bookmark_borderWhat's in a name?

The price of fame, in blogland, appears to be nasty comments. At least that’s what some visitors, the minority it would seem, to Naked Blog take it to be. Peter rightly points out that it is his writing that is the key element of his site, but I’m not sure that the following statement is quite what he means.

“the medium would descend to a money-making racket, then I wouldn’t have championed it so vociferously over the aeons.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to second guess a Bloggies Lifetime Achievement nominee but there seems to be a growing view that you either blog for pleasure, for the aesthetic if you will, or you are a whore to the green mistress that rules us all. The more I think about it, the more I begin to wonder if that isn’t exactly what is going on at the moment.

On one side you have the hobbyist blog. The traditional, grass-roots publishing side of things where, largely (putting small amounts from adverts aside), the key element is the publishing of posts on whatever topic takes the author’s fancy.

Contrasting that you have the “pro” blog. Usually topic-focussed (specialised), and aiming to have a large readership to ensure the revenue generated by adverts is maximised. Includes blogs that rely solely on advertising or sponsorship to survive.

Too simplistic? Well have a look at a blog, any blog you like, and try and apply the ‘rules’ above. I warrant you’ll be able to decide which camp it belongs to pretty easily.

I’m not arguing for/against any blog, what you do with your blog is up to you dearest reader. I just think that, as blogs permeate further into the media and society in general, it’s better for those who blog (that’s us) to take a look at these things and offer some suggestions. What I think we really need is a new word.

I think both ‘sets’ of bloggers would benefit from a new term in the blog lexicon that offers us a way to categorise a blog along the simplistic lines I’ve mentioned above. We already have the term “blog” and I’d suggest that is kept for the hobbyist (although as we are the ones without the money I’m not entirely sure we get to decide!). So we need a new word for the professional blog.

Except we already have one, a quick search for problog brings plenty of results. However I think this is still missing a trick as it doesn’t account for the ‘non-corporate’ professional bloggers (Kottke, Dooce… umm… are there any others??) but I think I can live with that. There are always a few sites that bend the rules.

This site is, and will remain, a blog. A means to publish whatever zips across my radar. A way to keep in touch with a large number of interesting people whom I’ve never met. Something that keeps my interest. A hobby.

UPDATE
Well this has sparked an interesting set of topics, not to mention a couple of very well thought out emails. There are a few other comments over at mike’s place which add to the discussion as well.

To close this out I thought I’d post a copy of the comment I made over there (hey if he can do it..)

Kettle fish etc..

Having re-read my own post a few times, and thought about some comments, and emails as well, I can see why some would think I was saying that X is “more worthy” than Y. That wasn’t the intention.

My background is communications. A key part of that is the seemingly simple matter of using common terminology. GETTING simple terminology out of a complex topic, like blogging, is nigh on impossible.

So, you take the mix of ‘what is a blog’ and distill it down as far as possible. I still think you can categorise ANY blog as either PRO (for money) or PERSONAL (not for money).

You are right that blogs are just “websites with reverse-chronological dated posts”. Couldn’t agree more. So maybe I should have focussed on the author, the motivation behind the blog.

Do I think that one particular type of blog is “more worthy” than another? Define “worthy”. OK, I’m being argumentative… in short, no I don’t.

I read political blogs, web design blogs, blogs about people’s lives, blogs about people’s football teams, blogs about music, movies, books… etc etc.

They are all blogs. The motivation behind them may be different.

I THINK that’s the point I was trying to make (but I’m backtracking a bit).

The next question is WHY categorise at all?

Simple answer? Don’t. There is no need. It was just something I was thinking about (and that I thought might spark a few comments). I certainly wasn’t getting “all het up about it” or anything. Far too unhealthy an attitude if you ask me.

As mike (as usual) succinctly puts it “Live and let live. Peace and love.” Well said, that man, well said.

bookmark_borderPatience?

Blimey, it’s almost cold enough to freeze the testicles off a monkey made from a copper and zinc alloy!

Anyway, my fingers are just about warm enough to type so I have a question. How long should I wait for payment before re-listing an item on eBay?

The bidding ended 5 days ago, and I’ve contacted the buyer twice, once to say if they paid immediately they could have the item by the weekend, and again last night to enquire WHEN they would be paying… the second email was mainly to see if I get a response at all!

I didn’t include a ‘must be paid in x days’ note anywhere but in my limited experience with eBay I’ve never had anything take this long. Even cheques have appeared quicker.

What say you, oh wise denizens of the internet, should I re-list the item?

UPDATE: eBay’s Unpaid Item Process is what I’m after!

bookmark_borderWho am I?

