it's a nice way to see the photos of children and holidays that they wouldn't necessarily want to put on the open www yet would feel a bit diffident about imposing on one at said social gatherings. It's now up to me to make something more concrete of the getting back in touch with people I have been neglecting since I was ill.
But I'm not interested in throwing things at people, or being invited to join 'campaigning' groups that are no more than badges. And I might have to unsubscribe from one group because of the volume of emails that John Prescott and Alastair Campbell are sending me...in fact, the thought of Alastair Campbell embracing Facebook is frightening. I see there is a strange omission in his friend's list alphabetically between Blades and Blake.
With the demise of co.mments, I had to find a replacement and I think that commentful is good enough. It isn't as good (for me) than co.mments, but it's better to have an adequate working service than a good but defunct service. Where possible I will subscribe to rss feeds for comments, but they aren't widespread (I could introduce it on this blog but that would mean creating an 'advanced template' and I don't feel like it). What I have to do is remember is that when someone has written an interesting blogpost, and I read it, and don't comment, I should nevertheless put it on my comments watchlist because someone else might come along later and add something of worth.
I have been puzzling over my linklog since the demise of Magnolia. I tried delicious, like I used to, but that simply wasn't making auto blog postings. I did get some help from Typepad (they've changed the API url but haven't bothered to update the Knowledge base...). As Diigo seems to work, I think I shall go with that. Even though it breaks the colour scheme on sidebar and even though the title auto blog posts cannot be changed and states the date in non-standard form.
Finally, several weeks ago I installed a translator on the blog, in recognition of the multinational flvour of the readership. Of course, all those non-Anglophone readers read English better than I read any foreign language. What I would welcome is more comments, irrespective of language. I suppose I would prefer them in Laitn script in the main European languages (French, German and Spanish, plus Italian which I can read) but if the language crops up in the translator, it can be used - but please, for less known languages, please indicate what it is!
