Is This a Self-Link? June 7, 2005 9:00 PM Subscribe
I am thinking of posting this to metafilter. It's my brother's warblog.
http://chris.whong.org/
I wasn't involved in the creation of this site (other than installing his blog software), but he is my brother. His deployment began today, and he started blogging.... So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?" Anyone have any thoughts?
http://chris.whong.org/
I wasn't involved in the creation of this site (other than installing his blog software), but he is my brother. His deployment began today, and he started blogging.... So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?" Anyone have any thoughts?
thrilling tales of disrespect for the colors. fucking dead people out the wazoo, but respect the flag, motherfuckers, respect the flag.
posted by quonsar at 9:21 PM on June 7, 2005
posted by quonsar at 9:21 PM on June 7, 2005
At least we can all agree on the color of the American flag, right?
posted by Balisong at 10:09 PM on June 7, 2005
posted by Balisong at 10:09 PM on June 7, 2005
It's not a self-link, but you're right to ask, because it suffers from the same potential problem as a self link:
the inability to really judge its value, because you're too close to it.
My take is: a military serviceperson's blog is nothing new or interesting in and of itself. Good ones are great. Average ones are aplenty and not all need to be on the front page.
Your brother's shows promise, but it's got all of two posts on it, not counting the "hello world!" posting that started it off. I would say that you should give him some time to develop his thing before you swarm him with metafilter. It's clear that he's only just fired up WordPress and begun to write. Give him time. Then post on a day when he writes something particularly interesting.
As is, it's too green.
posted by scarabic at 10:12 PM on June 7, 2005
the inability to really judge its value, because you're too close to it.
My take is: a military serviceperson's blog is nothing new or interesting in and of itself. Good ones are great. Average ones are aplenty and not all need to be on the front page.
Your brother's shows promise, but it's got all of two posts on it, not counting the "hello world!" posting that started it off. I would say that you should give him some time to develop his thing before you swarm him with metafilter. It's clear that he's only just fired up WordPress and begun to write. Give him time. Then post on a day when he writes something particularly interesting.
As is, it's too green.
posted by scarabic at 10:12 PM on June 7, 2005
I believe the inimitable Q is referrring to this, from the blog under discussion:
"The First Sergeant informed me that as the flags were being rasied this morning, a job that the custodian of the building does with very little reverence, a gaggle of troops was observed NOT rendering the proper courtesies. (Standing at attention and saluting the flag as it is rasied) The 1SG let them know that they were wrong, and informed the violators to report to me on the honors system for corrective training.
Rather than make them do pushups or soemthing, I decided to organize a color guard, and respectfully retire the colors at the end of the day. "
posted by freebird at 10:14 PM on June 7, 2005
"The First Sergeant informed me that as the flags were being rasied this morning, a job that the custodian of the building does with very little reverence, a gaggle of troops was observed NOT rendering the proper courtesies. (Standing at attention and saluting the flag as it is rasied) The 1SG let them know that they were wrong, and informed the violators to report to me on the honors system for corrective training.
Rather than make them do pushups or soemthing, I decided to organize a color guard, and respectfully retire the colors at the end of the day. "
posted by freebird at 10:14 PM on June 7, 2005
+scarabic, then +Doohickie
Let him get a few more posts up, and then "let the snarkers piss off".
] That almost sounds like a potential tagline. [
posted by mischief at 10:19 PM on June 7, 2005
Let him get a few more posts up, and then "let the snarkers piss off".
] That almost sounds like a potential tagline. [
posted by mischief at 10:19 PM on June 7, 2005
This is not really much of anything yet. Give it some time. If he writes a lot and it's something that is new, or at least a new slant on an old topic, then post it. But not yet.
posted by arse_hat at 10:27 PM on June 7, 2005
posted by arse_hat at 10:27 PM on June 7, 2005
So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?"
Wrong. Seems like a classic case of being too close to something to really see the value/lack thereof. I hope you realize now there's absolutely nothing worth posting to the front page there.
Thanks for asking, though.
posted by mediareport at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2005
Wrong. Seems like a classic case of being too close to something to really see the value/lack thereof. I hope you realize now there's absolutely nothing worth posting to the front page there.
