This is a guest post by TJ Aaron from LaptopLogic.com.  LaptopLogic provides laptop reviews and news on a regular basis. They cover everything for the laptop enthusiast, including accessory reviews and other useful information. Check out their Latest Review section to see what’s cooking in the world of laptops.

Bloggers are like any other PC user and have their own specific computing needs. We’ve compiled a list of the best notebook computers for bloggers, but you will notice that these machines are all very different from each other and offer different benefits for different bloggers.

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><img src="" /><td></tr><tr><td><td></tr></table>Sony VAIO P

What could be better than an ultraportable machine that was designed around the smallest, functional keyboard? With over four hours of battery life, under 2 pound weight, and a high resolution 1600×768 resolution screen, the VAIO P has some great specs on paper. But in the end this machine will have a very divided following: some will hate it, while others will love it. It is also rather expensive for what is a glorified netbook, starting at $899 but surging to $1200 or more with a reasonable configuration.

HP EliteBook 2730p tablet

While it’s no surprise that HP made this list, but what may surprise you is that it is a convertible notebook with a tablet screen. You can fold this diminutive 12 inch convertible in half and use the tablet functionality to write by hand with the stylus. Another great use of the tablet is reading. Yes, reading; bloggers tend to do a lot of that. With the tablet in slate mode you can view a ton of text and easily scroll with one hand.

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><img src="" /><td></tr><tr><td><td></tr></table>Asus Eee PC 1000HE

You knew you would see a netbook on this list, and here it is. Many netbooks are difficult to distinguish thanks to the ubiquitous Intel Atom platform and meager specs. However the new 1000HE model from Asus has the latest Atom processor and accompanying chipset, but more importantly a high capacity battery! Asus calls for up to 9.5 hours and with a pre-order price of $399, this is the netbook to get if you can stand the small keyboard and pokey performance.

Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Cool, quiet, tiny, powerful, and a perfect keyboard make this machine a top pick for any user, but it is especially great for someone who needs to be typing anywhere, anytime. Users are reporting over four hours of usage on the 6 cell battery or you can nearly double that on the 9-cell, which does stick out the back. The keyboard is a true full-size design with the impeccable ThinkPad quality we all know and love. Did we mention it’s super light, doesn’t get warm in your lap, and has your choice of blazing Core 2 Duo processors? The price is pretty reasonable too.

HP Pavilion dv2

HP’s latest notebook has a lot to offer with its 12.1 inch screen, 1 inch thick design, and 3.8 pound weight with an LED-backlit display, nearly full-size keyboard, discrete graphics, and plenty of other goodies. The optical drive isn’t integrated, as with the Lenovo X200, but a matching external drive is available with regular DVDRW or Blu-ray capabilities. AMD’s new Athlon Neo chip is at play here, with a respectable ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip under the hood. While it is small and slick, the $699 starting price tag is even more attractive.

Five Great Notebooks for Blogging from Jason Boom

Google released their free Chrome browser today. This open source browser promises to be fast and quick with javascript applications, securing computers by sandboxing the websites they browse inside the tabs, and more than adequate with dynamic sites. I checked to see if G Chrome was downloadable when I first got online today, but found it hadn’t been released just yet. By mid afternoon, I was visiting www.google.com/chrome to see how it worked.

I was pleasantly surprised by the simple interface. Google created the browser from scratch, knowing that users like to watch videos, play flash games, and browse quickly from site to site. They also know most Web 2.0 sites have dynamic code to make them work. When I browsed to sites like Digg or Youtube, I was amazed at how fast they loaded. Others are comparing it to Opera.

Everyone should at least download the browser to see how your site looks in it — make sure it renders properly. There are also some neat features to mess around with, like the address bar suggestions/search and the incognito window.

The Incognito Window

I love the description of the Incognito window. They say to be wary of the following: 

Going incognito doesn’t affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:

• Websites that collect or share information about you
• Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
• Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
• Surveillance by secret agents
• People standing behind you

Yes, be wary of the people standing behind you, secret agents, and other tin-foil hat wearing paranoids. Google’s got your back on this one. 

The Skinny

My sythesized thoughts on the new browser. Tell me your thoughts in the comment section. 

• The browser has no obvious IE 6 type of errors for my site. 
• I can access many sites faster now, especially dynamic sites. 
• I’m also scared of Google owning all the web. 
• It will likely work well for dropping EC, except the EC toolbar won’t work with it. Well, no plugins work with it now. 
• The “Most Visited” default tab rocks! It lets you quickly search, click on recent sites, and view recent bookmarks. Definitely a smart default screen. No reason why the IE one couldn’t do something similar. 
• I like the search on both the history and favorites. It’s nice, not sure how much I’ll use it, but handy. 
• I’m excited to see how they integrate other Google products with the browser, like Google Reader and Gmail. Any plugins related to those apps would be great. 

