Pen-Elayne on the Web

Freaky Friday

I'm not sure if triskaidekaphobia (and yes, I'm in one of those office buildings too) is affecting our office server or the blogosphere in general, but I'm having trouble connecting to at least five folks (and counting) on my blogroll: Mark Evanier, Ampersand, Lis Riba, Tim Dunlop and Mary Beth Williams. The last case is possibly because of an announced blog shutdown, but it's enough to make me wonder if something's in the air (besides, at least in NY, all this water vapor that human beings were just not designed to breathe in!). (Update: According to Dwight and Jim C and probably others, Mary Beth's blog hasn't been taken down, it's just experiencing server problems.)

I did want to mention, however, that Christine Cupaiulo of Ms. Musings (link at sidebar) has finally convinced the magazine to add a for-really comment section to the blog, far preferable to the "click and be taken to one enormous thread on the Ms. message boards designated for the blog no matter what the daily topic" setup they had previously. To me there's nothing like instant and direct feedback without having to jump through hoops, particularly when the comment host is working correctly! And I think comment sections can help facilitate communication and maybe work through misunderstandings and hurt feelings, which is why I again hope JG (Mac Diva, link at sidebar) considers adding one to her blog what with the situation in which she currently finds herself. Of course, there's no guarantee that the comments one gets will always be favorable or agree with your blog entry, but that's what makes it more like "real" conversation to me. I don't often agree with people in the "offline" world either, but as long as we're talking with each other directly I consider that a positive, and I often learn stuff despite myself.

One of the things I'm learning today is that I really need to go through my blogroll more often if I want meaningless-but-not-to-me ego boosting. Much thanks to Jerry Bowles and Jim Capozzola (links at sidebar) for their kind plugs these last few days.