Wordpress is a Quiet Giant

 

Wordpress Logo

There's something not many people know. While Wordpress may be thought of as a blogging platform by those of us that operate a blog, it is really much more than that. According to Wikipedia, 

"WordPress was originally created as a blog-publishing system but has evolved to support other web content types including more traditional mailing lists and forums, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems (LMS) and online stores. WordPress is used by 41.4% of the top 10 million websites as of May 2021..."

 Among other sites, Variety, Bloomberg Professional, BBC America, MTV News, and New York Times all use Wordpress. Just yesterday, I noticed that the Canon Printer support site also had the blue Wordpress logo as well. Unfortunately, Wordpress's flexibility and power also means there's a lot to learn...

Avoiding the Zombie Blog Situation

Despite not having posted here since March, things are cooking beneath the surface. I actually purchased a domain name. I'm also studying Wordpress. Stay tuned for further news, as I've not decided whether to and what to move to the new domain. I purchased 3 years of hosting and can have unlimited websites. I suspect I'm going to use subdomains rather than registering separate domains.

This is not my first foray into building a website. 20 years ago I wrote the website for the Seattle Jaguar Club. Thanks to "internet archive's" "Wayback Machine," a sample of it back in the day can be visited here.

What Will Become of Blogs?

For quite some time, it has seemed as if many blogs I've known and loved have dropped off the face of the earth one by one. At first, there were many new ones appearing and, certainly, people do get tired of writing on almost any topic.

However, the reality is that social media giants (not naming any in particular) have been reducing interest generally in blogs.

Below is what Google Trends says about interest in blogs. For those that don't know, blogspot (blogger) is a Google product. Wordpress is a competing product.

Google Trend over time for the Seach Term "blog?

As can easily be seen, Google trends show the term "blog" peaking in popularity in August, 2009. This blog started at the end of July, 2009. As of October 2020, blog is used less than 20% as much as it was at its peak. Things are even worse for blogspot, which is only about 5% of its peak popularity as a search term. Wordpress has not suffered as badly, but even it is down 2/3 from its peak.

Relative Popularity of "Blogspot" versus "Wordpress" over time

Perhaps the writing is on the wall for those not using Facebook or Twitter or any of the other overwhelming social media.

Hmm...

Blogger Experiments

This blog has a pretty simple layout, but is also fairly typical for blogs using Blogger. However, I've been busy working our some different alternatives.

First off, is my "Steve's Back Home Again" blog. This blog covers Ocean Shores and Washington State topics that don't have any bicycle content. Mostly, they involve living in a small town and oddities of local history. If you click on that, you'll note that, besides the obvious difference of a black background, the main blog is in a single column format that is about the right width for printed page purposes. I also got rid of most of the rest of the claptrap that clutters up blogs such as the "search" and the "profile" It also has a "Print this Post" button that allows printing or emailing of individual posts. I got the free version, since I don't expect enough traffic to justify paying to eliminate the fairly unobtrusive ads that appear in the print dialog boxes.

Going a step further is a "North Beach Genealogy" blog. This is oriented towards our local Genealogy Club and strips out as much "computerese" as possible, while attempting to support multiple authors.

A further step is "Averill Happenings." This is mostly a family blog, that includes history stories. Comments are rare on such a blog, and so I facilitated them via a contact form at the bottom. I also included the "Print this Post" feature and stripped out all the various and sundry items that such a blog does not need. One other difference is that the blog only shows whatever the latest post is, with older posts reached via one of the buttons at top which take the reader to various pages. I included a "popular past posts" for the family members that like such stuff.

Will I do any of this in THIS blog? Well, probably, and I'll probably steal some inspiration from my loyal reader. Just don't expect Rantwick-style videos. As previously noted, videos don't seem to work for my posts...

Annual Ritual

Last year, on Boxing Day, my post, here, outlined some sadly abandoned blogs. I checked, just to make sure none of them have been resurrected. The only action was that "Let's Go Ride a Bike" is now a domain for sale and Hugh did make a single post back in May about a kid's department store bike.

