I've only just discovered that a British company is a rival to Blogger: if you want to start a blog, have a look at www.blog-city.com. The prices may be in $$$ but the company is based in Dumfries. Also, if you start a new blog at Blogger.com, you will now be directed to its new version of Blogger. According to Ev, "It's basically the same as the old one but should work better."