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A book I can't wait to review!
Steven Streight, the "official blogologist of BLOGthenticity Group Business Blog", doesn't see the point of RSS feeds. This in itself may not be news, however what made me post this is that Steven is about to get published:
| BOOK UPDATE: My book "Secrets of the Blogging Pros" has now entered serious negotiations with a top technical book publisher. "Secrets of the Blogging Pros" is racing to its pre-determined destiny: the Authoritative Treatment of Blogging's Best Practices according to the most popular and successful practitioners. |
Let that sink in for a sec.
A guy who's against syndicating content (and trackbacks) is writing a how to book on blogging. That's just crazy. Here's some of Steven's great wisdom:
| RSS feeds "push" content at users. |
Yes, once those users have subscribed.
| Link Overload: I have bookmarked so many favorite sites on both my Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, I can't manage them very efficiently. |
Am I missing something here? That's exactly the point of feeds, I guess you're against del.icio.us too?
| Redundancy: It would be a duplication of effort to have an RSS function blinking or otherwise trying to remind or alert me about more stuff to consider reading. I already visit many sites every day, or at least on those days when I have the time to do it. |
It would only be redundant if you kept visiting the sites the old way.
There's more, but it's such uneducated drivel I can't be bothered going through it, feel free to read it yourself.
I'll leave you with this:
| This blog doesn't have trackback or syndication options. |
Syndicate Steven's site here.
Clueless...!
Update: Steven thinks we're all losers, check out the comments...!Posted by Rich...! | Permalink
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Tracked on 1 Apr 2005 13:19:35
Comments
Unreal.
Posted by: Bren | 28 Mar 2005 19:15:00
Seems like a cunning plan to me.
Step 1: Piss of maximum number of bloggers by writing about worst
practices as if they're current best practices.
Step 2: Publish book on false best practices.
Step 3: Wait for bloggers to get revenge by buying your book and
posting reviews on their weblogs.
Step 4: Profit!
Posted by: Vaughn Dickson | 28 Mar 2005 21:02:24
Yup, that guy's one smart mo' fo'...!
Posted by: Rich...! | 28 Mar 2005 21:17:51
Rich, just because a guy writes a book about something, it doesn't mean he knows much about his subject matter.
Posted by: Paul | 28 Mar 2005 23:22:59
Rich...! Do you sometimes go to a movie that is so bad, it is actually quite entertaining? Sounds like this book is in the same category.
For me the tell is right there in the opening quote: we see the words secrets, pros, authoritative and - major alarm bell - the dreaded best practices.
The guy must live in some kind of fantasy world.
Posted by: Johnnie Moore | 29 Mar 2005 11:19:35
Dude, why don't you bring out a blogging guide?
It would be better than that losers attempt, and
you can finally rid the web of evildoers who don't follow correct procedures, like for instance lack of trackback and feeds. It would give all the beginners an idea of how to run a good blog, and you could invite various bloggers to contribute. That'll show 'em, and piss off 20Oceansvibe to boot.
Posted by: Rox | 29 Mar 2005 14:47:51
Thanks for the kind compliments and for accurately quoting the parts of my post that you liked the best.
I'm always delighted to acquire new fans like the famous and erudite Johnnie Moore and Vaughn Dickson, and even those brave enough to omit their last names: "Rox", "Paul", "Rich...!"
You are all too clever to fall into the trap of Vaspers the Grate. You are all too proficient to need schooling at the feet of my Secrets of the Blogging Pros book.
The book, BTW, is based on information provided to me by Matt Mullenweg, Cory Doctorow, John Battelle, Mark Cuban, Evan Williams, Jorn Barger, David Weinberger, Steve Rubel, Amy Gahran, Chris Sells, Dave Taylor, Dave Pell, Rich Marcello, Michael Wiley, and others whom I'm sure you all are so much smarter than.
See you later losers.
I'll try to think of other pet blog items you love, and attack them viciously, and watch you cry and curse and comfort each other.
It'll be great fun for the whole family.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 29 Mar 2005 21:33:46
No no Steven, thank you! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy writing schedule and A-list correspondence to grace our lil hick blog down here in Africa with your comments. This truly is the highlight of our blogging career.
Obviously had I known that your book had content from the likes of Mr Doctorow, Mr Cuban and Mr Rubel, to name but a few, I would never have questioned your rationale regarding RSS feeds, I'm sure they must all share your views, I must pop over to their blogs and ask them.
Sadly, as exciting as your fun-filled (for the whole family!) idea sounds, it'll fall on deaf ears, or actually, no ears, as your lack of a feed means I'd need to keep popping by your site, and lets face it you're just not that good. Oh well.
Miss you already...!
Posted by: Rich...! | 29 Mar 2005 22:39:19
Um, what's this guys problem?! I popped over to see for myself, and he had done a post relating to this one, must have hit a nerve there Rich.
