Blogs, Bloggers and Blogging
Grandad July 2nd, 2007
Blogs
As per my little opinion poll yesterday, it seems that you are all happy with my blog name and theme. Except for Daz, who wants me to go psychedelic, but he won’t give me any LSD.
So I have left the theme, and the name and just meddled around with the bits at the side. Just for the craic. And I feel better now. The content will remain as bad as ever, however.
Bloggers
There is a strange aspect to this blogging thing, and that is that somehow [in my mind anyway], bloggers are somehow ethereal beings who only manifest themselves as words on a screen. They are like characters in a book, where you can draw your own picture of what they look and sound like. I like it that way.
It came as a bit of a shock to me when I spoke to Flirty the other day. She has a voice! A very pleasant voice, I might add, but it was like the page of a book suddenly spoke to me. I have spoken to other bloggers before on Skype and podcasts, but it never ceases to amaze me that bloggers are real people. In case you are wondering…. I’m not.
Blogging
There are two things that irritate me about other peoples blogs. It’s not their fault. It’s just me being narky.
One is those little catchyas or whatever-you-call-em. I know why they are there, but I can never seem to get them right. I keep inputting the letters and numbers, and the site keeps rejecting me. Maybe the site recognises me as a spammer? Sometimes I have to give up altogether.
Another thing I would love to see on blogs is a box I can tick so that I can get a mail when someone else comments. I have a habit of picking on blogs at random and leaving obscene messages, but I then forget which blog I was in, so I can’t go back to see their indignation.
Just a thought for a rainy Monday.
- Internet
- Comments(23)
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Captchas are a nightmare alright. I have one on my site but it became a necessary evil after I noticed vast amounts of spam. I’ve been toying with the idea of removing them because I’m certain there would be a lot more comments than there already is.
Currently I have 16378 since the 27th of April and lots more blocked from the blacklist on my firewall.
I don’t like capcha’s either because of the difficulties I have personally faced deciphering them , I have done away with them altogether.
Unlike capchas I like this theme though, in fact my site has the same one. As for content, well it is one of my favourite pastime to go through the Head Rambles.
Can you not install some software to trap it? Apparently I’m using Askimet and Bad Behaviour for Wordpress, and my spam has almost stopped [I'm down to about 50 a day now].
@Aby - I saw your [our] theme all right
“it is one of my favourite pastime to go through the Head Rambles”
Have you seen a doctor about this? I’d be worried!
Thanks, anyway
Given that I have so many levels of spam protection in place I think I might give a go at removing the captchas. Unlike most I dont use Wordpress.
I have to be different
“Unlike most I dont use Wordpress”
Fair play. I like a rebel.
Well I am from the rebel county so it’s natural I suppose
@ grandpa - “Have you seen a doctor about this? I’d be worried!”
Uh oh…I have considered it. The concern is I’ll be a doctor in 3 years so I could well see myself.
Aha! So you are studying to be a doctor, Aby? And by any chance are you doing a thesis on the blogging lunatic fringe? I demand due accreditation in your thesis.
I get what you mean about bloggers being ethereal beings. I’m convinced that you, Grandad are a twenty something lady, k8 is a 6ft burly prisoner in Mountjoy, Bock is a druid and Twenty is a shy demure little girl. I myself am the product of 1000 monkeys with 1000 typewriters.
I wish I were. Think of the fun I could have! K8 is 5′ 8″, but the rest is correct and Twenty is, in fact Mary Harney [though she denies it].
Nice typing!
I told you, the giant speaking dog took all of my LSD!!
And I can see absolutely no changes. Please point them out, for the sleep deprived among us.
It is changed there. And there. And there. Do you not see?
Or if you can’t see where I’m pointing, I moved things around on the right hand side [Archives moved down a bit, added a Technorati thing for a bit of colour and a few other tweaks].
What language does the dog speak?
And you have access to plenty more at work.
Well, that’s actually morphine, and I’ve already tried to pick the locks on the presses.
The dog speaks Anglo-Saxon, with a Hamburg dialect. And you added that Technorati thing, you vain hoor, you. Colour my arse.
Come four years’ time, I’ll be mixing up my own batch of the good shit …
I know some good Anglo-Saxon words myself.
I stuck the Technorati thing there, as I had an account I had forgotten all about. I might as well use it? And vanity is the spice of life.
Can you not hurry up the four year process? UV light? Hydroponics?
I am about 98% convinced that all of you bloggers are just a very complcaited algorithym being used by some Central Scrutanizer somewhere.
I’m not being paranoid. I know everyone is out to get me. OK, Doc, I’ll take my medicine now.
Brianf,
If you think this site is part of a conspiracy theory, you should check out real stuff:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/life/aliens/ufos/index.shtml
When I checked out the BBC poll earlier, 41% of respondents though the moon landing was faked!
Grandad doesn’t need anything psychedelic, there is already a touch of Garcia Marquez magical realism.
It’d take eight years if I stayed in this wonderful country …
And dude, how the hell do all these new commenters find your blog? My old one had a loyal crew and that was it, but you get new people daily. What the hell? Are you paying them or something?
I don’t think blogger has a ticky box thing. Then what do I know, I’ve never heard of a Catchya either unless she’s a Russian tennis player.
@Ian - I am deeply flattered to be compared as such. Or are you being sarcastic?
@Daz - No. I’m not paying them. Maybe they are doing it for a dare? Maybe the advertising on the side of buses is paying off? I don’t know.
@Baino - you know the things - those horrible little graphics that have hard to read letters dancing on them, and you have to try to decide what the letters are before you can get any further.
I’d prefer a Russian tennis player.
Sorry, don’t do sarcasm!
There is a lovely line in one of Garcia Marquez’ novels where everything is naturalistic and normal when one of the characters looks out of the window to see a man going down the street on a flying carpet - the conversation then carries on as before.
I enjoy the ‘magical realist’ elements of the blog, like taking pot shots at tourists and strange encounters, and then continuing as nothing extraordinary had been suggested.
Ah daddy!!! A re-shuffle does not a face-lift make!!!! Picasso tried it and it clearly didn’t work.
Oh look, it’s raining again. Can somebody please tell the students to take more exams?!?! I miss the nice weather.
“A re-shuffle does not a face-lift make”
So you haven’t gone out with any boxers lately?
Anyway, if Bertie can reshuffle, then so can I.