John's Labour blog 200,000 visitors

Last night according to Site meter I had my 200,000 visitor to this blog since Feb 22 2007.

I posted this in December 2008 when it was 50,000 "The readership is tiny compared to some other blogs but as long as I enjoy posting I will keep it up.

I admit that I do indulge myself from time to time. Some think I am being divisive, others think that I pull too many punches.

But there is room in the “bloggersphere” for a centre left Labour movement blog that offers critical support to the Party and commentates at times vigorously on trade union, political and economic issues. This is my aim anyway....The message of course should remain more important than the medium".

Thank you for visiting.

The thoughts of Chairman John...on Blogging

Mary Honeyball MEP has posted the video of her fringe at Labour Party conference 2010.  You can see my contribution on some of the perils of blogging and a possible potential political benefit here.

The other speakers were Mark Ferguson (Labourlist), Jessica Asato and Kerry McCarthy MP (her video not yet posted).

The fringe I thought was an excellent conference event.  Well done to Mary and her team for putting it on.

(The Guilty Newham 4 - they know who they are will now have an opportunity to understand just what they have missed out on - LOL :)

The Buddhist Blog Honored with Award Nominations.

Wow. The 2010 Blogisattva Award nominations have been announced and The Buddhist Blog has been honored. The blog was nominated in three categories: Best Engage-the-World Blog, Best Achievement in Kind and Compassionate Blogging and Best "Life" Blog. The blog also received honorable mentions in other, categories: Best Achievement Blogging Opinion Pieces or Political Issues, Best Blogging on Matters Philosophical, Psychological or Scientific and Best Blog of the Year!!

I know that some of you nominated the blog for these nominations and I am humbled by your appreciation. You, and the Blogisattva Awards committee honor the blog greatly and I will use this positive energy toward keeping the voice of the reclusive Buddhist alive. Perhaps the boring side of the blog is that I write mainly because it aids my practice but it also is a labor of love in honor of the Dharma. It is a testament of how amazingly beneficial Buddha's teachings are to humanity. I credit the Dharma in being the catalyst to helping me emerge from a very dark, angry and self-destructive life-pattern that I was on before.

It is fitting perhaps that these honors come on a day when we recognize the enlightenment of Buddha (Bodhi Day) and the priceless gift that he bestowed upon all humanity. None of us would be benefiting from the Dharma without his self-sacrifice. After his great awakening (or, enlightenment), he could have wandered off into the mountains to live out the rest of his last incarnation before merging into parinirvana. Instead he chose to share the path he realized with the world and we are his heirs.

But I digress. Buddhism has been a great help in reducing the symptoms of my psychiatric condition and that is another reason that I write. To show others that Buddhism can be of great benefit to the restless mind wrapped up in psychiatric turmoil. The Dharma has been like another medication but one without negative side effects. So, any recognition that I am honored with must be given back to Buddha and those who honored me with these nominations. I cherish my readers as friends and family. It is my hope that this new year will bring greater acceptance of online interaction in the Buddhism community at-large.

Whether the blog actually "wins" any awards is secondary to what I have gained through interacting with all of you. You have truly enriched my life and I look forward to our interactions each day. May this next year be a wonderful year for Buddhist blogging. There are a lot of great blogs out there that keep the online Buddhist community going and I am forever honored to be mentioned alongside them all. Be sure to check them out!! Thank-you, again for the humbling honor that you have shown. Here's to a new year!!

P.S. - It's hard to sound honored without coming across as cliche but I really, really mean what I wrote. Every word. Thanks again to the judges and everyone else at The Blogisattva Awards.

~Peace to all beings~

Plagiarism.

(PHOTO CREDIT: All credit goes to Derrick Story).

It has been brought to my attention that there is someone going around the buddhoblogosphere plagiarizing not only my blog but several others. In some cases it is word for word what I have written, and the blog owner is, so brazen to even include my name in the posts! The blog name is, "Buddha Rocks" and is run by someone who goes by the moniker, "Lord of the Blogosphere." They are changing a few words and using terrible sentence grammar but on the whole it's my posts verbatim. And, I'm not the only one. Several other Buddhist bloggers are being targeted.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but this is straight out plagiarism. I'm not angry at this person but rather have compassion that they feel such a desperate need for attention as to steal another person's hard work. I want them to know that they have the potential to write interesting content if they would simply let go of trying so hard to impress people. Plagiarism will only leave them feeling hollow and empty inside.

