Whiskey Annex

Le Speakeasy

Lo, after these many weeks... Everyone is humbly invited to the Speakeasy for the open house/beta test!

Call for Bloggers/Posters

It's time to step up to the front of the line gentle people. The Annex is here to provide more than just a few people access to a forum to pose a thought, ask a question, rouse the rabble. You need to contact Okie via e-mail for access to the Annex. The interface at the Annex is easy. Rest your minds on that. If you've been on-line a while you'll get it fast. It's all WYSIWYG.

It can't just be a few of us here with mouths and fingers to speak, and I have the hunch that there are more of you chomping at the bit to say your piece and ask a question or two. Now's the time. Okie can be contacted at:
glimmung2@yahoo.com

Credo - "bibit veritas"

Hope the Latin is right :^) Loosely (glass in hand), "here's to truth".

One last meta-thread. A restatement of the Annex's raison d'etre seems called for, so here goes.

It has been decided that from now on, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication, the Annex will no longer host mirror-threads of Billmon's posts. There are several reasons for this decision. Bernhard has indicated his desire to do such hosting with an explicit link from the Whiskey Bar. I wish Moon of Alabama success, and freedom from the moderation hassles that fractured the Annex and drove Billmon out of the comment hosting business. My painfully singed hands have no desire to risk this.

The Annex will instead return to the purpose for which it was originally created: a community blog where all are encouraged to author posts on any topic, political or otherwise - and a stepping stone toward a full-fledged progressive forum.

Authoring rights are available for the asking - all I need is an email address.

It’s been my great privilege to get to know all of you better and hang out with you. I hope that together we can continue to forge a unique community. And if the Annex dies a natural death, well, I'll get a chunk of my life back. :^)

With fondest respect, Okie

Current roster:

Alabama
DeAnander
Disillusioned
fauxreal
Jerome
OkieByAccident
prof fate
remembereringgiap
RossK
Siun
Stoy
tripsarecopsem
x174

I'm thirsty. Can I get down off this barstool now??

The Moderator Cometh

Hi. I'm Okie. I'll be your moderator on this flight.

As a prelude, (with his full permission) I want to share this week-old email from Billmon - as a reminder of what’s at stake:

Well I just spent an interesting hour reading the comments at the Annex. It’s amazing to see how many people want to keep the community going – amazing and a little bit intimidating, actually. As someone posted, it’s like “the blog that wouldn’t die.”

I see that some people have issues with the way I shut things down, which is OK – part of the reason why I decided to get out of the comment business was that I was finding it harder and harder to keep my temper with people. I wasn’t born to play the role of community leader, I guess. But “He Who Must Not Be Named”??? That seemed a little over the top.

Obviously, one of the big decisions you’ll need to make will be figuring out whether to keep the community small and managed – through some kind of membership system – or throwing the doors open to all comers. I think galiel has a point when he observes that past a certain point, community isn’t scalable. On the other hand, one of the glories of the blogosphere is that its open to everyone and anyone. You all will have to decide where to strike that delicate balance between community and elitism. I never could.

Anyway, I’m glad you guys are getting yourselves organized, and you seem to be off to a great start. I’m ready to give you whatever kind of publicity you want – or none at all, if that’s your choice. The money is also still there, if and when you need it.

One favor I would ask is that you not actually name the place the Whiskey Bar Annex or Whiskey Bar 2.0 or anything Whiskey Bar. It sounds like the site will be much more than just a place to comment on my posts, and while I’m not usually a stickler for intellectual property rights (and indeed, have no property rights in the name) Whiskey Bar is, for better or worse, my brand name, and I’d like to keep it separate from whatever you guys might end up doing. Speakeasy, on the other hand, struck me as a great name.

Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do: I’m still pretty busy at work, but I should have some time over the long weekend to spend on blog-related things.

In an earlier email, Billmon said “all I ever wanted to do was run a quiet little cyberblog”

I know how he feels.

The grand “unmoderated blog” experiment has failed.

What’s clear is this: The Whiskey Bar worked as well as it did, in part, because everyone knew that ultimately Billmon didn’t need them or care what anyone thought about him. He banned people for far less cause than several of our cast of articulate misfits (and I use that term affectionately) have offered - and the community thrived.