The Google Browser Chrome Released Today from Jason Boom

Do you know how to build back links to the blog, e-commerce store, or site you’ve started? Link building may be one of the most sought skills for any site owner. After all, links help your site become found by search engines, build traffic, and increase your site’s readership. At LinkBuildingWiki.com you will find a vast resource focused on the art of link building. The wiki makes it easy to find resources related to link building.

What is the Link Building Wiki?

The LinkBuildingWiki.com compiles links to authoritative articles, blog posts, forum posts, and their sites for users to find information quickly.  The  site is completely free to use. If you’re new to link building or SEO, then this wiki should be your first stop on the journey.

Unlike other wikis, the Link Building Wiki is not open for everyone to edit. Those who would like to participate in building content can apply for the privilege. I understand why they have it closed. Imagine the amount of spam a link building wiki would receive — now you understand too.

The site lists link building resources including SEO blogs, forums and active posts in those forums, link building articles, and link building tools. The resources are first rate and should help anyone become acquainted with tips, tricks, and lessons related to link building.

Throughout the site, you may notice recommendations for certain material from two of the creators, Rob and Jarrod. They make it easy for you to spot their favorite material. The recommendations guide you towards quality information on link building.

The Hands off Approach

For those who simply want someone with the know-how to build links to your site, you can hire the experts behind the Link Building Wiki. From their link building services page offers everyone the information needed to hire their staff for link building work.

Conclusion

The wiki introduced me to quite a few sites on link building and SEO I hadn’t heard of before this review. If you’re looking to build back links to your site, increase your search engine rankings, or just gain SEO knowledge, then the Link Building Wiki should be part of your arsenal.

A Review of the Link Building Wiki from Jason Boom

This weekly wrap-up post asks one crucial question for all you micro-bloggers — Is there a wrong way to use Twitter, Plurk, Pownce, and all the others? Can you actually alienate yourself from the masses? I have no hard and fast evidence. I know on Twitter there’s a collective of individuals I’m following who “would appreciate you going easy on the spam”. But there are others who quite frequently post links to their own blogs with the intro “Some spam:”.

Micro-blogging works great to network, find answers, build an online brand, and to keep in touch with many people at once. It doesn’t seem to work well when you don’t take the time to introduce yourself to those who follow you, or at least try to interact.

I must admit, I’m often times overwhelmed by Twitter. I’m following many of the top bloggers in the industry, from Mashable to Robert Scoble. These guys are all famous in their own right and quite successful. At times, I feel like what I have to contribute would be inane, so I shut up. Other times I try too hard.  I am who I am though, and my followers understand that. It’s not like they want to me to have all the answers, to be constantly funny, or anything. Most of them don’t even know me. Why not just be myself?

So the wrong way to use Twitter and other Micro-blogging services seems to be when we try to hard and overwhelm our followers. If I just be myself and try to interact with individuals, then 99% of the time I’ll experience a positive result. If I stay in the shadows and let the tweets fly by, then I’m only going to be a small pixelated square on someone’s friends list.

How Not To Start Micro-blogging

There is one other way to start out wrong. It’s poor form to simply start following a thousand people. I’ve seen at least two Twitter users add me this weekend who have less than ten followers, but they’re following over 500 people. That’s crazy! Stop it!

Twitter does have a follow limit of 2,000. Can you imagine 2,000 people in a room? I wouldn’t want to be holding a mic telling those 2,000 people about a great offer on dog food. Stay away from spam. Be yourself.

Other’s Explosions

This week I’ve read a lot of great articles on the web. It’s hard to keep track of everything, but I did want to push some link love to a few of my favorites.

Jamie at Blog2Life.net introduced a stat tracking service called Crazy Egg. The stats track clicks on your site and can show you how traffic responds to certain areas of your blog. I’m going to give the service a try to see where you’re all clicking. I’m watching!

It’s Write Now discussed how to create your own WordPress template, which can be highly valuable to many bloggers out there. A good series with clear instructions.

Write to Done wrote a post entitled Why You Must Blow Your Trumpet. A great article on how we need to take credit and push our own limits of ourselves.

That’s all for this week. I’ll be writing new Micro-blogging Olympics over the next few days. Stay tuned as I go for gold!

