The only news today in the blogosphere is that Google has bought Blogger. I have an almost infinite amount to say about this subject, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to have time to say it for a few days. Apologies…
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Year: 2003
Today 750,000 people in the UK converged on London to take part in the “Stop the War” march. And here – if such a thing is possible – is where I try to put into words my reasons for not being one of them.
Pretty much everyone I know from work went on the march. Many other UK webloggers marched too. Friends of mine of every political persuasion were there. But I wasn’t. Why? I keep asking myself what holds me back. Why don’t I feel able to throw myself behind such a huge and popular cause?
It isn’t because I’m a fan of Saddam Hussein. That’s for certain. And it’s not because I believe that the US has no interests in the area that it’s trying to protect. And I know that I find the rhetoric of many pro-war people terrifying – designed to incite fear, hatred and a sense of revenge. And the links between Al Qaeda and Iraq? Speculative at best. We probably have more obvious and stronger links with these organisations. After all, someone worked to keep the USSR out of the Middle East…
In my heart I think the reason I’m not standing up with everyone else against this war is because I think there are two very separate issues that need to be detached from one another and I think I’ve been scared that this march conflates them.
To start off with, I don’t have any reason to be against a “moral” war – if indeed this is one. Indeed, I would not even be against a pragmatic war. We may be have been the ones who put Hussein where he is today, we may have sold him the weapons, we may have propped up his regime, we may have interests in the area – but if he poses a threat, if his regime is bloody and dictatorial, then this makes us more responsible, not less. If anything something should be done because we fouled up so atrociously in the past.
What I am against, and I think it’s something that I share with a good proportion of the people on that march today, is the feeling that the United Nations is an institution that shouldn’t be bullied, dismantled or circumvented. Fundamentally, if I’m against anything here, it’s the rejection of the checks and balances of the international community. If you’re having problems with the way they do things, then you try and change the minds of international community, or you work to change the institution in a way that makes it work more effectively. You don’t get to ignore the law just because no one can stop you breaking it. There’s too much to be lost – a world of stability that we’re still nowhere near, but which we’ve been fighting for over the last six decades. More, even. It’s the noblest goal I can think of. But it has to be a world of stability that we reached through reaching a consensus, and not by imposing our opinions – our values.
I’ve had the news on in the background all day, and a good proportion of the people on these demonstrations don’t seem to be protesting war at all. They just want a war that’s conducted in their name – if it is proven to be necessary – to go through the proper process, to be undertaken as a solemn responsibility of an organisation that represents all the major peoples of the world. That’s all. If I’d known that this morning, I think I might have joined them…
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The Valentine's Day Link Massacre…
It’s the day before Valentine’s Day, that most accursed of all days. Accursed for all time because of the way the saint in question was beaten with clubs and beheaded for worshipping the ‘wrong’ super-powered fantasy figure. The same day of disaster and terror that saw the gangland executions of seven mobsters in 1929. This day of poisonous snacks and symbolically ripped-out bodily organs. Like the Roman Saturnalia only without any of the fun and with a hell of a lot more Meg Bloody Ryan, is there really anything worse than Valentine’s Day?
Well I can’t make the stupid day go away, but I can distract you with frivolous trivia and trashy links!
- Interview with IHT.com’s designer
I spent ages trying to find out about who built iht.com when it first launched, and now there’s a whole interview with its creator over at new-favourite-weblog ordinary-life.net. - Faith – the TV series?
As Buffy approaches what seems like it should be an ending, what comes next? Could it be a Faith TV series – maybe with support from Willow the witch? If so, count me in… - Rogue Semiotics on UpMyStreet Conversations
Now this is why we build Conversations in the first place: ‘”How much do I love UpMyStreet? Well, a decent amount, particularly as it serves the basic but essential community function of being like standing in the greengrocers for five minutes.” - Sea Lions Guard US ships
” The sea lions have been trained to carry a special clamp in their mouths which they can attach to a suspicious person, Commander John Wood, Special Operations Officer Naval Forces Central Command, told Reuters” [Thanks Meg] - Poor Old Adam loses his job in Apple Store
“When I went to pbzone.com my heart sank, my knees went weak. it was that oh fuck feeling that you know when something really bad has happened.” - Sharon and Grant get married
The nicest site I’ve ever ever found in my referral logs.
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Tove Jansson's Moomins
Recently, in a visit to Covent Garden’s fashionable Magma graphic design store, my eyes found themselves irresistably drawn to a reprint of a Tove Jansson Moomin picture book from the late 1950s. The book – called unselfconsciously The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My [cover] – tells the story of how young Moomintroll stumbles upon Mymble, whose mischievous daughter has become lost in the wilds of Moominvalley. Each page is a stunning piece of design and artistry conveying an incredibly atmospheric – and uncomfortably scary – world. I bought the book immediately – there’s work inside that reminds me of the woodcut artist and typographer Eric Gill. This is not the kind of childrens book that people seem to make any more.
