The Rotten Word

UPDATE: Misguided Priest Coments On Father Brennan's Conscience

2007-11-09T16:46:00.000-05:00

Not even time for an image on this post. It's Friday and I have to get out of the office. But I thought you'd be interested in this link to a letter that Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL wrote in a misguided attempt to provide insight and advice to Father Brennan, SJ regarding the latter's recent statement of his homosexuality during a Mass at Saint Joseph's University.

Father Euteneur is wise to use this issue, which has been blown out of proportion by right wing Catholics who forget the most basic precepts of their religion, to gain publicity.

This is the same Father Euteneur who, only days ago, was quoted by CNSNews in reference to New Jersey's recently introduced legislation requiring pharmacies to offer Plan B:

"In a free society, the rights of conscience are recognized[...]When the state abrogates those rights, forcing citizens to violate their consciences as a condition for employment, then the state is no longer a free society."

It's plain as day that this man has a penchant for the dramatic and his desire to control a woman's own morality is frankly terrifying. It's also confusing, considering that they consider themselves a "pro-woman organization".

If a pharmacist can't do the job, that pharmacist needs to find a new employer or a different line of work. We all have to work under laws and regulations that we disagree with at one time or another.

I am sure that, despite his intolerance and misconceptions about the issue of homosexuality, Father Euteneur is a decent man. However, he has embarrased himself by joining the chorus of harsh and tragically misguided voices that has risen up to lash out at fine a priest, professor, and man such as Father Thomas Brennan, SJ.

Dear A**hole Who Robbed Me:

2007-11-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

I don't know how you managed to use the two minutes I left my belongings unattended to carry off an 80 pound moving bin, but I hope you get every last cent of the crack money you were looking for.

After all, the PC and the laptop you got should get at least $100 on the street. I don't know if you'll sell all the t-shirts. I mean, you only got EVERY SINGLE ONE I OWNED.

And the laptop wasn't mine - it belonged to someone I love, and it it contained some things of a very high sentimental value to that person. At least it won't even boot up, so you can't lay your thieving eyes on it.

I know, I know: It's my fault. Even two minutes is too long to leave things unattended with scum like you sliming their way across this city.

Take a good look at the photo to the right. Odds are that if you haven't seen anything like that yet, you can look forward to it someday. You're pathetic and worthless.

And so am I. I feel pathetic and worthless for lashing out at you on the web. But in spite of the recent (mostly) constructive debate I've engaged in with other netizens concerning religion, you have proven that God cannot be perfect.

Because you shouldn't exist.

And don't come at me saying you need to eat, pay rent, you have kids. Blah blah blah. I get up and go to work every day from 9 to 5 and walk around in the guise of a comfortable middle class citizen.

The truth is, though, that I am only now beginning to see the end of a long and dark tunnel of unemployment, of debt upon debt, of surviving on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with one piece of bread - you know, to save bread.

It's not that there's any sensitive information on my PC, or even that I was attached to it all that much. It's the fact that it's password protected and you're too stupid to figure out how to circumvent the security, so you'll just end up throwing it out or cutting lines of coke on it.

This is probably one of the most profound wastes of time I have ever engaged in, but I needed to write to you just to get past my deep and nearly hopeless disillusionment with humanity.

I'll be more careful from now on, give no stranger the benefit of the doubt and expect every corner and shadow to be populated with natural selection's most prominent failures of choice.

Image credit: Flickr user pwbaker.

SnapShots: Helping Spend More Time At TRW!

2007-11-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

I literally copied and pasted this from their web site because they told me to do it.

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com
I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.
Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.
Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

I am prepared for the automaton jokes!

Priestly Philadelphia Professor Comes Out; Modern-Day Pharisees Hone In

2007-11-06T14:37:00.000-05:00

An article I learned about from a friend describes the recent coming out of one of the best professors my undergraduate alma mater Saint Joseph's University has to offer.

He was the only person who ever convinced me to finish a Charles Dickens novel.

His orientation was never in question in all my years at the school. Yes, he is gay, and yes he is a brilliant scholar.

There was never any sense of anxiety on his part, of some cloak-and-dagger cover-up while he waited for the right moment to profess his lifestyle.

I get so angry when people run their mouths without regard to the fact that they are clueless.

However, Matthew Archibold, one of the writers at the Creative Minority Report, is not clueless and gave a fairly objective recounting of events.

I don't want anyone to think what I say next is a criticism of Archibold - I'm merely going to use a quote from him to illustrate the state of things at Saint Joe's.