Weekly Implosion: Is there a Wrong Way to Use Micro-blogging Sites? from Jason Boom

I’m running the Micro-blogging Olympics, which is really just an experiment with three separate micro-blogging services. The Twitter service has the largest user base out of all three. I’ve been active in the Twitter community longer. You can update Twitter from your mobile phone, from their website, and from third party software applications. I’ve compiled a few applications that can help you stay connected to your followers and those you’re following.

Services

1. TwitterFeed – Ever wonder how bloggers always link to their site through Twitter? It’s probably an automated service like TwitterFeed pushing their content to your doorstep.
   
2. Ping.fm – Update Twitter along with many, many other social networking sites all from the same website. It includes Pownce and Plurk, so I’m signing up now. Update: beta code needed…argh.

Desktop Twitter Applications

1. Yakkle – Kind of like a cackle, but a yakkle. You getit, right? Download, integrate with Twitter and other IMs, roar on the scene.
2. Twhirl – Recently purchased by Seesmic, an Adobe Air app that allows you to update Twitter, Pownce, and Jaiku. Hooray for multi-use software!
3. Twitterific – Own a mac? Get this lightweight desktop app for your Twittering needs.
4. gTwitter – Running Linux? Try this Twitter client.

Plugins for Firefox

1. TwitterFox – A plugin for Firefox which makes interacting on Twitter so much easier, if you’re on your browser all day long. You can customize how often it checks for updates, makes replying much easier, and doesn’t use up any screen space when not in use.
2. TwitterBar- No they don’t stock martinis in this TwitterBar, but you can add it to FF 2 or 3 for easy twitting action.

Boost your Micro-blogging Arsenal with These Twitter Apps from Jason Boom

Micro-blogging has its perks. You can meet cool people and chat all day long. The downside — you rarely get much done except for talking and reading different blogs. Well at least that’s how Sunday went. I interacted on both Twitter and Plurk most of the day, adding in a failed EC forum postings. All in all it was a good day. Then on Monday, I went to the office and got overwhelmed with Twitter. The deluge of messages really came when Gmail went kerplunk.

Back on Plurk, things were a little smoother. Plurk does have the Karma feature afterall.

Recently, everyone reached Plurk Nirvana. I had it with less than 20 Karma. It appears you should only receive it with over 80. No big deal. It’s not like it adds a whole lot to the experience. It’s just a number, right?

It has been fixed though, so no more free Nirvana spirituals.

The Karma Number

It is just a number. But the number ties into your profile and your specific activity so it can be a good indicator of your popularity to someone you don’t know. It’s tough to add random people, because you don’t really want to add just anybody. What if they have a terrible attitude? You need some degree of separation from them. Choose a friend whose judgment you trust and check out their friends.

When you’re new to a service like Plurk, it’s good to judge by numbers. On Twitter you would look at the followers compared to the number of those they’re following. On Plurk, you might also look at this, but you would check out the Karma points too. Those with Karma points above sixty definitely participate. It’s good to be in a community of those who participate because it reinforces our desire to be there. Without those individuals responding to our plurks, we’re simply talking down a long empty hallway.

Mama Always Said Be Picky When You’re Choosing Friends

I joined Plurk from an invite. I then decided to visit that friend’s friends. Ultimately I searched for a few people I knew would be using the site, added them, and then sat back to plurk. Others have added me since. As I’ve grown to use the service more frequently, I’ve found I make genuine connections with people. I could have gone through and added person after person, but people might have denied me and that would have hurt my Karma. It makes sense to add those you know then branch out slowly from there.

I looked through the interesting plurkers earlier and found one of the top plurkers to be TechCrunch’s Arrington. He had over 92 Karma. If I had his cred, I could just let the gravity of my presence feed my karma. Unfortunately I have to work hard at it, like most everyone else.

What’s the Point of All This Again?

The point is to bring in traffic and analyse how well each service helps with that. I suppose there’s lots of intangibles too. Do you have a personality people are drawn towards? Can you stay active enough to make an impression? So far with micro-blogging the newbie seems to go after well known bloggers or industry professionals first, then heads to the lesser known folks like myself. I’m trying to just get out there, get noticed, and help you all out in the process.

1. Follow me on Twitter
2. Join me on Plurk
3. Pownce on me

Micro-blogging Olympics Day Three from Jason Boom

The Olympics have commenced. I’ve dug into my micro-blogging sites of choice and begun the games. Here’s one response to my previous post.

