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AOL To Launch Blogging Service 197
Jorkapp writes "Later this summer, AOL will launch its 'AOL Journals' blog service, provided free to its members. AOL Journals (named as such, since a survey showed the average user found the word 'blog' to be confusing) will allow users to post text, pictures, and voice entries. More information can be found at the Washington Post."
The average AOL user (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The average AOL user (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The average AOL user (Score:5, Funny)
Me: can i cancel my account,
Her: but what if i give you aol for free for 3 months...
Me: i really want to cancel.
Her: let me sign you up its free and you have nothing to lose...
Me: No I would like to cancel i have dsl now.
Her: I can sign you up for AOL for Broadband for 3 months for free...
Me: (Frustrated) OK what have you got...
Her: going into her schpeil about the AOL for Broadband BS, when she gets to the part about, "then I cancel at any time before the 3 months are up and you will not be charged"
Me: (Grinning) Then can I cancel NOW?
Her: (MAD) Yes you can
Re:The average AOL user (Score:2)
Ahhahahahahaha.
The idea is to ge them to scream at you and make threats without doing any screaming yourself.
I need to sit down and do this up again for telemarketers and other market trash. SO:
You get a point for each minute you tie them up whether on hold or not, you CANNOT BE PAYING FOR TH
karma to burn (Score:3, Informative)
I always thought Blog meant (Score:2)
Re:The average AOL user (Score:2)
Bloogle (Score:2, Interesting)
Bloogle, anyone?
Re:Bloogle (Score:3, Informative)
I wouldn't mind a blog-only search engine, considering how much noise blogs have added to the web. It's so annoying to search for a song lyric or quote to find the source, only to find that thousands of blogs have cleverly used it as a title.
Re:Bloogle (Score:2)
Yeah, doesn't get rid of the people using embed blogs on their webpages, but generally they tend to be a big more interesting. I have actually come across some of the things I was searching for in other's blogs, so it isn't all bad.
Re:Bloogle (Score:2)
There are blog-oriented search engines. The idea is pretty cool, but I find the results to be pretty garbled. Their results remind me of the early days of search engines. I guess I've been spoiled by Google.
Daypop [daypop.com] (seems to be offline at the moment...)
Feedster [feedster.com]
Re:Bloogle (Score:2)
blog confusing (Score:5, Funny)
The average user also thinks creating a buzzword for keeping a journal, an idea that has existed for centuries, is stupid.
Re:blog confusing (Score:2)
*blog* definitely sucks (Score:3, Insightful)
Since both are true, the word "Journal" works just fine.
Re:*blog* definitely sucks (Score:5, Funny)
What about "C) just sounds plain awful"?. Blog. Blegh. Imagine this conversation of a mother and AOL subscriber, and her 14 year old son:
"Johnnie, what are you doing?"
- "I'm blogging, ma!"
"Stop that right now!!! You'll go blind!"
By the way, the tech world will indeed invent awful new words for things covered by your points A), and B). Business, however, will patent them.
Re:*blog* definitely sucks (Score:2)
--Joey
Re:Blog != Journal (Score:2)
Ummm... can you post the link to her journal?
Re:Blog != Journal (Score:2)
Re:*blog* definitely sucks (Score:2)
It definitely gets published. You shouldn't kid yourself on the second point.
Re:*blog* definitely sucks (Score:2)
Confusing? That's unpossible! (Score:4, Funny)
They just need to translate it into AOL:
"DUDE!!1 A bl0g iz a plaze 4 ur shit dat u write n stuff! U can put linkz n shit in there! Write back, k?"
Re:Confusing? That's unpossible! (Score:2)
Say, that's pretty good. You must have been talking with the undergraduate in our lab. Seriously, this dude walks in talking schnizzle this and fizzle that and he honestly writes his emails like that. I feel really old sometimes....
I say its not a buzzword,... (Score:2)
... but rather a contraction. The name makes perfect sense. It's a log of what I do, on the web. A "Weblog" if you will. If you would prefer I'll use an apostrophe such as the one's used in can't and don't to so I removed letters. In this case the "we" has been removed instead of an 'o,' 'cause (notice apostrophe) "we" are definitely not on the same page.
'blog
See that wasn't so bad. (Apologies for the sarcasm but I just woke from a nap.)
Re:blog confusing (Score:2)
Reverse chronological links updated every so often does not make a journal.
I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:5, Interesting)
Specifically, their e-mail system:
1) They have absolutely no spam filtering (ability to get only e-mail from approved addresses, or blocking the exact address a spam comes from does not count). The free services have better e-mail than AOL.