Mr. Archibold, a fellow Hawk, was apparently at the Mass, celebrated on the campus as part of "Unity Week" - an annual campus-wide event that celebrates tolerance and diversity - and called the crowd's reaction "understated". Although I wasn't there, I can picture exactly what he meant by that.

The students, who come from varied backgrounds and often experience their freshman year as a 'crash course' in diversity, probably reacted as one might expect enlightened up-and-coming 21st century citizens to react: with a sense of surprise at the venue he chose, but also a strong sense of "It's not my job to declare this guy unholy".

It appears that Lifesite.net may have misquoted Archibold when they claimed that he suggested years-old student suspicions of the priest's orientation were related to his contribution to a 2006 collection of Jesuit scholarship called Jesuit Postmodern. Archibold merely mentioned that Father Brennan contributed a chapter; he didn't speculate on any connection between the book's publication and the rumors at the school.

Considering that I began my time at the Jesuit university in 2001 and Father Brennan's homosexuality was pretty well-known, I have to unequivocally dispute that theory.

So, while Mr. Archibold's article was professional and respectful, his commenters and other commenters around the web, do not do him justice.

Some people seem to be under the impression that it is their job to pass judgment on Father Brennan and the University itself. This is what I had to say to them:

I feel truly sorry for the closed minds of the world.

The fact is that every person who condemns homosexuals and homosexual priests has sins of their own, and those who condemn others are very often the most fit to be condemned.

I guarantee that no one is as willing to examine their own conscience as deeply as they expect Father Brennan to examine his.

Homosexuality is not a disease. It is a complex system of biology and environment, but it is no more a disease than the cowardice that leads someone to comment so judgmentally and sign their message "anonymous".

And (on a different site)...

Self-centered? Immature? How do you expect to be taken seriously?

I was raised and educuated by Catholics for 16 years and it is precisely that kind of ignorance that drove people like me away from the Church when we gained the ability to think abstractly for ourselves.

It is not the belief in God or the archaic reactions to modern life that the Church espouses which drive us away.

Nope. It's Pharisees like those who have the gall to do here and on other sites what you claim only, your God can do - judge.

Live and let live, or you may find yourself on the wrong side of someone else's hateful rhetoric.

Mass may not have been the most wise place (especially from a pr standpoint) to make the announcement, but then again, if you can't declare yourself before your god and the people you serve, than to whom should one declare oneself?

Yes, maybe some reminders of the Church's official stance on homosexuality might have placated some of the haters who claim the choice of venue encourages homosexuality. But we've all heard the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric before and it's as trite and tired today as it was the day it was written.

Gallup data shows a decrease in church attendance and I'm willing to go out on an admittedly tenuous interpretive limb and say that the ascendancy of the digital era and globalization has hurt American willingness to embrace blind faith.

This is different than a general belief in a god, which, also according to Gallup, an overwhelming majority of Americans professes. God is alive and well in America; it is the draconian and blatantly irrational statements made in His name that are coming under increasing fire.

Let me try to bring this full circle: God, if he exists, highly esteems a life spent serving his people through teaching. If one dedicates one's life and love to God, and does not deviate from that path, one is, according to Catholic law, extremely likely to be held in good standing.

I admire Father Brennan's intellect and religious devotion and hopefully the university's official reaction, if any, will involve, besides a predictable denunciation of homosexuality as per the church teachings on the topic, a definitive statement of support for the scholarship and service Father Thomas Brennan has rendered in his time on their faculty.

Image credit: Flickr user PJFurlong06.

Election 2008: Mercer Misses Mark; Colbert Crushed by Carolinians

2007-11-02T15:43:00.000-04:00

I used to be an avid reader of Memepool and have once again started checking periodically to see what they have come up with.

Normally, I don't often pay homage by ripping off content, but I coudn't resist passing along the link to Lee L. Mercer JR's campaign page.

He has apparently been urged by Congress to seek the presidency, is a big fan of enforcement and doesn't mind sharing his accurate personal contact information with netizens everywhere.

Moreover, according to his donation page, he is registered with the Federal Election Commission, which is apparently true.

In fact, the American Council of Engineering Companies has contributed funds to his campaign.

I'm afraid, however, after careful review of his web site, which often reads like as if it was written by a random text generator, I cannot endorse Mr. Mercer.

I'm still broken up over South Carolina's rejection of Stephen Colbert.

Image credit: Lee L. Mercer JR?

Rotten Rant: It's Going to Be a Moving Month

2007-11-02T09:50:00.000-04:00

November 2007 is shaping to be a pretty intense month. I'm moving to a new house with new roomates.

Our neighborhood south/southeast of the city is more laid back and remarkably safer-looking than good 'ole Green Street.