“I have just started with twitter but honestly I don’t believe that it will add that much readership but one has to keep trying to promote a blog if your going to go through the effort of writing it in the first place.” — Renee from Womanist Musings

I can understand the sentiment. I felt the same way myself. I began using Twitter about two months after my blog began. I mostly added friends and read tweets. The experience didn’t do a whole lot for my blog. It helped me get to know other bloggers on a more personal level, but overall had no effect on my traffic. Now the Micro-blogging Olympics are testing a few of my theories about these types of services.

1. If we’re active on them, we gain followers who will periodically read our blog.
2. We gain a network of like-minded people who help us better our blog, essentially propelling our blog towards larger readerships.
3. We keep the momentum going, as constant contact with other like-minded bloggers will keep the passion alive.

I’m Only Selling Myself

I did some basic maintenance on all three of my profiles. I added links back to my blog, uploaded photos, and on Twitter, followed those who had added me since my last pass through (about 40 more individuals). I then began digging into Plurk and Twitter. My account on Twitter has a much better chance of sending me traffic. I’ve had it for a lot longer and have close to 150 people following me. The Plurk experience was a little more fun though.

Plurk has the casualness I crave. The friends I’ve added seem to talk quite a bit more than Twitter ones. Unless, you’re following Scobleizer, Guy Kawasaki, or other power users for that matter. A lot of Twitter power users seem to use the service to convey links/information to their followers. They don’t use it necessarily for their own sites, but they do push a lot of content. I’m fairly certain this is just an off-shoot of them being highly active on social networks and on the internet in general. They probably receive crazy amounts of email everyday, giving them tips on a site here or there.

Plurk has feature after feature. When you first create an account there, you might notice the Karma score. Everyone has a Karma score. It’s the first bit of obsession. How can I up my Karma score? I uploaded a photo, which gave me a whopping 7.5 karma. BAM! How’s that for instant gratification?

You can gain karma points by being active, not getting having friend requests rejected, and having people respond to your plurks. This is the biggest thing about Plurk, so far — having people respond to your message. It creates a fun and interesting way to have a conversation. Instead of all the @s to individuals, you can have a group of people commenting and joining in on the fun. I imagine as I gain friends that will definitely go up.

Still on the Starting Blocks

Pownce has the feel of an IM on the web. I haven’t dug into the service much yet, but at first blush it seems difficult to find people. Who has Pownce? Do you use it? I did update my profile on there a bit today, but haven’t looked around much. I need to put some time into it if I really expect to give it a chance. What do yow think? Wowld yow wse pownce over the other services?

1. Follow me on Twitter
2. Join me Plurk
3. Pownce on me

Micro-blogging Olympics: Day One from Jason Boom

In honor of the Summer Olympics starting in Beijing today, I’ve decided to start my own Olympics. I thought in what areas can I improve the reach of my blog, both with brand and readers. How can I introduce myself to new readers without paying for ad space? I’ve been somewhat absent when it comes to activity on micro-blogging platforms like Twitter or Plurk. It’s hard to use more than one micro-blogging platform at the same time, unless you’re a full time blogger, which maybe will come someday, but hasn’t happened yet.

For the micro-blogging Olympics I’m going to spend a week on three different platforms, talking, adding friends, socializing, and plugging my blog. Then, to determine the winner, I’ll review my traffic details. Of course, this isn’t an exact science. I can only measure my effort with each of the platforms. Let’s go over the three different platforms I’ll be using for the games.

1. Twitter – my first foray into micro-blogging began on Twitter. I’m partial to the service due to its simplicity, but it also has cons like number of times it’s been down when I’ve wanted to post. Overall this micro-blogging platform should be the front-runner to win the micro-blogging Olympics.

2. Plurk – This newcomer to my online routine has a lot of great potential. It has a sleek interface, with a scrolling timeline, the ability to create conversations without creating a cluttered screen, and a more reliable service than Twitter.

3. Pownce - Pownce was created by the Digg founder, if I’m not mistaken. I remember joining when it first started and thinking it had a long way to go before I would be active there. I think its been long enough. I’m ready to get reacquainted with the service and see how it can benefit me and my blogging efforts.

So there you have it. The three contenders for micro-blogging gold. The games will be relatively easy and laid back, but I encourage you to do something similar. Do you have a few services you’ve been trying to figure out would work best for you? Why not pit them against one another and find out?

I’ll be posting updates on the micro-blogging Olympics as I begin to experiment. I’m going to start off with Twitter and move onto Plurk, then Pownce. I’m looking for the service that suits my personality and needs the best. Where can engage a community and build my brand as well? I’m looking forward to the challenge.

So, with that said, I guess all that’s left is to say, let the games begin!

Micro-blogging Olympics from Jason Boom

This is a guest post by Mark Schumann the owner of the Publicity Wheel website.

