Successful Blog

Jay Andrew Allen Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Jay there?

Chris and I were walking down lovely, historic Hawthorne St. We were talking and laughing as we headed to his car. It was parked in my building. He was heading back to his job. I was heading back to my home inside your computer when . . . my cell phone rang . . . that was the first I heard Jay Andrew Allen.

We talked for a minute. We talked later that night. We had tried to talk one time earlier, but wrist injury and an emergency room had gotten in the way. As I recall, we talked again, once more to set up this call. Then at last, a day or two ago, Jay Andrew Allen and I had a conversation . . . about almost everything.

When the conversation started, I actually thought we were going to talk about his newest project first — so I asked him to tell me a story and said then I’d behave. Of course, I didn’t communicate what I was thinking. The man must have thought I was just a bit forward or a whole lot crazy.

He fielded my request like the parent and the professional he is.

Jay told me about probloggers. He pointed out the trend for writers to get their incomes from several sources. We spent some time talking writing for print versus writing for blogs. We both have a definite preference for the timeline of the online world. Jay brought up so many thoughtful points on the subject, he could be teaching a class. He mentioned how blogging allows for asides and sharing, the phenomenon of MyBlogLog — actually seeing who’s reading — the voice and character of blogging compared to the blandness of most print writing.

I couldn’t help but tell The Zero Boss how much I like the “sugar rush” section of his blog and the reader pages under the cover. He told me the story of how they both got started. He’s a programmer guy, not just parenting guru with attitude.

Since he’s been blogging for what will be three years in no time, I asked him if he had experienced what I call “changing generations of readers” — audience shifts in groups. He knew what I meant. I explained how I took reader movements — who came and who didn’t — personally when I was a brand new blogger — well, er, after I started getting visitors. I got the feeling he understood, but didn’t have the same experience.

We talked about making changes and taking risks. I asked about mistakes he made. Jay laughed and mentioned some things he did. The Zero Boss gave examples of how the same words won him friends and lost them in one fell swoop. Then he said, “You’re going to lose people anyway, write what you’re passionate about.”

Talking to The Zero Boss is a plus sum conversation. I can’t wait until I get to do it again.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

It’s an exciting time to be a writer to be online, to move away from the traditional publishing model. This model is far more open to the writer’s voice . . . to have character and something to say.–Jay Andrew Allen

Stop by Jay’s Blog, The Zero Boss, and say hi!

Thanks, Jay, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Internet Net Law and Net Neutrality 12-14-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Senator [McCain]: Illegal images must be reported

Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, the Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate warned that “technology has contributed to the greater distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child pornography.

Internet service providers already must follow those reporting requirements. But McCain’s proposal is liable to be controversial because it levies the same regulatory scheme–and even stiffer penalties–on even individual bloggers who offer discussion areas on their Web sites.

[ . . . ]

“I am concerned that there is a slippery slope here,” said Kevin Bankston, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. “Once you start creating categories of industries that must report suspicious or criminal behavior, when does that stop?”

According to the proposed legislation, these types of individuals or businesses would be required to file reports: any Web site with a message board; any chat room; any social-networking site; any e-mail service; any instant-messaging service; any Internet content hosting service; any domain name registration service; any Internet search service; any electronic communication service; and any image or video-sharing service.

[. . . ]

A McCain aide, who did not want to be identified by name, said on Friday that the measure was targeted at any Web site that “you’d have to join up or become a member of to use.” No payment would be necessary to qualify, the aide added.

Please send the senator a copy of “Atlas Shrugged.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Even the Link Leaks Were Misbehaving!

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We Told Stories Out of School

Yep. Tuesday Open Comments Night took us back to when we were kids. We shared our stories. Water balloons and paper clips showed up. We had adventures. Wait until you hear the one where . . .

The Link Leak Virus was with us as well. — The Link Leak Virus is a special strain of the indie virus with blogtipping mutations that occur in threes and keeps Open Comment Night a link free-for-all.

I like it when we tell stories. . . . Chris, there’s a linkto the story of how I was trained to a whistle. It’s at the end of the summary.

Cool links were shared. Here’s a list of them.

Did You Hear About the Time . . .

[Read more…]

Jonathan Bailey Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Jonathan there?

Jonathan Bailey and I met for the first time on the telephone this week, but we’ve been reading each other’s work for a while. We started right out talking about his blog, Plagiarism Today. I wasn’t going to miss a chance to discuss something that is, and has been, such a key part of my publishing life.

Jonathan said his approach to presenting the information on his blog — the practicality issues about plagiarism and copyright — is that it’s not enough to speak about a problem. He said he had to come up with an answer — some sort of solution that might be applied. That, he pointed out, was what takes most of his time. I just sighed in agreement. I was thinking about how that could be a lesson for anyone in any business.

During our conversation, Jonathan mentioned something I have little experience with — getting picked up by Digg or Slashdot and becoming the issue of blogsport. That day one of his posts had caused a conversation that had brought his server down. People have feelings about more than one side of plagiarism and copyright issues. Jonathan said that he was a niche blogger, but that sometimes he wished he could just write about baseball. I could see why he might say that.

We talked about problogging and how he’s decided that he’s going to give it a go. He’s got a background in programming that offers him a solid standing. We also talked about the opportunities that he was connecting to make a natural transition. Jonathan Bailey has a plan. We’d already discussed how he looks at a problem and finds a solution for it. So why wouldn’t he be able to turn an idea he’s got for his future into an actual opportunity?

I wonder if Jonathan knows that he is more knowledgeable, forward thinking, and engaging than anyone I’ve worked with at the United States Copyright Office in the past two decades?

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I make it my mission to learn something new every day. Blogging is a reason to do that. It helps me grow as a writer and as a journalist. —Jonathan Bailey

Stop by Jonathan’s Blog, Plagiarism Today, and say hi!

Thanks, Jonathan, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Holiday Gifts: Energy, Insight, and Ideas!!!

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Holiday Gift Ideas at Pimp Your Work

Tris Hussey and Scot Herrick, two SOBs, are showing folks how to “add shizzle” to make work days better at Pimp Your Work. Energetic and positive discussion of work in both traditional and non-traditional settings is the hallmark of every information-packed post you’ll find there. And both Tris and Scot aren’t afraid to share ideas and resources, singing their praises in the best traditions of the blogophere.

This week Pimp Your Blog sponsored a b5 Business Channel Theme Post on Holiday Gifts. That’s what inspired my 31-Day January Calendar of Blog Post Ideas. Great writers and great ideas make this gift list. Click on the title below to take you there.

Holiday Gifts

While you’re over there getting energized and getting ideas, do tell Tris and Scot that I said hello.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

PS I have a family illness to attend to this afternoon. So, I put you all in charge of each other. Remember there’s only one rule here. “Be nice.” I’ll be back soon.

Net Neutrality 12-13-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Alaska’s Stevens Left Out in the Cold

Senator Ted Stevens boasted this summer that he had nearly all the 60 Senate votes he needed to muscle his massive telecommunications bill through Congress by the end of the year. But as his fellow lawmakers called it quits this weekend, his quest to overhaul America’s telecom laws ended in failure.

[ . . . ]

Some doubted that a rowdy coalition fighting for such a nebulous cause as net neutrality could shut down a bill backed by Stevens, the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

“This is a huge victory for real people and a clear signal to the next Congress that standing up for big bold ideas is a winning political proposition,” declared Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, a member of “Save the Internet” group that campaigned to sink the bill

But if his crowd is serious, it will have to do more than block legislation – it will have to get laws passed requiring net neutrality in the next Congress. That will be a great deal more difficult than thwarting Ted Stevens.

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE