Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Tie Day Out of the office on my first audit today.  I also get to wear a tie.  Suffice to say, Jos. A. Bank loves me for taking this job.  In one month, I have spent about $600 on my work attire.  One of the moments I miss my far-too-casual attire at College Park, but I am excited about conducting the audit.  7:48:11 AM    comment []  trackback []

Once More into the Fray As I have both received a comment on this post and apparently an entry on someone else's blog concerning said post, I have decided to make my small blog the site of a formal response.  I am What I am... Well, as much as it may disappoint my progenitors, I am indeed Jason J. Thomas.  My lame biography details my meager beginnings--born in Baltimore, attended school in Boston, Oxford, and College Park, and returned to Baltimore to begin my professional career.  Please, feel free to Google my name.  Not much turns up, though, aside from my blogs--this and my OPML blog.  That said, a search of Google Groups turns up more on me, as I have posted to the Usenet many times on various technical issues.  The important part--I am who I say I am at this blog.  No cool blogger identity for me.  The Definition of "Outing" Although Harish denies that he outed anybody, the evidence that I have seen would seem to support otherwise.  Allow me to point you to the definition of said term via Dictionary.com: v. out·ed, out·ing, outs v. intr. To be disclosed or revealed; come out: Truth will out. Fascinating.  It would appear to me that your post actually "disclosed or revealed" the previous identity of a blogger.  Of course, I am merely becoming steeped in semantics at this point.  A Discussion of Blogger Etiquette I certainly did not take your side in this issue.  I, instead, raised the larger issue concerning the exclusion of a blog from Blogtimore based upon the personal whims of the providers of said service.  My concerns have been pretty fairly addressed, both in private and via more public means, and I am satisfied with those terms.  My post also was raising a point larger than that of Blogtimore's blog listing.  I was more interested in what I would call blogger etiquette.  From what I observed, you created a post entitled that this blogger was this blogger in a previous online existence.  Furthermore, you post-dated this post.  For one, you eggregiously violated blogger etiquette by post-datn an entry in order to ensure its placement at the top of any aggregator that sorts by most recent items first.  I know this same issue has been raised on Blogtimore in its very nascent period, but it has also been raised by other more prominent bloggers (of which I have read by cannot recall the exact post).  Sure, it's convenient sometimes, but in your case it was done to garner attention.  Second, you identified a blogger without even first attempting to make any contact with the blogger you claimed to be the other blogger.  In the blogosphere or otherwise, if I have a question concerning the veracity of someone or something, I am going to attempt to corroborate it.  That does not mean I am going to make a public pronouncement of what I believe to be true.  That, in essence, is what you did.  As I stated in my original post, you failed to follow de rigeur--societal norms, for lack of a better term--in questioning something you discovered.  Regardless of how obvious such a linkage may be, you went about questioning it in an obviously incorrect manner.  On The Cheese's Sociopathology It is somewhat interesting that you are judging the personality of someone via the posts they make on an anonymous online journal.  Given the anonymity, how can you completely asses the personality of said person and make a diagnosis?  As a number of authors tend to do, is it possible that the sociopathic author of this journal is merely making these statements for emphasis?  Is he doing something to draw a response from his audience?  Given that the entries are only tangentially biographic, I would make the argument that you cannot possibly make a diagnosis on any personality disorder said blogger may have. Your own words, though, make it much easier for me to refute your statement, though.  I would point you to your own disclaimer found on your blog.  It quite plainly states : " I'm not a doctor, and no entries should be considered medical advice." (emphasis added)  Comments on Being a Tool Based upon what I have seen transpire here and what others have mentioned to me in less public forums, it appears as though Harish has a rather long and somewhat sordid history in the local blogosphere.  It is my understanding that you have a tendency to make somewhat outlandish comments, and also tend to make yourself appear as the expert on all things.  Nonetheless, past experience and what you have recently done more than qualifies for making you a tool.  Thus, I must concur with the sentiments others made.  Your Exclusion from Blogtimore As far as I am concerned, Blogtimore is a service offered by a friendly few.  Those friendly few can remove people as they see fit.  They have already stated the technical reasons they will remove someone from Blogtimore, and as a technically proficient user, I have no qualms about that.  Excluding someone because they violated etiquette makes an abundant amount of sense as well.  I would presume that if I had a blog that was listed and I changed it to "Blogtimore Blows Big Hairy Balls" I, too, would be subject to expulsion.  I would, in essence, be violating a presumed code of conduct--just as you did.  Thus, my "Blogtimore Blows Big Hairy Balls" blog would be de-listed.  I, of course, welcome any and all comments.  I presume there will be many, and I will be glad to refute most of them, as my time will allow.  12:37:40 AM    comment []  trackback []