Traffic exchange programs have remained relatively unchanged over the years.  In general, you’re asked to place a piece of code on your site to generate a banner link to other participants’ sites.  In most cases, you’re required to show two ads for every one you get in return (or a 2:1 ratio).  Of course, many people abuse these systems by artificially inflating their own impressions, and even when it’s not abused you’re never really guaranteed much more than a trickle of traffic, especially when you run a low-traffic site yourself. 

The Publicity Wheel puts a new “spin” on this concept by boosting a single site’s traffic and exposure for several days.  It works by promoting a 125×125 pixel banner ad for the featured site across the entire network of sites within each category.  Since the ad is displayed for several days on a multitude of other sites, the chances are you’ll be receiving a considerable amount of targeted visitors.  In addition, you’re gaining valuable ongoing exposure (arguably just as important as clicks) to solidify your branding.  In effect, you’re receiving a kind of prolonged Digg-effect or Stumbleupon spike without the high bounce-rates.

Every few days, the Publicity Wheel “spins”, generating a new set of winners to be featured until the next spin.  It’s a “wheel of fortune” of sorts, but there are key differences.  You have a much better chance of winning if you’ve been actively promoting previous winners through your site, as each click your visitors make earns you “publicity points” – effectively extra tickets, or chances, to win.  You can also earn points by referring other members.  What’s more, you don’t lose your points each spin if you don’t win (winner’s points are reset to zero), so over time you’ll have a better and better chance. This gives everyone a great opportunity for a traffic and exposure boost, not just the popular sites.

Signup is a simple process.  After creating an account, you’ll be asked to supply your site URL, title and category, along with an optional description and of course a 125×125 pixel ad that will be displayed across the community of sites when featured.  A small snippet of HTML code is provided to you for inclusion onto your site to generate the 125×125 winner’s banner and earn you points each click. 

After spending a few minutes creating your profile, you’re pretty much set.  You’ll have access to a multitude of valuable information through your Dashboard, such as interesting statistics and your publicity point history.  One particularly useful statistic is your “Expected Exposure Level”, a percentage value that measures how much exposure you’re expected to receive in comparison to the amount you give to others.  For many users, this could be in the several thousand percent range.

The real value in the Publicity Wheel is that the system cannot be abused like other traffic exchange programs, and the traffic and exposure generated is highly targeted.  Why not give the wheel a spin?

Generating a Targeted Traffic Boost with the Publicity Wheel from Jason Boom

It’s taken a little time to understand, but I’ve finally started to use Twitter effectively. Well, as effectively as being myself can be. Twitter can be terribly time consuming and just a little bit overwhelming at first blush. So why do so many A list bloggers, regular old bloggers, and industry leaders use the service? Well, because it’s appealing.

The Twitter folks have created a platform where you can write 140 characters and then update your followers with your activity. Those who follow you will see your updates in their Twitter dashboard or through their standalone Twitter application. It’s micro-blogging to some, a new chatroom to others, or simply a place to promote. It really can be used for any number of things. Many bloggers have written posts about effectively marketing yourself through Twitter.

Through fear of breaking unwritten rules, in the beginning I simply sat back in the Twitterosphere to watch others’ activities. I followed a few people, began to follow some of those they talked to regularly (using the @ function), and then I started to interact.

At first, I marketed the posts on my blog, but then I realized Twitter occupies more space than simple link exchange. It’s an open dialog with multiple followers. By participating we can gain more than a small influx of readers, we can begin to network.

I’ve never been one to undervalue networking. The practice leads to business, success, and, well, traffic. Twitter differs from other networking sites I’ve joined. For instance, Entrecard has forums and a message system where I can interact with users. I’m not one for forums because I have to keep track of the different threads and I’m usually too busy to check back often enough to see who’s responded. Twitter allows me to catch up in one place, and use multiple tools to keep updated.

Everytime I log into Twitter I can see who’s messaged me directly – who’s writing about what – and I can choose to update everyone on my current thoughts or simply browse the messages of users I’m following. It’s made the act of networking so much more simple than following multiple threads in a forum or accumulating friends in a social network. It’s started a conversation.

I follow quite a few outspoken individuals. I enjoy reading their rants and their debates on branding, blog etiquette, and media networks. It’s also been a place where I can talk about other issues I enjoy, like politics, gaming, movies, and everyday stuff. But I’m still a newbie with the service.  

What do you think of Twitter? Do you think its valuable a valuable tool for developing your brand? Do you use it for fun? Or have you not succumbed to the Twitter bug…yet?

My Twitter Account

Twitter Me This from Jason Boom