Shortly after FHK launched we began searching for ways to increase our rankings on the search engines. The prevailing wisdom was that one good way to do this is to maintain a blogroll (that’s the ridiculously long list of blogs in the sidebar of many blogs), as it is a good way for bloggers to exchange much needed “links,” increase their link count, and move up in the ratings.
There were a few “monster” blogrolls that everyone was trying to get on, and I had one particular one in mind. I e-mailed, and begged and pleaded, and finally, the administrator of the blogroll heard my cries and added Ft. Hard Knox to his blogroll. I was so excited, because I was sure my ratings would double over night. Afterall, Ft. Hard Knox had just been added to every major blogroll in the conservative blogosphere! So I watched Technorati…and watched…lost some sleep watching that night…and guess what?! I didn’t get one single link on Technorati as a result of being added to that HUGE blogroll.
To make matters worse, my link count on Technorati actually started dropping over the next few weeks.
Something had to be wrong…I checked around, and sure enough, the blogroll administrator had done everything correctly. We were there - on all of these blogrolls, but the links weren’t being counted on Technorati. The blogroll administrator was using the popular blogroll service, Blogrolling, which is also the one we were using.
So I began researching. To my disappointment, I learned that blogroll links contained within javascript are no longer counted on Technorati, and neither are any links over six months old. So, no only were we not getting additional links from being added to the blogroll, but links from the bloggers I’d convinced to trade links with us six months ago were dropping off.
What to do?
Fortunately, we use Wordpress for our blog, and I’ve checked, and the links from the Wordpress blogrolls ARE still counting on Technorati (the other search engines like Google are harder to gauge, because they are not up-front about how their calculations are performed).
If you have a bunch of blogrolls on Blogrolling, you can simply use the OPML code from those blogrolls to import your links to Wordpress.
That’s easier than it sounds.
Log in to Blogrolling
Click “Get Code” under the blogroll you want to import to Wordpress
Scroll down to “OPML” and click “Click to select the code”
Log in to your Wordpress blog, and go to the Dashboard
Mouseover “Blogroll,” then click “Import Links” on the drop-down menu
Under “Specify an OPML URL:” paste the OPML code you just copied from Blogrolling
Click on the “Import OPML File” button
That’s it…the links will appear on your blogroll. If you’re consolidating more than one Blogrolling blogroll, you may now need to weed through you Wordpress blogroll and delete the duplicates. Within a day or two, your links will be showing on your blog friends’ link counts on Technorati.
Now, all you have to do is convince your friends to reciprocate the favor. Again. Good luck.
Accessing ping from Windows XP: Click the Start button, click Run, enter cmd to get to a command window, and then enter ping host_url or ping ip_address.
Example of how ping is used: A service tech enters ping yahoo.com in a command window. If the connection is up, it’ll come back with Yahoo’s IP address and the time it took to get a response. If the ping fails, the service tech enters ping 216.109.112.135 (Yahoo’s IP address). If the second ping succeeds, there’s a problem connecting with the domain name system; if not, there is a problem connecting to Yahoo.
For bloggers, ping is a signal that you have changed something. You’ve updated something on your site. Now you need to tell the rest of the world that there’s something new for them to retrieve.
The second meaning of ping is what you need to do whenever you blog.
“But why? Don’t those search engine crawlers go out and get every blog on the planet?”
Some search engines, such as Google, do work that way. Trouble is, they take their time getting to you. If you aren’t already on a link path from another site that they’ve been crawling just now, it may be awhile before they run across your site.
Google aficionados who are using a Google Sitemap file should remember to rebuild it regularly.
Other search engines, aggregators, blog catalogs, and social websites are user driven. They rely on bloggers to send them a ping whenever there’s new blog content. That’s their cue to go fetch whatever new material is there and save or index it accordingly.
“So how do I issue a ping?”
You issue a ping by sending a message to a ping server that identifies your blog’s URL. The ping does not send any information about the updates you have made to your blog. Instead, the ping server tells the appropriate search engine(s) to go to your blog URL to retrieve that information.
