20 Top Blog Directories on the Internet

Here is my listing of 20 top blog directories. They range from Page Rank 8 to Page Rank 4. Most of these blog directories will require you to register before listing your blog.

PR 8 Blog Directories

Technorati is a search engine for blogs. It lists and indexes millions of blogs each day.
Technorati.com

MyBlogLog is a large social network for the blogger community.
MyBlogLog.com

Blogarama is blog search and has over 83,000 blogs listed.
Blogarama.com

PR 7 Blog Directories

Google’s Blogsearch is a search engine for blogs. You can find blogs on your favorite topics
blogsearch.google.com

BlogCatalog is one of the best blog directories on the Internet. It has a good community feel to it.
BlogCatalog.com

Blogdigger is a RSS blog search engine. Check out the NEW Blogdigger Local. Find bloggers in your location.
Blogdigger.com

BlogPulse is a blog search engine that also analyzes and reports on daily activity in the blogosphere.
Blogpulse.com

Blogtoplist is a blog directory that is sorted by the score each blog has received during the week.
Blogtoplist.com

Blogflux is a blog directory, stat tracker, and provides services such as poll and quiz makers.
Blogflux.com

PR 6 Blog Directories

BOTW is directory platform enabling the online community to nominate and vote for best-of-class websites in a variety of categories.
Botw.org

Globe of Blogs is an index directory of weblogs as submitted by their authors.
GlobeOfBlogs.com

Bloghop allows you to tagsurf to blogs that match your interest.
Bloghop.com

Blog-directory is a listing a review site.
Blog-directory.org

Bloggapedia offers tools, resources, information, and news.
Bloggapedia.com

Weblogalot is organized by category, offers a large collection of the best blogs online
Weblogalot.com

Bloggeries is a categorized listing of weblogs from around the world.
Bloggeries.com

Blogexplosion is a portal of popular blogs for blog promotion and help generate traffic to your blog.
Blogexplosion.com

PR 5 Blog Directories

TopBlogLists is a blog directory top blogs in arts, celebrity, computers, geek, humor, money, music, personal, politics, and sports. Free stats tracker.
TopBlogLists.com

PR 4 Blog Directories
Bloggernity is a directory for the latest news, entertainment, humor and politics issues.
Bloggernity.com

TopBlogArea is a top list for blogs only. It offers tracking stats.
TopBlogArea.com

Find out who are Your IP Neighbors

For a couple of my sites, I use shared hosting. I noticed that one of my sites was sluggish and I suspected that there were too many websites or IP neighbors on the host server. I found this one site that performs a reverse lookup and then displays the total count of My IP Neighbors along with their linked URL. You can view each site serially on the same webpage.

You can check whether your website is crowded with hundreds of other sites or not. I noticed that a few of my neighbors were related to the gambling and porn genre. There goes the neighborhood. I decided it was time to move files and find less and somewhat desirable neighbors.

Is your website sluggish? Check out who are IP neighbors.

Here is an example of the IP for this blog.

softhub.blogspot.com has the IP address: 72.14.207.191
1645 found with the IP 72.14.207.191

1) blogspot.com (view site)
2) valueblogreview.blogspot.com (view site)
3) ayearincomics.blogspot.com (view site)
4) supergengcell.blogspot.com (view site)
5) chubarama.blogspot.com (view site)
6) dungmsteph.blogspot.com (view site)
7) smartbro.blogspot.com (view site)
8) labnol.blogspot.com (view site)
...

This Might be a Promising Way to Treat Cancer

Here is a video from 60 Minutes about an interesting man named John Kanzius, who himself is inflicted with leukemia. He may have have found a promising way to treat cancers such as pancreas, lymphomas, breast, colon, liver, leukemia and etc.



Here is an excerpt of an article by wired.com.
----
Cancer Therapy Without Side Effects Nearing Trials

A promising new cancer treatment that may one day replace radiation and chemotherapy is edging closer to human trials.

Kanzius RF therapy attaches microscopic nanoparticles to cancer cells and then "cooks" tumors inside the body with harmless radio waves.