Posted by: Rox | 30 Mar 2005 11:59:43
I'll try again to explain how valuable you flocks, I mean folks, are to me and my purposes.
If you go to my site, you will see that I have changed my mind about syndication, and have added a Feedburner UFO to my site.
Now, don't think I've maliciously deprived you of things to attack: I have plenty of other controversial ideas that you may focus on.
My main complaints lately are IntelliTXT, pseudo-blogs for link popularity boosting, comment spam, RSS spam, sleazy sponsored links, and excessive amounts of sensitive personal data in blogs.
I have seen how some bloggers who used to spew forth loads of private information, rants against co-workers and bosses, photos of children, descriptions of local hang-outs, favorite activities...
...fell prey to stalkers, child predators, identity theft criminals, irate employers, etc.
Some have abandoned their blogs and switched to password-protected journals.
Have you seen IntelliTXT hypertext spam, where you click on a text link in editorial, and a window pops up, with a link to an irrelevant, or vaguely associative, external site? (rather than substantiating material of relevance to the topic).
Have you seen "reputable" media blogs with text links to online gambling, pharmaceuticals, real estate loans, etc.? Sleazy sponsored links polluting the blogosphere.
Join with me, my hungry lionizers, in the disconcerted battle against such horrid scum clogging the veins and views of the bloatosphere.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 30 Mar 2005 13:05:02
Alriiiiiight. I didn't realise blogging was such an extreme sport. Oh well. So Rich...have you given any thought to that book idea?
Posted by: Rox | 30 Mar 2005 13:26:59
Oh dear, I feel so misinformed now...
Rich...!, how come you guys have been teaching us all this incorrect blogging stuff for such a long time?
Mr Streight's an American Superstar, so he must know something us mere mortals don't. I mean, he's name-dropping Ev...
Starting tomorrow, I'm going to rethink my life - I want to start a quest for what I've been missing all this time. Of course, everything from now on will be based on best-practice only. Obviously.
Oh, and by the way, Mr Streight, in my humble opinion, your knowledge of usability sucks donkey balls. May I recommend some help from the real pros?
Mental note: Find out what Scoble thinks of this...
Posted by: Martin Hattingh (not just Martin, but the Martin from d2) | 30 Mar 2005 22:20:21
Martin, I feel your pain. It is a shocker to find out that we are so clueless. I must get a copy of this book, in fact an autographed copy.
Posted by: Roxanne Bradnick AKA Rox | 31 Mar 2005 13:34:19
Dude, I don't care if your information comes from God, you're still wrong. Incidentally, Boing Boing does have RSS feeds. So does blogspot (all sites have a atom.xml file int he root). And anyone who look at their blog stats can clearly see syndication is where it's at. I garner more than two thirds of my traffic that way.
When I moved my comics over to a format that allowed for RSS, my readership tripled.
If you disregard RSS, you clearly show you have a definitive misunderstanding about how the web has evolved. Did you only recently get on board? This interweb thing is kinda awesome isn't it?! Show it to your mom! She'll be just as giddy as ou must have felt!
Posted by: Gabbahead | 1 Apr 2005 13:09:05
When you learn how to read, and overcome your Attention Deficit Disorder, so you can focus...
...you'll notice that I have changed my opinion about RSS, though I still am aware of the many problems associated with it.
Consider yourself lucky. I usually refrain from repeating myself.
I really like the design of Hello World blog.
It is one of the best blog designs I've, best in a subjective sense. Meaning, I favorabley react to it aesthetically.
As far as usability analysis, I'm ready to hear what bothers you Martin.
You're not one of those designers that expects users to learn new skills at your site and to conform to your idiosyncratic deviations from web conventions are you?
Thanks for your scholarly, polite, and intellectual comments.
Now let's all go have a few beers and listen to industrial noise music at maximum volume. I'll bring the violynns.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 4 Apr 2005 01:11:56
Steve, you may have changed your tune after the lack of anticipated response, but your attitude appears to have remained as acerbic as ever. While this can be contrived as wit in some instances, in yours it simply comes across as antagonistic. I know how fond you have grown of Hello_World, but perhaps it is time to leave us ignoramus' alone and return to blogs that are more on your level.
Posted by: Rox | 4 Apr 2005 14:58:55
Steven, I've read some of your posts and think I understand you're thinking a bit better now, but I'll be honest bro, I'm with Rox, your bed side manner sucks.
Check back in a day or two, there'll be a follow-up post up...!
Posted by: Rich...! | 4 Apr 2005 22:29:42
By the way, and I may be reading your comment wrong, but Martin doesn't blog here (he's something of a special guest star [group hug dude]).
Did someone mention ADD?
Posted by: Rich...! | 4 Apr 2005 22:38:03
Looks like I've been missing out - forgot to check back on these comments.
So, Steven, to reply on the usability thing:
You, IMHO, think about usability the way Jakob Nielsen does. Although some of his arguments are valid, he doesn't have enough attention to detail to back up what he claims to know.
