More than a week ago, Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger posted on their weblog the actions taken by the organization concerning the unacceptable oversight. Apparently, Adnan Hajj has been working with Reuters for more than 10 years on a freelance basis though relationship with the photographer was immediately cut after the alterations were discovered.

Photo operations supervision was transferred to Stephen Crisp, one its most senior editors, after the previous Middle-East editor was shown the door. They also convened their senior photographers to strengthen their guidelines and produce a code of conduct for photographers. By revising their picture editing process, the staff is now made to focus on quality guidelines while ensuring that controversial photographs are directly handled by senior editors.

Expectedly, listed in their guidelines concerning Photoshop and digital manipulation is that no part of an image should ever be deleted or added. Excessive darkening, lightening, and blurring are also not allowed, along with extreme color manipulation. This rules out the use of the Cloning, Healing or Brush Tools, along with Saturation and Auto Levels. Generally, only minimal changes are allowed, especially while in the field. Post-production work is recommended to be left to the discretion of the regional and global desks under editorial supervision.

Coming out with a reasonable set of digital editing guidelines, Reuters has shown its commitment to the responsible use of digital imaging. However, this does not solve the ethical issues in traditional photography, especially those concerning staged scenes and events. But by standardizing what is acceptable post-processing and what is not, they have at least given the industry a template from which other news organizations may evaluate truth and authenticity in a digitally-editable world.

The post Reuters Issues Guidelines on Photoshop Use appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The short update cycle cites only a small number of files revised for this version:

Because this is a much smaller update than previous versions, you do not have to update all of WordPress’ files if you’re upgrading from version 2.0.6. Here is the list of files that have changed since 2.0.6:

* wp-admin/inline-uploading.php
* wp-admin/post.php
* wp-includes/classes.php
* wp-includes/functions.php
* wp-settings.php
* wp-includes/version.php

The said zend_hash_del_key_or_index bug that exists in versions earlier than PHP 4.4.3 or PHP 5.1.4 has been addressed in WP 2.0.7, along with the incorrect headers problem that was causing issues with feeds using Feedburner’s service. In addition, a few usability/application behavior changes were made, making this a worthwhile upgrade.

As mentioned, the next major version, WordPress 2.1, will be available by the end of the month though support for the 2.0 series is guaranteed for a few more years.

I’m sure a significant part of the WordPress community is not happy with the timing of this release as most of us has just finished upgrading to 2.0.6. On the other hand, this shows the commitment of the development team to produce a secure product, addressing problems as soon as they could. With a faster release cycle, everyone benefits from the security fixes and feature innovations introduced with each release. Exactly the reason why most of us love open source software.

The post WordPress 2.0.7 Released appeared first on The Blog Herald.

But is there space for another WordPress alternative?

Habari promises to push development forward by using cutting–edge technology, as described by Chris:

We decided to eschew legacy concerns and blaze forward with more cutting edge technology (read: PHP 5, entirely object oriented, full ATOM Publishing Protocol support and dead easy AJAX integration just for starters.)

The project’s Google Code site also mentions the adoption of new technology to allow for extensibility and customizations:

Habari relies on PHP5 with PHP Data Objects (PDO), and your choice of SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite). Habari is strongly object oriented, and implements the full suite of the Atom Publishing Protocol. User-created plugins make Habari do nearly anything imaginable, and a robust theme system permits the use of several popular templating solutions.

From a technical standpoint, Habari will likely have the luxury of not inheriting an older codebase, like how WordPress began from the remnants of b2. The application may have to be coded from the ground up, which may take a bit of time before they can make a public release. But at the same time, this also allows them to design the application without the constraints of a previous system.

Interest in the project has been positive, with people involved in the Shuttle project for WordPress now part of the Habari team. Khaled Abou Alfa has written on his previous ideas for Shuttle and how Habari will allow for those ideas to flourish.

Another big name now associated with the Habari project is Michael Heilemann, who has announced that he is now a Habari developer. His name is closely attached to WordPress as he is the author of Kubrick, WordPress’s default theme, as well as K2, another popular theme that paved the way for theme development in WordPress. Like Khaled, Michael will likely be involved in interface design as both are excellent designers with an eye for usability.

Judging from the interest around this new open source group, it should grow to be a good application. However, will common users notice anything else other than WordPress?

WordPress has proven to be sufficient for the needs of many bloggers, including popular high–traffic weblogs. It is also used by the top blog networks. Habari on the other hand will probably focus on the user experience, which should be its strength in the future.