UPDATE: The idea for this post came from Lea Alcantara. I’ll summarise your comments over the weekend and maybe even let you know why I asked. Maybe.

Right, interaction time (stop groaning at the back).

For reasons that I can’t yet disclose (unless you’re willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement? No, didn’t think so) I need your help. I need to know how other people (that’d be you lot) perceive me. Simple.

This is open to everyone, whether friend or family, regular or virgin reader. Three adjectives are all I ask, although I suggest you think them up before you open the comments so you aren’t influenced by others.

I’ll collate the responses later, and I’ll be emailing “non-blog aware” people as well.

Feel free to comment more than once; three adjectives per comment on what you think when you think “Gordon McLean”.

bookmark_borderThe Go! Team

The Go! Team

I’m definitely getting old as my ears are still lightly ringing after a fantastic gig last night.

Met up with Sudhesh for a drink beforehand, and Alex joined us in the queue. As we entered the first support act was on, didn’t catch the name. One guy, some samples and beats… he was from Bristol.. er… the rest was kinda forgettable.

The main support act was provided by Lady Sovereign who surprised me and others (I’d imagine) by turning up with a full band and delivery a largely rock-based set – I’d been expecting a grime sound, heavy on the MCs and mixing desks. Alas the sound mix wasn’t too great and you couldn’t really make her out but, on that evidence, I’ll get hold of her album and see if the hype is justified.

And so, after trying to find some other people we were supposed to meet there (it turns out they had been in the upstairs bar all along), the lights dimmed and the assorted members of The Go! Team made their way onstage.

I was really looking forward to the gig as they’ve got a great reputation for their live act and no wonder. Two sets of drums played in turns by three drummers, one bass, two guitars, harmonica, keyboard, xylophone and a few other instruments are all bashed, twanged, blown, and general assaulted by the 6 band members, ohhh and let’s not forget the 4 backing singers. Special mention should go to the lead singer, Ninja, who keeps the crowd going and oozes energy as she pogos and dances round the stage almost constantly.

Musically the best description I’ve heard was that they make “charlie brown music”, except it’s charlie brown with a little bit of attitude. Simply put it’s a cacophony of beats, instruments and samples over some lovely upbeat melodies. This is FUN music, evidence by the fact that, independently of each other, Alex and I both said that we couldn’t remember the last time we’d spent an entire gig grinning from ear to ear (with a little booty-shakin’ as well of course).

Anyway, it was a long time coming since I first mentioned them here, and I can thoroughly recommend you catch them if they are in your area. This band will be the darlings of the festival set next year, guaranteed.

Visit the Super 8 section of their site for a couple of tracks.

UPDATE: Alex posted his review at Diskant.

bookmark_borderThis and that

Blogger is being an arse. As zoe recently found out they’ve started adding extra code to each post, thereby screwing up her site and (for a short while last night) my miniblog. So until they sort it out the miniblog is on hiatus.

UPDATE: Fixed zoe’s site thanks to this forum post. Will look at my miniblog later.

~

Not sure if it’s an extension of this story but having heard yet another report along these lines over the weekend, I have to take issue with the current reporting of these “Happy Slapping” incidents. There is a world of difference between assault and rape and the news agencies reporting the story should really be calling it what it is. Ditch this “happy slap” tag as it’s only serving to trivialise these matters.

~

Venus, Mercury and Saturn are putting on a bit of a show this evening, hopefully the cloud cover will lift later on today and give us a fairly unique celestial display:

These three planets are destined to crowd into a small spot in the sky, making for a very distinctive and eye-catching formation that is sure to thrill most sky watchers. Think of it as “The Great Celestial Summit Meeting.”

bookmark_borderCalling All Gurus

CSS gurus that is.

Have a gander at this page and then tell me why I can’t get the navigation (Home, Gallery, Links) to center align in that DIV?!

To break it down a little, the DIV under the banner is TOPNAV, within that is an unordered list with an id of NAVLIST. I’ve tried applying a text-align: center; to the NAVLIST and to the TOPNAV div to no avail. Totally baffled.

Maybe there’s an easier way to do it? Should I ditch the idea of using a list altogether?

Ohh and Keith, mate, have a gander as well, it’s your site that’s causing me all these hassles!!!

UPDATE: Sorted. 30 mins. That’s impressive. Of course if I’d actually applied the rules had I’d previously on another DIV that I’ve since deleted… width and auto margins.. then it’d work as expected. As ever, having someone else look at the code you’ve had your head buried in for hours is the easiest way to get these things sorted out.