Blogging and Community

Monday 29 October 2007 2 responses

We Stand As One

I was invited by Bobby @ Revellian Dot Com to write a post as part of Blogging For Friendship Writing Project....

so what is blogging and community ?

# 1. What is a blog?

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.

As of September 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 106 million blogs.


# 2. Blogger's Code of Conduct

The Blogger's Code of Conduct is a proposal by Tim O'Reilly for bloggers to enforce civility on their bloggers by being civil themselves and moderating comments on their blog. The code was proposed due to threats made to blogger Kathy Sierra. The idea of the code was first reported by BBC News, who quoted O'Reilly saying, "I do think we need some code of conduct around what is acceptable behaviour, I would hope that it doesn't come through any kind of regulation it would come through self-regulation."

O'Reilly and others came up with a list of seven proposed ideas:

Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
Ignore the trolls.
Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.

In later comments, O'Reilly gave a tacit endorsement of Jon Garfunkel's Comment Management Proposal: "Jon, your post at Comment Management Responsibility: A Proposal is very detailed and thought provoking, as well as way more comprehensive than anything I'd thought so far."


# 3. Collaborative blog

A collaborative blog is a type of weblog which publishes posts written by multiple users. The majority of high profile collaborative blogs are based around a single uniting theme, such as politics or technology.

While the traditional popular (and rather insulting) view of the weblog is that of the lone blogger hunched over his or her keyboard in their parents' basement, in recent years the blogosphere has seen the emergence and growing popularity of more collaborative efforts, often set up by already established bloggers wishing to pool time and resources to both reduce the pressure of maintaining a popular website and to attract a larger readership
Popularity

In recent years the popularity of collaborative blogs has soared. In fact, at time of writing seven of the top ten weblogs listed in N.Z. Bear's Blog Ecosystem (a popular league table of blogs based on the number of incoming links) employ collaboration of some sort.

In addition to the growth in traditional collaborative blogs the last two years has seen the emergence of a professional variety of collaboration - made up of either professional, paid commentators such as The Huffington Post (though arguably The Post does not qualify as a true blog) or high profile bloggers engaged in a profit-sharing scheme (i.e. Pajamas Media).


Do you know the meaning of the following terms?

Gulog Blooger Blogstream Clix Instalanche

check out the terms and their meanings here


source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Blogs and Community – launching a new paradigm for online community?


Nancy White is a well known and highly respected e-facilitation and e-community specialist. Based in Seattle, USA, Nancy works internationally through Full Circle and Associates on a broad range of community development and facilitation projects. She is an avid blogger and generous information sharer and is deeply interested in successful online interaction in online communities, Communities of Practice (CoP), distributed teams and virtual work groups.

Community is alive and well in the blogosphere. It is emerging in a variety of patterns and manifesting in all sizes and types of communities. By beginning to explore their shape and interaction patterns, we can begin to think about how to intentionally nurture blog based communities for specific purposes. Much like the lessons for forum based communities which emerged in the late 1990s, we are now discovering what works, why, and what might happen next. It is still new. The patterns are not stable. But they suggest ways to think about the role of technology, power, identity and content in designing online communities.

Like the artist community in Fremont with their Troll, when a community sees a gap or an opportunity, they join together to fill it. So this exploration of the form and function of blog based communities is just beginning. We see a new tool, and we begin the creative process. The canvas is up, the paints are in front of us. The next step echoes Howard Rheingold’s famous email tag line ‘…what it is —> is up to us’ (H. Rheingold, 1997, pers. comm., 28 April). As the godfather of online communities, (he coined the term ‘virtual community’), Rheingold puts his finger on the pulse of possibility, yet again. [more]




Join the iReply movement!



Linky Love Boyd

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7 Random Facts

Sunday 28 October 2007 5 responses


Last week I was tagged by Anita at am-art to write 7 random facts about me.....

# I love summertime
# The most colourfully exquisite movie that I have ever seen was Marie Antoinette
# I love cooking and eating pumpkin soup
# I believe that euthanasia or being euthanized should be legalised
# Daylight savings time started here today
# Silverchair is from Newcastle (my hometown)
# The John Butler Trio is a favourite of mine


the words that are bold were randomly chosen from Google Hot Trends at Ezine Blog


I am not tagging anyone in particular but your challenge is to write 7 random facts about you using 7 more words from the top search words at Google Hot Trends


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The Cat and the Ghost !!!!