May they realize that such stealing only brings increased suffering to them. I don't want to see them suffer, so I am calling upon them to end this practice and find their own voice. I'm sure they have something interesting to say on their own and I encourage them to just write from the heart, and I know that will bring them greater fulfillment than stealing.

~Peace to all beings~

Giovanni's Lavoro Blog

Blogger has included a "Stats" counter facility since May 2010. 

To my surprise (see screen print right) it would appear that "John's Labour Blog" is somewhat popular in Italy!

While this blog had most readers in the UK (29,545 pages views) second apparently is Italy with 11,606 page views.  Beating the United States into third place with 9,860.

Not entirely sure for the reason for this and suspect some sort of tracking error by blogger?

But anyway "ciao" to any Italian comrades:)

Blogging for Labour: How social media can drive a wedge into the Coalition.

Hope those of you who are going to this years Labour Party conference will come to this fringe on the Monday evening.

"Blogging for Labour: How social media can drive a wedge into the Coalition". 

I think that anyone going to conference and reading this blog - will be somewhat interested!

Mary Honeyball MEP will chair and the panelists are Jessica Asato; Alex Smith Labour list, Tom Harris MP and moi.

Monday 27 September 18:00 - 19.30. Manchester Central - Charter 1.

UPDATE: see report of the actual fringe here

Spamalot

Don't worry I am not about to review the musical but this morning on my blogger email there were 11 spam anon comments waiting to be "approved". 

So I have set up "word verification" for any future comments.

It is a little bit of a nuisance but only take a minute or so (if sober - this may also reduce the alcohol or drug induced rants I receive from time to time).

There was also this morning a couple of the normal idiotic comments which I have approved and look forward to responding when I get a mo:)

Total Politics Blog Poll 2010

I’ve just emailed my current top ten blogs to the “Total Politics” annual blog “Beauty Parade”. Total Politics impartiality is obviously somewhat dubious since it is owned and run by Tories (with a supposedly “neutral” board overseeing) but it is the political website of choice for many serious politicians.

Thankfully - you are not allowed to post on who you have selected since I am sure that it I will leave some blogging folk I have left out - just a little bit miffed at me for doing so.

Needless to say one cherry short of a Schwarzwalderkirschtorte was not one of the 10:)

You have until 31 July to take part.

BTW - This is the list I compiled in 2008 (but never got round to sending). It has changed since.

(picture of the demonstrators outside the Miss World competition in London 1970. Some of them later broke into the event and threw floor bombs at host, Bob Hope and the contestants . I use to work with one of the protesters in the 1980's, Jake Prescott, who in 1970 dressed up for the first time in his life in a dinner suit in order to get into the venue. Jake then later went off to make other type of bombs).

5 Don’ts of Internet Blogging

Not all blogs are created equal. Some blogs thrive and have thousands of page views per months while others languish in the forgotten world known as the dead blog zone. What is the difference? This article gives 5 things you definitely don’t want to do on your personal blog.

1. Don’t write boring posts: This advice sound like a kind of “duh” advice that people often give you when you’re faced with a problem, yet people seldom take the cliché to heart or even realize that they are guilty of breaking the rule themselves. So, I repeat again: Don’t write boring posts!

What types of posts are boring? First off, no one cares about your kid spitting up on your t-shirt during feeding earlier today, your dog playing in the park, or the comic book convention you just got back from (unless you have lots of pictures of hot comic book chicks included). In other words, don’t write articles that are just interesting for you, but instead try to make them interesting for everyone. A good example of something interesting to everyone is a “how to” article – as evidenced by the plethora of sites like www.Ehow.com that exist simply to teach people how to do things. Don’t know how to do something, like opening a checking account in Spain or getting revenge on noisy neighbors. Go find the answer and write an article about it!

2. Don’t post only text: This is another obvious-but-often-ignored piece of advice from the internet world. Just because you have wonderful pictures of your trip to Aruba in your mind doesn’t mean everyone else has them there too. Post pictures man, and the more the better!

If you have a video on Youtube that you can embed in your website at the appropriate places, that’s even better. My rule of thumb is that you need three good pictures, two pictures of a beautiful girl, or one movie in every post before the average reader will even look at it.

3. Don’t try to make a masterpiece every time: Not every time up to bat will be a home run and not every hand dealt will be pocket aces. Similarly, not every blog post you make will be a timeless masterpiece for posterity to enjoy. Some posts will be duds, most will be average, and a few will really stand out. Since it’s hard to tell beforehand which post will fall into which category, the key is to put up consistent, regular posts with just a little variety thrown in to spice things up.

