Who Goes There?
If it’s true that “on the Internet nobody knows if you’re a dog”, how do you convince people that you’re a prince? I look at the importance of an online reputation at Pajamas Media.
Nothing follows.
posted by wretchardthecat at 1/13/2008 02:10:00 AM
9 Comments:
Mad Fiddler in real life, is an award winning blog-journalist who in high school was recognized by the United Nations for helping old people cross dangerous intersections; was awarded multiple Pulitzer Prizes during his highly prestigious 4.0 undergraduate years at a MAJOR university; served simultaneously in the British SAS, the Peace Corps, and U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; researched innovative methods of birth control and vegetarian alternatives to cosmetic animal testing; and helped establish a chain of half-way houses for sexually incorrigible teenage girls.
Now with a dignifying touch of gray at his temples, he writes essays on the expansion of the human spirit and proposes testable and affordable solutions to a wide range of human and technological problems. His writings on economic theory have never been successfully challenged or shown to contain a demonstrable error.
I can provide documentation.
Just a second... the printer is still warming up.
((Knock, Knock) 8:^)
"Who Goes There?"
Who's asking?
Hey, Dougman!
Funny how the young whippersnappers have no perspective; they think they invented the world by themselves. Consider the silly faces created by type... ~|8^(
Back before WWII a reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper was trying to describe in a story the injuries sustained by a young woman to her... well... upper chest region. Rules and etiquette strictly prohibited any direct reference to that portion of a woman's anatomy. His solution:
"...in the accident Miss Humboldt suffered lacerations to her (.)(.)"
Just for the record, I would like to say the real me is well over 6 feet tall complementing a lean muscular physique, with a “Han Solo”-like charming personality.
I always think it's amusing when a newbie will parachute into a blog (like Belmont Club) and immediately challenge the credentials of the moderator (as in Wretchard).
The opening salvo usually goes something like, "who are you, what have you done that makes you an expert, why should I believe you are an expert, and why should I believe what-ever proof you offer to my impertinent questions?"
It seems to me that each reader has to have enough confidence in themself to determine whether the comment or blog they are reading is being written by a dog (look for the "arfs"), an interested bystander (no barking but some question marks), or an expert (some jargon and a slightly jaded tone).
It's also helpful sometimes to gauge the passion of the writer. Are there lots of slavering, exclamation points, and ALL CAPS? Then it's a dog and he's trying to chew the haunches off a kitty lunch.
Mark Styne and Victor Davis Hanson, on the other hand, show a grimly tamped down sense of humor which show their passion in what they're writing about. Since dogs don't typically either tamp down or have a sense or humor, we can conclude who-ever writes those pieces is an adult human being.
If there's no emotion but lots of jargon, that's professional. Not a dog, and not an Arab, either.
If there's no emotion, no joy, dead eyes and lots of Koran-quoting that's an Arab terrorist which is worth sitting up and taking notice of in any case, since a terrorist who can write and in English is something you don't see very often. And he might be explosive even if his thoughts are not.
OK, I confess. I'm a dog. "Doug" was just my way of disguising my essential caninity. Woof!
Seriously, for us cowards out here, even posting an opinion online at a website that doesn't have unimpeachable LIBERAL credentials can get us in trouble at our phony-baloney academic jobs.
God help you (there he goes again with that GOD stuff...) if you should be identified as a conservative when your teaching contract is up for renewal.
My fallback position is that there are TWO OTHER PROFESSIONAL ANIMATORS currently doing 3D animation who share my name. I'll just say it was one of THOSE two that said all those ridiculous things.
That should give me time to flee the country.
IRL, I'm a professional geek (aka software developer), which is very handy in that nobody really cares about your political opinions as long as you GET THE DAMNED PROJECT DONE ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET!!!!11!
I love animals and hate PETA, I love my civil liberties and detest the ACLU, and I love God but hate Fred Phelps.
As a frequent lurker and very occasional commenter here since a few months after the start of the Belmont Club, I also have spent what seems like a decade cursing Desert Rat while agreeing with some of his positions, calling Teresita a bitch while also having to admit that she's pretty smart, and trying to explain to my wife why I keep muttering and cursing at my computer.
IRL and online, I remain in awe of Wretch's analytical ability, and will read as long as he feels compelled to write. If the world is going to end, he'll have figured out how and why a few weeks ahead of time so I can have time to get my affairs in order.
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