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Wouldn’t you think if you were a known author you might be a bit more measured in your comments in public? Perhaps I am giving too much credit to people that write novels, but that would at least be my thought process.
While going through my holiday weekend, a long time friend of mine retweeted a message on Twitter with the purpose of making sure I saw it. The message was fairly random, and I still have no clue what prompted such a comment, but here is what it said.
Attn bloggers:making lists is not writing.Listing things in order is what they have slow kids do to determine if a helmet is needed.
This message came from Christopher Moore, an author who has made it on to The New York Times bestseller list according to his website. Why do I say “according to his website”? Because I’ve never heard of him, but hey, congrats to him for making the list, it’s no small feat.
However, as someone who has written somewhere near 500 lists, I took offense. I didn’t take offense at saying it isn’t writing, but I felt that the additional little stab about it being “what they have slow kids do to determine if a helmet is needed” was a bit over the top.
@TheAuthorGuy as a professional blogger who has been assigned over 500 lists in his career, don’t knock work you don’t know, sir.
My thinking was he should at least be aware that there are people out there who work on lists, but whatever, I went to bed and figured it was over with.
@seanpaune I didn’t say making lists wasn’t work. I said it wasn’t writing. Thanks for making my point
Huh? Because I used the word “work”? Who knows, we’re communicating at 140 characters at a time, it isn’t like we can engage in deep thought. But, oh well, now he’s annoyed me.
@TheAuthorGuy Well next time a magazine such as Time or Wired runs a list, I’ll be sure to notify them of your disapproval.
@seanpaune Lazy editing is lazy editing. It’s how editors fill space without having to think. Enjoy your helmet.
Okay, where do you start with this one.
Speaking as the Editor-in-Chief of a technology site, and the former Managing Editor of another site, I can tell you there are a lot of reasons we publish lists. It has nothing to do with how we “fill space” or “lazy editing”. It has to do with the fact that they are popular with readers, are often the articles that receive the most comments and we actually get requests for them.
If they were space fillers as Mr. Moore seems to think, then by golly I have been paid really, really well to just fill up space with filler content.
Do I even need to address his comment about me enjoying my helmet? Yep, he just called me “slow” in a roundabout way. So, yeah, perhaps I got a tad bit personal in my next response …
@TheAuthorGuy the world really needed more vampire novels. Guess it makes it easier for you to spot lazy …
What can I say, if you imply I’m special and belittle my work, I might just have something to say about yours. I rapidly sent another message.
@TheAuthorGuy BTW, I put out about 2300 non-list posts in the last 12 months. Danny my laziness.
Yes, yes, my phone and auto-correct doomed me by changing “Damn” to “Danny”, but I happened to be walking out the door at the time. At some point you would think this guy might rethink attacking the livelihood of someone when he has obviously not thought things through. There are reasons lists get made, but whatever, he wants to continue making an ass out of himself.
@seanpaune This is where you want to make your stand, on the literary integrity of list-making?
Did I at any time suggest that lists had literary integrity? Nope. Did I suggest he didn’t know what he was talking about? Yep. So, yes, I sent another message.
@TheAuthorGuy excuse me, but you decided to attack lists and somehow I’m the crazy one for defending? Did a list kill a family member?
I was at the point of wanting to know what exactly prompted this guy’s anger towards lists. Yes, yes, my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek, but anyone who knows me knows I can’t be serious for long stretches of time. But, instead of an explanation, I get some sort of acknowledgement that “I won”.
@seanpaune Okay, you win. I can’t figure out who Danny is.
Not that I was looking for a declaration of winning, and bringing up an obvious typo from a site the restricts you to 140 characters … woo, you got me there Mr. Moore. By this point I was at the gym and couldn’t be bothered to care any more.
I understand Mr. Moore is a “humor” writer (he named a female vampire character “Abby Normal” … excuse me while I hold my sides from the laughter … okay, done), but comparing people who write lists to “slow kids” was just insulting and in poor taste on so many levels that I can’t possibly conceive how any professional author of any repute would think that was a wise comment.
