Daily Archives: February 13, 2011

14 posts

Because, really, what could go wrong with a simple redesign?

It’s happening, folks. We finally noticed that our site is basically too chaotic for anyone who isn’t insane. So we’re rolling out a redesign tonight. Since we don’t have an entire team of Hungarian programmers working for us, we’re doing this on the fly.

What this means for you:

For the next day or so, it’s very likely that the site will either look really odd or certain features will look good, but not work properly. You SHOULD still be able to read posts and add new comments…. but other than that, it will take a bit of time before everything is completely set up.

PLEASE DON’T INUNDATE THE COMMENTS WITH COMPLAINTS YET. Try to give it at least a week! GrandInquisitor, DogsOfWar and I are setting everything up and that’s going to take a bit of time. Also, if you’re an author, feel free to keep posting new articles for now. You may notice some differences in the Add New Post interface. Just roll with it for now. We’ll explain everything to you soon.

Stay tuned because a lot of great new stuff will be added to the site in the coming weeks. Believe me, big things are happening.

Joel

Your Sunday Evening Open Post

Hi all, hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. Here’s a couple of conversation starters (as if we need those).

The Atlantic has some fantastic videos of the reaction of protesters during the moments after Mubarak was removed a s Egyptian President. It really captures the emotions of a beautiful moment.

Ron Paul (R-TX) won the CPAC presidential poll this weekend in Washington. This is the second year he has won, but Paul is not exactly embraced by the mainstream part of the Republican party. Alex Jones is probably pretty stoked though. Sarah Palin finshed third, suggesting that their are limits to crazy, even at CPAC.

The Economist has an interesting article about income inequality in Angola. While the country has become rich from national resources, corruption, poor planning, and lingering animosity over the civl war have meant most Angolans still live in abject poverty.

Also, Jerry Springer turns 67 today. Try not to throw a chair or get anyone knocked up during your celebration.

Lady Gaga Expected to Hatch Any Minute Now

The Grammys are airing tonight—you’re not watching?—and Lady Gaga arrived in an egg being carried by members of the Haus of Gaga.

Two things:

1. This concept was a little soft-boiled, no? Did she poach the idea from someone else? She couldn’t have hatched a better plan? Etc. (Glasgow Rose, I’m looking at you).

2. Come the fuck on, Gaga. Look, I recognize that every unresolved phrase in pop music over the last decade sprang fully formed from your high forehead, but that doesn’t give you the right to…actually, no, it probably does give you the right to be carried aloft in a disturbingly translucent plastic egg.

Gaga warned the world of this shortly before her appearance on the Grammys red carpet. She tweeted thusly, on the Twitters: “This is Nicola, Haus of Gaga: Gaga is in incubation. Tonight’s performance is in collaboration with Hussein Chalayan and House of Mugler. X”

I don’t even know what that means.

Who Will Star in the Crasstalk Movie?

Maybe this is being considered in other threads by other people, but is there any thought of holding an organizational meeting for all the crasstalk stakeholders? Like now, before it gets too big and too out of control? Let’s just maybe meet each other and really do some work on what each of is willing to bring to the table, which of us is good at x, y or z. Oh, and just as importantly, who among us knows the people who can get the word out and get a bright light shined on this little space? And then of course, there’s money and owenership and copyright and first use and and all of that legalsese mumbo jumbo that would be much better discussed now and have agreements in place and responsibilities delineated and compensation spelled out. What????
Yeah, well ya never know, this funky joint could be a real comer one day I’m just saying it seems like it is going great and has had a wonderful first week. But we are all potential right now. We are not where we could be if we don’t mess this up. And to me that requires a few givens: a number of great writers to pump out the content. Space and love and respect for thCommenteriat Community that uses the posts as the bricks and mortars of the permanant site community. So–quality writers and quality commenters.
Maybe this is being considered in other threads, but is there any thought of holding an organizational meeting for all the crasstalk stakeholders? Like now, before it gets too big and too out of control? Let’s just maybe meet each other and really do some work on what each of is willing to bring to the table, which of us is good at x, y or z. Oh, and just as importantly, who among us knows the people who can get the word out and get a bright light shined on this little space? And then of course, there’s money and owenership and copyright and first use and and all of that legalsese mumbo jumbo that would be much better discussed now and have agreements in place and responsibilities delineated and compensation spelled out. What???? Money? We’d get paid for writing this? Yeah, well ya never know. This funky little joint this way-way-way off-Broadway bash could be real big time one day. I’m just saying it seems like it is going great and has had a wonderful first week. But we are all potential right now. We are not where we could be if we don’t mess this up. And to me that requires a few givens: a number of great writers to pump out the content. Space and love and respect for the
Commenteriat Community that uses the posts as the bricks and mortars of the permanant site community. So–quality writers and quality commenters.
Beyond that, we need a couple marketing types, a business manager, an administrator or two, and a comuter tech guy or two. And some cheap space, unless everyone works remote. In the end that’s not a lot of seed money crasstalk would need to get going. The biggest expense might be advertising, and so much of that would come free because of the “war” with the Nick Denton gang over at Gawker. Media would eat up a story like that. Pageviews would come and ad rates would follow—but only if we are crystal clear on quality of the writing and the protection and support of the Commenteriat, who would be the true essence of a site like this. They are its breath, they are its air. A site goes mad and decays without its most loyal followers. the Commenteriat.
But, yes, shouldn’t someone write all this down? Don’t we need a business plan, a constitution, a way forward

