Blogging Embers Forum
For me, the best part of being part of a blogging network was the community. I loved the blogging forum they provided. Being able to talk to other bloggers. Having a place I could go to ask questions, or help out when I had some answers. Now that network is on it’s way out and we’ve lost what made it great.
There is another…
I decided to do something to prevent that loss. I’ve set up a forum on www.BloggingEmbers.com/forum/. (I’m setting up a redirect to Blogging-Embers.com so it doesn’t look so smooshed.) I decided to use /forum so there would be room for additions that the bloggers might want at some later date. Things like a job board, network listings or a section of blogger classified ads.
I hope that my friends from 451 will sign up, though I would understand if they decided against it. I also hope to make some new friends. Blogging Embers is open to all bloggers, not just the refugees from closed blogging networks.
That includes people who are new to blogging. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I learned a lot from talking to people, especially other bloggers. I’ve learned more than I could have possibly learned on my own. A forum like this is priceless. That’s why I can’t let it go without at least trying to hold things together.
If you have a blog, or if you’re just thinking about starting one, please join. If you have a friend with a blog, please let them know about the board.
Thank you.
Technorati Tags: Announcement, Blogging, Forum, Blogging Embers, Blogging-Embers.com, Blogs, Bloggers, Blog Networks
Goodbye 451
I’ve written for 451 Press at AnimeFansOnline.com for about 2 years now. I’m sorry to say it, but that has come to an end. After some recurring technical difficulties, we Bloggers received an e-mail letting us know that 451 Press was closing up shop.
Good Times
I enjoyed my time at 451 Press. Sure there was some stress and things got weird from time to time, but most of it was good. I learned a lot from writing Anime Fans Online. I did some stuff I wouldn’t have tried otherwise, and I’m better for it.
Why I’m going to miss the most is the community. The forum was a good place to go to ask questions of other writers. Technical issues, writing or just shooting the breeze, there was usually someone there to discuss things with.
Sure, there were rough times and disagreements too. The furor when the pay model changed, mostly because of new requirements for getting paid. The sporadic communication from the higher ups. Even the spammy looking site templates were a regular target of derision from inside and out. Getting through all that made me feel like 451 was going to be around for a long time. Even if I parted ways with them, it would still be there.
Shutting Down
The forums are closed and the bloggers are being removed from the sites. I noticed that my name is missing from the by-line on Anime Fans Online now. It’s probably only a matter of time before sites start closing altogether.
Time to move on.
I still have projects of my own to work on. FanaticSpace.com is moving along. I have a few other sites waiting in different states of preparation. I’ll be able to devote more time to them now.
Goodbye 451 Press. No matter what others may think, I’ll miss you.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, 451 Press, Anime Fans Online, AnimeFansOnline.com, FanaticSpace.com
Purple Prose
or
Never Read Penny Arcade Before Blogging
I should take my own advice. It was innocent, I swear. I’d intended to write up a simple post about the work I was putting into the new layout on FanaticSpace. One detour to Penny Arcade later and you have prose so purple that it speeds past the visible spectrum and becomes ultra-violet.
Please don’t misunderstand, it was intentional. I’d decided to try my hand at the sort of ornamental rambling that is done so well on PA. Looking back I suppose that’s like saying “That thar Louis tha XIV furniture sore is purdy, I think I’ll make some. Hey, what’s a xiv?”, after which there is the unfortunate, yet inevitable, incident with a table saw. It takes practice to learn the skills required to craft something of that caliber.
It was fun though. Because of the joy I derived from trying to intentionally write something flowery enough to compare to the Tycho Brahe Botanical Word Garden, I’d like to ask you to try it too. The idea is easy enough. Take a simple post, one that could be done in about a paragraph, and try to stretch it out by using inordinately descriptive language. If you’re unsure of how to go about it, just read a few posts at Penny Arcade.
A lot of the blogs on the art of blogging, the meta-blogs, advise people to keep things simple. Short bits of text and easy to understand word choices. This is the opposite. Stretch your mind and your vocabulary and go crazy.
I’m sure you’ll have as much fun as I did.
If you decide to do this please leave a ping, a trackback or a comment here. I’d love to see the posts.
I don’t like WordPress 2.3
It’s screwed up. Plain and simple. Speaking of simple, I’ve seen a lot of talk about an importer for “Simple Tags” but I can’t find it. I think a lot of people are getting “Simple Tags” confused with “Simple Tagging”. Even some of the bigger bloggers keep repeating it, and I think it’s false.
- Update:
Looks like there are 2 “Simple Tags” plugins. The one everyone is talking about is the successor to Simple Tagging. It’s nothing like the one I use. So the import still doesn’t do me any good. If you want to check out the new one, visit the Simple Tags plugin page.
Another problem with the 2.3 tags, they take people away from your site. When someone clicks on a tag in your post, the go to the tag listing for WordPress.com. That does me no good at all, my blog isn’t on their .com service. I’d rather keep using the tags that go to Technorati, at least it’s not limited to WordPress.com blogs.
WP 2.3 also broke a lot of plugins. For a piece of software that relies so much on outside developers that seems like a big mistake. it’s one thing to deprecate something, at least people know that it’s going to disappear later on. It’s another thing to just drop something and break things.
Lucky for me I only upgraded this blog to test out 2.3. I’ll keep the previous version on my others until some of these problems are fixed.
Win $15 from Allan’s World Movie Blog.
Allen’s World is giving away money. Nothing huge yet, but free money is always nice. If it goes well he said he’ll be doing it again with a bigger prize.
Check out his movie blog, that’s where he’s giving away cash.
A Million Tiny Wikis.
John Cow has proven that he can take someone else’s idea and make it work. So why is he getting flack for making MillionEuroWiki.com?
False Perception
People think you have to come up with something original to succeed. Something that has never been seen before. Something that will change the world. Not true. John Cow has a great quote on his MillionEuroWiki update that I think is perfect. So perfect that I’m going to steal it.
After the invention of the Internal Combustion Engine it was easier to make a car that was small enough and reliable enough to be practicle. Just like with the steam cars, a lot of people were trying to come up with an internal combustion engine car at the same time. The two most important people were Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. Both of these men patented a car in Germany in 1886 but Karl Benz patented his first so most people say he invented the car.
I left a comment saying that I’d rather be Henry Ford than Karl Benz, and here’s why.
Ford didn’t invent the car. He invented the assembly line and mass production. This allowed him to make more cars faster. It also allowed him to make his cars cheaper. Why would you want to go cheap when you’re trying to make money? Volume. The less people have to pay, the more people that will pay. No, what Henry Ford made wasn’t innovative, but how he made it was.
Face it, if you have a blog or a Wiki it isn’t original. I don’t care what you’re blogging about. It’s not what you do that matters, it’s how you do it. What the Milk Man is doing isn’t original, but it’s working so far. Why wouldn’t it continue to work? If he puts some of the money he’s already made back into it to improve the site then I doubt he’s got anything to worry about. You know the Cow is smart enough to do that.
Pretty soon the only thing people will be able to complain about is that they didn’t do it first.
Technorati Tags: John Cow, Karl Benz, Henry Ford, Original, Innovative, Make Money, Make Money Online, Making Money Online, Wiki, Million Dollar Wiki, Million Euro Wiki, Million Peso Wiki, Million Yen Wiki, Million Latinum Wiki
-
Search
-
Recently Written