This year, I'm going to be a little more rigorous. Gone this year are
The Invisible Visible Man - signed out with grace last July. He'll be missed
One Speed Go - John Romeo Alpha seems to have moved on. His sad little monkeys were always amusing and usually useful
Suburban Assault - I think Dick David might be off raising funds somewhere, but we may or may not find out how he did

There's also a problem of a different sort. Anniebikes is still active with her excellent blog, but there's some sort of a problem with "latest post" links. I sent her a comment to that effect, but we're not all blog html experts, so I'm moving the link to her blog to my Other Sites to Visit page. On that page, I deleted Ian Walker's Blog and Two Feet off the Asphalt since neither posted at all in 2017.

A Tent for Eva?

Shower Tent Set Up in Ocean Shores. Water is Temperature Controlled from Outside of RV. Tent was $35 Locally Sourced

Trevor Woodford, over on his excellent "Original Purple Traveller" blog rides his bike when his RV, named "Eva," permits. On a recent post, I inquired about how useful his "Eva the Eriba's" in-trailer shower was. It turned out it was marginal. I noted that I'd seen shower tents that might be just the trick when stopped at a campsite without showers.

This morning, I stopped and got a shot of one that's currently stopped on the owner's empty lot in Ocean Shores. It is shown at the top of this post. The owner noted that it cost $35 at the Aberdeen, Washington Bimart. He also noted that his rig had hot/cold outlet on the outside of his RV that made things really convenient. I suspect that option isn't in the cards for Trevor, what with the cost of British Airways First Class travel nowadays. However, Amazon has a lot of these things in prices ranging from $30 to as much as you want to spend.

It seems to me that smaller ones are best in the "foldable popup" variety. For a little more work, you could get one that is much bigger. Both varieties are shown below. For sunnier days, one could even use one of those solar showers, in which water in a bag is heated by the sun. THOSE are just the ticket for a quick after swim shower when on a boat. Heck, one of those solar showers might even be nice for rinsing off sweat after a spirited bike ride upon return. One thing all these things have in common is they store in little space, are quick to set up or put away, and don't weigh a lot. I'm not sure how Trevor's RV shower experiences have been, but there seems an awful lot of drying down and moisture afterwards to make taking a shower in the RV entirely satisfactory. In-house toilets, on the other hand, are WONDERFUL for those late night times when you have to go and the camp facilities are a long ways off and it is raining...

Popup Tent for about $35

Bigger Tent for about $100

They Even Sell Solar Showers. Just the Thing for a Tent Where You Don't Want to Heat Water IN the RV. About $12

Happy New Year, Sorta

Related to the blog, I deleted the old friends that became "Zombie" blogs from my "other links" page. I am trying to figure out what to do about the pictures on this blog that USED to be on Google's Picasa. Some of you may or may not know that Google decided to discontinue Picasa. For now, the pictures still remain, but it isn't clear if this is long term or not. I went to Google to see how to move them over to the "new and improved" Google photos, but things don't seem to work in the way the instructions suggest. Hmm. Ain't technology WONDERFUL?

More changes to come soon.

Sadly, the old year closed out with the Huskies losing to the Alabama Semi-Pros. I think, however, the Huskies will be better in 2017...

Saying "Goodbye" to Old Friends

Today is "Boxing Day." I used to think it was the day after Christmas since you'd put everything back into boxes. Seems, however, that the day has more to do with British class structure than putting stuff away. If you go over to my "other sites to visit" page, you'll notice that there are quite a few "Bike Blogs in Hibernation" links. Well, I'm going to some of these away unless my loyal reader demands otherwise. My criteria for deletion is very simple: No posts in the last full year. Using this criteria, the sites that will be gone include:


Big Oak Bikes - no posts in the last three years
Biking in Dallas - no posts in nearly three years, but you can check on Facebook if you're into Facebook
Carbon Trace - Andy seems to have quietly given up blogging about anything having to do with bikes
CycleDog - Ed's last post was more than three years ago. I miss his posts.
Cycling in Heels - I'm going to add a link to her shop's blog at "Bicycle Belle."
Cycling Unbound - last post was over two years ago. Perhaps Fred found out that sidewalk riding is a losing proposition?
Doohickie - Doohickie, to his credit, said he was leaving the blog more than three years ago. You can find him on Facebook
Hugh's Bicycle Blog - After more than two years, I don't think Hugh's coming back.
Let's Go Ride a Bike - It's been nearly two years since their last post. So long, Dottie and Mr Dottie
Plano Cyclist - I had hope that Justin might resume his posts, but that was over a year ago.
Rat Trap Press - Myles started up again, but he's not posted in over a year, That's more than simple hibernation.

