WordPress Sux

Vlogging not for the lazy

beerdude — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:32:12 +0000

Video blogging is becoming more popular and Youtube makes it easy for you create your own channel and gain followers. However it is not for the lazy. Simply buying a webcam isn’t good enough. If you take a look at some of the more polished vloggers there is quite a bit of production going on behind the scenes. Carefully scripted, edited, and re-shot. It’s really a lot of work. So if you aren’t willing to put forth the effort to produce a clip to be proud of then don’t. Vlogging is not for everyone, certainly not for everyone with a webcam.

Anonymous blogging days, numbered?

beerdude — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:54:23 +0000

Perhaps it was all just fun and games. Slandering previous coworkers, ex boyfriends/girlfriends, or just anyone in general that annoyed you. This latest ruling opens the door for a former model to begin legal action against her hate mongering anonymous blogger. On the one hand you have people arguing freedom of speech, on the other hand you have anti hate laws (in some states/countries). And then of course you have gun toting extremists showing up at an Obama rally.

Google loses legal battle in India

beerdude — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:32:47 +0000

In a battle over slanderous blog posts a prominent doctor in India sued Google and won. Apparently the good doctor had some questionable dealings and thus offended some people who promptly went to blogger and posted some disparaging remarks. The doctor decided suing Google India was the way to go. Google India is attempting to distance themselves from the Blogger service based in the U.S. We’ll have to see if this strategy works. Other than that placing the censorship responsibility on the service provider is a tall order. Do you think any other social network has this kind of duties placed upon it?

Which goes back to what I’ve been saying: blogging in foreign countries can be dangerous. Certainly in countries like China, Iran, and now you can add India to that growing list. I foresee a blogging future where traditional journalism rules are placed upon all blogs to be quickly followed by guerrilla blog sites housing controversial opinions. Get ready for big brother to watch what you type and the content you produce.

Making your site unique

beerdude — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:03:30 +0000

If you use the wordpress platform it’s often the easy way out to use the default templates. Here’s some info on how to hack it to make your site more unique. Tease your readers with upcoming posts. Display your most popular posts or keep your fans on your site by pointing them to a related article. Common hacks like these are easy and just make sense.

Reporting From Foreign Countries, Worth the Risk?

beerdude — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:55:49 +0000

A couple of American journalists were recently sentenced to hard labor in North Korea. Both Laura Ling and Euna Lee made headlines upon their 12 year sentence was handed down. Analysts say this is simply a ploy by North Korea to bargain for some sort of deal. It would appear that the American government has no choice but to play ball in an international effort of diplomacy. But is the risk worth it? And what will the cost be to the American government for bailing out journalists who get themselves into these kinds of situations. Perhaps a better discussion should take place on exactly how much money is being spent on getting them out of North Korea.

They had to know the potential certainly existed given that they were Americans in a hostile territory. As would describe “reporting” here, they would describe as “spying” over there. And don’t forget, when you’re in a foreign country you’re subject to their local laws. No mercy regardless of what country you’re from. The whole “I didn’t know” won’t get you out of jail in Thailand or Singapore.

At the end of this whole ordeal you can bet both journalists will get exclusive book deals, interviews, and their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps even a tv movie. The goal is fame and fortune. Journalistic integrity can take a backseat while Obama’s administration deals with yet another mess.

Blogger gets into trouble in Texas

beerdude — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:52:18 +0000

More and more bloggers are getting arrested. A blogger was arrested in Texas as a part of a lawsuit. Ordered to turn over the laptop the defendant claimed that the laptop had been stolen. The judge did not believe her and had her jailed. The lawsuit arose from defamatory comments made by the blogger. While the law differs on electronic free speech in Texas, it’s leading to lawsuits. (link)

The attending police officer believed that the robbery of the laptop had been staged hence leading to the jail time. Which equalled 4 days in the slammer. Next step? Turn over the laptop since the jig is up or further jail time? If the laptop was indeed legitimately stolen there’s not much the blogger can do. However the timing does seem suspicious. Perhaps I’ll lay off the rants for now.

JournalSpace forced to close

beerdude — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:51:11 +0000

Just another reason to keep that IT guy happy. JournalSpace a smaller blogging site was forced to close up shop after a recent data loss. During the 6 year period the company never had an actual backup in place other than their mirror RAID which they thought would protect their 14,000 user’s data. Wrong! The culprit began sabotaging the data for 6 months and when the staff went to restore the data on the “backup” mirror drive they discovered the data had been overwritten and nothing was recoverable. It’s mind boggling that a single employee could be the downfall of a company. If you’ve got a mirror RAID and expect it to protect your data, you should probably make a backup right now. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Iran detains Canadian blogger

beerdude — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:27:54 +0000

Foreign officials have made several requests to contact the detained blogger. Iranian/Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan was arrested after landing in Tehran in November. He is the author of popular blog ‘hoder.com’ which has not been updated since his arrest. Canadian officials have requested consular access but have been ignored thus far. A foreign ministry spokesperson vowed to continue to exert diplomatic pressure on the Iran government.

Derakhshan has made comments about several prominent Shiite members as well as supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his stance again western influences. He has also criticized Iran’s conservative society, Israel, and the United States. He was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. (link)

Yahoo storing your data less now

beerdude — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:57:35 +0000

Back in the day Google started with the 18 months of data retention. Privacy advocates voiced their concerns over this issue when it first came up. Yahoo now has decided to only keep your web surfing data for 3 months. Possibly for 6 months depending on how security conscious they are feeling that day. Google keeps data for 9 months and Microsoft 6 months. There’s no ‘industry standard’ so each company is free to set whatever limits they deem fit. Will this affect how “related” those flash/java advertisements are? Hopefully I’ll stop getting those damn LavaLife and Match ads on the side bars when I’m surfing my favorite wholesome sites.

Getting ‘served’ with the help from social networking

beerdude — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:15:20 +0000

Whether you like it or not social networking site put you in contact with friends old and new. However your profile also makes you easier to find, even the people you’re trying to hide from. A lawyer recently used Facebook to track down defendants and managed to serve them with legal documents, believed to be the first of it’s kind. So loan jumpers and criminals alike should beware. Simply ‘laying low’ won’t keep your MySpace account from getting served or from getting arrested. Be wary if you suddenly get friend requests from lawyers.