…there’s a slight air of change around here.

So if you’re reading this in a feed reader and you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, click the title and hop to the real site and see what comes of it.

It’s quite beta-y at the moment, as many things don’t work (*cough*contactpage*cough*) but I’ll be slowing rolling out fixes and changes in the next few days.

If you have noticed any bug that you think I haven’t, be kind enough to leave me a comment and let me know.

You rule, people.

Disclaimer: This post serves more as a constant reminder for myself. A reminder that I have to finish this redesign and move on to more important stuff.

Here are some thoughts that surfaced after working quite a bit on this blog’s new design:

• Wordpress is one of the easiest publishing suite to work and design with, if you happen to know your way around PHP. I don’t get ExpressionEngine and probably never will.
• When in doubt, go with the simple.
• I love MgOpen Modata.
• If you keep yourself totally unable to do anything creative, force yourself. It’ll work.
• Stop blocking yourself, trying to achieve perfect. Perfect will come over time.

I promise I’ll get it out soon. I’m an awfully slow designer, when it comes to my stuff. You can find some more previews on Flickr.

It seems that every year, it’s getting better and better. GBC08 came and passed, but we can still taste the aftermath when we browse the pics and videos uploaded.

Lots of great people, some known, some unknown, interesting talks, lots of booze and sea and fun.

P.S. I think I now own the Guiness Record for “most times thrown in the Ios Palace pool while screaming my ears off”.

gbc08, ios

Packing up sunglasses, tan lotion, swimming suits and the most summer-y and blogger-y of moods to go off to the official greek blogging island, Ios, for GBC08.

I’ll probably keep you posted with tweets every now and then, but don’t rely too much on me!

See you again on Monday with lots of pics and a good sunburntan.

gbc08, ios, greekbloggercamp

I’ll admit it: Google Reader is the one app that got me into feed reading (rather, checking) again.

I used to dedicate large chunks of my ‘free’ online time to check feeds into NetNewsWire. The latest version was nice, but something didn’t click eventually. I stopped using it and started getting some things done instead.

Then the need for me arose: I needed my feeds, everywhere. To check something or to gather info for upcoming articles. The obvious solution: Google Reader.

I first was kinda taken aback with the whole exporting-importing procedure (which was kinda hideous), but when I had my feeds all neatly categorized, I was up and rolling. I actually found out that I checked feeds much more efficiently in Google Reader, while being natively in the browser, I could check out particular blog posts and blogs in a breeze.

So I’ve found the equilibrium between effective time and casual feed reading, all because of it.

I have a pet peeve though. A particularly annoying one.

I use to star all interesting articles, to write about them later. So when I’m browsing the starred posts and decide to remove one post from the list, I check on the star and it vanishes. But why doesn’t the post vanish too from the list?

Ok, there’s no star, why is this in ‘Starred’ list?

I actually have to hit refresh to get it off my screen. Which is kinda annoying.

I guess they did it to avoid ‘losing’ posts accidentally in all the heap. But why can’t this be done with an undo technique, like in Google Mail?

Sigh.

google, google reader, greader, gmail

Recently, on Twitter, me and some friends had an interesting argument over translating tech terminology in greek, whenever possible. The discussion was based on my ranting, since I think that the greek word for blog, ιστολόγιο (istologhio), feels all kinds of ridiculous and fake to me. Reminds me of people (bloggers) that get themselves as too important creatures, bloggers that think highly of themselves.

And there are few things in this world that piss me off more than arrogant bloggers.

Anyway, back to topic. Back then, I did not have a real proof of why I despise this kind of holistic translation. These days, I re-found one:

For those Greeks out there, Blogger.com translates Dashboard as Πανόπτης (Panoptis). RSS as Ροή δικτυακού τόπου (Roi diktiakou topou). Posts as αναρτήσεις (anartisis).

This is ridiculous. I don’t consider myself a british citizen, but I surely understand the english terms more than their greek translation. It’s so farfetched! It should be done with simpler words, in the first place.

Not to mention that most greek translations in web or offline apps are littered with grammatical and syntax errors.

And this is not rare; more than once, users have contacted us for support and we couldn’t get a clue of what they were saying, because they had (mis)learned the terms in greek.

I don’t say that we should all become Americans or British, but this is getting old. I understand why people who don’t speak english cling to this notion, but I cannot possibly see how RSS is more difficult than Ροή δικτυακού τόπου for a tech guy or gal.

english, greek, blogging, translation

Post Categories have been moved down, below Tags.

To complete a post, even in my 24” screen, I have to scroll down, pass all the clutter, select categories, then up again to hit ‘Publish’.

I was not a huge fan of the previous ‘Write’ page, I think it has been improved in many ways, but this particular thing is a usability downgrade.

web design, usability, wordpress 2.5, admin

Have you ever found yourself feeling lonely and totally hated in the vast ‘nets?

Did trolls hunt you down in forums and hijack your posts? Have you ever been insulted by a total stranger for no good reason?

Have your like, totally original blog posts been stolen by strangers? Or your glittery avatar? Or your wannabe emo pic?

Has anyone *gasp* sent you e-mails in which he insults and threatens you?

No fear! Greek politicians are here to help you.

Soon in a blog near you. With a law as stupid as Greeks.

P.S. For the noobs out there, some stupid airheads of politicians decided to “guard” the greek blogs, to protect other people’s personalities, to sue unknown commenters and bloggers, because like, someone wrote bad stuff about them on the ‘nets. And they wanna make a law limiting bloggers’ anonymity and free speech.

How typical of Greeks. Such drama queens. Such noobs. Such ignorants.

I was never this much glad that this blog is in english. I don’t want anything to do with them.

greek, greece, stupid, idiot, law, blogs, blogger, blog, press-gr

What tools do you use to blog, dear readers?

Are you a hardcore Microsoft Live Writer or ecto fan or do you stick to ole trusty Wordpress Admin interface?

Do you stick post-it notes to everything blog-worthy or do you trust the long, long list of potential blog articles that float around your head?

Myself, when offline, I carry around a oh-so-hip Moleskine Ruled Notebook with a simple pen and I take notes on anything that may become a nice, juicy blog post. When online, I copy my blog notes to my Backpack @Blog page, which features a long list of potential blog posts and miscellaneous notes.

When I decide to sit down and write something (that is, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night), I open up my list, select a subject and add a Writeboard to my @Blog page. I love 37Signals’ Writeboards because they’re really the most distraction-free wiki-like writing space I can find online, plus they are included free with my Backpack account. And the typing starts.

When my draft is completed, I copy the post text to the Wordpress Admin interface, insert links, images, tags and whatnot, hit Publish and tada! Blogged.

Any similar blogging procedures out there?

backpack, blogging

*phew* Is it two years already?

Two years of fun and striving to get better content whenever possible.

Two years of blogging and I’ve just recently embraced the idea of systematic blogging; and I love it!

It’s just two years. I made a promise to myself for more.

Happy birthday, sugarenia.com!