2/26/08

Motoringfile NewsRoom

The MotoringFile NewsRoom was introduced today for all your MINI related and general auto news.  While still in beta form, it looks very polished and worth a bookmark or two.  dcMINI even made the list right on the front page, bottom center of the MINI news section.  Thanks Gabe.
A similar website has been in existence for many years, GoMotorong, but it seems that Mark Volgar might be selling (or has sold) the site according to dbmini.us.  Here's what Mark said about his RSS MINI site
I don’t hold claim to RSS feeds nor do I think that GoMotoring has claim that I made reading RSS feeds better. What I will say is that while numerous technophile users out there don’t see a need for my site, most users are very happy that I provide a one stop NEWS PORTAL for MINI related news. This shows in my repeat visit stats on the site. I never wanted to compete with NAM or MF, I just wanted to make the average MINI owner a spot to get all their information from one location and be able to go the site with the information they wanted to read.

When I got my MINI I surfed at least 15 sites a day and very few of them had anything new to say. GoMotoring took care of that problem for me and has now been quite useful for many, many MINI owners in the same way
I used to do the same almost everyday.  I would check out GoMotoring first, scan the page for any changes, and read any new items.  The problem for these types of sites is that personal RSS readers are a lot more convenient.  I now use Google Reader and I am glad I do.  I have all the RSS feeds for all the sites I like to visit, including a few non MINI related ones, all in one place.  And in addition I can mark items as read so they do not show up the next time I check for updates, a real time saver. GoMotoring used to be a time saver for me compared to visiting each site individually and checking for updates.  Now Google Reader is even faster and customizable.

It seems that there are a number of MINI related sites that are transfering ownership in one way or another.  NorthAmericanMotoring was recently sold and MINI2 was bought out a year ago I think.  A lot of things are changing and hopefully for the better.

2/8/08

New IPhone Button for dcmini

Those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch can now add dcmini to your home screen with a cool new icon.  I gave it a shot and it seems to work fine.  I hated having a super tiny preview of the webpage itself show as the icon since the content usually changes from time to time and the icon doesn't.  I starting to see more and more sites be iPhone friendly and decided to do the same for dcmini.  Give it a shot and let me know what you think......   

boy do i miss warmer temperatures... it's freezing! :-)