I'm not sure what happened but the chat feature appears to be working again so I added it back to the blog.
If I don't answer right away, please don't be offended. I do get up to go to the bathroom from time to time and I also leave the computer running when I go into the pottery studio. If you get an away message, stick around for a minute or two, I may just have walked into the kitchen or something. If more than a minute or two go by, I'm probably really away.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Artfire forums mess
There's a whole lot of hullabaloo going on in the Artfire forums right now. I've read as much of the history as I can get my hands on and here's my understanding of the mess.
Some sellers were becoming inflammatory towards Artfire in the forums. As always happens in any internet forum, those who are in the mood to fight got all up in arms and started bullying those few who dared to speak up and say "cool your jets". The silent majority simply ignores inflammatory and bullying behavior and the few who enjoy a good fight just go on congratulating each other for being so brave to "stick up for themselves" when really all they're doing is fanning the flames. So the flames get bigger and bigger. Artfire admins decided that this was bad for business and shut down the few instigators and then deleted the fiery threads.
When the admins explained why this was necessary and gave a hypothetical to help illustrate why this was necessary, everyone continued to flame because they would take the words out of context and react by gut instinct (which is easy to do when you're already pissed) rather than read the entirety of the reasons. Thus, wrong conclusions were jumped to and again, everyone congratulated each other for being quick on the flaming bandwagon. It grew out of control, even the Etsy forums exploded with misinformation about what was happening at Artfire. So again, the admins said "enough" and deleted the thread.
Today, various threads are popping up with people complaining about how the admins have handled things. They claim that they are just asking questions. And how dare Artfire shut down their questions just because they disagree with Artfire admins!
I call Bullshit. If you want to ask a simple question of the admins and get a simple answer, you email them. Privately. The only reason to ask an inflammatory question on a public forum is because you want the admins to shut you down so you can point a finger at them and scream "Seee? Seeeee!? It's so unfair!!!! Who agrees with me???".
The reasonable people are emailing the admins with their opinions privately. They want to be heard and they are being heard. The unreasonable want to scream in public and get an army of angry people to back them up. It's a big ego boost to have an angry mob supporting you.
The forums are now being moderated. They attempted to allow the artisans to moderate themselves via decorum and good common sense. When given freedom, someone will always take advantage of it and ruin it for everyone else. They scream the loudest and believe they are in the majority because they are screaming louder than those of us who are quietly discussing the issue with reason.
We in the USA have the right to free speech. All that means is that if we say something the government doesn't like, they aren't going to come to our door with rifles and shove us in a box until we shut up. It does not mean that we have the right to use someone elses resources to be jerks, especially to those people providing the resources. Just because you have the right to speak, that does not mean that Artfire is required to provide you with the megaphone and audience.
If you want to talk without moderation, start a blog. It's free. You have every right to say whatever the hell you want to say when you provide yourself with the resources to speak.
Artfire forum moderation is the correct business decision. They have every right to allow the discussions that they believe will boost business and to erase those discussions that they believe will harm business.
If you don't like it, start a blog, speak all you want, and blast them from the rooftops if you so desire.
If you want to ask questions regarding the changes and express your disagreement in how it was handled, go to the source - email the admins directly. They will eventually answer you.
But don't go into the public forums that they are providing and talk shit about them and then get all up in arms when they don't kiss your ass for doing so. They are doing what they believe is best for business. That's it. If you disagree, you are free to leave and you are free to setup a new shop however you damn well please. But if you're going to use their services, you're going to have to play by their rules.
I agree that forums should be moderated. I'm glad Artfire is doing it. I really don't want my potential customers watching a bunch of bullies bitch and moan about how the service they are taking advantage of sucks. That's bad for my business.
Thanks Artfire. You're going through some major heat right now and it's probably going to have a short-term effect on the bottom line as the bitchers and moaners shut down their shops. But it's going to improve business in the long run.
