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If you have a blog, you have a theme. Chances are, you downloaded a theme off the web somewhere. It’s okay that you don’t know how to code your own customized theme from scratch! Very few people are capable of doing this. You want your blog to say “YOU”, but you don’t want to pay a designer a ton of money to accomplish this. It’s a good thing Artisteer now makes it simple for you to create and customize your own WordPress theme with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Everything and anything you can think of that you might want to tweak in your layout can be done easily with Artisteer in just a few seconds. You don’t have to try to learn HTML or even CSS. All you have to be able to do is click your mouse buttons, and decide what look is right for you.

Move your gadgets to a different side. Change up your text with different colors and fonts. Heck, change the header or background image while you’re at it. Don’t like what you’re seeing? Psh! Just click a button and start completely over. It really is that easy.

Best of all, Artisteer doesn’t only work on WordPress. Create designs for web pages, Blogger Blogs, or make professional Joomla! and Drupal templates.

Artisteer is probably my favorite new discovery in a long time. I’m having so much fun that I’ve now created probably 30 different themes, just by playing around. The only limitation to this program is your own imagination. So… get creative!

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Even if you’re not a blogger yourself, chances are you read a few of them. It seems like everyone is blogging these days, including my mom on occasion (so ok, maybe not recently). Heck, even when you aren’t intending to read a blog, you may end up doing so after following a link from a search engine when you’re looking for something specific. Let’s face it – blogs are everywhere.

Obviously, blogging is a central part of my life. The work I do here plays a large part in not only my work life, but my personal one, as well. I like to think I’ve found a good balance between the two, and try to keep them as “equal” as possible here on my site. My friend Robert Scoble is the same way. If you go through his blog, you’ll see that he also has managed to balance life/work/family, and wrap it all nicely into his blog.

To me, that’s the way a blog should be. I’ve seen people who have several different blogs. They may post work-related things to one, personal to another, and social things to yet another. Where’s the sense in that? Why can you not post everything in one central place? Both Robert and I – along with many, MANY others, have managed to do so. If you have more than one blog, why do you? I would like to hear from some of you “multi-bloggers”, and hear your reasons as to why you do things the way you do. Understand that I’m not putting down the way you do things. I honestly feel that maybe I am missing something, and not seeing the whole picture.

In any case, blogs are important. They can be a source of information. They can keep you current on what’s hot – and what’s not. They can give you different viewpoints on matters that you may not have otherwise thought of. And, they can make you laugh. So, I ask you…

How do reading blogs impact your life? For the blogs you go back to time and again, what attracts you? Is it the content itself, or the author’s writing style? Are you gaining information, educating yourself, or just having a good laugh? What types of blogs do you subscribe to – and how many of them?

Our Lockergnome community is devoted entirely to bloggers, with topics ranging from IT to Dogs – and everything you can think of in between. Over on Geeks, we have a large number of bloggers, as well. How many of these people are you taking the time to follow? If you aren’t checking them out, you’re missing out.

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During my travels around our community today, I came across an interesting post on Lockergnome. The author discusses how he signed up for Twitter in order to attempt to figure out the hype. At one point, he states that:

By composing short, 140-character messages, you can share with the world that you are standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, eating a tuna sandwich, or watching your dog chase its tail. If compulsively posting such digital drivel is not enough of an incentive to get out of bed in the morning—which is, of course, another event you’ll want to share with others – you can also follow the mundane activities of other peoples’ uneventful lives – including neuron-numbing celebritwits. At no time in the history of interpersonal communication has the phrase “Get a life” been more appropriate.

After a two-month immersion on Twitter, he still doesn’t quite “get it”, according to his closing paragraph. He wants to understand why “anybody would feel compelled to share the excruciatingly tedious minutia of their lives… (and) why anybody would want to read it”. This is our chance to show Mr. Modem what it is that he is missing.

Sure, there are plenty of mind-numbing tweets posted every nth of a second, all day, every day. However, there are also an equal number of informative and important things spread across Twitter, as well. Each day, Twitter is becoming more of a news outlet than the actual newspapers and stations. Word about a tragedy, accident, death or even a missing child will spread all across Twitter (and become a trending topic) much quicker than the same stories could possibly be posted to a place such as CNN or MSNBC.

Twitter is also used in very unconventional ways to spread a message, and raise awareness for a good cause. During last year’s Gnomedex conference, the attendees used their reach on Twitter to raise over $3700.00 to help send a young Cambodian woman to college. Right now, we have a good friend of our community, Drew, who is using Twitter to blame his cancer for things, thus raising awareness and money for the Livestrong Foundation.

In my eyes, Twitter is a mixed bag. It is fun, definitely. You can post short, silly little messages on a whim if you choose. Five seconds later, you can turn around and post about a life-changing event – one that may impact many thousands of people. It’s not what Twitter “is” or “is not” – it’s what you choose to do with it that makes the difference.

My challenge to all of you is this: if you are on Twitter (or have been in the past) – how do you answer Mr. Modem’s question? Leave a follow-up comment here, and let us know if you feel that you are Twittering – or Frittering – your time away.

Of course, while you’re pondering the answer to this question, be sure to check out what others around you have been up to today.