Based on technology developed by Pennsylvania inventor John Kanzius, a retired radio and TV engineer, the treatment has proven 100 percent effective at killing cancer cells while leaving neighboring healthy cells unharmed. It is currently being tested at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“I don’t want to give people false hope,” said Dr. Steve Curley, the professor leading the tests, “but this has the potential to treat a wide variety of cancers...” Read more from wired.com...

Play the Sudoku Online Game

Play the popular Sudoku game. The level of difficulty ranges from easy, medium, hard to evil. I'm starting on easy.

Adobe Photoshop Express Beta

You can now spruce up those pictures on your website or blog. Adobe has come out with Photoshop Express. It is a web based version which makes it very convenient. Of course, this beta version won't have all the bells and whistles of the full blown version of Photoshop, but it is probably good enough to satisfy the basic pic needs of most social networking and blog directory websites such as facebook, myspace, hi5, mybloglog, and blogcatalog.

According to their website, "Upload, sort, polish, and store up to 2GB of photos. All for free. Resize, tint, distort, and more — add your mark to all your images."

5 Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do

I recently received these tips via email but unsure if they are true (urban legends??), but they might be worth investigating.

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST
Emergency

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobiles is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND
Have you locked your keys in the car?

Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!'

THIRD
Hidden Battery Power

Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits mon your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief change the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

And Finally....

FIFTH
Free Directory Service for Cells

Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when the don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

Securely Send and Receive Large Files

SendThisFile is a web find that will allow you send to and receive large files such as movies, presentations, photos, etc. from anyone and anywhere. I have used the service a few times for files that exceeded my email capability, which is usually 10MB.

I used their free plan. The free plan offers three day pickup, three downloads, progress meter, transfer rate, transfer size and secure transfers. They have plans from Free to Enterprise--which was loaded with features.

At any rate, the service was a no-brainer to use and sign-up was easy. Here is an example of an upload.

File Transfer: 33 Sec (14.97 MB copied)
File: esofthub.txt
Rate: 300 Kbps Elapsed: 00:07:30 Status: Transferring

Note: Most browsers have a built-in 2GB limit; however SendThisFile places no restrictions on file size or the number of files that can be uploaded. They do throttle (slow down) certain files that are uploaded from free accounts.

VOIP Adapter for $20 per year

A colleague of mine sent me this web find.

This is a pretty cool device. This small adapter just plugs into your USB port and then connect as standard telephone to the RJ-11 port and then you can call anyone in the US and Canada free anytime. If you are outside the US, then you can call anyone in the US free. You are given a 10-digit telephone number. So if you send someone overseas a unit, then they can communicate with them free since you both have your own telephone number. It does require that you have a PC and broadband and will not work with a dial up connection.

All this for only $20 per year

http://www.magicjack.com

Is There a Google Page Rank Update Going on?

I think Google is in the progress of doing a Page Rank update. I inadvertently noticed a few sites have improved their ranking by one or decreased by one. I haven't read anything about an ongoing update via the better known bloggers, but I noticed their sites haven't been affected like last time, so this should be a fairly quiet update. But I know it's forthcoming soon.

I noticed a couple sites that were 4's are now 3's and one or two sites that were 5's are now 4's and a couple that were 6's are now 5's. One of the interests that operate in the same space I do is now a PR7. A few days ago they were a PR6.

Last year, Google did an update around this same time.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/infrastructure-status-january-2007/

Update:
I've also noticed one site had a PR0 and now it's a PR4.
The link:www.yourdomainname.com operator seems to show updated backlinks, too.

Gotta Digg DOT Com Song by Kina

Usually, I don’t like watching YouTube videos because I think most of them are made by people who have way too much idle time on their hands -- waste of time. However, I saw this embedded YouTube video on the popular weblog TechCrunch and decided to play it. I was a bit surprised to hear what the performer was singing about…digg.com, a popular social bookmarking website.

Surprisingly, the digg song was pretty good and it's dang catchy. She also has a talented voice to boot. Her two sisters are in the background providing backup support – their gestures are comical, too. This video is viral!

Yahoo's Storage Meter is Now History

That's the message I found today in my Yahoo email account. I was checking my Yahoo.com email account, which I have had since 1999, when I inadvertently noticed this message: "The storage meter is now history." At first, I ignored it as just another solicitation, but then I observed the storage meter missing at the top-right corner of my email page. When I signed on, Yahoo never indicated a storage increase.