I don’t enjoy that cachet. I’m a nobody, with a relatively undistinguished WB commenting resume’ and no writing skills to speak of, who was at the right place at the right time. And I was horribly naive about life out there in cyberland.

Well, I now have to put on the Moderator Boots. They are unexpectedly heavy.

First I apologize to everyone for daring to have a real life (SusanG, my thanks for pointing out that possibility.) Things went from bad to abysmal in the six or so hours this evening that I was engaged in that selfish act. I got home with my wine-consumption meter registering “full”, caught up with the emails, and then dove into the blog. But thanks to everyone who assumed I spent the evening sitting and cybergiggling with my co-conspirator galiel. Perhaps it escaped your notice that the only person I have ever publicly rebuked for a comment was... galiel.

There was a discussion the other day concerning how neutrality should be interpreted. Some, certain of the absolute righteousness of their position, assume it must signify opposition. I grant I may have ridden the neutrality horse too deeply into the water - but I continued to trust in the eventual return to comity. It almost happened. The fact that it didn’t is not the sole fault of galiel.

Second, galiel has been banned. Congratulations to the moderator are not in order, and I will be profoundly disappointed to observe any gloating or virtual high fives.

In this I have been guided both by the recommendations of some of our most sober citizens, discussion with my ever-so-much-wiser-than-me partner, and by my own internal deliberations.

Here’s what I was not guided by:

- the cowardly anonymous postings and emailings of whoever that was. Had they contacted me honestly and solely, they might have earned my ear. I sincerely hope this was not a barfly hiding behind fake names and email addresses. Whoever you are, you got your wish. Be assured you had nothing to do with it.

- The over-the top language of Kate (“If the world calls me to do this out of cyberspace and on the soil, I will” ) and the rampant amateur psychoanalysis. Consider - if you are wrong, well, ‘nuf said. If you are right, you need to think about the lack of compassion evinced. Would you taunt a blind man for his lack of sight? Or loudly discuss the malformation of the person at the next table? Once again, it was SusanG who lately advanced the theory that ostracizing was the best approach. But what fun would that have been? Claims of self-defense echo faintly of the "we're not as bad as Saddam" apologists.

Galiel was accused of hogging threads and trying to control them. I submit for your consideration the following data:

“What do we want to be able to do at the Annex”
- total comments: 455
- comments by x: ~ 100
- comments by galiel: ~ 70

“Open Thread - 10 July”
- total comments thru galiel’s last post: ~ 160
- comments by galiel: ~ 30
- comments by Kate: ~ 30
- comments by x: ~ 45

(x, I realize your stats are slightly inflated by your tag-closing browser problem)

Just food for thought. But any who assume that only galiel has been the topic of private email complaints I’ve received are in error. And any who are thinking “that’s just 4LG” are wrong.

I think there are many moderators who would have banned more than one commenter.

Also, RE Alabama's missing comment: I am not a censor. I thought the first instance, having resolved itself with the tardy appearance of the post, might have reassured you. I would like to point everyone to my comment at 12:49 on the Open Thread, where, as part of my efforts to get rgiap’s commenting block problem corrected, I mentioned that there were NO comments on ANY of the threads between 2:33 AM and 9:18 AM, which seemed an impossibility given that we are averaging about 240 a day (that's one every six minutes). Because of rgiap,I assumed it was due to a reappearance of the "questionable content" error. In any event, Alabama, I recall your reply to Possum clearly from late last night, and you’re absolutely right, it isn’t there. I had nothing to do with it. I will alert TypePad now that we can jointly identify a specific comment that disappeared. I'm glad you were alert enough to notice.

Having unloaded all that, I want to say that there isn’t a single one of you that I don’t hold in, well, esteem, up to affection. Kate, you’re delightful, and anyone who digs Harlan Ellison and can rattle off Firesign Theatre dialogue feels like a sister to me. x, you speak with depth and feeling, and I find myself nodding vigorous agreement as I read. Alabama, you amaze me with your erudition, passion, and insight. This is all part of what we are trying to protect. I always believe in your better natures, even when the inevitable chinks in our armor are momentarily highlighted.

Please keep in mind that I extended galiel that same courtesy, and found much value in the things he had to say.