Maybe this is being considered in other threads by other people, but is there any thought of holding an organizational meeting for all the crasstalk stakeholders? Like now, before it gets too big and too out of control? Let’s just maybe meet each other and really do some work on what each of is willing to bring to the table, which of us is good at x, y or z. Oh, and just as importantly, who among us knows the people who can get the word out and get a bright light shined on this little space? And then of course, there’s money and owenership and copyright and first use and and all of that legalsese mumbo jumbo that would be much better discussed now and have agreements in place and responsibilities delineated and compensation spelled out. What????

Yeah, well ya never know, this funky joint could be a real comer one day I’m just saying it seems like it is going great and has had a wonderful first week. But we are all potential right now. We are not where we could be if we don’t mess this up. And to me that requires a few givens: a number of great writers to pump out the content. Space and love and respect for thCommenteriat Community that uses the posts as the bricks and mortars of the permanant site community. So–quality writers and quality commenters.

Maybe this is being considered in other threads, but is there any thought of holding an organizational meeting for all the crasstalk stakeholders? Like now, before it gets too big and too out of control? Let’s just maybe meet each other and really do some work on what each of is willing to bring to the table, which of us is good at x, y or z. Oh, and just as importantly, who among us knows the people who can get the word out and get a bright light shined on this little space? And then of course, there’s money and owenership and copyright and first use and and all of that legalsese mumbo jumbo that would be much better discussed now and have agreements in place and responsibilities delineated and compensation spelled out. What???? Money? We’d get paid for writing this? Yeah, well ya never know. This funky little joint this way-way-way off-Broadway bash could be real big time one day. I’m just saying it seems like it is going great and has had a wonderful first week. But we are all potential right now. We are not where we could be if we don’t mess this up. And to me that requires a few givens: a number of great writers to pump out the content. Space and love and respect for the
Commenteriat Community that uses the posts as the bricks and mortars of the permanant site community. So–quality writers and quality commenters.

Beyond that, we need a couple marketing types, a business manager, an administrator or two, and a comuter tech guy or two. And some cheap space, unless everyone works remote. In the end that’s not a lot of seed money crasstalk would need to get going. The biggest expense might be advertising, and so much of that would come free because of the “war” with the Nick Denton gang over at Gawker. Media would eat up a story like that. Pageviews would come and ad rates would follow—but only if we are crystal clear on quality of the writing and the protection and support of the Commenteriat, who would be the true essence of a site like this. They are its breath, they are its air. A site goes mad and decays without its most loyal followers. the Commenteriat.

But, yes, shouldn’t someone write all this down? Don’t we need a business plan, a constitution, a way forward?

This is what I’m thinking, anyway? What do you all think?