Thanks for asking, though.
posted by mediareport at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2005
I believe the inimitable Q is referrring to this:
and this, further down:
"I just thought of something that really bothered me a bit. We were dismissed from duty today, and as I was walking out the front door of our armory, I saw that someone had carelessly taken down the flags, and thrown them into a pile on the radiator in the lobby. In a building full of 170 American Soldiers, most of whom exited before me, and walked right past this sad desecration of the colors, nobody stopped to correct it. Nobody.
I couldn’t believe it. (And it wasn’t the first time I had seen this at a National Guard Armory) I grabbed the closest soldier and asked him to help me fold the U.S. flag… he seemed a bit confused at first but soon realized why I was asking… We blocked the exit for a few seconds (not on purpose, but this was a big flag), forcing everyone else who was trying to leave to stand there and watch. I got the point across to a few of them… the rest just wanted us to hurry up so they could leave.
I still just can’t get over it… I’m definitely going to have a talk with my platoon about this, and see how they feel. I am definitely going to tell the commander what happened at his Armory… For some reason, I still don’t think they will care, but to me it’s a slap in the face to every Solder who fought for his country.
Call me crazy, but I still believe in duty, honor, and country."
ok. you're crazy.
posted by quonsar at 10:51 PM on June 7, 2005
and this, further down:
"I just thought of something that really bothered me a bit. We were dismissed from duty today, and as I was walking out the front door of our armory, I saw that someone had carelessly taken down the flags, and thrown them into a pile on the radiator in the lobby. In a building full of 170 American Soldiers, most of whom exited before me, and walked right past this sad desecration of the colors, nobody stopped to correct it. Nobody.
I couldn’t believe it. (And it wasn’t the first time I had seen this at a National Guard Armory) I grabbed the closest soldier and asked him to help me fold the U.S. flag… he seemed a bit confused at first but soon realized why I was asking… We blocked the exit for a few seconds (not on purpose, but this was a big flag), forcing everyone else who was trying to leave to stand there and watch. I got the point across to a few of them… the rest just wanted us to hurry up so they could leave.
I still just can’t get over it… I’m definitely going to have a talk with my platoon about this, and see how they feel. I am definitely going to tell the commander what happened at his Armory… For some reason, I still don’t think they will care, but to me it’s a slap in the face to every Solder who fought for his country.
Call me crazy, but I still believe in duty, honor, and country."
ok. you're crazy.
posted by quonsar at 10:51 PM on June 7, 2005
There's a lot of colors the US military has no problem disrespecting.
posted by Balisong at 10:56 PM on June 7, 2005
posted by Balisong at 10:56 PM on June 7, 2005
I am thinking of posting this to metafilter. It's my brother's warblog.
Have you changed your mind yet? Unless you want people sitting behind their computers 24 hours a day putting your brother down, I'd probably take the link to somewhere less angry.
posted by justgary at 11:04 PM on June 7, 2005
Have you changed your mind yet? Unless you want people sitting behind their computers 24 hours a day putting your brother down, I'd probably take the link to somewhere less angry.
posted by justgary at 11:04 PM on June 7, 2005
You just did post it to Metafilter.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:10 PM on June 7, 2005
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:10 PM on June 7, 2005
A Maryland Guardsman Goes to War…
the site sorely needs an embedded midi file of "when johnny comes marching home" if anyone is to take it seriously.
posted by quonsar at 11:21 PM on June 7, 2005
the site sorely needs an embedded midi file of "when johnny comes marching home" if anyone is to take it seriously.
posted by quonsar at 11:21 PM on June 7, 2005
I'd probably take the link to somewhere less angry.
At what communal blog/discussion site, justgary, do you think this sort of link would be appropriate for the front page? It sure isn't appropriate here, which anyone who's been a member for six months should understand by now. Smells like link-trolling to me.
I will gladly post it for you.
Doohickie, what about the site did you find that makes it worth posting to the front page? I mean, aside from rushing in to be nice, why would you offer to post something with almost no content? Honestly curious here.
posted by mediareport at 11:26 PM on June 7, 2005
At what communal blog/discussion site, justgary, do you think this sort of link would be appropriate for the front page? It sure isn't appropriate here, which anyone who's been a member for six months should understand by now. Smells like link-trolling to me.
I will gladly post it for you.
Doohickie, what about the site did you find that makes it worth posting to the front page? I mean, aside from rushing in to be nice, why would you offer to post something with almost no content? Honestly curious here.
posted by mediareport at 11:26 PM on June 7, 2005
So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?"