4. Don’t work too hard: This probably the most counterintuitive but true piece of blogging advice ever given, but working too hard can actually work against you in the end. The danger here is that you will burn yourself out before you’ve really given your blog a chance to grow. Spending half of your day writing for your blog will probably get boring over time even during the best circumstances, more so if you have only a few readers.

Instead, try to take shortcuts. Frequent small posts, sometimes just a joke or funny video from Youtube, can often be much more productive than a long winded and well thought out discourse that takes weeks to write. Remember the adage that “time is money” and spend your time accordingly.

5. Don’t give up: Probably the ultimate mistake that bloggers make it to give up and stop trying. As one example, I had a particular young lady in her early 20’s whose blog I used to visit weekly to read her poetry and listen to music she posted. Then, her blog disappeared. Her content was good enough that I’m sure that, if she’d stuck with it, her blog would have had more followers than mine in another six months. Take the lesson from her: don’t give up!

Five Ways to Get Rich (or Not) on the Side

I decided to do a different type of entry today. If you're anything like me, then you desperately need more money in life. Even if you're not like me, more money wouldn't hurt. And, even if you're filthy rich (which I doubt) you probably still crave money. So, I've decided to list (in no particular order) five ways to make money on the side, along with my feelings about how effective these ideas actually are.

1. Part-time job
Rating: Good





















Reason: The main way to get more money in life always has been, and will probably continue to be, working more hours (at least until giant robots take over the world in 2115). Whether you work as a tutor, a baby sitter, an Ebay seller, a McDonalds burger flipper, or muscle for the Italian mafia, a second job is the best way out there to ensure a reliable source of extra cash.

Cons: Who wants to work at McDonalds? And, even if we did, who has the time? Not I, said the little cat.

2. Couponing
Rating: Average





















Reason: If you can't make more money, you can at least spend less money. Milking the system for all its worth isn't going to make you any friends with store owners, big retailers, or dinner party guest who have to eat three month expired salad dressing, but it does cut costs when all else fails.

Cons: I tried this for about a six month period at one point. It's hard. First, you have to have access to lots of coupons, which is not easy. Then, you have to take the time to clip, organize, and match those coupons with deals and freebies (again not easy). On top of that, you have to find a way to use the stuff you buy -- again not easy, especially if you didn't really want any of the stuff in the first place.

3. Blogging
Rating: Mediocre

























Reason: Admit it. Everyone on Blogger who has Adsense (like me) and who has spammed for followers/hits on their blog (me again) secretly dreams of striking it rich. What else could be easier? You hop online, type a couple of silly anecdotes a couple times a week, have the one million online fans that know and love you read the story (and click on some ads while their on your site), rack up millions of dollars in your sleep, and retire to Maui while the rest of the poor saps have to work for a living. Sounds easy, right?

Cons: Doesn't work. In my time blogging, I've managed to make a grand total of about $16.49 for six months of work and 40+ blog entries. Why? First off, no one reads these blogs. Think about it: out of your friends, coworkers, family, etc., how many faithfully follow the blogs of some stranger off the internet? Excluding people who live in an apartment with 10+ cats and have stacks of newspapers from 1965, my guess is around zero. And, even if they do read your blog, they never, ever, for any reason, click your ads. Out of the $16.49 I've made, I know for a fact that about $16.45 of it was from clicks by either myself or my close family members.

By the way, if you've read this far in the blog, you could consider taking a hint from the previous paragraph and . . . click. I have them all up there. Don't you want to know what "Male Hair Replacement" or an associates degree from the University of Phoenix can do for you? Then, CLICK!

4. Pay-to-click emails
Rating: Blah














Reason: I once made 25 bucks off this. Hooray -- 25 bucks! I can retire now!

Cons: You're never going to get rich doing this. Actually, in terms of dollars per hour, it's probably not even worth your time.

5. Stock Market
Rating: Excellent



























Reason: There are two ways to go with money in life: invest in stocks or work for those who do. Seriously, this is the naugthy little secret of the rich. Stocks have a historical annual return rate of about 11% -- WOW! For those of you bad at math, it adds up to lots of freaking money after a while.

Cons: It takes money to make money. To seriously get involved in stocks, you probably need at least $1000, maybe more, to compensate for brokerage fees. Also, the volatility of the whole thing will sometimes eat you alive (think last year). Still, it's the best way to make money out there -- long term -- that doesn't involve grease fires, burger flipping, and being called pinche gringo by fat guys from Juarez.

Well, there you have it. Take it for what its worth. And, CLACK ON MY AADS!!!!


Give me your feedback. What are some ways you've tried to get rich (or die trying)?