The mystery of Blog Net News' disappearance

Tuesday afternoon a flurry of emails circulated the Virginia blogosphere with the question: "What's happened to Blog Net News?"

I had been busy that day and was not aware it was down until reading the emails. A quick check confirmed that it was gone ... but was it temporary or permanent? Apparently someone had been in contact with Dave Mastio, owner of BNN, and indicated it would not be back anytime soon.

BNN's blogger headlines have been a part of the Virginia blogosphere for almost four years. Suddenly, the window into a community of fellow bloggers was darkened.

Until (if?) BNN gets up and going again, the Old Dominion Blogs aggregator hosted by Virginia Right! blogger Tom White is taking up the slack. ODB has been in place for about a month so now it's just a matter of getting the word out.

Old Dominion Blogs aggregator ... the headlines are back. Thanks, Tom.

Update: Dave Mastio, BNN owner, posted on Facebook that BNN was gone apparently because of the dismal financial atmosphere. My thanks to Dave for a service many appreciated throughout the years.

A bit of this 'n that from around the blogosphere

A new blogging week brings a look around the blogosphere to see what news is making the rounds.

Congratulations to SWAC bloggers Yankee Phil (#2) and Fishersville Mike (#5) on BlogNetNews/Virginia. Jason agrees with Rep. Tom McClintock at Augusta Water Cooler. Bob posts a beautiful photo at The Journey of the clouds after a Shenandoah Valley storm.

Tom White's News Hound was up early sniffing out the latest batch of interesting blog posts at Virginia Right! Thanks for the link, Tom.

Pat has her lineup down in Shrevesport.

In Virginia Republican District Chair news....

JR has District Chair results posted at Bearing Drift.

Right here in the 6th District, long-time GOP activist Trixie Averill is the new chairman.

Virginia Virtucon's Lovettsville Lady reports that Howie Lind is the new chairman of 10th District.

Morgan Griffith won the Republican Congressional nomination from the 9th District.

Around the Shenandoah Valley....

Mike smelled the honeysuckle blooming, a reminder it's spring in the Valley, which is a great time to take in a movie at Hull's Drive-In outside Lexington.

Republican Charles Djou wins in Hawaii:

"The people of Hawaii have given us a short-term lease with an option to buy in November. This is not the time for us to rest on our laurels. This is the time to redouble our efforts to bring out change. To do good, to restore our nation to prosperity." -- Charles Djou

The Other McCain has it covered ... so does Virginia Right! and No Sheeples Here and American Power.

Lots of great reading in the blogosphere. Enjoy ... more to come.

Mike has the roundup

I've been busy with family on this beautiful Easter Sunday but stopped by the computer long enough to see that Fishersville Mike had his regular weekly roundup ... congrats on his # 6 ranking on BNN. Yankee Phil has his weekly BNN/Virginia roundup of conservative blogs ... congrats on his # 1 BNN spot.

Meanwhile, The Journey's Bob has a beautiful Easter post over at The Journey.

More Easter posts ... Michael asks, "Was it a morning like this?" at The Write Side of My Brain. Over at Virginia Right!, Sandy Sanders wishes all a blessed Easter. And don't forget Tom White offering the daily News Hound at Virginia Right!

The Sound of Music, a wonderful musical based on the true story of the von Trapp family from Austria who emigrated to the U.S. during World War II, is on the Family Channel for its usual holiday showing.

It has been a wonderful Easter with family.

I made Pat's roundup!

Every Sunday Fishersville Mike does a blogger roundup of interesting posts and it's fun to see which stories he finds interesting.

Phil does a Sunday BNN ranking update of conservative blogs around the Commonwealth.

Saturday Pat did a roundup over at her blog, And so it goes in Shreveport, and I made the list! Thanks, Pat ... you made my day. For those who are sick of winter, check out her post on spring in Shreveport ... her daffodils are about to bloom! I think Mike is envious because the ground here in the Shenandoah Valley is still covered with snow.

Lots going on in the conservative blogosphere....

Fishersville Mike's Sunday morning roundup

Mike entertains with his weekly Sunday morning roundup.

Meanwhile, I'm honored to be part of the SWAC bloggers who continue to place in the Top 20 of BNN.

Congrats to Phil who is in the #1 spot this week, Mike who is #3, and David who is #14. Thanks, Guys, for the informative and humorous posts ... I learn from each of you every day. Congrats ... and thanks for the conservative leadership.

The granny who cruises BNN

My mom cruises BNN....

Mother's Day is Sunday and the weather sounds as if it will cooperate with warm temps and maybe just a chance of showers or thunderstorms. My sister and I have been going back and forth through phone calls and emails making plans for Sunday dinner, a day to be spent together as the dads grill and we all enjoy being together.

Mom let us know the flowers arrived on Tuesday and were, in her words, absolutely gorgeous. Peruvian lillies ... sent early so she could enjoy them all week leading up to Mother's Day.