Any thoughts on what I should ADD to the "other sites to visit" page? Or, should I even HAVE an "other sites" page? Inquiring minds want to know!

In any event, those sites will live on via THIS post - until they disappear entirely, as have many other blogs. One that's still fondly remembered was Pedal Talk. Nowadays, there's stuff there, but it isn't in any language I recognize. One might wonder if blogs are simply yet another technology whose day has come - and gone...

RIP Cycle Dallas Blog

The End of Cycle Dallas?

It may have turned into a "Commute Orlando" (an EXCELLENT blog) fan site in the last year or two, but I will dearly miss Cycle Dallas, which was run by the former Dallas bicycle coordinator PM Summer and was taken down last week. I had fun making some posts there myself. As PM once said: "no harm no foul."

Speaking of former bicycle coordinators in Dallas, we need to be a bit more specific. PM's replacement, Max Kalhammer, is also gone (and almost at the same time). THAT is a bit more mysterious, though Max was never really a real force for change the way his boosters may have hoped.

No word from Dallas on what might be next. It appears their vision for bicycling is mandatory helmet laws, apparently so the DPD has an excuse to stop minority kids since there is little evidence that those laws actually helped anyone.

Passing on Liebster

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:

Passed to me from "Mid-life Cycling"

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them about the award.
5. No tag backs.

FACTS

1. My first name is spelled oddly. Rather than the common "Steven" or "Stephen," my proper first name is "Stephan."
2. I worked 11 years at Boeing, but never worked for Boeing, unlike both my father and mother-in-law.
3. The University I went to tore down the dorm I lived in last summer.
4. My loyal reader may know I like Jaguar cars, but it is less well known that we own two that still carry Washington license plates, awaiting their journey home.
5. One nickname for our youngest, we jokingly say, is "99 for short."
6. I have been to the Dr Pepper Museum and to the XXX Root Beer in Issaquah. Amazingly, these are listed as one item.
7. Three relatives were hung as witches in Salem a long time ago. One was actually from Topsfield.
8. I am not closely related to Earl Averill. He came from the Maine wing of the family while I came from the Connecticut branch.
9. My favorite Mariner was Joey Cora
10. I learned to sail in an El Toro
11. I like xeriscape

Here are the questions I'm supposed to answer:

1. What is the best or most meaningful gift you ever received?

• My grandfather's pocket watch.

2. What was the best-received gift you ever gave anybody?

• Glasses we gave to my wife's parents

3. What historical figure would you be most interested in meeting?

• Jack Northrop. In his prime.

4. If you were a country, which one would it be?

• England. Any doubt there, other than Canada which is just as exotic, only closer?

5. Was there any part of your schooling (elementary, secondary, university, vocational) that you especially liked or disliked? Why?

• The year I went to school in New Orleans because it changed my life as I realized I wasn't a loser in school. It's also where I was when Kennedy was shot.

6. Think of all of the places in which you've ever lived, or visited. Which is your favorite? If you had one day to spend there, what would you do?

• Salisbury. I'd tip a pint of Bishop's Tipple

7. Have you ever Googled the name of someone you hadn't thought about in years? If so, did the results surprise you?

• Yes. And no. And yes.

8. If you had the opportunity to become the President of the United States or the Pope, would you take it? Why or why not?

• No. I'm not Roman Catholic. Strictly speaking, however, it isn't a requirement for the former...

9. What is the most surprising or unexpected thing anybody could learn about you?

• You'd be surprised!

10. If you could bring five books with you to a desert island, what would they be? What else would you bring?

• Well, my set of 1911 Encyclopaedia Brittanicas come to mind. Ditto for Complete Shakespeare. Third would be the annotated Sherlock Holmes. Fourth would be "Golf in the Kingdom," and fifth would be a fixit or gardening book appropriate for the island situation. I'd also bring a generator and a tanker full of fuel.

11. Butter pecan, cherry vanilla, rocky road, pistachio or chocolate chocolate chip?

• Rocky Road; Spumoni wasn't one of the choices...

