About IMAO

Some of you may know I also work behind the scenes at IMAO. And you may have noticed that IMAO is down at the moment. And has been down for several hours.

Frank J. is working with the hosting company to resolve things, but I don't have much more information than that. Hopefully, it'll be back up soon.

Moon ain't gonna nuke itself.

About commenting

I've been a little bit of a hard ass when it comes to comments here. There's a reason for it; at least, there was. But, I've thought things through, checked how others are doing it, looked at the functionality available, and I'm modifying the comment policy here at this little blog.

My goal is to have honest, thoughtful, or humorous comments. Trolls? Don't have any use for them.

So, here is the new comment policy.

This is my personal blog. It is not your personal blog. If you wish to comment, I will allow your comment if you meet and agree to these guidelines.

• You understand that you have no right to comment. If you think you do, you're wrong. And probably a liberal who wants me to pay for your "free stuff." If so, just go away.
• Don't use excessive profanity. Things like "*******" and "#$%@&$#" are okay.
• You do not have to agree with anything I say. You should. But, some people. *sigh*
• Registration may be required. This includes a Google account or an account that supports Open ID, such as AOL/AIM, LiveJournal, Typepad, WordPress, as well as other services. If you use the Anonymous selection, sign your name, or the name by which you are known online.
• Keep your comments short. If you have a lot to say, say it on your own blog, and leave a short comment here with a link to your post. Don't have your own blog? Too bad.
• Certain HTML tags are supported. If you leave a link to a Website, include it in an anchor tag. Don't forget to use a full link, including the protocol (such as http://) or else the link won't work correctly.
• URL shortening services are acceptable for links in comments. If you don't know what that is, don't worry about it.
• Comment moderation may be enabled for posts, particularly for older posts. That's where most of the spam shows up, and comment moderation helps control that.
• Comment moderation may be enabled during times a post attracts a large number of trolls. At least until I hunt the trolls down.
• A spam filter may moderate your comment. Do not leave another comment asking why the spam filter caught your comment. Ask Google. They run the spam filter.
• When a comment is moderated, I get an email letting me know. I'll review it as soon as I can.

If you do not agree to this comment policy, do not leave a comment.

Multiple violations of this policy will result in all of your future comments being rejected or deleted, regardless of whether such future comments adhere to the policy.

Here's the link to the page: http://www.basilsblog.com/p/comment-policy_28.html

Now, I'm wondering if I ought to turn comments off for this post, just to mess with you.

Nah.

Follow a link, buy a ticket, do some good

John Hawkins at RightWingNews sent out a request. He's asked bloggers -- of which he thinks I am one -- to link to a post for a good cause ... and there's the possibility of prizes for the bloggers. But more about that in a minute. Right now, here's the information about the raffle and the cause it's supporting.

The Society Of St. Vincent De Paul is giving away 4 days in New York, a $3000 shopping spree, and a meeting with Bill O'Reilly, two tickets to a Yankees/Rays game at Yankee Stadium, two tickets to a Broadway show, and dinner at Bobo Restaurant with celebrity chef Patrick Connolly. Other prizes include a trip for two anywhere in the continental USA, two tickets to the Super Bowl, two tickets to the Major League All-Star game, and $1000 furniture shopping spree at Weekends Only.

Not a bad list of prizes. And the cause is a good one:

• Utility assistance, medications, medical transportation, car repairs, cars to the working poor, home repairs, free legal assistance, free budget assistance, hospital visits, prison visits
• Housing for homeless veterans and people with mental disabilities
• Aid for those who have been downsized, lost their jobs, suffered through a divorce, a foreclosure
• Food for the needy through 83 food pantries
• Furniture, clothing, household goods for those in need through our Thrift Stores
• Home visits to comfort and aid those who are suffering

Now, I want to let you know that he's giving away a raffle ticket to a blogger. So, there's a drawing for a ticket to a drawing.

Next, I want to say that I won't win the raffle ticket. Not because of long odds. But because if I do win the raffle ticket John's giving away, I won't keep it. I'll give it to someone who follows the link from this blog and buys a ticket. So, there's no ulterior motive for me. However, there's that extra incentive for you.

So, head over to RightWingNews and follow his links to Society Of St. Vincent De Paul. Even if you don't win, the cause is worth it.

Death of a Marine

The Jawa Report's Dr. Rusty Shackleford lost his father, and the country lost a Marine.

Send your condolences. And, please consider helping with his request, if you are able.

What's up with those duplicate tweets from @basilsblog and @IMAO_ ?

