It was bound to happen. With a boost in traffic since the win over Louisville and a nationally ranked Gopher basketball team, there has also been a boost in random commenters selling legal services for mesothelioma victims and some others selling less than family friendly services as well. If you are very lonely, or an unfortunate taconite worker, the internet is a massive place aqnd I am sure you can find what you are looking for  somewhere other than here.

For the rest of you, you’ll need to register to be able to comment.  You can register here. You’ll get a confirmation email and an initial password.  You’ll then be able to pick whatever password you want by logging in and clicking on “profile” in the log in screen.

Hopefully this 30 second process won’t be too much of an inconvenience, and if it is, then maybe this will help. If you are 1o1st, 102nd, or 103rd users to register, you’ll get a free “From the Barn” t-shirt sent to you at no charge. Free is good right? Its a t-shirt, its gold, and it has “fromthebarn.org” written on it. What could be better?

A few people have asked what the deal is with those small clickable boxes below each article. It would definitely have been to my benefit to explain what they were sooner, but as they say, better late than never.

Ball Hype and Yardbarker are sites similar to Digg. These sites are an excellent resource if you are interested in finding out about the goings on in the blogosphere (ie, what other people who think they know everything but are pretty darn clueless, us included, are writing about). The premise, and it is simple and subsequently pretty ingenious, is that the best articles will rise to the top, while the articles that aren’t the best won’t get in your way. Articles get to the top because readers recommend them, and that is where you come in.

If you like something you see here, or any other article for the matter at Ball Hype or Yardbarker, click on the corresponding button, and the article will be bumped up a notch. When you are at the websites of either Ball Hype or Yardbarker and see an article you like, bump it a notch as well. You will have to be registerd at either Ball Hype or Yardbarker, but there is just so much great content there, you’ll want to be anyway.

If you have questions, which I’m expecting since what I just wrote probably didn’t make that much sense, let me know and I will be happy to try to answer them. Oh to be web2.0

I have tweaked a few things that should make this website a little more user-friendly and will hopefully encourage a bit more interaction.

• Certain posts will now have polls. Vote early and often! The first poll asks what you think about Devron Bostick and can be found here.
• Below each post, you will see a “Share this link”. With one easy click, you can share posts on this site by emailing them, posting to facebook or my space, or adding it to sites like digg. If you like what you read, why not share it?
• I’ve messed around a bit with the comment feature. Yes, you can comment, and please, please do. You will now be able to edit your comments if you make as many typos as I do. You can also now respond to specific comments so your reply will appear right below the comment you are referring to. Of course this has not been an issue, but I can dream right?
• This site is now compatible with gravatars, or goofy little icons that will show up next to your user name when you comment. Yes, I am getting ahead of myself.

If there is any other features that you think would be helpful, leave a comment using the new-fangled comments, and if anything does not work the way it should, let me know.

The summer seems to be a great time to do some “blog chores”. I updated the blog software over the weekend (let me know if you want me to add features or if something doesn’t work). I’d also like to update the links that you should see on the sidebar. Do you have more suggestions? If it relates to college basketball, Big Ten basketball teams, or the Gophers, and you think it is worth reading, let me know and I will add it to the list.

Next on the list, remembering spell check, improving grammar, and a header worth looking at…

Sick and tired of going to your favorite blogs (including this one hopefully) only to find that nothing has been updated. Sick and tired of not checking a blog for a few days only to find that it was updated with information you wanted to know.

Well why not subscribe to this site using the handy subscribe button on the right side of this page. There are several different programs, all of which enable users to read several blogs or other frequently updated websites by looking at only one website. I use Googlereader, mostly because the name Google is attached to it, but the others probably work just as well.

Questions? Suggestions? Let me know!