What I Want in a Blog

I'm currently subscribed to about 30 blogs in Google Reader. That's a lot to follow, but I don't read every post on every blog. Why not? For starters, I don't have that much time to spend reading blogs on a daily basis. I'm not interested in every post in my RSS feeds, and I don't read some posts simply because they're not useful to me.

Here are some things I look for in blogs, what I like and don't like. It's the difference between visiting the blog once and coming back to read every post.

Post enough to keep me interested and not much more

I generally prefer shorter posts. They take less time to read and the faster I can learn from them, the better. The other thing I look for is how the post is written. If there's a list or it's broken into parts, I'm more likely to read it even if it's more text. I can easily see what that post is about and read what I want from it. I don't need to dig through a block of text for one useful tip. I tend to skim long posts anyway, so I'm essentially reading a short post.

Frequency is also a factor in if I subscribe to a blog. I don't care if a blog posts once a day, a week, or a month as long as it's somewhat consistent. I like a steady stream of updates. Blogs that post multiple times a day are great, but I don't find their posts nearly as useful to me. Seeing 20 posts from one blog over the course of the day can be a turn off and I might unsubscribe.

Make your posts easy for me to read

Write descriptive titles and include relevant images. Break the text up into sections or make lists. Include links to what you're talking about so I can read more information about the topic. Use bold and italics and change the font size to make your post visually appealing.

Include the post's publish date

Nothing bugs me more than a hard-to-find publish date (or author for group blogs). The internet changes all the time, and new information is always available. I want to know how old the post I'm reading is. An old date won't put me off reading a post. I just want to determine if it's still useful (software updates and responses to news items, for example).

Think about the layout

I prefer stream-lined designs. I don't want flashy banners, auto-play videos, or background music. (I'll click the video when I want to watch it--no worries.) Don't crowd ads and posts together. Make sure the color scheme doesn't interfere with text readability, and please make sure the text is big enough to read. Nothing makes me leave a site faster than the likes of size 8 pink text on an orange background. Or worse--white text on a busy background image.

I like blogs that are reader-friendly. They don't bombard me with too many posts too fast and so I can actually enjoy what I read. The color scheme makes sense, the layout is organized, and there are enough updates to keep me interested.

These are my thoughts. What do you look for in blog posts? What makes you subscribe to a specific blog?

YouTube Binge

Also known as one of the reasons I haven't written a blog entry in two weeks despite having ideas for roughly 8 posts.

Every now and then, I go on a video binge and watch every video on an entire channel over the span of a few days (or sometimes all in one day). The first time this happened, I came across ItsJustSomeRandomGuy. He has a running series about Marvel and DC super heroes and villains using action figures, mini sets, and props, and he and his girlfriend voice all of the characters. RandomGuy voices Peter Parker and Joker particularly well, and he sings as the Green Goblin. I found his channel with 40 videos uploaded and watched them all in the span of two nights. Lots of time on YouTube, but well spent.

Then some time this past spring, I followed a suggestion to watch a Doctor Who-related video and ended up watching everything on littleradge's channel. He's funny, he's thoughtful, and he's a Doctor Who fan. What more can I ask for?

Earlier this week I was looking for clips from Blink, a Doctor Who episode from season 3, and found this awesome fan-made song which was posted as a response to Trock and I had no idea what that was, so of course I clicked. Turns out Trock is "Time Lord Rock," the equivalent of Wrock--"Wizard Rock," as in original fan-made music about the Harry Potter series. (Check out the Ministry of Magic for excellent examples.) So Trock is that but for Doctor Who and the term was coined by nerimon on YouTube. I've now watched about 70 of nerimon's videos over the course of 3 days...He and littleradge comment on everyday topics like movies, education, annoyances, and technology just to name a few.

Nerimon leads to charlieissocoollike and fiveawesomeguys which connect to fiveawesomegirls, but I don't have time to delve into all those videos. Maybe I will, though, since television doesn't offer much to look forward to anymore. I'm currently following two shows, but I'm more excited about Trock and new videos in my YouTube subscriptions.

5 Things I Love About Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returned for a second season on FOX. The series has its ups and downs, but it has my attention. Set between the second and third Terminator movies, The Sarah Connor Chronicles explores Sarah's task to raise her son to lead mankind against the machines in the future. The series stars Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as John Connor, Summer Glau as Cameron (a reprogrammed terminator future John sent back to help), and Brian Austin Green as Derek Reese. Here are 5 things that keep me interested in the series. (Minor spoilers for season 2, episodes 1 and 2)

Image from FOX

5) Sarah's in charge

I know we're in a post-Buffy era where strong female characters aren't so rare anymore, but regardless I enjoy how much of the series is about Sarah. It would have been easy to focus on John and his destiny, to watch the hero grow up (and that might also make for a good series), but instead we see how Sarah deals with what's going on. She can't provide a normal life for her son and she doesn't try to. Sarah is careful about trusting Cameron and she adjusts to working with Derek, a resistance fighter from the future. They all have different ways of doing things, but Sarah takes the lead. Sarah is one of the few fictional mothers that must put her son in harm's way for the greater good, and she doesn't shy away from that challenge.

