Good Bye!

No do not fear, I am not stopping blogging, I am simple moving the blog. Blogger has been very good to me for the last number of years, but it is time I moved on from this little blog of mine and it is moving on bigger and better things (hopefully).

So where can you find me?

Its easy! At StephenSpillane.com!

My new RSS Feed is here.


Blogroll and few other things still need to be added, but we will get there!

4th Think Post!

So yea I just stuck up my fourth post on the Think About It Blog. This one is on how I got involved in Politics and I have given it an EU slant. It was inspired by a converstaion at Cork OpenCoffee so do please check it out and rate. I have reprinted the first paragraph as a teaser:

I am a rare one, I mean among my peers, that not only am I interested in politics but I am actively involved in politics. The EU and European Politics has played a large role in this, especially in me becoming aware of politics, both nationally in Ireland and in the EU of 15 member states as it was then.

Read the rest and let me know what you think!

Im doing the Trócaire 24hr Fast

From 7pm on Friday the 6th of March untill 7pm on Saturday the 7th of March, no food will pass my lips. I am doing the 24 hour fast in aid of Trócaire. It will be an interesting expeirence for me as I dont think I have done a 24 hour fast before. I have done 12 hour fasts before in hospital in stuff. So why am I blogging about this? Maily to alert you all to the fact that I will be fasting and that I will be blogging and tweeting during it to keep you all updated on my progress. My sister is doing the fast as well.

Just to give you an idea of what the money raised can do.

€20 can provide an olive tree to a family in Palestine to replace one destroyed in during to conflict. This will allow the family to earn an income.

€35 would provide seeds and trees for a family left impoverished in Uganda by the recent conflict.

€60 would help a widow from the conflict in Uganda to set up her own business

€100 would buy enough rice to feed a family in India for a whole year

€200 would proved eight people with 30 hours of literacy training each. There are 876 million illiterate adults in the world and this one of the main factors that keep people poor.

If you want to sponsor me you can do in person, or if you would like you can sponsor me online and donate via a website with a Credit or Debit Card! Donate here. Also I plan to be at Open Coffee on Friday (I think its on this week) and I hope to be at it!

On the day follow my tweets which will have the hash tag #24fast. You can follow me on twitter

(Im actually hungry at the thought of Fasting, this will be hard!)

Followers are Back!

Image via Wikipedia

So yay, the followers count is back to where it was! I spent the last good few minutes trying to public follow all the blogs I follow and google/blogger sure dont make this easy! You have to change the settings for each blog individually. Either by visiting each of the Blogs or going to the "Manage" page below the Reading List on the Dashboard page.

This is very easy to change either as when you change the setting on each page it refreshes the entire page! I had a list of 95 blogs to go through so I just concentrated on blogs that I do follow and are on blogspot, otherwise I would be there all day! Come on Google make it easier for us to change it!

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New Blog/Project

Well after a talk with my boss and a few people on twitter and stuff I started off a new fashion blog: MassaModa

Its a group blog and I am always on the look out for authors so if you are interested let me know! email me stephen(dot)spillane(at)gmail(dot)com

IBA Post

I attend the Irish Blog Awards on Saturday and what a night! It was brilliant orchestrated by Damien Mulley and his army of helpers. The Cork International Airport Hotel was amazing!!

Congratulations to all the winners well deserved.

For me the best part of the blog awards was getting to meet bloggers who I enjoy interacting with. I managed to get to meet the following:

Grannymar
Grandad
Elf In Amsterdam
McaWilliams
Suzy of Maman Poulet
FontFiddler
RedMum
Walter
Gavin and Ciara
Robin Blanford

I met others too but my mind has gone blank!! Please remind me! I also met a few people I know from TeenCamp and OpenCoffee so it was great to meet them all again!

I am still recovering from the twister! But again a great night! Well done all involved!

More Tips for Bloggers

Image by robinhamman via FlickrMy post about blogging tips got a good bit of comments and feedback so I have decided to try and think of a few more. Bock gave a few in his response to the post, so may be borrowing a few of them!

1. Link within your own site.
If you have other related posts, list them at the bottom or put links to them inside the post. Stop thinking of your site as something sequential and start thinking of it as three-dimensional. You want to persuade readers to dig wider and deeper into the stuff you've written.

