Hello. I am Paul Kinlan.

I'm aware my writing isn't great - my vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar could all use improvement. Even though I'm using Word to help, I know I need to do more. I'm considering getting "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" to brush up on my grammar. I want this blog to remain personal, but I also want it to be more readable. So, my goals are to learn about commas, semicolons, sentence structure, and paragraph structure.

This blog post, the sixth in my "Successes and Failures of my First AJAX Application" series, discusses how my blogging style is evolving. I'm focusing on improving my grammar, the topics I cover, post length, and what I include in my blogs. This self-reflection aims to improve how I communicate with my readers. More details on each area are available via the provided links.

This blog post discusses the ideal length of blog entries. It argues that both too short and too long posts can be detrimental to a blog's success. Short posts can appear superficial, while overly long ones can bore readers. The author aims for a balance, using shorter entries for critiques and longer, focused articles for more in-depth topics. This particular post, part of a series on the author's first AJAX application, exemplifies this approach by being broken down into smaller, manageable segments.

I've been reflecting on the direction of my blog, "C#, .Net Framework." I feel the name is too limiting, given my recent posts on topics like IE7, AJAX, Firefox, and XMLHttpRequest. I plan to broaden the scope while keeping the content technical. I also want to increase reader interaction, possibly by crowdsourcing a new name for the blog.

This blog post discusses the importance of balancing valuable content with helpful features. I currently offer content and features like Technorati tags, and plan to bring back related searches. The AJAX application I built helps create this value-added data, which I believe is key for reader engagement. I'm considering adding more data like citations and related searches, but I'm cautious about information overload. Maintaining these value-added sections is challenging (except for the now-easy Technorati tags). I'd love to hear your suggestions for other valuable data to include!

In this part of my series on my first AJAX application, the Technorati Tag Generator, I discuss its success in streamlining my blogging process. The generator significantly reduces the time I spend creating Technorati tags, saving me roughly 50 minutes per post. While I'm thrilled with this improvement, the current version lacks the Feedster and MSN search boxes present in my initial design. I plan to reintroduce these features in the next version, along with related search previews, to enhance the value and usability of my application. User feedback has highlighted the importance of these features, and their inclusion is crucial to achieving my goals for the project.

This post, part 8 of a series about my first AJAX application, discusses my return to Perl programming after a year of focusing on C# and .Net. I needed to solve cross-domain scripting issues when calling a web service directly from the webpage. My solution involved proxying the request through a Perl script on my server, which also hid my developer tokens. I found Perl's libraries easy to use and effective for this task. Future plans include more Perl scripting to aggregate data from different blogs and web services, leveraging the proxy to combine multiple calls and enhance functionality. I also learned a valuable lesson about using "content()" methods for POST operations instead of the query string.

Making money blogging seems to require blogging about making money blogging! Darren Rowse of problogger.net reportedly earns a six-figure monthly salary from blogging. He offers advice on site design and content. While inspiring, I'll likely stick to my day job.

In my last post about Perl, I forgot to mention my upcoming need for XML processing. Before I start looking at XML parsers, I'd appreciate recommendations for a lightweight Perl XML parser. My requirements include: lightweight, XPath support (potentially), SAX-like reader functionality, DOM support, and the ability to create XML documents (preferably via DOM or similar methods). Email me your suggestions!

I'm excited about Technorati's new REST API for blog post tags! It lets developers display all the tags used on a site, which is super helpful. I've even created a simple tool using the API to show all the tags I've used on my site: http://www.kinlan.co.uk/cgi-bin/SiteInfo.pl. The API is easy to use and provides useful stats. I'm already thinking about how to incorporate it into my next project. Great work, Technorati!