The Free Web Is In Transition, Is It Time To Charge For Your Heart And Soul?

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Every now and then I browse the web looking for new cool ways to utilize the tools I use when designing; most prominently, Adobe Photoshop. One of the sites I sometimes end up on is PSDTuts, a tutorial site which I deem pretty good, if not just to get some inspiration and remind myself what is possible with Photoshop.

Well, now it seems they are having some problems. First of all, they need to make money to keep the site going, which is pretty obvious to me. That’s why they created something called Plus, a $9/month subscription which gives you more Photoshop tutorials, and more sample files to download. A pretty good extension to the site, I’d say, since there’s still plenty of content available for the cheapskate visitor, like me. I don’t mind.
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People Are Commenting On Your Blog Posts – On Other Websites

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Imagine this scenario:

  1. You write a post on your blog.
  2. Someone submits your blog post to a link-sharing site like Digg, StumbleUpon, or FriendFeed.
  3. Tons of people comment on that link on Digg, Mixx, or FriendFeed, and an interesting conversation ensues independent of your blog.
  4. Meanwhile, your blog proper has: 0 comments.

Does this bother you as a blogger? How about as a user?

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Four Israeli security staff allowed to write mundane blogs

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In an unusual move, Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, has allowed four of its employees to blog anonymously about their work life.

All four bloggers appear to be involved in fairly administrative roles, with such fascinating snippets as, “You don’t stay at work unless you really have to. It’s rare for me to come home after 6.30pm,” and “I didn’t get a siren to put on my car and I too have to sit in traffic jams.”

Their identities are hidden behind silhouetted portraits, and they use just their initials.

The reason for allowing these blogs? To win over hi-tech recruits.

As the blogs are written in Hebrew, I can’t tell you if they get any more exciting, but it’s somewhat surprising for an agency so heavily involved in security to be sanctioning these blogs, even if they are vetted.

shin-tech.org.il (Via The Guardian)

WordPress Wednesday News: Sneak Peeks of WordPress 2.5, Beta Released, WordCamp Dallas Next Week, and More WordPress News

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Sneak previews of WordPress 2.5 are everywhere. Due out next week. WordCamp Dallas is also next week, and registration is filling fast. Super Cache WordPress Plugin updated. Which WordPress Theme do you think should be the default? And more WordPress news.

WordPress News

WordCamp Dallas NEXT WEEK!: WordCamp Dallas is March 29-30, 2008 and I’ve written some reasons on why you should attend this innovative conference on WordPress – it’s the amazing speakers covering video blogging, SEO, podcasting, marketing, and lots of WordPress. WordPress 2.5 should have just been released and Matt Mullenweg will be there to discuss the latest version of WordPress and where WordPress is going to go. Charles Stricklin offers a WordCamp Dallas Attendee Breakdown based upon registration information to encourage you even more to attend. Be there!

WordPress 2.5 Beta Release and Preview: The first beta testing, release candidate for WordPress 2.5 has just been issued for testers only. Matt Mullenweg and the WordPress Development Blog showed off WordPress 2.5 with the redesign of the interface called the Administration Panels by Happy Cog. The redesign puts the emphasis on producing content not messing around with the backend. Weblog Tools Collections covers the “Colorful Future For WordPress 2.5 Administration Panels” and the color options users will have on their blog interface. And PlanetOzh offers “Per User Custom Stylesheet in WordPress 2.5”, a new technique to allow WordPress Users to set their own color scheme with the ability to add a per-user selectable custom stylesheet for your blog.

Other articles about WordPress 2.5 include:

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Localized Bloggers Can Earn Money With CBS

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Bloggers can now earn revenue by placing CBS News revenue-sharing widgets on their Websites. Dubbed the CBS Local Ad Network, the widgets display real-time local headlines (along with a banner ad sold by CBS) from CBS television stations in your area.

The project marks the first major media television network to share revenue with
localized social-media Websites.

CBS is conducting a staggered roll out of the ad network. Currently, it’s available in Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Denver and Chicago. It’s expected to hit New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and others in the coming weeks.

The big mystery is what percentage of the ad revenue local sites will receive. CBS has yet to announce the cut. This seems to be a trend with ad networks of late. Don’t they realize that this is the part most bloggers care about the most?

Anything beats AdSense, no?

Geo-tagged widgets are not new, but the relationship forming with large media entities and John Q. Blogger certainly is. Let’s hope they offer up a decent enough cut to generate interest.

Learn more at TV Week.