There is no telling if Habari and WordPress will clash in the commercial space of blogging, since Habari appears to eschew the commercial nature of open source, or at least it looks that way for now, just like how WordPress was before there was Automattic. But in the field of user adoption, the better product will surely get the attention of common bloggers. In the end, competing products can only be better for users as it drives innovation and evolution. The weblog publishing scene will certainly be very alive this year.

The post Announcing Habari: The New WordPress? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Along with the aforementioned fixes, changes were made specific to the comments system, now filtering for input that may ruin layouts and markup. Also listed in the summary of changes is the compatibility for PHP/FastCGI setups and the now functional HTML quicktags for Safari browsers.

But as of writing, the 2.0.6 update is not without problems. Mark Jaquith was quick to point out the possible problem with Feedburner feeds. Apparently, fixes made to the 2.0.5 code has triggered another problem that may affect a different set of users. He offers a solution, and cites related entries from The NeoSmart Files and K-Squared Ramblings, both with more details on the problem and more importantly, how to fix them, now. With the almost–instant response to this last–minute problem, Lorelle was quick to point out how well the community of WordPress developers are addressing reported problems and vulnerabilities.

If you’re upgrading this soon, be sure to backup your database (and files) beforehand and note whatever hacks to the core code you may have made before. I typically defer upgrading for a few more days to check for early–adopter problems like this. If you’d rather upgrade now, watch out for reports on new issues, be it security or performance–related. Again: backup, backup!

The post Recommended Update: WordPress 2.0.6 appeared first on The Blog Herald.

But what really brings bloggers to quarrel?

First of all, blogs are typically published from one person’s point of view. As expected, dozens of authors discussing similar topics will likely lead to differing opinions and insights. This is a normal scenario, though sometimes, overly critical statements are made which are then taken in the worst way by the opposing party. And then on some not–so–rare instances, intelligent arguments degenerate to childish tricks that get the rest of the blogosphere all interested, giving the warring parties more publicity than they’re expecting. That’s if we don’t assume that part of the reason they’re fighting is the media mileage they’ll instantly get — good for traffic and buzz.

Most of the highly publicized blogfights though are typically among the heads of large blogs and online services. Before Rose–Calacanis, there was Calacanis vs. Denton, armed with name–calling and other dirty tricks. With the two men heading their own blog networks, they had everything to fight for, especially for the coveted top spot among all blog groups. For cases like this, prestige as well commercial interest obviously plays a big part in adding fuel to the fire.

Small personal blogs, not just big niche networked ones, also have their own share of little online battles. Typical points of arguments start with differing opinions on certain topics and explode into other more personal details. Personally, I’ve had my fair share of blog fights, most of which were involved with content or design theft. But as everyone grows up within the blogosphere, the better bloggers learn to deal with their “inspired” audience and just lean towards tolerance and guidance.

But why are we more susceptible to online confrontations than in the real world? Perhaps a big reason is the absence of physical interaction and danger. The web is an equalizer in many ways; a young blogger can express his opinions even against established personalities. And if you have something really worthwhile to say, there is a chance you’d be taken seriously and provoke a healthy discussion, but if you’re unlucky you’ll probably get slammed for your thoughts and poked fun at. Not only because they can, but also because there isn’t much you can do about it.

Blogging for several years now, I’ve learned that the most effective way to avoid unhealthy blogfights is by simply ignoring attacks or flamebaits. Some write for the sake of soliciting exaggerated reactions to get their split–second share of the spotlight. On the other hand, good blogfights can be made by fueling intelligent discussions, even among parties with opposing arguments. Blogfights can be good, some of the world’s biggest problems are better solved by throwing bright minds into the mix and get them to bash their own ideas until the best ones stand out.

The post Blogs, Bloggers, and Blogfights appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Do you think digg shouldn’t be in google’s results?

Allen Stern (CenterNetwork) argues that digg links should not rank higher than the original link, or the original story should occupy the digg page’s story in the SERP.

My belief is that this is not enough to warrant a listing in Google. Since at its most basic sense digg only offers a link to the actual story, then that story should occupy that position within Google, not the digg link.