Now for my eleven own questions:

1. Does the chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?
2. Are oysters or clams better?
3. Is Ortlieb better than Arkel? Why?
4. Do you prefer electric shifting or friction shifters?
5. When was the last time you drove a manual shift motor vehicle?
6. What is your favorite color?
7. Without checking, can you name any country that borders Burundi? If so, which one is your favorite? Feel free to consider it your favourite if you're not from the USA.
8. When will the LA Dodgers next win the World Series and who will be their opponents?
9. Is Wayne Gretzky greater than Jennifer Jones, and WHICH Jennifer Jones did I have in mind?
10. Which agency of the three following do you like most? IRS, EPA, ICE
11. Was Edison right about electricity, or are you a Tesla fan?

Now to pass the torch - in NO particular order other than most recent post:
Durango Texas
Flat Tire
One Speed GO
Hometown by Handlebar
Pondero
Los Alamos Bikes
London Daily Photo and Cycling, London, and Life
Urbana-Champaign Cycling Ventures
Springfield Cyclist
Two Feet Off the Asphalt
Rantwick

Blogger Follies from "The Lost Post"

With apologies to my loyal commenters, Blogger sometimes acts oddly. To preserve things, in a now mysteriously deleted post entitled "More than Hypothetical Delay," comments were received that said:

cafiend said...

I used to ride a route three miles longer, over a much higher summit, to avoid the highway on my ride home from work. The extra miles took longer than the same distance on terrain and pavement comparable to the highway. It was wonderfully peaceful but got me home too late for domestic harmony.
My two routes out of town even on the direct route are a big detour out a side road to avoid a section known for impatient motorists or a scoot out the rail trail with all its shortcomings, to reach the highway outside of town. All these delays have more to do with avoiding motorist friction than with a strong desire for more mileage or a particular enjoyment of the path.
On the UF campus in the mid 1970s, cars were forbidden. Masses of cyclists filled the streets between classes. Everyone just flowed. The only time I had a problem was when I created it by being a speedy jerk.

March 19, 2012 8:54 PM  RANTWICK said...

Great perspective. I think your plan to smile mysteriously rather than go on a rant along these lines is also a wise choice.

March 20, 2012 10:02 AM  Steve A said...

If traffic was war instead of cooperation, the vehicle of choice would be the one I posted about at:

http://dfwptp.blogspot.com/2009/11/veterans.html

I'd rather have the bigger gun if I were so inclined than to go on a rant. Must be the Texas influence. Instead, I just want to go - from point to point...

One Point Perspective

You might wonder about blogs and what possesses those that write them to do so. Occasionally, I wonder that myself, and note bloggers I GREATLY enjoyed (like here and here) that have moved along in the recent past.

Well, I cannot speak for others, but I pick up reminders and inspiration from my fellow bloggers. FOR EXAMPLE:

The last time I drove to work was a year ago on Thursday. An inspiration to keep "the string" going is this post, made by the "Cal Ripkin" of bike commuting. A record that I will never approach. Much like his namesake.

AND, the banner of this blog, from one whose artistic predilections appeal to one who could never be more than an artistic poseur.

AND, spurs to do better from here.

AND, finally, from a post that reminded me of the good and bad of my own v3 versus v2 commutes. It really IS nice not to ride an hour and a half in pitch black darkness.

It is nearly time for Spring to spring!

Je Me Souviens

Coat of Arms of Quebec

Is the motto seen on Quebec motor vehicle license plates. It also sums up a lot of the last week that will probably never get posted on this blog.

Lots of Stuff Happened This Week. This is Only One.
Je Me Souviens

For reasons totally unrelated to this post, I inquired of a French Canadian colleague about the motto's meaning. She indicated that "I remember" means that they had excellent memories of the past; going into the future. At the time, I remembered Wolfe and Montcalm, and the battle, (and, only to myself, Benedict Arnold), but, as I got to ride my road bike for the first time in many days, the Quebec motto; "je me souviens" could just as well apply to many of the bike posts I have read, and even sometimes commented on, while I was up in Quebec during the last week. What's more, they apply to world news.

Those Quebecois bear close watching, and pondering, as I ride from point to point around the DFW Metroplex. And, Thomas, this morning's ride was extra nice, even though no motorist was anything other than considerate or polite. What's more, I think the Chipseal affair is wrapped up and tied with a bow.

Je Me Souviens...

Rantwick's Tree is Safe - For the Moment. Quebec Trees are in Groups!

