Hiatus

Man, it's dusty in here. As soon as we clean the cobwebs up and do a little housekeeping, we should be back with a bit of content.

In the meantime, ask yourself why we have no effective response to an Ebola epidemic.

Publicity

So, the afore-mentioned Michael Berry read part of yesterday's blog post on air. Which is cool and all, as I'm glad to be making a contribution to the public discourse. However, a link or something on his blog might have been nice.

UPDATE: The audio is at this link for a download. It's at about 1:15 in. Go here to get the streaming audio. Way to snip the entire argument, Michael.

Book List

So, the keen-eyed and observant follower of little corner of the Web may have noticed an update to our sidebar. Off to the side under Previous Posts is a section called The Library. The link below, cleverly titled "Our books", goes to the Library Thing account.

A while ago I did an import from Readerware into Library Thing and got 1260 books into LT. Most of the books are there, but with some odd quirks. Given that Readerware reports around 1400 books, obviously they didn't all make it from one database to the next. At some point in my copious free time, I'll try to figure out why. I think getting my Readerware database straight takes priority, though.

In the meantime, you can peruse a list of many of the fine volumes we have at YPS Manor. Didn't some body once say something about what you read determines who you are? If so, have a little insight into what makes us tick.

Filler

So, we’ve been a bit busy with the move to new digs. YPS Manor and all of its inhabitants (me, J, N, Dog v2.0, turticle) have relocated to the northern edges of the Houston metro area. The old house is still for sale, so if you’re looking to relocate just south of 225, drop me an e-mail.

In an attempt to fill space and remind people we do occasionally post content, here’s some of the search terms people are using to find us – with commentary!

philosophical halloween costumes and philosophy costumes – It’s much harder to dress as an actual philosophy, so I’d probably stick with philosophers. Go as one of the old Greeks. Wear a chiton and some rope sandals and call it good. Carry around a triangle and call yourself Pythagoreas if anybody asks. Or you could go as Schopenhauer, if you’ve got the hair to pull it off. Alas, so few of us do.

ayn rand philosophy sucks – Maybe, but you’ll have to deal with it sooner or later if you keep hanging around libertarians. I tend to think her philosophy would’ve gone over better if she didn’t write such crappy novels.

bucket full of fail – Here you are. A disaster starting from conception all the way through whatever the ultimate execution may turn out to be. A larger bucket I doubt I’ll see in my lifetime.

united nations sucks – Why, yes, yes it does. I know I’m glad my tax dollars help support corruption, incompetence and baby-raping in the third world. Here at home, tax dollars only support corruption and incompetence.

Hopefully, that’ll be enough content to tide you over for the weekend. I go home now to complete the monumental and arduous task of unpacking all my stuff.

Editorial Discretion

I'm feeling cranky this morning. The first e-mail I got today was a notification about some anonymous twunt making insulting comments on a two year old post. That's okay, I got an answer for shit like that. There's a little trash can icon right next to every comment posted. Clickity-poof! Away with you, foul upstart!

If the sum total of your commentary is "HURR! U R TEH STUPID!", don't expect the world to be able to see your insightful prose for very long. Mmmkay? We don't need to be insulted on our own blog, especially when we didn't start with the name calling. You want to start slinging insults, get your own fucking blog and have at.

As always, this is the editorial policy of the moment and subject to change at the discretion of either of the principals. If you don't like it, you can shuffle your eyeballs elsewhere on the internet. We won't mind, nor will we care.

One Thousand?

I just noticed the last post was number 1000. Wow. We've had a thousand opportunities to write something timeless that could change peoples lives. Instead, well, you got this. Enjoy the next thousand. I probably will.

Traffic

Apparently, the key to web traffic is interesting content updated regularly.

No wonder my Sitemeter numbers have tanked lately. Perhaps I should address the issue.

Code of Misconduct

Okay, so I have followed at great distance the story about a blogging code of conduct. If you’re not up to speed, here’s the short version. Somebody made vile comments and threats against some tech blogger. She canceled a public appearance and the whole thing gained some traction. MSM news appearance, much blog posting, fluttering of hands, general attack of the vapors. Now some people are pushing a code of conduct that says something akin to “Don’t be mean”. I dunno, I didn’t get that far.

A longer and more detailed discussion about the proposed code is here. My comment consists of two related issues. One, the code is voluntary. Don’t like it? Don’t sign up, don’t adhere, and blog along your merry way. Two, adhering to the code puts a blogger at a disadvantage in the information universe. Adherence to the code means not linking to blogs that don’t adhere. Blogs that don’t sign on can link to anyone they choose. Anybody but me think that might not be the smartest idea ever? Artificially limiting the range of permissible commentary seems like it would incur a competitive disadvantage. If I have a choice between someone who doesn't limit the range of issues and items they address and someone who will limit the range of commentary in an attempt to comply with someone else's idea of civility, I know where I'm going.

Of course, I’m not on board because giving up unprovoked and gratuitous ad hominem posts about politicians, public figures, and anyone else who earns my ire just isn’t happening. Well, that plus the fact the whole thing strikes me as a 21^st century version of a loyalty oath.

Thousands and Thousands

Today we received visit number 8,000 according to Sitemeter. A small milestone, and one randomly chosen, but there it is. 8,000 people and/or automated scripts have visited this little corner of the tubes.