Last Blog Standing

The "Last Blog Standing" prize goes to Michael from the NOG-B's.

michael914.blogspot.com

Wild Camping ePetition: over 1800

If you think that wild camping in England and Wales is a right worth having. That you'd follow something similar to our Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and its "Leave no trace" ethics, then why not sign up? What's the worst that can happen? We might again get ignored by politicians who listen to the scare-mongering of the landowners who thought that allowing people access to land at night was a licence for burglars.

According to the petition site:

When a serious petition closes, usually provided there are 200 signatures or more, officials at Downing Street will ensure you get a response to the issues you raise. Depending on the nature of the petition, this may be from the Prime Minister, or he may ask one of his Ministers or officials to respond.

Well, they raised 200 signatures in 72 hours. But the petition has already received a negative response from the government. They don't know how many people are interested in this. 2000 would be a nice round number, but the petition closes on the 24th of May. 10 days time.

Wild camping isn't just because people choose not to stay at official reservations, but because they can break up treks or expeditions, because the view is stunning and the noise one of nature and not of cars driving by, because they want to get a start on a hill.

Leave no trace, take only photographs.

Add your name to the petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wildcamp/

Read the background at the official website: http://www.legalisewildcamping.com/

1st May: RSS Awareness Day

How to Become a Famous Blogger

Courtesy of Dave Walker at weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Another Attack

What a waste of skin! Another attack on blogs, this time via a comment left with just a link to a tinyurl - no way I'm clicking on that in case it is an exe file. Not sure if that's possible, but life's too short. Deleted and reported to Blogger.

I'll just switch to pre-approval of comments.

I know people who have left their blogs and wikis because of this sort of nonsense. Such a waste, but what the heck. There's more to life.

Pods and Blogs

Pods and Blogs on Radio 5. First time listener. Show link.

Hmm - not sure why an American voice introduces the show.

Film piracy, as the recent mooted desire of the film companies to lock people off the Net for piracy. I wonder if that includes YouTube/Google? No, of course it doesn't - they are trying hard to lock down illegal posts to their site.

Interesting investigative piece by a blogger, who is then interviewed for the radio, which I'm listening to via a podcast. Strangely it is still headed as "Radio 5 Live".

7-year blogger, Neil Gaiman, is giving away a book on his site. Yup, that guy. 2 of his books/graphic novels have been made into movies recently. Interesting thoughts on how people "discover" authors. Discussion what he gets out of blogging: immediacy with readers. 16,000 votes on his site in 24 hours. Great Douglas Adams quote about books and sharks - the reason sharks are still around is that there's nothing as good as being a shark as a shark - the same is true of books. I miss Douglas Adams, he was an inspiration.

Beagle Bloggers - Charles Darwin's 200th next year. Or is it a figment of intelligent design?

Food blogs. football club podcast.

Nipped across to Radio 4's iPM show to see if there were similarities. I'm going to have to listen to the earlier shows.

You're Fired

The Independent on Sunday article highlights some recent court cases where peoples' online life was used against them in court cases.

In Texas, a driver whose car was involved in a fatal accident found his MySpace postings ("I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a drunkaholic") part of the prosecution's case.

Have you written anything like that?

From Los Angeles to Lowestoft, thousands of social network site users have lost their jobs – or failed to clinch new ones – because of their pages' contents. Police, colleges and schools are monitoring MySpace and Facebook pages for what they deem to be "inappropriate" content. Online security holes and users' naivety are combining to cause privacy breaches and identity thefts.

You've read the warnings posted here already, haven't you?

Last September, David Rice, Britain's second-ranked tennis junior, and Naomi Brady, national U-18 champion, had their funding pulled and coaching suspended after the Lawn Tennis Association found pictures of them drinking beer, partying and, in Ms Brady's case, posing at a nightclub with her legs wrapped around a vending machine.

Your blogs are your chance to show your work to the world, not your drunken exploits to potential employers.