As Rantwick Says, A Group Might Well Overwhelm the King

IMO, We, in North America, Can TAKE THOSE Europeans On!
Je Me Souviens

On My Way Home, I Noticed Rubber on the Edge of a Bike Path.
I Noticed it AFTER I Almost Suffered a Diversion Fall
Je Me Souviens

This Guy Honked From His Parking Spot. I Think, However, His Honk was Not Intended Towards Me
I was Sipping Coffee at the Time. Who Knows if He'd Have Waved on the Road
Je Me Souviens

Back on the Bike After a Week of Driving
Je Me Souviens

Unlike Tim Horton, Starbucks has Free WiFi
Je Me Souviens

Smooth Roads and Light Traffic
Je Me Souviens

CycleDog South?



Chateau CycleDog South? Colleyvlle, Texas, NOT OK
It's AMAZING What you Notice on a Bike!

All right, enough of his sneaky old camera stuff over at CycleDog. Today, it's reported that CycleDog has been considering a not-so-humble abode a couple of miles up the road from me. I even have photos. The Evidence is at left.

Or maybe this is the home of Dr Wally...

Some Say CycleDog is the Agent of Satan
I Think They Exaggerate a Bit

Truly Grumpy

PM Summer of Cycle*Dallas welcomed me to the "Grumpy Cyclist Society," or words to that effect a while back. Even my sidebar notes that I get grumpy once in a while, but the final straw was "Suburban Bike Mama" getting grumpy, here.

THAT, my loyal reader, is the final straw, so I have decided to bring it out of the closet and show y'all what Grumpy really is. I'll note that it isn't pretty, but it DOES have an Orlando connection. I think even PM would concede that it doesn't get all preachy and it doesn't involve any spandex or lycra.

For my secret, go here (this IS a "G" rated blog). Have a nice day, or as someone else says on every post he makes, "Get up. Go ride."

Actually, I wasn't particularly grumpy today. Weather Channel had a 70% chance of rain but I made it both ways with not a single drop, and an unusually low number of motorist interactions, to the point that Ham would wonder if somehow I messed up and rode in on a national holiday. Sweet.

Offense Taken and the Trouble With Words

Almost any reader of this would agree it is not OK to go over and trash somebody's house by spraying graffiti all over. In the world of blogs, it is considered gauche to visit blogs and leave ads for in blog post comments.

Some blogs post only items that provoke little disagreement of any serious nature that is likely to be expressed in comments. Birdwatching blogs, for example. Photography blogs for another. If you don't like the picture, the next post is likely to have one you will like. Still, even on such blogs, it's bad form to attack the blog author personally as - in "your dog ought to get poisoned!"

This is not that sort of blog. Mostly, I relate my experiences commuting by bike, with an emphasis on related things I have observed or learned, and which others might find useful as well. I think the "cycling community" (as if there really IS such a thing) often takes itself a little too seriously, and so I poke fun on occasion at my fellow bloggers. Twilight Zone, here, was such an attempt. Fundamentally, cycling is fun and safe and I'm really NOT a policy wonk. SOMETIMES, however, healthy disagreement or attempts at humor in writing are misunderstood, or taken the wrong way. It is ironic that the writeen world is at the same time both more precise and easier to misunderstand than the spoken one. If you are the target of one of my own posts and feel offended, please email me. I respect someone bringing a problem to my attention so we can deal with it like adults. The email is at the top. If necessary, Chandra knows my phone number and I give him permission to give it to you if he concludes you are not a telemarketer or crazy whacko.

However, I really am disturbed at comments that have come to my attention on Citizen Rider, summarized here, that I believe go "Beyond the Pale." Words do hurt. At least one of the commenters may have made comments on this blog. In all cases, his comments here were precise and I was happy to recieve them. It makes this perhaps more puzzling to me. Reading his comment below, it is somewhat LESS puzzling and so I have modified this paragraph.

Spam is easy to deal with. You just delete it. Disagreement is fine. Disagreement keeps things interesting and helps us all learn new things. Light ridicule, likewise - sometimes I get a little worked up about stuff and need to be reminded that I am not the sole source of knowledge in the Universe. Long personal attacks. Those bother me. To this point, I have never removed a comment made at this blog, and I hope I never do, but I do not promise never to do so. I applaud the way that Citizen Rider has dealt with this.

Steves Official Bike Bag Browser

The iPhone was MADE for Cyclists that Drink Coffee!

Despite claims (mercifully made in private) by Rantwick that I sometimes remind him of an ADHT squirrel, I think much of it is a combination of a really convenient browser that'll fit in a pocket or bike bag, and free wifi.

For your consideration, the photo at left is evidence that a little trip on a bike can lead to comments galore.

Add a bit of caffeine and, pretty soon, Rantwick's worried about my sanity. For the record, that's a "tall" coffee with no room. Actually, it's a "free registered card tall refill." I'm not an "artsy fartsy" coffee drinker.

Hmm, Rantwick worried about MY sanity. THAT is truly a scary thought...

Thanks

At Christmas, let me give some thanks for things I've gotten from bike blogs this year. Purely in order of their most recent post, and noting ones that I've been inspired about for a while:

Big Oak Bikes - Appropriately, he occasionally provides glimpses of his Tricross. Next year, I look forward to hearing about HIS first cyclocross race.

Carbon Trace - Andy has inspired many items on my blog. Most influential has been his provoking of the "Honk Project."

SpringfieldCyclist - A Surly is the next best thing to a Tricross and a LOT more bike for the buck. Plus, there's a lot of general support from Tracy.

Ear to the Breeze - For a darn LOT of great scenery.

Doohickie, and Beginning Bicycle Commuting, for keeping me from getting too snobby about things and for a few unintended nudges not to backslide in my riding technique.

CommuteOrlando, for help on many subjects, including encouragement in more ways than I can name. But I'll name three off the top of my head - Buddy (thanks to LisaB), Do rags, and shoes. My only regret is these guys are a thousand miles too far east by southeast too far away.

Lovely Bicycle!, for a different perspective that I've often found valuable. I'm a vicarious follower of the "co habitant," but it was the half finger mittens that made it on to my Christmas list. They beat out the infectious enthusiasm for Dutch bikes that had me taking a serious look at the Gary Fisher Simple City bike.

BikeSkirt, for coming out of the closet about Cyclocross. I got "Pure Sweet Hell" for Christmas, y'all!

Let's Go Ride a Bike , for clueing me in to Bern helmets, amongst many other handy tips, in that blog for those that care to find those nuggets. I find I like that blog more the longer I follow it.

ChipSeal , for snooping around this blog before I even made my first official post, and for generally giving me a reference about where and how I ride. It gives me hope that Yeti are more than just imaginary, at least in some parts of Texas, even if he denies visiting Bedford. He gives me even more amusement and inspiration than I give him.

CycleDog, perhaps an agent of Satan, but certainly an inspiration to get the old Praktica out of the closet and now I'm even trying to get my slide projector working properly again.

GreenComotion, for putting up the picture of the Lone Star Cyclist, without which I would have never noticed she was standing in front of the very store we were in, and for getting me to be a little more "touristy" than I would have been otherwise, even if I still feel that kickstands are "more than a pound" of dead weight.

Rat Trap Press, for wool jerseys. Lots of other things, too, but wool jerseys. Especially wool jerseys for summer riding.

Pondero, for a reminder of a whole different kind of riding, and of another time and place, and for Kelly Kettles, too. I'm glad I went.

Suburban Assault, for some perspective I sometimes agree with, sometimes disagree with, and always an open mind worth listening to.

Rantwick Eh?, for reminder about my own roots, and cycling tidbits that are often funny and serious all at the same time. He'll have to imagine the DFWPTP Rantwick salute picture unless he clicks here.

Citizen Rider , besides his relation of restoration of a Singer, his story about his old friend is an inspiration and one of the best posts one might read.

Many others, as well, but this post is getting a little long already. I could, for example, mention how amusing Lowest Gear posts are, and how I want to hear what Lizzylou is up to lately, or Suburban Bike Mama and her stories about travelling about with kids aboard, but I've got to wrap THIS post up.

But finally, I have to mention Cycle*Dallas, for, among many other things, being the inspiration for adding Kermit to Frankenbike, and for the encouragement to start this blog in the first place.

Kermit the bike squeeky frog!

Test Subjects Needed

This post might also be entitled "why the stupid little captchas?"

