Blogger

Evan Williams: A mogul in Internet publishing

NEW YORK -- Twitter and Medium co-founder Evan Williams loved reading magazines growing up in rural Nebraska in the pre-Internet days. It was a way to experience the world outside of Clarks, Nebraska, population 369.

"I wanted to get out of there and see the bigger world. [Clarks] is not a bad place to be, but I yearned to see the rest of the world," Williams said in conversation with Wired senior writer Steven Levy at the Wired Business Conference here.

Since leaving Nebraska for the West Coast, the 41-year-old serial entrepreneur has become one the Internet's … Read more

Google+ Comments friends Blogger

The latest move by Google to connect its pre-existing services to its social network automatically ties relevant comments on Google+ to blogs hosted on Blogger, the company announced on Thursday.

The feature is not on by default. But once activated in the Blogger Dashboard, Google+ comments made about a blog post hosted by Blogger will appear alongside comments made directly on the blog without any extra effort from the blog owner.

"This way you can engage with more of your readers, all in one place," wrote Google engineer Yonatan Zunger in the blog post announcing the feature.

Blog … Read more

Google+ mentions make their way to Blogger

Google's Blogger platform now comes with a way for writers to link to a friend or company's Google+ page.

When typing out a post in Blogger, users can now input a "+" before a person's or brand's name. Upon choosing the right profile, a link will be displayed in the published post, allowing readers to go to the subject's Google+ page or profile. Hovering the mouse over the link displays a card showing a profile picture and a little more information on the person or brand.

Google+ has been the subject of several updates … Read more

Blogger updates apps for Android and iOS, adds iPad support

Google updated its blogger app today with a new look and a handful of new features, all designed to make posting on the go a bit easier.

The updates, as shared in a blog post on the topic:

Landscape support for composing posts  Sharing to Google+  Ability to view a scheduled post time  International support in 30+ languages  iPad support

The updates are live in the Google Play store and the App Store.

Samsung to bloggers: Promote our products at IFA or walk home

Memo to bloggers: If Samsung offers to fly you to an event, make sure you have your own return-trip ticket.

According to a detailed story in The Next Web, some time back Samsung reportedly reached out to some mobile-tech bloggers in India and offered to fly them to the IFA 2012 conference now under way in Berlin. One of the bloggers -- Clinton Jeff of New Delhi -- said he made clear that he would only attend the conference as a reporter, and that he would not be doing any promotional work for the company. Samsung reportedly had no issues … Read more

WordPress for Android

Known as one of the most powerful free blogging platforms on the Web, WordPress doesn't disappoint when it comes to its Android mobile app. It offers many of the tools that are available through the full Web interface, and it makes it easy to zip around your account, change settings, follow other blogs, and create new posts.

When you first download WordPress on your Android device, it gives you the choice to add your existing WordPress.com blog or your own self-hosted WordPress blog. If you don't have either set up yet, you can easily start a new … Read more

Tumblr on the go

With Tumblr for Android, using the megapopular blogging platform cum social network while on the go is a snap. The app lets you create and publish posts, read through posts by other bloggers you follow, and manage your account settings, all without much of a learning curve.

Just like when you sign on to Tumblr on the Web, the Android app opens you up directly to your Dashboard, where you see your main feed, with all the blogs you follow. Since the list self-updates, you can, in theory, scroll endlessly. The interface on the Dashboard looks and feels very much … Read more

Three Android blogging apps to keep you mobile

Whether you already run a blog or you're thinking of starting one, this collection of apps is for you. Perhaps you're tired of being tethered to your computer, or you think you don't have enough time to blog because you're always mobile. Fortunately, these apps offer enough utility to get the job done. Read on to find the app that best suits your needs.

Blogger

No doubt the most simplistic of the three, Blogger is Google's, well...blog platform. The app only has a couple of screens to look at, but that isn't always … Read more

Saudi blogger's tweets could cost him his life

Saudi Arabian blogger Hamza Kashgari tweeted last week about an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammad, writing he "loved the rebel in you" and that he "loved some aspects of you, hated others."

Little did Kashgari know that these tweets could culminate in his possible death sentence.

Shortly after his tweets, tens of thousands of angry commenters denounced Kashgari and demanded his punishment.

"The only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified in order to be a lesson to other secularists," commented an online reader of al-Madina newspaper Abu Abdulrahman, according to … Read more

Cuban activist blogger forced to stay on the island

Cuban blogger and activist Yoani Sanchez was told last week for the 19th time in four years that she was not allowed to leave Cuba, according to Amnesty International.

"My cell is not surrounded by concrete and metal, but rather water," Sanchez tweeted last week.

She was hoping to travel to a film premiere in Brazil where she had been invited to speak, but Cuba's migration authorities denied her an exit permit. As with all the other times she requested permission to leave, she wasn't given a reason why.

However, the reason why is clear to … Read more