On teh Twitter earlier today, I promised I'd solve a mystery.

Oh, it's not a big mystery. Or even an important one. But, it was nagging at some of the people that follow me on teh Twitter. And I promised I'd answer their questions.

Shayne Rivers was the first to ask: Ok, what is up with @basilsblog and @IMAO_'s twitter feeds?

Here's what he was talking about. These tweets came across:



That prompted the "What's up with that?" question. And Rick Sheridan wondered, too.

And, since teh Twitter is limited to 140 characters, there wasn't really enough room to explain.

So, here on this little blog, I'll explain it all. Especially, since this little blog is part of the confusion.

First, some background.

It's possible to have a blog automatically update a Twitter account every time a new post appears. Many, many blogs do this, including IMAO and this little blog. And both Frank and I use Feedburner to perform this little blog-Twitter magic.

The thing is, it doesn't matter who writes the post, one specific Twitter account is updated. I have my Twitter account, http://twitter.com/basilsblog, automatically updated every time a post is published. And Frank J has his Twitter account, http://twitter.com/IMAO_, updated every time a post is published.

And it doesn't matter who writes the post.

You see, I occasionally post stuff at IMAO. The thing is, I also post the same stuff here. Of course, I post stuff here that I don't publish at IMAO.

That's actually common: bloggers posting the same content at multiple places. But, it's unusual at IMAO:

• Frank J also writes a Pajamas Media column, and doesn't post that content at IMAO. Rather, he'll write a post at IMAO saying, "Hey, I wrote something at Pajamas Media! Yay!" Or something along that line.
• Same thing with SarahK. She'll write stuff at her regular blog, mountaineer musings, or at tWits, or at one of her other blogs. And she won't cross-post. But she will say, "Hey, I wrote something at some other place" or something.
• Harvey is the same way. Stuff he writes at IMAO won't show up at Bad Example, though he'll often post "Hey, go read that" kinda stuff.

The rest of the IMAO bloggers (Laurence Simon, spacemonkey, RightWingDuck, Cadet Happy) actually don't write there much any more. I don't know why. Well, I think I know why one doesn't. But I can't figure out why the others don't. I wish they would. They're good.

Me? I'm not actually part of the IMAO crew. Not officially. I've posted more there than some of the MIA bloggers. And, more than SarahK, too, I think. But, I'm actually a guest blogger, posting as long as Frank sees fit to allow me to. Or until I get hit by a bus or something.

The point is (yes, I have one) that there is nothing exclusive about what I post. At least, unless and until Frank says he wants it that way. I write posts for my blog, and will occasionally cross-post at IMAO, since Frank allows it.

When I publish a post here, this little blog notifies Feedburner, which posts to teh Twitter. And when anyone (Frank, Sarah, Harvey, me, anyone else) writes something at IMAO, that blog is set up to notify Feedburner, which, in turn, posts it to teh Twitter.

When I write a post for both blogs, both notify Feedburner, and Feedburner posts a notice to each Twitter account.

That's why you might see back-to-back identical tweets from @basilsblog and @IMAO_ on teh Twitter.

Mystery solved.

And it only took just a little over 140 characters to do it.

The answer to what happened to Charles Johnson

There's an old southern punchline coming up. You may or may not think it's worth wading through this to get to it... I may be reading things wrong, but it seems that many bloggers, blog commenters, Twitterers, and so on, are wondering what happened to Charles Johnson. Little Green Footballs made a big splash in 2004 when they gained attention for giving exposure to the fake Texas Air Guard memos. You remember? The scandal that brought down Dan Rather. Charles Johnson and Little Green Footballs was the darling of conservatives after that. Sure, the blog was big ... or big for a blog in 2004 ... before that, but that story gave blogs, not just LGF, lots of attention. Over the last few years, though, many -- not a majority, but a lot -- online conservatives have come to have, shall we say, less than kind things to say about Mr. Johnson. What do they not like? His rabid anti-creationist stance. His seemingly rapid willingness to ban users. His attacks on other conservatives. His condescending attitude towards those who disagree with him. His ... okay, you get the idea. They think he's a jerk. They compare him to Kos or HuffPo. Which is the conservative equivalent of when liberals compare you to Hitler. But are they right? Yes, much of the time, the criticism is justified. But so what? Let's take the whole banning thing first. Blogs ain't cheap. Heck, I spend way too much money on my little blog and don't make any money on it. Or not much. Less than I spend. And I have a little piss-ant blog. Bigger blogs, like Instapundit, IMAO, Michelle Malkin ... or Little Green Footballs ... cost a lot of money to run. And a lot of time and effort. Heck, if you put your money, sweat, and time into something, you'd feel like you can do what you want with it. And Charles Johnson does. So, why do conservatives get upset about that? We didn't mind when Ronald Reagan said he was paying for the microphone and wasn't going to let others determine how it was used. Why should we mind when Charles Johnson does the same thing? Because he acts like a jerk about it? So what? I've been accused of acting like a jerk. I usually respond with "I'm not acting." What about the attacks on conservatives? Actually, that's nothing new for him. Many of LGF's posts from February 7, 2001 to September 11, 2001 are gone. At least, from what I remember of the posts during that time period. You may not be aware of this, but before the 9/11 attacks, LGF attacked George W. Bush (whom he called by the Molly Ivins-inspired nickname of "shrub."). Not many of those anti-Bush posts remain, but a few are still around: After 9/11, Johnson became a overall supporter of Bush's efforts. Then, there's the whole creation vs evolution thing. Johnson has no respect whatsoever for anyone who believes in creationism, or intelligent design. Many of those banned from LGF cite that topic at the reason. The thing is, not all conservatives believe in evolution, and not all conservatives believe in creationism or intelligent design. Religion is a touchy subject. It makes some people crazy. Some fly planes into buildings on account of it. And some who don't believe in God lump all religious people into the same group, forgetting that it wasn't a bunch of Methodists that flew those planes into buildings. Or Baptists. Or Jews. Or Mormons, Or... well, you get the point. Some atheists and agnostics, though, simply see religion as an area where we don't agree, but don't fight. Johnson, though, has been trashing creationists for some time. It's not a new development: So, those that have been suddenly surprised by the attitudes of Mr. Johnson really shouldn't be surprised. Those that have seen a "long, slow slide" by Mr. Johnson shouldn't be surprised. None of what they are complaining about is new. Those that jumped on the Charles Johnson bandwagon in 2004 (or in September 2001), didn't seem to understand what they were getting into. They didn't read his old stuff. They were all laughing and joking and getting along and never noticed what all was being said or done. You know. Like many Americans with Barack Obama. Now, this is not to say that people should just accept that Charles Johnson is just that way and everything's hunky dory. And that's the punchline... What happened to Charles Johnson? Nothing. He's always been that way. (See? I warned you it might not be worth the wait.)

Get Back

When this little blog launched back in December 2004, It was a Blogger blog. You know, the URL contained blogspot: http://basils.blogspot.com/. I decided to get my own domain name: basilsblog.net was what I chose to use. At the time, there was no capability of having my own domain name on a Blogger blog. And, I wanted some additional functionality I couldn't get from Blogger ... at the time. So, I moved to TypePad, which is based on MovableType. And, it allowed me to have my own domain name. But, TypePad and Network Solutions, who I've used for years, don't play well together. That is, http://www.basilsblog.net/ works with TypePad, but http://basilsblog.net/ does not. Since Network Solutions has been around longer than TypePad (or SixApart, who owns TypePad), I figure that the problem lay with TypePad, since other hosts don't have that issue. So, I decided to go elsewhere. That's when I settled on WordPress. I hosted the blog myself for a bit, then decided I didn't want to be bothered with all the issues that arise with self-hosting. I proved I could, and decided I didn't like it. So, I moved to a hosting service. A couple, actually. No matter what I decide to do, there are issues. Using WordPress.com for hosting (it's free) has some drawbacks. The main ones are:

• JavaScript isn't allowed.
• Advertising isn't allowed.
• Limited (though professional look) templates.

Those are really the only issues with WordPress.com for hosting ... but those make that solution unacceptable to me. Others might have no problem with those issues, but I do. Paying for hosting with, say, Network Solutions has some issues, and they relate to the cost:

• The cost. True, shared hosting is only about $10/month, which isn't bad. But, that's $120/year. That's acceptable, though.
• Shared hosting encounters slowdowns from time to time. That's because other Websites are on the same server, hence the "shared hosting" name. Slowdowns happen enough that it's not acceptable to me.
• Private hosting, which would eliminate the slowdowns associated with shared hosting, costs a lot more. Around 5 times as much. That's too much, considering I make very little money on this blog.

So, even though I really like WordPress, there are some things about it I don't like:

• Security updates. It's almost as bad as Microsoft Windows. Every time you turn around, there's another security issue with WordPress, and a security update is needed. And, upgrading WordPress isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Installing fresh is a breeze, but upgrading is a bear.

Another option is: Blogger. Yes, the very hosting platform I used to begin with. But, Blogger in 2004 isn't the same as Blogger in 2009. Blogger now allows your own domain name. That is, with a Blogger blog, I can use my own domain name now. And, for free! But, Blogger doesn't have all the bells and whistles of, say MovableType, TypePad or WordPress. But, it does have a lot of really good features. And, its servers can handle a load.

What's all this mean? There is no good solution. And, for some time, I've kicked around those different options, and it still has the same answer: there is no good solution. Then, it hit me. If, when this little blog first started, Blogger had the functionality it had today, would I have ever moved it? I'm thinking no. Blogger has some really good functionality, and I can have my own domain name for free. And that was the reason I moved in the first place. So, I'm moving it back to Blogger. There will be some issues with links breaking, but I'm slowly working those issues out. Spam filters aren't as sophisticated with Blogger as with WordPress, but they do offer registration for comments. Yeah, that's a little more troublesome overall for users wanting to leave a comment, but it sure keeps trolls away. TrackBacks and Pingbacks don't work with Blogger, but since it's owned by Google, it automatically uses Google technology to list links to the blog (called Backlinks). Not as immediate at TrackBacks or Pingbacks, but more certain; there's no TrackBack Spam. Again, not perfect. But, if Blogger had been this way all along, I'd never have left. Now, I'm back.

Trolls

Trolls. Those are the little sh*theads that visit blogs, chat rooms, and message boards just to be ... well, sh*theads. As much as I despise spammers, I think I despise trolls even more. Now, when I say "trolls," I do not mean comments of opposing views. Many blogs accept comments. And bloggers don't always seek positive comments. Opposing views are often welcome at blogs. But there's a difference between voicing opposing views and trolling. If you don't know the difference, you're probably a troll. Trolls don't leave honest, thoughtful comments. Trolls want to take over your post, or even your blog. The term "troll," in case you weren't familiar, comes from the act of trolling, or traveling from place to place looking for something. Like trolling for fish on a lake, or trolling for a hookup at nightclubs. Internet trolls usually go from place to place (Website to Website) making a nuisance of themselves -- mostly because they live in their mom's basement and always strike out when trolling nightclubs. Then, there's the image of the trolls, like in mythology. Or Children's stories. Like the evil little creatures that live under bridges and fight the Three Billy Goats Gruff. That is applicable, too, because of the unpleasant nature of Internet trolls. Conservative blogs get trolls, usually liberals, but not always. Sometimes a conservative who happens to disagree about a certain point (Ron Paul!) will go from conservative blog to conservative blog -- trolling -- leaving comments (Ron Paul 2012!!1!!). Some call it "drive-bys," and while that's accurate, it is trolling at its purest. Sometimes, they'll hang around for a bit, but often, conservative trolls will do drive-bys on conservative blogs. Then, there are the liberal trolls. They will also do the drive-by, or traditional trolling. But often, they'll hit a conservative blog and try to hijack a post. Often, they'll post long missives, hitting all their talking points, usually off the topic of the post. Say, a post is about Obamacare; they'll write 17 paragraphs on Global Warming™ in the comments. And that's the thing about trolls, particularly liberal trolls. They want your stuff. Let me explain. Blogs that have their own domain name? We pay money for those. We also have hosting fees. In other words, we're paying for the existence of the blog. But, we don't have to. For instance, two of the largest blogging services, Blogger and WordPress.com let anyone -- even loudmouth liberals -- start a blog for free. Why is that important? Because if a troll really has a bunch of important stuff to say, he can start his own blog rant to his heart's content. For free. Yes, for free. And, for trolls, that's not enough. They can't be happy with using their own blog -- a blog that costs them nothing. They want to use your Website ... that you paid for ... to spread their message. They want to use your domain name ... that you paid for ... to spread their message. They want to use your Website's bandwidth and disk space ... that you paid for ... to spread their message. Getting something for free isn't enough. They want more than that. They don't just want it for free, they want to take away what's yours. It's the way trolls are. It's the way liberals are.

Makin' Bacon out of a Molehill

Well, well, well.

It's seems I got somebody's goat. Or pig. Or something.

A post I wrote that appeared both on my little blog and at IMAO has garnered the attention of Ace of Spades HQ. Okay, it was the IMAO posting. They've never heard of my little blog.

The took extreme exception to my ridiculing the purchase of ham by the government. The government didn't like people poking fun at them either. The Secretary of Agriculture went so far as to issue a statement that they bought a lot of ham for that price, not just 2 pounds. They said they paid $1.50/lb., which is about twice what you can find it for on sale at your favorite grocery store.

Heck, I thought we did good, poking fun at government spending. I even got a jab in on the Twitter, saying that "In 6 months, Obama has taken government spending from pork to ham." Some folks didn't get it, completely unaware that ham is a special cut of pork, missing the backhanded jab.

So, what's Ace of Spades HQ -- good folks, by the way -- got to do with all this?

It seems they've declared war on IMAO over it. Because I "dared to insult ham and by association all other delicious pork products (including bacon) by questioning its value under current economic recovery programs."

I understand why they're targeting IMAO. It's one of the big fish. My little blog is ... well, small. It's not worth their efforts. They're targeting the big boys. Like when weasel lawyers go after big companies when some regular guy does something to offend some thin-skinned cry-baby. IMAO is the big blog, so Frank J., Harvey, SarahK, spacemonkey, Right Wing Duck, et al, are now targeted. Over something that I wrote.

Well, let's set the record straight, shall we?

I was called "a blogger named after an herb." They are referring to "basil," pronounced "BAY-sill." In fact, my name is "Basil," pronounced "BAZ-il," a name of Latin origin that means "kingly."

My love of pork? I would not say that it's legendary, but I would say it goes back as far as I can remember. I dare say I've slopped more hogs than most of the commenters ... and bloggers ... at Ace of Spades HQ. I'd wager that many of them have never heard of slopping hogs.

Most of them have only been to pig barbeques in just one state, much less in multiple countries, as have I.

How many of them, I wonder, can say that their relatives were known for the pork products they served in their hometown?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Bacon is a regular around here at breakfast. As it should be.

Unless I eat breakfast on the way to work. Then, it's either bacon or sausage, depending on my mood. And where I eat. If it's Cracker Barrel, then it's ham, bacon, and sausage (the Sunrise Sampler®).

And, it's just not Christmas around the house here without ham sandwiches while we open presents. Ah, the smell of the Christmas ham cooking when morning comes!

Heck, I bet these supposed pig experts don't even know the words to Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky. I had the album.

However, I will say that I'm not ape-sh*t crazy over pork products. And, I like Spam®, because it's made of pork shoulder and ham. It tastes great. It's spam (UCE) that I don't like. Many pork purists don't care for Spam®. But they probably don't like peanut butter and jelly.

So, if the folks at Ace of Spades HQ have a problem with anyone, it's with me. Not with the good folks at IMAO. Heck, guys, check out the sidebar! I'm listed on the blogroll, not as one of the official bloggers list. I'm merely a guest. Frank J. has been kind enough to allow me to post from time to time. Taking aim at Frank J. is unfair.

If any of the pork posers at Ace of Spades HQ have a problem, it's with me.

And, if any want to settle this, we can settle it like men. That's right: Barbeque pork ribs at 20 paces. Warning: I'm from Georgia; I'll make you squeal like a pig.

All a-Twitter

Frank J. has decided to try Twitter again.

He likes it. And he's using a plug-in to automatically pull his Twitter posts ("Tweets"? "Twits"?) into a daily wrap-up.

Many of the commenters at IMAO don't like it.

Here's the thing.

Most of the commenters at IMAO like Frank's "Random Thought" posts. A lot. They get lots of comments and lots of 4- and 5-star ratings.

Folks hate Frank's Twitter posts, but love his Random Thoughts. Which are essentially what Twitter updates are.

I think people just don't like Twitter, though they like what Twitter is and does.

Imagine if Frank removed all reference to "Twitter" in those posts...

Suppose he called the daily updates "Today's Random Thoughts"?

And put them in the "Random Thoughts" category?

And edited the "aktt_credit" class in the stylesheet to not display?

Then, it'd be not just be -- but also look like -- a daily Random Thoughts update.

I bet most of the readers at IMAO would love that.

Am I right?

And what does that say about us?

Beth bids adieu

Well, not completely.

The Surreal Life: WuzzaDem

Previously ... on "The Surreal Life"...

Even though I'm not making pornos like Screech, I'm still in demand. My fans love me.

Ohhhh!!! I never did porn. But I do screech a lot!

Well, having that regular gig at WuzzaDem means I'll never have to do porn again.

I got my name back when I did porn.

You mean that "Wolf Blitzer" isn't your real name?

Are you kidding? If I had that name as a child, I'd have been beaten up and had my lunch money taken every day at school. And I'd have grown up being a self-absorbed ass who was trying to compensate for having an inferiority complex.

If I'd have been beaten up at school every day, I could have ended up working for Jimmy Carter.

Ha! That's nothing. I might have ended up with multiple personalities.

Yeah, you are lucky about that.

Very lucky.

I know how lucky I am to have my job at WuzzaDem. If it wasn't for John, I'd still be working for the Hangman.

I used to be a hangman. Great job. Place the hood, adjust the rope, pull the lever. Bye bye!

I'm really fortunate. The job at WuzzaDem is a great job. But at least I have a skill to fall back on if, God forbid, it ever end.

Well, personally, I don't like that WuzaDem guy. He makes fun of me.

Well, you can't fault him for that. I mean, have you ever looked in the mirror?

You're someone to talk.

Look, fellas, I can't stand all this drama. John gave me a job after Microsoft kicked me to the curb. I went to Apple to find work. I asked PC Guy for a recommendation, but he acted like he didn't even know me. John was nice enough to help me out when I was down and out.

Yeah, you're right. Helluva guy. Here's to John!

To John.

To John.

To John.

And to Mrs. R...

And now, tonight ... on "The Surreal Life" ...

The paper's here!

WTF??!! John's closing up shop?

Shop? I like to shop!

No, you ditzy broad! He's closing down WuzzaDem.

Does this mean he'll quit picking on me?

Oh, I'm sure others will pick up the slack.

Yeah, that's a given.

So, what are you guys gonna do now?

I've got my other job.

Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to filming some more scenes with you, "Wolf."

Allan C. Kelly, The Skipper

Allan C. Kelly ... "The Skipper" from Barking Moonbat Early Warning System ... has died.

I'm at a loss for words.

Almost.

He was quite passionate about his blogging. And about his country. He was quite opinionated, but I agreed with him ... most of the time.

But that's not what was important.

What's important is that he made an impact.

We know he was here.

He left a mark.

And we're all the better for it.

More Nice Folks

One thing I've noticed about the few bloggers I've had the opportunity to meet. Most are really nice folks. The kind you enjoy being around. The kind that that you wish more people were like.

Saturday night, I had the pleasure of meeting two more. Two Dogs and Bean from Mean Ol' Meany met me at a Biscuits game.

Without revealing any national security secrets, Bean is in Montgomery on business for several days. Two Dogs had some baseball-related business (no, really) in Montgomery, and I managed to insert myself into their time Saturday night.

They graciously accepted an offer to meet at the ball game. Bean ... who's cute as a button, by the way ... ran the scorecard. Two Dogs swapped baseball stories, regaling me with tales of a Cardinals fan's view of the game.

However, Bean and I found a common item of interest that left Two Dogs on the outside looking in. She's a Star Trek fan. And knew exactly what I was talking about when the Wife called -- she stayed home, baby-sitting the grandchildren -- and asked a question about the crew of Star Trek Enterprise.

For those that haven't met Two Dogs, you'll be pleased to know he's a proper Southern gentleman. I'm proud to know him.

And Bean? A proper young lady who's a delight to be around. And, like I said, cute as a button.

I have been fortunate enough to meet some really great people in my life. And Saturday night, I met two more. I'm honored to know them.

Banned in Red China

This little blog has been banned in Red China.

Probably because I call them Red China. So you know I'm not talking about Free China.

Most folks ... and our government ... refer to Free China as Taiwan.

Anyway, the Peking ... okay, Beijing ... government has seen fit to ban this little blog.

How'd I find out? Well, Ogre wrote about a site that lets you check to see if the Red Chinese government lets the site through. I went to that site and, son of a gun, this little blog is banned.

After all the bad stuff that's happened this week, it's nice to get some good news for a change.

This little blog scares commies! Heh.

Wouldn't You Like To Be A Pundit, Too?

You might recall that a couple of years ago, as an April Fools Day joke, several bloggers got together and did a gag on Glenn Reynolds (InstaPundit). We called it It'sAPundit.

Some bloggers continued to use it as an alternate outlet, posting stuff that didn't fit their normal blog. Others used it as an alternate way to promote their own blog.

But, it's pretty much run its course. As a joke, that is. I mean, two years, right?

Well, I've been toying with an idea for some time. And I implemented it recently. And used ItsAPundit to make it happen.

About two weeks ago, ItsAPundit became a blogging platform.

Why did I do that?

Well, during my work with my own little blog, and with others and their blogs, and with feedback obtained with work with the Alliance of Free Blogs, I picked up little things that some people liked ... and didn't like ... about many blogging platforms.

My conclusion is that many platforms have things that people like. But none satisfy everybody.

With ItsAPundit, I'm not trying to satisfy everybody. But I am trying to take what I think is a great platform -- WordPress -- and make it easy for many people.

Now, by itself, WordPress is really pretty easy. But when finding a free platform, it's hard to find a good WordPress platform that has what people like.

WordPress.com has some really great stuff, but it does have some frustrating limitations. I understand the reason for the limitations. I don't alway agree, but I understand.

Blogsome has some great stuff, but it's not how I would do a Wordpress alternative.

ItsAPundit.com is how I would do a Wordpress alternative.

Now, in the last couple of weeks, I have done very little here at this little blog to promote ItsAPundit.com. In fact, another blogger has promoted my project more than I have promoted my project. c. a. Marks (Alabama Improper) has been kind enough to promote ItsAPundit. She even has done her own alternate blog: The Improper Pundit. Thanks, Carol. I appreciate all you've done to promote ItsAPundit.

Well, doggone it, I should try to promote it myself.

And that's what this post is: my own little self-promotion of ItsAPundit.

Over there, you can set up your own blog. For free.

In fact, in addition to Carol, Sassy has also set up a blog. And Linda, who comments here (and at other blogs) regularly, has finally taken the plunge and set up her own blog. And, some others have set up blogs, too.
If you're looking to take the plunge (like Linda) and finally start blogging, consider ItsAPundit as a platform. It's free.

If you already have a blog, and want to play around with an alternate outlet (like Carol or Sassy), give a thought to ItsAPundit as that outlet.

Or, if you just want to play around for fun, try ItsAPundit. It's free.

I want it to be an outlet to make blogging easy. Let me know what you think.

When Things Go Wrong

Missed writing Headlines last night. I couldn't blog.

Oh, I could access the blog. But I couldn't edit any posts.

You see, when I do Headlines, I'll have one window open to the blog and another open to news sites.

After I find a Headline that lends itself to something silly, I'll enter it in the post in the blog window, then save it as a draft. That way, if something goes wrong, I only lose the most recent Headline. I learned that the hard way.

But last night, something went wrong. Horribly wrong.

I couldn't edit the post I had started. And not only that, I couldn't edit any post. And I had no idea why.

My first thought was that a file was corrupt. You see, a blog ... and most Web sites and Web applications ... is made up of a bunch of files. And if something goes wrong with one file, the whole thing could crash. Or one critical piece could crash. And that's what I was encountering: the edit portion wasn't working.

All I got was a solid white page when I opened a post to edit it. And I had no idea why.

So, I'm logging on to the server and looking at the files. File sizes. Opening the files and looking at the code. And with all the possible files that could go wrong ... at least for someone who doesn't know all that much about the parts of the Web application.

Found nothing wrong.

Other than that it wouldn't let me edit a post.

I'm here to tell you, a plain white page when you're supposed to be on your blog is a scary thing.

After finding nothing wrong with the individual pages (that took a while), I decided to check the database.

Now, if you ever open a process to directly edit your database, you have to be careful. Very careful. Because one stray character ... or one missing character ... can blow the whole thing up.

So, I'm looking through the database, trying to find something that looks wrong. And, since I don't know exactly what to expect just by looking, I'm proceeding slow and careful, searching all the WordPress documentation I can find.

Finally, after all that, I decided to do something I should have done to start with.

You see, WordPress ... all by itself ... works rather well. But there's a lot it doesn't do.

But people come up with ways to make it do things it otherwise wouldn't do. WordPress calls these things you can add "plug-ins."

And it's a well-known fact (okay, not as well-known as it should be) that when something goes wrong with WordPress, the Plug-ins are the first thing to check.

So I turned them off. Every one of them.

Things started working again.

So, I had to go back and turn them back on.

That takes a while. You see, I'm running 27 plug-ins.

Yeah, that's a lot. I know it.

But I use Widgets in the sidebar. And 11 of them are for the sidebar. Others have to do with spam fighting (5 plugins for that), inline trackbacks that are so popular (4 for that), and other little things I like for one reason or another.

So, for some reason, one or more of the plug-ins caused a problem.

Turning them off fixed it. Then turning them back on, one at a time, things still worked.