It's mostly (Italian) families who have probably lived there for at least a couple generations.

It's also a kickass house, and by kickass I mean kick ASS. We have a garage, a back patio, a second floor deck, central AC and heating, new appliances, a massive second floor living room and and and and..........

I know that much of this probably seems like old hat to some people, but I have yet to live in what I refer to as a 'fully tricked-out adult dwelling'.

This is the first place I've lived at since I graduated colleged [REDACTED] years ago that would actually invite my mother to come out and see.

Meanwhile, I'm using the cash flow from the new job to finance my rise out of the mire of debt that has been my life for so long. For the first time in a long time there is light at the end of the monetary tunnel. It's not blinding or anything, but it's there.

It looks like the band will be sort of indefinitely put on hold while Nelson settles into a new driving job that looks like it will be keeping him from the loving arms, er, practice spaces, er, nevermind, of his bandmates here in Philly. Luckily, he has a cell phone now so we can keep in touch.

I need to start writing again. I've been going a little crazy lately (craziER) and I think it's because I'm just not processing my ideas or emotions like I used to, by encoding them and fictionalizing them and mangling them until they come out looking somewhat normal.

Things like this have kept me sane my whole life. Click through and read. It's fun. But be sure to start with the bottom one first.

Or maybe it will make the same amount of sense no matter what order you choose to read its pieces in...

Have a Rotten Halloween!

2007-10-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

I love Halloween. Not because it's one of the pagan holidays appropriated by Christianity, nor because it is a retail holiday of epic proportions.

No, I love Halloween because of the insane ideas people come up with for costumes.

Some people don't like the holiday very much at all.

Even the truth of Samhain's exact origins is disputed.

No matter, though. We are not here to discuss the maybes and maybe-nots. No, we are here to discuss the international goings-on and local tricks and treats.

Some of the Philly attractions are pretty silly, but that's not what I heard about the penitentiary. So if you can handle the lines and the prices, consider incarcerating yourself for the evening.

Lighter fare is also available for the family-oriented ghoul. Or maybe you're just not into the whole scare-fest thing and you'd much rather a lovely drive around the autumnal countryside.

If you get a chance, maybe you'd like to stop by 6300 Overbrook Avenue for some Halloween music, including an acoustic set from 3/4 of the band I'm in and, shall we say, some light partying.

Image credit: Flickr user guano.

United Nations Urges Developed Countries to Clean Up Their Acts

2007-10-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

My favorite British news site reported today on a U.N. report
outlining the urgency of the impending environmental crises humanity will face in the pretty-damn-near future.

The article gives a good overview of the report, which I would love to read in its entirety but simply can't.

Image in the public domain; taken aboard Apollo 17.

Honeymoon Is Over...

2007-10-26T12:38:00.001-04:00

I know, I know! Content is king and I don't have any this week. Hopefully that will change this weekend. Work is insane. For now, there are plenty of articles down below for you to read and please, for the love of god, COMMENT!

U.S. to Turkey: Do As We Say, Not As We Do

2007-10-22T13:20:00.000-04:00

If Turkish troops had stormed the northern Iraqi border to counterattack Kurdish rebels based in the area, there would have undoubtedly been stern backlash from U.S. diplomats beholden to the current administration's doomed efforts in Iraq.

Luckily, although pressure for Turkey to assert its ability to defend itself without US help seems to be building, there seems to at least be the semblance of an effort to close the situation without further armed confrontation.

However, we'd do well to be cautious in our optimism.

Image credit: Flickr user ckindel.

Election 2008: Colbert Campaign

2007-10-19T12:49:00.001-04:00

It took me a long time to create my graphic for the presidential election race. I wanted it to be as bold and flashy as the candidates themselves, but also as dark and dismal as our chances of actually electing a decent president.

However, it has come to my attention that Stephen Colbert, leader of the revolution at Colbert Nation and recently a guest columnist on Maureen Dowd's Op-Ed turf , is running for President - but only in South Carolina.

According to an article by Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times (also home to Dowd), Colbert has apparently contacted both parties at their respective headquarters in the Palmetto State.

The public television station in the comedian's home state, ETV, is opting to show its support and rake in the viewership an official announcement by the punny pundit himself would likely draw.

A press release published on Editor & Publisher said:

While all the political buzz on Friday was whether the new recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Al Gore, will be making a bid for the presidency, the real story is that humorist, talk-show host and author Stephen Colbert might well be turning a new page on his career with a run for the presidency on behalf of both parties.

On Thursday night, Colbert told CNN's Larry King that "there is something I can offer the campaign on a state-by-state basis."

