transientem - Latest Comments

Re: Raise the noise floor | transientem

introspect — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:03:14 -0000

Very much agreed. The VGL performance at the Hollywood Bowl remains my favourite rendition of the medley. Thanks for the comment! It's an honour.

Re: Raise the noise floor | transientem

Christopher Tin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:09:58 -0000

Kudos for the mention of my music!

And yes, Ron Ragin (the original soloist) is superb, isn't he?

Best wishes,

Christopher Tin
(Composer of Civilization IV)

Re: V-Shaped Recovery | transientem

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:09:00 -0000

Cute appendix - I feel like I watched both parts now. At least they end up happy.

Re: Tokyo Aero Chocolate | transientem

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:05:38 -0000

This was totally not the entry I thought it was going to be! You lured me with "chocolate" then left me chasing dust in unfamiliar territory. Poo. :P

Re: Between this, that genre | transientem

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:00:01 -0000

Hm.. a co-worker recommended Code Geass too. Perhaps since it seems to have struck some chord with you, I'll put it on my to-watch list. Too much anime piling up!

Re: Flipping entries | transientem

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:51:34 -0000

Gah, I hope I don't write like that too often. Sometimes, it's annoying, but I find my thoughts just gather themselves in hamburger formation... probably due to all that encouragement for creativity back in high school. It is much more interesting to write the way we speak... no need for mindless repetition.

Re: Feed reader adoption drive go! | transientem

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:45:24 -0000

Bah, stepping into the future is too forward-thinking. :) Seriously though, good points. Damn, should have read this entry a long time ago.

Re: Ghosts of the dead tree | transientem

Ryan A — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:25:48 -0000

I believe creative anthology was the general idea that mellow_bunny had, somewhat of a quarterly segmented publication just highlighting articles and events that took place in the community.

Yes, Shared Items, by default tend to clip the entire article, but the acutual clipping interface is usually for highlighted text on the page. I'm not sure why sharers just let the whole article get clipped O.o

I don't think its a negative take; there is just reason for de-advocation, comes with planning and getting better ideas. Part of the thing I hate most about some of my projects is the lack of feedback, I have only just so much confidence in implementation or idea, but sometimes I really wish for antagonistic feedback ... perhaps others do as well.

In the end, "they will come" is how it happens, how they use something may be entirely another story, like the shared items issue.

Re: How to be inconspicuous | transientem

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:43:33 -0000

Current source? I figured you'd just use basic shapes and lines from Paint. Oh, and the uncited fictitious studies was a nice touch.

Re: Fragmented Fiefs | transientem

introspect — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:40:40 -0000

Before ArsTechnica switched to their most recent layout, they did run a hybrid blog forum. If you wanted to discuss what was posted you'd be whisked away to the corresponding thread. They reverted back to a traditional commenting model, but the forum remains.

On the other hand, something like LaptopVideo2Go is doing just fine with the same kind of model. What was ultimately not viable for one is proving popular for the latter.

When it comes to the kind of content that works well with such a model, news and reviews apparently don't bridge well, in contrast to information directly related to support of some kind. From that standpoint, you could say that LV2Go's blog is really a thin facade for the core forum.

I'm kind of stumbling in the dark, but I'll stick my neck out some. Intentional or not, a site/blog collection is the presentational element of a community, while a forum is more of a signaling backplane (or control plane). It doesn't have to be a forum in the traditional sense: Twitter has become a viable control plane alternative. You're right in that the forum, in whatever shape it takes, is essential to building because it facilitates the transfer of little details that most would not find interesting.

Looking back, when mulling over the text of this entry, I was pre-occupied with the fascination over how we are perceived (usually negatively) by pretty much everyone else. So this proposal is low on barriers to entry, because not-so committed people can't be bothered to sign up to the likes of AnimeSuki.

Re: Fragmented Fiefs | transientem

omo — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:27:06 -0000

A compromise is not a substitute. I still prefer forums for discourses and discussions, and more importantly, community building.

The real question becomes what do blogging components have to gain through it?

Re: Fragmented Fiefs | transientem

mellow_bunny — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:06:12 -0000

Indeed that sounds like a goer to me. I like the idea of it...

Re: Feed reader adoption drive go! | transientem

introspect — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:30:27 -0000

Shame that Kyouki appears to have been put on hold indefinitely, along with other similarly themed ventures. It's very difficult to execute well, or at all.

About the intelligent aggregator, it sounds like humans will be the gatekeepers to either feeds or entries. If you can do it, just go for it. Time will validate authority, or it won't, but the outcome is only ever certain if nothing is done.

Re: Feed reader adoption drive go! | transientem

Ryan A — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:41:32 -0000

I thought that everyone else did, too

That was strange for me when I realized so many didn't.

But you raise an interesting point and premise, that episodic entries lose their value over time.

Actually, I wrote about this around Autumn 2007. I think the premise was something about editorials can withstand time better than episodic entries, and if one is going to leave a dangling entry for a few months, an editorial is a good choice because it may still be relevant months out.

Unfortunately I couldn't find where I wrote this ... may have been in a comment pool on anime|otaku or similar.

My efforts in that vein stop at the likes of AnimeNano and AnimeBlogger. I don't try to hold on to the random passerby which, as the aggregators add more and more feeds, becomes increasingly difficult.

Totally valid, it is rather useless to consider them. That's one of the stimulus for this "intelligent aggregator" (not exactly what it is) platform I have brewing. While sites like Technorati are nice, they are still too general. I think there is a good way to sweep an entire blog community and cherry-pick entries that really shine, but not based on a popularity contest.

The real issue is who is suited to do such a thing ... it's almost like saying who is suited to be a chief editor, but this person/body doesn't have any authority over the bloggers ... actually the bloggers don't even have to know something as such exists ... its 100% noninvasive.

These things are just rising to thought after seeing how the sphere is going, and hearing some of mellow bunny's ideas like http://www.mellowspace.com/2008/08/kyouki-its-g...

So much time spent in comments haha

Re: Feed reader adoption drive go! | transientem

introspect — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:06:11 -0000

... it's crazy to think that a lot of authors just started using them in the last year or so, while many still do not use them and do it manually.

I beat around the bush a bit, but I forgot to be blunt about our tendency to look at feeds as something only aggregators would want. I've been using Google Reader for years and I thought that everyone else did, too. My head is probably stuck in the sand with regard to a good number of other things.

I was wondering, this is your own cms/blog software on AppEngine no?

Oh yes, this thing can scale, except it will never have to. It's kind of cool anyway. Because this site has limited visibility for the time being, and meta is interesting mainly to the author subset of the community, I figured that it would be a good place to do some venting. I'm still undecided as to whether I want these entries to go into the feed for aggregation.

The schedule issue still applies but really only for episodic bloggers who make their schedules, and commit to them.

About those who set themselves up with those kinds of expectations, I wouldn't quite say that they're doomed, but the probability for burn out is high, especially when just starting out. But you raise an interesting point and premise, that episodic entries lose their value over time. I don't have the resources to commit to play that game, so I don't. I'll elaborate later.

... authors want to attract/hook those random browsers.

My efforts in that vein stop at the likes of AnimeNano and AnimeBlogger. I don't try to hold on to the random passerby which, as the aggregators add more and more feeds, becomes increasingly difficult.

I wish we knew that at least 75% of readers used feeds, but that's just a pipe dream.

I'd just assume it, even if it's not and never will be true. Convincing someone to subscribe is more meaningful than the equivalent of a series of one-night stands.

Re: Feed reader adoption drive go! | transientem

Ryan A — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:18:33 -0000

"I'm currently feed-less"

I was wondering, this is your own cms/blog software on AppEngine no? Interesting :)

Yes, those hiatus topics, ugh, don't like them, but they usually only come about from single-author types. Personally, I've written a few, but just feel like "status" entries are not that meaningful to the content (better to just Tweet it or something). So trust, eh? That's a great point.

"Feeds should have dominated production-consumption interaction as far as two years ago"

There we go, but it hasn't. Only recently have we seen otakubloggers bump feed readers, and it's crazy to think that a lot of authors just started using them in the last year or so, while many still do not use them and do it manually. The authors! Madness.

"So why isn't everyone doing it?"

The authors. If authors inclined readers to catch up with the times, the feed would be a sure thing.

"Sites lose readers when they output bad writing, like filler. It's about time everyone got that through their heads and stopped making up excuses like failing to keep schedules."

..and meta, jk. I think meta is good when the target audience are authors. I've noticed with my own blog that it's mostly other authors reading, so I like to write on theory and meta of the community.

The schedule issue still applies but really only for episodic bloggers who make their schedules, and commit to them. Though, more than schedule is a certain fear, because we believe most readers aren't using feeds and simply browsing around... authors want to attract/hook those random browsers. How to accomplish this is probably another post altogether, but it genuinely comes down writing, yet regularity, style, and subject-matter all play their part.

I wish we knew that at least 75% of readers used feeds, but that's just a pipe dream.

Re: Fragmented Fiefs | transientem

introspect — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:58:10 -0000

Yep, that's a pretty succinct distillation of it.

Re: Fragmented Fiefs | transientem

Ryan A — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:32:52 -0000

"Rather than write entries exclusively for that one site, authors should focus on writing for themselves, and then cross-post material that they deem appropriate."

I support this idea.

Perhaps I am understanding the general idea of this post; individual blogs [within a community] can replace the centralization of a forum for the discussion of topics, but because of the discrepancy between entries and comments, as well as tracking responses, we need a decent umbrella system which can handle the meta-data properly.

I like it. From this perspective, the community is two-way for discussion, and authors or readers, have a closer balance of powers, similar to a forum where everyone is generally equal.

So we can have a forum-like "area" without the need for strict centralization. hmm