2. List sites you Like
Post an occasional list of links to sites you' found and liked. This just shows your DO read other peoples blogs. Also shares the linklove

3. Get Stats!
Install something like Google Analytics or StatCounter. This allows you to see what is popular on your site and to see where people are coming from.

4. Post when you want!
As Bock says in his comment post "regularly" not frequently. In other words, do post when you feel like posting and don't force it!

5. Get Listed on Technorati.
Technorati ranks blogs by authority so it is to see what is happening around your blog!

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I would like to meet - Blog Awards Meme

Rick O'Shea has started a meme about who would you like to meet.

Name 5 bloggers you haven’t met in the flesh before that you’d like to say hi to at the Blog Awards, say why if you want, link to them. They then, in turn, link to 5 bloggers they’d like to meet and so on.

So who would I like to meet? Will a few of the names that pop into my head I met on Saturday and so I had to think long and hard.

So I would like to meet:
Grannymar - I so want to be a toyboy
Grandad - Just finished his book, its hilarious!
Gav Reilly - He seams cool!
Roy of Irish Taxi - Been reading his blog for ages. It would be nice to meet him.
McaWilliams - I tweet with John every morning on the bus so it would be nice to actually meet the guy!

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New Blogs - 18/1/09 (Young Bloggers Edition)

I recently came across two young Irish Bloggers and I think it is only right that they are shared!

The firts is Girls Thoughts (who actually has a picture of me on her blog!). It is a lovely site. She was very brave and got up on stage and said a few words, something I am always nervous about! So well done to her and check it up!

The other blog is a photoblog by Rebecca, called Eyes of a Child. Rebecca is McaWilliams daughter and has obviously inherited her fathers love of photograhy! She has taken some great photos so do check it out!

Do you know of any other young bloggers?

A review of TeenCamp Ireland - Featuring Links, Pics and Videos!

Well it wasnt all fun yesterday, there was lots of learning too at TeenCamp!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

After a welcome from Alan and Enda, the day started off with Tommy Collison giving a talk about blogging and his famlily blogging and tweeting. A really interesting talk.

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

Next up was Klara who gave a fascinating tlak on Manga and Anime. I learned alot from that talk! Have friends into it, so now can talk about it a bit more!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

Then David Doran gave a talk on getting started. How to approach problems, jobs and ideas online. I learned alot from this talk!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

The we had Chris D gave a talk on Gamers and gaming. It was highly entertaining and oh so true!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

His talk ended with a bear of course! The ceiling bit was unplanned!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

Next came the bit I enjoyed the most, everyone had to get up and introduce themselves! It was a great idea. As each person talked, their twitter was shown behind them. That was grand for most people, until it came to me and a tweet I sent from the George the previous night. Which did set someone off giggling!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

After the introductions and food, came a conversation hosted by Darragh Doyle and myself about why you blog!

After that came a talk from Ben Kenealy about online hook-ups. See the video by Damien! Its hilari1ous!

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

After that Cian Mac Mahon gave a fascinating talk about podcasting and whats involved in it! I learned alot from that talk.

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

The day ended and I had to get the train home after a draw (it was a fix btw! :P).

It was great to put many names to faces and actually get to know people. Really looking forward to the blog awards now!

All the pictures that I took of the day are here

Also if those who gave talks are willing to put them on Slideshare, I think it would be a great idea! Let me know if you do!

Other round-ups? TheChrisD has one, as does Tommy and Daniel have ones too! If anyone else does let me know and I will update this

UPDATE: David's roundup is here

UPDATE 2: Klara has done her round up

UPDATE 3: Girlsthoughts, Will Knott and Alan also have round ups!

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New Blogs - 6/1/09

So the first time I have updated my Blogroll in 2009 and I have found a few new blogs that might interest you my dear readers.

First up is: "The Cosmo" on RTÉ Pulse this is a blog by Scott De Buitléir the Presenter of "The Cosmo", a show aimed at the LGBT Community, on RTÉ Pulse. He is a bit nervous about his first live show tomorrow night, but lets tune in and support him!

Next up is GavReilly.com, some of you might know him from Every Day is Election Day where he blogs with Ciara. This is an excellent blog, and I love his latest post on being over saturated by media.

Now we have Scott's Blog... in English, yes its the same Scott as from RTE Pulse but this is his personal blog. He has some really good posts up on this. From the point of view of Gay Irish Blogs, he is definitively one to watch! He has one excellent post on why some people play The Sims and Second Life. Tá blog as Gaeilge ag Scott freisin agus tá sé ar fheabhas!

