Category: blogging

Meetup gone Awry

Ashley Bischoff6 Comments

I had planned on attending the MetaFilter Meetup this evening. So, after getting home from the gym around 7:30pm, I soon headed off to the TGI Friday’s on North Market street. I got there in good time, put some quarters in the meter, and walked inside. I asked the server about the “MetaFilter Meetup Group”, but he hadn’t heard of that. But, he assured me, he’d let me know if any groups arrived under that name.

So, I just sat on a bench in the lobby and waited. And waited. Eventually, my watch read “8:30”, and I headed home. I quite enjoyed the Slashdot Meetup (I’ll have to remember to write about that), but this particular Meetup didn’t go so well :-/.

“visited links” — denied

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

I often visit DFWBlogs to check on updated blogs in the area. I primarily check my friends’ blogs, so I figured that it could be handy to have a “visited link” color for the list of blogs along the left side.

I wasn’t sure who to e-mail about that, so I e-mailed both Leia and Matt:

Hey guys,

I wasn’t sure who to e-mail about this suggestion, so I’m just e-mailing both of you ;). Anyhow, like any good blogger, I make use of DFWBlogs to check whether my friends’ blogs have been updated.

However, could you assign a “visited link” color? That way, I’d be able to more easily find blogs that I frequently visit among those on the list.

And, Leia replied:

Hmm. Interesting point. But, I declare designer’s prerogative and say no. I think it would make the list look too garish.

Alternatively, you could go make your own list of favorites at http://www.freshblogs.com

I was disappointed to read that and I disagree with her prerogative :-/. I really thought that a visited-link color would add something to the site.

Update: Just to be clear, there’re no hard feelings here — this is just another ordinary post about blogging :).

DFWBlogs Cocktail Event – July

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

I attended the DFWBlogs Cocktail Event was last night at the Hurricane Grill. And, like last time, I had a good time.

Since their menu is online, I had already decided beforehand that I’d be ordering the fried catfish. And, the cornmeal-battered fillets of catfish were indeed “white and fresh-tasting”. More than that, though, the steak fries that accompanied the fried catfish were excellent — they were crisp and full of potato flavor.

All was not rosy. For one thing, someone decided that, as a group, we should sit near the front of the restaurant next to the giant sound-reflection panels (otherwise referred to as “windows”). At the beginning of the evening, it didn’t make much difference, but towards the end it wasn’t helping. Especially with the karaoke (?!) later on, the packet-loss on some of my conversations was approaching 80%. To give you an idea, one conversation resembled something along the lines of “ Weezer … Smirnoff … Thomas … emo …”.

So, yeah, I would have preferred a location more inducive to conversation. But, the food was still delicious and, up until the sound-levels reached critical mass, the conversation was good as well :).

blogChalking

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

I came across the term “blogChalking” from, of all things, the American Dialect Society’s mailing list. The basic idea is to standardize on a set of keywords/metatags to make it easier to find blogs in your neighborhood.

After seeing this kind of hard mapping implemented by people at NYCBloggers.com and watch to the rise of WarChalking (in my opinion, an idea that best express, today, the beauty of large public networks), I noticed a possible way: if all bloggers mark their sites with a special sign and geographic information, maybe it would be possible to improvise such searching system.

So I mixed up those ideas to create what I call blogChalking. [...]

It sounds like a have-nothing-to-lose idea, so I may just give it a try.