When asked what state he would choose to kick off his trial-run campaign, Colbert answered, "I am a native of South Carolina ...It seems like a natural place to start."

As South Carolina's only statewide media outlet, boasting 11 television and eight radio stations, ETV is extending an offer to Colbert to formally begin his campaign on its air. This affords him the important opportunity to reach his Palmetto State neighbors at one fell swoop.

Hopefully Colbert's move will remind the typically elitist candidates, not to mention the American people, that anyone (with enough money) can run.

read more | digg story

Image credit: My own damn self!

The Spam Files: Late Mrs. Fassnacht

2007-10-19T11:09:00.000-04:00

I always enjoy some quality Spam. I am not ashamed to admit that I have consumed my share of the luncheon meat in my day (although have been dabbling in the dark arts).

However, while Spam the food may not be very good for you, sometimes it can be a healthy and humorous part of your digital diet.

Enter Sir Brian Moffat and his offer of financial prosperity:

Attention:

I know this message will come to you as a suprise but neverthless I am seeking for your co-operation to present you to my bank as the next of kin/will beneficiary to Mrs. Sigrid Fassnacht, a foreign contractor from Cologne, Germany who died on a plane crash on July 31st 2000 with her husband Rudi Fassnacht. Her husband and their two children also perished in the air France Concorde New York bound flight; please click here for verification.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/859479.stm [Note: This is a legitimate link to the BBC]

Before her death, she was a contractor to British National Petroleum Co-operation (BNPC) and has a bank balance with my bank to the tune of (30 million pounds sterling GBP) which will be paid to you as her next of kin/will beneficiary. For your information, i got your contact details through the British Chambers of Commerce and Torism.

The board of directors of the Bank which I am also a member,mandated me to look for any known relation of Mrs.Sigrid Fassnacht, since after her death.
However, all my efforts traces abortive, that is the main reason I am writing you this to ask for your co-operation for us to claim this money because it will amount to injustice if I do not take this decisive step to secure this deposit and invest it, because if nobody comes forward to claim the fund it will be forfeited to the government,based on that I have contacted you to assist me in making this transaction a reality.

I only have to approve you as the next of kin/will beneficiary and the fund will be paid to you as the beneficiary. We are to share this money between ourselves and also donate 10% to charity and the tsunami victims if you are really interested in this offer you should contact me through this email address:

For detail of this transaction and procedures, please do forward me your full address, phone number/mobile number,your company name or occupation & age, these info will enable me commence immediately to secure all legal documents in your favor on your acceptance to fully co-operate with me.

I await your urgent response to enable us jumpstart this project and nurture it to reality.

Yours faithfully,
Sir Brian Moffat

I personally love these more intricate attempts to legitimize a blatant scam. I prefer, if someone is going to insult my intelligence, that they at least try kind of hard, you know?

I wonder at the legality of connecting your scam to an entity like the BBC or using the name of a disgraced steel industry chairman. It would be nice to see one of these guys taken to court and divested of their livelihood.

Why? Because why not!

Image credit: FLickr user janetgalore.

Web 2.5: Another Silicon Valley Investment Flood Rejuvinates Tech Dev But May Drown Dividends

2007-10-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

The New York Times ran a story a couple of days ago about the massive reinvestment in Web 2.0 technology that has recently received widespread attention.

Google's acquisition of Twitter (I'm a proud tweeter, even if the other guys do have really cool extras) competitor Jaiku is just the most recent activity in a flurry of interesting developments that are inflating the expectations of 2.0 gurus all over the place.

Whew. That may be the most links I've ever used in one sentence. But they're all relevant.

We all know what happened the first time the dot com bubble burst and splattered its tragedy on so many digital faces.

Now, it looks like the billions trading virtual hands are doing wonders for the technology sector that begot the dubious dealings, but there's no indication that things are much different this time around.

Yes, the technology is more advanced and established now than it was then, but that's not the problem. The question is whether or not investors have evolved.

Image credit: Flickr user jpockele.

The Weekly Rot: The Politics of Treasure, Ancestry, and Faulty Logic

2007-10-17T14:51:00.000-04:00

The news is something that never ceases to amaze me. The idea that we can digitally monitor the output of thousands of worldwide news and commentary sources and monitor the zeitgeist in real-time fascinates me.

Far and Away

BBC NEWS | Europe | US treasure ship captain is freed

He didn't want the Spanish authorities copping a feel of his booty. However, when you have close to half a billion dollars in said booty, you should consider insuring it.