With this in mind:
1) Your sense of colour (sorry, color in Yankee-Star-language) is terrible. Sure, you might argue its irrelevance. I don't.
3) Blue underlined links (not matter what Nielsen says) clutter up the page and make the content difficult to read. Besides, they show that you're too lazy to think about overall ease on the eyes by integrating the link-colour-scheme with the rest of the site.
4) Padding makes all the difference in the world. It's all about white space.
5) There are other little things like the Times New Roman issue, but let's not get petty.
Overall, the point is that "graphic design", "web design" (or whatever else you like to call it) is critical in bringing the message across effectively. It's all about atmosphere and emotion, and I don't think that you understand that. A while ago, in reply to a thought about what good web design is, I said this:
Good webdesign is about creating context for content.
In reply to your question of whether I expect people to learn something from visiting my site:
No, I don't, because my efforts are focused on the work I deliver to my clients. Simple as that.
BTW, Rich...!, thanks for the hug dude, even though I'd rather get it from Rox (much more comfy).
Posted by: Martin | 8 Apr 2005 15:59:12
Martin, thank you for taking the time to respond quite intelligently to my questions.
I appreciate your critiques. I used Time Roman recently switched to it from the boringly typical Verdana and Ariel and Trebuchet that prevail on the web.
What is the typeface used in the comment entry form here at this site? Looks like Times Roman to me.
To say someone's sense of colour is "terrible" is not a terribly helpful or expert statement.
I am probably better with colour in my original digital artwork than in my blog, but colour is tremendously important and significant.
I agree with the Consumer Reports WebWatch/Stanford University web credibility study of Professor B.J. Fogg, which states that the immediate visual impression of a site on a visitor has the biggest impact on the credibility of the site. Meaning if the site is ugly or amateurish looking, users will bail out fast.
After the initial visual impression, other factors rapidly come into play re: the credibility of the site.
I've tinkered with the colours so much, I guess I'm exhausted. What colour scheme do you use on your blog? What do you suggest for mine, just so I know you're not just randomly attacking me?
I find nothing "hard to read" about blue underlined hypertext links. When non-link text and link text are too color coordinated, it is often *hard to tell* what text is a link and what is not, so one might pass by a link, not activate it for substantiating info.
Padding? I'm not aware of any strong deficiency in the white space allocation of my site, but perhaps this is an area where I could learn from your expertise. I'll look into it. Thanks.
Rich...! as far as "bedside manners" I didn't know anyone here was sick. If I knew that, I would have been far more diagnostic and kind.
Have you not heard that the original early bloggers began as confrontational harshers? That they began as goads and grates? does "Rage Boy" mean anything to you? How about "All Marketers Are Liars" (seth godin)? Or "wonkette"? Or "Best Page in the Universe" (maddox)?
Vaspers the GRRRRRRRRate, not Vaspers the Warm and Fuzzy. If you can't take a little sarcasm, teasing, and mild flaming, you shouldn't blog.
Just my not so humble opinion. Onion? You guys will be alright. someday, maybe even as grrrrrrrate as me. Er, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Keep laughing and fondly flaming. I love it. This is a pretty decent blog. Glad I discovered it. I seriously love the design. Almost envy it. Good work Rich...!
Veirdly vonderfully yrs,
SS aka VTG
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 11 Apr 2005 03:00:05
P.S. Let's not forget, when discussing "bedside manners" and "ascerbic" style...
...you folks fired the first shot.
I didn't come here to flame or find fault.
You posted flames against me, and thanks to Technorati World Live Web scan, I found out about it.
When it's your turn to buy a round, make mine a Blue Moon, please.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 11 Apr 2005 07:25:24
Hey Steven,
Thanks for checking back. I think it's safe to say (from "us") that we appreciate your change in bedside manner :-)
Rich...! was initially validly critiquing your approach (and backed it up) - it was your response that evoked the flaming. Looking down on others who aren't necessarily on your A-list is never going to evoke constructive discussion. Unlike you might believe, flaming isn't really a part of our blogging world - we're past that. However, no hard feelings...
I tell you what: Instead of just criticising, I'll actually give you a redesign mock-up within the next week or two? How about that?
Posted by: Martin | 11 Apr 2005 10:26:53
Be sure to use a good subject line in your email to me. I think I deleted an email that had "Martin" in the subject line, and may have been from you.
Put "from Hello World flame war" or something similar so I will know it's you.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 24 Apr 2005 06:53:44
Martin, why no comments function on your blog...or is D2 a non-interactive web site? If so, start a blog.
Posted by: steven streight aka vaspers the grate | 24 Apr 2005 06:56:35
Hey Steven, I leave comments on Martin's blog all the time:
http://www.d2.co.za/blog/
Posted by: Rich...! | 24 Apr 2005 09:29:29
