This is not about web logs in particular, but a reminder to employ scepticism when thinking about a new phenomenon, such as weblogs. How is the new phenomenon different than what exists? Is that difference significant, can we even tell whether a new phenomenon is significant at this point? Are there useful historical analogies? (Telephone, pamphlets, email). What makes something revolutionary?
Numbers are lovely descriptors of things, but they do have limits and have to be judged wisely. If I state I have $100 in my checking account, obviously I can withdraw up to that amount. Unless I have overdraft protection. But does that mean I'm wealthy, poor or simply keep my money elsewhere? Knowing the checking account balance is not sufficient to answer that question. Just so, knowing how many people blog and how that number changes is interesting. But it doesn't reveal the implications of that growing number for society or for business. It may turn out that people blog rather than send one email to many recipients.. It may turn out to foster revolutions. Or it may be just another way to pass gossip. Or all of the above. Burningbird ponders all this, in writing an interesting bit about Bill Thompson's BBC article on google rankings and weblogs:
When it comes to world news and opinion, he or she who gets the most links, wins in the world of weblogging. Those with the pareto charts and your esoteric algorithims of popularity tend to prove this out. According to the charts, rather than a new form of connectivity, we're really just another instance typical of medieval community: with the indifferent, smug supremacy of the elite at the top and rule by the mob at the bottom (we know about the viablity of mob rule for fair and ethical treatment of either person or subject).
Within this view, occasionally the mob and the elite might join forces, briefly, and we might help with a story, such as Trent Lott and his big mouth. For the most part, though, we're a bunch of editorialists without much concern for research, fact checking, or accuracy. That's okay, though, because I didn't start writing this to become yet another journalist-wanna be. Nor an elite. Nor part of a mob.
Excellent points all. I would add that it might be worth thinking about blogs as a modern version of the pamphlet. |Pamphlets were used to denouce the powers that be, to spread salacious rumors, to support a party in power, to provide the loyal opposition with a voice, and to challenge the whole political system. Hardly epitomes of modern journalistic standards, pamphlets arguably were to incite people to join a side in an argument more than argue a case dispassionately. But both are possible, certainly. Blogs today appear to be filling a gap in the opinions voiced for many people, especially given the limited range of the views in the media. Which is to say, blogs may play a political role when an issue resonates with enough people. But not inevitably or necessarily.
Watson and Crick figured out the chemical structure of DNA 50 years ago today, headlines the New York Times science section.
Today, Scientific American reports a New DNA Computer Runs Sans Fuel
Hello Extensible Firmware Interface. From CNET: Intel predicts replacing that old BIOS with EFI. Will this really mean the end to arcane BIOS inompatibilities or just make them appear in high 32-bit color?
Granted, building a site that conforms to web standards is work. But by virtue of building to standards, you will incorporate many usability features. How difficult is this? Joe Clark points out that just one step —making images accessible — would be a crucial leap forward:
“Seriously, if you’ve got an ordinary HTML Web page and you make absolutely all your images accessible — including, crucially, adding alt="" to every spacer GIF and every other meaningless graphic — you’re four-fifths of the way to being an accessible Web site for the group with the greatest single need, the blind and visually-impaired. ”
One, accessibility is about making your website attractive and usable to visitors. Just as interesting ideas buried in poor writing will lose their force, a poorly designed website will lose visitors. Good organization on a website serves some of the same purposes as a common structure in a book enhances readability: the table of contents is near the front, indexes are near the back, usually the cover provides a summary of the contents and a positive review or two. Accessibility is about adding information to your design and organization; the information may be duplicative but in a way helpful to, for example, a text browser, not a visual browser. So you can meet both types of access with the same site. Not bad for a bit of work and code. And after all the effort of transferring the thoughts twirling around one's brain into a logical, coherent piece, it's worth making that piece shine for the many audiences using the web..
I'm working on making this blog conform to accessibility standards for the web. Several good works on this include Joe Clark's Building Accessible Websites and Mark Pilgrim's 30 days to a more accessible site. As to why web accessibility is a virtue to strive for, start with a taste of the debate: Joe Clark fielding questions for Slashdot (/.).
Word 'bursts' may reveal online trends according to the New Scientist: Searching for sudden ‘bursts’ in the usage of particular words could be used to rapidly identify new trends and sort information more efficiently, says a US computer scientist.
