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A quick drive-by post because I meant to be at the sit-and-knit 30 minutes ago.
First of all, SFX magazine was running a poll for the most and least popular Doctor Who companions. The special edition is out, and by the poll the top three are:
1) Sarah Jane Smith
2) Rose Tyler
3) Martha Jones
And quite right too. My gal has been in the top 3 - usually the top 2 - for 30 years, and I love that she's still on top three decades later.
That was the silly upbeat part. Now I'm going to rant. Topic of choice: the LJ "Boycott" or "Strike" or whatever word is being used in place of "silly meaningless gesture that won't do dickall."
So we're not going to post on a major international religious holiday because We're Going To Show Them. Show them what, since traffic will already be down due to said holiday, I'm not sure. How many fans there are on LJ? But they already know there are 35,112 fans on LJ.
That they can't dick around with struck out communities and hiding interests? You mean that problem that they have already corrected because of the howls of outrage? The problem they rush to change, just as it has been every other time they do something stupid and piss off 35,112 loudmouths who spread it all over the web? That problem? Go right ahead. This isn't going to stop them from doing something else and pissing people off. It's also not going to stop people from howling about it to the point that they fix it, just like the last three times.
Or that they can't add ads to the free accounts? Because that pisses off fandom too. Fandom. That place that has been using Heinlein's "TANSTAAFL" as a word for several decades now. You know - "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." Perhaps someone should be changing that to TANSTAAFS, because there ain't no such thing as a free server either. And if money isn't coming in from people because they still have access to create free accounts and money isn't coming in from people who paid for lifetime memberships the last time LJ needed cash in a hurry, then the money has to come in from SOMEWHERE, people, and if it's not you (remember, there are still accounts that are free for the new blogger to set up) then it's going to come from advertisers. Just like Google gets their cash from the ads that now appear, and TV shows come for free but have those annoying advertising breaks, and radio is free but has advertising, and do I really need to keep going with this sentence, or has the point sunk in? On the day we live in a magical land where beautiful elves fart flowers, then we get services for free. Until then, SOMEBODY has to pay for somebody's time, property, and maintenance, and it still isn't YOU!
It's not as if boycotting for a single day will do diddly, as Snopes points out about the gas "boycott." The premise behind these messages is inherently flawed, because consumers not buying gasoline on one particular day doesn't affect oil companies at all. The "gas out" scheme doesn't call on people to use less gasoline, but simply to shift their date of purchase... the very same amount of gasoline is sold either way."
And yes, you can go stomping offjust like people did during the Great Strikeout, only to come sneaking back within a week, but if you do, read this short story to entertain you on your journey to JournalFen or Insane Journal, or Greatest Journal, or any of the other blogging companies that also use advertising because TANSTAAFS:
My first Internet fandom was based on a couple of listservs, this being a bit before the web and well before blogs. At one point, everyone in the rather small fandom finally stood up on their hind legs and told the listmaster that he was a tyrannical bore, and he could stick it sideways, they were going to go to the greener, fresher, more welcoming pastures of Listserv #2. And they did, and They Showed Him, and all was happy.
Until about two years later, when most of what was left of the fandom finally stood up on their hind legs and told the listmistress that she was a cronyist and snob and didn't properly appreciate them so she could stick it sideways, because they were going to go to the greener, fresher, more welcoming pastures of Listserv #1. And they did, and They Showed Her, and all was happy.
Except for me, because I was wondering if I was the only one who could remember two years earlier, 'cause Listmaster #1 hadn't changed a single rule or attitude.
First of all, SFX magazine was running a poll for the most and least popular Doctor Who companions. The special edition is out, and by the poll the top three are:
1) Sarah Jane Smith
2) Rose Tyler
3) Martha Jones
And quite right too. My gal has been in the top 3 - usually the top 2 - for 30 years, and I love that she's still on top three decades later.
That was the silly upbeat part. Now I'm going to rant. Topic of choice: the LJ "Boycott" or "Strike" or whatever word is being used in place of "silly meaningless gesture that won't do dickall."
So we're not going to post on a major international religious holiday because We're Going To Show Them. Show them what, since traffic will already be down due to said holiday, I'm not sure. How many fans there are on LJ? But they already know there are 35,112 fans on LJ.
That they can't dick around with struck out communities and hiding interests? You mean that problem that they have already corrected because of the howls of outrage? The problem they rush to change, just as it has been every other time they do something stupid and piss off 35,112 loudmouths who spread it all over the web? That problem? Go right ahead. This isn't going to stop them from doing something else and pissing people off. It's also not going to stop people from howling about it to the point that they fix it, just like the last three times.
Or that they can't add ads to the free accounts? Because that pisses off fandom too. Fandom. That place that has been using Heinlein's "TANSTAAFL" as a word for several decades now. You know - "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." Perhaps someone should be changing that to TANSTAAFS, because there ain't no such thing as a free server either. And if money isn't coming in from people because they still have access to create free accounts and money isn't coming in from people who paid for lifetime memberships the last time LJ needed cash in a hurry, then the money has to come in from SOMEWHERE, people, and if it's not you (remember, there are still accounts that are free for the new blogger to set up) then it's going to come from advertisers. Just like Google gets their cash from the ads that now appear, and TV shows come for free but have those annoying advertising breaks, and radio is free but has advertising, and do I really need to keep going with this sentence, or has the point sunk in? On the day we live in a magical land where beautiful elves fart flowers, then we get services for free. Until then, SOMEBODY has to pay for somebody's time, property, and maintenance, and it still isn't YOU!
It's not as if boycotting for a single day will do diddly, as Snopes points out about the gas "boycott." The premise behind these messages is inherently flawed, because consumers not buying gasoline on one particular day doesn't affect oil companies at all. The "gas out" scheme doesn't call on people to use less gasoline, but simply to shift their date of purchase... the very same amount of gasoline is sold either way."
And yes, you can go stomping off
My first Internet fandom was based on a couple of listservs, this being a bit before the web and well before blogs. At one point, everyone in the rather small fandom finally stood up on their hind legs and told the listmaster that he was a tyrannical bore, and he could stick it sideways, they were going to go to the greener, fresher, more welcoming pastures of Listserv #2. And they did, and They Showed Him, and all was happy.
Until about two years later, when most of what was left of the fandom finally stood up on their hind legs and told the listmistress that she was a cronyist and snob and didn't properly appreciate them so she could stick it sideways, because they were going to go to the greener, fresher, more welcoming pastures of Listserv #1. And they did, and They Showed Her, and all was happy.
Except for me, because I was wondering if I was the only one who could remember two years earlier, 'cause Listmaster #1 hadn't changed a single rule or attitude.
