2000 Bloggers … including StogieCast.com

Well I had originally put this blurb on my personal homepage…
But I think it deserves to be mentioned here as it really does fall into the “Site News” category.

While building this site I ran across a project called “2000 Bloggers”.
The goal of the project was… if you can believe it… was to get a list of 2000 bloggers.

Being a REAL geek I thought this was a pretty neat idea, and couldn’t stand the thought of stogiecast.com NOT being on such a list.
So I signed up.
And have since been added to the list.
Yes my lovely face is in a list of - and being linked to by - nearly 2000 bloggers.

Sorry folks I really wanted to share the love but there was no good way to display the images.
We’ll have to make do with the text links.
you can find them HERE.

That is actually about 1400-1600 of them not all 2000.
I will try to update this post when I can get all the data though.

Thank you - I know return you to your regularly scheduled cigar blog.

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Site Awards: FuelMyBlog.com Blog of the Day!

StogieCast.com was recently given the honor of being named “Blog of the Day” by the folks at FuelMyBlog.com.

The FuelMyBlog.com site is an interesting Idea.
It feels a lot like the the “Million Dollar Homepage” because it’s basically just a big page with cool images.
The difference is that each of the images is blog, and it’s free.

By the time I found it page one was full… and I had to sign up for page two.
Being named blog of the day was quite an honor and being our first award all the more so.

A big thanks to the folks at FuelMyBlog.com for the nod.

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A note on affiliate links.

Hi folks.

I recently decided to add links to the various products that are reviewed here.
From time to time I may be able to get an affiliate link setup. I mean… why not?

I do want to make a few things clear though…
No review or opinion will ever be offered here that is colored in any way by that.
If I (or any author here) hate a cigar you’ll know it!

Further no particular product is ever chosen to review just because it’s available at an affiliate site.
If it’s not available at an affiliate site there will be a link to some other site that offers it. The important thing is that you get your stogies!

Still I realize there may be a perception of conflict of interest or favoritism.
I want to be very transparent with this. To that end i have decided to visibly mark any links that are affiliate links but not obvious advertisements.

If a link has “(aff)” after it that means I get credit for the sale.
If it doesn’t… I don’t.

Also, from time to time we may have guest authors that offer reviews.
These authors are not directed in anyway on what they should review, or what they should say.
The product links are not part of their review. They are merely a link to the product you read about… that’s what the internet is for.

Bottom line… there’s a link. Regardless of whether or not is is marked “(aff)” It has nothing to do with the content being there or what is contained within the post.
You can trust that the opinions offered on this site are honest ones.

Everyone has different tastes, and if you decide to try a cigar that you read about here you’re more than welcome to use that little link to give stogiecast.com credit.
Or not.

Please chime in with your comments here.

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ColbyPants of The “Smoking Lounge”

Folks,

I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Tom C.
Tom is the ColbyPants behind “The Smoking Lounge” blog which you should definitely check out.

Tom is a Cigar Nut tried and true.
He also writes one heck of a review - detailed and descriptive.
Since I’ve been unable to post as many reviews as I would like he’s graciously offered to post the occasional review here.

So check the Cigar Review Section very soon for what I’m sure will be a great review. People of StogieCast I give you… ColbyPants.

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Site Maintenance

Hi Folks…

The site’s been live a relatively short time… but it’s already time for our first big upgrade.

The engine behind this Blog is about to be upgraded.
There may be some downtime.

If the worst happens there may be lots of it.

But regardless we WILL be back as soon as humanly possible.

I miss you already.
See you soon!

… And we’re back.
Went pretty smoothly. (not noticing anything broken yet)

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Site to-do list.

Hi folks.
Just some site news for you.

I realize that as I spin up this blog there are a few loose ends out there.

In an effort to be transparent about such things…
and help make me accountable I am posting a list of things on my to-do list here.

As I get them completed I will update this post and leave a comment.

• Trackbacks need to be displayed.
• I’m still not 100% sold on the color scheme here.
• The Author link on the posts don’t do much. (and by much I mean anything)
• Contact me area is empty
• Post formatting sometimes ignores line breaks…not sure why.
• Pages with more than one post have horizontal scrolling at 800×600 resolution… not sure why.
• Would like to further customize the search results page.
• Case switch in style for easy theme changes
• dynamic logo image name for easy theme changes
• Need to review content placement on permalink pages

All of this while attempting to maintain a current and lively post rate.

Hang in there folks.
We’ll get there.
(your thoughts on the color theme are more than welcome)

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My Cigar Story - Welcome to StogieCast.com!

Hi folks, and welcome to StogieCast.com!
My goal here… no… my mission is to create a top shelf cigar Blog, as well as a premium experience for you.

I realize there are a bunch of people out there producing cigar Blogs.
And some of them are GREAT! For more information on what I plan to offer here that will make StogieCast.com stand out check out THIS POST.

Right now though I’d like to take a moment to tell you a little more about me, and my experiences that will (hopefully) make this a fun place to be.

