There are two objective blogs focused on CAP that I'm aware of --- the venerable CAPBlog http://capblog.typepad.com/ and one that started not long ago called http://flyingminuteman.net started up.
Flyingminuteman hasn't had any new content for two months and is apparently dead and CAPBlog is still puttering along, though somewhat weakly as of late.
CAPBlog used to be a hotbed of talk, often times having reader comments on each blog in the dozens. Lately, as often as not, there aren't any comments at all to most posts there. Don't get me wrong, Midway6 is still putting up some good posts, but not as many people seem to be compelled to respond.
Why is that? One possibility is that there are less readers overall or people would rather comment using forums such as CAPTalk. Personally, I think it is the latter.
For example, Midway 6 discovered (unfortunately) that CAP had a song. He wrote about it and posted it on CAPBlog and got a total of 4 comments. Shortly after it appeared there, RougeLeader obviously saw it and started a thread on CAPTalk which went on for 5 pages and 85 comments.
So, is all the energy that used to be found responding to CAPBlog now found on CAPTalk (and previously on the old CAP Portal)?
Yeah, that sounds reasonable.
Add http://www.capgear.net/ to the list...I really liked the way it started, but hasn't been updated since October 8th
I think you're spot on, with the transition to the interactive forum based communication system.
What is happening is people are getting information from Midway Six and others, bringing here where it can be openly discussed. The issue with the blogs is that you cannot start a new topic. So why go and reply to single mind threads as in blogs when you can read topics from hundreds here.
Its an unfortunate but very real reality
Quote from: IceNine on January 24, 2008, 01:11:57 AM
I think you're spot on, with the transition to the interactive forum based communication system.
What is happening is people are getting information from Midway Six and others, bringing here where it can be openly discussed. The issue with the blogs is that you cannot start a new topic. So why go and reply to single mind threads as in blogs when you can read topics from hundreds here.
Its an unfortunate but very real reality
That's it exactally.
I look at CABBLOG as a "newspaper," putting out info and getting messages to the membership. CAPTalk is more of a "discussion group."
Quote from: IceNine on January 24, 2008, 01:11:57 AM
I think you're spot on, with the transition to the interactive forum based communication system.
What is happening is people are getting information from Midway Six and others, bringing here where it can be openly discussed. The issue with the blogs is that you cannot start a new topic. So why go and reply to single mind threads as in blogs when you can read topics from hundreds here.
Its an unfortunate but very real reality
This format is easier to follow a thread and interact. That format is best to stimulate discussions and present a news topic. It really makes for a good blend (I refuse to use the word synergy). I check out Midway Six's blog often but I think I only ever commented once or twice. We really need both and I don't think they are dead at all. I do wish Tedda had more time for his comic. Maybe if we all say please ...
Admittedly, I'm pretty blogged out.
But since I've completed a very large project that's been taking up a lot of my time lately, I've got a little more time to write 'n draw.
Thanks for your kind words.
Blogging is a push (to the reader). Forums are a participation (among readers)
Its a different kind of participatory environment.
I know that my blog is not necessarily CAP centric, but I hope that it has helped to improve CAP's Emergency services capabilities
What is a blog??
Quote from: NIN on January 24, 2008, 01:39:39 PM
Blogging is a push (to the reader). Forums are a participation (among readers)
Its a different kind of participatory environment.
I agree, which is why I'm not a big fan of blogs with comment areas, especially the CAP ones, because they tend to become very inefficient discussion forums with even less moderation than CT and CS.
As to the question in general, how many different sources for the same news stories do we actually need?
NHQ gives us the "official" news, and CT & CS beat the horse to death, resurrect it and then beat it to death again and again.
What I have found personally is that the more active I am in actually >doing< something in CAP, the less time I have to whine and complain about it.
Quote from: mikeylikey on January 24, 2008, 02:40:24 PM
What is a blog??
I think it's one of those fancy pastries they sell at Starbucks.
Quote from: Pylon on January 24, 2008, 03:17:53 PM
Quote from: mikeylikey on January 24, 2008, 02:40:24 PM
What is a blog??
I think it's one of those fancy pastries they sell at Starbucks.
It was a B movie back in the late 50's: "The Blog That Ate New Jersey"
;D
A few comments on this from the perspective of the "blogger":
First - if you'll notice, "it was I" who posted about the song, and about Brig Gen Courter - my point: CAPBlog is not Midway6 all the time, it's a small group.
That being said...
It is very hard to juggle blogging on your personal blog, CAP blog, and your work blog. Not to mention the fact that many (most of us) also have full time jobs.
I also run CAPGear - I was really excited about it in the beginning and I have not forgotten about it. It just takes a lot of time, especially a blog like that, to keep it current. I had a few "volunteers" who agreed to write for it also and they've been too busy themselves.