2) They don't have a way to download complete intact e-mails (file cabinet does not handle attachments.
3) They have a "feature" that destroys e-mails that are left in the inbox for more than a few weeks. Since they make it tough to download them, this means you have to constantly forward them to yourself to keep them there.
Re:I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:1, Insightful)
None available, thanks (Score:2)
Re:None available, thanks (Score:2)
Re:None available, thanks (Score:1)
Re:None available, thanks (Score:2)
Re:I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:2)
I'm confused...I'm not an aol user, but I keep hearing stuff about people not getting their legitimate e-mail because aol is spam filtering tons of false positives.
Re:I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:2)
AOL maintains an extensive list of open mail relays and proxys [aol.com] to block sources of spam.
More details about AOL Journals Blog Beta (Score:2)
Some more details about AOL Journals from:
Blogs: AOL Journals Coming This Fall
AOL has discovered blogs [washingtonpost.com]. AOL Journals [buzzmachine.com] (so named because AOLers were confused by the term ''blog'') will make its debut this fall. The new service
Re:I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:2)
That's completely wrong. They do have spam filtering, but it's not documented and is not predictable. Send one email and it will get through. Send a thousand and they won't.
Re:I wish AOL would fix what they have first (Score:2)
Thanks AOL! (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks to AOL for naming it something else instead.
Informal Review already released (Score:5, Informative)
The masses have spoken.... (Score:1)
ME TOO!
I guess this means... (Score:5, Interesting)
..that blogging can be officially declared out, just as the newsgroups was when someone let the hordes from AOL in.
On the other hand, it's good to see that an IPS can do more than just take your money and provide shitty service :-)
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
Can't see what you mean here. I for one use nntp daily, and have best conversations there (I do admit that I'm using Finnish/sfnet side of it, it's quite rural). I also do a blog, but it's less active than my nntp side. (My whole site is run by a blog software blosxom).
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
(Or maybe I just completely missed your point...)
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
I assumed from his usage that it was "out" as in "coming out of the closet". "Out" is a pretty common word to describe something about someone/something that used to be concealed, but now is no longer.
Then again, maybe it is actually "out" as in "not cool anymore"...
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
Apart from the fact that I don't blog (tried, but gave up as I couldn't find anything to say that even I found interesting), you're right. The in-crowd of the cyberworld must now find something else to do, so that they can look down on the 'common luser'.
In a way, this is very much like trying to follow the latest taste in music and clothing to stay 'cool'.
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
Honestly, now the great unwashed of AOL (I have used AOL, but I shower) have no idea what a newsgroup is unless they are shown. Maybe this new "feature" will give the stupid ones someplace else to say "Me too!" and they will forget about nttp all together.
Re:I guess this means... (Score:2)
blogging can be officially declared out, just as the newsgroups was when someone let the hordes from AOL in.
Newsgroups are a shared medium. AOL users flooded the Usenet news groups, degrading the experience for all newsgroup readers. Blogs are written by one person or group. Nobody is forcing you to read AOL Journals. Nobody is forcing AOL Journal entries into YOUR blog.
AOL Blogging?! Maybe they should make money? (Score:1)
See, Yahoo! has a good idea, they realized that they should provide services, but charge. It works, that's how capitalism functions.
AOL on the other hand believes that they can keep giving things away, CDs, Cases, Journals now, everything, but they fail to realize that in a world where business is dependent on profit not on sister company c
What's left to dumb down for AOLers? (Score:1, Funny)
AOL, the short bus on the information superhighway.
You've got prank! (Score:3, Funny)
This will prove a boon to the AOL crank callers who wish to blog their exploits via three-way calling.
Thank you AOL for providing a solution to this urgent need.
helpful (Score:4, Funny)
Anyway, now I think blogs will become a much bigger factor on the internet with a name like AOL behind them. I know if I were surfing around the internet, and just come across somebody's blog (I guess we'll all be calling them Journals, now), anyway, if I came across somebody's Journal, I probably wouldn't care that much, but if it's got a brand like AOL on it, I think I can expect a little higher quality, and maybe some of that will rub off on the rest of the Journalists (or should it be Journalistas now?) out there. I mean, look at what AOL did for USENET? Before AOL get their tech-savvy users on that thing, it was just a dead service full of posts about Nazis and modern art. now it's a place to really do some business! Maybe AOL can repeat their success in the blogging (journaling!) field!
Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a freaking diary, keep it under your bed. What makes you thing the rest of the world gives a damn. And if you're too stupid or lazy to say "weblog" and have to save two characters, then I guess it makes sense that you're too stupid and lazy to learn something as simple as HTML.
Ambiguity (Score:2)
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean it would be a nice skill, but not everyone is interested.
Do you stand around outside of restaurants, yelling at people for being "too stupid and lazy to learn something as simple as" cooking?
HTML is just the tip! (Score:2)
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:2)
Perhaps I'm [weblogs.com] an interesting [linux.org.uk] mind [oreillynet.com], worth [osafoundation.org] observing [patrickweb.com]. Perhaps I like to lay down my thoughts so they can be discussed among my peers. Perhaps I don't view the world in such an egocentric way, to believe adding my part to the knowledge pool won't amplify my results.
See, there's lots of reasons for blogging. As for the term, the beauty of it or the need for a new term: it's discussible, naturally, but I bel
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:2)
Blog at least is consistent and can be filtered out of google's search results via -blog.
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:2)
Say, I resend(done with bold) that!
--Joey
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:2)
Let's see how lazy you are for fun:
I'm == I am = 1 character saved
AOL == America Online = 11 characters saved
It's == It is = 1 character saved
you're == you are = 1 character saved
you're == you are = 1 characters saved
HTML == HyperText Markup Language = 22 characters
Total characters saved = 39 characters. Man you are off the scale
Re:Confusing, no. Stupid, yes. (Score:2)
Let's see how lazy YOU are for fun:
Anyone worried (Score:5, Interesting)
We freak out about the government wanting to pry into anything, yet we see no issue when the largest ISP on earth wants to encourage everyone to post their innermost thoughts online for all to see, to be forever archived by the googlebot?
Re:Anyone worried (Score:2)
I've read a lot of what people call 'blogs.' My educated opinion is there ain't a whole lot of people outside of the proud authors looking to lay claim to any of that "content." I'd also guess that most of the authors will wish they themselves couldn't claim ownership in, say, five years from now.
Re:Anyone worried (Score:2)
The word and news bursts at www.daypop.com are a great example of how blogs can have data extracted from them.
Blog of and AOL user (Score:5, Funny)
july 19 - some guy at the tech support center says my computer needs a modem. i dont see why. hes just trying to cheat me. how dumb does he think i am?
july 22 - i bought the modem. i couldnt figure out where it goes. it wouldnt fit in the moniter or the printer. im confused.
july 23 - i finally got the modem in and hooked up. that nine year old next door did it for me. but it still dont work. i cant get online.
july 25 - that nine year old kid next door hooked me up to america online for me. hes so smart. i told the kid he was a prodigy. but he says thats just another service. what a modest kid. hes so smart and he does these services for people. anyway hes smarter then the jerks who sold me the modem. they didnt even tell me about communications software. bet they didnt know. and why do they put two telephone jack holes in the back of a modem when you only need one? and why do they have one labeled phone when you are not suppose to hook it to the phone jack on the wall? i thought the dial tone sounded funny! boy are modem makers dumb! but the kid figured it out by the sound.
july 26 - whats the internet? i thought i was on america online. not this internet thing. im confused.
july 27 - the nine year old kid next door showed me how to use this america online stuff. i told him he must be a genius. he says that he is compared to me. maybe hes not so modest after all.
july 28 - i tried to use chat today. i tried to talk into my computer but nothing happened. maybe i need to buy a microphone.
july 29 - i found this thing called usenet. i got out of it because im connected to america online not usenet.
july 30 - these people in this usenet thing keep using capital letters. how do they do that? i never figured out how to type capital letters. maybe they have a different type of keyboard.
JULY 31 - I CALLED THE COMPUTER MAKER I BOUGHT IT FROM TO COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT HAVING A CAPITOL LETTER KEY. THE TECH SUPPORT GUY SAID IT WAS THIS CAPS LOCK KEY. WHY DIDN'T THEY SPELL IT OUT? I TOLD HIM I GOT A CHEAP KEYBOARD AND WANTED A BETTER ONE. AND ONE OF MY SHIFT KEYS ISNT THE SAME SIZE AS THE OTHER. HE SAID THATS A STANDARD. I TOLD HIM I DIDN'T WANT A STANDARD KEYBOARD BUT ANOTHER BRAND. I MUST HAVE HAD AN IMPORTANT COMPLAINT BECAUSE I HEARD HIM TELL THE OTHER SUPPORT GUYS TO LISTEN IN ON OUR CONVERSATION.
