What about Ning?

[John Bessa]

Andressen who created Netscape (no big deal really, he just took Mosaic from the NCSA) created this site.

Supposedly you can extend the functionality here, and keep the code to use to build another site. That other site would be what we want from OEN, but owned by us.

What do we know about this? Can we use Ning to steal Rob's thunder? How would you change OEN (besides dumping Rob), and how could we code that here?

My ideas were to create a sort of desktop to assist the writing process, rather than impact it as OEN does. Besides creating the tags, there is some magic that can be done to create linking information to plug the article into the blogosphere so that the info is linked to by other stuff, giving the writing a high page ranking on Google.

Having content distributed that links back to our writing would also create more links, which would further increase page ranking, and hence more links. I think the strategy is to write about your writing in other places, such as similar pages with discussion pages, so that you link back to yourself from other places, and make it appear that your writing is seriously esteemed by others. Or maybe I should say "link back to ourselves" so that our writing appears important, as appearances are everything in a world lacking the ability to conceptualize because it is led my neural defectives.

I bet having google advertising will boost your ranking, though I don't see it as much of a revenue source (look at Rob's continual begging).

BTW, where is GLloyd?

[John Bessa]

On good days, I could jump on board the empathy train. On others, I simply want to attack.

Honestly I spend more time in defense or attack modes than understanding modes. I try to keep it positive, but people who lack the positive perspective keep attacking saying that love is hate and therefore hate is love, and they want to hate me off the planet, sort of like that.

My response is to show them how they lack what everybody else has, which drives them off the planet. Which is a form of attack, so the fight goes on, because people lacking basic emotional communication cannot "come around"

[BO]

"...people lacking basic emotional communication cannot "come around""

Well, usually when I respond with my usual psychobabble regarding the underlying psychosis that drives our culture, the folks on this board eyes begin to glaze over. But what you mention comes close to describing one of the major symptoms of our rising collective sociopathy I keep yammering about.

My latest thesis is based on the new third-world ethic that's taking hold as globalism brings us neofeudalism. One of the first things to go is concern for the emotional health. Not only are we dumbing down, but we're also regressing in emotional/spiritual maturity/health.

Typically, if you want to be successful in your communications these days, you need to assume that your audience has the emotional maturity of a five year old.

[pan]

Critics of Capitalism

the fundamental problem would be more cultural than economic.

[waldopaper]

Stonefruit say:" That leaves 1% of us, a camp of goofball saints and a camp of drooling, blood-soaked psychopaths..." and I like catchy acronyms... like Mr. M's COTO... Coalition Of The Obvious. Bo's got something there with the Church of The Absurd. One percent. The Ancient Order o' Them wots got a fukkin Clue. The ones who saw it coming. This small cluster of COTOs has left a pretty good textual trail... from SC... to DH's rbc... to Tribe... to here (with rest stops at Curt's Kite and other places). Doin wot "social networking sites" is spozed to do. Some of the voices have dropped out.

I'd like to think they figgered out what to do and is off somewheres doin' it. I am fairly stumped about "doing" (spring noise) anything. Given up on getting people aboard the Clue Train... you don't need no baggage... you just get on board. Hand out tickets (don't need them either) to the Wee Spiders and I guess they use them to light farts or something. I specks eye will see some of em one day at the Big Bahnhoff. Meanwhile, I'd say Wm. Whitten is representing us fairly well over at OEN. One percent... that's 3 million of us in the US alone... but we is scattered everywhere... which is probably exactly where we belong. It probably fluctuates somewhat in different areas... but in the aggregate, I'd say 1% is just about right.

We know that third on the right is a bunch o dangerous unibrow psychos... and that third on the left got their head so far up they ass they can only hear "mmmpf mmmpf mmmmpf," and the great clueless middle is like Kelley looking for shoes. The voice of him that crieth in the Wilderness sez "let's get some shoes." I think any further "protests" or street-actions or any such roodoo should always be at a fucking Teevee station. No- INSIDE the fucking teevee station. Include me out. House repoed? Be sure and set the fucker on fire before you leave with your shopping carts full of shoes. These shoes rule. These shoes suck.