Wednesday 24 October 2007 11 responses





As part of Halloween and Captain Lifecruiser's Halloween Scary Story celebrations I'm posting a poem that my dear Dad wrote when I was a little girl....I still remember it...



The Ghost floated in the through the open door

And the Cat gave a scream as he leapt off the floor

His eyes bulged wide and his limbs grew taut

As he watched the ghost begin to haunt

The Ghost rocked to and fro at a leisurely pace

And he seemed very friendly by the smile on his face

But friendly or not we still cannot say

For we haven't seen the cat since that day !!!!!




More Ghostly stories at Life cruiser

Image courtesy of Sanni

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Win a FREE portrait for Christmas 2 !!!!!

Monday 22 October 2007 6 responses

Win a FREE portrait for Christmas










In conjunction with Santa and Santa's Elf Club my next competition will run until the 21st November....

Here's what you need to do to win a portrait of your choice......

step 1

Enter Santa's competition called Christmas Past...
at
Santa' Elf Club Blog.

Email your photo and details to Santa here

Don't forget to get all your friends to comment on your entry at Santa's blog

step 2

Pop over to laketrees to tell me in 100 words or less your choice for the portrait...eg ...yourself...grandma....your child....great aunt Betty etc...and why you deserve to win........you need to post your blurb in the comments section at laketrees post to be eligible...

step 3

The judge (TBA) will choose the winning entry at Santas and the best story at laketrees.....
The winner will be announced on 21st November...

So start getting out your photos of Christmas Past (or stories).....and start thinking about who you are going to choose for your free portrait......


Portrait value $400
(Postage Paid)
42cm x 60cm on Arches Paper


Santa recommends: Santa’s Elf’s Club, Santa Mail, Santa’s Wish Tree, Write to Santa, Everyday Should Be Christmas, Santa's Link Love, Santa’s Community Blog, Book Project, Your Wisdom of Total Happiness, Zubli Zainordin, Hall of Fame, NoDirectOn (not:NoDirection), Marketing•Review, OgenDicht/EyesClosed, The Blog Elf, PurpleFrogCat Blog, PurpleFrogCat StumbleUpon, Polliwog's Pond, Carnival of Good Stuff, Polliwog's Stumbles, April Decheine 2006, I could write a book, April Decheine Wife and Mother, Santa's Magical Golden Cat, Comedy Plus,




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With One Brush

2 responses







SPECIAL OFFER:
Full payment of $20 for With One Brush
received up to two weeks prior to the launch
(i.e. 8th November) will enable purchaser
to collect a copy at the launch
or have it posted it to their address.
Please specify requirements.
Send cheque or money order to
J Dean
16 Stephanie Close
Cardiff 2285

PEOPLE WHO WISH TO ATTEND LAUNCH SHOULD RSVP TO LIBRARY


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The Southern Cross Award !!!!!!

Saturday 20 October 2007 28 responses

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket





Over the last 12 months I have made some great friends in Blogging....some old friends and some new friends....
I am giving this limited edition award to my best buddies...these are the buddies who have regularly visited and commented here and at laketrees...
thank you to you all.... you are great mates.......
you do not have to pass this award on...this is a token of my friendship....


Lisa Mikey Jan Morriconei Hidyn Gems Kitty Deborah MaryAnn Anna Boyd Renny Pearl Colin Ev Santa Diane Sue Blog Elf Lynda Mihaela Captain Life cruiser Fruity Franco Nihal




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The Population Explosion

Monday 15 October 2007 5 responses


Science fiction writers have frequently made famous predictions in which they portrayed dystopian futures in which the world has become massively overpopulated. This became a major theme in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the first depictions of future megacities was The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (1954). The 1960s saw increasing anxiety about the prospect of the exponential growth of world population, underscored by the publication of Paul R. Ehrlich's non-fiction The Population Bomb, in 1968. The 1969 Star Trek: The Original Series episode entitled The Mark of Gideon dealt with a race of overpopulated aliens who abducted Captain Kirk to solve their population problem.