The interesting part of the algorithm is that it does not just count words, but calculates how the rate of usage of certain words has changed. And certainly, this algorithm has interesting implications for web logs and search engines and trends. True enough. But is it identifying a trend or the point at which writing and life intersect? Case in point: ‘depression’ soon becomes a popular word in the 1930s. Well, yes. The interesting question is when did ‘depression’ suddenly burst upon the scene? When did people think of themselves as being in a depression?
Between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, homo sapiens suddenly burst forth with culture and art. The recent discovery of the first gene linked to language (FOXP2) led one anthropologist to wonder if a genetic mutation may be the key to this explosion of creativity. That would make us truly accidental creatures. Hmm.
Peace returns following the chase of the snowballs. What joy, what ease, what tail-wagging.
Never, ever get trapped in a house with my lovely dog. First day, frolicking in the snow. Much fun had. Second day frolicking in the snow with the coup of the neighborhood kids joining in. Third day. It's all deep snow and whining. Put him out in the yard. Dress for shoveling. He understandably is unhappy when the iceballs form between the pads. So bring him inside. He whines to go back out, and then finds the snow too deep. Put him on porch while shoveling. He whines. Put him back in house in basement to dry off. Finish shoveling. Shed wet clothes, dry dog off. He's ready to play. Okay, what about fetch? No dice: one fetch and he's done. It's the right toy but the wrong room he barks, irritated at my stupidity. No playing upstairs, only downstairs. (Since when do you make the rules up? I'm thinking.) What about playing upstairs I say? A standoff ensues.
When's the last time you argued with your dog?
I used to cook. Now my oven is slowly baking my boots dry. I used to have a cat. Now I share a house with a golden retriever|chowchow mix. The boots are drying so I can walk the dog again. He leaps through the snow drifts, looking back with pity as I flounder behind. And I realize a cat's disdain is less cruel than a dog's pity. Fortunately I still remember that snow days can be a gift to enjoy, rather than a day to endure. So maybe I'm not as old and weary as I feel.
Caveat: I do edit for typos, bad links, and frankly, wording that makes me cringe after posting. Will I change text to make a foolish statement wise? Absolutely not. Except if I speled the folishness rong.
I fact-check. A second look never hurts; if the information is incorrect or incomplete or out of context, let me know. Do keep in mind this is the work of one person with the fallibility and biases that implies.
Miscellany
There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
I finally launched the site, the software is installed and I have managed to encourage one soul to use a blog. But have I actually participated in this activity? Nope. So in an attempt to make amends, here I am blathering away on my keyboard in hopes of something interesting crossing my mind. The name of the log, "Carpe Decorum," means nothing other than what you, the reader, wishes. If you wish to seize the decorator, by all means go ahead.
Caveat Lector: Entries may have been edited since last you looked (typos, poor wording, undone links and the like). Not editing content. Opinions subject to change: consistency is for novels, not people.
What is in a name? Well, a lot and a lot of meaning as Enron might say. But there is but one Enron (for which we may all be grateful). When it comes to blogging, however, there may be many Jennifers, Michelles, and Mikes. How do all the Joellens and Johns and so forth distinguish themselves? Arguably by what they write, for whom they write. I don't recall mixing up authors of similar names too often (John Keats and John Irving -- nah). So, is this a problem, all these bloggers sharing common first names?Well, yes and not so much. Someone has gone to the trouble of asking how popular are popular names? A new study demonstrates that favorite names are less commonly given to children than they once were. In other words, the pool of names for children from which we choose is larger than the one our grandparents (or further back) used. Good news: there are fewer people sharing your name and possibly your credit report than there could have been.
Now the blog is up, it's time to get the stylesheet into a styling mode. And then of course, update to the latest version of Movable Type.
I finally launched the site, the software is installed and I have managed to encourage one soul to use a blog. But have I actually participated in this activity? Nope. So in an attempt to make amends, here I am blathering away on my keyboard in hopes of something interesting crossing my mind. The name of the log, "Carpe Decorum," means nothing other than what you, the reader, wishes. If you wish to seize the decorator, by all means go ahead.
Caveat Lector: Entries may have been edited since last you looked (typos, poor wording, undone links and the like). Not editing content. Opinions subject to change: consistency is for novels, not people.