Ping services allow you to automatically notify blog directories and search engines that your blog has been updated. The bigger your ping list the higher the chances of receiving traffic from those sources, so check out the list below and include it on your blog (WordPress users can modify their ping list on the Control Panel, then Options, then Writing).

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://1470.net/api/ping

http://api.feedster.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://api.moreover.com/ping

http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

http://bblog.com/ping.php

http://bitacoras.net/ping

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC

http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc

http://blogmatcher.com/u.php

http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc

http://coreblog.org/ping/

http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt

http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/

http://ping.amagle.com/

http://ping.bitacoras.com

http://ping.blo.gs/

http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/

http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/

http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc

http://ping.feedburner.com

http://ping.myblog.jp

http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://ping.weblogs.se/

http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/

http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/

http://rpc.newsgator.com/

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php

http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b

http://www.bitacoles.net/ping.php

http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://www.blogoole.com/ping/

http://www.blogoon.net/ping/

http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://www.blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1

http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php

http://www.blogsnow.com/ping

http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi

http://www.mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php

http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud

http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php

http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php

http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2

http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/

http://xmlrpc.blogg.de

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

One of my biggest mistake in my early days of blogging is ignoring the importance of pinging my blog. Yes, it is a normal thing to do mistake at our first try, but somehow I regret for ignoring this important thing although I started blogging as a hobby.

Ping is a method and update tool used to let search engines and other people know that the contents of a web blog has been updated. Sending pings will attracts search engines like Google and Yahoo! to track the new content of your blog. When you send a ping, it notifies all popular search engine crawlers and other update services. Some blog authoring tools automatically ping one or more servers each time the blogger creates a new post or updates an old content.

Ping your blog is very simple but has a great impact on your blog as it affect your traffic and Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Visit the ping service site, insert your blog name, URL and some other optional options and then click the button to send the ping. Done! You might be asked to insert CAPTCHA but it is not a big matter. Easy, right? That is why I said I regret for not practicing it earlier at the first place.

My favorite ping site is Pingler.com because it is easy for me. There are a lot of ping service sites and it depends on you which ping service site that you want to use to ping your blog. Some of the other choices are:

www.pingomatic.com
www.just-ping.com
www.autopinger.com
www.ping.in
www.pingmyblog.com
www.pingoat.com
www.pingates.com

If you are a WordPress user, there is a method on how to automatically send ping when you are updating your blog.

1. Login to your Admin panel
2. Look for Settings > Writing
3. Scroll down to Update Services
4. Enter list of Pinging Sites in the box
   http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
   http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
   http://1470.net/api/ping
   http://api.feedster.com/ping
   http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
   http://api.moreover.com/ping
   http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2
   http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
   http://bblog.com/ping.php
   http://bitacoras.net/ping
   http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC
   http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc
   http://blogmatcher.com/u.php
   http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc
   http://coreblog.org/ping/
   http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt
   http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
   http://ping.amagle.com/
   http://ping.bitacoras.com
   http://ping.blo.gs/
   http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
   http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
   http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/
5. Press Save Changes button to complete the process. Done!

Thanks to TutZone for the method.

Yes, ping your blog is simple but it has a great effect so don’t forget to do it after you update your blog! =)

Terracotta is a JVM-level Java clustering solution. Lots of Java frameworks and libraries, such as Ehcache, Quartz, Web Session, have been offering clustered version over this nice platform.

This document describes steps to install Terracotta Server as a Windows Service that can be managed and executed just as any other standard Windows services, including auto startup when Windows is started and management through standard service management UI and command.

Setup Procedure

Preparation

1. Download and install JDK
Goto http://java.sun.com to download JDK 1.6.
As of now, JDK 1.6.0_u17 is certified and recommended.
Install JDK to c:\java\jdk_1.6.0_17

2. Download and install Terracotta
Open source version can be downloaded from http://www.terracotta.org.
Enterprise commercial version can be downloaded by contacting sales@terracottatech.com.
If download is in form of tar.gz file, untar it to c:\terracotta, such as c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1.
If download is in jar form, double click the file to start installation. Follow installation steps to install Terracotta to to c:\terracotta, such as c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1.

3. If Terracotta License file is needed, copy it to Terracotta Installation Folder, such as \terracotta\terracotta3.2.1_1.

4. Download Windows Resource Kit Tools
Go to http://www.microsoft.com to search and download Windows Resource Kit Tools that is suitable to the targeted Windows version.
Run the installer and install it to the default folder.
Copy anysrv.exe to c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1\bin

5. Make sure sc.exe is included in your Windows installation. Otherwise, download it from Microsoft’s website

Configuration

1. Create tc-config.xml to be used by Terracotta Server, place it to bin folder under Terracotta installation home folder.