Well no. With all due respect to your brother, its no more compelling than what has already been posted to Mefi. I created a blog for my brother who is in Baghdad as we speak and he's no Hemmingway but it is our small way of keeping in touch with each other and gives me peace of mind when I see his posts.
I do find your brothers site interesting and will check it out from time to time but I get the feeling it wouldn't pass muster in the blue.
Godspeed to your bro, btw.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:44 PM on June 7, 2005
Well no. With all due respect to your brother, its no more compelling than what has already been posted to Mefi. I created a blog for my brother who is in Baghdad as we speak and he's no Hemmingway but it is our small way of keeping in touch with each other and gives me peace of mind when I see his posts.
I do find your brothers site interesting and will check it out from time to time but I get the feeling it wouldn't pass muster in the blue.
Godspeed to your bro, btw.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:44 PM on June 7, 2005
You don't list an email in your profile. [Before making a front page post to any part of MeFi you should include it.] I'm too lazy to whois you.
Wordpress has a < !--more--> tag. I would encourage both you and your brother to check it out.
I would generally discourage your understandably excited wife from putting your street address in your blog. You might take a vacation and mention your impending out-of-townness. Be careful out there.
posted by geekyguy at 1:57 AM on June 8, 2005
Wordpress has a < !--more--> tag. I would encourage both you and your brother to check it out.
I would generally discourage your understandably excited wife from putting your street address in your blog. You might take a vacation and mention your impending out-of-townness. Be careful out there.
posted by geekyguy at 1:57 AM on June 8, 2005
something tells me your brother's obsession with flag etiquette is going to wane as the weeks roll on....
posted by telstar at 2:34 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by telstar at 2:34 AM on June 8, 2005
I'm with the wait and see crowd. If it develops into best, then post it. But, you've seen how people might receive it now, so you might have second thoughts.
posted by OmieWise at 6:04 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by OmieWise at 6:04 AM on June 8, 2005
OK, I won't post it. Thanks, everyone, for your help.
Mediareport: It was not my intention to be perceived as linktrolling. Sorry if I made you feel that way.
GeekyGuy, haha, your name rhymes with the japanese word "ikigai"... Anyway, I just informed my wife of the danger. Thanks also for the WordPress advice.
posted by bugmuncher at 6:15 AM on June 8, 2005
Mediareport: It was not my intention to be perceived as linktrolling. Sorry if I made you feel that way.
GeekyGuy, haha, your name rhymes with the japanese word "ikigai"... Anyway, I just informed my wife of the danger. Thanks also for the WordPress advice.
posted by bugmuncher at 6:15 AM on June 8, 2005
mischief writes "] That almost sounds like a potential tagline. ["
Metafilter: let the snarkers piss off
posted by clevershark at 7:23 AM on June 8, 2005
Metafilter: let the snarkers piss off
posted by clevershark at 7:23 AM on June 8, 2005
Jesus. Just read that bit quonsar quoted. What a disaster - being a bit careless with a flag. A bit shoddy with a bit of cloth. A bit sloppy with a symbol. What disrespect. What an absolute shocker. It really puts illegal invasion, the death of 100,000 Iraqis, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib right back into perspective for me.
posted by Decani at 7:39 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by Decani at 7:39 AM on June 8, 2005
quonsar writes "thrilling tales of disrespect for the colors. fucking dead people out the wazoo, but respect the flag, motherfuckers, respect the flag."
Be careful, q, or tkchrist will tell you to go to Seattle so he can kick your ass.
posted by terrapin at 7:47 AM on June 8, 2005
Be careful, q, or tkchrist will tell you to go to Seattle so he can kick your ass.
posted by terrapin at 7:47 AM on June 8, 2005
OK, I won't post it.
So... this thread doesn't exist, then?
I'm sure you really did mean well, but it's impossible for this not to come off as a back-door FPP. The only hope is that other newbies will see how that kind of thing is received (and why) and refrain. Because anyone's brother's just-launched blog is not anything close to best of the web.
posted by soyjoy at 8:13 AM on June 8, 2005
So... this thread doesn't exist, then?