Closer to Home

The Raw Story | Obama a distant cousin to Cheney, Bush

It may be difficult to maintain your status as the 'change' candidate when you're genealogically tied to the master and the puppet of the past eight years. Expect the less intelligent pundits, radical leaders and Americans in general to claim this as more proof that Obie isn't black or white enough.

Local Color

Jill Porter | Hooker raped and robbed - by justice system? | Philadelphia Daily News | 10/12/2007

This one is certainly a doozey. A brilliant local legal mind has, according to the Daily News, decided that forcing a prostitute to have sex at gun point is not, in fact, rape, attempted or otherwise.

Instead, dishonorable Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni claimed that the men accused had stolen the victim's "services" - as if they had skipped out on the bill at the massage parlor.

I don't usually get too caught up in the news, I mean, terrible things happen all the time. But this judge thinks she is right. And that is a terrifying prospect.

She is obviously unclear on the law, which is unacceptable, considering her job is to uphold it.

Her logic in this case is not only faulty, but also spits in the face of every rape victim and the attorneys and law makers who try to provide them with legal recourse.

If you're as pissed as I am, give Judge Deni a call at her office and tell her. And consider, as some have, making it a point to give Deni the hint that she has chosen the wrong profession by voting NO next to her name during the state-wide retention elections November6, 2007.

Image credit: Flickr user midnightvelvet59.

Success! Blog Bloke Is the Man

2007-10-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

All day I have searched, for nigh on six and a half hours. I have scavenged every corner of the net and, no thanks to Blogger or GoDaddy, I've found the solution to my rather arcane domain issue.

The problem was that I could not make the cutom domain setting on Blogger agree with my DNS information on GoDaddy.

Enter BlogBloke! The particular post that saved me from certain self-inflicted death can be viewed here.

I cannot find words to express my gratitude to this man. I was ready to apologize to my 2 1/2 readers and quit!

Image credit: Flickr user aloshbennett.

Update: Nightmare On Blog Street

2007-10-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

~~Okay, so apparently http://www.therottenword.com will do the trick.~~

Nevermind. I was wrong.

I had no idea that trying to host a custom domain with Google would make me want to set myself on fire, dive off a massive mountainside into a ditch, curl up and die.

There's No Place Like (A New) Home

2007-10-15T15:01:00.001-04:00

Things are going very well as of late. It looks like I have found a suitable new domicile in slightly-southeast Philly. The house itself is brand new, with a back patio, balcony, jacuzzi (yeah, that's right) and more sunlight and hardwood floor than you can shake a blog at.

Luckily, it is a wonderful nieghborhood, close to transit, near a hoagie joint and easily accessible by highway.

My soon-to-be-new-roomates and I attended an open house Saturday and then hung around the neighborhood, fully prepared to discourage any other would-be renters.

At one point, Mikey G. put down his grilled chicken wrap and began a walking pursuit of three young men who we saw approaching the house. Luckily, the gentleman who had shown us the place was no where to be found.

So, applications are currently being examined by the potential landlord and meanwhile the three of us are fighting over who gets what might be considered the 'master' of the three bedrooms. It has its own bathroom with toilet, sinkn and jacuzzi. Any bathroom fixture that contains the name of a famous firearm is definitely worth fighting over.

Image credit: Flickr user Gribiche.

Ann Coulter and the $1 Conservatives

2007-10-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

I just couldn't resist featuring this lovely advertisement found on Ann Coulter's web site. I dugg it but there's an awful lot of competition when it comes to Ann Coulter diggs.

Here's a transcript exerpt, from Media Matters via Editor&Publisher.com, of her anti-Semitic comments on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show The Big Idea. She is backpedaling, but not with any intention of amending her misstatement. Deutsch has just called her out for being, among other things, a friend of Iran and a Jew-hater.

"No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament."

Wow. What a starkly crazy b___h!

Let's Judge Others: The Lord's Press Release: Reads Like Spam, Tastes Like Chicken, 100% Insane

2007-10-15T11:21:00.001-04:00

Between random uncited quotes from rock history, apocalyptic Bible references and unmitigated live-blogging, this guy affectionately refers to Georgie Sr. as "Bush Daddy". Sounds like an awkward love-making position. This article or whatever it is underlines the truth, in both big cities and on the net: there is ALWAYS someone crazier than you!

[read more] [digg story]

Image credit: Flickr user bloomsberries.

TheRottenWord.Com

2007-10-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

It's done! I haven't moved to an independent server or designed my own CSS deliciousness yet, but I have secured http://therottenword.com. So tell all your friends!

