Hit the Streats

I’m mentioned in today’s edition of Streats, a free Singapore daily tabloid. Mucho gracias to my friend Joan.

Ms Vanessa Tan, who has been blogging since mid-2002, said: “I chose Movable Type because it’s one of the most powerful weblog tools for advanced bloggers who know how to work with databases and scripts. You can also install additional plug-ins written by third parties to enhance the functionality of your website.”

…Blogs by journalists are listed on cyberjournalist.net while Ms Tan suggests checking out www.daypop.com/blogrank, a website that ranks the top blogs.

Incidentally, Streats is possibly the only local newspaper with a web standards-compliant website. Way to go!

UPDATE! Streats sent me a list of questions for the interview. For the record here are all my answers:

What is your blog about?

My blog is about myself, although depending on the season I do write about other issues. Currently I write about the US elections. I also like to write about Web Standards, my faith, and using legitimate software. I’m also a football fan so sometimes I do the odd post-match review.

Who reads your blog?

My friends, other bloggers who’ve chanced upon my blog, and lots of random surfers who get directed from search engines such as Google.

The most famous person I know who reads my blog is Jefferey Zeldman, web standards guru and popular author (he’s linked to me here: http://zeldman.com/externals/).

What blogs do you read?

The ones listed on my home page. One of my perennial favourites is Kottke.org by web designer Jason Kottke. He can write about anything – politics, technology, food, pop culture – with a depth of thought. I am often moved by the fluid language and the personal anecdotes written by a Chinese-American medic, Maria.

I understand you use Moveable Type. Why did you choose this tool over others and would you recommend it to others?

That depends on what the individual wants to do.

I chose Movable Type (MT) because it is one of the most powerful weblog tools for advanced bloggers who know how to work with databases and scripts. You can also install additional plugins written by third parties to enhance the functionality of your website. You can even configure it to work like a photo album as well.

However MT faces some competition in the form of WordPress and Textpattern, which are similar in functionality and do not have as many licensing restrictions.

Also, if you’re fairly new to blogging / not that tech-savvy, and don’t want to spend money on a web host and licensing, you’d probably prefer the recently revamped Blogger, which has lovely new templates, or you might join the LiveJournal community, among others. Many of my young cousins in Pri and Sec school have their own, free blogs.

If you don’t mind spending some money, you could also subscribe to Typepad, also by the makers of MovableType, which has similar features but is easier to use.

Do you have any tips for newbies?

1. Be yourself. Blogging isn’t a popularity contest unless you want it to be. Regardless of the topic, write simply so your blog is easy tounderstand. Don’t throw in big words just to impress readers.
2. Don’t gripe, whine or complain about people. Particularly, don’t drop names, divulge confidential information, or do anything else to get yourself in trouble. You may think nobody knows about your blog, but I’ve seen it backfire on other people before.
3. If you have an eye for design, personalise your blog. Do something different.
4. Update your content regularly enough so people will keep coming back.
5. For inspiration, check out the top blogs e.g. at http://www.daypop.com/blogrank/ to get an idea of what people around the world like to read.