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Eoghan Brophy wonders:

I was talking to my dad abut blogs and unions on the way home from the airport. He’d been at a journalism union conference. I was wondering what you thought bloggers should have to do with unions. If anyone tried to make a cent out of anything you’d made, I’m sure you’d have Wicket tear them apart. What you’ve made is copyright Chris Pirillo.

If this happened to a smaller lesser-known blogger, having a union membership might be useful. I’m inclined to believe that the response time might not be quick enough. Law was never a spry juggernaught. I know I’d be a bit miffed if someone stole something I’d written. Whether the union I’d pay subs for would help my case is hard to say.

Complicate the matter by throwing in money. Your own contributions to the Internet more than merit your income. I’d say you deserve a raise, even. Only problem there is you’re the boss of you. You want a raise, you work harder. Paid bloggers who make their way in the world by what they write would need to be taken on a case-by-case basis for union membership almost.

When does a blog become a journalistic work? I know a lot of the blogs coming out of China and Iran right now could be considered journalism, since they keep people informed. But when you try to define what a blog is, you might hit a few snags. Some blogs are pure opinion and supposition. Others, like mine, are just pointless and depressing. But some, like yours, are useful and informative – even up to the point where they might be considered journalistic.

Ask your Gnomedex attendees what they think. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of bloggers at the event. I’d love to hear if they think union membership is necessary or not. If not, then I don’t see printed media unions lasting a lot longer. We’re already seeing a return to the Dickensian models.

P.S. I understand you’re an English major. Are you also callipygian?

1. I don’t consider myself a blogger. I have a blog, but that doesn’t make me a blogger.
2. I don’t consider myself a journalist. I don’t work for someone else.
3. I don’t consider myself having callipygian qualities. That speaks for itself.
4. I don’t believe bloggers need unions (no more than software developers need unions).
5. I don’t know if unions, in general, are going to be around for much longer.

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You heard me correctly. Yours truly is the new Tech Expert over at CNN’s website! If you haven’t seen it yet, take a read through my article discussing DRM, and let me know what you think!

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Is blogging the new form of Journalism? Should bloggers be held to the same standards as the media? Those questions were asked of me recently in an email, and raise a lot of food for thought.

I don’t know that I’d say blogging is a new form of journalism, no. Blogging is certainly a newer type of writing style. Blogging and journalism aren’t exactly the same, but they achieve the same results. A blogger writes out of passion, out of an extreme interest for a particular topic. Should a blogger then be held to the same standards as the media? I don’t think so, necessarily. I guess it depends on what your definition of a journalist is, as opposed to a blogger. The only difference I can see between the two is content. They’re both there to produce content. Bloggers write because they want to. Journalists write to get paid, because it is their job.

How many times have you had this happen? I’ll get a phone call from someone who wants to interview me, or include me in a story. They’ll take up a few hours of my time, asking tons of questions. Then, of course, they use only one thing I said or the story/comments aren’t used correctly. How many times have you been watching television, and the reporter just totally gets it wrong. You’re yelling at the tv, telling the person on the program that they are wrong! It happens all the time.

This is the main difference I see between bloggers and journalists. Bloggers tend to write what they know, think and feel. Journalists are supposed to give facts, and unfortunately don’t always get them correct.

In many ways, the Blogosphere is like this huge editorial board. If a blogger comes out with something excellent, it will spread like wildfire. It will be validated. Many people feel that bloggers should be held to the same standards as the media. But… what makes “the media”? Heck, I am the media as much as anyone else is. So who draws the line? Who decides what is journalism, and what is merely blogging? Who is the boss when it comes to standards for sets of people?

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As Dave mentioned the other day, I’m leading a discussion on the power of users at BloggerCon IV. Take a look at my recent string of Windows Vista and Office 2007 posts. Try to look past the “Chris is really ripping apart Microsoft’s flagship products” angle, focusing instead on the “Chris is really a passionate user” position. This is the foundation of our impending BloggerCon discussion. As a blogger, you have tremendous opportunities to tell developers what you need, what you expect, and what you want. You are the user – power or casual. If you don’t stand up for yourself, nobody’s going to do it for you. And contrary to popular belief, developers aren’t gods – and neither are users. If this is a real ecosystem, we need balance where none currently exists. Problem is, as users, we have to deal with the developers – who don’t always see the world from a user’s perspective. I’m not suggesting a revolution – I’m merely asking for other passionate users to start speaking up for the things they care about. I want to know if I’m the only user out there who isn’t afraid to say something (right or wrong) about the applications I work with (good or bad).

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Confirmed Gnomedex Discussion Leader: Halley Suitt. Her first name rhymes with “rally,” her last name sounds like “suit” – it’s Halley Suitt! The original Alpha Female Blogger is honoring us with her presence on stage. Her mind works a million miles a minute, which is why she’s perfect for the Gnomedex crowd. This will be Halley’s first Gnomedex, and we hope not her last. She blogs, but she’s also driving Top Ten Sources forward into the future. I can’t think of a single person who doesn’t know who Halley is – except for my dad, but he doesn’t count. Halley is really sweet, but she’s really Suitt.

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