RSS feed not working

Some of you may have noticed that the Bits and Pixels RSS feed is not working right now. I just wanted to let you know that I'm trying to find the problem, and will get it fixed as soon as possible. I think it might be a problem with the desktop blogging client that I bought recently, and which I used to post the last two posts (which coincidentally are the ones that have not been distributed via feed and email subscriptions). I am writing this post from the WordPress dashboard, so if it shows up in my feed I'll know for sure it's the desktop blogging client's fault ;)

If it doesn't show up in the feed, then I really don't know what's wrong, as I've had the feed validated with no problems. In this case I will have to contact Feedburner to see if they know what's wrong, but hopefully I can get it fixed soon. Thanks for your patience!

Update: Okay, I don't think it's a problem with Ecto anymore. I'm pretty sure now that the problem lies with Feedburner. I have posted in their Google group, since I couldn't find a contact form or email address, but hopefully they will respond soon. Does anyone know how to contact them directly?

Cooliris finally available for Safari!

Cooliris, formerly known as PicLens, is finally available again for Safari users! Cooliris is a browser plugin (currently available for Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer) that enables you to browse or search for images and video via a beautiful interface. The results are shown on a 3D wall that you can scroll around on and zoom-in on.

Supported sites include Amazon, YouTube, Flickr, SmugMug, Google, Yahoo, deviantART, Photobucket, Picasa, Facebook, and MySpace. For the full list click here. It is also possible to enable Cooliris on your own website or blog.

I have been waiting a long time for Cooliris to be compatible with the new version of Safari, and now that it has been released I am suitably impressed. The images don't completely load until you click on them, so when you select an image to enlarge it's a bit blurry at first, but the loading time is quite fast - and I have a terrible connection! It also considerably speeds up image browsing and searching, as there's no need to load a new page after every few images, and it only fully loads the images that you are interested in.

To see everything Cooliris can do, just hop over to Cooliris.com, and watch the introductory video. You need to see it in action to fully understand how great it is! ;)

36,000 credits up for grabs!

I'm a sponsor of the EntreBlast Summer Credit Splash contest, so go sign up if you want a chance to win part of the 36,000 credits!

1st Prize - 17,000 ECs
2nd Prize - 10,000 ECs
3rd Prize - 6,000 ECs
4th Prize - 2,000 ECs
5th & 6th Prizes - 500 ECs

Good luck! :D

New direction

Sorry for the lack of updates lately - I've been having some problems with my internet connection.

It made me realize, though, that trying to come up with posts to write all the time is quite stressful, and decreases the fun of having a blog in the first place. I know that everyone says you have to post every day to have a successful blog, but it kind of defeats the object if blogging starts to become a chore.

So I have decided to not stress about it anymore, and just post when I have something interesting or helpful to say. This might mean less posts - although I've always tried to post interesting or helpful things, I won't be actively trying to think them up anymore. So if you don't want to check back often and would rather be notified when I update, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe via email.

Also, I was thinking of focusing a bit more on what this blog was originally going to be for: graphic resources, links, tutorials, downloads etc. for the cheaper Mac graphic programs like Pixelmator, VectorDesigner, ZeusDraw, Drawit, Gimp, and Inkscape.

But I will still post any interesting info I find about blogging, and any other pixelly subjects ;)

Earn $50 for writing just one post!

Did that title get your attention? :P It's true, but there are more reasons to sign up with RevResponse than just the $50. Read on as I tell you about my experience with them.

The offer
I had signed up with RevResponse a long time ago, but I've been so busy lately that I hadn't gotten around to setting up my page (or mini-site) yet. I finally logged into my RevResponse account yesterday to set up my page, and saw that they're offering users $50 in the month of July just to write a post about them! For those of you who don't know what RevResponse is, it's a company that has a wide range of ebooks, whitepapers, software downloads, etc. to offer for free on your site, and you get paid every time someone downloads something.

Help a cause and win a Nintendo Wii or Flip Mino!

The contest & sponsors
Thanks to The University Kid and Market Leverage, you can help raise money for cancer research and win a Nintendo Wii or Flip Mino!

The University Kid is a young entrepreneur blog that I recommend you all check out - it's not one of those "make money online" blogs that try to sell you everything under the sun just to get their cut of the sales. A day or two ago Jason even gave me a tip that would have saved me money and lost him an affiliate sale!

Jason has a straightforward, humorous style of writing that is a pleasure to read, and he's also very helpful. You can also check out his blogging forum, Blog Premiere, and meet a whole lot of great bloggers.

Market Leverage is an affiliate network characterized by their great customer service. The staff is friendly and helpful, with a great sense of humor too! (check out this post)

The cause
Two Market Leverage affiliate managers, Debby Phillips and Jen Fluker, are training for a 60 mile walk to raise money for breast cancer, and have entered the Blogging Idol challenge in an effort to win and collect more money.

How to help
Gaining the most subscribers out of all the Blogging Idol contestants will win them the cash prize, so subscribing to their blog will help and get you entered into the competition. You can also help by spreading the word to help them get more subscribers, by donating money to the cause, or by donating Entrecard credits so they can advertise on more blogs. You could also buy a spot on their Scratchback widget for $5, or display their 125x125 banner on your blog.

Entrecard's next target: Comments for your blog!

First Entrecard formed a Digg community to help Entrecard bloggers get more exposure and traffic to their blogs. Now Entrecard has formed a partnership with SezWho to help increase the amount of quality comments their users receive and submit on other blogs!

I think it's a great initiative - and not only will it help increase quality comments (which I absolutely adore receiving, by the way ;) ), but it should also help reduce the bounce rate that was the only downside to using Entrecard.

I say quality comments because SezWho has a rating system, so if users post spammy comments then they will see their rating fall quickly. I haven't gotten spammy comments on Bits and Pixels, but I know they're a problem on many bigger blogs. SezWho also has an optional filter system that can be used to show only comments with a certain rating, so you can choose to read only the highest quality comments - this is great for blogs that routinely get dozens (or hundreds) of replies on each post.

But the best thing about SezWho is that you can find all comments and blog posts left by other commenters all over the web - so for example if you find someone who writes great posts, you can check what other blogs they have been commenting on, and maybe find more great content!

This will also be a way of getting more traffic: Person A leaves a comment on your blog, then leaves a comment on another blog. Then Person B reads Person A's comment, and decides to check out their other comments. He then finds your blog thanks to Person A's comment!

To read more advantages of using SezWho, see JoeTech's post, and to read all the details of how it works, see Entrecard's announcement post. You can also participate in the contest to earn up to 5000 EC!