Enlightened Blog Design, Layout and Strategy

2007-10-12T16:05:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I write for Helium.com (read my articles) and today, I wrote for a contest about blog design. Now, yes I use a Blogger template, and no, I don't host my own site (yet). But I have learned a lot throughout my couple of years toiling in obscurity, so I wrote up the best advice I have gotten from others and submitted it to the contest.

I decided it would be a good idea to post the results here.

Designing a blog can be an arduous and daunting task. Templates provide good launch points because it is good to have some content already when you start to invest time in an original design.

But this is not a how-to design article, but a how-to improve your design article, so I'm going to talk about the fundamental strong points of any good blog. These apply to both personal and professional or "for money" blogs. They are ways to ensure that your readers have the best possible experience on your site and return regularly to check updates.

Content Presentation

Your content needs to be front and center. The posting area must be the first thing to which the reader's eyes are drawn. If you have a lot of extra bells and whistles, such as one or two sidebars containing links, archives and information about you, make sure the sidebar(s) have a different background and text color, peferably darker than the main content.

Go look at some of the most popular blogs listed at blogpulse.com and you'll see that they favor dark text on a light background. There's a reason for that - people find it easier to read and also to trust a web site designed that way. Don't ask me why, but if you talk to some web-savvy friends, they'll agree.

Syndication

Any good blog design should include a link to the syndicated feed, either in XML, RSS or Atom formats. This allows users who prefer to read their favorite blog updates in a feed reader like BlogLines.com or Google Reader. It is a vastly popular platform for blog consumption and offering a feed for posts and a separate one for comments will encourage lively user interaction, which is key to a blog's success.

Comments

That brings us to comments. Many bloggers prefer to require approval for comments before they post to the site, or they may use a blogging platform which demands that a reader sign up before they can leave a comment. This is all done in an attempt to keep spammers from posting useless or malicious comments on the page, usually through automated software attacks that cover many sites at once with some bogus advertisement.

However, as long as you don't spam your blog address all over the place in stupid and pathetic ways, you should be fine. Spam unto others as you would have them spam unto you. Which is, I presume, not at all.

A blog that does not require approval or sign-up to leave comments on encourages robust and user-friendly dialog between the writer an the readers. Good conversation may develop and you'll find that people come back to check on the status of a comment exchange, even if you haven't posted any new content. This situation is especially lucrative if you are trying to make money via services like Google AdSense.

Commenting should be available on every post and, if your site gets enough traffic, consider branching out to a forum. The key to any successful blogging endeavor is not to write articles and sit back in awe of the fact that your words have been dispatched into the arcane realm of cyberspace. The key concept is community building.

Links

Remember, a blog is not a Helium article or a newspaper story. One of the primary strengths of the blogging concept is the ability to link to other web sites from within your post. This creates a flow of information and readership across a vast spectrum of the internet. It also ensures that everyone is on the same page. For example, if you write a post about Al Gore and his work in the climate issue, provide links relevant to his history of participation in that debate, the views of those who oppose his proposals and the general science behind the global warming phenomenon.

Try not to lean too far to one side when offering links. Linking to several different points of view shows that you have done some research and have a breadth of knowledge about the topic. Legitimacy is important here and cross-referencing helps. For example, I try to post as many links to Conservapedia articles as I do to Wikipedia articles. They are considered right- and left-wing web sites, respectively, and often offer very different takes on the same subject.

The attempt to mitigate your own bias is not the only reason to include many links. Link to other bloggers who have discussed similar issues. Many of us look at our statistics and check out who sent us the most traffic.

We tend to take care of our own. If I see that whateveryourblogiscalled.com sent me 100 hits this week, I'll be sure to link to you and mention your blog whenever your content is relevant to my current post.

Blogrolls, or lists of links to other blogs, also encourage community-building, in that users can click around between blogs that include each other on a blogroll, offering an easy way to get to know new bloggers on the list and keep up on your old favorites.

Ad Placement

Some people want to make money on their blogs and, unless your successful enough that people will buy apparel labeled with your logo, you're going to have to sell ad space. And if you're not at the point yet where anyone wants to buy ad space on your blog, you're going to use Google AdSense. AdSense scans your page and includes ads relevant to your content. Opinion varies as to the accuracy of this service.

Whatever you do, though, don't stick your ads in readers' faces. It is a huge turn-off and is akin to standing way too close to someone when you talk. Big flashy ads or too many ads on page distract from the content and can drive away otherwise interested readers.

Instead, place ads discretely and match their color scheme to that of your site or blog. This looks classier and increases the chance that the reader will glance at the ad throughout the course of their visit and give it the attention you're hoping it gets.

Who Are You?

