Thanks for writing about us. We’re working really hard to add blogs to the service to make it useful for our readers. Feel free to send me an email at mm [at] backtype [dot] com with the blogs you comment on, or submit blogs here: http://www.backtype.com/contact. We’re going to add a feature that lets you submit blogs easily.

Context is definitely something we’re working on. Right now I find myself drawn back to the original post when I see an interesting comment so I can find that context and join in the conversation.

Since this comment, my blog showed up as well as a few of the blogs I read. For an example, you can look at my BackType page: Rob Blatt on BackType.

I still think that the service is missing a few things, but is closer to being useful. I don’t think that I care so much about seeing where my friends commented, but it works well for keeping track of where I’ve left comments. I like this system better than Disqus or another comment aggregator because I’d rather read the comments with the original post than on some third party site. I’d like to see the name of the blog that was commented on appearing with the name of the blog post on the site, but otherwise I enjoy the simple design.

I haven’t found many people in my community that are on the site yet, so I haven’t really kicked the tires, but I post these updates when someone I write about contacts me because I figured if they take the time to find me, I’ll take the time to acknowledge it.

If you have a job for someone like me, don’t be shy about sending me an e-mail or calling me on the phone.

Amber and I exist without a dishwasher in our new apartment, but hooked up the DVR before we even moved in. Whoever put this survey together did a good job.

This is an experiment. I know that I have a community that reads actively. They come to my blog through Twitter and I know that people are checking my Twitter page. People who know me also know that I have a cause that is close to my heart, namely saving Puerto Rican dogs from unneeded cruelty and killings.

I’ve set up a request for advertising on my Twitter page for the rate of $200.00 for one month starting October 1st. None of the money will be going to me but to organizations that will help send Puerto Rican abused dogs to America and help get them to loving homes.

For what it’s worth, I have 506 followers and follow 199 people. I’m on Twitter every day and whoever advertises on my page will get recognition on my blog and on regular Tweets showing my appreciation. I don’t think that it’s something that my friends and community would mind, especially knowing that the money would go towards a great cause.

The company is TwittAd and you can read more about it on the TechCrunch post Ads For Twits On Twitter (TwittAd Launches)

What do you think?

So there’s a new service out there which is supposed to be the new hotness according to TechCrunch: BackType, A Twitter For Comments.

I’ve got an account, and I’m evaluating how useful the service is. I could see it as being useful if people in my circle and networks sign up, then I can follow what blog posts they think are important enough to comment on.

So far, I don’t see anything but major blogs listed as ones that I’ve commented on. I see TechCrunch, Read Write Web and Chris Brogan’s blog. None of my friends from PodCamp, not my wife and not my own blog. I don’t yet see a place to sign up to have comments on my blog included. I also question if it makes sense to take comments out of context. It’s very similar to taking a forum response out of context, or just one Seesmic video without the conversation.

Here’s an example:

That’s a pretty bad typo. Peek. Peek Peek.

Make sense to anyone but me? Hardly.

Let me know what you think about BackType.

I have been struggling to decide if I was going to write this post, but I guess being more open won out.

Last Wednesday night, two men were shot about four doors down from our new apartment. I don’t think that the paint had settled on the walls when our world froze for a moment while watching some vapid reality show. Moving to Bed Stuy in Brooklyn wasn’t a big deal in our minds. We’ve spent a bit of time down here and we have two friends that live in the area, so we figured that it was safe. Even the New York Times wrote a piece on how Bed Stuy is changing.

But Wednesday night all of that disappeared. Within moments, the road was blocked off by the police and everyone on the street had come out of their homes to see what had gone on. Being the newest suburbanites to move into the neighborhood, we were some of the last people to leave, opting to look out the windows to make sure it was safe to come out. What Amber saw when she looked was a body, dead, laying in the middle of the road.

I’ve been trying to take a cue from our neighbors in dealing with this. they don’t seem scared of the neighborhood, or the people that it might attract. I can’t tell if that’s because they’ve been here for so long and are immune to this kind of thing, or if they really believe that this was something isolated and targeted. Either way, it’s pretty frightening.

There were murders in Bridgeport when we lived on the city line, but never so close. They were as close as two or three blocks away, but it was different because of the space difference. Here, I walk by the memorial every day on my way to work. Here, the brother of the man who died walks by me as I walk the dogs. Here, there is a police presence on our street nearly 24/7 (I appreciate that).