Ranking on harmful book lists
Traditional conservatives have been especially critical of the ideas of the book: The Population Bomb made the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's 50 Worst Books of the Twentieth Century in 2003 and was #11 ("honorable" mention) in Human Events Ten Most Harmful Books of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
The rankings serve only to display the controversy stemming from the book. It is hard to derive any value from the rankings, since both organizations are highly partisan and pick and rank accordingly.
Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson were among others to be considered most harmful on Human Events' list

Source: Wikipedia


Although people no longer talk about a catastrophic “population bomb,” world population continues to grow. Unfortunately, the most affected countries are also the ones least able to support more people.

The world’s fastest growing population is in Africa.

The United States is the only developed country where large population increases are still projected, mostly because of immigration.

Nearly three-fifths of the 4.8 billion people in developing countries lack basic sanitation, almost a third have no access to clean water, a quarter lack adequate housing, and a fifth lack access to modern health services.

Population has slowed or stopped in most developed countries.

Developing countries account for more than 95 percent of today’s population growth.

An estimated 5 million people were alive in 8000 B.C., a little more than the present population of Papua New guinea. Today the world’s population is approximately 6 billion people.


Source: National Geographic - Overpopulation





Linky Love: Boyd, Lynda, Mihaela

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Poetry and Stories: Through the Valley

Wednesday 10 October 2007 2 responses



"Through the Valley is a journey through the Hunter -- through its history, its people, its geography and its beauty. The book gives insight into who we are, where we've come from and what we're passionate about." Philip Ashley-Brown, Radio 702 ABC.

Appealing to all age groups, are stories from the past and present, ranging from early colonial artists to the grounding of the Pasha Bulka.

Celebrated authors include Les Murray, Patrice Newell, Jean Kent, Julian Croft and Jan Dean.

Award-winning Herald journalist, Greg Ray, will launch Through the Valley at Newcastle Region Art Gallery. The function will commence at 5.30pm on Wednesday 7th November. Light refreshments will be served.

Please phone 4957 1466 or 4951 8859 to book by the deadline of Friday 19th October.

The book will sell for $30 but on the day of the launch there will be a special price of $25 for single copies. If you buy 5 or more copies they will be $20 each. Make payment by cash, cheque or money order, as they do not have credit card facilities.


With One Brush - Jan Dean

Eucalypt
: A Tanka Journal (Issue 1, 2006)
Edited by Beverley George

Reviewed by Jan Dean

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Power Of The Image - III

Tuesday 9 October 2007 2 responses





The buffalo with a vengeance is a powerful enemy. It can toss a lion high and easily kill it. Yet they are peaceful grazing animals who prefer to find safety and speed in the herd. And it was herd animals such as bison and horses those cave artists mostly chose to paint.

We can observe two kinds of consciousness in the beast of the herd. When they graze and move the animals are peaceable and in the presence of a predator only know to escape. If a calf is taken down, however, that may change. Another mindset can kick in as they protect the ongoing reproduction of the herd.

We can find similarities to herd behaviour in humans. Take Raves as an example. I have been told a great attraction of the Rave is the oneness, "everybody thinking the same thing", a sense of belonging as they move into the state of altered consciousness.

Would those early cave painters not have been aware of the awesome power of a moving herd of gigantic bison. And to what would they attribute that power. We can think of these beasts moving in an unconscious kind of way and it is undoubtedly a particular ability of animals to do so. Perhaps the artists desire was to tap into that power. No, the animals were not Gods, but might the Chauvet cave people have considered them to be moving in that power of creation we call God.

Many creative people and some sportsmen will tell us that the 'flow' is being in that place where the unconscious works for us with ease. It is the place of greatest human effectiveness where instinct can be trusted. There is no need for thinking problems through. Creativity comes in a stream, we can know exactly which colours to use for a particular passage of paint and produce the finest brushwork at surprising speed.

We can understand humans as having deductive reasoning with an ability to solve problems. Yet it is usually necessary to find ways of getting into the flow, something which is quite natural for animals. The buffalo whose calf is taken may at times come to another kind of mental state which is not normal for them. We may also observe a change in thought pattern in domestic animals as they interact with human kind.

In these cave paintings we can see the deep feeling of reverence for these wild animals who moved so naturally in the unconscious state, just knowing which way to travel, having no question in their minds where a destination lay. They had the power of an absolute complete security in that knowing.

Present day mankind may well question the use of animals as helpers to find spiritual power and effectiveness, but they were very much an everyday part of those ancient peoples lives.

