Content drives readers to blogs, but many new bloggers tend to go overboard. They haven’t yet written the Pulitzer class articles, so they will instead try to entice more viewers to their site with videos and music. Rather than enticing them, this tactic scares blog followers away by cheapening the site. Here are ten mistakes which are commonly made by new bloggers.

1. Autoplaying Video – People who come to a blog aren’t looking for something to watch. If they were looking for something to watch, they would go to a video site. They are looking for articles which will entertain and captivate them. The autoplaying video takes more of the coveted bandwidth than text. If the sound is programmed with the video, it may play at an inappropriate time. The more seasoned bloggers try to avoid annoying their users.
2. Lack of purpose – When first arriving to a site, the reader should know exactly what that site has to offer. New bloggers often assume that a reader will know what ‘Joe’s Games’ is all about. The seasoned blogger realizes that there are many types of games and will place the reason for the blog beside the name. ‘Joe’s Games – An awesome place for mediocre flash games’ provides a description of the content as well as an explanation for the title.
3. Pop-ups – Pop-up windows are annoying. They distract readers from content, they have gained a reputation for delivering viruses to unsuspecting users and they are aggravating. There is no content which is so great as to warrant a pop up window. Some of the newer advertising campaigns will cover half of the article until the ad is closed. This is bad business practice, deterring users from their promised content.
4. Horizontally scrolling windows – Viewers do not want to scroll across the page for information. They are likely to stray if their desired content is off the screen. Making the reader horizontally scroll is aggravating, and an aggravated user is one who does not return to the site. The resolution for most browser windows is 1024 x 768 pixels. Staying within that resolution is easy.
5. Opening new browser windows – Sites should be easy to use. This mistake is made by people who believe that they will get lower bounce times if they make their viewer focus on a new window. This is an unprofessional practice, as the aim is to make the browsing experience as simple and uncluttered as possible. When a user leaves the site, they should not have to close a bunch of windows. The back button has its uses.
6. Use flashing or blinking text – Discos on websites are passe. Flashing text is confusing to the reader. It may cause epileptic seizures. There are easier ways to draw attention to the subject matter. Unfortunately, there are plenty of new bloggers who believe that they will gain a lot of attention with their flashiness.
7. Overuse of Flash – There are places where the use of Flash is important and places where it would be best left behind. Flash takes longer to process, which means that the slower users are not able to access the blog quickly and efficiently. The best sites are ones which are loaded nearly instantly and bring great content to the table.
8. Changing the icons – That picture of the tree next to the duck may be interesting, but they do not help the user effectively navigate the site. The newer bloggers have a tendency to reinvent the wheel. The older bloggers realize that simplicity with content is heavenly. New art bloggers may have beautiful icons, but users want to look at their portfolios.
9. Advertising links within the content – Advertising is the way that many bloggers make money with their sites. Unfortunately, there are a lot of new bloggers who believe that more is better. New bloggers should avoid any text which spawns small pop-up windows.
10. Unclear about links – Visitors want links which are clear and understandable. New bloggers will assume that their viewers do not need that kind of information. By using link text, the link’s destination is clearly understood.

New bloggers are often overwhelmed by the video, audio and flash that is available for their new blog. They want to put as many of these great gadgets and toys within their site. The more seasoned bloggers realize that distractions are unnecessary, if not detrimental. They also understand the value of simplicity.

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Bloggerluv – If your looking for a place to meet other bloggers and get lots of help and ideas. This is the place for you. John put this site together after getting fed up with other blogging communicates. He’s done a great job in such a short amount of time. Ms. Ileane has a good article on the Top 5 Reasons to Join BloggerLuv

BlogEngage – This is like Digg for bloggers. Brian has put together a great and friendly site. He also has revenue sharing through AdSense for all the post you submit to the site.

Website babble – I just found this site the other day. It’s a forum, but its full of helpful people and great information.

What are you favorite Blogging communities?

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They seem to say its because of the additional features coming to Xbox live  this holiday session like ESPN and Video Kinect, with Hulu Plus coming on Xbox LIVE in 2011

• With ESPN on Xbox LIVE, you can stream and watch over 3,500 live and on-demand sporting events plus highlights.*

• Video Kinect allows you to chat with family and friends on the big screen, right from the comfort of your living room—no headset or controller required.

• With Hulu Plus on Xbox LIVE you will be able to enjoy a customized Hulu Plus experience that will include Kinect navigation and Xbox LIVE Parties

The price increase go in effect Nov 1 2010

  Make sure you purchase some additional subscriptions now.

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The family bond is strong one.

My daughter has a fascination with jewelry. Even from a very young age, she would always fiddle with my jewelry when I held her. She especially liked to sit next to me at church and it would sometimes irritate me to feel  my bracelet spinning around my wrist while I was trying to pay attention to the pastor. My sister noticed this, too.

On the day of her wedding, she gave my daughter a gift for her participation in the wedding, as is traditional. I watched my little girl (she’s 9) open a beautiful bracelet with pewter charms. One was a wedding cake and one was a flower. My daughter’s face lit up as my sister told her she could add more as she collected them. There may have even been a bit of squealing. My little one was so excited.

During the wedding ceremony, I saw her touching her new bracelet, staring at it, and spinning it around her wrist as my sister and now brother-in-law exchanged vows. It’s a moment that I’ll remember forever: the little things that make us individuals and make us uniquely family.