On the other hand, another reply was cited by the Search Engine Journal article, suggesting the contrary that digg pages in the google search results makes it easier to find good content while not making it any harder to get to the linked story:

Digg.com is acting as a gateway to the great content which would (usually) have been lost in Google’€s monolithic index, never to be found or stumbled upon by searchers. Additionally, as a counter to his ‘€œthe person has to click twice and even understand that they must do that’€ statement, the Digg.com interface is very easy to use, it’€s almost an exact clone of a Google result (a big blue link/title with description underneath) so the user will already be familiar with it, as a result the user would not be confused by it and will find their way to the content they were looking for; that’€s if the content still appeals to them after reading the accompanying description.

Taking into account that both sides do have their own point, I’d go back to the main purpose of digg.com’s system, which is to provide users a way to find noteworthy stories and sites. On it’s own, digg does not produce its own content, it merely rides on what they find — materials that were authored by publishers who do not necessarily have anything to do with digg or any social bookmarking service.

A short description and several dozen comments does not make a digg page unique on its own, and should be given less weight in SEO terms. If digg pages are in the SERPs, they should never position higher than the actual link it leads to. It’s not a matter of PageRank or any other algorithm, the mere fact that digg pages are not strictly unique content pages should put them lower in the search engine results.

Generally, this goes for all social bookmarking services as well as other similar sites. If a site doesn’t necessarily produce the content, or is not the first hand source on a story, it should not rank better than the oldest most relevant resource. But would search engines agree?

The post Is Digg A Valid Search Engine Result? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Are our passwords ever safe?

Security expert Bruce Schneier was able to access a collection of 34,000 username and password pairs from the 100,000 believed to be compromised by the said attack. From that data, he analyzed for prevailing trends and discovered some surprising findings:

Password Length: While 65 percent of passwords contain eight characters or less, 17 percent are made up of six characters or less. The average password is eight characters long.
…
Character Mix: While 81 percent of passwords are alphanumeric, 28 percent are just lowercase letters plus a single final digit — and two-thirds of those have the single digit 1.
…
Common Passwords: The top 20 passwords are (in order): password1, abc123, myspace1, password, blink182, qwerty1, fuckyou, 123abc, baseball1, football1, 123456, soccer, monkey1, liverpool1, princess1, jordan23, slipknot1, superman1, iloveyou1 and monkey.
…
We used to quip that “password” is the most common password. Now it’s “password1.” Who said users haven’t learned anything about security?

His study shows that in terms of password length, most users have now learned to use relatively long passwords: an average password length of eight characters is much better than “asd123” of some years ago. Disappointing though is the choice of using just one numeric digit at the end, and sadly, the number 1 at the end of a password is just too common, as we can see from the list of the top 20 passwords.

For our users, what are your preferred ways of generating passwords and keeping track of them? In my case, I admit I also have my share of password no-no’s that may compromise my various accounts if subjected to attacks. From the top of my head, here’s a short list of reminders that might be helpful in generating and protecting your passwords:

• Avoid names and significant dates. These things can be too obvious. Dates are easy to track. In fact, avoid dictionary words and dates altogether.
• Don’t write passwords in paper. Though some would argue that this may actually help forgetful users, more often than not they are the same users who forget or just leave their post-it notes filled with passwords anywhere. Like beside the computer screen.
• Don’t share your password. Multi-user environments are there to support many users, why insist on using just one account? Login yourself and let others use your account for what they need, under your check. Whenever possible, never give them your password.
• Don’t use the same password for several accounts. Minimize damage. If someone steals your password, be it through an exploit or physical means, they cannot wreak havoc on your life just as much if you had one common password.

This Microsoft.com article can be very helpful in producing strong passwords to keep your accounts secure. Do you have other tips for password generation and safety? Do share.

The post Is Your Password Secure? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

But what has always been common in almost all weblogs?

Sharing. Blogging and the world wide web in general has always been about sharing — the collaborative use of information for everybody’s gain. Almost every weblog has something to share, though the usefulness of that something is almost always questioned. Personal journals are for sharing of experiences, while weblogs on photography or web design are made to fulfill specific needs in their field of interest.

However, today’s bloggers are riddled with the problem of having too much information. There’s an over–abundance of news read and passed around that I find it hard to determine what I should simply consume and what I should blog about. Add to that the fact that almost every breaking news story on every topic is reported and discussed in other weblogs and communities.

Despite all information coverage, we should be careful not to be too active nor passive — blog and share what you think adds value for your readers. Not any more, not any less. The bits of information you know are just as good as how you use it, and just as good as how it affects others positively. Blog too less and your readers will find other more reliable sources, but blogging too much and you also end up suffocating them with information overload.