AUGUST 1 - I FOUND THIS THING CALLED THE USENET ORACLE. IT SAYS THAT IT CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS I ASK IT. I SENT IT 44 SEPERATE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTERNET. I HOPE IT RESPONDS SOON.
AUGUST 2 - I FOUND A GROUP CALLED REC.HUMOR. I DECIDED TO POST THIS JOKE ABOUT THE CHICKEN THAT CROSSED THE ROAD. TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE! HA! HA! I WASNT SURE I POSTED IT RIGHT SO I POSTED IT 56 MORE TIMES.
AUGUST 3 - I KEEP HEARING ABOUT THE WORLD WIDE WEB. I DONT KNOW SPIDERS GREW THAT LARGE.
AUGUST 4 - THE ORACLE RESPONDED TO MY QUESTIONS TODAY. GEEZ IT WAS RUDE. I WAS SO ANGRY THAT I POSTED AN ANGRY MESSAGE ABOUT IT TO REC.HUMOR.ORACLE. I WASNT SURE IF I POSTED RIGHT SO I POSTED IT 22 MORE TIMES.
AUGUST 5 - SOMEONE TOLD ME TO READ THE FAQ. GEEZ THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO USE PROFANITY.
AUGUST 6 - SOMEONE ELSE TOLD ME TO STOP SHOUTING IN ALL MY MESSAGES. WHAT A STUPID JERK. IM NOT SHOUTING! IM NOT EVEN TALKING! JUST TYPING! HOW CAN THEY LET THESE RUDE JERKS GO ON THE INTERNET?
August 7 - Why have a Caps Lock key if youre not suppose to use it? Its probably an extra feature that costs more money.
August 8 - I just read this post called make money fast. Im so exited. im going to make lots of money. I followed his instructions and posted it to every newsgroup i could find.
August 9 - I just made my signature file. Its only 6 pages long. i will have to work on it some more.
August 10 - I just looked at a group called alt.aol.sucks. I read a few posts and I really believe that aol should be wiped off the f
Re:Blog of and AOL user (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Blog of and AOL user (Score:5, Funny)
My grandmother has about had it with AOL. She wants to know why everyone wants to enlarge her penis. My personal favorite was when I was helping her out and she got the pictorial advert for fisting transsexuals. They've got more than just mail. I've never heard grandma say a single swear in my entire life, until that day. Thanks AOL.
Re:Blog of and AOL user (Score:2)
Isn't this idea saturated?? (Score:2)
Plus anyone with a webhost that supports perl or php can setup their own personal blog or even a community of blogs.
If you think that AOL will win because of "Exciting Software" to ease updates then you might want to take a look at this page [livejournal.com]. With livejournal being opensource I can't help but think that AOL won't take the time to re-invent t
Re:Isn't this idea saturated?? (Score:2)
There's a difference between LJ, the codebase, and LJ.com, the site. LJ.com is owned by [copyright.gov] a for-profit business [state.or.us] called Danga Interactive, Inc. [danga.com]. LJ also has a community to discuss how to make money from LJ [livejournal.com].
(I have no connection with LJ other than keeping a journal there-- the above is mostly just stuff I found with Google.)
Kick ass! (Score:2)
AOL Tactics (Score:1)
Hmm (Score:3, Funny)
Rapture!!! (Score:2)
Two things the world needs:
1) Another Burger King
2) Another Web Log
Bonus points if they can patent something!
This is a great idea (Score:5, Interesting)
A blogging feature not original, or particularly timely, but there is no time like the present. This is a great idea for AOL to add great value to their free AIM service (and AOL). I'd say most people have an intrinsic need to espouse their daily lives in a public setting. Current blogging offers require, at least, a smidgen of tech-know-how to find livejournal [livejournal.com], download a client, or whatever. With AOL, the user only needs to know what a "Journal" is and have AIM/AOL installed; I believe the service will be quite popular.
Re:This is a great idea (Score:4, Funny)
Hmmm....
Today I slept 'till noon. I woke up, masturbated while thinking of two high school girls, then got out of bed and turned off the alarm. I ate 4 bowls of Lucky Charms and read Slashdot, posting a few things hoping I'd get modded up. I don't think I'll wash my hair today because it's only been 20 hours since I got stitches in my forehead, and they said to wait 24 hours before getting it wet.
No, I think you're wrong. I had no need to do that at all.
Re:This is a great idea (Score:2)
Think about it. We, the technologically advanced, had ICQ. AOL took the idea and tweaked it to their use. What was once a very tech heavy system now has a "lite" alternative. Many people who could never funct
Can't work Re:This is a great idea (Score:2)
Your point is well taken, but I just have a simple concern about how regularly will the AOL'ers blog.
