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From the New York Times: Robert Scoble, who doesn’t think much of my web host, Dreamhost, does think there’s a future for professional bloggers.

Blog about something you love or know well. The readers will follow.

As Chris Pearson points out, anyone who wants to write a successful blog needs to be passionate about their subject matter, and willing to find good tools like WordPress and a good template. Chris claims that a blog can attract a core audience with as few as 10 authoritative, well-written articles.

I’d argue that authority has become a key success factor for blogs.

There are more than a few bloggers who don’t need another job. They earn enough revenue from the ads and subscriptions in their blog. Malia Zimmerman maintains that HawaiiReporter.com isn’t a blog, but the site produces enough income to let her do what she wants.

There are also people who make their living running other people’s blogs, but that’s a story for another day.

From the Associated Press, here’s confirmation of what I saw in a few Burger King windows here in Honolulu during the last week: Burger King now serves SPAM for breakfast - on a platter, Croissanwich or biscuit.

Hawaii loves its SPAM

McDonald’s has offered SPAM on its Hawaii breakfast menu for several years. I am fond of the SPAM McGriddle, a sweet and savory congealed mass of warm, friendly tastiness. I know I shouldn’t eat it, but at least This Wicked Tounge understands what The Morningwood News cannot comprehend.

When Jack-in-the-Box jumps on the SPAM bandwagon, Hawaii will have a 24/7 SPAM fast food breakfast solution.

SPAM Ciabatta sandwich? Yes, please.

SPAM breakfast burritos? Bring ‘em on.

Both are preferable to the venerable SPAM Musubi. I’ll do musubi once in a while, but it’s not my favorite.

From this morning’s Honolulu Advertiser: Hawaiian Electric is shifting its attention away from BPL (broadband Internet over power lines) to a more specific project: smart electric meters.

The testing site is appropriate: 3000 homes in the Ocean Pointe subdivision of Ewa Beach (Google map). Smart meters can do meter readings on their own, saving HECO employees from navigating Ewa’s ridiculous traffic snarl. These meters can also provide real-time monitoring of line quality and service issues. These features, if properly integrated with HECO’s monitoring systems and implemented throughout the island, might give HECO much better information during peak loads and disasters.

BPL delivers the Internet through electrical outlets

BPL provides Internet connectivity through existing power lines. Consumers could rent or purchase a BPL modem, plug it into an AC outlet, and get a broadband connection. For mainland US electric utilities, BPL is a rare opportunity to improve operating efficiency and create new businesses that relate directly to their core services. BPL Today claims the BPL market could be a US$200M industry. There are growing indications that BPL will be a key success factor (KSF) for the US electric utility industry within the next 5 years.

If HECO had been successful with a BPL consumer Internet service, the company could have been a formidable competitive rival to Time Warner Oceanic and Hawaiian Telcom in the Oahu broadband market. My June 7th post discussed how the TimeWarner-HawTel rivalry is focusing on basic issues like service speed.

HECO’s change in plans isn’t a big surprise. They were testing BPL Internet service with a dozen customers in the McCully area, so suspending that project only affected a few customers. BPL implementations in the US are usually expensive affairs, but the large number of multiresident buildings on Oahu might give HECO a chance to roll out BPL without restructuring their electrical distrbution system or buying extra repeaters.

CrunchGear and Reuters reported on May 15 that DirecTV is considering a BPL pilot project in a large mainland US city, and rolling out a WiMax service.