Attention Shoplifters....Oh, I mean Photo-lifters!

I guess I will be creating a watermark for my photos soon, because someone swiped one of my photos off of my blog, somewhere around the 21st of July.  When I logged on to my blog sometime after that, it said a photo had been removed and I was shocked to find that my background was completely gone, just solid white! Fortunately, I was able to reinstall my background and nothing else was messed up, at least I don't think so, the rest appears to be ok.
 
Anyway, that's never happened before, so I wasn't sure what to do, but I think there's a way to track it, isn't there?  Does anyone know if you can track it, to see who took the photo?

Here's the thing....If any of you would like one of my photos, just leave me a comment and ask me if you can have a copy, especially if you're one of my friends or maybe you happen to be in the picture.....I would be more than happy to email it to you!  

I have so many pictures, that I haven't added on my blog for this very reason, until I get a watermark on them, so hopefully I will get to that soon!

Ok, well that about sums it up, so NO MORE PHOTO LIFTING....PLEASE!  Haven't y'all seen those signs in the stores that say, "Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted!"  Maybe we need to make a sign for "Photo-lifters!"  LOL 

Blurb ~ Make a book out of your blog!

My awesome bloggy friend Sara, from over at make music from your heart for the Lord has introduced me to something wonderful......no......awesome and fabulous and I just have to share all of it's goodness, with the rest of my bloggy friends. Wow! That was one very long run on sentence! English Teachers every where are cringing and detesting me right now. Oh well, they'll get over it. *grin*

So, Sara had a couple of books made of her blog.....with pictures, as well as each post. Is that so cool or what? She posted about it on her blog and even showed some of the pages of her books for us to see. Please head on over to Sara's blog and check it out because I know you'll want one, just like I do. And hey, while you're there check out the rest of her blog too, trust me you'll enjoy it.

Thank you, Sara for sharing your blog books with us. I just HAVE to have one made for my blog!!! :O)

Proper Commenting Etiquette

A few days ago I posed a question about proper commenting etiquette and today I would like to share with you what I found on the subject. Here is a link to my previous post and comments What IS Proper Blogging/Commenting Etiquette. My new blogger friend, Sara also posted this question on her blog, so if you would like to read her post and comments as well, click here.

First of all, I would like to say that I don't have the perfect answer to this question and I'm not here to inform you, as to whether you are doing it right or wrong.

I'd like to start out by telling you what made me start thinking about this in the first place. After visiting and reading other blogs, I noticed that some people never respond to their comments on their blogs. In fact, I have even left questions on a blog, only to find no response after returning several times looking for a reply, thus discouraging me to ever return to their blog.

When I am reading a blog's comments, I like to see the blogger responding and relating to their commenters. This to me, shows that there is a relationship there and that they actually care enough, to interact with their readers. After all, a relationship is a two way street. I mean if you're not going to respond, then you might as well not even have an interactive comment section available, right? I also noticed that some bloggers don't respond to their comments on their own blogs, instead they respond, on the commenter's blog, so I actually started doing it that way myself. This is what confused me and made me start searching for proper comment etiquette.

After searching and reading up on this subject, I have decided to go back to responding to comments on my own blog most of the time, instead of responding on their blog or emailing them, unless I am replying to a personal question or subject matter. I'm sure there will probably be times when I will respond on both my blog and theirs, like I did with someone last night. I just want to make sure my readers are not left out of whatever the discussion may be.

I'd like to leave you with some links that I found on the subject of Comment Etiquette. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Lost Art of Blogging ~ The Comment Etiquette: The Guide to Proper Blog Commenting

Rose DesRochers - World Outside My Window ~ Blogging Etiquette - Return Visits

Problogger ~ Should you respond to comments via email or in comments?

tenForty ~ Basic Blogging Etiquette, Do's and Don'ts, Plagiarsism

What IS Proper Blogging/Commenting Etiquette?

I'm hoping someone can answer this question about commenting for me because I'm just not sure what the proper etiquette is.

When I want to respond to a comment someone has left on my blog.....am I supposed to respond with a comment on MY blog or do I respond in a comment on THEIR blog?

I've been checking out other blogs to see what they do and I've seen both ways of responding, so which is it? I've also noticed, that there are some bloggers who don't respond at all or if they do, it is very rare and I know that is NOT proper blogger etiquette! Therefore, I am SO confused!

If any of you bloggers out there can help me out with this, I would appreciate it. Thanks!