Let's get some shoes.

[BO]

OK, I'm sticking this video here in the hopes that everyone will watch it. It shows representatives from the SEC defending themselves from accusations of doing nothing about the Madoff ponzi scheme even after they were informed about it nine years earlier. Ultimately, an SEC lawyer claims executive privilege to avoid answering questions. If you have any doubts about the legal community being 99% responsible for the mess we're in today, this video will clear that up. This, my friends, is what the face of evil looks like...

[pan]

Ackerman is berating the speakers and not really letting them answer BUT it seems that they weren't saying anything but bureaucratic-speak anyway.

He says in this clip "most of us speak English and we are having a hard time getting an answer from you"

[BO]

Paradoxically, I think Ackerman pretty much said that our government was 'the enemy'.

So, we now have a flasher government. It exposes itself from time to time but never castrates its own ugly parts. Ackerman's just running round in his trench coat going, 'look at this!'

So?

[John Bessa]

Cant watch, or listen. No speakers on this old PC

[curt]

Dontcha let that getcha down, John. MultiMedia is a neato way of getting the word out but words still rule. Mark (member here) prefers pure writings over MM and if I recall correctly, still has a very slow connection. By the way, Mark has finished a new article on election boycotting. It should be available for us all to read, soon. Like maybe tomorrow. It should be very interesting seeing as I did the first line editing, sending Mark back to the old drawing board which sent Mark back to Paul Lehto where the two had a very healthy exchange which resulted in the final version - of the article - which is soon to appear on the web for all to read.

[waldopaper]

Can't imbed Bjork Triumph of the Heart "by request." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQB9d-MMIx0

Nah... it aint just the "legal community." We have ALL sold out in our own professional communities. Look at most of the journalists/ academics/ artists... etc etc etc... all "bought and paid for." Predatory capitalism has worked its magic in each and every one of our specialties to sustain itself. Look at the trades-people... building obsolete stick-built faux drywall boxes for the greatest profit... even though it's obvious these are $200k hexayurts. Why not build a hexayrut for $200?

Editorial sites such as OEN lose their edge once the bucks roll in... because they come from "advertisers" who have sold out in their specialties just like the rest of us. Marx' predictions were exactly right... but he tainted them with polemics that he drags to this day like Marley's chains. He interrupts our evening gruel... "Scrooooooge! Scroooooooge!" We are entering the nightmare... the spirits will instruct us... and many of us will not awaken, enlightened or otherwise.

The quest for "readers" is just as dangerous. My little specialty of "teaching writing" is full of little poison pills rolled from the same turd-pile. "Audience-based prose." What bullshit. Pander to the existing paradigm instead of pointing toward the unknown. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but meet stiff objection from some of the wee spiders schooled in the prevailing paradigm. You might get lucky... like Darwin or Marx... where the paradigm has shifted just enough so your words fall into place. Not likely though, so the greatest of "writers" usually die in obscurity like Zora Hurston.

Or artists... like Van Gogh... or scientists... like Tesla. Inventors... like the Wright brothers... who could have stuck with their successful bicycle franchise and become rich... but noooooooo. Some visionaries (like the Wrights) roll the dice for what they see as the big pay. Others (like Hurston) just do it because they kann nicht anders... cannot do otherwise. They drive the wedge that rolls the stone away... and Christ emerges from the tomb...

...and if he sees his shadow, well... six more weeks of Winter!

[pan]

A bit of a tangent but this thread is the closest thing we have for comments about the internet at large:

New Zealand netizens go black in protest of new "no-proof" copyright law that cuts off your Internet on accusation

[curt]

" ...that required ISPs to have a policy to disconnect users after repeated accusations of infringement "

Isn't this a standard ?

I thought this was already rolled out ans part of standard practice amongst ISPs.

At any rate, I think it would be worth it to join in in solidarity on the 23rd ;

http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html