I wonder if newbie yahoo accounts are getting the same deal. Perhaps, as a test, I could create another yahoo account, but then again, I need another email account like I need a hole in my head.

And for Yahoo's competitors that I have email accounts with…

First, I checked my Gmail account to see if they had followed in lockstep. Well, the answer is, Not Yet...

Here's Gmail's storage message: "Lots of space
Over 5986.336396 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message." I have to agree that almost 6GB of climbing email capacity is "Lots of space" :)

Lastly, I checked my oldest email account (1997), which is on Hotmail. I still have a static 5GB.

Frankly speaking, I was a bit surprised Yahoo jumped ahead of Google's Gmail on this one. It's usually the other way around. I guess Yahoo is giving us unlimited email storage as an early holidays present. :) Thanks Yahoo.com

Is Your Email Message a Scam?

If you received a suspected email scam, you should use this site’s scam buster software program. It allows you to cut and paste an email message or multiple email messages into one form. Its software program will determine if the email/emails is/are a known scam. Moreover, you can also add additional details in a separate form.

As you already know, beware of messages that mention sweepstakes, lotteries, money-making offers, work-at-home opportunities, pyramid/Ponzi schemes, Nigerian 419 scams, envelope stuffing, drugs/pills, and etc. Remember the old US postal axiom: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is"

By the way, the site is aptly called Ask the "Scam-O-Matic!”

One last thing, they do ask for an email address where they can contact you if they later find out that it's a scam. Just be cognizant of the email request.

Determine the Number of Keyword or Key Phrase Searches

Frankly speaking, it is a fairly difficult task to generate traffic to a new website. But there is one methodical way of doing it. It is the employment of keywords or key phrases in content that is unique and well developed.

The key words or key phrases in your content need a strong and relevant affinity in how it relates to your site but without blatant keyword stuffing. This can be done internally (your website), externally (bookmarks, articles, backlinks, etc) and over time while employing white hat SEO techniques. Why? If you cheat (black hat), you'll probably gain additional traffic but the gain will probably be short-lived. Eventually, Google will catch on and remove your site from their index. That is basically a death penalty for your site, especially if your site isn’t well established in its niche.

I know some people will say you shouldn't solely depend on Google for traffic. Yeah, okay...but for new sites it's important.

Here are a few sites you can use to develop a "keyword or keyword phrase" game plan.

Overture Keyword Selector Discontinued
Wordtracker Free Keyword Suggestion Tool
SeoCompany Keyword Tool

Free Email Signature Generator

If you want to prevent robots from harvesting your email address, you can use this tool to generate an image with your email address. I have used it on a couple sites and noticed a considerable drop in spam. I am hoping over time this trend will continue. I can't believe the crap people will send you. How many Viagra pills or "money-making schemes/scams" does one person need? I really feel bad for all those suckers that get taken on these types of scams.

At any rate, you can use this image for your blog, website or signature.

Popular websites/blogs have dropped page rank

Some major websites/blogs have gone down in their page rank. There's going to be a lot of speculation as to why these sites were dropped. And needless to say, the discussions will be interesting.

Here are some popular sites that have gone down in Page Rank.

http://www.yahoo.com PR10 to PR9
http://www.techcrunch.com PR8 to PR7
http://www.engadget.com PR7 to PR5
http://www.johnchow.com PR6 to PR4
http://www.problogger.net PR6 to PR4 but later returned to 6
http://andybeard.eu PR5 to PR3 but later returned to 4
http://www.copyblogger.com PR6 to PR4
http://www.forbes.com PR7 to PR5
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com PR6 to PR3
http://www.quickonlinetips.com PR6 to PR3
http://www.johntp.com PR6 to PR4
http://www.autoblog.com PR6 to PR4
http://pingoat.com PR6 to PR4

Military service rivalry and humor

Here's a dig/joke from a friend of mine via email. He's an Air Force member and he knows I was in the Army at one time--about a decade ago. Anyways, I thought it was humorous.
------------

There's an Air Force guy driving from McChord to Ft Lewis, and an Army guy driving from Ft Lewis to McChord. In the middle of the night with no other cars on the road they hit each other head on and both cars go flying off in different directions.