I'm sure you really did mean well, but it's impossible for this not to come off as a back-door FPP. The only hope is that other newbies will see how that kind of thing is received (and why) and refrain. Because anyone's brother's just-launched blog is not anything close to best of the web.
posted by soyjoy at 8:13 AM on June 8, 2005
Because anyone's brother's just-launched blog is not anything close to best of the web.
Unless your brother is Lord Lucan. Or Shergar. Or Ted Bundy. Or Michael Jackson. Or...you get the picture ;-)
posted by i_cola at 8:57 AM on June 8, 2005
Unless your brother is Lord Lucan. Or Shergar. Or Ted Bundy. Or Michael Jackson. Or...you get the picture ;-)
posted by i_cola at 8:57 AM on June 8, 2005
Had he just posted the question people would have been asking for the link, for context. If MeTa is the place to take this kind of question, and I believe it is, then the accusations of a "back door FPP" are absurd. Something's either on the front page (the blue) or it's not. This is not.
Bugmuncher, I hope treatment of the flag continues to be the #1 issue your brother has to deal with in his tour of duty. Unfortunately other issues are likely to come to the fore. I wish him well.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:58 AM on June 8, 2005
Bugmuncher, I hope treatment of the flag continues to be the #1 issue your brother has to deal with in his tour of duty. Unfortunately other issues are likely to come to the fore. I wish him well.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:58 AM on June 8, 2005
My brother works in a pharmaceutical company's regulatory division and he just fired up GreyMatter. I figured you all would want to follow the action from day 1.
Point being: why do we think being in the military is at all an interesting occupation? War flicks aside, isn't it 90% sitting around, 9% busywork, and 1% gross bodily injury? Ooh hold me back from the intimate details of that.
posted by scarabic at 9:06 AM on June 8, 2005
Point being: why do we think being in the military is at all an interesting occupation? War flicks aside, isn't it 90% sitting around, 9% busywork, and 1% gross bodily injury? Ooh hold me back from the intimate details of that.
posted by scarabic at 9:06 AM on June 8, 2005
Because anyone's brother's just-launched blog is not anything close to best of the web.
yeah - as scarabic pointed out above, the reason for the no-self link rule is not something to do with modesty or self-deprecation; it's the simple fact that you're going to find stuff that is directly relevant to your life more interesting than the average web surfer. People launch blogs every day, and a lot of them are only really read by friends and acquaintances.
Some of them have specific assets - access to information others don't have, or a particular talent for expressing ideas or being funny or otherwise writing well. But when a blog's about someone you personally care about, it's often hard to tell whether you'd find it interesting if it were a random stranger. A war blog from a soldier in iraq is no longer unusual in itself, so to put it on mefi would require a little more evidence that it's got something unique to add. You could always buy a text-ad, though.
posted by mdn at 9:07 AM on June 8, 2005
yeah - as scarabic pointed out above, the reason for the no-self link rule is not something to do with modesty or self-deprecation; it's the simple fact that you're going to find stuff that is directly relevant to your life more interesting than the average web surfer. People launch blogs every day, and a lot of them are only really read by friends and acquaintances.
Some of them have specific assets - access to information others don't have, or a particular talent for expressing ideas or being funny or otherwise writing well. But when a blog's about someone you personally care about, it's often hard to tell whether you'd find it interesting if it were a random stranger. A war blog from a soldier in iraq is no longer unusual in itself, so to put it on mefi would require a little more evidence that it's got something unique to add. You could always buy a text-ad, though.
posted by mdn at 9:07 AM on June 8, 2005
bugmuncher,
God speed to your brother. I wish him the best.
I agree that any accusation of this being a back door FPP are really pretty stupid. Was he supposed to frame his question in the abstract, lest he offend someone's delicate sensabilities? I was pretty sure MeTa was the place for this kind of discussion.
posted by kbanas at 9:07 AM on June 8, 2005
God speed to your brother. I wish him the best.
I agree that any accusation of this being a back door FPP are really pretty stupid. Was he supposed to frame his question in the abstract, lest he offend someone's delicate sensabilities? I was pretty sure MeTa was the place for this kind of discussion.
posted by kbanas at 9:07 AM on June 8, 2005
My brother works in a pharmaceutical company's regulatory division and he just fired up GreyMatter. I figured you all would want to follow the action from day 1.
