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Author Topic: Not chasing rainbows  (Read 7022 times)

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B L McAllister

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Not chasing rainbows
« on: June 12, 2008, 09:58:16 AM »

I presume blogs have replaced rainbows and ambulances as things to be chased, and the inaction here is because it takes so blasted long to look at all the various blogs that infest cyberspace.  Well, the "old-fashioned" BBs still have a function, I guess: to announce what can be gained by visiting various blogs.  It's been quite a while since I could answer a question here anyway, and longer since I had one of my own, so I guess I shouldn't miss the active participation the website used to attract.  Them were the days, though, weren't they?

Byron
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Byron Leon McAllister.
Books by Byron and Kay McAllister can most easily be obtained as e-books or in print from the publisher at http://www.writewordsinc.com/ For "Undercover Nudist," the print version is an improved version of the ebook version. The others are the same in both formats.

dhparker

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2008, 09:12:47 AM »

Most, but by no means all, blogs remind me of a Bible verse (Proverbs 18:2):  "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."  (As an aside, ALL talk shows remind me of it.)

Even so, I caved in and started a blog.  Some people supposedly knowlegable in book marketing seem to think it's necessary--even more necessary than a web page.  I doubt mine is selling any books, but it is giving me practice in writing short pieces, so I view it as a learning experience more than a way to reach people. 

I miss the former activity here, too.  Surely it's not all because of people blog-chasing.  I hope.  Maybe summer has something to do with it.  People travelling?  We were for three weeks.  Kids home from school, so no computer time for adults?  Anyway, I'm with you, Byron--"Them were the days."  Maybe things will pick up again soon.

[Hummm.  I was going to run a spellcheck on this.  I thought I remembered one here, but can't see it now, so apologies in advance for any misspellings.]
« Last Edit: June 13, 2008, 09:23:02 AM by dhparker »
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linda

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2008, 12:01:50 PM »

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not really into blogs.

I find that in my job I already have way too many people giving me their opinions.   ::)

I also miss all the activity that used to be here.  Summer's always a slow time, though.  Maybe it will pick back up in the fall.

Linda
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B L McAllister

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2008, 03:59:15 PM »

In my experience there are two kinds of blogs: those not worth visiting at all, and those with so much stuff, highly disorganized, that it consumes excessive amounts of time to check them. Some of the latter are genuine works of art, but that isn't enough to keep me visiting.  So I visit here, instead, thinking some old timers may return, or some newbies may prove equally exciting. Each possibility happens occasionally.
Byron
« Last Edit: June 13, 2008, 04:01:10 PM by Byron Leon McAllister »
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Byron Leon McAllister.
Books by Byron and Kay McAllister can most easily be obtained as e-books or in print from the publisher at http://www.writewordsinc.com/ For "Undercover Nudist," the print version is an improved version of the ebook version. The others are the same in both formats.

Kathy Wendorff

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2008, 07:36:15 AM »

I miss the old days, too, and am not a big blog-chaser. But there are a lot more online places for mystery writers to hang out than there were when MWF started up, and that probably contributes to the quietness here. I lurk on a number of email loops, none of which are as near and dear to me as MWF, but they take time to read.

Also, I think it helps to have a few live wires who throw out questions and ideas like a sparkler --  not all ignite, but enough garner responses from us quieter types to get a variety of conversations going and reach a certain critical mass of activity.

Maybe if some of us lurking types impersonated the live wires and brainstormed some open-ended topics to discuss? Hmm, let me think...

Kathy W.
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Lynette

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2008, 01:07:22 PM »

Once a week I check a few blogs written by friends. I enjoy these because some are written for fun, others for information. For instance, I like to read about Nancy Bartholomew's trips to the mountains and I've got some valuable info for my mysteries from Lee Lofland, but I'm not about to wade into the maze of the thousands of blogs out there. I would certainly get lost.

I, too miss the old days when we had some lively discussions on this group. I miss the posters too. Though there are a few of us older members around, there are many we haven't heard from in a long time. Kathy is right. We need to throw out those open ended questions...but like her I'm going to have to think of one.

Lynette

Tony

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2008, 03:38:44 AM »

I can't say I'm into Blogs either; I don't even think I've visited one and if I have then I have been so underwhelmed so as not to be able to recall it.

I hope I am one of the "newbies" who may prove equally as "exiting" as the "old timers" and in this regard I have answered a few threads that some of the "old timers" have not mantained the pace of....And that is definately a criticism for you old timers and moderators to take on board;  its your site  and you have left it and allowed it to slip by dropping the ball and not keeping up with threads posted.

I have answered one thread posted by someone I believe to be an old timer and mentor if not a moderator for this site, the question was directed at me; I answered it sometime ago and he/she has failed to respond!
If the moderators/administrators old timers and people who members regard as mentors are failing to participate then is it any wonder that the membership look elsewhere...?

Now that I have offered criticism I have to offer an answer:

The site is too large for one or two administrators to run effectively and I believe that sections of it need to be handed over to trusted and proven old time members who are both qualified in respective fields and willing to offer their time to contribute:

I don't know or can't recall whether you run this;  perhaps you could consider having "moderators" directly responsible for a particular section, they could delete and move messages and authorise new members, much like an administrator but perhaps not with as many nice buttons to push, responsible for answering or at least participating in threads posted on their section.  A couple of moderators for critique again a couple for medical and a couple for writing advice and getting published etc etc.
In effect the members chosen will become responsible for a mini site within this larger one.

Just a thought from a newbie; my last thought process was valued at around 13pence...

Tony... :)
« Last Edit: June 16, 2008, 03:46:49 AM by Tony »
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Kathy Wendorff

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2008, 07:21:50 AM »

Tony, this was always a free-form do-it-yourself site -- the site owner stepped in a few times to banish real troublemakers, but otherwise the conversation took its own course.

Often questions go unanswered because nobody has anything to say beyond "Got me!" It's happened often to me, now and in The Good Old Days, and it's disappointing. When your answer goes unacknowledged and unthanked, that's even more disappointing.

Like I said, I think it's a critical mass problem -- we need enough interesting posts so that people check in daily and react strongly enough to post their own thoughts, generating more reactions and conversation.

From both newbies and old-timers.

Kathy W.   
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Tony

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2008, 12:25:37 PM »

I agree Kathy.

We need posts from old timers and newbies alike, however I reckon the bar has to be set and mantained by the old timers, so that the newbies can come in and see the precident being set by the old timers; even if it means the old timers are chatting / discussing amongst themselves for a while.

As it stands newbies come in, see how quiet it is, then go elsewhere...An example has to be set...Then followed....Then mantained.

With "my" suggestion adopted  (its not my suggestion, I've simply seen it elsewhere) at least in some ammended form or other, the site can still retain its DIY status, however, there will also be the addition of self ownership of sections by "moderators" to set the afore mentioned example.

Tony... :)  fourteen pence worth now !... ;D
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jnichols

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2008, 03:26:07 PM »

Here's an old timer checking in (member since 1998, which must be 110 in cyber years), I have to say I miss the conversations we had here. Used to be the first thing I did every morning was check in to MWF and see who was saying what. Way more interesting than your average blog. Or even your above average blog.  And then the format changed.

I know that the format is just a format, and that the purpose, the spirit and a good many of the members are exactly the same. But I have never gotten used to it. The print is too small.  I miss the old spell check feature. It was just so much more appealing.

All right, enough whining. I guess I'm just getting old and maladaptive.  I will bite the bullet and make a point of checking in on a regular basis. If it hadn't been for MWF, I probably never would have finished my book and I'd be a productive member of society now, instead of a (gasp!) mystery writer.

But those emoticons still give me the creeps.

Judy Nichols
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www.judy5cents.com
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B L McAllister

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2008, 11:42:41 AM »

...
I know that the format is just a format, and that the purpose, the spirit and a good many of the members are exactly the same. But I have never gotten used to it. The print is too small.  I miss the old spell check feature. It was just so much more appealing.
...

I reckon our host provided the format he had access to, but as for type size, I'm almost sure there's a way to adjust that.  I say "almost," because I just now tried hard to find it, and couldn't.  We can do it here at the site for individual messages, but I mean a way to control the type size that shows up in the first place.  Either I'm mistaken or--I hope  this happens--somebody knowledgeable will tell us how to set type size for our web browsers that will make not only this site but a lot of others easier to visit.  [Added later: following up the suggestions by Kathy and Elena, below, for Safari and Firefox, but on Internet Explorer can result in a larger text size that remains larger when one departs IE and returns to it.  Let's see, now: what was it I did: I think it was view>text size>larger.  Yep: just looked again, and that's what it was. Byron--editing]
« Last Edit: July 21, 2008, 12:27:23 PM by Byron Leon McAllister »
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Byron Leon McAllister.
Books by Byron and Kay McAllister can most easily be obtained as e-books or in print from the publisher at http://www.writewordsinc.com/ For "Undercover Nudist," the print version is an improved version of the ebook version. The others are the same in both formats.

Elena

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2008, 11:47:06 PM »

If you happen to be using Safari click on Safari Preferences, then click on Appearance and make the changes you want to the font and the font size.  Sorry I don't know about any other browser.

Elena 
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Kathy Wendorff

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2008, 08:09:02 AM »

In Firefox, click "View" on the top bar, then "Text Size," then "Increase"

Kathy W.
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B L McAllister

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2008, 11:59:45 AM »

If you happen to be using Safari click on Safari Preferences, then click on Appearance and make the changes you want to the font and the font size.  Sorry I don't know about any other browser.

Elena 

Seems to work, though I only made a small change.  To find Safari Preferences, I needed the Edit menu. My default browser at present is Opera, because it shows me entire websites, which my (but apparently only my) IE and Firefox won't do.  I forget whether Safari does or not: it's pretty new to me, and I may never have tried that. [Added in revision: yes, Safari does.  IE and Firefox are apparently the only villains, and apparently only on my machine.  Something needs to be reset--I wonder what.]  Thanks--I can use this hint, also.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2008, 12:19:49 PM by Byron Leon McAllister »
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Byron Leon McAllister.
Books by Byron and Kay McAllister can most easily be obtained as e-books or in print from the publisher at http://www.writewordsinc.com/ For "Undercover Nudist," the print version is an improved version of the ebook version. The others are the same in both formats.

B L McAllister

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Re: Not chasing rainbows
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2008, 12:05:38 PM »

In Firefox, click "View" on the top bar, then "Text Size," then "Increase"

Kathy W.

Thanks: I can use this hint myself, also.  I do note that if I depart Firefox and return, the type size is back to normal, but I can go through the routine each time I need to.  You don't happen to know how to talk Firefox into showing me all of my own website, do you? It leaves off the pictures at the top. Other people's don't seem to have the trouble, so it must be something I've messed up on.
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Byron Leon McAllister.
Books by Byron and Kay McAllister can most easily be obtained as e-books or in print from the publisher at http://www.writewordsinc.com/ For "Undercover Nudist," the print version is an improved version of the ebook version. The others are the same in both formats.
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