2. Create Registration file
Create a text file with any text editor, copy paste the following text into the file and save it as tcservice.reg.

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Terracotta\Parameters]
"Application"="\"C:\\Java\\jdk1.6.0_17\\bin\\java.exe\\"
"AppParameters"="-cp c:\\terracotta\\terracotta-3.2.1_1\\lib\\tc.jar -server -Xms4G –Xmx4G -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dtc.install-root=c:\\terracotta\\terracotta-3.2.1_1 com.tc.server.TCServerMain"
"AppDirectory"="c:\\terracotta\\terracotta-3.2.1_1\\"

Note:
If you need to pass more parameters to TC server, yon can do so by appending them to the AppParameters section. For example, if I want to specify a tc-config.xml and a server name, I can change the AppParameters to:
“AppParameters”=”-cp c:\\terracotta\\terracotta-3.2.1_1\\lib\\tc.jar -server -Xms4G –Xmx4G -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dtc.install-root=c:\\terracotta\\terracotta-3.2.1_1 com.tc.server.TCServerMain -f c:\\terracotta\\my-tc-config.xml -n Server1“

Install Service

1. Create Windows Service
Open a command prompt window as System Administrator.
Run the following command:
sc.exe create Terracotta binPath= “c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1\bin\srvany.exe” type= own start= auto DisplayName= “Terracotta Server 3.2.1_1”
It will create a new Windows Service named Terracotta which will be started automatically when Windows is started.

2. Modify service parameter, so it will start Terracotta Server
In the same command prompt box, run:
regedit tcserver.reg
It will modify the newly created service to run Terracotta Server as a Java application.

Test

1. In Windows Service Management window, start the service. Make sure there’s no error popped up

2. Run dev-console.bat from Terracotta Installation folder and connect to server_name 9520. Developer’s console should be able to login and display the standard Terracotta management interface.

Trouble Shooting

1. Pay attention to quotation signs and garbage characters when copy&paste code snippet from this article


2. To test run the service manually
Since Windows doesn’t provide any console based information when starting service, it could be very difficult to trouble shoot problems.
If your service does not start as expected, it is highly recommended to run the service manually just to make sure everything is configured correctly.
To do so, you can follow the following steps:

1. Open a Commend Shell
2. Go to folder defined by AppDirectory
3. Run the Application with AppParameters

In my example, it will be:

CD c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1
C:\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\bin\java.exe -cp c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1\lib\tc.jar -server -Xms4G –Xmx4G -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dtc.install-root=c:\terracotta\terracotta-3.2.1_1 com.tc.server.TCServerMain

This post is written using Blogdesk. It’s a desktop application that lets you write blog post and then publish them without having to visit your blog through a browser.

It took roughly 5 minutes to setup, I:

• Created a new blog user with Author rights but not Admin (I’m paranoid)
• Installed BlogDesk
• Went through the “New Blog” wizard. This set the blog user to post with, downloaded the categories and checked that images could be uploaded.
• Wrote this post.

The Blogdesk GUI is nicely laid out, you can start the app up and get straight into writing a post without having to select any menus or other needles UI interactions.

The editor has all the features you expect:

• Change fonts and styles
• Change colours
• Insert lists
• Add links
• Spell checker
• Insert graphics.

The “insert graphic” option is great. It lets add styles such as the shadow on the left, position the graphic and also resize it. Very nice.

The F5 button switches the GUI editor between WYSIWYG and HTML modes so you can tweak your markup if you need to.

This is my first post using BlogDesk but it seems like a quick and easy way to blog – much quicker than using WordPress’ own method. The image insertion functions make BlogDesk worth using on their own.

I’ve been running my hearing aids blog for a few years now. In that time it has changed theme 3 or 4 times. During the most recent theme update I decided to change it from being a traditional blog type of layout to using a static front page.

Most blogs have the last 10 posts displayed either paritally or in full on the front page. A categories list, some links and some Adsense down the sidebar. This is great for personal blogs that are meant to be read as a diary with sequential posts but what about information-centric blogs? Blogs that people will come to through a search engine looking for a specific piece of information and will most likely then want to find out what else your site has to offer on that subject.