Hi … my name is Doug, and I love cigars.
Love ‘em!
Everything about them. The flavor profiles, the history, the culture, the ceremony of a perfect light, and the brotherhood they foster. Very few things in life can turn strangers into chatting buddies faster than a shared cigar.
(well…sharing the experience that is. Not the actual cigar. That’s just gross)

I suppose we all get our start in these things differently.
I’ve heard many people tell me wonderful stories about how grand dad gave them their first cigar while on a traditional family fishing trip that only the “men” were invited to.

My story is a little less touching.

I was a sophomore in College.
My room mate and I were sitting in our fraternity room and we had a decision to make.
As young men of the world to be we had decided that we should learn all we could about one thing.
Become experts on… something.
We had it narrowed down to wine, or cigars.
We had no real experience with either, but both seemed to offer a great depth of information to study… and both sounded like fun things that men of the world ought to know about.

Honestly… we ended up flipping a coin.
Cigars won.

And thus we began the journey.
My friend didn’t end up a cigar nut, but we both had a good time asking questions of our local tobacconist, doing research, and trying out new cigars.

Today as a certified computer geek (seriously I have the certificate) I think it’s interesting that cigar lovers have carved out such a great community for themselves online. It’s my hope that StogieCast.com will be a value add member of that community.

My dual experience as a web developer and a cigar lover has doomed me to this venture.
I had no choice but to create this site… so I hope you enjoy it.

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Fun Facts about StogieCast.com

Fun Fact:
StogieCast.com was originally going to be a cigar related podcast!
Thus the name. But CAST still works for other types of media so when I made the decision to do a Blog instead I decided to keep the URL.

I may still try a few podcasts sometime, but there are few downsides to them.

• They take a bit longer to produce.
• They typically don’t foster as much interaction with the audience.

Both big cons in my opinion.

In an effort to not reinvent the wheel here, I invite you to check out the following posts for more information on what the goal of the stogiecast is, and how to use the site:

• Great another cigar Blog… why should I read this one?”
• How to use the StogieCast.com site.

Hope that helps!

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How to use this site.

Ok here’s how the site is laid out.
Each post here will be assigned at least one of the follwing categories:

• Cigar Reviews
• Cigar Laws
• Cigar Industry
• Cigar Life
• Site News

You can see all the posts that are relevent to a given category by clicking the appropriate tab at the top of the site.
(or by clicking the category link that is provided under the title of each post)

You can always get back to the homepage to see the most recent posts by clicking the “Fresh Posts” tab at the top of the site.

And… as you may be guessing by now…
The “Archives” tab will take you to a page where you can see the posts from a given month or category.

As far as commenting is concerned…
PLEASE DO SO!

I love comments.
They are the reason I get up in the morning.
It’s ridiculously simple - especially if you take a moment to register here.
But even if you don’t … it’s really easy.

Registered people don’t have to type in as much because the site remembers them.
And the Non-Registered folks have to verify they are human by typing in the letters they see on the comment page.
But those are really the only differences.

I read every single comment with love and care.
When appropriate / possible I even reply.

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StogieCast.com - Not just another Cigar Blog

Q: “Great another cigar Blog… why should I read this one?”

A: Well First of all I’m not 100% in love with your tone.
But I suppose it’s a question worth addressing.

For starters:
Let me assure you that this will NOT be another Blog with the occasional cigar review / ranking. A semi-monthly cigar ranking does you no good. First because a semi-monthly post is like the traction control light in my car. By the time it comes on… it’s too late. And secondly what the heck does my giving a cigar a rating of 83 tell you?
Nothing!
Unless I’m using the Cigar Aficionado scale… in which case… you may as well go read Cigar Aficionado.

Now… having said that…
I will from time to time post a cigar review.
That’s what we cigar nuts do.
But I won’t assign some arbitrary ranking.
I will give you detail on all aspects of the smoke - and then tell you if I would buy it again, or recommend it to a friend.
I think that’s much more useful information.

And Secondly:
I don’t think you fully appreciate the depth of my cigar distraction. Why even now I’m supposed to be paying attention to my conference call at work - but can’t keep my mind off cigars and web geekery.

THERE WILL BE REGULAR POSTS HERE.

Folks, I read so much cigar related news it borders on a disorder.
If you DON’T want to have to do that I’ll give you enough of it in a nutshell to keep you one step ahead of your smoking buddies.

There’s more than enough cigars and cigar related news out there to keep us busy.
I know you don’t care about reading about my new car on a cigar Blog. So unless I find a way to install a humidor in the passenger seat I won’t waste your time.

By the way… Check out this car that DOES have a built in humidor.

I hope that helps answer the “Why StogieCast.com” question.
I look forward to getting this Blog rolling, and hope you’ll be back.

Leave comments.
Contact Me.
Let’s have a smoke sometime.

• For quick Fun Fact about StogiCast.com CHECK THIS OUT!
• To learn more about me you can READ THIS!

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