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I have discovered that a number of our readers are unaware of several of the cool features available here on Science Blogs Dot Com, so I thought I'd point them out.
Over on the right side bar, you can click on the Sb logo to get to the Sb home page. There you will find The Buzz. The Buzz is a group of Scienceblogs posts that are gathered by a search term designed by our editors, in order to put together in one place the recently written posts on some hot topic or another. As I write this, the current buzz is Syphilis' Origins, and there are a few different posts on the topic.
There's lots of other stuff on the home page as well. Have a look around.
My favorite Scienceblogs page besides my own blog, of course, is the Last 24 hour page (again, go to the right side bar for the link to this). This tells you what the most recent posts are, and you can see the day unfold among the Sblings by staring at this page and hitting "refresh" every half hour or so. But you'd probably have to be stoned to really appreciate that. Otherwise, just use it to find new and interesting posts to read.
Returning to the main blog itself (what you are reading right now), many people do not realize that you can email this very post (or any other post) to someone by clicking on the "email this post" feature, down near the bottom of the post, above the comment area. You can also submit the post to various social bookmarking sites if you are a member of such as site. These are good things to do because it helps your blogger (me) gain prominence and fame. That can only be a good thing for all of us. Don't worry, I'll take you with me.
Down on the lower left is my rotating blogroll. To be on my blogroll you have to be a real site, with some overlap of interest with who I perceive my readers to be. So, if you are reading this now, there is a good chance that you might like some of the sites on the blog roll.
There's more, lots more. But that should give you a start in truly enhancing your Science Blog Experience.
Comments
FYI, the 24 hours page refreshes itself! Seems to be every 20 mins or so.
Posted by: Jojo | January 17, 2008 4:06 PM
But that should give you a start in truly enhancing your Science Blog Experience.
Argh, did you do that deliberately, or are you really unconciously infected by Marketing Buzzspeak?
I really, really, really can't stand being told to "enhance my experience" of some establishment (cyber or bricks & mortar). I wish there was a Hell so the marketing dweeb who rebranded "shopping trip" as "experience" could be sent there, and I could enjoy his screams of agony while asking him if there was anything I could do to "enhance his damnation experience".
Posted by: Eamon Knight | January 17, 2008 4:09 PM
My main bookmark to the Sb site is through the 24-hour channel.
I start at the top, and for each article that looks interesting, I open it in a tab (in Firefox I have it set so that the focus remains on the original page) and then keep working down the list. By the time I make it to the bottom (and "bottom" might have included a few jumps to "Previous Pages"), I have a slew of tabs. I then go to the last tab (the oldest article), read it, delete the tab, and then the visible tab is the next oldest.
I thus work my way through what looks interesting to me, in the order in which they were written.
I know I have no life when, occasionally, the 24-hour page has refreshed itself before I make my way through reading all the tabs.
Posted by: Ahcuah | January 17, 2008 4:44 PM
Thanks, Greg. Good stuff.
Posted by: The Ethical Atheist | January 17, 2008 5:09 PM
In fact, way back in the dark ages (early 2006) before we got picked up by Sb, the Last 24 Hours page was *the* homepage. When the categories and everything else got started on the new homepage, I started freaking out about where my Last 24 Hours page was. When I found out that it still existed, my life was complete.
Posted by: Abel Pharmboy | January 17, 2008 8:00 PM
Eamon, seriously, come on, man.
Ahcuah: I wonder if this sort of tab strategy is generally known by most users. It is, of course, the way to go. This is why I avoid making links that open a new window. I figure people can decide if they want the page they are navigating to open in a new tab, a new window, or the focal window.
Abel: Interesting to hear the stories of the old days from the old guys! :)
Posted by: Greg Laden | January 17, 2008 9:05 PM
Greg,
I never use the "email this to a friend" feature. I guess it's because it's so easy to cut-and-paste the link and email it, and a paranoia of sending potential spam to a friend. Sure, SciBlogs is excellent about privacy. But I don't tend to risk it. I realize that my failure to do so keeps your articles from the email zeitgeist. Sorry.
I am a big fan of the sci-blog RSS feeds (that's how I navigated here). They totally rock. I think I would experience withdraw symptoms without my sci-blog and Pharyngula RSS feeds. Of course, with prolific bloggers such as yourself, I suggest maxing-out the item count.
- Doug
Posted by: Doug | January 17, 2008 10:13 PM
Doug,
I think the mail-to feature is very Web 1.0, and the RSS feeds are very Web 2.0. Normally we are sworn to to relay back channel discussions but I think it is safe to mention that the email-to-a-friend widget is screen real estate that is likely to be built on by something else some time in the future.
Posted by: Greg Laden | January 17, 2008 10:49 PM
I've never been a fan of the "Email This" link either, mainly because I prefer to send links in the body of my own emails, along with why I think the recipient would be interested to read it. Plus, if I emailed labmates and other science-interested friends separately every time a compelling post came through SB, I'd fill up their inboxes in no time.
Posted by: Ian | January 17, 2008 11:56 PM
on the home page you can also click on blogs to get them sent to you by email whenever a new item is posted.
Posted by: mary | January 18, 2008 9:17 AM