I have made it my stock-and-trade on this blog to comment on stupidity I see in the world, especially in the entertainment industries, I have even called decisions “stupid”, but I don’t believe I have ever suggested that someone is “slow” or suggested that enjoy wearing a helmet. Mr. Moore doesn’t like lists, and that’s his right. However, when you just randomly come out with a declaration such as this, you have to expect someone to take you to task over it. Every time I say something on this site, I am fully aware that someone may comment with an opposing opinion, and some of them I agree with, some of them I don’t, but I expect it because I put myself out there. If you do something similar, you have to expect someone to comment back, but responding by insulting and antagonizing them? Classy, Mr. Moore, classy.
Not only are you a best selling author Mr. Moore, but for crying out loud you’re 53-years-old, aren’t you above schoolyard insults by this point?
Oh, wait, I’m arguing with someone that thinks “Abby Normal” is the height of punny humor. My bad.
Here we go again, another town is going to be levying fines and community service at people who wear baggy pants. Really? This is what you are doing with governmental time in a time of financial crisis? Wow.
According to CNN, the city of Dublin, GA will begin fining people $25 for the first offense of wearing pants or skirts that fall more than three inches below their hips, exposing flesh or under garments. On the second offense you will be fined $200, and both offenses carry the possibility of community service time with them.
Didn’t I already write up this story in 2008? Oh yes, I did, except it was in Florida.
Since I already expressed my exasperation with the insanity of such laws back at that time, let me wonder this time why clothing laws stop a sagging pants. In the case of the city of Dublin they are counting it as indecent exposure, so lets wonder about some other possible cases, shall we?
When will women who expose their bra straps be fined?
As I noted last time I wrote this story up, what about women who wear corsets as a top to go out?
Plumbers are well known for exposing their butt cracks while working, I assume those fines will be beginning at any moment now.
Laying out in a bikini in your front yard?
Going around town in just a bikini top?
Women who wear a top cut too low? Will we begin measuring the amount of cleavage, and will it be based on a percentage of cup size? (I.E. four inches on an A cup is a world of difference to that of a D cup)
Men walking around with no shirt on.
What about women who go out in public wearing men’s boxer shorts? (I live in a college town, you wouldn’t believe how much of this actually goes on)
How are baggy pants riding low any different than the things I just listed? I think baggy pants are idiotic, but at the same time someone may think the way I wear a certain piece of clothing is equally idiotic.
People claim this is offensive and indecent … I suggest you get a new sense of decency. There is actually far worse going on around you than the baggy pants, but for whatever reason you choose to ignore all of those things. How about this wild idea that you just keep it with it so long as no sexual anatomy is shown, it’s good enough. Spending time, effort and government funds on enforcement of some sort of dress code is waste at its best. You have absolutely nothing better to do with your time? Bull.
Although I am still fully in favor of arresting frat boys who “pop the colla”.
You have to give it to Hasbro, they sure know how to sucker a collector back into their world.
I was really starting to pull away from Star Wars toys because they were well past the figures that I really had any concern with. Then they announced that in celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back they were were going to begin releasing figures again in the same type of packaging they used in the 1970′s and 1980′s. They were even going so far as to put the Kenner logo on the packaging as they were the original company to release the toys, and they had purchased the company several years ago.
rackin’ frackin’
Oh, and they’re going to be doing this for two years.
mumble grumble
Oh, and if the figure had been a part of the line back then, they would use the same packaging art as they did back then, and if the character hadn’t been a figure back then, they would receive new art that brought it into line.
Okay, I’m done. Where do I sign my paychecks over to you?
Pictured below is a comparison of a re-issue with a first issue on the “Vintage Collection” packaging.
The backs of the packages differ from the originals, but that’s fine, and they actually give a bit of history of that figure which is cool.
To add insult to injury, they are doing an old fashioned mail-in offer for a “Rocket Firing Boba Fett”. To Star Wars collectors this is like the Holy Grail of figures. It was offered in the late 70′s, but was never released due to safety issues. So they are releasing a new copy of the original figure that we all lusted after as children … if we buy five figures and mail in the UPC codes. Oh goody … now I have to buy doubles on five figures, and at $7.99 a pop. Oh joy.
