Stop pinging

While I set up and fiddle around with my new blog I would like to stop the pinging service. Can I do that by just leaving Update Service blank?

I would also like the ability to stop pinging if a edit a post. I find that no matter how hard I try there is always some minor edit needed to fix typos after posting. So I would like to stop pinging when I save after doing such edits.

I came across MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer which seems to have good ping controls but there are only two reviews. One said it worked the other said it didn’t. Is there another plugin or another way to handle the kind of editing I described so that the subsequent pinging does not occur?

Thanks.