I’m surprised it’s not been mentioned yet, but a new blog syndication service kicked off over the weekend, ATLBloggers is a great resource for the thoughts of bloggers in the ATL, and it saves a few clicks if you already have some of them in your blogroll…

ATLANTA, Georgia – July 15, 2005 – Amidst rampant media speculation, atlbloggers.net today announced the immediate availability of the atlbloggers.net service to the public. ìHeck yeah!î, say atlbloggers.net founders.

The inspiration for atlbloggers.net came from a lazy user complaining about the poor quality of existing Atlanta Blog aggregators, or the complete lack thereof, recalled hollismb, atlbloggers.net co-founder and President of Marketing & Products. ìHe bitched about having to click on everyoneís site or feed to find out whether they posted anything halfway interestingî hollismb said. ìAnd when heís not doing that, heís whining about not being able to see peopleís blogs from behind the corporate firewall, when he should probably be doing actual work anyway. So he asked himself, ëWhat can we do to fix this?íî

The idea that there could be a better way to handle Atlanta blog reading caught the attention of a developer who thought it might be a good project to work on when he wanted to avoid doing anything having to do with his job title (especially considering he was the one doing the whining and bitching in the first place). A few Diet Cokes, some discussion over beer, and several hangovers later, atlbloggers.net was born.

ìIf I have a problem checking everyoneís site when Iím trying to waste my day reading Slashdot, surely other people do tooî, said atlbloggers.net co-founder and President of Development, Kick The Donkey. ìAnd while developing and styling atlbloggers.net was a bit more complicated than we anticipated, weíre pleased to be able to offer it to the user who asked for it, which was me.î

Added bobafred, an atlbloggers.net reader and contributor, ìatlbloggers.net solves all of my Atlanta blog reading needs. Itís always up to date and has pretty little icons. And I can read it from anywhere. I love it! What?!?!î

Today, a handful of users will begin reading the beta version of atlbloggers.net. Unlike other sites and software that call themselves ëbetaí just to sound cool (after all, ëbetaí is the new ëblackí), weíre actually serious about it, and will be regularly adding new functionality, features, and fixes. Key features of atlbloggers.net include:

• Content:
  Built on Planet software, and running Python, atlbloggers.net enables people to see recent updates posted to the blogs of its many subscribers without having to individually check each memberís site. Unlike other Atlanta blogging sites, it does not require posting content in multiple places or multiple sites. That would just be silly.
• Convenience:
  atlbloggers.net makes browsing the internet faster and more efficient by eliminating the need to go clickity-click all over the damn place, and by automatically organizing individual posts into descending order of date. It turns the annoying habit of checking separate RSS feeds on a site-by-site basis into an exercise in futility. Who knows, maybe youíll even find more time to spend doing more productive things.
• Store:
  atlbloggers.net believes people should be able to have cool stuff. Thatís why atlbloggers.net has a CafePress store containing cool swag like coffee mugs, bumper stickers and t-shirts, for both marketing purposes and bragging rights. Weíre cool like that.

According to hollismb and Kick The Donkey, atlbloggers.net will make the super-cool beta version of atlbloggers.net available to a small number of Atlanta blogging aficionados, and maybe some Flickr users as well. With luck, atlbloggers.net will prove popular to them ñ and the occasional person who hits the site accidentally. Those interested in learning more about atlbloggers.net can visit http://atlbloggers.net or read site news or post comments on the atlbloggers.net blog, located at http://atlbloggers.net/blog/. Yes, we realize the title is redundant. Further inquiries can be directed to hollismb (hollismb@yahoo.com) or Kick The Donkey (kickthedonkey@gmail.com), which will probably then be put into a Microsoft Word document, embedded into an Excel spreadsheet, then printed out and reviewed by a highly-trained Siberian husky named Bandit.

About atlbloggers.net:
The atlbloggers.net innovative web technologies connect at least five or six people around the world with information every day. Founded in 2005 by wanna-be professional breakdancers and fake-holiday-maker-uppers, hollismb and Kick The Donkey, atlbloggers.net is a top web property, at least as we see it. The atlbloggers.net targeted marketing program, which basically involves drinking beer, writing things on hands with permanent markers, and saying things like ìVisit our site, damnit!î, provides bloggers of all persuasions with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for its users. atlbloggers.net is headquartered in Atlanta with offices throughout Midtown, Cherokee county, and under somebodyís desk surrounded by a mess of cables. For more information, visit http://atlbloggers.net.atlbloggers.net is a trademark of atlbloggers.net. All other stuff mentioned is probably made up, or at least ninety percent total B.S..

Well worth a look…