A Man and a Camera

Weblogs for the Rest of Us

This site is powered by TypePad, a new "personal publishing system", based upon the popular but inaccessible to newbies, Movable Type. I've been beta testing for about a month or so, and now the system is available to the general public. It's still a "Preview Release", in other words, not finished yet, but there's definitely enough functionality already working to get your stuff onto the web.

For those who don't follow Internet fads as closely as reality TV shows, TypePad is a way to publish your own web site, or weblog, aka "blog". What exactly is a "blog"? For that answer, I'll turn to the TypePad web site:

Weblogs, or blogs, are a way of publishing to the web one idea at a time. By simplifying the process of publishing, letting authors create posts easily, and making it simple to link to related ideas on the web, blogs make it easy to update a website while still making sure your words retain a clear, personal voice.

After using the service for a month and change, I feel it's user-friendly enough for beginners with plenty of room to grow into the more advanced features. Advanced users will appreciate the ability to tap into the power of Movable Type lying just beneath the surface of the clean, well-designed user interface. Cash-strapped users will appreciate the low price point of the entry-level offering ($4.95/month).
I'm sure the feature set will improve as time goes on, but the current release is more than enough to get you started. Plus, not only can you check out the feature chart to decide if TypePad is right for you, but you can also get a free 30-day trial.

Not only that, buy you'll feel good about helping out a mom-and-pop (or should I say husband-and-wife) Internet company who are dedicated to producing a quality product. Really.

If you have any questions regarding TypePad, please post a comment or email me. I hope to go into detail about my opinions of TypePad in the future, so stay tuned.

Why Would I "Syndicate This Site"?

Along the sidebar near the bottom you'll see a link that says "Syndicate This Site (XML)". If you're wondering what the heck that means, this information is for you. If you see other web pages that have a little orange button that says "RSS" or "XML" then this is the same thing.

The special Web page that loads when you click on the link is used by news-reader computer software to 'subscribe' to multiple Web sites. Personally, I use NetNewsWire for Mac OS X. Check out this page or this page for a big list of programs that make use of these feeds.

Once you install a newsreader program, when you see a site that you want to subscribe to, you click on the subscribe link or orange button, then copy the web site address that appears in your browser's address bar. Or you can right-click (control-click with a one-button Mac mouse) and choose "copy link" or other similarly worded command.

Then in your newsreader, paste the link in the appropriate place. Usually, you have to click a subscribe button or choose a similar menu command. Refer to your program's instructions.

Using a newsreader allows you to read headlines and/or excerpts of any sites you subscribe to without having to open up a ton of web pages. Essentially, you're skimming articles and you can visit the web page for the full article if you wish. You save time and focus on reading that which interests you most. The best of both worlds!