A picture of you and any other authors, along with a blurb about who you are, what you do and, specifically, why your write your blog, humanizes you, legitimates your work and makes readers feel that much 'closer' to you. Now don't get all stalkerish on me or anything, I'm just saying that knowing the face who writes your favorite blog promotes familiarity.

Tag, Tag, Tag!

Tags are a great way to organize a blog. It gives me a quick reference guide to your favorite topics and lets them weed out posts they may find uninteresting. Be careful though - rather than have 100 tags that only apply to one or two posts each, try to narrow it down to 10 or 15. Any more than 20 and it becomes kind of a chore to go through all those tags and decide what to read.

Read, Read, Read

The blogging mania that is sweeping the internet means literally thousands of new blogs a day. Read the popular ones, as listed at blogpulse.com and technorati.com and similar sites. Take notes on what popular and successful blogs look like and how they act, i.e. update frequency and consistent columnists vs guest writers, etc.

Remember - the best blogs are unique, user-friendly and topically consistent.

Image credit: Flickr user brunkfordbraun.

Rotten Rant: Warming Up to the Climate Change Debate

2007-10-12T08:54:00.000-04:00

I promise not to make a habit of this, but a reader (possibly my only reader) left a great comment on my Al Gore post and as I composed my response, I realized it was time for another Rotten Rant!

First, you should read the comment by 'Uncle Anonymous' here. Then, you should read my reply, which got kind of long and started demanding its own post:

Again, it's nice to have someone to talk to over here!

Some responses:

I also bore witness to his loss of composure on the election issue. His was not a graceful defeat.
However, we all know Bush also suffered a mental meltdown after the 2000 election, or possibly years before, maybe even at birth, and we're all still dealing with it.

If these scientists are itching so much for vindication, there's no excuse not to speak up immediately. That his candidacy would be the catalyst required for this "muted majority" to voice their disagreement speaks as poorly of their character as it does of his.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have not seen Gore's film. I liken it to Michael Moore's work and, while I'm often left of center, I'm not lefty enough to swallow that stuff. My comments merely address the results of his crusade, not the morality/accuracy of his work.

Of course the film is politically motivated, but I think he's convinced himself that his politics are in the right place these days.

In truth, I don't care what his motivation is, as long as he doesn't park that gas guzzling jet in my front yard.

But I know the difference between An Inconvenient Truth and Reefer Madness is that, to a large extent, Reefer Madness had the desired effect - it was sensational and an integral part of the early spin campaign against marijuana. I don't think Gore's film is winning many new converts as much as it is sort of preaching to the choir.

His film gets a passing grade from me before I even see it because it has done what few things do these days: sparked legitimate and productive debate. For every Gore-head who preaches the climate schtick, there's an Uncle Anonymous with a few more facts, there to talk them down from their maniacal acceptance of the spin.

I find it's painless to reduce my carbon footprint a bit, so I try to in my daily life. Does it help? Is there anything to help? I don't know. But what the hell.

Anyone else have anything to say about this? C'mon - anyone? I feel like a teacher anxiously waiting for a hand to go up.

Some interesting links:

GlobalWarming.Org offers a pretty spin-free take on the topic.

Read what the Righties (more likely neo-cons) have to say about it:

The Conservapedia article on global warming. And another conservative view here.

Image credit: Flickr user focalplane

Let's Judge Others: Britney's Throws Her "Blackout"; Jammie Thomas Reacts to Analog Juror

2007-10-11T10:15:00.001-04:00

Hooray for new columns! They keep me writing which, hopefully, will get people to start reading.

Let's Judge Others is going to be The Rotten Word's version of the Philadelphia City Paper's I Love You, I Hate You section. The operant difference is that I get to choose two people from the news, the internet or (gasp!) my personal life.

Initially, I was going to give each one a declaration, like 'Stupidhead' and 'Supreme Chancellor of Awesome'. I think that it might be better, though, if I let my comments about each speak for themselves.

Spears album coming out two weeks earlier - Reuters

Her new record, Blackout, seems aptly titled in the wake of substance abuse allegations and a hit-and-run bummer in a parking lot.

A parking lot, Brit? They're not even moving in a parking lot. Oh well. I don't want to be too mean, I wouldn't want to get yelled at...

Anyway, the record is scheduled for a mischievous U.S. release date of October 30, as opposed to its original release date, November 3. Apparently, someone has leaked demos and such from the recording sessions onto the internet.

They want to mitigate the effects of pirate raids on their golden girl's booty, but once it's out, it's out. There's nothing you can do, Jive Records. Sorry.

As TMZ reports, she is at least sober enough, and has a healthy-enough sense of irony, to apply for a bartending job at ritzy Cali hotel.