Anyway, the figure packaging may all be old, but the figures themselves are all new molds, and they look great. Honestly, this packaging makes a lot more sense to me than some of the oddball stuff they have come up with over the years with curved fronts, and couldn’t hang on a peg in the store more than five seconds as they would fall off. Give me the classic packaging any day!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go sort my action figures.
Well, it’s happened again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Jay Leno version of the show is suffering the worst summer ratings in the history of the show. While the overall numbers are up slightly over Conan O’Brien, they are down 12 percent in the 18-to-49 demographic that advertisers covet so much. Comparing Leno to his performance to his ratings from the summer of 2008, things are ever worse.
Considering that when O’Brien was suffering from a weak lead-in in the form of The Jay Leno Show, NBC blamed O’Brien for things going wrong. Well, who do you blame now? NBC is oddly quiet on all of this when it couldn’t seem to wait to point a finger last year.
The sad thing is, I don’t see NBC doing anything about this. They will stand behind Leno no matter what at this point, and people such as myself will just enjoy watching him slipping further and further into oblivion where he belongs.
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It’s episode #111 of Scattercast and I’m tearing open that reality distortion field, Jobs, and … oh, shiny gadgets!
Lots on Apple.
Some thoughts on tablets.
Still having funky audio problems.
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If you are even remotely into comics in the late 1980′s through the mid-1990′s, you at least knew about The Sandman. Heck, even if you weren’t into comic books, someone probably told you about it, it was just that good. Apparently Warner Brothers Television is in talks with Eric Kripke, creator of Supernatural, about helming a television adaptation of the series.
… The guy from the crappy show that only keeps getting renewed because it’s on The CW, and they can’t afford to develop anything else? Oh … this can’t be good.
The Sandman was a 75 issue series about Morpheus, one of the seven Endless siblings, who ruled various states of the human condition. While Morpheus’ Endless name was Dream, his six siblings were Death, Destruction, Delirium (formerly Delight), Despair, Desire and Destiny. They all shared pale complexions, talked about humans as if we were their toys and generally looked like they were going to break into songs by The Cure at any moment.
And the comic industry went mad for them.
The entire series was created by Neil Gaiman, and it ran from 1989 to 1996. Death became popular enough that she got her own spin-off mini-series, Death: The High Cost of Living, which has been optioned as its own movie, and Death: The Time of Your Life. Through out all the craziness that surrounded this series, several attempts were made at making a movie, but pretty much everyone agreed it would never work. HBO made a bid to do a series at one point, but that also fell apart despite Gaiman being somewhat involved.
Now we come to the latest version which very little is known about it: No network is attached yet, Gainman hasn’t been asked to assist, Mr. Kripke’s attachment isn’t sealed yet and apparently even the rights aren’t settled. In other words, some info got out, and now is the time for fans to act, and plead, that if this happens, it is done right.
It might work on some cable channels such as AMC, which is apparently really going all out for The Walking Dead, but due to some pretty radical themes, it would be best served on channels such as HBO, Showtime or Starz where advertiser sensibilities would not play a factor.
Honestly, I’m not sure if this can be adapted without messing it up due to how intricate it was. I would love to see it happen, but I just can’t imagine it not getting messed up. Here’s hoping.
It was a busy day in the world of Apple, and all stuff that was just too interesting for us to pass up commenting on all of it. Perhaps we aren’t as positive as you might expect, but isn’t it more fun when we take the counter argument?
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Working in the world of tech blogging, I have to write about pretty much all of the companies out there, but I have discovered that any time I say anything positive about Apple, I am immediately labeled an “Apple fanboy”, and anything I have to say is dismissed out of hand.
Huh … funny I’m writing this on one of my many Windows-based machines. Oh, and my Android-based HTC Hero is laying in front of my keyboard.
I’m currently sitting in my office at work and thought I would list all of the computers this “Apple Fanboy” works with:
I have two totally separate Windows-based towers, both running Windows XP SP 2, here at work.