That’s where the traditional blog layout fails. It doesn’t group relevant information together very well. Chrisg.com is a good example of this. He’s a great blogger who writes interesting stuff on blogging and new media – I’ve been reading his RSS forever so it’s not an issue for me but what about someone who comes to the site for the first time looking for, say, information on business blogging? The sitemap page lists all posts under headings of blogging and business but nothing really links a specific post to another.

People need easy navigation on websites to get around and blogs fail on that.

Breadcrumbs would help.

So would a category specific landing page showing popule, all posts for that category with a header describing the category.

Those two would ease navigation but I think a static front page with a welcome message, a descrption of the site and section specific links would be a real winner. I’m getting there on hearnig aids, I’m usnig the Brandford Magazine WP theme and that has a static front page with good navigation. I don’t have a welcome message so people hitting the site don’t know if I’m selling something, a charity or what. I don’t have breadcrumbs either.

The Guardian website is a great example of a site that is easy to navigate around. It’s a design that I can aspire to. You’re never lost on that site. The breadcrumbs are in your face. They have a category specific colour scheme for an easy visual indicator of what you are readnig or are about to click on.

I really liked BlogDesk – really liked it. Used it at lunchtime to write a couple of posts using my XP box at work. Was about to set it up here at home when I realised that it’s for Windows only. Bummer.

I need to find a desktop blogging app for Linux. BloGTK seems to be popular and I’m writing this with it. It’s definitely not in the same class as BlogDesk.

First of all, I went to set up a new connection. There was no WordPress option. WTF? There was an option for a Metablog API and so I picked that – not a good start.

The editor is not so good either. The link I pasted in above appears in the editor as raw HTML – it doesn’t look like there’s a WYSIWYG editor. There is a Preview Pane that shows you what your post should like when published but it’s view only.

<blockquote>There’s an option on the editor menu to create a blockquote. Again, the raw blockquote markup is shown in the editor. Also, the blockquotes don’t look correct in the Preview Post editor pane.</blockquote>

Spell checker works OK.

I went to add an image to this post but the Insert An Image dialog is not a patch on BlogDesk’s. There’s no way to browse my local disk to pick up an image. There’s a positioning option but not styling and there’s no easy sizing options.

Eh, so, I never actually managed to post this with BloGTK – had to go to WP and post it from there. Seems that my account wasn’t set up properly as I couldn’t publish. No errors, no warnings, no hints – I don’t know what’s wrong with it and it’s not telling me.

As you can see above, the blockquote didn’t work either.

Think I’ll give Bleezer a go. Either that or I’m gonna have to boot XP at home, which I’m reluctant to do.

So, I’m blogging a bit more often on here and traffic is picking up a bit. There’s a few posts that get most of it – mainly the linux and PDF ones.

So that’s more posts and more traffic but no comments.

C’MON PEOPLE! LEAVE A COMMENT. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

I am giving you something in return – all comments have dofollow enabled so any comments back to your blog count as a link. See, it’s like soooo worth it, dewd!

The quest for a blogging client continues and the next option on the block is Scribefire.

It’s a bit different to the two I’ve tried already, BloGTK and BlogDesk, in that it’s a Firefox plugin. I like to use my browser as a browser and I don’t particularly like plug-ins that try to extend a browser to do something it wasn’t designed to do. But we’ll see.

Installation was a breeze.

• Went to Scribefire site. Installed plugin and restarted FF.
• Scribefire setup wizard was excellent. I put in my blog’s URL and it came back and told me that it’s a WordPress blog and offered some default options. Next I just put in my user/pass and that’s that. That’s how a setup should be – nice and easy.
• Get taken to a welcome page and then I hit F8 to bring up Scribefire’s window. And I’m writing this after about 2 mins setup tine.

Editor is nice. Has all the expected options plus a few nice extras.

There’s a quote button.

There’s buttons to increase and decrease font size. That’s useful – save’s having to remeber which header tag you are supposed to be using.

The insert image is OK. It lets you specify a local file or a URL. There’s an option to upload the local file using FTP or the WP XML-RPC API.

No option scale or modify the image though – that’d be nice. At the very least a “small, medium, normal or large” selector would do.

There’s a source view too, which is handy to tidy up any loose HTML created by the WYSIWYG.

Wow, just noticed the Preview pane. This rocks. It picks up my blogs theme and shows the preview using that – extremely cool.

The really nice menu options I mentioned earlier are buttons to let you drop in video or image from YouTube and Flickr respectively.

Where’s Scribefire saving my post to before I publish it?

Smashing magazine release yet another top quality icon set for free.

Freerangestock is a stock photo site with tons of free photos – all of which are great quality.

They are enticing photographers to upload photos by sharing ad revenue with them.