Weblogs.com
Weblogs.com is a website created by UserLand Software and later maintained by Dave Winer. It launched in late 1999 as a free, registration-based web crawler monitoring weblogs, was converted into a ping-server in October 2001,{{Cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = Getting ready to flip the switch| work = Weblogs.com| accessdate = 2010-10-06| date = 2001-10-21| url = http://oldweblogscomblog.scripting.com/2001/10/21}} and came to be used by most blog applications. Web-services like Feedster and Technorati monitor Weblogs.com for its list of the latest blog posts, generated in response to pings via XML-RPC. The site also provided free hosting to many early bloggers.
History
In mid-June 2004, there was a short outage as services transitioned between providers. Criticism from many bloggers was intense as many users initially feared their data was lost.{{cite news |last1=Delio |first1=Michelle |title=Thousands of Blogs Fall Silent |url=http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63856,00.html |work=Wired News |publisher=Lycos, Inc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040624021528/http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63856,00.html |archive-date=2004-06-24 | url-status=dead | date=2004-06-15 }} Dave Winer, who had originally promised to get the blogs back up and running within a two-week period, was able to restore them much faster thanks to help from Rogers Cadenhead.
According to Wired Magazine,{{cite news| url=https://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63953,00.html | work=Wired | title=Weblogs.com Rises From the Flames | date=2004-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040625204417/http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63953,00.html |archive-date=2004-06-25 |url-status=dead |last1=Kramer |first1=Staci}} "What was decried as the death of a blog universe when Dave Winer shut down free blog host Weblogs.com turned out to be little more than a four-day server outage surrounded by a heck of a flame war."
In October, 2005, VeriSign bought the Weblogs.com ping-server from Winer,{{Cite web| last = Miller| first = Rich| title = VeriSign Acquires Weblogs.com, Declares War on 'Splogs'| work = Netcraft| accessdate = 2010-10-06| date = 2005-10-07| url = http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/10/07/verisign_acquires_weblogscom_declares_war_on_splogs.html}} promising that services currently free there would still be free. The podcasting-related web site audio.weblogs.com was also included in the $2.3 million deal.[http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1868270,00.asp VeriSign Acquires Dave Winers Weblogs.com]
In May 2009 Weblogs.com was sold to a private investor group as part of the deal that saw Moreover Technologies divested from VeriSign.[http://blog.moreover.com/2009/05/13/moreover-3-0-we-divest-out-of-verisign/ Moreover 3.0: We divest out of VeriSign]
See also
References
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