Blogging
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Deb: Yes, we really are this stupid busy.
It always strikes when there’s a thousand things to talk about, too. Dammit.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Jay: Question
Do you think that asking on a blog for feedback on how to proceed with a business holds too much danger of coming across as not knowing what I am doing?
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Deb: Finally, I get around to getting the templates more or less right.
So if anything’s acting funny, let me know, ‘eh?
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Deb: Some folks eventually cease to amuse me.
I was following yet another argument in a comments section somewhere when it devolved into the following form:
Commenter A: You chose chocolate, I chose vanilla. Can’t we live and let live?
Commenter B: No, because your choice of vanilla impacts the availability of my chocolate and how people look at chocolate, which is grossly unfair because chocolate really is better and people should have to eat it, unlike that nasty vanilla that you’re trying to force on the world by lying about how good it is.
This argument always cracks me up, because it never occurs to B that one would be able to switch the flavors around and it would be every bit as devastating, if the argument had any force outside of B’s perception of persecution. The assumption that A’s actions can negatively impact B’s range of available choices but that B’s actions have no effect on A’s range of available choices is a bad one. And funny if not a little pathetic in practice, because more often than not B is seeking to remove the ability to choose altogether, so long as the prescribed flavor turns out to be chocolate. This usually leads B into wild statements of non-fact, such as the assertion that people who are allergic to chocolate are an urban myth invented by the vanilla lobby because they hate chocolate lovers.
Of course, the whole thing is generally based on the (faulty) premise that there’s a fixed amount of ice cream in the world. And since the ice cream in these scenarios usually comes from the government, there is a perception that this incorrect premise is actually correct. Government is not famous for its nimbleness of response to shifting flavor demands or its unwillingness to try to just eat all the ice cream itself. Non-governmental dairies could easily account for varying flavor preferences, but it never even occurs to B that this is a possibility; hence the I need to steal yours before you can steal mine routine. That strategy actually makes sense when the government controls all the ice cream.
Where it always falls apart, though, is with B’s declaration of the righteousness of chocolate. Because I’m right doesn’t qualify as an argument, no matter how much B wants it to be true. Reality doesn’t give a good goddamn what flavor ice cream your neighbors eat. The entire ice cream dichotomy is a false one, an artificial structure created and reinforced by that part of human nature that just can’t stay out of other people’s business. Good of the tribe and all that, and I’m sure the trait has served us well over the millennia on a species level, but it causes a boatload of trouble in these (supposedly) more civilized times. The ironic bit is that B--the party desperate to force a particular vision of righteousness on the other members of the tribe--is generally also the party who is trying to accomplish something that will work against the welfare of the tribe as a whole.
Well, above and apart from the harm that the use of force inflicts in and of itself, anyway.
It’s not news that absurd premises lead to absurd conclusions, but it’s sad that so many argue utter absurdities and don’t even know they’re doing it because the helplessness is so ingrained that it never even occurs to them that there might be some way to get chocolate that doesn’t involve banning vanilla.
And you all wonder why I’ve gone off political blogs.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Deb: You know you’ve been blogging too long when…
You see that it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day and your reaction is, again? Already? Didn’t we just have that? Sheesh!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Jay: It’s Dead Jim
So. Carnival of the Vanities is finally closing its blogverbial doors. The horse is dead. Long flog the horse.
James Joyner picked up the news, leading to a comment by Dean, which led to a post by Dean. James believe carnivals in general are outdated. Dean disagrees, but sees Carnival of the Vanities as having been too generic. I commented with my thoughts on the matter:
This is the historical significance of Carnival of the Capitalists; spawning the concept of niche carnivals, prompting the common use of “carnival” in the names, establishing the practice of a special e-mail address and a home page for info on the carnival, and firming up the definition of what is a carnival. It showed that a niche carnival could become significant, even more popular than the original, and ultimately attract a higher level of quality.
People still use it as an obligatory thing, entering any old post that they can just for the link whorage, but it’s not that bad.
The sad thing is that with my hours of work a week, week in and week out for just under three years, about the time I started trying to figure out how to monetize it a little, Blog Carnival came along and monetized all of them for someone who barely had a clue what a carnival was but had a relative who could instapimp the ride for him. That is the way in which carnivals have perhaps jumped the shark. There’s someone there with a stake and an enabling influence to ensure that an absurd degree of nicheness happens. Do we really need a carnival of nose picking toddlers, carnival of HP camera foibles, carnival of the literature of spider robinson, and that sort of thing?
I’m not even convinced we need carnivals of marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, stocks and whatnot, all of which are already covered by and usually categorized or not that hard to locate within CotC. All those are is an exercise in maximum linkurbatory satisfaction. On the other hand, for people with a specific interest, they don’t have to look as hard for that one topic, and have no idea that a few bloggers are in all those sub-niche carnivals regularly just because they can be.
I tend to think of Blog Carnival as an overtly fantastic idea that was the worst thing ever to happen to the carnival concept, and might have been even done differently or by someone else.
Ultimately, though, CotV was indeed doomed by lack of focus, and by inability to be, essentially, a carnival of quality writing. Even had it become that overnight, readers and linkers wouldn’t have come back. CotC becomes the oldest and still most popular.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Jay: Sad Blog Carnival News
It is with great regret that I relay the news that the Conservative Cat carnival submission form is no more.
That was the second best option for submitting posts for Carnival of the Capitalists. The first choice, of course, is the Gongol CotC submission form, designed specifically for CotC, and quite possibly the first carnival submission form of any kind.
Use of the “Blog Carnival” submission form is accepted but not encouraged, which now makes Gongol or e-mailing directly with all the appropriate details the prime entry routes.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Jay: Carnival of the Vanities Celebrates Four Years
Carnival of the Vanities, the original blog carnival, completes an amazing four years with the 208th edition of CotV, hosted at First Carnival, the new home CotV.
Nine of the original fifteen participants are still blogging, and this special CotV edition highlights those, in addition to the usual mostly good, definitely eclectic stuff. Check out the leader of the Carnosphere.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Jay: Just So You Know
If you ever have hosting for one domain, and you turn on hotlink protection, remember that when you setup a second domain on the same hosting account and graphics won’t show up properly. Just sayin…
Jay: Once Upon A Time…
If you are new to us, our most recent prior art can be found here.
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