My mom is 80-something and still on the go although she has slowed down a bit the past few years. The career woman of the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and 80s, she was reluctant about finding her way onto a computer. She resisted for a long time but finally got one about seven years ago.

Voila! She became the emailing queen, staying in touch with friends and family all over the country. She also reads newspapers online, keeps up with the political world, and reads Blog Net News/Virginia on a daily basis. I get tickled at her ... she will email to let me know the bloggers who are trash-talking and need to be rated a "1" on the BNN rating scale ... and others who have written a good piece and deserve a "10." She told me she wants to be introduced to my blogging friends at the Republican Convention. My mom ... she's amazing!

So this Mother's Day I'll remember the mom who encouraged me when I entered the work force to learn everything I could about every job because I would be able to use it down the road. And it was good advice ... I have tried to excel at whatever task was put before me. She practices what she preached everytime she sits down in front of that computer screen ... new horizons are always before us.

Meanwhile, Mom is prowling BNN. If you run into her, say hello. She's the granny who was way ahead of the career curve ... and still going strong!

Congrats, Guys

Yankee Phil comes in at # 1 on this week's BlogNetNews rankings, and Fishersville Mike is # 4. Both have good, positive writing and contribute to the dialogue in the blogosphere ... and both are fellow SWAC bloggers. Congrats, Guys!

Augusta Water Cooler, welcome to BNN!

A new blog is in town ... well, actually it's been around for three or four months and is written by the newest SWAC blogger, Jason Bibeau. The Augusta Water Cooler began aggregating through Blog Net News/Virginia Tuesday which is a good thing because now it can be read by a wider audience.

Jason bills his blog as, "A great place for conservative opinions, thoughts, and occasional blunt reality." For rational, well though-out political discussion, he is one of the best to go to.

His stories have included Was that lobster gold-plated?, Sam Rasoul deceives NRA voters with Waynesboro sign, Wrong again, Senator Obama, and other great reads.

Welcome to the Virginia political blogosphere and BNN, Jason!

BNN makes changes

What's going on over at Blog Net News? Today the headlines and blog names were rearranged and there's a new look. Wonder what Dave has up his sleeve next?

A morning without BNN is like a morning without....

Problem fixed! Scott has all the details about Sitemeter's issues at Scott's Morning Brew.

So I first noticed the problem late last night when Blog Net News suddenly was not available to me. After trying for a while, I figured it was my computer. But an email this morning from my mom in Richmond made me realize it was not just me who could not access BNN ... she had also been unable to pull up the blogger headlines.

What to do?

I emailed BNN with a heads-up ... and realized my first order of the morning when signing online is to check BNN's headlines. This morning it's as if I've missed a cup of coffee or something.

Hope they are up and going soon so. Meanwhile, time to trek to the newspaper box to see what the headlines are for the Richmond Times Dispatch and the Waynesboro News Virginian....

Update: Issues with various blogs (but not DJ McGuire's) coming up with the same error message. That's odd ... time to start trouble-shooting.

BlogNetNews adding new features

Dave Mastio, owner of Blog Net News, has begun "blogging" himself on the BNN aggregator which I have enjoyed reading. It is about updates and changes that are going on with BNN which keeps bloggers informed as to what is coming down the road.

Dave's latest entry is this:

BNN Broadcast » BNN News
BNN Feeds changing to Feedburner

For the next few months, old BNN feeds will continue to work, but we are in the process of changing over to Feedburner. Each state’s main feed is now available in a format like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/north_carolinaBNN — just switch the state out and you can get yours or look at [...]


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Posted: July 17, 2008, 10:24pm EDT by David Mastio

Congratulations to Dave and everyone at BNN/Virginia. Thanks for all you do.

BNN # 1 ... congrats, fellow ODBA member!

Congratulations to new ODBA member Jody Wilcox at The Contemporary Conservative for being # 1 on Blog Net News this week. Way to go, Jody!

Righty blogs on BNN ... a conservative alcove in the blogosphere

There's a conservative alcove in the blogosphere called Righty Blogs/ Virginia, sponsored by conservative mega-site RedState, offering a wider variety of right-of-center blogs than are available on Blog Net News/ Virginia.

One of my favorite reads that is only available on Righty Blogs is Win the War by Josh Levy, a UVa law student who organized the Win the War rally in Charlottesville last June when anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was in town.

Another favorite is The Conservative V.O.I.C.E., the blog for VCAP -- the Virginia Conservative Action PAC that supports conservative candidates and issues in Virginia.

Others are 84 Rules, Kinshasa On The Potomac, the evangelical outpost, The HILL Chronicles, and many more.

Sometimes it is nice to be in the middle of like-minded folks. That is when I click over to Righty Blogs, couch back, and enjoy the comfort of being in the "right" room.