Some blogging systems or blog post editors can be set up to issue pings automatically. Alternatively, you can go to the ping server’s website through your browser. You’ll be presented with a simple form to fill out with your blog URL and sometimes also the blog’s name. The ping is issued when you click on the button to submit the form.
Wikipedia’s Ping_blog article has a long list of ping servers that bloggers may want to use. This list may be somewhat overwhelming, and is not entirely up to date, so here’s a shorter list of sites that you will definitely want to consider using after you update your blog:
Technorati Ping Form If you are a serious blogger and your blog is not already on Technorati, you should sign up and claim your blog.
Blogrolling Weblog Update Form Your site may be included in one or more blogrolls that are supported by Blogrolling. If the blogroll is sorted by most recent update, this will move your blog to the top of the list.
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging environment. If you’re wondering what this means in real life, Twitter is a place where you can let your friends know what you’re doing, network and meet new people, and keep a shared record of interesting things that you encounter on the Internet and in real life. There are even “tweetups” in various locations where Twitterers can get together in person.
How does Twitter work?
When you bring up the first Twitter screen, it asks you, “What are you doing right now?” Although people do use Twitter to answer that question, Twitter is far more than that.
Once you have signed on, you can recount your daily activities, share news items and links, or converse with other Twitterers, in messages of up to 140 characters each. Messages are sometimes known as “tweets” or “updates.” If your text is longer than that, you can continue it in the next 140-character message.
Each user can page back to see earlier messages. This means that you can communicate either in “real time” or by posting messages that others will see when they sign on later.
How do I access Twitter?
You can access Twitter from just about any device that has an Internet browser or messaging capability: a PC, Mac, or Linux machine; a smartphone or PDA such as Blackberry or iPhone; or any cell phone that has a web browser and/or text messaging (SMS or IM). Once you have a user ID, you can use any combination of these methods.
To access Twitter from a desktop or laptop browser, enter http://twitter.com in the address field. That’s all you need.
It’s free; just follow the simple instructions for signing up.
For those who prefer other user interface styles, various downloadable desktop clients are available, including a plugin for Facebook.
To access Twitter Mobile from a cell phone or other mobile device, simply enter http://m.twitter.com in the browser address field. Here again, there are other interfaces you can use, depending on the type of device. If you wish, you can also associate your cell phone number with your Twitter user ID, so that you can send SMS text messages to 40404 and have them appear with your user ID. This also lets you receive “tweets” as text messages on your cell phone. If the text messages get to be too much, you can turn that feature on or off at your convenience.
Tech Tip:If you plan to use Twitter from any mobile device, make sure that you have a service plan that allows for unlimited web browsing and a sufficiently large number of text messages per month. Keep an eye on the amount of data traffic through your account. Even if the company’s television ads claim that they offer “unlimited access,” read the fine print on the service agreement before you sign!
Who will see my messages?
Twitter lets you send two kinds of messages: normal “tweets” that can be viewed by anyone, and direct messages that go to one specific individual.
Direct messages are useful if you want to send someone an email addy or a personal invitation, or if you are communicating with family members or business associates. To send a direct message, enter a “d” followed by a space and the other Twitterer’s user ID (e.g.,d 1389 for a direct message to me).
Anyone can see your normal “tweets” if they are watching the public timeline or if they view your profile page. You have the option of preventing this access by locking your updates for access only by friends, but most people choose not to do that.
To direct a normal “tweet” to a specific Twitterer, put an at-sign followed immediately by the Twitterer’s user ID in the message (e.g.,@1389 for a message to me). Everyone else can still see the “tweet,” but it will also appear in the other user’s Replies tab.
The real question is not who could potentially see your messages, but who actually will be reading them. Twitterers generally stay on their own home page most of the time. Your home page shows you only the messages from other Twitterers whom you are following. In order to have a conversation, the “following” relationship needs to be mutual. This structure helps to make Twitter self-policing, in that spammers, trolls, and other bad actors find themselves tuned out. On the other hand, it does make it more difficult for a new Twitterer to begin establishing a network of friends.