Some sellers were becoming inflammatory towards Artfire in the forums. As always happens in any internet forum, those who are in the mood to fight got all up in arms and started bullying those few who dared to speak up and say "cool your jets". The silent majority simply ignores inflammatory and bullying behavior and the few who enjoy a good fight just go on congratulating each other for being so brave to "stick up for themselves" when really all they're doing is fanning the flames. So the flames get bigger and bigger. Artfire admins decided that this was bad for business and shut down the few instigators and then deleted the fiery threads.
When the admins explained why this was necessary and gave a hypothetical to help illustrate why this was necessary, everyone continued to flame because they would take the words out of context and react by gut instinct (which is easy to do when you're already pissed) rather than read the entirety of the reasons. Thus, wrong conclusions were jumped to and again, everyone congratulated each other for being quick on the flaming bandwagon. It grew out of control, even the Etsy forums exploded with misinformation about what was happening at Artfire. So again, the admins said "enough" and deleted the thread.
Today, various threads are popping up with people complaining about how the admins have handled things. They claim that they are just asking questions. And how dare Artfire shut down their questions just because they disagree with Artfire admins!
I call Bullshit. If you want to ask a simple question of the admins and get a simple answer, you email them. Privately. The only reason to ask an inflammatory question on a public forum is because you want the admins to shut you down so you can point a finger at them and scream "Seee? Seeeee!? It's so unfair!!!! Who agrees with me???".
The reasonable people are emailing the admins with their opinions privately. They want to be heard and they are being heard. The unreasonable want to scream in public and get an army of angry people to back them up. It's a big ego boost to have an angry mob supporting you.
The forums are now being moderated. They attempted to allow the artisans to moderate themselves via decorum and good common sense. When given freedom, someone will always take advantage of it and ruin it for everyone else. They scream the loudest and believe they are in the majority because they are screaming louder than those of us who are quietly discussing the issue with reason.
We in the USA have the right to free speech. All that means is that if we say something the government doesn't like, they aren't going to come to our door with rifles and shove us in a box until we shut up. It does not mean that we have the right to use someone elses resources to be jerks, especially to those people providing the resources. Just because you have the right to speak, that does not mean that Artfire is required to provide you with the megaphone and audience.
If you want to talk without moderation, start a blog. It's free. You have every right to say whatever the hell you want to say when you provide yourself with the resources to speak.
Artfire forum moderation is the correct business decision. They have every right to allow the discussions that they believe will boost business and to erase those discussions that they believe will harm business.
If you don't like it, start a blog, speak all you want, and blast them from the rooftops if you so desire.
If you want to ask questions regarding the changes and express your disagreement in how it was handled, go to the source - email the admins directly. They will eventually answer you.
But don't go into the public forums that they are providing and talk shit about them and then get all up in arms when they don't kiss your ass for doing so. They are doing what they believe is best for business. That's it. If you disagree, you are free to leave and you are free to setup a new shop however you damn well please. But if you're going to use their services, you're going to have to play by their rules.
I agree that forums should be moderated. I'm glad Artfire is doing it. I really don't want my potential customers watching a bunch of bullies bitch and moan about how the service they are taking advantage of sucks. That's bad for my business.
Thanks Artfire. You're going through some major heat right now and it's probably going to have a short-term effect on the bottom line as the bitchers and moaners shut down their shops. But it's going to improve business in the long run.
Chat got all broked
I did a windows update on my computer and now the chat thingy I had on here says I'm offline all the time even when I'm around. So I've taken it down for the time being.
In the mean time, I'm doing some experiments with friends and family to see which online venue they would prefer as a customer. This is going to help me decide if I'm going to keep my store on Etsy or move completely over to Artfire.
I'll start a poll here as well. If you'd like to contribute to the experiment, take a look at both of my shops and the main pages for both venues and see if you can find my products. Which would you be more likely to purchase from?
My Etsy Shop Etsy Main Page Can you find my pottery from the main page?
My Artfire Shop Artfire Main Page
Feel free to comment with any thoughts!
In the mean time, I'm doing some experiments with friends and family to see which online venue they would prefer as a customer. This is going to help me decide if I'm going to keep my store on Etsy or move completely over to Artfire.
I'll start a poll here as well. If you'd like to contribute to the experiment, take a look at both of my shops and the main pages for both venues and see if you can find my products. Which would you be more likely to purchase from?
My Etsy Shop Etsy Main Page Can you find my pottery from the main page?
My Artfire Shop Artfire Main Page
Feel free to comment with any thoughts!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Buster Scarf
We've had some storms the last couple of nights around here so I moved Busters kibble dish from the porch to inside the pottery studio. I used to feed the cats in the studio but stopped because the raccoons were becoming far too comfortable in there and the cats would get chased out. But since they aren't really accustomed to looking for food there and the dish is only large enough for one serving, I've decided to try feeding Buster in the studio for the time being. We'll see how that goes.
But today, I didn't see Buster until about 5pm. This is odd because he's usually hanging around a good 22 hours out of every day. But he finally showed up. Just sauntered in like he owns the place.
After dinner, I went back out to the studio to trim some bowls that I threw yesterday. Well, apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to the boy. As I was trimming, I felt a couple of paws on my thigh. And the claws started digging in. Oh crap, he's gonna jump!
Rather than have him jump up onto my bowl and tear my leg off in the process, I picked him up intent on depositing him onto his bar stool. He was having none of the stool! As soon as I got him in my hands, he scrambled up my chest, onto my shoulder and draped himself around the back of my neck.
Now look at the pictures. I'll post them again.
This is not a long, lean, graceful cat. This is a big, solid, chunk 'o' cat! This does not drape elegantly around the shoulders. This is not a cat that I could walk around town with, hardly noticing his presence. No, with him around my neck, every movement I make means several pounds of fur must tippy toe to readjust his weight to make sure he doesn't fall.
I figured oh what the hell. Let him stay there as long as he has the patience to do the balancing dance. This'll last all of 10 seconds and he'll jump to his stool.
I was wrong.
He stayed up there while I worked for a good 5 minutes or so before jumping onto my table to look at me in disappointment. And then my neck was really cold.
If anyone has any hints or devices I could use to hold a cat on my shoulders, he'd really appreciate it. I don't mind carrying the weight and whenever I hold him, he does attempt to balance up there. Maybe I need to make some sort of shoulder shelf or something.
List your suggesstions in the comments!
But today, I didn't see Buster until about 5pm. This is odd because he's usually hanging around a good 22 hours out of every day. But he finally showed up. Just sauntered in like he owns the place.
After dinner, I went back out to the studio to trim some bowls that I threw yesterday. Well, apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to the boy. As I was trimming, I felt a couple of paws on my thigh. And the claws started digging in. Oh crap, he's gonna jump!
Rather than have him jump up onto my bowl and tear my leg off in the process, I picked him up intent on depositing him onto his bar stool. He was having none of the stool! As soon as I got him in my hands, he scrambled up my chest, onto my shoulder and draped himself around the back of my neck.
Now look at the pictures. I'll post them again.
This is not a long, lean, graceful cat. This is a big, solid, chunk 'o' cat! This does not drape elegantly around the shoulders. This is not a cat that I could walk around town with, hardly noticing his presence. No, with him around my neck, every movement I make means several pounds of fur must tippy toe to readjust his weight to make sure he doesn't fall.
I figured oh what the hell. Let him stay there as long as he has the patience to do the balancing dance. This'll last all of 10 seconds and he'll jump to his stool.
I was wrong.
He stayed up there while I worked for a good 5 minutes or so before jumping onto my table to look at me in disappointment. And then my neck was really cold.
If anyone has any hints or devices I could use to hold a cat on my shoulders, he'd really appreciate it. I don't mind carrying the weight and whenever I hold him, he does attempt to balance up there. Maybe I need to make some sort of shoulder shelf or something.
List your suggesstions in the comments!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Agateware video
Hey folks,
Someone asked me about the video that I talked about in a previous post so I'm going to try to post it here. I hope this works.
Woo hoo! I think it works!
Someone asked me about the video that I talked about in a previous post so I'm going to try to post it here. I hope this works.
Woo hoo! I think it works!
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