Everything I know is Wrong
I read Andrew Keen’s brilliant book The Cult of the Amateur over the weekend. I read it in one sitting.
I’m stunned. I’m shocked. I feel lost.
In short, with a mere 200 pages, Andrew convinced a hardnose like me that I’m wrong. About everything. About a great many things having to do with the internet.
I spent most of Monday in a fog. I felt like deleting my blog, shutting down my business, and going to work on a lawn crew for the next ten years. I’m not joking.
I think I’m starting to recover a bit. But who knows?
Technorati Top 100 shuffle still needs more work
Photo by The Wandering Angel. Much ado is being made over the Technorati “bug fix” two days ago. However, much more work by Technorati needs to be done.
The fix was to count sub-domains separately from their parent domain. No one but the losers of ranking on the Top 100 have really anything negative to say about that because, in most people’s minds, this is how the ranking should have been done all along.
However, Technorati claims that their blog ranking system is for the purpose of ranking authority of different blogs. Notice I didn’t say “websites”, but “blogs”. But, what constitutes a blog?
Spam is Beyond Control
One thing many folks don’t seem to fully grasp is that if you want to be available, that is to say, if you want people to contact you, then you must allow spam in your life. I hate these Russian-originated stock quote spam emails as much as you, but it is a necessary evil in order that people can conveniently have an email address.
Often, I’ll see blog postings and various tech magazines give a list of dozens of ways to control spam. It is quite often more time-consuming and frustrating to implement those ideas than it is to just let spam take its course.
Genuine Surveys
I must be alone. Apparently, the thought level on this subject is so high I can not hope to understand it. Or it is so common as to be unquestionable by anyone. I’m talking about those surveys that are handed out to college students near the end of each semester asking them to rate their professor on a variety of skills. The surveys are supposed to be anonymous, although I’m sure I’m not the first student to be highly suspicious of this administration claim. Considering the time and expense for all involved, I struggle to comprehend how these surveys could be of any use - to anyone. The only sad answer I keep coming back to is that they are a token gesture toward students who don’t think very far beyond their #2 pencil. Maybe I’m wrong.