This has shaken Amber up, rightfully so, and now we’re contemplating moving again. It’s been almost nine months since we made the decision to move to Brooklyn, and it’s been no vacation trying to move. If we don’t feel safe here, then that’s something we’re going to have to face by never leaving the apartment at night or moving to a neighborhood we feel safe in. We’ll see.

Since moving to Brooklyn I made a realization. There are no Wal Mart’s in New York City. That’s awesome, as I can’t stand walking into a Wal Mart. I feel like walking into Wal Mart is what walking into a physical representation on MySpace would be like. Since there are no Wal Marts in the city, I won’t be buying the record. I don’t want to buy it on Wal Mart’s online shop and AC/DC does not believe in making their music available online. There was that deal with Verizon to download AC/DC to your cell phone, but that’s all I’m aware of.

The Marketwatch article talking about how the pairing of AC/DC with Wal Mart could make the album a blockbuster, but I argue that any AC/DC record would be a blockbuster, even of only sold at Chipotle. AC/DC has a rabid following around the world and almost all of their fans will buy just about anything new they release. “Black Ice” will be their sixteenth release, which will no doubt sound the same as the previous fifteen, and rock just as hard.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love AC/DC. I can’t justify giving money to Wal Mart when I feel so strongly about it.

Am I being a snob about this? Are you going to buy the record at Wal Mart?

It was a long shot, but I submitted 50 Pounds of Dog Food to the competition. I figured that there was a minute chance that after seeing hours and hours of random companies that are selling advertising against random services, a company that is selling t-shirts to help feed dogs across the country and hopefully world would be a breath of fresh air. the organizers obviously didn’t agree with me, so I got a rejection letter.

I don’t know if I’ve spoken about 50 Pounds of Dog Food on the blog. The idea is simple. We are going to solicit t-shirt designs for shirts to sell for $20 each (plus shipping if not in person) and every dime that is profit on those shirts goes towards feeding shelter dogs. For $20, you can buy about 50 pounds of dog food, hence the name. We’re looking for our first designs right now, so if you want to help out, submit a design.

This might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. It comes from the blog on the Manos por Patas site on a post called The trashman cometh.

The story goes that the woman who snapped this photo described the scene as a little dog trying to catch the car in a boathouse area of a beach in Puerto Rico. Most likely, this is a dog who is chasing after its masters after it was dumped and abandoned like a piece of trash. Of course, dogs don’t understand why someone would discard them like a Big Mac wrapper, so this dog went chasing after its master because its master obviously made a mistake.

I stared at this photo for a long while thinking that my youngest dog, Tino, never had the opportunity to chase after the coward that threw him under the wheels of a truck around Christmas time in 2007. Who cares about some 15 pound dog with a broken back?

Tino was left to die for four or five days before I heard his screams for help behind the bathrooms at Luquillo beach. Amber and I spent whatever time and money was necessary to bring this poor damaged guy to us in one piece. Tino’s case is one of the more rare ones from Puerto Rico. Most dogs don’t need surgery, most dogs don’t need to be kept in Puerto Rico for a month while they recover from spinal surgery that allows them use of their hind legs again.

There are many dogs, puppies included that just need to be flown to an airport near you. You can know that by bringing a dog out of Puerto Rico, you join a special club of people that have brought dogs out of hell and into loving homes. If you’ve ever thought of adopting a dog or cat, please consider saving one from ending up on Dead Dog Beach.

Instead, Tino can go to a real beach and at the end of the day, he can come home to a warm bed in a loving home.

I have to apologize to Ginny because I used her images without permission, but I think she wouldn’t mind in this case.

What would you do if someone gave you 83 extra hours a month? Sleep more? Take up bonsai tree sculpting? Write a book? Get into shape? Finally beat Guitar Hero on expert?

This weekend Amber and I are moving to Brooklyn and I’m faced with that exact question. I commuted from Bridgeport, CT with a combination on being driven to the train station, taking Metro North and the 4 or 5 train. Next week that switches to an eight block walk and ride on the A train for five stops. It will give me approximately 83 hours of time that I will not be spending on Metro North, in a car or waiting for my train to depart. I never realized how long I spent in transit for my job until recently. I’m ending 100 hours of monthly commuting over the course of a weekend. I spent over 4 days getting from point A to point B.

What should I do with all my extra time?