So how do I start building a network on Twitter?
Once you have your user ID, you can start the process by choosing to follow other Twitterers whose messages you find interesting. To see another user’s profile, you can click on that person’s user ID or enter http://twitter.com/their_ID, substituting the other Twitterer’s actual user ID for their_ID. On the profile page, you can click on a button if you want to begin following that user. Whether other users choose to follow you in return is up to them; some will and some won’t, for whatever reason.
It helps if you already know someone who is an active Twitterer. Some people display their Twitter user IDs in MySpace or Facebook or their blogs. Once you have set up an account on Twitter, you can begin following him or her, and perhaps send an email asking the other user to start following you on Twitter and to help you get started by introducing you to others.
If you’re not comfortable doing that, you can always follow me by clicking on http://twitter.com/1389, or you can leave a comment here asking for my assistance. I check my follower list regularly and will follow anyone in return who is not a spambot and who behaves in a civil manner. Let me know what your interests are, and I’ll try to introduce you to other Twitterers who share those interests.
What are some of the “unwritten rules”?
You gotta “tweet”! If you don’t interact with the people who are following you, they’ll figure that you aren’t on the system any more and they’ll drop you. Get to know people, say hello or good morning, remember who they are and ask them about things that they are interested in. Check your direct messages and your “replies” tab regularly.
Don’t “spam.” People do converse about what is going on in their workplace, and about products, services, or intellectual property that they or their company are offering, and that’s generally okay. But people will block Twitterers who spew out blatant sales pitches or advertisements. By the same token, feel free to block and/or report any user that appears to be a “spambot” or is abusing the system.
It’s okay to send links to interesting news stories or blog posts, whether on your blog or someone else’s. Twitter uses Tiny URL to convert long URLs to shorter ones. This allows the link to fit into a short text message, but the downside is that other Twitterers won’t be able to see where the link is going until they click on it. So be sure that your message includes a few words explaining what the link is all about. If you want people to visit your blog, tell them what you posted there!
Don’t be shy about inviting people! There are some prominent Twitterers, including media people, politicians, campaign managers, well-known bloggers, and tech industry innovators. Go ahead and follow them; many of them will follow you back, and some will converse with you if you have something to say with regard to their areas of interest.
Controversial topics are not off-limits. This may surprise you, but prominent Twitterers generally will not flame you or drop you just because you expressed a point of view that they don’t happen to agree with. It’s true that Silicon Valley and media people have a reputation for being left-wing, but some of them are willing to hear other points of view, if expressed in a civil manner. If you speak your mind, and back up your statements with verifiable facts and logic, a few people will drop you, but a far greater number will begin following you!
I practically never post anything to this blog about myself and my day-to-day experiences. After all, this blog is not about me! But this time, I’m making an exception, simply because, on my travels, I recently witnessed an odd series of events, and those events raised questions that need to be answered. I liveblogged these events on Twitter, along with more mundane details of the journey.
Event #1: Last Friday, northbound through rural Georgia on I-75, we were caught in an unexpected traffic jam. The slowdown turned out to be a “gaper’s block” caused by a roadside vehicle fire. When we got to the scene, we saw a motorhome that had burned all the way down to the chassis. We saw no other damaged vehicles, nor anything else indicating why the motorhome had burned.
Event #2: That same day, just a few hours later, we were westbound on I-24 through the mountains of Tennessee, when, once again, traffic came to a complete halt. When the traffic flow started up again, all motorists were herded onto the left shoulder, while a hazmat response vehicle sped by with its siren screaming. This time, we saw a truck cab that had burned all the way down to its chassis. Some liquid, probably fuel, had spilled onto the pavement. Little remained of the truck cab, but the remainder of the rig appeared undamaged. Here again, it was not apparent what had caused the fire.
