Month: August 2006

bookmark_borderDumbing Down

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I have no idea which part of my brain starts these thoughts but sometimes I wish it would stop. The following is the result of a lot of hypothetical reasoning and is probably completely tosh. But if I don’t write this down I’ll go mental.

Recently there has been a recurring thought rattling about in my head concerning the de-education and de-sensitisation of society that has lead us to our current state of low morals, low intelligence and lowest common pandering.. but I’m struggling to piece it all together.

I read an article the other day that bemoaned the manner in which the news is reported, claiming that it is deliberately sensationalist and dumbed down. On the whole I have to agree, but the TV stations have to maintain an audience so it’s not really their fault, is it?

Let’s start with the standard of TV in general. The rise of consumer based programmes can be linked to the record levels of debt in the UK, we are an increasingly materialistic society the reasons for which lie in a variety of areas including but not limited to globalisation and a general decline in religious beliefs — the former gives us cheaper and cheaper products, the latter is an excuse for selfishness? Hey, I didn’t say this was well thought out…

I think the fascination with celebrity can be thrown into the mix as well. And as our credit cards provide us with the extra money, and thus the desire to spend, we apparently seem to need people to emulate — What does [insert celeb] have in his/her living room?

So the next obvious question has to be why we feel the need to emulate these people, and how much of that emulation is actually a need for validation; If I own what that popular, well-known person owns, then I’ll get a little of that same popularity and recognition for myself, I’ll be just like them, love me too!!

Are we all really THAT lacking in self-confidence?

I’m guessing we are for I can think of no other reason why there is ANOTHER “design a new room (a new you?) in only 6 hours using sellotape and dead hamsters!” program ‘coming soon’.

Right, we are getting somewhere now, a lack of self confidence can be traced to… come on, you know… that’s right, lack of validation, reassurance and encouragement as a child. Simple. And who do we blame when that goes wrong, why the parents of course!

So there you go. Simple. Blame the parents.

But we can’t. It’s not their fault. For starters, they are only a product of their generation, many of whom lived through a war…

Hang on, is THAT what we are lacking?

Is the fundamental reason our society continues to exhibit less than wanted traits because we’ve not had a ‘hard time’ recently? Because, these days, the wars are in far off lands, relayed via satellite into our living rooms (and thus helping with the de-sensitisation).

Do we lack respect for authority because authority is, essentially, meaningless? Disobey a warden during war time may have meant wandering under a falling bomb, what punishment do we give today for ‘anti-social behaviour’? A few weeks community service? Do we have it too easy?

Of course there is no one answer, especially not given the huge amount of generalisation that I’ve thrown about, willy-nilly. Lack of education, respect, and obedience are all lining up as potential victims, but more importantly what is the solution? IS there a solution?

The evidence is there for all to see, and here is a final thought on the matter. As the usage of the internet grows, the number of TV channels increases and the long tail kicks in, will the divide between the ‘dumb’ and the ‘not so dumb’ increase? If we can all pick and choose our life experiences, our knowledge and our specialisation, then how will we be able to interact with one another in the future? If we are cocooned in our own mini-societies, what becomes of us?

bookmark_borderProduct Marketing

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So, what do you do, as a blogger with ethics, when a company write to you to promote their product? Well, first of all you check out the product.

Now, according to Sharon Dupont who contacted me, the product in question:

provide[s] a simple Web 2.0 service that allows bloggers to include syndication feeds, like news headlines, posts from other blogs or podcasts, into their blogs without any programming knowledge required. We hope that our take on the “problem” might be of use to both bloggers and web surfers.

All well and good (I’m not saying I’d USE the product myself but some might be interested).

Now, I’m not in the habit of plugging things on here without good reason, and so before I posted this I emailed Sharon to ask her a few questions, primarily about the company behind the product, and if whether they were deliberately targetting blogs as a form of marketing.

That was a several weeks ago. I’m still waiting for a response.

There are many companies, let’s call them “traditional” companies (with offices and products that come in boxes), who ‘get’ the internet. They realise that an online presence can help their business. Some of these companies also realise that blogs can be used to improve communication with their customers, and the really enlightened ones have worked it into they way the work.

Yet some companies still see blogs as a ‘free ride’, presuming we’ll hawk their goods for them. They seem oblivious to the possible downsides (this post is one), and whilst I don’t feel sorry for them it does annoy me. There is no good reason why a successful company can’t have a blog and make that blog work. Or at the very least there is no good reason why a successful company can’t at least UNDERSTAND how they could WORK WITH bloggers.

An example: at the recent BlogHer conference in the States, a car company turned up at one of the social events with a couple of soft-top cars. They allowed people to take them for a spin, didn’t try and sell and largely contributed to the whole ‘fun’ ethos of the event. They didn’t hand out marketing brochures, or push their product in any way. Yet they benefitted. How? Numerous mentions of the fun people had in their cars, photos galore in Flickr, and we all now that Google loves links and they got a barrowload of them (barrel? barrow? hmm that’s an odd one).