Well, it's an experiment. I want feedback, PARTICULARLY from those who may have seen some errors or other problems when attempting to post in the past here. CycleDog, you listening? Keri at CommuteOrlando? Others, such as Doohickie can repeat their amusing comments LAST time I did a post about blog problems. I think, however, that Doohickie can come up with a new mildly insulting comment.

Anyway, here's what changed. I now allow anonymous posts. On the other hand, I have those dopey little anti-spam captchas enabled. The theory is that now you'll be able to post without the error messages.

One thing I know the change accomplished. I commented using my iPhone anonymously with no problems or error messages at all, so I'm optimistic. Personally, I don't mind clicking on the "post comment" button repeatedly but I suspect it discourages and confuse some and my listening public is sparse enough that each comment is a precious gem not to be wasted.

If things work properly, I think a captcha is at least something that smooths things out while I look for a better Blogger fix.

When you read this, there should be an anonymous post below the post that says "Same to you, Doohickie." It's me.

Posting on Blogs

Updated on Wednesday

I know that CycleDog CLAIMS he is unable to post comments on this blog. Despite his devilish proclivities, he may not be misleading in this regard. I notice that I have problems commenting on many blogs, INCLUDING this one, as well as the majority listed off to the right. Here are some of the problems I've seen -  and fixes.

First, I'll mention one that I have NOT been able to find a fix for. At Carbon Trace, I am unable to make comments using my iPhone. This is a major problem since my favorite place to comment from is the Starbucks on my route home. Doncha just love WiFi? Oddly, iPhone comments seem to be taken, but just disappear into thin air. I have had no problem commenting from our comuter at home.

Second, there are quite a few sites, particularly those hosted by "Blogger," on which an attempt to comment is met with either the comment still in a box, or a message that says it was unable to post a comment. The particular message varies with the site and the mood of the browser. In such a case, just keep clicking on the "post comment" button and eventually the site will give up and post the comment or want a "captcha." Usually, the "captcha" is the last gasp that tells you the comment is within reach. On "Lovely Bicycle," to list one typical example, I click on the button three times and then the captcha comes up. Subsequent site visits, to either that or other sites do not repeat the problem. Apparently it has something to do with how blogger thinks you are logged on - or not. It occasionally tries to tell me that my browser doesn't allow cookies. Ironically, I get similar messages whether using my home computer or the iPhone.

This blog does not require captchas, but DOES require that you be registered with something. So far, this has kept the spammers away without making people try to read those odd words. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and a close watch.

Bottom line - if you've gone to the trouble of writing out a comment, keep clicking on that darn button and your efforts will be rewarded. I WOULD be interested in hearing from anyone successfully making a comment, using an iPhone, on Carbon Trace recently. It USED to work just fine and I know Andy has no reason he knows of that his site discriminates against such devices.

This blogging world can be a little frustrating, sometimes. Perhaps someone out there knows these idiosyncracies and can tell us how to fix them.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE - TWO ITEMS with more info:
First, if you are commenting from an iPhone, there is a known Blogger issue, namely, that shown below

Basically Blogger says iPhone users just need to keep clicking and ignoring the "try again" messages. Sweet. At least I know THAT isn't something I'm doing. Interestingly, this seems to occur on the same sites that the other problem occurs. I suspect there may be a connection. If so, I may try popup comments, though, as CycleDog has discovered, those have OTHER problems such as browsers that don't allow popup windows and those same windows being a spam target.

The other one (no actual error message but you just keep clicking on the post comment button until blogger gives up) is a little tougher. There didn't seem to be much help on the blogger site, here. Considering that both Keri Caffrey and I have the same problem on multiple blogs, I'd hardly consider this resolved. Then I went to the "Real Blogger Status" site, here. It suggests problems such as Keri and I experience may be due to browser security settings. I may see what more specifics I can find. Anyway, I will do some added digging - hopefully it may help both readers of this (and other blogs) and blog owners of blogs I tend to follow.

So far, no info on the Carbon Trace "iPhone comments disappear into thin air" symptom. Sorry, Andy. Wordpress problem discussions seem to be on different sites than Blogger problems. The problem doesn't seem to occur on other Wordpress sites, so it may be some obscure setting that only affects mobile devices. As I recall, it started at around the same time that many other Wordpress sites (but NOT CommuteOrlando) began showing up as "mobile" blogs.