Pragma Systems is the market leader in providing software for remote access and Secure Shell (SSH) software for Microsoft Windows platforms. They describe their FortressSSH software as a “fundamentally more secure way to retrieve remote management, file transfer and applications delivery across your network infrastructure.” But what does that mean, exactly?

The company my husband works for has salespeople, warehouses, and offices all over the world. They manage data using laptops, desktops, and handhelds. All of that information has to flow back and forth, files have to be transferred, and it has to be secure. When you or I download a plugin, for example, we use FTP or File Transfer Protocol to transfer files from another computer to our own. The information isn’t encrypted, which means that the files could be hacked and give someone access to our usernames and passwords-yikes.

What Pragma Systems offers is SCP, or Secure Copy Protocol for file transfer. It’s a fundamentally more secure way to allow someone like my husband to use remote access to get into a salesperson’s computer and fix a problem, and for the warehouse to upload the file with their performance data to the main office without exposing the information to hackers. Pragma Systems was founded in 1990, before most of us were even using the Internet, as a way to provide Fortune 500 companies with secure networking. Their products can be considered an excellent corporate solution to keeping networking secure.

I really hope that makes sense. My purpose with this blog is to make blogging and using the Internet seem less scary to “regular” people like myself. I’m not looking to write an industry-standard tutorial on SSH or SCP, but rather to de-mystify something that might seem hard to understand but really isn’t if it’s explained in a non-technical way. And, of course, to create some buzz for Pragma Systems

I had a feeling Jimmy Kimmel was going to do something to get back at girlfriend Sarah Silverman for her “I’m F***ing Matt Damon” video, but what he came up with far surpassed my expectations. He assembled an all-star cast including Brad Pitt, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Pete Wentz, and Huey Lewis and came up with this brilliant video, titled “I’m F***ing Ben Affleck”. Let’s see Sarah top THIS.

I kept thinking it was the name of a band, but that’s Strawberry Alarm Clock, which just goes to show how freaking old I really am. Anyway, check out this alarm clock from Vat 19 (”Curiously awesome gifts”!) that shoots a propeller into the air when the alarm goes off, and it doesn’t turn off until the propeller is returned to the base.

I don’t know, that alarm sound is pretty annoying. If I lived in an apartment building and my neighbor woke up to that sound every morning? Grrrrr.

So what do you think? Would an alarm clock that flies wake up your stubborn child or husband or you? Or would you slam the propeller down on the base and go back to sleep?

So apparently, it’s not enough to just create a new account on MyBlogLog, you have to actually, you know, verify that you own the site. DUH. You’d think I’d know that since this blog is my fourth one.

Therefore, I need to post this lovely piece of code:
Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Once I’ve done that, I’m going to start testing out the new MBL widget, have you seen it? For each person listed as a Recent Reader, hovering over their name makes a box “pop out” with a list of all of the blogs that person has listed on MBL, plus a link to add them as a contact. Way cool!

And thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting on my 10 Blogging Tips posts, I’m so glad you like it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

These 10 tips will give you some ideas for improving your content and keeping your readers interested:

1. Pick a focus or a niche.

There are something like 77 million blogs. In order to attract readers who are interested in your content, it helps to write about what you know, whether that be sports or politics or parenting. Niche blogs are a fast-growing concept, and blogs about knitting, cooking, gardening, and crafts are attracting more attention.

2. Decide if your content will be family-friendly or mature, and then stick to it.

You have to write in your own “voice”, and your content should match it’s subject. If your blog is a way for your Grandma to keep up with what your kids are doing, then you probably shouldn’t use too many swear words or have ads with scantily-clad women in them.

3. Don’t feel obligated to post every day unless you really want too.

Depending on the focus of your blog, you might not have a reason to post every day. And there is nothing more boring than a post that starts with “Well, there’s not much to say today.” Then, don’t say it! Wait until you have enough material for a complete post.

4. Treat your blog posts like a piece of real writing.

This is a mistake that so many bloggers make. It’s okay to once in a while publish a post that is made up mostly of links to other things, but the majority of your content should be carefully thought out with a beginning, middle, and end. Break your content up into short paragraphs rather than long ones. Start with an opening paragraph to introduce the topic, middle paragraphs to give information, and an ending paragraph that sums everything up.

5. K.I.S.S.–Keep it short, silly!

Long narrative paragraphs are fine if you are telling a story and it wouldn’t make sense to break the words up. Otherwise, keep it short.

See? Like that. It gives readers a chance to think about what they just read before starting to read something else.

6. When you pass along information, be accurate.

The Internet is full of speculation and gossip. And if that’s the kind of blog you have, fine. But do your research first. It can be exciting to “break” a story, but make sure you have some facts to support it. Look for legitimate news sources like the Associated Press or Reuters for information that is likely to be more accurate than stories on Gawker or Perez Hilton.

7. Treat your readers like you care.

I do not know a single blogger who doesn’t care if no one reads their blog. Why would you publish a blog if you really didn’t want anyone to read it? So whether you have 20 readers a day or 20,000, acknowledge their presence and their contribution to your blog. Use stats to see which posts are read most often, then write more about those topics.

8. Use your comments to continue a discussion.

If someone leaves you a comment, reply to it. Either in email, or with the Comment Responder plugin or something similar. It’s like hearing someone knock on your door, answering it, and then just closing the door in the person’s face without saying anything. You can then use the comments to continue the discussion in a subsequent post. Your readers will appreciate it.

9. Keep your content fresh.

We live in a fast-paced world, and there are new things happening every second. If you’d like to publish a post but can’t think of a topic, do a little web-surfing. What’s the top story on CNN.com? What is ProBlogger writing about? Which celebrity or athlete or politician did or said something interesting? Whatever your blog’s focus, there is always something new to use for a post topic.

10. Use other blogs for inspiration.

There are new blogs being created every day, probably every minute. Therefore, your content and design should evolve to reflect new ideas and even trends. For example, the Comment Luv plugin was released recently, and after seeing how it worked, I added it to all my blogs, and then started getting comments from readers that they were going to add it as well.

If you notice that other blogs within your niche are discussing the same topic, as will sometimes happen when something newsworthy is going on, then by all means write your own post on that topic. Write it in your own “voice” keeping your reader’s interests in mind, and you’ll be contributing to a much larger discussion.

It’s easy to start a blog, it’s not as easy to keep a blog going. Following these 10 tips can help you keep your readers interested in your content and coming back for more.

Did you like this post? I would appreciate having it Stumbled or Dugg, thanks!