Categories
Weblogging Writing

More voices on moral clarity

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Two new voices raised on the issue of Moral Clarity:

Kath writes:

My friend claims that my demanding of my rights violates his right to what he values most – his safety. I claim that living life is a risk. You could get hit by bus while crossing the street. You could slip on rug and break your neck. You could get on the same plane as a terrorist no matter what safety precautions are put in place, short of requiring everyone to travel naked, with no luggage and no in-flight amenities that might be turned into weapons.

I agree with Kath on the issue of not compromising our freedoms in order to claim a spurious sense of safety. As we have seen recently, you can get killed just crossing a bridge. In life there are no guarantees.

And Jonathon writes:

Moral Clarity, now playing at a multiplex near you. There’s the risk of confusing the audience by casting Saudis and Pakistanis as both Arnie’s allies and his enemies. But a top-class writer like Bill Bennett should be able to paper over any holes in the storyline.

Viewpoints based on expediency and morality based on oil. Too sadly true. Hypocrisy, moral clarity, and oil. But before we willy nilly slam governments, when was the last time you topped off your tank?

Categories
Weblogging

Welcome to the new baby blogger

In all the fuss about realtime blogging yesterday, I missed a realtime event:

Bill Simoni and his wife had a baby boy – Christopher Michael Simoni!

Big baby, too — 8 pounds.

Take a moment to go over to Bill’s weblog – Binary by Accident – to drop a note of congratulations!

Categories
Weblogging Writing

Essential blogging

BTW, since Dave Winer only pointed to the Radio chapters (?) when he mentioned the Essential Blogging book from O’Reilly, note that the book covers Movable Type, Blogger, and Blosxon weblogging tools, as well as other material.

If you’re a Blogger user, I wouldn’t mind your input into my chapters — what should I cover in more detail? What should I leave out?

And the other authors would appreciate your feedback on their chapters.

Categories
Weblogging

The debates

In debate, when your opponent is reduced to attacking your character rather than your words, you know you’ve won.

I should have remembered this yesterday when I became so angry. Blame my reaction a bit on the move. And the fact that I’m not called Burningbird because I coo like a dove.

I had a note from Sheila Lennon from projo.com, who wrote up a nice summary of the realtime blogging phenomena. I particularly like:

An image arises of tourists who photograph everything but experience little of what they record. They collect the present, rather than create it.

I do not like using technology just to use it. I don’t like seeing good technology being badly or inappropriately used. And I don’t approve of mediocre technology given prominance because a group of people dance up and down, clapping their little techie hands together in abandoned glee over a new toy.

And when I write about the technology and its use or misuse, and you respond by writing about me, I will always win, and you will always lose.

Coo. Coo.

Categories
Technology Weblogging

More important stuff

After phone call with friend, I am calmer. Sort of. Enough to spend time on more important things. Such as wishing Mark Pilgrim half-a-Happy Birthday!. He’s 29.5 today.

(Mark, I have a clue for you — when you hit 40, you start celebrating birthdays biennially, rather than semiannually.)

Secondly, Jeneane asked folks to link to her co-worker’s weblog. He’s a techie, and the first line I read at his weblog was:

What ever happened to VRML?

I’m partial to VRML – I created a VRML animated lava lamp. Great idea that just never lived up to its potential. Shame that.

Say hi to another VRML fan, Anthurian.

BTW — thanks to you, my weblogging buddies, for your support.