Behind me is computer running Windows Me which I only use on occasion as a file server.
There are four other computers in this room, all running Windows XP SP 2.
My main laptop is running Windows 7 Professional, which is my newest computer, and I have to say I am loving Windows 7.
My backup laptop is running Windows XP SP 2.
My parents, whom I equip their computers for them, have a Windows 7 Home-based laptop and a Netbook running Ubuntu.
There are other laptops in various states of usability, all running Windows XP SP 2.
Now, as for my Apple products:
I have a 160 GB iPod Classic
A 1st generation iPod Touch, which I bought used off of a friend when he switched to a first gen iPhone. Yes, I have the Touch since about 3 months after launch.
A 32 GB Wi-Fi iPad … which I also bought used off a friend when he decided he wanted a 3G version.
A 27″ 2010 iMac. This is my first ever Mac … as in I bought it at the last refresh.
As I stated earlier, I carry an HTC Hero phone, and before those I carried various models of BlackBerry handsets. I have never owned an iPhone. I hate AT&T and I have this funny habit of liking to be able to make phone calls that don’t get dropped because I held the phone in the wrong way.
You know what I’m a “fanboy” of? Technology. Plain and simple, I love technology. I use the tech that best suits my needs, and I don’t really care who makes it. The only reason I bought an iMac is I’m getting into more media production, and Macs are hard to dispute for their ability to produce and edit audio & video. I don’t even turn it on on the days I don’t have any editing to do, there’s no point as I’m still much more comfortable in a Microsoft environment.
People have tried to convince me for ages I should buy a MacBook Pro, but I think they are horrendously over-priced. I always hear the argument, “but they last longer!” So? It is still a huge amount of money to lay out initially, and at the speed with which I break down laptop keyboards I can buy three Microsoft laptops for the same price.
If I am guilty of being a “fanboy” to anything related to Apple, it is that I’m a fanboy of Steve Jobs. I think the man is a marketing genius, and I fully expect there to be courses taught someday in the future over his business decisions. He pulled Apple from the brink of bankruptcy to become one of the biggest companies in the country with revenues in the billions each quarter. How can you not respect that?
For whatever reason, this silly Microsoft/Apple war still rages, and humans, for whatever reason, feel the need to label everything in this world. Nothing can be ambiguous. What does it really matter what equipment I use? What does it matter what I’m a fan of?
Oh, in case you think I am always positive about Apple? Check out the MacBook Paper post I wrote after the introduction of the MacBook Air. Yeah, I thought the Air was silly, and I still do.
I suppose there are worse things to be called then an “Apple fanboy” — and oh, I’ve been called most of them — but this one truly puzzles me every time someone says it. My next computer? A Windows 7 desktop. I love it on my laptop, and can’t wait to get it on my desktop, but I’m sure that in spite of that, the next time I say something positive about Apple the “fanboy” term will be thrown in my face again.
Wouldn’t you think if you were a known author you might be a bit more measured in your comments in public? Perhaps I am giving too much credit to people that write novels, but that would at least be my thought process.
Didn’t I already write up this story in 2008? Oh yes, 
You have to give it to Hasbro, they sure know how to sucker a collector back into their world.
A total of 45 published this week, but also a bunch you won’t see for a couple weeks yet, so hah!
Is it wrong to take obvious pleasure in the train wreck that is The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? Yeah … it’s not wrong of me all.
It’s episode #111 of Scattercast and I’m tearing open that reality distortion field, Jobs, and … oh, shiny gadgets!
If you are even remotely into comics in the late 1980′s through the mid-1990′s, you at least knew about The Sandman. Heck, even if you weren’t into comic books, someone probably told you about it, it was just that good. Apparently Warner Brothers Television is in talks with Eric Kripke, creator of Supernatural, about helming a television adaptation of the series.
Working in the world of tech blogging, I have to write about pretty much all of the companies out there, but I have discovered that any time I say anything positive about Apple, I am immediately labeled an “Apple fanboy”, and anything I have to say is dismissed out of hand.