Event #3: While I was still pondering the odds of having seen two roadside fires involving large vehicles on the same day, traffic stopped again, just up the road on I-24 in the mountains of Tennessee. Sure enough, we could see clouds of smoke in the distance. When we finally went past the scene, we saw two active grass fires, with firefighters working on putting them out. At one of the fires, I saw a large rectangular area of burned grass. It appeared that a burned vehicle, the size of a truck, bus, or motorhome, had just been removed.
Was this a coincidence, or something else? I discussed this with someone else who shares my interest in counterterrorism and tracking unusual events. He said that fires like these are strictly local news, and that if they don’t take place near a city or town, they might not be reported at all. Even when they do make the local news, it’s very unlikely that anybody would put them all together and report on the fact that an unusual number of vehicle fires happened on the same day. These three fires might well have been a coincidence, but we have too little data to draw that or any other conclusion.
On the other hand, what if it wasn’t a coincidence? If a group of people wanted to cause havoc and destruction, and to have a good chance of getting away with it, what might they do? We’ve all been led to expect an apocalyptic attack one or more major cities, which would make the national news and launch an immediate manhunt. But what if they were to sabotage and burn dozens, or hundreds, of vehicles in rural areas instead? How would anybody connect the dots?
Since then, I’ve been searching for any mention of these fires in the local news, to no avail. As of this writing, I’ve yet to find any news story that I can associate with the date and location of these particular fires. That’s frustrating, but it tells me that we can’t rely on the mainstream media, or official sources, to recognize these dots, much less connect them!
This is where citizen journalism comes in, which means you and me. Use whatever tools are available to do the job. If you don’t have a video camera or a camera phone, at least get a phone with web browsing and text messaging capability, so that you can transmit the details of what you encountered.
How would a database or wiki help? The task of “connecting the dots” would be much easier if we had a database or wiki that everyone could use for reporting unusual events and local-scale disasters, and that everyone could search to find patterns and causes of events. In order to be useful, this would have to be a large-scale project that takes in and organizes detailed data from all over the U.S. It would take plenty of resources to start up such a database or wiki on a server that could handle the traffic, to launch and promote the project, and to sign up enough participants to give the project a good start. This is not a one-person job; clearly, it would take more funds and more time than I presently have at my disposal. Nonetheless, this is my proposal for the future, and if enough other people are interested, we could get it done!
For now, we can improvise by using the “blogosphere” itself as our database. If you witness anything unusual, regardless of whether or not you think it is terrorism-related, just blog about it and then pass the information along to others. If possible, set up your blog so that you can make blog posts from your mobile device. Even if all you have is a forum membership somewhere, a Twitter account, or a MySpace page, use it as a vehicle for recording what you saw! After awhile, the search engines on the Web will find these blog posts, and anyone will be able to use them to look for patterns in unusual events. Using even the simplest blogging or microblogging system will get your data out into the world where good use can eventually be made of it.
On Digg, I posted a comment to elaborate further on what this database or wiki should contain:
If you can find an interactive, real-time map of disasters, please let me know. But I’m looking for records of disasters on a local scale, that are never posted anywhere but the local news - or are not posted to any media at all. And I’m also looking for a repository of data that goes back into the past, to make it easier to search for patterns over time.
Noteworthy things to track include the following:
Disease outbreaks in humans, animals, and plants
Unusual numbers of, or disappearances of, wildlife (such as the recent bee dieoff)
Power outages, Internet and phone service outages, and other infrastructure failures (such as the recent bridge collapse) whether there were casualties or not
The vast majority of these things will result from natural causes or human error, and not from terrorism. Nonetheless, knowing about those other causes could potentially save many lives also.
Update - August 16, 2007:
Here’s a link to a very disturbing incident. I have no further information about this, and do not know whether there is any connection between this new incident and the ones that I noticed previously. In this instance, the news story implies gang activity.
News, views, and tech tools for the antijihadist activist. Emphasis on Web 2.0, mobile computing, tech tools and tips, confronting e-jihadism, censorship and media spin, with commentary on technology and current events from a conservative viewpoint.