Obviously this is a form of marketing but, when conducted in such a fashion as to be unobtrusive and actually giving something BACK, then I think it works. Wouldn’t you love to take a spin in a convertible on a nice sunny day? Of course you would.

Now it’s all well and good for a large corporation to provide such freebies but I think blogging can help smaller companies as well. Putting aside the fact that ANY kind of web presence is no longer good enough (if I want to stay in your hotel, let me see the rooms, check availability and prices please) then the success stories will be the companies that realise that it’s not the size of the audience that visits your site, it’s that the RIGHT PEOPLE VISIT YOUR SITE.

[insert penis related “size doesn’t matter” pun here]

If I run a business from my home, say a dog walking service, then it will benefit me more if my website is known to people that are in my area, have a dog, and would like their dog looked after during the day. Currently the best way to do that would be target dog shows, leaflet some houses in the area, or just get chatting to dog owners in the area.

Blogging may fit into that equation, but I’d see it as more of an add-on, a way of providing a human face to the business in an online context. For the moment, as blogging becomes increasingly popular it will continue to drive more and more ‘referrer business’ into all types of businesses. Those that are web-savvy now should be able to reap some benefits.

As for Ms. Dupont, I won’t mention the company/product name here as they don’t deserve the publicity (if you are really interested, google the quote), and here’s a tip for anyone with a business online. Be transparent. If you want me to invest my time and blog in your product, if you contact ME in an effort to market your product, presume I’ll do some research into the company behind the product and I’ll definitely want to be able to see the name of the person who contacted me listed somewhere on your site.

Blogging is huge, the numbers are startling, but until some businesses wise up it’s largely going to remain the remit of the hobbyists.

bookmark_border"Read me" by Anon.

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Girl with a one track mind has long been a favourite read, primarily because of her open and frank discussions of her sexual adventures and preferences (and mainly because of the wit and honesty with which she writes). Surprise, huh. After the boom in popularity of Belle de Jour —does anyone still read her blog? She has posted on this topic as well— which went from “best kept secret” to “guess who” in a matter of months, the publishing of books of these so-called sex blogs seems to spark undue interest.

But, now that the true identity of Girl has been revealed, again we have the press creating a hubbub where, frankly, one doesn’t really exist.

In a nutshell the ‘story’ can be described thus:

  1. Woman starts anonymous blog, discusses her sex life
  2. Blog starts gaining in popularity
  3. Publishing house decides to cash in, offers woman a book deal
  4. Woman accepts, with some trepidation that her identity will be revealed
  5. Her identity is revealed by a national newspaper

Fascinating, huh.

One question is why the newspaper chose to run this story. It’s a tiny headline in a sea of corruption, war, death and an Englishman winning a Grand Prix, and I reckon that you can split it’s audience neatly into sections. There will be many people who will tut, tut at the decline of society, appalled that ‘sex’ is being discussed in such frank and open terms (and to continue the stereotype, they’ll later go home, tie up their partner, and start whipping them whilst dress in head to toe PVC). There will also be people who read the article and will wonder what all the fuss is about. There will be others who wonder why she wrote about it all so publically, and there will be plenty of others who will see the word “blog” and stop reading.

Needless to say it’s making ripples in blogland.

Up in arms that a journalist has broken the code of conduct, Tom Reynolds writes that “We bloggers examine every word on our blogs for their effect on our privacy, we edit what we write to reveal as much, or as little about our true selves as we desire”, arguing that everyone has a right to privacy, which we do.

Bobbie asks Why was Girl with a One Track Mind anonymous? reminding us of “The First Rule of Blogging: if you don’t want things to ever come out into the open, you don’t write about them at all.” I’ve discussed self-censorship on here before, and have to agree with Bobbie, if you wouldn’t stand on a street corner, shouting it out, don’t blog about it.

And Pete suggests that the journalist in question should “do some investigative research into what journalism is supposed to be about and do something useful with your skills“, and having read the article in question I’d wholeheartedly agree. The few snippets of information are presented in an entirely sensationalist way and, well, I just don’t see the point. WHY should I read this (a moot point as I already have, I know).

But is there a middle ground here?

Personally I think that Tom is correct, that journalists (and not just in this instance) need to exert more control and have a level of morality injected (physically if necessary). As the press scramble for publishing figures, the right to privacy for all needs to be more readily enforcable. Of course I’d suggest that society should take some of the blame here, the fascination with any level of celebrity isn’t healthy and only serves to lower the standards of the mainstream press (again, a deeper discussion of the lower education standards, and lack of discipline is probably warranted but best avoided for the moment).

Yet I also agree with Bobbie, to a point. It IS possible, if you are careful, to have an anonymous blog —the identity of Belle de Jour has yet to be revealed— and, frankly, if you want to discuss your preferences, sexual or otherwise on that blog then go for it. The personal nature of a blog and the relationship that exists between the author and the blog itself, is unique. With a little care you could publish whatever you want and not fear that your anonymity will be compromised.