Last but not least is a brand spanking new blog, which only started today Hear Ye, Hear Ye which is written by a friend in Kerry. He has one post (so far!), which is excellent, on coming out. Do check him out and encourage him to blog!

Thats all for this update. If you think you know of a blog I would like, let me know in the comments!

Nominations are open

So says Mulley and the Irish Bloggersphere is alight with it!

So what are the Categories for the Irish Blog Awards? There are 20 of them.

* Best Popculture blog
* Best Blog from a Journalist
* Best Food/Drink Blog
* Best Fashion Blog
* Best Arts and Culture Blog
* Best Political Blog
* Best Group Blog
* Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog
* Best Technology Blog/Blogger
* Best Sport & Recreation Blog
* Best News/Current Affairs Blog
* Best Specialist Blog
* Best Newcomer
* Best Business Blog
* Best Music Blog
* Best Personal Blog
* Best Humour Blog
* Best Photo Blog
* Best Blog Post
* Best Blog*


*Note: you cannot nominate someone for best blog, the winner of each category is put into this category.

Get Nominating!

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New Blogs - 28/12/08

Image by kuribo via FlickrProbably the last of these this year, but these are a few of the blogs that have recently been added to my blogroll.

Tallyman.ie
Tallyman is a blogger I know! And I am delighted he started blogging as so far he has really interesting posts and has even made me rethink things (see: Did we get it wrong on the Pope?). Do check him out. One to watch for 09 I'd say!

The Other Fellow
The Other Fellow is Grandads long suffering typists. He has an excellent blog and one I am enjoying reading!

Sully's Blog
Sully is a nerd too! Lol! But in all seriousness, it is a very good blog.

Despod
Despod is a fellow Corkman, and his blog is full of interesting pictures and views about Cork. Check it out!

Some tips for new bloggers

Image by minifig via FlickrSo I've been blogging now for over three years and have built up a bit of knowledge on whats makes a good blog. Of course, I don't consider this blog any way excellent as there are loads out there which are better, but lately I have gotten the blogging bug again and I think its only right that I share some tips on how to increase page views and therefore visitors.

1. Get Listed
Get your blog listed on blog directories and blog aggregates. Just to show in last year I have gotten 1,092 hits from Irishblogs.ie. That is about one sixth of my total refereed page views in the last year. Corkblogs.com is also in the top ten but unfortunately you can't add new blogs at the moment. There are lots of directories and aggregates out there so have a look around!

2. Feed you blog
By this I mean feed your blog into other websites. For example I have a twitter bot for this blog @stevemyopinion which allows people on twitter to see when you have posted something. Another idea is to feed your blog into facebook where it will appears as notes. This shows you friends who might not be aware that you have a blog the stuff you are writing about and it might get them onto your site to read more. Friendfeed is also handy for amalgamating all your feeds twitter, blogs etc into one handy place.

3. Say something controversial!
This is a tricky one, but it does work. If you say something controversial and it gets picked up it can take off. But be prepared to back up your statements. I noticed this through my support for McCain/Palin ticket and my opposition to Gay Marriage (though I'm Gay!). NOTE: only say something controversial if it is true!

4. Link!
Link, Link, Link. This is important. i notice a lot of visitors to my site are coming from back links either through their WP-admin page or through the link created on blogger. This sometimes leads to the other person linking you. If someone links you it is polite to link back, especially if you expect other to do the same!

5. Comment
This is something I am useless at, commenting on other blogs. Normally if I like a post I will "share it" on Google reader but if you have the time do this! It create rappor between you and the other blogger and therefore increases likelihood of them linking and each comment creates a link in its own right. Also remember to respond to comments on you posts!

6. Blog about what you want
Lots of people make the simple mistake of button-holing their blog to one specific subject. I did at the start at the start to an extent that I only blogged about news and politics, lately I have diversified and think it is better for me. Specialist blogs are great, if you have a lot to say on one subject stick to it, but if you can for only a short time allow some diversity!

7. Enter Competitions
Put yourself out there no matter how you feel about your own writing. When I was long listed for a blog award back in 2007, I was shocked. When I entered the EU Blogging competition I was not expecting to be picked. So put yourself out there!