There aren’t really enough really good sites about Tove Jansson or the Moomins online – certainly not that convey the full impact of her artwork – but I’ve compiled a few useful links for anyone who wants more of an introduction to her work:
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Dumb Theories about Buffy…
So how do I do this without spoiling things for people in the UK who don’t know what’s going to happen? And how do I do it without sounding like a total dork? How – in fact – do I talk about Buffy Season Seven (as being shown in the States at the moment) without giving too much away? It’s a tough one, certainly. Perhaps an impossible one… Nonetheless, I must take my strength from the example provided for me by my televisual heroine! Battle on against all the odds! Fight for what is right! Kill all the vampires! Um.
Ways in which Tom increasingly resembles Xander Harris:
- Frankly not as thin or as devastatingly hot as used to be.
- Knows too much about Star Wars, Star Trek, Comic Books.
- Hair unruly.
- Considers Anya to be Goddess but wouldn’t have married her.
Ways in which Tom increasingly resembles Andrew:
- I think I’m kinda gay.
- Knows too much about Star Wars, Star Trek, Comic Books.
- Looks good in black.
- Occasionally kills people to look cool to hot guys. Did I say kills people? I meant gave people lovely presents and help with their homework and stuff. Phew.
- Has never successfully slaughtered a pig.
Dumb Theories about the End of the Series:
- Buffy can’t be a slayer any more.
- Something important – significant – has to be sacrificed.
- There have to be a couple of happy endings. Anya / Xander?
- Buffy and Spike are not meant to be together forever.
- “Cos you gotta have Faith…”
Other ways I could humiliate myself in front of my weblogging peers:
- Tom Coates baby pictures.
- “Why I was wrong” – a series of articles examining every thing I’ve said on my site over the last three and a half years that subsequently turned out to be completely wrong.
- The plasticbag.org ‘Comic Relief’ special?
- Everyone likes stories about digestive problems…
I think maybe it would be for the best if we just forgot I ever wrote this post. Let’s all just move along. Nothing to see here. Just too much caffeine and not enough good TV.
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Cosmic Polling Booth, I praise thee…
- Björk’s QuickTime Gallery
Stunning Björkish videos presented in full through the magic and wonder of quicktime. Complete with small amounts of information about what exactly the tiny foreign lunatic was taking during filming. - The Les Dennis Experience!
Indescribably funny kind-of-fan-site for the UK ‘comedian’ and Celebrity Big Brother Windbag. “Few people know that Les Dennis owns a big boat that is manned almost entirely by Dwarves! ‘Dwarves are easy to control and don’t expect much pay’ Les told us when we rang to confirm the rumours.” Warning: Stinking Rude Bits Unfit for Young ‘Uns. - NetNewsWire launches
$30 for NetNewsWire Pro version 1. I’ll be downloading and paying for that tomorrow then. Anyone on a Mac who hasn’t already got it probably should and if you haven’t got OSX, then it’s worth getting it just to run NNW. In fact, I think it’s probably worth getting a Mac to run it. Excellent geeky goodness for all the weblog family…
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Microcontent Voting…
Definition of Microcontent Voting: A recent trend in weblog circles, the “microcontent vote” has emerged from several historical contingencies. In particular, the increasing use of tools like Movable Type has encouraged the posting of longer, more involved pieces of writing – writing fit to occupy a fully independent web document in and of itself. Due to a scarcity of time, this excess of wordy posting necessarily leaves the weblogger enervated and recumbant – in turn leaving a considerable number of interesting links uncommented upon – uninvestigated. The most logical band-aid to this increasing problem of weblog exhaustion? ‘Remaindered links sections’ (unordered lists of links with little or no commentary) and even ‘linklogs’ have emerged – secondary weblogs attached like small cleaning fish to the huge gills and gnashing teeth of weblog monsters like kottke.org, Anil Dash and interconnected.
The value of these dedicated linklogs or multi-link posts is debatable. It seems that it would be relatively rare for any individual to follow these lists with the same interest and joie de vivre with which they might follow the ‘main’ site. It would not be beyond the bounds of reason – in fact – to argue that no one actually clicks on the links contained within them at all. But perhaps their utility isn’t based around their presence on the site in question… And maybe that utility isn’t for the readers of that site at all…
One of the most obvious reasons for their use is that they represent relatively cheap content for weblog authors. Other than the intellectual labour in finding the material in the first place, little effort is required to post it to the weblog in question. Commentary (if any) can be sparse and pithy. The second obvious (and connected) reason for their use is that they represent a quick way of getting interesting links published upon one’s site. They are a speedy enterprise. Both of these depend on the crucial final point – that they represent links that the author believes should be seen but has not the time or the inclination to write about further.
As such – the ‘linklog’ or the ‘remaindered links’ post represents nothing more clearly than a simple statement on the quality (or the newsworthiness) of the links in question. It is nothing more or less than a vote that “this is worth reading”. And these votes are increasingly being collated by sites such as Popdex, Blogdex and Daypop – transforming the mindless daily drudge work of weblog-worker-bees into a neatly ranked link-honey of utility and joy to all…
The novelty of the link upon your site is no longer the issue – the issue is merely is it good? If you answer honestly, then the community itself can decide what’s worth reading. Every citizen of weblogland has the right to the microcontent vote. They have the right to use them and the power to do so. And the power carries right through the weblog indices into Google’s indexing and from there into the browsing experiences of everyone throughout the world. Use your votes wisely. For Microcontent Votes are Power.