She is today's Let's Judge Others! loser, but click here to read a sobering (sorry, had to) and in-depth commentary on her rise and fall, from the U.K.'s Guardian Unlimited.

Defendant knocks Web illiterate juror in RIAA case - CNET

At 30 years old, she makes less than $40K a year, raises three children as a single mother, and purportedly 'infringed' upon 24 songs. The jury, including a man who has never been on the net, and after only five minutes of deliberation, ordered her to pay $220K in damages.

This is the first major case between a P2P user and the Recording Industry Association of America that has gone to full trial. Most are settled out of court for a few grand.

Consumerist put together a who's who of RIAA higher-ups, as well as a fascinating list of politicians who receive cash from the RIAA. The highest number on that list, $9,000, is equal the amount Thomas was ordered to pay per song in the court's ruling. Just an interesting way to look at it.

I don't know whether or not she's guilty. It's just nice to see someone stand up to the RIAA.

So she wins today. For deciding not to settle, for deciding to appeal. If you want to help her, you can donate to her legal fund or friend her on MySpace!

Image credit: Flickr user bloomsberries.

Dastardly Download: Web Forum Reader Lite

2007-10-11T09:46:00.000-04:00

Another Dastardly Download! The 'dastardly' is mostly there for alliteration's sake, because I'm a simple boy and am amused easily by things like alliteration.

On to the download. I prefer the one-sided conversation of feed readers, where I can decided on a case-by-case basis whether or not to comment on the original story.

But I know some people long for the company of fellow netizens and thus prefer forums to feeds.

Well Web Forum Reader Lite essentialy takes all the data from all of your favorite forums and aggregates it in an interface similar to a feed reader.

Like a reader, it peels away all the extraneous content and code that, although it can make a site (like The Rotten Word!) all purty, can be distracting if you just want to read some stuff.

(Incidentally, also good at work as a discreet way to catch up on your less-than-work-friendly forums...)

The forums act a lot like a comments feed does when you toss it in BlogLines (now with the sexy new Beta flavor!), Sage or Google Reader.

And remember - the Dastardly Download is always freeware!

Gore-ing Up for Election 2008:Why He'll Never Run Again and Why That's Okay

2007-10-10T14:43:00.001-04:00

I was reading an Associated Press article about DraftGore.com's $65,000 full-page ad in the New York Times when I got to thinking:

This guy suffered the greatest disappointment since the Chicago Tribune's famous mistake. He has (arguably) undertaken a very serious and much-needed project with his exposure of the inconvenient truth about climate change. He has not expressed any interest in running.

Despite all this, many web sites are supporting another run. I'm not in a position to acurately estimate the results of such a candidacy, but I've never let that stop me.

So he hasn't thrown his recycled-textile, made-in-a-legitimate-living-wage-factory, 100% biodegradeable hat into the ring yet.

His spokeswoman told the Associated Press:

[He] "deeply appreciates the heartfelt sentiment behind this ad and understands where this comes from, but he has no intention of running for president."

We might be tempted to ask the hard questions, like why not? What complex set of circumstances is at play here to dampen his presidential amibition, an ambition that once seemed limitless?

Blah, blah, blah. It could be as simple as the fact that A) he's busy and B) he freaking loves what's keeping him so busy.

Environmentalism is his calling, that much is for sure. Indeed, his intense and sustained campaign for greener living could have easily been used as a brilliant public relations introduction to a presidential run.

Many of the same people that populate the inner workings of his clean-earth crusade would probably serve well in the grass-roots trenches of a last-minute guerilla mission for 2008.

So no President Gore. But that's okay because he would not be able to tend to his tree-hugging brethren and without him, the movement, if it can be called a movement, would fall to a whisper and then, finally, a steamy globally-warmed silence.

Sure, Someone would take over the touring and incessant photo-ops (he already has an army of volunteers touring the country to make the presenation).

But sorry, Someone, you just don't have the charisma, the charm or the admirable (if somewhat inexplicable) dedication to the cause that the press feeds on like a vampire in a blood bank.

So let him do his thing and get his green on. It makes him happy to present and debate on global warming and, what's more, he's good at it.

Whether you support his mission or consider global warming a an evil concotion of energy-industry haters and lefty pork hoarders, I think we can all agree on one thing:

The U.S. is mature enough to consider a female or a black candidate for president, but we are not mature enough to consider placing a gleefully (if not dubiously) effective environmentalist in the Oval Office.

And you know what? That's okay. Baby steps, America, baby steps.

Image credit: Flickr user World Resources Institute Staff.