8. Guestblog
If a major blog is giving an opportunity to Guest Blog forward take the chance! this worked for me when I emailed Gaypatriot.net earlier this year and they reproduced it! Again just take the chance and put your thinking cap on.

9. Go to tech events
When you have established a routine start going to tech meetups such as open coffee and bar camp and things like that. I was daunted the first time going to OpenCoffee Club as a blogger and not being in the tech industry but I was able to hold my own with my views on software and the like. These days most tech companies (well the ones that go to Cork OpenCoffee Club) nearly all have blogs so they appreciate the views of a blogger.

10. Mis-spell!
Strangely enough my bad spelling leads to lots of hits from Google from other people who can't spell! This leads to me looking a Google analytics going that is spelt right following the link to find that I couldn't spell in the first place. So if you make a mistake, don't be in too much of a rush to change it!

Right that's ten tips from me that hopefully someone will find useful! Feel free to add your own tips in the comments and I'll add them to the main post!

Light Blogging

Blogging and tweeting will be light coming up to christmas due to the fact I am working till 9pm most evenings and am wrecked tired after work. Also during time off I have to sort out the last of my Christmas shopping. The weekend will see himself arrive up so I hopefully will get some posts prepared on Sunday night!

Bestgayblogs.com: Bronze Award

I came home to a lovely surprise in my inbox today, this blog has been awarded a bronze award from bestgayblogs.com! Very happy! :)

Emailing me

Just a quick post for people who email me with interesting links or articles for this blog. Please let me know why you are contacting me with a short paragraph or a PS explaining it. This mainly applies to Organisations who see me as an activist on a few issues sending me a random article with links in the text (that I can't see or easily copy to the blog!!) is not that helpful! So if you are sending me a link for a petition for example write our petition http://blah not having the text as a link! Also all articles I recieve by email will have EMail: before the title!

Thanks for sending me stuff though. I do find it interesting. Its surprising how many people know of me!

Steve

This blog can change your life...

I believe I was paid the highest compliment possible as a blogger last night when someone told me that this blog changed their life. This is something I have not set out to do as I post haphazardly on a variety of subjects that I am interested in. I must say it meant a lot to me that person had such a high opinion of this blog and that it allowed them to admit to themselves who they are!

I am still getting over the fact that my writing had an effect on someone. It's an amazing feeling I must say.

I was thinking of giving up on blogging, but this has reinvigorated me! So expect more posting! Time permitting of course!

Random Stats: 3rd April - 3rd May

There were 3,179 visits during that period.

Top 10 Keywords
1. eurovision 2008 predictions
2. stephen spillane (should I be worried?)
3. eurovision 2008 prediction
4. uk local elections
5. eurovision predictions
6. alcohol awareness posters
7. my name is meth
8. meth poem
9. twee vaders
10. eurovision dustin

Eurovision popular this month. UK Local Elections entered the top 10 quickly enough.

Top 10 countries

1. US
2. Ireland
3. UK
4. Germany
5. Canada
6. Austrailia
7. Greece
8. Netherlands
9. Poland
10. Spain

Interesting mix.

Anyway thats enough stats

Fathers Response to Gay Kids

Its not very often I get emotional over a blog post, but there are two over on the PFLAG blog that make me emotional, in fact make me tear up!

The first is by President of PFLAG, John R. Cepek, entitled "Father Knows Best: Having a Gay Son is Great". An excellent post setting out why they are doing it and his expeirences.

The second which also brought a tear to my eye is "You Bet I Am" by Paul Wertsch, M.D. This is a wonderful post, showing the relationship between father and son. Its fantastic.

There are another 3 to come, so will update this post when they are published!

So why are PFLAG posting these?
Well it all comes down to an Details Magazine Article entitled "Would You Really Be Okay With a Gay Kid?" (emphasis their's not mine) by David Hochman who interviews 3 anonymous Dads. Now the article is a bit of a mix up. It does confuse Sexual Orientation with Gender Identity, a whole different kettle of fish, that I get confused by, let alone a parent when faced by a hypotheical situation as posed in this article.

The posts from PFLAG Dads are refreshing and show the other side, what its actually like to have a gay son. For some reason, it always seams to be the mothers who get attention but Dad's can be just as supportive. Just like Mine!

Update: Day 3's post: “Nothing More Satisfying” about being a father to a gay High School Kid. Short but interesting.