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• 100 Ways to Increase Your Website Traffic –
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If your bedroom is set up like most, there’s a TV in there. I found while I was nursing the first child, the TV in the bedroom was a fantastic thing. While I bonded with baby–nursing and then cajoled her back to sleep in the middle of the night, I could also catch up on Law & Order episodes. And I never had to leave my Egyptian cotton sheets. I think we were all happy.

As she grew up and the next baby came along, I found that the bed was a great place for other kinds of family bonding. I began reading picture books with my girls there each night before moving them to their own beds. The girls are now 9 and 12 years old. We still read books there together–novels. I’ve even seen them reading to each other there. Because I built memories in the bed, it’s still the place we go to bond. And it’s not just for reading.If my 12-year-old comes home from school saying she had a bad day, we automatically go straight to my room and sit at the edge of the big bed to talk it out. Similarly, I once found my nine-year-old crying over a broken doll in my bed.

So no matter where you stand on the family bed, it can be a place for comfort even if the kids don’t sleep there. It wasn’t something I thought of doing before I became a parent. But if I had it do over, I would definitely repeat this pattern.

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Everyone knows about Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and other well known commercial image editors, but did you know that you can get fantastic image editing results for free without installing any software (besides Flash) on your computer? Although online solutions may not have as many features as commercial products, they likely have more features than the average digital camera user will ever need. Here you will find 7 free online image editors that will help you edit your photos and other images without spending money and without cluttering your computer.

1. Aviary: If you want advanced features, you will love Aviary. Layers, groups, filters, all come with this free online application. This suite of image applications includes an image editor (Phoenix), color editor (Toucan), effects editor (Peacock), vector editor (9Raven), Audio Editor (Myna), image markup (Falcon), and Music Creator (Roc). You can make Aviary the centerpiece of all your creative activity. Even better, Aviary is a social community where you can use your Facebook and Twitter login credentials. You can also share your creations and interact with other members.

2. FotoFlexer: This self-described “world’s most advanced online image editor” can load your images from either your computer or directly from online sources such as Picasa, Flickr, PhotoBucket, MySpace, and more. This powerful online tool provides all the advanced editing features you could ever need in one easy to use online interface.

3. Picnik: This editor offers one-click photo fixing and enhancement, resize and crop functions, fonts, shapes, and special effects that give you the ability to edit your photos and other images and turn them into personalized works of art. Picnik is socially aware, meaning that it interacts with social networking communities where you can share the images you have edited.

4. flauntR: Choose from a wealth of predefined graphics effects that you can apply to photos and images with just a click of your mouse. It too integrates with online social communities, so it is a competitive choice for all your graphics needs. Whether you blend your photos into history’s most notable paintings, enhance your images with fonts, or convert them using the “profilR” social network profile creator, you are sure to find that flauntR not only offers all the creative options you need, but it is also fun to use.

5. Online Image Editor: If all the bells and whistles of some of the free online image editors scare you, Online Image Editor brings down to earth options in a basic interface. You won’t find social community interaction here, but you will find basic image editing features and some clever animation effects, color overlays and a few other features. This tool will get the job done when it comes to image and photo editing.

6. Splashup: Edit multiple images at once, add layers, and manipulate colors at the pixel level. You can use the full version of Splashup or you can opt for the minimal Splashup Lite if all you need is basic functionality. Bothe versions of Splashup are free and you can switch between them once you sign up. Splashup has its own photo sharing community, but it also has full scale interaction with other popular sites like Picasa, Facebook, and Flickr.

7. Photoshop.com: Perhaps the most recognizable name among commercial image editing software has its own brand of online image editing and – like many others – is totally free. The Photoshop.com online image editor has more of a professional look and feel as some of its competitors, interacts with social sites, and allows you to create your own galleries where you can display your photos on your own customized Photoshop subdomain that you create when you sign up to use the site.

Technology has done wonders on the modern World Wide Web to such an extent that standalone photo and image editing software is no longer a necessity. Before you buy a software package, tryout the 7 free online image editors listed here. You will probably find that these offer virtually everything you will ever need when it comes to working with your photos and images.

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#FollowFriday

@blazingminds – Owner of two poodles. Blogger at Blazing Minds, lover of tech, life & people who make me laugh. Especially those that don’t mean to do it

@williger -  Success driven ex-DELL new media sales strategist and marketer by day. Meditating, guitar playing, wine making, crime fighting superhero @ night. I like cheese!

@paultarnow -  Christ follower, husband, dad, musician and techie.

@dsiles – Bio Dir / WW Technical Operations for @Veeam. VMware vExpert 2009/2010 and a VCP. Avid poker player and all around nice guy.

@rebeccaspratke

@jeffhengesbach -  Sys Admin / Engineer

@stevegreenberg – Founder,President Thin Client Computing (since 1997). Architect and implementer of many successful Enterprise Virtual and Remote Computing projects.

@jsinkeywest – blog,blogging,do follow blogs,bloggers,affiliate marketing,I make Blogs that make MONEY

@virtual_vic -  Virtualization Architect, VMware evangelist, Former Ranger, father, husband and all around good guy.

@ileane – Blogger, podcaster and Twitter addict, using social media to learn, to teach and to connect!

@petlvr – Join the PetLvr Community! Free to register ~ where pet lovers hang out oFollow

@z3olyte

@gestaltit – The best independent IT analysis

@cxi – Technology Evangelist at EMC

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