The Air Force guy manages to climb out of his car and surveys the damage. He looks at his twisted car and says,....."Man, I am really lucky to be alive!"

Likewise the Army guy scrambles out of his car and looks at his wreckage. He too says to himself, ..... "I can't believe I survived this wreck!"

The Army guy walks over to the Air Force guy and says,...... "Hey man, I think this is a sign from God that we should put away our petty differences and live as friends instead of archrivals"

The Air Force guy thinks for a moment and says, ...... "You know, you're absolutely right! We should be friends. Now I'm gonna see what else survived this wreck"

So the Air Force guy pops open his trunk and finds a full, unopened bottle of Jack Daniels.

He says to the Army guy, "I think this is another sign from God that we should toast to our new found understanding and friendship"

The Army guy replies, "You're damn right!" and he grabs the bottle and starts sucking down Jack Daniels. After putting away nearly half the bottle the Army guy hands it back to the Air Force guy and says, "Your turn!"

The Air Force guy twists the cap back on the bottle and says, "Nahh, I think I'll wait for the cops to show up."

Check Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) for your URL

Shoemoney has a useful tool to check your Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) for Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Alta Vista. See how your URL ranks for certain terms. Here's the SERP utility page.

Removal from Google's Index

Yesterday, I received an email from Google regarding some questionable content on my website. I operate a small classified ads site, so the majority of my content is free ads.

The Googlebot found an ad with some hidden text (text using the same color as my site) on the site. Actually, it wasn't the exact same color but the Googlebot found it anyways. After further investigation, I found 3 more ads out of 40k that had some more funny looking text. Also, there was one ad that used a "dash" but it was actually a url -- very tiny font.

I guess I could have cleaned up those pages and then later resubmit for Google re-inclusion, but I simply deleted them.

Here's what Google said to me followed by the hidden text gibberish.

"Google Search Quality <noreply AT google.com> wrote: Dear site owner or webmaster of freeadlists.com,

While we were indexing your webpages, we detected that some of your pages were using techniques that were outside our quality guidelines, which can be found here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

In order to preserve the quality of our search engine, we have temporarily removed some webpages from our search results. Currently pages from freeadlists.com are scheduled to be removed for at least 30 days.

Specifically, we detected the following practices on your webpages:

* The following hidden text on freeadlists.com:

e.g.

BA We suffered horribly on the plains of the Cayster, sleeping under tent, stretched deliciously on fine chariots, half dead with weariness. Dicaeopolis [aside] And I was very much at ease, lying on the straw along the battlements! Ambassador Everywhere we were well received and forced to drink delicious wine out of golden or crystal flagons..... Dicaeopolis [aside] Oh, city of Cranaus, thy ambassadors are laughing at thee! Ambassador For great feeders and heavy drinkers are alone esteemed as men by the barbarians. Dicaeopolis [aside] Just as here in Athens, we only esteem the wenchers and pederasts. Ambassador At the end of the fourth year we reached the King's Court, but he had left with his whole army to take a crap, and for the space of eight months he was thus sitting on the can in the midst of the golden mountains. Dicaeopolis [aside] And how long did it take him to close his arse?
....
....
....
....
We would prefer to have your pages in Google's index. If you wish to be reincluded, please correct or remove all pages that are outside our quality guidelines. When you are ready, please visit:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/reinclusion?hl=en

to learn more and request a reconsideration request.

Sincerely,
Google Search Quality Team"

Keyword Density Analyzer

Here's a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool you can use to analyze the keyword density in any web page. It measures the ratio of keyword or keyphrase to the total number of words on a page. This is an important aspect for SEO. One to seven percent is considered to be good.

Which way is this silhouette rotating?

Which way is this silhouette rotating? I've been told it's an optical illusion and it's always moving clockwise.

I was also told if you see it counterclockwise, you're more scientific; otherwise, you're more artistic/creative.

Most of the time I see the silhouette moving counterclockwise. How about you?

If you didn't already know, you will have to double click the picture to get the animation.

Validate your feed

Many of us share our data via XML feeds. However, I encountered many times when I couldn't ingest a feed because it was riddled with errors. Feedvalidator.org is a site that allows you to validate a feed before sending it live.