Discussion groups and how to keep them from rotting

Many people have already linked to this insightful speech by Clay Shirky about group-interaction software, but it needs to be read by many, so I'll do so too. It's about tragedy-of-the-commons-style problems in anything like a newsgroup or other discussion forum, and the ways that successful fora stave off the rot for a time.

( More thoughts... )

markup

By the way, yes, I'm aware that the markup on these prefab LiveJournal styles is atrocious and retrograde. I think that paid account holders can reengineer it-- I'd like to see if I can do a good CSS layout someday. My fondness for good markup is one of the reasons I was reluctant to start a blog with standard tools. At least this markup works in a fairly cross-platform way with various browsers, but these tables are just not right.

hey, some of these styles are better

The "Magazine" one is actually a CSS-based layout that is fairly structural and light (the style is embedded, which bloats it a bit, but you can't have everything). The aesthetics could be better, though. And it doesn't validate, for a variety of minor reasons.

bread

One of the things that keeps me messing around with breadmaking (albeit with a machine, which makes devotees of True Artisanal Handmade Bread regard me as a baby or a dilletante, but, hey, I used a biga starter a couple of times) is that every loaf comes out different. The flour/water mix has to be just right, and the correct can be affected by such things as the local humidity. So you never quite know if the thing is going to overrise and crater, or not rise enough. Unless you are a bread god.

The iPod on Windows

Sam got me a 10-gigabyte iPod for my birthday, and told me that she was using me as a guinea pig, since she thought she might like one herself. So I got her the 15-gig model (which comes with the dock and remote) as an anniversary present. I was interested to see how the experience of using the thing on her Windows PC would differ from mine on the Macintosh.

( Setting up the iPod... )

The reason I was posting so late last night

was that I was recovered enough from my peculiar cold-like ailment to come off the Benadryl, and that's always rough.

Nokia of Oz

From the rather goofy Tik-Tok of Oz:

believing that Ozma was now taking an interest in the party he drew from his pocket a tiny instrument which he placed against his ear.

Ozma, observing this action in her Magic Picture, at once caught up a similar instrument from a table beside her and held it to her own ear. The two instruments recorded the same delicate vibrations of sound and formed a wireless telephone, an invention of the Wizard. Those separated by any distance were thus enabled to converse together with perfect ease and without any wire connection.

Heh.