Pat asked me to check his site on Internet Explorer (IE) because he thought he was having problems with the right-hand column. Well, I checked and it looked okay to me.

But, then I thought about checking my site on IE and guess what? My site totally looks like garbage! I’m bummed….

CarlosRull.com: Using Firefox

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CarlosRull.com: Using IE - Internet Explorer

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So, if you’re not using Firefox already, I urge you to make the switch. The Internet looks so much better with the Firefox browser… I hate to admit it but my site looks pristine in Firefox… and looks like hell-warmed-over in IE. I’m trying to figure out the bugs, and if you are cross-browser savvy as a web developer, please help me out. Right now I’m too tired AND too busy to investigate the problems my site is having with IE.

But get Firefox anyway. Here are 10 Great Reasons To Use Firefox. It really is a superior web browser. You’ll love it.

And in case you’re not convinced… some good reasons to dump Internet Explorer.

I chanced upon a neat little Technorati-fueled thing-a-ma-bob that let’s you know how much your blog is worth, based on Technorati data via its API.

How much is my blog worth? Okay, not too shabby, but I am by no means a rich blogger, at least, not just yet:

So, the good thing here is this gives me incentive to try harder? Try for a million dollar blog?

How much is your blog worth?

I admit that I love getting comments here, and I truly appreciate those readers that leave comments and feedback for me to read. It helps, really… And it shows me that there are a few faithful readers out there. And I thank you.

I myself need to comment more on other people’s sites. But I do try to comment whenever I can.

So, here are 5 reasons why I think it’s good to comment on other people’s journals and blogs:

1. Leaving A Link Back To Your Site

What this does is create essential links back to your site, so that others can find your site. But also, because search engines like Google will index and note down the number of links to a given site, which can boost your site’s importance and rank on the Web.

Though it is beneficial to leave comments on newly visited sites, it’s important not to blatantly SPAM a site just for the link back. For netiquette reasons as well as personal reputation on the Web, it’s always important to leave a meaningful and thoughtful comment that relates to the site or entry.

2. For Constructive Criticism And Feedback

Sure, it helps that the writer gets some sort of positive feedback and encouragement. It’s nice to get a reply to something you’ve written. Of course, negative feedback could be constructive, but can be interpreted as hate mail. So generally, positive feedback is always good. And if you , wish to write the author about something negative about the site or the entry, then a private email is the best thing.

3. Helping The Writer Know The Audience

For people maintaining blogs and online journals, I think it helps that the writer know his/her audience. And this can guide the writer to post more entries geared toward that audience in order to build a following. Of course, if you only write for yourself, then that’s okay too.

4. Creating Dialog and Discussion

The whole commenting system is great for starting up discussions. If you treat each post you create as if it were a brand new topic on a discussion board, then you can be sure to entice more people to comment and reply. Comments are a great way to interact with the writer, as well as with other readers who have commented.

5. Because It’s Good Netiquette

Well, perhaps this reason isn’t really necessary. But let’s say you were speeding through all your favorite blogs and journals without commenting on any of them. So, you enjoyed at least half of them immensely, but how would the writer know if people out there enjoyed the entry? Okay, this one ties with all the reasons above, but I simply think it’s “good netiquette” to leave a comment if you really enjoyed reading that entry.

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In Summary

Some readers write for themselves, and other write for an audience. I guess I try to do both. After all, my site isn’t password-protected, so it’s obviously open to the general public. I do know that family, relatives, friends and musical colleagues stumble upon my site now and then. But none of them comment. Only other bloggers and online diarists.

Okay, these are mainly notes and observations for myself… and I just wanted to show my gratitude to the following readers who leave comments here on a regular basis. Thank you so much:

TokyoRose from The Moon Rose, Pat from Splog3, Sue from Arizona Butterfly

Many health experts recommend that you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Now I’ve always thought that was close to impossible for me. I mean, who drinks 8 full glasses of water a day?

But, the more I think about it… for health reasons, drinking 8 glasses of water a day makes sense.

Our bodies are like sponges that soak up everything in our environment through the solid foods and fluids that we intake. We need to continually drink water to keep a natural flow of elimination going throughout our bodies.

Reasons For Drinking At Least 8 Glasses of Water Per Day

From UIHealthcare.com:

The body needs water to function. Many parts of the body contain water, including the brain, blood and lean muscle. Water in the body serves to:

* regulate body temperature
* remove wastes (through urine and stool)
* carry nutrients (food) and oxygen to cells
* cushion joints and
* dissolve nutrients to make them available to the body

Being that the human body is 2/3 water, it does make sense that we need to replace the water in our bodies with fresh water. It’s like an aquarium tank full of fish. You need to change a portion of the water at regular intervals so that the fish can live in a healthy water environment. Fresh water helps to dilute a dirty tank, and regularly changing the water helps keep the tank clean.

Signs of Dehydration

Drinking more water will lead to frequent urination, but that’s a good thing, as the body needs to eliminate wastes, toxins, etc. through the urine.

From freedrinkingwater.com:

QUICK TIP: A trick to ensure people are drinking their daily allowance is to fill a pitcher or jug with the allotment of water and keep it on your desk at work, or handy at home. The goal is then clearly marked. As you drink down the water, you know that you are on the right path to drinking enough water.

And finally, those frequent bathroom trips are not a bad thing. The best indicator that one is drinking enough water is when urine comes out pale yellow to clear. A dark yellow color, however, is a sign your body is dehydrated and is concentrating the urine in an effort to conserve water.

Alrightee, then… who drinks their 8 glasses of water each day? I confess that I don’t. But, I’m going to really start drinking more and making sure my body is hydrated.

This just in from one of my affiliate sponsors. Basically, get a FREE Samsung BLAST cellphone when you sign up for a new T-Mobile account:

Wirefly is offering a FREE Blast with a new T-Mobile account from February 28-March 12. We’ve posted three banners and a link featuring this great offer in our Offer of the Week banners… Please take note that this offer will be live for TWO weeks! We will be sending new Carrier Specific banners with the next email.

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Added TwitThis to Rice Bowl Journals. A simple feature that posts the URL of the current web page you’re visiting to Twitter.com, a social networking post-it-note type website.

I thought this would be most useful when reading RBJ members’ latest entries on their RBJ Profile pages, providing they added their RSS Feed to their account.

If you are using Twitter then this is a handy tool to use. Especially on your own site.