1389 was the year of the Battle of Kosovo. The Serbian army, along with some allies, under the leadership of Prince Saint Lazar, knowing that they were about to die, sacrificed themselves to fight the Turkish invasion to a standstill. Their sacrifice prevented much of Europe from being overrun at that time. In their honor, I have chosen 1389 as the name of this blog, and as my nom de guerre.
For the record:
1389 Blog - Antijihadist Tech is a team blog. There are several blog authors and admins, including both men and women.
1389 is the founder and primary admin. 1389 is a female.
Articles authored by someone other than 1389 will be identified as such. Look for a byline, a category tag identifying the author, or an external link to the source of the article.
For anyone who has problems: try closing your browser, deleting all cookies that end in “@blogger.com”, and then start all over again. That sometimes clears up problems with Blogger.
Welcome to our resource page! Scroll down to learn more!
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
- Winston Churchill
We Have Tons of Articles!
Want to see them all? Click on this Stop Blog Censorship! category link to view all of our articles about blog censorship and how to combat it, starting with the newest.
Our articles are filled with practical information about what to do if your blog is being blacklisted via censorware.
We also track instances of hacking, threats, and other efforts to muzzle freedom of expression in the blogosphere.
There’s been a real problem lately with people maliciously making false reports to “censorware” providers, so as to inhibit access to conservative blogs, especially those that discuss counter-terrorism issues. We are also greatly concerned with other censorship issues, including the recent examples of fatwas and other threats made against bloggers for publishing political cartoons.
FAQ
“Why are counterterrorist/antijihadist blogs under attack?”
We are exposing some truly evil people, and they are fighting back. That’s to be expected.
If you doubt that our adversaries mean business, put your ears on and listen to Foehammer’s 9/21/07 podcast.
“What about terrorist propaganda and training sites? I am in favor of censoring those!”
So are we! After all, we are at war, and we are entirely in favor of taking down enemy propaganda and other communications. These include, but are not limited to, terrorist training and recruitment videos. Such communications are not covered by any Constitutional or other legal protections for free speech. We want them taken down entirely, not merely blocked by censorware!
At the same time, we work to uphold (or restore) the U.S. Constitutional protections for speech, press, assembly, and petition, and to uphold (or restore) similar protections in other parts of the world.
Our jihadist enemies have no lack of computer savvy. They are constantly attempting to game the system in various ways, so as to interfere with access to legitimate, constructive political speech in the US, the EU, and elsewhere - particularly counterterrorist and antijihadist speech - often under the guise of “political correctness.” At the same time, they abuse the system - sometimes by hacking, spamming, or vandalizing our websites and blogs - to get their own messages out at our expense!
The bottom line: We must reclaim control over our own avenues of communication.
If you want to help get jihadist videos taken down, please visit the following link:
YouTube is part of Google, and its management has often been criticized for bias. YouTube has taken down videos that criticize anything having to do with Islam or Muslims, and has allowed overt jihadist propaganda, recruitment, and terrorist training videos to remain available.
Panera Bread offers a public WiFi in its stores, but with a major catch. They use SonicWALL censorware to blacklist a vast range of sites, including many of the blogs that provide news that you can’t get anywhere else.
Also be sure to read Jihad Watch Unblocked, including the comments accompanying that article. If necessary, other bloggers who have been wrongfully blacklisted by SonicWALL or other censorware providers should do as Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch did, and consult an attorney!
“I’m having trouble with Google Blogger!”
You aren’t the first! If your blog is locked out or malfunctioning, it may be an attempt at censorship, or it may be just plain old bugs. Our articles can help you figure it out.
“My website has received a ‘takedown request’ - what should I do?”
If someone has asked - or demanded - that you take down an article from your blog or website, your first step should be to verify that the “takedown request” is legitimate and is not a bogus request coming from a troll or prankster. (See Musings of Wired Pig 2.1: Takedown Request (Updated) for an example.)
Be aware of any laws that may apply to the material that you are being asked to remove. If you determine that the takedown request is from a legitimate source, but you believe that the request is unjustified, you would be well advised to consult an attorney.