Source: Facebook can ruin your life. And so can MySpace, Bebo...

Blogging for Charity

This is a strange one. I picked up from a post from Paul Webster that he was going to blog for charity. "Hmm", I thought, "that's a good idea. Can I adSense and give any pennies raised to charity?" So, I was about to email a certain charity, but searched on Google's adSense site to find out their policy.... here's what they say...

While we do appreciate your charitable efforts, this practice is not permitted by our program policies. We want users to click on ads because they are interested in the products or services offered by the advertiser, not because they are interested in supporting a site or a charity. Using this type of language can draw undue attention to the ads, and we aren't able to verify whether earnings are actually donated to the third-party mentioned on each site. As a result, we don't allow publishers to offer these types of incentives.

But they go on...

However, please know that once you've received your payments, you're still welcome to use them however you wish - whether it's donating them to a charity, paying your hosting bills, or treating yourself to a night out on the town. We just ask that you avoid using any language on your site that would directly or indirectly encourage users to click on your ads. (source)

So, the upshot is...if I put adverts on my blog, I can't say that they are for charity. I can't imply that they are for charity. So, what is the point in me cluttering up my blog with adverts. Readers could accuse me of raising revenue via this site, and I'd be unable to say that it was for charity.

Yet more stress caused by people behind the computer systems. So, finally, the upshot is ... this site is still advert-free. Money I donate via memberships and donations are still my own business, or maybe I'll set up a "justgiving" site for donations instead - but you can do that yourself, so why should I get involved.

Prosperity and long life - it is indeed the year of the rat.

Faces from the Lewis War Memorial

An interesting use of blogs can be found here: Faces from the Lewis War Memorial

I've said many a time that blogs are quite a versatile format. A project that anyone can do, and can be a comfort to many families worldwide as they try to track down their relatives. Without a past, we have no future.

Stats for 2007

The blog monitoring only started in October. Since then the blog has received 2,333 visits, viewing 4,938 pages, spending an average 3minutes here. According to Google, there have been 1,090 'uniques', coming from 22 different countries (ignoring the usual 0:00:00 visits).

Strange keywords - looking at visitor searches and seeing the amount of time they spent on site:

• a place to rest after 0900pm in glasgow [10 minutes]
• drink driving figures grampian [8 minutes]
• jupiter 2 spacecraft [4 minutes]
• journalism+blog+rgu+scott [4 minutes]
• mark stirton the planet [4 minutes]
• candace downey [2 minutes]

Just goes to show you, I suppose. A website doesn't allow people to find the eclectic mix that a blog allows. Once readers visit, they may find that there's more information that is useful to them - or is entertaining, or just kills some time.

Pirate at the Job's End

From the New York Times:

many companies are using the Internet to snoop on their employees. If you fail to maintain amorphous “professional” standards of conduct in your free time, you could lose your job.

Source. One example follows:

In a head shot snapped at a costume party, Ms. Snyder, with a pirate’s hat perched atop her head, sips from a large plastic cup whose contents cannot be seen. When posting the photo, she fatefully captioned her self-portrait “drunken pirate,” though whether she was serious can’t be determined by looking at the photo.

...

Ms. Snyder’s student teaching had been unsatisfactory for many reasons. But it affirms that she was dismissed and barred from re-entering the school shortly after the high school staff discovered her MySpace photograph. The university backed the school authorities’ contentions that her posting was “unprofessional” and might “promote under-age drinking.”

Via: "a 25 year-old mother of two that lost her job over a MySpace photo of her as a “drunken pirate” "

Like I said to a student who's blog entry I reported, "I would not, in all honesty, want a potential employer to read what you have posted". You should consider not getting a job, as bad as losing a job, because of your online activities - the aim that we all have is to get you ready for the workplace. Hilarious, isn't it, that a photograph can get someone sacked. Almost as funny as someone reading someone's blog and noting that they've only posted 5 times since the end of August. On a course about blogging.