A helpful tip on finding fresh and useful information to share is by utilizing a wide range of potential sources. By adding variety, you don’t run the risk of publishing similar set of discussions as other weblogs serving the same niche. More importantly, don’t hesitate to question the relevance of what you write. Think that your readers know a bit of everything, and instead try to further their knowledge on the topic at hand.

How about you, how do you find new topics to blog about?

The post Blog To Share appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The unfortunate result of the accelerated growth has been the creation of MFA (Made For AdSense) sites that serve no valuable information but focus only in generating revenue. Similarly, the professional blogging community came into prominence with its wealth of experience and knowledge on how to optimize blogs for higher click–through rates and traffic, which leads to better revenues.

Unfortunately however, what used to be marginally acceptable ideas are now discouraged. The AdSense team has just clarified the issue regarding a common optimization technique: the use of images placed conveniently near ad blocks to draw the attention of readers.

Can I place small images next to my Google ads?

We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting to find something that isn’t actually being offered. That’s not a good experience for users or advertisers.

Publishers should also be careful to avoid similar implementations that people could find misleading. For instance, if your site contains a directory of Flash games, you should not format the ads to mimic the game descriptions.

An example of offending ad styles (graphic taken from the same article cited above):

This unexpected clarification has suddenly placed countless number of sites under doubt for their AdSense implementations. Additionally, it comes at a time when most people are busy with other real–life details, unable to react and make immediate changes. Publishers revenues will surely be affected after reverting layouts and ad blocks to not contain misleading images.

Considering that this information is posted directly in their Inside AdSense blog, could Google perhaps be significantly affected by violating publishers? Will this result in better revenues in the future?

The post AdSense discourages images near ads appeared first on The Blog Herald.

I’€m sure that your ‘€œnumber one flaw’€ or lacking feature in WordPress might be different from mine, but this is one that really bothers me. I think the solution is simple. So the question is: Why hasn’€t something been done to fix this flaw?

The flaw? Comments.

Comments are critical to blogs. They are the number one distinguishing feature that separates them from websites, those static billboards on the web. It is through this interaction that blogs continue the conversation started by the author. Feedback, input, advice, answers to questions, questions needing answers, all enrich the dialog that makes blogs blogs.

The first blog publishing apps used to have no provision for comments and discussions until the likes of Greymatter, MovableType and much later, WordPress, came along. Weblogs have always been synonymous with personalized conversations and comments have been integral in the growth of several of the influential weblogs today.

With WordPress’s logarithmic growth, being the popular choice puts it in the limelight highlighting not only its strength but also its weaknesses. Several months ago, comment spam was a time–wasting concern for most bloggers until Akismet was made available, somehow easing the comment moderation burden.

For high–traffic, large–discussion blogs however, the current WordPress version seems inadequate for handling discussions. It is quite hard to get a grip on the actual number of comments recently posted and you only have a paginated interface for going through comments chronologically. Unless of course you go through each entry and check for recent replies to the specific discussions.

A very helpful addition for comment handling would be an overview page similar to the standard dashboard but with more important information on discussions and activities. We have plugins that list down recently commented entries, why not make it available on the administration side too? A listing of unread comments similar to an email inbox could also be a welcome addition and complement the default email alerts for comments.

What other comment handling features do you think would help make WordPress better?

The post Improving the WordPress comment system appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Before I start blogging regularly here, allow me to use this entry to introduce myself. I’m Markku Seguerra, another Filipino blogger just like Abe Olandres and J. Angelo Racoma. You probably haven’t heard of me, but you may have come across my personal weblog called “rebelpixel productions” over at rebelpixel.com. I’ve been writing about web design and photography for more than four years now and have coded several WordPress plugins and related applications. Reading my weblog will surely be a better way of describing me and the things I do.

Surprise, surprise

When I heard the news that Abe (Yuga to us Filipino bloggers) will now be running the Blog Herald, I was excited at the development; seeing a fellow pinoy blogger and friend making waves internationally. Little did I know that he was looking for a third blogger from the Philippines to join him and J. Angelo. He sent me an SMS last weekend asking if I’d be interested; now I’d be a fool to pass on the opportunity to write for a resource I’ve long admired and followed, right?

Looking forward

In the coming weeks, I hope to share what I know on the technical and social aspects of blogging. I will throw in some details of web design, accessibility, and the content management side of this practice as well. More importantly, we will continue to bring you fresh news and information, in line with what the Blog Herald has always been known for.

The post New Writer Introduction: Markku Seguerra appeared first on The Blog Herald.