4) Time travel

Time lines play a big part in the Terminator movies, and even though the writers use time travel in the show, they're smart about it. We're clear on who's from the future and from when and what they're doing in the present. Sarah, John, Derek, and Cameron are always working toward a better future, so we don't have a mess about altering the past to affect the present or the future. Time travel can be really confusing but the series keeps it clean.

3) Flashbacks of the future

This doesn't seem to make sense at first, but neither does "back to the future." We see glimpses of Derek's memories--his past, which means our future--and we also see random scenes from the future. Robot fights, resistance fighters taking out bases...They're a direct tie to the future depicted in the original Terminator movie.

2) Cameron isn't human

Summer Glau is so believable as a terminator. She's socially awkward, blunt in her comments, and always takes the efficient path rather than the compassionate one. She calculates her movements and her speech sounds unnatural at times. She's programmed to act the way she does, and it shows. The season 2 premiere showed us Cameron out of control, and as scary as that is, the insecure feeling that she could short circuit at any moment and attack John is even scarier. Glau may seem meek and unassuming, but she packs a lot of power into her role.

1) John Connor, strategist

John Connor's characterization hasn't been completely consistent throughout the series. Sometimes he needs his mother's protection, and sometimes he plays the rebellious teenager. He's been a peacekeeper but also the one to spark action. John's brilliant at times, and I love those moments when he shines, when I believe he will lead humankind against the machines. The first season finale showed John's intelligence through his plan to take out the AI traffic control network. We see John's training applied to how he talks to new people and how he moves in unfamiliar places. The Connors have a code of saying the date first when they talk call each other to ensure that a terminator isn't mimicking one of their voices over the phone. Simple things, but that's what makes their characters. I hope as the series goes on, we see John grow into an intelligent, strong leader.


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs on FOX, Monday nights at 8:00 EST.

Technorati Tags: Fox, terminator, john, sarah, connor, chronicles, cameron, glau, dekker, headey

New Domain

Please update your bookmarks to www.digitalfare.net. If you don't, digitalfare.blogspot.com will still redirect here, but this site has a new home now. :)

Links

Here's a list of sites I like.

Entertainment

Supernatural.tv - The #1 fansite for the CW's Supernatural. Check out news, the gallery, interviews, media, and a huge messageboard.

The Movie Blog - Great site for movie news and reviews.

xkcd - Geeky web-comic that's updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

thesixtyone - Listen to new and upcoming bands...lots of indie stuff. The whole site is a huge multiplayer game. You can "bump" (give points to) songs you like and the songs with the most points show up on the homepage. You can make playlists, comment, and earn points to play even more. Some bands offer free downloads and you can buy mp3s through Amazon.com. Check out my profile on thesixtyone.com.

Resources

Problogger - Great resource for advice on maintaining your blog. Lots of info, lots to read.

Blogger Buster - Another great resource for bloggers. Check out template collections and tutorials.

Lifehacker - Tips on organizing your life and becoming more efficient.

stck.xchng - A huge resource of free stock images.

Other Sites

Weekend Roundup

Three sites this week. Can you tell I've been busy?

50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level - Tips about hosting your site, writing content, and advertising. (chrisbrogan.com)

Heroes Season 3 Promos - The new promo shots for NBC's Heroes look awesome!

Sarah Connor Rocks Your Head - A look at FOX's returning series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

What did you find this week?

Weekend Roundup

5 Creepiest, Scariest TV Monsters - Monsters from Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are both on the list. (Pop Vultures)

11 Free Mind Mapping Applications and Web Services - I've tried mind mapping with a few of my college courses this semester. I prefer to do it by hand, but these services will come in handy too. (Lifehack)

Captions Coming to YouTube - You can now add captions or subtitles to YouTube videos. Not to be confused with YouTube's annotations that allow you to include notes in your videos, like VH1's Pop-Up Video. (The Blog Herald)

The Faces Behind the Voices - Photos of popular cartoons and the people behind the characters. Did you know the same man voiced Yoda and Miss Piggy? (A Little Bit of Everything)

Find any good sites this week?