Ms Snyder is currently contending the case. I'm sure we all wish her well for the future.

Additional information

• Justia News & Commentary
• Tech.Yahoo.com
• knowmoremedia.com
• mycrimespace.com

Blog Agrees to Close

Press release:

Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret's publisher, said "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits." Source

The BBC News writes:

Apple is notoriously secretive about forthcoming products and it sued Think Secret claiming that bloggers should not enjoy the same rights to protect sources granted to mainstream journalists.

A California court initially sided with Apple but the hi-tech firm lost the case on appeal. The outcome of that said bloggers should be considered as journalists and subject to the same protections.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) aided Think Secret in its legal fight to stop Apple forcing it to reveal its sources.

"I hope that Apple takes from this that it is neither useful nor wise to sue its fans," said Kurt Opsahl, an attorney for the EFF.

Full story and historical links.

From the BBC in April 2005:

The information appeared on three Apple enthusiast websites, PowerPage, Apple Insider and Think Secret. Source

Ah well.

• PowerPage
• Apple Insider

What I Blog

Carrying on this infrequent series (how, why), here's what I blog.

Why Blog? Why?

Why are we blogging? I've previously covered the "How", so here is the "why". Why? Blogs are simply a format for creating a mini-website. This website allows you,the blogger, to write about things, to post photographs, videos, music that you have created, things that have caught your interest. It is your online presence.

If social networking sites just allow people to see what music you are listening to, films you've seen and the like, then that is similar to someone looking at your house. They see the physical side of you, but not you yourself. Blogging allows you to put your feelings out there, to show that you are a sentient human being, with hopes and expectations, good times and bad. You can write about what you see, what you feel about books you have read, or movies you have seen.

The empathy that writing about personal issues (but not too personal) allows people to be people. Instead of looking at the possessions, you can get a better idea of what the person is like.

With forums, chatrooms, and other community communications services, you can interact with other people. It is like a park for people with similar attitudes. With blogs, you can leave comments, and ask the person questions, or answer their questions. It is like a chill-out space. Less noise.

Everything in a blog is customisable, so the blogger has more control over what the reader sees. This allows more control that you get in most other mediums. You have little control over the appearance of forums, as they are community affairs. You post what you post, and you take responsibility for it. You are a 'citizen journalist', rather than one part of a commune.

The blog format allows many types of media to be incorporated, and the list is growing. This allows even more of your personality to come through. If you are bad with writing words, then use photographs or music instead. Communication is the important issue. You have a story to tell, and you need to find a way to communicate that to others. Whether that story is a small story - a bus that is always late - or a big story - being arrested by the police - someone else may be interested. Even if no-one is, you can always look back at your own blog and see what you were thinking at the time you wrote it.

Blogs are timed pieces of your life. They show what you were like at that moment. Isn't that priceless?

This was going to be a piece about the future of blogging, and the advantages of RSS feeds instead of the reader having to search for information, but I couldn't be bothered with that. If you want to see these things for yourself, look here:

• BBC Radio 5
• BBC Blog network
• BBC search >> blogs
• Social Networking

Bloggers Talk

In Bob Cartwright's latest podcast, we hear an interview with a couple of bloggers from earlier in the year. This was recorded in May at The Outdoors Show in Manchester. It starts after the interview with Alpine walker, Judy Armstrong.

The Podzine 17/12/07

Download MP3 File

Source

I Shot A Moose Once

I shot a moose once in my pyjamas, how it got there, I have no idea. (Allan Konigsberg/Groucho Marx).

Here's the recent warnings:

• 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging
• Convergence 2.0
• Blogito, ergo sum

Plus all the talks in class about the College's discussions and concerns about Web2.0 and potential misuse and liability (ours and yours).

