Blast’s first monthly issue podcast

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We’ve got more stuff for you guys!
We have over a dozen Plantronics Audio 350 gaming headsets that we’re just throwing at our readers right now. Enjoy the ultimate gaming headset for free!
What do you have to do to get one of these freebies? Write a review! Review a new movie, music album, video game, software, [...]

This was released to the staff on Saturday.

Even with the popular “search everything” plugin, we’ve decided to move off the WordPress search feature and implement Google’s AdSense-based Custom Search.

The same search bar you see up top is now programmed for the Google Custom Search. Go to it!
The best thing about Custom Search is that it allows us to not only [...]

Automattic, the company behind WordPress, has purchased the advanced next-generation web commenting system IntenseDebate for an undisclosed sum.
This is a big move for WordPress, which has been looking for a new commenting system for a while and seems to have found it finally.
In a blog post on their website, IntenseDebate describes the deal and what [...]

One of Blast Magazine’s oldest friend websites, Blogcritics, and the site we generally compare ourselves to in terms of coverage area, was recently bought by blog-media giant Technorati. Below is the official release:
San Francisco, CA, August 26, 2008 – Technorati, the recognized leader in blog search technology today announced the acquisition of Blogcritics.org, an online [...]

Let me first apologize.
For about a year now, we’ve been using IX Web Hosting as an inexpensive solution to our very simple web hosting needs — three domains powered by WordPress. After all, we don’t have any key sponsors, and I fund Blast with my own money when it isn’t making its own cash.
It’s been [...]

Staff,
Effective immediately, we are ceasing the “Quick hits” portion of our
tech reviews.
We will be replacing it with a shorter fact box on the top of our
reviews, much like what we’re doing with CD reviews.
Example:
Sports
SCEA
March 4, 2008

Information needed: Genre, Developer/Distributor, Release date, and an
OVERALL 1-5 star rating

Dear Staff,
 
I’m pleased to announce that Joe Sinicki will take over the long-vacant assignment editor duties for our technology section.
 
“Milwaukee Joe,” 23, has written for Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro and has served as senior editor for the Milwaukee Times. He has been a tech mainstay since our early days, putting out honest reviews when [...]

Great job to Heidi Buchanan (our Washington Bureau ) and gamer-come-politico Bradley Ouellette for some outstanding political coverage over the last 48 hours.
Make sure you read!

Dear Staff,
We have launched a beta version of our new website design.
It’s VERY important that you all look at it, leave tons of comments and find anything that looks bad, is broken or inconsistent — we’re counting on you!
In other news — I’m very proud to announce two staff moves:
Bessie King, one our ace reporters [...]

hey everyone,
Let’s all congratulate Dan Peleschuk for having the main story on page one of The Boston Globe today!
It’s not the happiest article in the world, but its excellent reporting and writing showing just how amazing our humble Culture Editor is.

Dear Staff,
From now on when we do reviews, you need to put the following info … for example:
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Developer: Level-5 Inc.
Platform: Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, DS, GBA, PC, MAC, Linux
Genre: Strategy/RPG
Players: Single-player
Launch Date: August 2007

hey guys,
We’re changing domains right now from theblastarea.com to blastmagazine.com. Theblastarea.com will forward to blastmagazine.com in a few hours once its processed.
Congrats on this huge step for our company!