defective yeti: Blogs

Hello sailor! If you're here because of the KUOW's Weekday program on blogs and are eager to learn more about weblogs or online journals or baby possums, here's a bevy of links that you may find useful. And I'm sure that the defective yeti readership will be happy to provide additional resources in the comments below.

Blog Readin'My favorite blogs are listed over on my homepage's sidebar, but here are a few worthy of emphasis:

Seattle Blogs: There are too many excellent Seattle blogs to even start listing here. Thankfully, someone else has already gone through the trouble -- check out The Seattle Weblog Portal.

Honest-to-Godness Weblogs: First up, Robot Wisdom. When the term 'weblog' was coined, this is what it meant (and Robot Wisdom's founder, Jorn Barger, ought to know -- he's the one who coined it). Here's another Cardhouse.

Pioneers: These guys have been blogging from the get-go, and have built up a dedicated following.

Jason
Anil
Rebecca - literally wrote the book on blogging
Matthew
Meg

Weblog Directories and Listings: where to find just about anyone's blog.

Community Blogs: weblogs written by a community rather than by a single person.

Political Blogs:

On the left: Talking Point Memo
On the right: Andrew Sullivan
Somewhere in the middle: Mickey Kaus

A few that will crack you up:

And here it is: The Soup Blog

Blog Writin'

Wanna try your hand? Here's some sites with history, tips, and software relating to blogs.

First! Read Meg Hourihan article What We're Doing When We Blog, which says everything that I would have said on the air if I had the ability to say things well.

The History Of Blogs:

Weblog News:

Blogdex - a kind of "what's Hot" for the blogging community.
DayPop - weblog search engine.
BlogRoots - weblog news

Tips For A Starting Blog:

The Weblog Handbook
One Click Closer To God - Seattle Weekly article by Ariel Meadow
30 Days To A More Accessible Weblog

Blogging Software And Sites:

Baby Possums Photos of baby possums!

Thanks to Anita Rowland for her help in compiling these links (except for the baby possum resource -- that was all me).

Posted on May 15, 2003 to dy

Comments

I don't really care that much about the history of blogs, I just want to be the first one to post a comment. And the baby possums are cute.

Posted by: Duane on May 15, 2003 9:57 AM

Listening to your right now. Good program.

Posted by: Hildago on May 15, 2003 10:16 AM

Oh man- great stuff!

I just wanted to add a couple of things that interest me about baby possums, er, I mean *weblogs*, from my experience.

Filtration: The bloggers out there who are like me point me to things that I may never have seen before- and things that appeal to my tiny little interests. And I get to try to reciprocate. We help each other edit out the noise.

Resume: Used to post about your profession/career, a web log can become much more valuable than a resume. Think of pointing a future employer to a web log that contains months of your insights and thoughts about your job- can be great stuff.

Posted by: Lee LeFever on May 15, 2003 10:35 AM

Awwwwww.

Posted by: geena on May 15, 2003 10:52 AM

Great info! Even for us newbies. I'm one of those people who doesn't just want to know the 1-2-3 of getting it done, but the ENTIRE history and inner workings of the thing. Thanks for putting it all in one place.

And nice possums. Or are you just happy to see me?

Posted by: Laurie on May 15, 2003 11:50 AM

My aplogies to any of your readers who were listening to KUOW's Weekday this morning and caught an earful of my mumbling about blogs. As I listened to you and Steve lay some groundwork about blogs, I felt confident that I had something to say. As it turns I did, but without written talking points I stumbled over my own reasons for blogging. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and for keeping the dream alive.

Posted by: missus_schmalzer on May 15, 2003 4:02 PM

Oh flummery -- you were great! You made a good point: that a lot of bloggers begin because they are tired of seeing the same stories endlessly recycled in the mainstream media. I'm glad that aspect was mentioned.

Posted by: Matthew on May 15, 2003 4:11 PM

Suzanne, I think Steve Scher was so into the reporting/writing for free thing that your points got diverted that way, and away from the personal writing continuum. Thanks for calling!

Posted by: Anita Rowland on May 15, 2003 5:28 PM

This came at just the right time for me. As the author of a blog with a readership of about one (me), I've been looking for some tips on making the thing more interesting. (I haven't visited any of the "Tips for Starting a Blog" items, but I will.)

Possums? Last night I posted a possum link to my own blog, caleb walker.

Posted by: ken mohnkern on May 16, 2003 8:26 AM

That's the first time I've seen a possum that isn't flattened on the road. (I don't get out much.)

Posted by: Beerzie Boy on May 16, 2003 8:46 AM

WooHoo! Possum! Them's good eatin'!

Posted by: Dave Beefoven on May 16, 2003 9:37 AM

I was surprised to find that you didn't list Backwash.com under community blogs. It's sorta like Plastic or About, only better. But maybe it doesn't qualify as a blog because there's more than just blogs there?

Posted by: goob on May 16, 2003 9:46 AM

I'd never seen Backwash until this very moment, to be honest. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by: Matthew on May 16, 2003 9:48 AM

Nice compilation there. But you happened to omit my portal. And I've noticed that you have made disparaging remarks in the past, so prey tell me kind sir, what, exactly, do you have against Xanga?

Posted by: Stacey on May 16, 2003 10:39 AM

I nominate Justin Hall's "links.net" for addition to the pioneers section.
http://www.links.net/vita/

Posted by: Sevenblock on May 28, 2003 6:08 AM