So, if this happens again, I'll turn the plug-ins off to see if it fixes itself. Then turn them back on. Instead of spending several hours looking in the wrong place for the problem.

Lesson learned.

And if this saves you several hours of frustration and aggrevation, it's worth it.

ItsAPundit. And so are you.

NOTE: I no longer own the domain itsapundit.com and this post no longer applies.

Busy weekend for a couple of reasons.

First, the Little Princess came to visit. She drove over Thursday, and left Sunday. It was great seeing her.

The other thing was, the re-working of ItsAPundit.com.

Remember ItsAPundit?

Helping Holly

I'm sure you know all about Holly Aho and the work she does for Soldiers' Angel. If you don't, well, she's a huge supporter of our military. She's also an artist.

Holly's running a promotion over at her blog. She's opened up an online store, and has asked for some help with it.

Naturally, I'm hoping her promotion goes well. Since she supports the military, as a former soldier, I appreciate what she does ... and want to support her.

Her contest will reward bloggers that go to her store from their respective blogs (including this one). But here's the thing. If enough visitors go to her store from here, we'll get gift certificates for the store.

Only here's the switch. I'm going to ask Holly to take any of the winnings this little blog gets and use them to give something to a soldier.

Okay, a soldier or a Marine or a sailor or an airman or ... well, you get the idea. One of our service men. Or women.

If we don't generate enough visits to qualify for gift certificates, it's okay. Because all purchases there help Holly. And that's fine with me. Because Holly supports the soldiers. And helping her will help them.

Or, better yet, if you buy something from her store, and you use it as a gift for a soldier ... everybody wins!

Check out Holly's art. Or her jewelry. It's good stuff.

And Holly's good people.

Bad Behavior

I've had my fill of spam. No, not the fine meat product by Hormel. That's SPAM® -- and that's good.

I'm talking about unsolicited comment and TrackBack spam. Like blogs get. Including this little blog.

I'm using Akismet, which comes with WordPress. And it works pretty good. I also use SpamKarma 2, and it does some good, but I can't tell that it picks up anything that Akismet misses.

To me, one's as good as another. Akismet is free for small blogs like this little blog. Big blogs can get a Commercial edition. Spam Karma is free, too. But Dr. Dave does accept tips. And no, I haven't donated. But I should. I really should.

But, Akismet and SpamKarma both let some stuff through. Not much, but some. And I'm happy with them. It's the spammers I'm not happy with. And I'm not happy with checking the moderation queue.

You see, Akismet and SpamKarma do catch a lot, and send that stuff to the moderation queue. Which means I need to check the queue. And most of the time, it's spam. Every now and then, something gets queued that is okay. So I do have to check the queue.

But, like I said, most of it is nothing but spam.

And that's where Bad Behavior comes in. Bad Behavior is a WordPress plug-in that helps with spam:

Bad Behavior was designed and built by watching actual spambots which harvested email addresses, posted comment spam, and used fake referrers. By logging their entire HTTP requests and comparing them to HTTP requests of legitimate users, it is possible to detect most spambots. Bad Behavior blocks spambots with a short error message. It also has three configurable User-Agent lists for spambots and other malicious bots which actually identify themselves. Bad Behavior can use string matching or regular expression matching against a User-Agent.

So, what's all that mean? It means that lots of these spammings are not from some guy in his underwear hitting your site and typing crap into the comment box. Rather, it's an application and/or scripts that the guy in his underwear is running that automatically try to leave comments and TrackBacks. And they basically all have similar characteristics. And Bad Behavior is supposed to be pretty good at recognizing them and blocking them.

Beth over at MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy tried Bad Behavior once before. And didn't like it. But it's been re-written. So, I'm going to try it out.

I enabled it Thursday. And within 7 hours, it says it blocked 367 hits. SiteMeter stats do not show a drop ... at least, not that I've noticed. So, I'd figure they're spammers being blocked.

But they may not be. If I get reports about legitimate visitors being turned away, I'll check to see if I've done something wrong, or if it's just not for me. As was the case with Beth.

Of course, if it's blocking you, you aren't reading this, so you don't know what's going on. So I may never know there's a problem. Beth found out because people contacted her. Because her blog rocks.

I'll find out if one of my sisters gets blocked.

Now, I'm not planning on dropping Akismet or SpamKarma. I'm just adding another level of protection. All three do different things. And I'm hoping there'll be enough spam protection in place to prevent me from having to check the 100 or so items that are moderated every day.

After running for a few days, we'll see if this was a good idea ... or bad behavior on my part.