Blazing Minds – This, that and a little bit of the other..

Now many users of the EntreCard system have said that is a long time coming, but according to the latest blog post on the EntreCard blog they are to “take action against bounce rates”

So before I get on to this, I’ll just give you a quick bit of info about bounce rates, a Bounce Rate is when a visitor lands on your blog and then leaves straight away without spending time looking around your blog and EntreCard is a terrible culprit for making you have a high percentage on your bounce rates….

So as mentioned by EntreCard they intend to implement a system that will decide if the dropper is a “drop and run” visitor, this is someone who is only there to drop on your ECard and then zip off to another blog, to get in as many drops as they can in the day without even reading your blog, shame on them! As mentioned in the EntreCard Blog:

Up until now, we’ve always allowed the “drop and run” phenomenon to take place. We figured if someone was interesting to the visitor, they’d stop and read, and it was best to let everyone go at their own pace. But now we are taking a slightly different approach, in an ongoing effort to increase the quality of Entrecard traffic across the board.

My problem with the drop and run phenomenon is that you are spending time writing an interesting post only for someone to stop by, drop on the ECard and bugger off! I write these posts not just for me you know but for others to read and show some interest by posting comments, not visit and say, “ok I’ve dropped, I’m off!”

So what will EntreCard be doing about this, well this is what they have said on their official blog:

Starting soon, “dropping and running” will no longer give you credit. We are developing a proprietary algorithm to determine whether or not you engaged in the blog you visitied in some way. If you did not engage in the blog, you will not get credit. We won’t be disclosing exactly the algorithm we use, so that people can’t game it easily.

So it seems that something is been done, but will this cut the amount of view to a blog showing the EntreCard widget? Probably, but isn’t it better to get a few less visits and gain visitors that actually appreciate your blogging, only time will tell when the new system is finally implemented.

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Many of you reading this humble blog of mine may have noticed that the TweetMeme button has been replaced with the Twittley button!

This is thanks to some interesting posts that I have recently read, the first was by DragonBlogger “Reasons Why Twittley is Better than Tweetmeme for Wordpress” about the weight that Twittley places on the person making the [tag]tweets[tag], which then lead me to the post by Tycoon Blogger “Twittley is better than Tweetmeme” which really gave me the incentive to change, I recommend checking out both posts and then make up your own minds

It’s time to slap on the sun lotion as soon as you can if your living or visiting our little island this week as we prepare for a heatwave to hit the country.

It’s been forecasted that this week could break all the records over the years with temperatures hitting 30°C (86°F) in the middle of the week, which would make it the hottest spell for years!

But despite all this the forecasters have also said that this will not be a solid wall of sunshine as it will be broken up by the odd thundery downpours, it will also feel humid and the pollen counts will rise, which is just what us hay fever sufferers need!

The Bookmakers Ladbrokes is offering odds of 8/1 that Wales beats its top temperature of 35.2C, and 17/2 that Scotland tops 32.9C or Northern Ireland exceeds 30.8C.

Ladbrokes have also set 13/2 that the  top temperature midweek will hit 32°C (91.4°F).

I know that our back garden here in North Wales has hit 29.4°C (84.9°F) which has felt a little cooler by a nice coastal breeze, but it’s still hot and it’s lovely, but have we got this hot spell for a short time, will it disappear next week and return to rain, rain and more rain. We will se but I’m personally hoping for a good run of warm weather, yes the odd shower would be nice to cool everything down at night, but the warm spell would perfect for BBQs and garden lounging

The title of this post is a question that I have seen several times in my blogs stats, so I thought I would take the opportunity to shine a bit of light on those, that like myself, are on the Orange network.

So the simple answer to the question “Is twitter free on orange dolphin” is NO, but there is a fantastic way around it and I use it myself to tweet with my orange phone that is now on the dolphin tariff.

So how can it be done?

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for another Saturday Six and because no one gave me a topic for this weeks six I’ve decided to do another Random Six questions, as usually you can post your answers here or on your blog with a link back to this weeks Saturday Six. So here we go…

1. Where were you 2 hours ago?
2. What is the first blue item you see?
3. Do your prefer use a pen with black or blue ink?
4. When was the last time you skinny dipped?
5. What did your last text message say?
6. Where is your best friend?

Ok, that’s it, thanks for taking part and I’m looking forward to everyone’s answers. Don’t forget to hit the “ReTweet” button to ReTweet this weeks Saturday Six.

Anyone using Twitter can be part of the process by tweeting me a topic, I will then pick one randomly and the chosen topic will be used and the tweeter will have a DoFollow link to their website or blog as a thank you.

If you would like to nominate a topic then simply tweet me @RemBeatZ with your nominated topic and the hash tag #Sat6

Also if you take part in the Saturday Six you can join the Saturday Six Twibe.. And don’t forget to vote for me at my interview at BlogInterviewer

So there I was watching the TV late last night when up popped the news that Michael Jackson was dead! Could this be right or was it another celebrity hoax, sadly no, Michael Jackson had indeed died.

Those that follow my Twitter will have noticed that I was tweeting updates as they came in and my last tweet was this picture and “LA coroner confirms “king of pop” Michael Jackson dead at the age of 50 from cardiac arrest.”

It all seemed to break into a frenzy when entertainment website TMZ announced on its website “Michael Jackson has been rushed to hospital” and then shortly after another announcement that would shock the world and also send the Twitter community into an online barrage of Michael Jackson tweets, “Michael Jackson has Died“.

I have never been a fan of Michael Jackson, but he was a talented artist and through all his problems and controversy, he is known by everyone and will be sadly missed by his mass of fans and those in the music industry that have admired his music.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson. August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009