But balance that with the simple fact that, like most secrets, the truth will out and you have a potential recipe for disaster. Whilst it’s easy to say that the journalists should exercise some self-control, the same can be said for bloggers. Maybe blogging needs a central charter that can be referred to, an agreed Code of Conduct?

I’ll close by saying that I sincerely hope that the fallout from this doesn’t hit Girl too hard, and I’ll leave the last word on this to the inimitable andre (ohh god, am I allowed to mention his name?).

bookmark_border15 years

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Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of when some bloke, sorry SIR some bloke, published some files on an international network. Since then a lot has changed. Some of it good, some of it bad, some of it mediocre, some of it, er, unmediocre.

I first stumbled across the internet in my first job. After being introduced to Windows for Workgroups, my first ever experience of Windows after years of Macs, I was shown an application called Netscape, a search engine called Yahoo!, and six months later I created my first web site. Email was still limited to a handful of people, mostly in the same company, and spam was something you didn’t buy at the supermarket. I quickly found newsgroups and websites that followed my interests, and struck up some email friendships with people across the globe. OK, so mainly with people in the USA.

Since that day the internet has grown to be an integral part of my life. On Thursday last week I lost my broadband connection for a couple of hours and I was stumped. I couldn’t look anything up, I couldn’t email or MSN anyone to ask a question, I couldn’t surf the web idly, and it was all a little disconcerting.

Now I take some care not to rely completely on my computer or the internet. I’m aware that my computer may die, and the internet might not always be there, but it was a stark reminder of just how it influences my personal and professional life. Startling.

bookmark_borderFresh Air

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Despite not sleeping well last night I was up and out in the garden early. A little bit of digging, raking and planting, a trip to the skip and I was done. All in time for lunch.

Then I did nothing. Literally, nothing. I just sat in our back garden for about thirty minutes, watched the birds flit from tree to tree, the clouds race each other across the sky, content and quiet.

My parents arrived mid-afternoon having visited my Gran in hospital —she’s doing fine— and stayed for dinner. They’ve just left and in a minute I’ll go and grab the remaining Equi’s ice cream that they brought (which went really well with the fruit salad we had for afters).

In a completed unrelated note, last night I learned that Salvador Dali designed the Chupa Chups logo. What a wonderful world.

Anyhoo, tomorrow we are off to Perth (Scotland) to visit Brenda and, as I’ve finally snagged an iTrip, I am, at this very minute, compiling a wee driving playlist.

Then I’ll go back outside, brave the midges, and water the plants.

What a lovely day.

Yes. I AM in an annoyingly cheery mood at the moment. And I’m savouring every second of it.

bookmark_borderT.F.I.F.

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Visited my father-in-law last night, he’s been here for a week now and seems to be filling his days. Not that he does much, he doesn’t really have any hobbies and he’s not the most social person so Louise was worried about him, sitting in a caravan park all day. But he seems to be coping. I don’t think he’s finding it easy being back here though, too many reminders I’m sure.

Anyone watching the new series of Huff on FX? Ohh and any American readers, please don’t post spoilers, we are only a couple of episodes in over here. It’s bang on the money yet again, and it’s good to see Hank Azaria in a ‘mature’ role, in fact the entire cast is strong, particularly Andy Comeau’s character Teddy (Huff’s schizophrenic brother). He has a much bigger role in the first two episodes and we’re loving it. It’ll be back on one of the normal channels* soon.

So, the weekend looms large and we have… NO PLANS! We’ll that’s not strictly true. We might be going to Perth with Louise’s Dad to visit an old friend of their family (the ever mental “Auntie” Brenda), or Louise’s Dad might be coming over tonight, or we might end up having a free weekend.

Of course there is so such thing as a free weekend. For starters I’ve got JogScotland on Sunday morning, the garden needs some tidying up —amazing how quickly weeds are growing at the moment, the perfection combination of rain and sunshine— and I’ve still got outside windowsills to paint. I’ve got a website to design, CDs to box up and move into the loft, and the list goes on.. but then it always does.

Ohh and we are going to cancel our subscription to the cinema. We’ve not used it in months and as Louise pointed out the other day, our visit to see Pirates 2 cost us something like £30! It may only be £11 a month but I’d much rather it was in my pocket (that’s two train fares worth a month… and believe me, that’ll make a difference when the next five week month rolls around).

And finally, I need some suggestions for a cheap weekend break. Location – either north Scotland or northern half of England (I don’t want to be driving more than about 4 hours to get there). Price – as cheap as possible. Must have enough to do during the day. And we’ll consider staying one night in one location before moving somewhere else for the second night. We need to get something booked for the end of this month, so suggest away!

* My Mum has taken to calling any of the non-terrestrial channels the “funny channels”. Basically anything ‘above’ Channel 5.