The BlogShares Blog

The mission is now in your hands. All of them are, actually. The BlogShares Mission System now allows any member to post a request or contest for other members to respond to. Mission owners put chips into 'the pot' that can (only) be paid out to other members who enter.

So far the system has translated a phrase to 30 languages, reconstructed a BlogShares timeline, helped quiet a classroom, caused a few chuckles, and spawned a few mini-games.

One mission that needs attention is a small Java project with a 50,000 chip reward. Please help if you can. A litle simpler: find bugs on a web site.

Earn some chips in your spare time, or hire somebody for an odd job. Use your imagination, and the Mission engine could be a lot of fun.

Posted by jay at 02:17 AM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tell a joke, create a popular logo, google around - earn chips doing these and more in the new BlogShares Missions.

Posted by jay at 02:15 AM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (2)

With the launch of QuackTrack, and the birth of some shiny new index tools, we're asking for your help in cleaning up the index.

On any blog profile in BlogShares, you'll notice a Report Error link in the upper right-hand part of the page. Use this for the following issues:

Dead Blogs--these are blogs which have been abandoned at least 6 months. Index managers will determine if the site should stay in the game.
Non-blogs such as link-farms and regular websites.
Incorrect blog titles in the BlogShares system.
Incorrect industries for a blog.

Please Do Not submit alternative URL suggestions or share discrepency issues through this link.

Great job, everyone. The index is clearly the most specific, accurate, and flexible categorization of blogs on the Internet, and will only get better with your help.

Goodbye Goats... Goats, industry #997, is being removed from the game today, December 15, at 9 PM system time. All ideas held in that industry will be destroyed, so sell them prior to that time. The other Goats industry, #996, will not be altered.

Posted by Island Dave at 12:50 AM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (8)

We've heard this question from many players over the past few weeks, and we would like to set the record straight on this confusing industry and its sub-categories.

Meta information can be considered that which spacially, physically, or linguistically characterizes the blog and/or the blogger...

...ok, that didn't help much. Meta information for BlogShares specifically includes the language the blog is written in, as well as the physical location of the blogger.

You'll notice that there is now a sub-category of the Places industry named Continents/Regions, and under that is Africa. But, you may ask, isn't there an industry named "Africa" in Meta>Countries>Africa? There was previously, but now, that industry is called "Africa-Meta".

The Africa industry should only be used for blogs about Africa. Any blogs or bloggers located in Africa belong in Africa-Meta. Yes, many blogs will belong in both.

For right now, this is the only duality for the Places and Meta industries, but more will be added over time. Please, only vote blogs into Meta categories if they are actually based or blogged from that location, and only vote for the Places sub-industries when a blog's content deals with that location.

For example, a blog based out of Cairo with content about Cairo would belong in both Africa and Africa-Meta. A blog based in Japan about Africa would go into the (future) Japan-Meta and the new Africa industry, located under Places.

We realize this is confusing, but please bear with us as the index is transformed into a truly dynamic and representative database for the blogosphere. Feel free to bring any and all questions to the Index board in the forum.

Also, no blogs should be voted into the Meta industry. It is meant to be a placeholder, not a categorization.

Template Contest: Don't forget to get your style sheets in by December 20th. More info here.

Posted by Island Dave at 08:30 PM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (1)

Raymond won this week's raffle, the BlogShares Box, and on the same day reset his account for the challenge of it, becoming our first Hall of Fame inductee.

New raffle: A poster from 123posters.

QuackTrack is coming along nicely, with more navigation features and fewer bugs. Help expand the world's largest blog tree by voting your favorite blogs into the right categories.

Posted by jay at 04:03 PM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (8)

The latest raffle prize is the official BlogShares Box 2004. Click the pic for more details. Raffle closes Friday, Dec 10 so buy your tickets now (with chips.)

QuackTrack Beta Launched!

We are pleased to announce the public beta of QuackTrack, the world's largest categorized blog index. It uses the same back-end database as BlogShares, but is a much quicker, friendlier interface for browsing. We hope it can help you find dozens more interesting blogs for your bookmark list. Like BlogShares, new features will show up weekly. Let us know what you think!

Posted by jay at 10:25 AM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (12)

The BlogShares Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) was put into place to protect users from malicious players, as well as protect the system from abuse. One of our most important tools is the Official BSEC Blog as it allows the team to communicate changes and additions to those rules in a timely manner to you, the player.

This blog will be updated to provide information on new and evolving rules, as well as for cases and pronouncements. Remember, the BlogShares Code of Conduct is one of the most important areas on BlogShares. Read it, learn it, live it.

Posted by Raymond at 09:15 PM | FrontPage | Permalink | Comments (4)