Well if he deals with road side bombs, snipers, sandstorms then by all means, go nuts. Otherwise, no thanks.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:12 AM on June 8, 2005
Well if he deals with road side bombs, snipers, sandstorms then by all means, go nuts. Otherwise, no thanks.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:12 AM on June 8, 2005
deborah writes "MetaFilter: Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
Word!
posted by OmieWise at 9:13 AM on June 8, 2005
Word!
posted by OmieWise at 9:13 AM on June 8, 2005
Let's face it. This is Naxosaxur's world. We all just live here.
posted by jasper411 at 10:02 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by jasper411 at 10:02 AM on June 8, 2005
Doohickie, what about the site did you find that makes it worth posting to the front page? I mean, aside from rushing in to be nice, why would you offer to post something with almost no content? Honestly curious here.
posted by mediareport at 11:26 PM PST on June 7 [!]
So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?"
Well no...
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:44 PM PST on June 7 [!]
At this point, it's been posted here on MeTa, and that's probably adequate. Wherever it's posted, I think it's worthy simply because all too many of these blogs are well along by the time someone posts it (like, for instance, Riverbend/Baghdad Burning). Riverbend's blog is amazing, but I think I would appreciate it even more if I had seen it unfold from Day One. Bugmuncher's bro's blog shows potential; it may not fulfill that potential, but it will be interesting to see how it does.
Sure you can disagree with me, but that's the way I see it. In this go-go-go world of the internet, very often by the time something is deemed Best of the Net, it's old news. I see nothing wrong with taking a chance and speculating on a little piece of the net that may become fpp-worthy later.
If this happens frequently, the result would be a watering-down of MeFi. But one or two posts of potentially interesting, budding blogs will not ruin MeFi any more than the umpteenth post about some anonymous, very gifted (but otherwise unremarkable) artist trying to produce an online serial comic.
posted by Doohickie at 10:19 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by mediareport at 11:26 PM PST on June 7 [!]
So I thought "hey, a chance for people to start following from day 1, that's the best of the web, right?"
Well no...
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:44 PM PST on June 7 [!]
At this point, it's been posted here on MeTa, and that's probably adequate. Wherever it's posted, I think it's worthy simply because all too many of these blogs are well along by the time someone posts it (like, for instance, Riverbend/Baghdad Burning). Riverbend's blog is amazing, but I think I would appreciate it even more if I had seen it unfold from Day One. Bugmuncher's bro's blog shows potential; it may not fulfill that potential, but it will be interesting to see how it does.
Sure you can disagree with me, but that's the way I see it. In this go-go-go world of the internet, very often by the time something is deemed Best of the Net, it's old news. I see nothing wrong with taking a chance and speculating on a little piece of the net that may become fpp-worthy later.
If this happens frequently, the result would be a watering-down of MeFi. But one or two posts of potentially interesting, budding blogs will not ruin MeFi any more than the umpteenth post about some anonymous, very gifted (but otherwise unremarkable) artist trying to produce an online serial comic.
posted by Doohickie at 10:19 AM on June 8, 2005
Doohickie, what about the site did you find that makes it worth posting to the front page? I mean, aside from rushing in to be nice, why would you offer to post something with almost no content?
My lil bro has recently read the blog I did on his unit in the War. The unit deployed in February 2003 and I mention it because a year and half later from his return home, he is now reading it. War takes a lot of adjustments and coming home is a whole new life for him. Think the best part here for me; he visits the site from time to time reading a few posts like I’m still posting on it. This was how my family read it and complements the site. Last I had heard, he is still finding new posts to read and he can't believe all he had forgotten about being there.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:53 AM on June 8, 2005
My lil bro has recently read the blog I did on his unit in the War. The unit deployed in February 2003 and I mention it because a year and half later from his return home, he is now reading it. War takes a lot of adjustments and coming home is a whole new life for him. Think the best part here for me; he visits the site from time to time reading a few posts like I’m still posting on it. This was how my family read it and complements the site. Last I had heard, he is still finding new posts to read and he can't believe all he had forgotten about being there.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:53 AM on June 8, 2005
Probably, at this point, we've had enough making fun of the guy who's going off to get shot at in a war zone. I'll even stipulate that all of you would compose much better blog entries after getting shipped out to Iraq.
posted by Mid at 11:03 AM on June 8, 2005
posted by Mid at 11:03 AM on June 8, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Doohickie at 9:06 PM on June 7, 2005