via scripting news> Great post by Dave Pollard at “How to save the World” on ways to improve your blog and promote it.

Yahoo! News> Expanding its push into the Internet search space, Microsoft says it plans to launch Internet search services for news and Web logs later this year. The new services, called MSN Newsbot and MSN Blogbot, up the ante in the battle for Internet search market share. Microsoft has already said it is working on its own general Internet search engine, expected to be launched this year, to go head-to-head with Google. The Friday announcements were made at a Microsoft meeting for online advertisers. read more>

Korean Herald> You run into somebody at the subway station while waiting for the train. Somehow, strangely enough, you feel very familiar with the person and start to wonder when and where you have met. After a few moments, you finally realize this is not deja vu, but the eerie result of habitual “blogging.”
If you do a “blog surf” on the Internet, you will find that it is easy to peek into the everyday lives of strangers, from the food they ate yesterday to their business dealings. You can be an anonymous onlooker simply by using a mouse to scroll through their personal blogs. read more>

Internetnews.com> Weblog tools vendor Six Apart is in the latter stages of plans to roll out an open online authentication system to thwart comment spammers. Not much is known about the new TypeKey service but San Mateo, Calif.-based Six Apart promises it will be a free system that provides a central identity that anyone can use to log in and post comments on blogs and other Web sites. read more>

Aberdeen News> Republicans have accused Democratic U.S. House candidate Stephanie Herseth of maintaining a secret Web page to receive campaign donations raised from ads on liberal groups’ Internet sites. read more>

Microsoft continues its development of its social networking come blogging tool Wallop with this Program Manager position up for grabs. Release is still slated for 3rd quarter 2004.

internetnews.com> At a time of heightened awareness of corporate intellectual property, news service Reuters announced said it will use Fast Search & Transfer’s (FAST) software to track copyright violations of its content. Terms of the deal were not disclosed read more >

REDMOND, Wash. Microsoft Corp. today announced new features and enhancements to theSpoke.net, an online club featuring blogging for students and young technology enthusiasts. Among the new features is theSpoke.net’s Premium Membership Program, which will provide students with easier access to software in their quest to better utilize technology and realize their full potential. In addition, Microsoft announced a new scholarship program, You Can Make a Difference, in which high-school students in the United States and Canada are invited to develop technology projects to benefit charitable organizations.
read more

eweek> Terra Lycos’ HotBot search site on Monday launched a search toolbar that includes the ability to search local hard-drive content and to read RSS feeds. read more>

Great new tool from Digital Point Solutions: try you blog out in the form below, some very suprising results when comparing to Google’s PageRank.