If most of the nerds can't keep their journals on slashdot, then most of the AOL'ers probably won't on AOL. I am not sure what the percentage of slashdotters who keep a journal is (can someone write a hack to do this?) but divide that by 5, and multiply by 34 million, and you get a guesstimate of the AOL journalers. I bet you that this is a pretty small number.
It's just a guess, but it's still pretty
Re:This is a great idea (Score:2)
I don't use AOL for online access, but I do use AIM, hence I wonder: if this is AIM-based, will it work for anyone who has an AIM screen name?
Re:This is a great idea (Score:2)
Speaking from the perspective of middle age, I've observed that particular behaviour belongs mostly to the young: it's one of the perfectly normal ways that young people establish themselves as independent individuals, a sort of "staking my territory" by informing the world "this is who I am". It says "Listen to me, I'm an individual and I count."
In the pre-blog era, the same thing was accomplished by ongoing jou
Is this an AOL 9.0ism? (Score:2)
Because I still have friends running 6.0, 7.0, and I switched to 8.0 about nine months ago.
Far too many people have been bitten by the "AOL Upgrade Bug" to go running out buying more memory, whatever, just so they can upgrade now! Now! Now!
If this is a 9.0ism, I don't think you'll see anybody using it successfully until 2004 or 2005.
YAY! (Score:3, Funny)
As if we didn't have enough web logs already! (I refuse to use that retarded buzzword) Now we can all enjoy the daily adventures of random 14 year old American girls loosing their virginity to a random 24 year old American guy and then compare their blogs together! Actually, we could make a nice betting game based on that, building a few scripts that hunt for tell-tale signs about upcoming relationships... ("OMG im so in luv LOL i cant w8 2 see him!!!112" & "Hey, my 14 year old cousin is starting to get breasts!" (for the redneck version of the show))
Then we can make a Big Brother-esque show out of it! People can bet on what will happen! Will he screw her? Will she get pregnant? Or are they actually smart enough to use protection? Who will enjoy it most? All those bets can make a fortune and with the endless supply of ignorance and stupidity delivered on the internet (courtsey of the AOL userbase) we wont run out of subjects before the sun expands and consumes the earth!
Coming up next: IRC Deathmatch. Two horny people, one modified ircd, no fucking dignity! Is 16 year old Suzy really the virgin from Tampa she claims to be? Does 17 year old Kindra from Portland really have a D cup? Bet on these uncertainties and watch out as we send a large, aggresives and violent camera crew to meet them all a few days after!
Re:YAY! (Score:2)
Re:YAY! (Score:2, Funny)
Liar. :)
And on the next line:
(Emphasis mine).
Re:YAY! (Score:2)
web log?
a web log logs the accesses of my website tyvm
or, its a what a spider does when it shits
Re:YAY! (Score:2)
You sir, are a shit troll and an even worse flamer.
heh (Score:2, Interesting)
oh wait, I can think of a few reasons why this is actually cool. First, aparently a good chunk of thier users thing that aol is the internet. While it may have had that appearance in the beginning they are learning how to use the web. Not bad.
Second, it would be nice if all those folks could have a blog so they can spew whatever at whomever is listening. Again, not great but not bad.
Third, this might actually be the beginning of the end for all of those hideous person
Wasn't Time Warner supposed to provide content??? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've got to wonder, however, what the EULA on this thing is going to look like.... especially if the try to pull a geocities "all your content are belong to us" clause. And what will happen someday when an popular AOL blogger decides to complain about AOL's service?
They've had it in beta test (Score:4, Funny)
February 1st, 2003 02:40:11PM PST
Woot! I just got this sweet new job. Finally, no longer uenmployed!
~Dave
Journal Entry #200
February 30th, 2003 17:55:16PM PST
Just wanted to say... happy 200th post to myself!
~Dave
Journal Entry #214
March 2nd, 2003 12:00:04PM PST
GOOD NEWS! that AOL just e-mailed me. My journal was selected to be automatically published in AOL Advertising when the service is launched in the summer. !!! I'm so excited! TTYL, I gotta oil the plants, water my hose.
Things couldn't be better! I'm so strung I'll probably end up pressing SUBMIT 1,000 times!
~Dave
Journal Entry #2,340
March 2nd, 2003 12:04:34PM PST
OMG! Haha Look that. Got it to 2,000 in four minutes. I'll try 10,000 and then submit bug report. OK anyway, oil the plants, water my hose.