Our Download page contains downloadable Bibles and links to other sites.
“I’m being sued by an Islamist organization!” …or… “I’m being threatened with arrest and prosecution for blogging!”
Yes, we’re tracking that issue too! We suggest that you start by finding a good attorney. If necessary, set up a legal defense fund for others to contribute to your defense.
Be sure to contact us so that we can post information about the lawsuit on 1389 Blog.
Digg is a world of its own, and not a pleasant one. If your Digg user ID, your blog domain, or your IP address has been banned from Digg, you must be doing something right!
These articles discuss censorship and other problems on Digg, as well as alternatives to Digg.
Our Reference Material page shows how to report suspicious persons and activities, including suspected terrorist activities, both on and off the Web.
“Are there any proxies or other ways to get around censorware?”
We have run across some websites that offer information about proxy services, or provide links to sites that do. (See “Other Sources of Information” below.) However, we have not tested these methods ourselves, so we are not in a position to recommend any specific software, service, or method. Nor can we guarantee that your efforts to get around the censorware will be undetected by the censorware firm or your local system administrators.
Be sure to use an up-to-date source! Censorware firms change and adapt their methods to ward off any attempts to get around the firewall. If you want to try using a proxy, get your information and your software from the most up-to-date sources that you can find.
Keep in mind that these workarounds do not address the real problem of blog censorship. You might be willing and able to set up proxies so that you can continue to read all of your favorite blogs. But if your blog is being blocked by censorware firms over much of the world, how many other people will take the same effort and risk to get to your blog? The fact is that only a tiny fraction of your potential audience will have courage, the know-how, and the opportunity to set up proxies and use them to read your blog in secret somewhere. This will not propagate your blog’s message to the general public, most of whom haven’t seen your blog and don’t know why it might be worth their trouble to read it!
Disclaimer: These sites offer information that may be useful to you. The presence of a link in this list does not necessarily imply that 1389 Blog, its primary administrator, or any of its team members agree with, vouch for, or endorse the site in question.
While this method is perhaps easier to use, the Word of Blog server has been down on occasion.
If you previously acquired Word of Blog badge code that referenced id=4690, please replace it with the new code that references id=4689. This change is being made to fix a duplicate badge bug.
For quite a while, I’ve been keeping a separate “scratch pad” blog, called 1389 Message Blog. Throughout the day, I post various links, along with comments and messages, sometimes through the blog editor, but mostly by cell phone. I use this later on as raw materials for other writing that I do, including articles on 1389 Blog, the Ft. Hard Knox Wiki, and other places.
Well…I finally realized that I am not going to get around to using all of this material myself, so I’ve decided to open it up to public viewing.
Please don’t expect anything fancy! I treat 1389 Message Blog as a workspace, so it’s always “under construction.” The posts that come directly from my cell phone might not have titles or tags. If I happen to be testing something new, I might change or delete a blog post. If I’ve used the material in an article, I may move everything to another blog or to a Wiki page and link to the new article from the post in 1389 Message Blog, so that I don’t have to update it in two places.
Thus, if you find a link on 1389 Message Blog to something interesting that you want to do some serious writing about, I suggest that you link directly to the source, not to the post in 1389 Message Blog.
Seems as though Technorati is de-emphasizing the blog search and blog networking features that made it so worthwhile, and instead trying to be a news aggregator for the general public. It’s possible that they are afraid of competition from Google’s blog search, which is much less powerful and does not have the infrastructure to promote blogger networking. 1389 thinks that they’re making a mistake in trying to reach the mass market by downplaying their strong suit and becoming a me-too player in the already crowded news aggregator arena.
Shortly after FHK launched we began searching for ways to increase our rankings on the search engines. The prevailing wisdom was that one good way to do this is to maintain a blogroll (that’s the ridiculously long list of blogs in the sidebar of many blogs), as it is a good way for bloggers to exchange much needed “links,” increase their link count, and move up in the ratings.