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The end is nigh for clumsy irony…
Ok. Here’s a funny one for you. Dame Edna Everage – that woman who is you know actually a man (sorry if I spoiled that for you) and who makes a living by saying really funny offensive things that satirise Australia, the nouveau riche and the terminally classless – that same Dame Edna Everage manages to crack a joke in a Vanity Fair column suggesting that a reader shouldn’t bother to learn Spanish because there’s nothing worth reading in it – and it’s the language of “leaf blowers” and “the help”. Rather than finding this an entertaining satire on the kind of ludicrous self-involved people who actually think such clap-trap, Latina magazine gets into a big strop about it (via Gawker) subsequently forcing poor Vanity Fair to actually apologise. It sure is a sorry day for clumsy irony.
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Three small site changes…
Because I never tire of boring people stupid with little tweaks and quirks around the site, here’s an update about three small changes to the way the site is operating:
- Taking my cue from Dan Hon, plasticbag.org’s commenting interface has been changed in accordance with the recommendations from Antipixel (that are shortly to be integrated into the default Movable Type templates), which provide a simple, space-friendly and usable alternative to the standard templates I was using. [Spookily this coincides exactly with Paul Mison making the same decisions.]
- While I haven’t as yet been totally thorough and systematic in their implementation, I’ve also had a go at making the site slightly more usable for people with accessibility issues. I have – of course – been using diveintoaccessibility.org as a guide for this process – which I will complete more thoroughly at a later date.
- On the bottom of the individual archive pages of this site you will find a small panel called “BBC: On This Day”. This is essentially a piece of meaningless fluff that directs you to the BBC’s On This Day entry for whatever day the post was produced. It’s far from perfect, and it’s not particularly useful as yet, but it’s connected to larger ideas I’m having about providing context and timelines for weblog entries. More about that soon, hopefully. In the meantime, if you want to know how the link is generated in Movable Type, the code is here.
I posted a while back about the artificiality of treating Trackbacks as something distinct when we were developing the design of our weblog pages. I wrote at the time:
” …the only reason we’re segregating [Trackback] from the body of our posts is because it’s got a different name. Most of my site is comprised of ‘includes’ of one kind or another, but I never feel the need to draw attention to that fact. And I don’t think one should do that with trackback either.”
My assumption was that Trackback should be incorporated into the bodies of one’s posts. They should appear in context on the front page of your site as if they were always part of the post they were attached to. In this way, I felt, they could be elegantly assimilated into the flow of formless and unstructured content that constitutes a ‘post’ rather than being assigned or allocated a piece of typological real estate to sit within.
Another particular anxiety of mine was the way that one structured the link-text when one had so many specific types of information and functionality to hang off the link. Assuming that (in defiance of Movable Type‘s standard templates) you’re not prepared to commit the sin of navigational pop-up windows, then link-text becomes a significant problem. One inevitably seems to end up with the unstructured (overstructured?) permalinks of the kind that can be seen at benhammersley.com. Because all the information pertaining to a post is to contained on the same individual archive page, each link to that page has to carry the date of that post, a link to its permanent URL, it has to gesture to the existence of comments functionality, and separately to Trackback functionality. It also has to make it clear that you can see these comments and Trackbacks and that you can add to them. And it has to tell you the number of Trackbacks and comments as well. Link-text overload.
The metaphor of the link is of a connection between a word/phrase and a document – the word simultaneously acting as the link origin and a description of the destination. This relationship often gets stretched under the weight of weblogging, but shouldn’t have to bear the burden of so many ostensible destinations… By pulling the trackbacks into the body of the post itself, I hoped to be able to strip that element from the links – there would no longer be trackbacks / permalink (entry) / comments, but just the more manageable and self-explanatory entry (mine) and occasionally comments (everyones).
Recently I came across Simple Comments – which is a Movable Type plugin that clearly responds to the same anxieties of UI, but which attempts to solve them by moving in the other direction. Rather than incorporating the trackbacks into the body of the post, Simple Comments attaches them to the comments facility. It’s a very neat solution to the issue, but I think it’s misguided. My main reason for concern? Rather than ending up with a discrete post followed by a readable interchange between interested parties (an asynchronous conversation through time, all contained on one page and with a clear means of response – much like you’d get in a thread on a discussion board like Barbelith), you end up with a set of responses interspersed by decontextualised and truncated posts from other sites. As a result, I think the tendency is to encourage a form of interaction where the visitor responds to the initial post itself, rather than participating in an ongoing conversation or debate.
Your visitors will learn nothing – because nothing emerges – from the simple ability to express their opinion about your initial post. An actual community though – whatever content it may hang off – is another matter entirely. Active and significant discussion can emerge – people can express their opinions about one another’s arguments, finding interesting ideas and running with them, developing them further. It might not be the kind of interaction you might expect on a site designed to help you express yourself, but while it might cause problems of its own, it’s a good deal more satisfying and constructive an interaction than simply soliciting (positive or negative) criticism…