Daily Archives: February 10, 2011

30 posts

The Blog is Dead. Long Live the Blog!

23 comments

So I guess Mr. Denton feels that the era of the blog is over and it is time to move on. Maybe this is true for Gawker, but there are still some really excellent blogs being produced by some really talented people. Blogs are a pretty democratic form of communication and they can often focus on local or niche issues that would not generate enough revenue for larger websites. While blogging may seem like a trite pastime, there are some serious issues being discussed out there. For every hipster jack ass bitching about some band there is a neighborhood activist covering issues their local papers cannot. For every dumb girl writing about how drunk she was last night there is a watchdog covering corruption and graft (often in countries that don’t take kindly to such activity). I thought I would share a couple of my favorites and I am hoping you will do the same in the comments.

Barefoot and Progressive: A fantastic blog about Kentucky politics from a liberal perspective. There is some great reporting going on here, and you get a ring-side seat to the Tea Party circus.

The BLager: Like beer? This blog is for you. Updates on beer news, beer events, and recipes in short, delicious posts. A must for the functional alcoholic in your life.

Duck of Minerva: A great foreign policy blog run by a group of international relations professors. Cool analysis and some pretty good snark.

Africa is a Country: I cannot say enough good things about this blog. Written by a South African who lives in New York it covers African politics, literature, and sports. He also has fantastic taste in music.

So there are my favorites, and yes The Grand Inquisitor has a couple of blogs (you can see them by clicking on my Intense Debate profile). Please share you favorites here and bonus points if you post one of your own.

Snark Off: I Remember When Gawker Was…

198 comments

It’s time to turn the tables.  Come up with your best hipsterism about Gawker.

Whether you want to talk about when the commenters there all kept it real or when it was all gritty and cutting edge, now’s your chance to show how you got that Star.

Unless, of course, you realized way back that commenting is about Stars, man.

Donate Or We’ll Kill This Dog

108 comments

You may have noticed that there is now a PayPal donation button on the sidebar of every post. Yes, we’re now accepting donations to help keep the site up and running. I don’t really enjoy begging for money, but we’re going to need some sort of operating fund to keep the site going strong and I made the decision that, for now at least, this is preferable to putting ads on the site.

We’re currently using a hosting company’s very basic “unlimited bandwidth” account. The problem is that “unlimited bandwidth”  is more like “bandwidth is unlimited until you start using too much of our server resources and we force you to move to a dedicated server.”

The site has not had any downtime yet but I think the writing on the wall is that we will have to go with a dedicated server at some point. That’ll cost us in the range of $50 to $150 per month.

We need a plan for the future. With that in mind, I’m going to set aside all donated money for site improvements only. The first priority for the fund would be to pay for server/hosting upgrades. After that, we’ll consider using any extra money for paying a developer to design a custom theme for us or possibly to develop a custom commenting system.

What can I do?

Donate a few bucks. We’re not asking for a lot of money. Even if it’s only $5, we can use the money to directly improve the Crasstalk experience. Your donation is extremely safe and secure and your personal information will be kept 100% private.

Thanks,

The Management

P.S. If you own a web server and would be willing to donate bandwidth to Crasstalk, let me know via jfurfari-at-gmail. If you’re a professional web designer, we could also use your help!

And The Band Played On…

56 comments

I’ve popped over to Gawker a few times today.  A quiet resignation is filling Crosstalk.  The comment system is in ruins.  Replies either can’t be seen or don’t get threaded.  Inane and offensive remarks get pushed to the top.  And it looks like someone at Gawker HQ is devoted to gaming the frontpage so the Chris Lee story gets maximum exposure.

I’d say it’s a clusterfuck but that connotes a mishap.  It is now veering towards sabotage.  We are in territory we’ve never been in before – where the new changes can’t be made to jibe with the old format.  From all indications, it appears that the old ship is indeed sinking.

Because Crosstalk cannot be relied upon, please use this post as a central repository for FB profile info.  The lifeboats are being lowered from the davits and we are being scattered to the seas.

Those wishing to find me on FB may find me at matthew dot c dot baron.

It has been a privilege commenting with you.

Pirates and Bad Break-Ups

49 comments

As Valentine’s Day looms, I thought a post sharing bad break-up stories was in order. Please feel free to reply with your own horror stories, though, I’m fresh out of lamps to giveaway. Here is my story:

A few years ago, I dated a British gal who attended a local culinary school. We were introduced through a mutual friend and sparks were flew within a matter of minutes as we bantered and flirted. I could tell she was a hot commodity in the scene as during our conversation multiple girls interrupted us and shot me dirty looks (the lesbian community is small around here, so everyone knows each other and knows who’s fresh meat).

After a few weeks of dates, I noticed she was the kind of girl who liked to be chased and play games. I am not the type to do either. Furthermore, I had recently broken up with someone whom I loved dearly, so my attention was split – this did not please the Brit. She began to test me, which I never respond well too; actually, I usually don’t respond at all. This is when things took a turn for the worse.

To understand “the break up,” you should know we had an inside joke about Peter Pan –  one day, she asked me to draw her a picture, so I drew her as Peter Pan as that was her favourite book as a child.

Now for the good stuff: One night we were joking around (or so I thought) via text messaging…

Cookies: How’s Peter Pan doing today? 🙂

Brit: Just hanging out with the lost boys [her friends].

Cookies: If you and your friends are the lost boys, what does that make me?

Brit: A pirate with no soul!

Cookies: Argh! What if this pirate were to become an ex-pat and join the lost boys? I want my soul back!

Brit: The lost boys don’t feel good about us hanging out. They think you have a lot to make up for and don’t think pirates can change.

Cookies: Um, are you being serious?

Brit: Yes.

Cookies: So, you’re telling me we shouldn’t hang out anymore?

Brit: I think it’s for the best. Pirates with no souls and Lost Boys don’t mix.

Oh, and that’s not all, we had swapped ipods to listen to each other’s music and when I got mine back she had completely wiped it clean. Then she slept with 3 of my friends.

Need I remind you that we were both 24 at the time? Or, at least, I was.

Now’s your turn to share a break-up story! Don’t make this pirate suffer alone.

Dear Barbie Q: Frosting and Nooky

57 comments

Dear Barbie Q:
1) How do you get a boy to sleep with you on the first date?
2) How do you make frosting from scratch?
Regards,
Tuna Melt
Dear Tuna Melt,
I could make so, so many disgusting tuna melt sex jokes here, but instead I will contribute the one piece of frosting knowledge that I have. To access it, we must return to a simpler time, a time when the first Mildred of my family’s Mildred trilogy reigned. That would be my tiny blue-haired grandmother who voraciously read Harlequin romances and always wore white gloves when she left the house. She managed to convince nearly everyone around her that she was sickly and on the verge of death although she was healthy as a horse until she was 98 and a half.

She made a frosting from cocoa powder and cool whip and it was delicious. It is the only thing I ever saw her cook.
Here’s the recipe:
¼ cup Hershey’s Cocoa powder
3 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 tub o’Cool Whip
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Adjust amount of cocoa to your personal preference. Frost anything. Mildred the First always used it on yellow cake.

If you’re looking for nooky, I suggest inviting your suitor to your house for dessert after the movie, dinner or whatever. Frost yourself. Decorate with strawberries and/or blueberries for an added intriguing touch.

Deliciously yours,
Barbie Q