fun
BTW my name should be on that list. Nov. 8th, greatest date in world history.
and you can call me Mark or Mr. O.
Boy your mom sure must have had a time dealing with two male Scorpios in the house! My hat is off to her.
Joni included.
I'll do a "hmm" on "all those Scorpios" as well.
And thanks for the comment on attibution and bibliography. I always try to put in links on anything I write (I think it makes it more interesting as well), but I also have a tendency to ask or comment if I see something copy/paste too. It's so easy to paste a link of where you got something, and to not do so (or argue that its not necessary or copyright infringement) makes me wonder how trustworthy that person's content is as well.
Sigh. I am glad to see that there is some movement towards more enforcement.
Just my thoughts.
aeschylus
Aeschylus,
I have updated a few thoughts on that. Thank you for taking the time to read, proof that you have an attention span greater than A to B, which I believe may be the unfortunate norm.
I have never asked, but what is you opinion of the "top-blog" thing? In fairness, I will say that I consider it a waste of time as the usual content highlighted is uninteresting and unoriginal.
Pablo
(I looked over what I wrote, and apologize for the 'review' response, but I'm not going to change it.)
I think the "top-blog" could be useful if it was used properly. It's not. A lot of times if I read someone's blog I'll at least vote even though I may not leave a comment. It's rare that I'll not vote at all, or comment at all, unless its something that I just have no opinion on. If I don't like what's posted, I'll generally move on. The internet is big. At the same time, to "visit" a blog and not vote or comment was considered rude in the 'older' days. I consider it bad manners the way things are done on many sites, and reflective of today's society, which makes tempers short and causes more personality problems.
I notice who visits my blog, and that they don't comment and probably don't bother to vote either. It's not that hard. I've noticed particularly lately that I may have been the only vote on a blog and it gets to the top 20!
This site isn't "Digg" that's for sure, and I like reading there because someone else filters the content for me and I can use my time effectively. I'd like to see a better rating system though. Like "vote good, bad, or neutral" where "bad" is limited to splog, and "neutral" is "I read it and have no opinion."
I am curious about the content filtering though as well. I've seen too many twits make enough noise to have something removed, or even force someone off a sight. I don't publish much important here. It's a place to read and be casual where in other places there is more demand on me.
As a matter of fact, I was thinking of doing a post on "what is a community" (which is apparently what Mindsay and a lot of other sites are trying to create), and if I publish something like that, it wouldn't be here simply because of some of the general attitude of those who use the site. Oh well.
I can publish on other sites, including my own domains, and get more readers and comments than I would ever get from Mindsay. I have controversial opinions and content that attracts attention, even on Yahoo. In a way I'm hiding here, but also I'm learning and watching what the "pulse" is. I've learned a lot from the prior "community" I'm still in (but limit activity) and this one.
I have a lot of positive things to say about Mindsay, and anything not positive I would attribute to the website owners' age and experience of life in general. They are off to a good start and I expect they will learn from their experiences here as we all do. It's nice to see the responsiveness and visibility though. I think it's important.
The other thing I have a real problem with in the whole blogging system being used right now is the switch to using meta tags instead of categories. I have two blogs that use categories, and my hits are stronger than from those using the meta tags. The tags are for the benefit of the search engines, not content. I prefer content, and I would rather have repeat readers than hit-and-run ones. You get that with categories. I'm developing a system now to use the meta tags as a category system though, so I'll see how that might work. I need to review more on how the engines are following the tags before I will know.
Personally, though, that "top blog" thing is ridiculous and short-term at best. Even long-term "top blog" on a site like this is nothing if the writer doesn't have readers elsewhere. It just can't happen in the structure that's out there right now.
I still read sites I've followed for more than five years. Same writers, different designs and navigation systems. If they have content and I like them, I'm one of those "strong followers" that the real advertisers want to reach. And those are the only sites where I will actually click on ads.
Just me. Personally, I also like (need) sites with less graphics and less of all the bells and whistles. I like cleaner sites because, as with your posts, I actually do read the content. The other reason is the more bells and whistles, the more problems with the tech stuff and the community at large. There's not much focus (unless its applied by admin) and tends to become taken less seriously.
My analogy: Big balloons just pop louder.
Just thoughts and babbling.
aeschylus
Pablo
I'm going out for Oreos!
aeschylus
On that note... I decided to leave this post for a couple of days while I elaborate on the theme. Also, I just added a "suggestion graphic" of two features other sites have. "Flag" for users to report objectionable posts/blogs, and "bury" to hide a blog a person would rather not see. They are features of blogger (blogspot) and digg respectively.
Pablo
Always more than one side to a story, but I do agree, that if a blog is going to be deleted, that the owner, should get a letter stating the reason why.
Yes, I agree and have asked him twice not to please consider toning down his language as it is counterproductive. There is no reason for anyone to use foul language, but tolerance and communication must also be practiced. I can show you dozens of blogs which are in your face constantly with insult, rudeness and vulgarity. Last night the "photos and videos" page featured a post entitled "Fuck You" with a man flipping the bird.
Finally, and this gets somewhat laborious, but....here is another side to the unfolding story:
I have spearheaded two suspensions of accounts here in the past year. Both of these blogs were just going the course of being avoided by the "community" for months. One was a pornography blog advertising an illegal Yahoo site called "watchmemasturbatelive" (which I also had suspended)and the other was a blog which did nothing but post recipes for making crystal meth. As I said, these sites were tolerated for months with no "community" action against them. For this reason I am very suspicious of "community" reactions against nothing more than rude and vulgar language when the common course of action for things much worse is to do nothing.
Pablo
I do realize that for some the F word is just like drinking water, it is no more offensive than saying 'shut up' used to be in the 60's...or earlier..LOL!
Nina
I come from a family of liberal thinkers who aren't offended by profanity. But, like you, of another generation, I am still astounded how the f-word has become acceptable. Will there be any words left which carry a sting when used?