~Dave
Journal Entry #11,699
July 11th, 2003 15:22:56PM PST
It has been hell. The outfall shows no signs of ceasing in the near future. I am writing this from beneath the downpour. This could be my final entry. I don't know how much longer I can cope. I am conserving the battery as much as I can. I'm out.
~Dave
Journal Entry #11,700
July 12th, 2003 00:26:32PM PST
Still holding in there. I thought checking off "mail a copy of each journal entry to me" would be in e-mail form. How I was wrong. My hand is slowly immobolized. My BACK is hurting (the discs are a pain in the ass.)
~Dave
Journal Entry #11,725
July 12th, 2003 14:20:20PM PST
DAMMIT! Can't anybody see me type? HEELP!!
Journal Entry #11,740
July 13th, 2003 23:59:44PM PST
I'm losiong cohersion. The postman visited today. They just won't stop. Turn on the light! Cant.. handle... the weigh.......
--
[End of Flash Presentation]
Thank you for browsing a sample journal entry!
Sign up now, and we will automatically mail you hard copies of each entry directly to your house! As a bonus, we will include a couple of AOL 9.0 MEMBERSHIP DISKS for EACH journal entry, to give out to your new online friends!. (Beta testers received 5+ disks in each packet.)
Press continue to learn more!
(C) Copyright 2003 AOL Time Warner. This web site may not be...
aol blog? huh? (Score:2)
Well at least mine
http://www.freeroller.net/page/shareme/Weblog
The next Ester Dyson will not be found on AOL blogs..
AOL BLogs? (Score:4, Funny)
RSS? (Score:2)
Yes it supports RSS (Score:2)
This is AOL... (Score:5, Funny)
Yep. Pretty much AOL makes things that are available to normal internet users available in a stupified form for stupified users. Or old people. At a higher price and a lesser quality too.
What next? A P2P service that allows you to exchange .midis? A MMORPG that's 2d and the only characters are different colors of the little AOL guy? Instead of having normal movie trailers, having the .mp3 trace of the trailers? I pity da foo who is stuck with AOL... And yet sometimes it's the only provider... And that makes me sad.
I mean, if AOL isn't bordering on a (wired) human rights abuse in itself, I don't know what is.
Re:This is AOL... (Score:2)
Motherboard pimping. Tie a motherboard (It has to be big and thick... Size matters.)around your neck as part of a costume for a halloween party. Be well versed in motherboard innuendo.
I had a girlfriend within a week.
Is this really a good idea? (Score:2)
Why all the elitism about the word 'blog'? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, because it is a new idea. Diaries were kept for private viewing, a few notable exceptions notwithstanding. The idea of being able to post your "diary" globally is certainly empowering. Yeah, yeah, we're /. and we look down on anyone who cannot do HTML. Fine, be elitist, but most of the world is not, and never will be, programmers, or even scripters. And blogging software has given the rest of the world a simple tool that enables them to do what we have been able to do for years.
Blogs are more than the sum of their parts, furthermore. It's not just that these "diaries" are online. The blog phenomenom is based on the mutual linking that goes on. It's a community -- that hardly describes a diary or a journal -- of users connecting to each other. Does that sound familiar? Sure, it's the promise of the web, only now accessible to a lot more people.
Finally blogs are not just "diaries." For example, I have my web site [funwithheadlines.net] where I have fun with the wording of headlines. In order to see how the power of blogging works, I recently created a blog of my site [weblogs.com] in order to see if the connectivity of the blog community would increase awareness. I'm playing with the blog phenemenon, in other words. Yet there is nothing about me at my blog, no diary entries, nothing. It's all about the humor.
Blogging is about the community, not just a diary.
Yeah, because this si what we need..... (Score:2)
Audio blog posts? (Score:2)
It's already hard to understand some people over the phone, without MP3 encoding potentially making that even worse (with the number of dialup customers AOL still has, I don't see them using a decent bitrate just yet). This isn't counting nasal voices if someone happens to be sick.
Typed blog updates, on the other hand, are a lot easier to understand (even with a ton of typos), are possible to skim through to get a general idea, etc. You also bypass all of the "um"s and "uh"s that go with the
Re:Will the Fad Survive the Mainstream? (Score:2)
Maybe for those people who at the moment do it only to "be different". Those people who have an enormous ego and need to boost it in any way they can, won't be bothered, as long as they have readers. Those who blog just for the sake of blogging, won't be bothered. As always, I may be wrong.