I hide little from you concerning these issues. I've pointed you towards the "soft skills" that employers look for. As classes, you have done things that few (if any) students in Scottish further education have done before. Part of this has been to develop the soft skills that employers look for. Part of it is under the remit of student-centred learning, where your desire to learn and better yourself is the focus of the education system, and staff are here to support and develop your learning.

I've spent the last few days building up quotes for a budget spend for multimedia kit for students. It is tedious. Locating shops that sell the gear, find the item, take a pdf print and note the price in a spreadsheet, and then repeat for two other stores. Then move on to the next item. I have 5 windows open, and move between them.

This is the sort of soft skill that people need to develop - just using IT to do their jobs. It isn't difficult, it isn't exciting, it is just online paperwork. It isn't separate from the multimedia or hardware or programming or whatever job you eventually get, it is a natural part of it. The same with your online presence - if you want a private social network, create one, don't link to it from your professional blog, keep it separate.

I went through the "7 deadly sins of blogging" with 2 classes last week. Today, I filled in an disciplinary form for a blogger. I know in my heart that it won't be the last, and that eternal vigilance is the price of developing your online citizenship. But would your employer take the same view? There have been dismissals out in the real world over employees' online antics. Just look at the full version of the Clearswift leaflet summarised in "7 Deadly Sins of Blogging".

Good night, and good luck.

iPM Podcast

Just subscribed to the BBC Radio 4 "iPM" podcast. More details on the new media formatted program at its website. Of course, getting the chance to listen to it is a different matter.

Welcome to the 'Sphere

A new class of bloggers starts today. The N4OG-N, November starts. Welcome aboard.

Posts, Shoots & Leaves

7 Deadly Sins of Blogging

Clearswift produced a guide to the 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging. The full document can be read here, but I've summarised the main points below for those too lazy to click a link and read the additional information.

1st Deadly Sin
Thinking you’re only talking to friends

The Golden Rule of blogging: never say anything on a blog that you wouldn’t happily say in public, that you can’t substantiate or that the organization would not permit. If in doubt: take it out!

2nd Deadly Sin
Thinking your blog is personal, not an organizational matter

If you’re publishing a personal blog, make it clear on your home page that the views expressed in it are your own (and don’t mention your organization).

Whether personal or corporate, here are some of the big no-nos of blogging:

• Sharing confidential information
• Sharing business plans
• Engaging in controversial speech
• Sharing copyright-protected material
• Sharing illegal or distasteful material

3rd Deadly Sin
Linking to inappropriate material

It’s not just what you say in your blog, it’s what you link to. Linking to illegal material or inappropriate websites, videos or images is probably a breach of your policy – check it out if you’re unsure.

4th Deadly Sin
Thinking you can erase mistakes

You can’t. Once you’ve published a blog entry, it’s out there for all to copy, share, link to and discuss. Of course, you can remove a post (and you should if you have any doubts), but you never know who has already copied it, distributed it or put it in their own blog.

5th Deadly Sin
Ignoring comments to your blog entries

Your own blog entries may be completely responsible, but that doesn’t mean the people who post comments will be.
Most bloggers experience unpleasant, inappropriate comments to their posts at some time. This can include racial or sexual abuse, harassment, personal attacks and links to pornography or illegal material.

You are responsible for all comments posted on your blog. Make sure you regularly monitor all comments, remove offensive or illegal ones, block irresponsible contributors and report any serious incident.

And of course, when you comment on other people’s blogs, the same rules of professionalism and security apply as they would on your own blog.

6th Deadly Sin
Devouring resources

Simple text-based blogs are generally resource-friendly. But when you start to share recorded webcams, presentations, music, video and multimedia files, you may be eating valuable bandwidth, slowing down the network and using up storage space.

7th Deadly Sin
Leaving yourself open to virus attack

A new generation of computer viruses, worms, Trojans and ‘malware’ (malicious computer code) has risen up to exploit the opportunities presented by blogging and other Web 2.0 services.