Make your own blogTo make a blog is simple. Have a look at
some of the free web-based blogservices listed below, choose one, create an user
account and start writing. They usually have very understandable instructions.
For any platform, mac & pc:
Free
Web-based:-
Blogger -
Bloglines -
Yahoo!
-
Livejournal
-
Weblogg.no
(norwegian)
-
ABC-Blogg (norwegian)
More
advanced services-
Typepad -
WordPress
For my own blog (the one you are reading now) I use a software
called
iBlog for Mac OS X.
When I chose not to use a web-based solution I do need my own webserver where I
can host the actual blog website and RSS-feeds. The web-based solutions also
require you to be online while you are writing. With an application like iBlog I
can write several entries with links and pictures while I'm offline, and then
upload when I have access to internet again. I prefer this way of doing it
because it gives me more freedom in creating my own webpage design and I can
upload much more, bigger files like movies, presentations and pdf
documents.
Many RSS-reader application (see "What is RSS" further
down in this text) have built-in blog-composing as well. Check them out and see
which one suits you best.
This is what my iBlog application looks
like, with two blogs, each with different categories and several entries in each
category. I can even use this to read RSS-feeds, but I prefer another
application for that (again - look further down in this
text).
What
is RSS?A blog generates a so called "rss-feed". A stripped down
version of a web page, often with text only. You can read blogs, and most online
newspapers, with an RSS reader in stead of surfing directly to each blog you
read. For reading blogs and news from rss-feeds, I use
NewsFire. When I write a new
entry in iBlog and publish it on my website, everyone with a RSS-reader can
subscribe to my blog, and new entries I write will appear as unread news, as a
new mail would appear in your mail application.
"In a world
heaving under the weight of billions of web pages, keeping up to date with the
information you want can be a drag. Wouldn't it be better to have the latest
news and features delivered directly to you, rather than clicking from site to
site? Well now you can, thanks to a very clever service, RSS. There is some
discussion as to what RSS stands for, but the majority plump for 'Really Simple
Syndication'. Put plainly, it allows you to identify the content you like and
have it delivered directly to you. It takes the hassle out of staying
up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you are interested
in. Not all websites currently provide RSS, but it is growing rapidly in
popularity and many others, including the Guardian, New York Times and CNN do
provide it". (from BBC's webpage)
