Blog for Arizona

Live Blogging Election Results

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In an hour, the polls will close. The big question is: Will dark money from the Koch Brothers and their multinational corporate brothers win or will the people win? Will millions of dollars — more than $25 million to buy each Senate seat for Republicans and more than $15 million in Arizona for Republicans — take this … Read more

Blog for Arizona

Who’s Your ‘Best Blog’? Blog for Arizona

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Blog for Arizona
Blog for Arizona authors and contributors (most of us, anyway)

The Tucson Weekly has been sponsoring its Best of Tucson contest since 1987. This year–for the first time ever– the contest not only gives you six ways to vote for the best pizza in town, but it also allows you to vote for the Best Blog in Tucson. With the Arizona Daily Star’s dramatic reduction in staff a few years ago and consequent reduction in original content, the final death of the Tucson Citizen, and the recent sale of the Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business, news from blogs is increasingly important in the Tucson media market.

We here at Blog for Arizona hope you will vote for us as the Best Blog– before the April 30, 2014 deadline. Why vote for us?

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Blog for Arizona as Best Blog

10. Blog for Arizona is a statewide political blog that is not afraid to step on the toes of the rich and powerful.

9. Blog for Arizona has a searchable calendar, with political and community events from around the state.

8. Blog for Arizona is not the mouthpiece for any political party or candidate. Yes, we grouse about Republicans and Tea Partiers more than Democrats or Progressives, but just ask the Blue Dogs, and they’ll tell you that we’re not easy on them either. We care about integrity, and we’re not beyond holding anyone’s feet to the fire.

7. Blog for Arizona has 11 seasoned bloggers and several contributors– including three women. This blog has more than one voice. Yes, Blog for Arizona has a decidedly progressive tone, but we don’t always agree with each other– which is a good thing because that gives you– the reader– more information upon which to make wise decisions.

6. Blog for Arizona has new content throughout the day– every day. With so many authors, BfAZ publishes as many as 10 new stories per day.

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Blog for Arizona

Blog for Arizona Has New Look, Improved Functionality

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ColumnTopBlog for Arizona– Arizona’s longest running and most prolific political blog– has transitioned into the modern era of mobile communication with a new look and greater functionality on Word Press.

Nearly 20,000 blog posts by 11 authors have been transported from TypePad to Word Press– a gargantuan task. Special thanks to Dave Safier (who was with Blog for Arizona when we started this project) who worked with TypePad, Word Press, and Go Daddy on the technical aspect of the transfer. I worked with Safier and BfAZ founder Michael Bryan to create the new masthead and the HTML for some of the features. (If you knew how long it has been since I coded HTML and how little I know of CCS, you’d be really impressed. I want to add a special shout out to the technical support offered by WordPress.org.)

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Google Is Killing Google Reader as of July 1: Now What?

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Google-reader-is-deadby Pamela Powers Hannley

Corporate giants work in mysterious ways. A case in point is Google's decision to abruptly end its popular Google Reader service, which allows users to get "feeds" from their favorite blogs. 

Blog for Arizona has almost 900 followers. (Hey, thanks!) The problem is that more than half of these followers are using Google Reader to stay up-to-date with our musings.

What's a person to do? So, you know the theory that if you ask the universe a question, the answer will appear to you? Well, that's what happened today.

I Googled something completely unrelated to Google Reader's death and up popped the following post about transporting your Google Reader blogs to Feedly.

Digging a little deeper, I found several other stories about what to do post-Google Reader. The catch is: If you want to maintain your current list of blogs to follow and you want to transfer said list to another service, you have to do it before July 1, 2013! (Or you are SOL and you have to re-essemble your favorites list.)

Here's what The Verge says about Feedly…

Feedly appears to be the heir apparent to Google Reader’s throne, a modern take on RSS that blends some of the niceties of Flipboard (like a “magazine view”) with useful Reader features like keyboard shortcuts and tags. But its biggest advantage may be that it’s the only RSS application that also has excellent and free companion mobile apps. In a world without the ubiquitous Google Reader API, building your own mobile apps is the only way to make sure you can pick up where you left off — in this way, Feedly is the only real Google Reader alternative.

Connecting by Feedly and other links, after the jump.