Mike Fone

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The Power Of The Image - Part 2

Friday 5 October 2007 4 responses




The cave paintings at Cheveaux are possibly the only way we have of understanding the mindset of those people over 30,000 years ago. Yet also we need to understand their mindsets in order to fully understand the significance of the work. In this essay I am trying to plumb those depths.

The first thing the enormity of these caves tell us is that these people were a successful population. They enjoyed a surplus enabling certain workers such a artists to devote most of their time to painting. The implication is of a society which was fairly well organised with the knowledge and tools to build load bearing structures. Unfortunately there seems to be very little in the way of surviving artifacts to tell us much more.

The local environmental conditions can tell us so much. The land was probably steppe tundra and was at a maximum by 22,000BC according to Wikipedia. That is ideal hunting territory for a fairly mobile population. Yet at Cheveuax there is a cave which suggests anything but. So were there perhaps pockets of warmth where agriculture might flourish? At least we can be sure that food was plentiful.

So what might we reasonably assume the mindset of those times to be like. First of all they didn't have the memories of present day mankind.In a sense they had an innocence due to there being little in the way of a collective memory.The Great War which brought about the Existentialist Philosophy of writers such as Camus was not somewhere at the back of their minds, neither did they have great cities to contend with their equilibrium. There would very likely be a stillness and peace about the environment.

We might also conclude they were a peaceable people: they gave their surplus too art rather than the things of war. Perhaps they had not yet been threatened by other tribes wishing to enjoy the benefits of that land. Possibly there was still room for population growth. It is thought that the desire for dominance was a much later more northern concept.

The immense scale of these cave paintings at Chev aux suggest a great vision, or desire to find expression for a less tangible experience, awareness or feeling. It could well have been religious. It is very notable that for the most part the paintings do not include human being. Possibly there was a taboo against such depiction, but I suggest even more likely in that state of innocence they didn't have the self awareness which is very much a part of modern life.

If we consider these cave painters with our own understanding of the creative process then we might assume that this work was part of their searching. They had not entirely seen the end before they began the work. The creative process brings change to most of our well laid plans as we work. The artist will work in order to bring about their own sense of wholeness and hope thereby the bring this to others also.

So why were depictions of these magnificent beasts so important to these people? It has been said they thought these animals to be their Gods. Other trains of thought suggest these early humans thought in terms of the Sky God. However, I don't think it is good to make assumptions. It is possible to think of these animals as having some qualities of a God. They had massive strength but also the freedom to move about that tundra as they wished, to be self supporting and at one with their environment. Is it possible that these people considered those animals to have a secret which they did not. Would they not wish to know what manner of thing that was.

Mike Fone

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“Free Burma!”

Thursday 4 October 2007 5 responses








Free Burma!
International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th of October

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DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCE

Wednesday 3 October 2007 2 responses

Kevin Connor, winner of the 2005 Dobell Prize for Drawing, speaks with Connell Nisbet about his art:
For artist, Kevin Connor, honestly “seeing” a subject and being able to recreate its essence on paper is the paramount enjoyment of drawing. It is the foundation on which most of his art rests and the most important lesson he can offer aspiring artists. But he doesn’t believe this is the main force driving entrants of art awards, nor the criteria for judging them. He won the first Dobell Drawing Prize in 1993 and judged the same award in 1996.
What are your preferences for drawing?
I work on the basis of drawing from life in sketchbooks. In my sketchbook I use a brush or a pen. I use the pen because it doesn’t actually give you anything much so you can concentrate on the drawing. You’re not trying to produce something that looks good. I also love drawing with Indian ink and gouache, then out of that comes painting. (That’s where an argument could begin - is that painting or is it drawing? But drawing is in everything. To my mind you could put a painting into a drawing prize and say “I’m putting in the drawing in that painting”).
What effect has drawing had on your approach to painting?
I could live without painting and making sculptures but I just could not live without drawing. Drawing is the very basis of everything. I could happily take my sketchbook and draw for the rest of my life and show nobody. I was drawing in the Wesley Food Hall near Westminster in London. A lot of ministers and priests eat there and poor people. And a priest came over to me and asked, “Are you a priest?” and I said, “No”. He said, “I just thought you were.” I think it was because I was so content. There is nothing really content about painting though.
Some of my best paintings have started with no drawings, but they are always based on knowledge of the subject by drawings. For a portrait I do lots and lots of drawings until I really know the subject and then I tend not to bother with the drawings again until that subject is before me – like, let them come out of the paint.
How does drawing differ from other mediums as a discipline?
The main thing about drawing is that it’s the joy of not having to resolve something. When you do a painting or a sculpture or an installation there is a need to resolve the work. So there is that basic difference. With a drawing prize like the Dobell, all the drawings tend to be resolved. They’re exhibiting pieces not just for the love of drawing. So unfortunately it almost destroys what it aims to encourage.
But would you encourage young artists to enter awards like the Dobell?
I don’t see anything wrong with exhibiting the work in a superb setting like the Art Gallery of NSW with a chance of winning some money and letting maybe 50,000 people look at it, whereas with a one-person show 1,000 people see your work if you’re lucky. I think that’s great. It’s better to win an art prize than to write out a long screed applying for a grant.
Is the Dobell Prize growing in prestige?
I think it is. It was a good idea to move it away from the others because it can be an event in its own right. It needs a bit of a push, publicity and all of that. A catalogue every five years would be a good thing. The other thing is that it’s got some very good works into the collection.
What made you submit Pyrmont and the City1992 into the first Dobell Prize over other drawings you might have had?
I think I thought it was an exhibition piece. If I was to be completely honest I might have put in a four inch by four inch little sketch that I liked better but there wouldn’t have been any point. I’m not too sure who said it first – I think it was Arthur Boyd – there was a feeling that it was a painting. He said, “If the artist says it’s a drawing, it’s a drawing!” and that’s true.
As the Dobell judge why did you choose Pam Hallandal’s Self Portrait in 1996?
I think it has a living presence. It is a good, finished looking drawing. I didn’t have any nightmares over it, which I have had for judging other prizes. Getting it down to the twenty-odd that is difficult. To be hung amongst a limited number is never good luck, but not to be hung is often bad luck. Judging art prizes is not an exact science.
Anything you would like to add?
I don’t want to be the old artist, advising … I’m the young artist … when you are up against a brick wall or in doubt, draw!

First published ‘Last Word’, Look, Art Gallery Society of New South Wales, August 2004, p. 54Reproduced with permission, Copyright of the Art Gallery Society, Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Thanks to Jan Dean for directing me to this article.

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When is a Review not a Review?????

Monday 1 October 2007 18 responses


I came across this when checking my authority at Technorati.....
Obviously from someone who regards himself as an expert on web design.....and hasn't really bothered to look beyond the front page at PoeARTica!!!!!
Otherwise he would have read the contributor's poems and the work of a published Poet....
perhaps a thoughtful analysis of the poetry here rather than deriding the look of my blog would have been more in order..... or perhaps a few tips on blog design......
I would love to get your opinions on this.......




"PoeARTica: Is It Poetry Or Is It Vanity?"
28 September 2007, the poet @ 11:12 pm
(PoeARTica)
This is an interesting twist on the poetry blog. Ask your readers to submit titles to your poems. In exchange, you’ll link back to their blog or website.
Of course, I could say ugly things about the blog design, but why should I? I’m not a big fan of Blogspot blogs, but then I’ve met some Blogspot bloggers who say they’re not a big fan of WordPress. I wouldn’t blog with anything but WordPress.
I am rather curious though about poets who use their blogs to self-publish their poetry. Do they seek publication elsewhere? Do they get published elsewhere? Is this a type of vanity publishing?



oh well it's good to know that PoeARTica has had more favourable reviews....

Comments & Reviews

BoydGreeneArt Said:
A super site from one overflowing with creative talent and a passion to explore the world.

Theresa Hall Said:
The name of your web log is very artsy and clever. I love the way it looks. What a good idea to be a host for other's poetry. A very noble way to contribute to the cyberspace community. Like a small tavern with red brick walls where we can go down the stairs, sit at round tables, drink some wine and listen (read) the poets in your spotlight. Very creative.

Tony Cleator Said:
excellent

Just Me Said:
I'm fanatic about short load times, so when I recommend a site that requires patience, I really mean it's worth the wait.
Kim has a wonderful site, a great place to spend some time--and some thought

Deborah Petersen Said:
Inspirational poetry and writings at its best!

Billy Warhol Said:
Fantastic Poetry + i luvv the Audience Particapation!!
Nice job laketrees!!!







thanks so much for the rose Rose Des Rochers
Today's Woman Writing Community
Blogger Talk Blogger Forum
Rose DesRochers - World Outside my Window

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