And please extend me the same courtesy - I’m doing my human best.

Peace

Okie (and moderator) By Accident

Design Talk

I'm closing the "other" thread - excessive length is reason enough. Perhaps the goings-on have helped focus our thoughts about features. Just for the hell of it, let's try keeping this meta-thread focused to the point of utilitarian dullness, and quit picking at the scabs from the old one. Features - that's the ticket!

FLASH - HTML Examples

Everyone please note that there are now HTML tag examples by the comment window, as some have requested. This is our Indepedence Day present from Disillusioned! Hip Hip... Hooray! [downs drink]

What do we want to be able to do at the Annex?

At Galiel's suggestion (see his post in full below as the first comment) here is a new thread on what we want to do. NO Off topic posts please!

Truth, Beauty, and Graphic Design

The Geekspeak thread is working so well, I figured I'd start a corresponding thread for the artistically inclined. Consider this a home for declaring your abilities and intererests in Web design, Gimp/Photoshop, fonts, color theory, composition, digital photography etc.

This is not altruistic. ;-) Anyone who's read the Geekspeak thread will know that Disillusioned and dirtgirl and Kate_Storm have been zeroing in on the close relationship between graphics and site design, and hence program design. So those of us from the Geek Squad will want to come demanding guidence Pretty Soon Now.

Special note to cross-dressers who can do Art and Tech work both: you are doubly cherished. Post both threads. Be our bridge.

And again, for those of you who are not graphic/web designers or artists: steer clear of posting to this thread. Give these folks the same professional teaming/problemsolving space you're giving us techies at Geekspeak.

Viva la Frente Popular!

Geekspeak

Holy hell. Get sick for a week and they move all the furniture. :-)

My apologies for the absence. Bad virus. Done now. Brain more or less back in order.

Personal irony #1: When I was running a fever, I had an unending nightmare of tornadoes. Lots of tornadoes, scary as hell even though some of them were very beautiful. A couple of days later a tornado actually hit our city (Madison WI) The superstitious among my friends took delight in blaming me roundly. :-)

Personal irony #2: Still unable to think coherently, I got online one day and saw that the comments on the Whiskey Annex had stopped the day before. Damn, thinks I, this is no kind of realistic community if nobody's going to keep it rolling. Haha.

I sure wish Billmon had given us a bit more time, but it's a thrill to see everyone here now. Welcome. Thanks everyone. Jérôme... what can I say. Magnificent. Work.

I'm still ready to help out with technical issues, specially programming. So here we go.

This thread is for the specific purpose of collecting discussion about the technical infrastructure and implementation of the new site. Domain hosting, server configuration, serverside programming, browserside presentation, etc etc...

Outraged, you seem to be in a position to provide excellent infrastructure support (although quite frankly my preference for Linux and Apache over MSWindows/IIS is immense. Having become addicted to being able to SSH to a *nix box and do useful work, I never ever want to mess with Windows if I can whine my way out of it.) From a Web serverside programming standpoint, I would find Python/Java ideal, Ruby great, PHP fine, Perl a scourge but one I'd bear with equanimity in service to the greater good, and ASP.NET something to be grimly and carefully endured, like forcible anal sex during a mescaline trip. But whatever the platform and language, I will be happy to code and/or tweak whatever we need. All matters from database design through CSS/DHTML are known territory for me. I do hope, however, that I won't be the only one.

Would all of the people who have technical chops (or, willingness to acquire such chops), be it linux/webserver administration, database work, serverside programming, HTML, or whatever, please post here? Reiterate what you can do and what you're willing to do. Outraged, you've volunteered, if I understand matters rightly, to be the lead technical Alpha Geek for this endeavor. Let's find out what the resources are, then you can rock and roll. I'll be of service however I can.

One note: please don't bother posting here if it's not pertinent to the topic. We will need to use this thread for focused consideration of some fairly dull (to those who cannot share the passions of technical weirdos) matters. Forbearance from all of you Normals would be much appreciated.

...Is it OK to say, "Viva la Frente Popular!"?

Le Speakeasy

I have just sent an e-mail to all with a proposed blueprint for the site. Please use this thread for reactions.
If you did not receive it, please e-mail me. If necessary, I will copy the text part of my document on the thread.