Attitude of Gratitude

Despite some spirited debate earlier today, I’m sure there is one thing we can all absolutely agree on: we are grateful for and indebted to BMC for creating and maintaining this site, our port in the storm, our new collective home, our ode to the power of community and camaraderie. Meat, as I so lovingly and deliciously refer to him, created this site after a crosstalk discussion about the shitty beta version of New Gawk months ago. While I take no credit for crasstalk, I do remember the discussion and I’d link to it if such a thing were possible. We were concerned that New Gawk was going to ruin the community we all valued so much and Meat, rather than merely fretting about it (which is what most of us did) or bitching about it (which is also what most of us did), took action and created this site as a life raft for the refugees. Thanks to the UNPAID work of Meat, TheGrandInquisitor (who is a chic and kicks ass, btw), and the wise and wonderful DogsOfWar, we have a place to be, to bitch, and to share. I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. I really appreciate it.

Now shower them with praise, people.

Doggie Love!

Earlier today in the comments, I shared a video clip (link below) – Wendy Francisco’s beautiful song “God and Dog.” Since it was so enthusiastically received, I am writing a whole post around it.

First, I’d like to address the word “God” – as there was some debate in a recent post when the word came up. I invite those who do not believe in God to just substitute whatever word works for you. I would hate to have the pure beauty of this song and the point of this post to be lost in semantic disagreement.

Many Crasstalk readers are familiar with my profound passion for dogs – my dogs; dogs I’ve rescued who have moved on to new owners or passed on; every dog I have ever known. I feel a deep affinity for dogs that is sometimes echoed in my relationships with people. (My favorite people, of course, are dog lovers.)

Often, I mourn for the millions of dogs who are euthanized in shelters in America alone each year for want of caring owners. But even more, I celebrate my small victories, in caring for my dogs well, in helping to rescue dogs who are living on the street here in Mexico, in online activism for many animal rights groups.

Dogs aren’t referred to as “man’s best friend” by accident. The bond between dog and owner – I call myself a dog-parent, but admittedly, I am a little weird – can be a profound one for both participants. The relatively short life span of dogs makes the bond even more bittersweet. So cherish your doggies while you can, and adopt a shelter dog if you’re able.

I’d like to mention two organizations that you can help out just by internet clicks:

Freekibble (www.freekibble.com) and The Animal Rescue Site (www.theanimalrescuesite.com) both give food to homeless dogs across the country.

God and Dog

Simple Rules: Winning at LinkedIn

In this installment of the DoW’s simple rules we look at how to win at LinkedIn.

Rule 1:  You can’t win if you don’t play

  • Open an account.  Some of you may be resisting because you’re the same kind of people who are too cool for Facebook.  Get over yourself, this is for your own good.

Rule 2: Be a connector

  • Don’t wait for people to connect to you.  Initiate contact.
  • First build up your connections with people you know well.
  • Next move on to auxiliary contacts.

Rule 3: Connect early and often

  • When you meet someone send them a request shortly after your meeting.  You will be fresh in their mind and your relationship will be obvious to them.

Rule 4:  Connect with recruiters

  • LinkedIn is swarming with recruiters.  If you don’t know any ask some of your connections.  They’ll give you a list that’s appropriate to your field.
  • When a recruiter reaches out to you always respond even if you’re not interested.  You never know when you might need their help.

Rule 5:  Be complete

  • Fill out your profile with as much information as possible and use a professional looking picture.
  • Ask for recommendations and recommend others.

Those are the basics.  Sound off with your own suggestions in the comments.

New Site Design for Crasstalk?

Hey gang,

There’s been some unrest about the site design. I, for one, find it difficult to navigate, and the lack or ability to search by topic/any real organization is frustrating. Plus, it sucks coming in after 12 hours and having no idea where to start/where you left off, etc.

So in that spirit, our lovely coffeeandcigarettes has suggested this one: http://sight.wpshower.com/

I like it a lot! But since Crasstalk is for all of us, let’s have a chat. What do you want? Like? What’s important to you in a site?

A NOTE: All three of the pictures below are of the SAME THEME. I just scrolled down the page, screen-capping as I went. If you click the link I posted, it will take you to it.

Nepotism Can’t Buy You Love

Two of Rupert Murdoch’s many problems are that nobody knows who will take over News Corp when he’s called down by the dark lord and that his daughter runs a media company that he doesn’t own.

In an attempt to solve both problems at one time, News Corp is in the final stages of talks to acquire Elisabeth Murdoch’s European television company Shine Group for somewhere around $700M.  Elisabeth is reported to have the kind of drive that the old man is looking for.  His other kids are getting passed over, though something tells me they can still live comfortably.

LA Times