I think blogs are a great way to disseminate the "Tribal Wisdom" of our organization - but - at least in the case of CAP Gear, it will probably continue as a trickle versus a flow.
With a forum like this, you can have a discussion - no single person (or small group of people) position themselves as "the expert" as they do on a blog. I think both mediums have a place in CAP.
/rant
New post on www.CAPgear.net!!
Murph
Don't forget That Others May Live AZ at thatothersmayliveaz.blogspot.com. :)
I read the blogs every day, and am always hoping for a new post. Personally, I find forums overwhelming, especially ones as large as CAPTalk. How many new posts do we have a day here? Lots. It's a little frightening. I much prefer going through my list of blogs and looking for new posts, and of course praying for a comment on mine to show that it is being read (thanks Delta Charlie!). Meh, maybe it makes me wierd, but so what. I like blogs better. I just wish they got updated more often...
What was flyingminuteman has apparently been reinvented as Swivel Chair Patrol http://swivelch[bannedurl]/ and appears to be a comic site. Some new stuff too.
it would be cool to convert Captalk into a central blog/forum, I like Tedda's comics... awesome! Well done, as for CAPGear great way to showcase and show off how gear can be used to our benefit and get potential sponsors to give you free gear to make a "selling point" for us CAPPers.
I know that the Joomla CMS system can integrate a blog and forum together you could have discussions for those who like discussions and you can discuss the blog topic after the article is posted somehow a new forum post is generated/made in the proper category and you can discuss it if you like.
Sure its a lot of work and would require time to transition, of course there is no reason to fix something that ain't broke either as this forum system works just fine.
Just a heads up - I've been updating CAPGear a bit lately.
Check it out!
Murph
Apparently swivelchairpatrol is gone :'( :'( :'(
MY COMMENT IS NOT SPECIFIC TO CAP BLOGS -- But blogs/discussion boards/websites in general.
Perhaps the novelty is wearing off. Perhaps we've decided that carrying on a conversation can better be done in person. I can think of a million reasons. BUT, let me suggest another one. Coming up with a smart topics and smarter answers, and in this I don't mean smart-aleck response, is a difficult thing to do -- day in and day out. Newspaper columnist use the analogy that anybody can be smart for an hour... writing a column everyday is the difference between a professional writer and a reader. I see lot's of people unplugging from their 24/7 let the world in on my consciousness all the time -- life.
Let me ask you this -- "Have you ever heard anyone on a cell phone have an intellectually engaged and deeply enlightened conversation?" I've had those on my land line phone. I've had those conversations in person. I can't think of a cell phone call that was any more than a convenience. I wonder if the same thing is true about the blogosphere. Is the common collective consciousness really that smart, not smart-aleck.
Maybe that has something to do with many blogs going to Dodo-Bird-Land. Dissatisfaction. The virtual world has got to grow up some time and become a tool and more than a distraction. I realize the irony of posing this argument in this setting. BUT, life is full of ironies and dissatisfying and unenlightened conversation.
Because of dissatisfaction in specific blogs... consolidation of blogs will continue, just like radio and TV. When was the last time they canceled your favorite TV show. Mine was West Wing -- and 2 years ago.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN
Quote from: Smithsonia on May 11, 2008, 08:55:27 PM
Let me ask you this -- "Have you ever heard anyone on a cell phone have an intellectually engaged and deeply enlightened conversation?" I've had those on my land line phone. I've had those conversations in person. I can't think of a cell phone call that was any more than a convenience.
Since my cel phone is the only one I >EVER< use (with the exception of SKYPE), the answer is yes.
Let me check...yes...its 2008. An ever increasing number of people >only< have a cel phone, with the percentage increasing as their mean age decreases.
Taking out the issue of discussion forums, the issue with websites in general is that content is king.
The wheel already exists, and while admittedly the "everything that can be invented already already has..." mentality is somewhat self-fulfilling, its also basically true.
On a national scale, CAPTalk fills the need for discussion and gossip for adults, Cadetstuff does it for cadets.
Anything else will simply be duplication of effort, with the same people saying the same thing, in a lot of cases cutting and pasting text from one site to another, which is pretty pointless.
The place where blogs can have an impact is with localized information specific to a unit, etc., but that's not nearly as "cool" as something that gets a hundred hits a day (because of Google spiders).
Eclipse;
Perhaps you should reread my question. Popular (your response), and convenience, and enlightenment are different values entirely. Thanks for your response though. Misreads are an addition to my point. No matter the fashion of the day, personal evaluation of things, trends, gadgets, ideas, concepts, etc... are best done on an individual basis. SO, like what you like. BUT your preference doesn't answer the question and popularity of your preference doesn't either. The question wasn't a survey.
Enlightenment has nothing to do with popularity. Well, I should say, "Popularity SHOULD have nothing to do with enlightenment."
By the by, content is NOT king any longer. In the new reality TV world and blogs/websites too... "performance" is. Meaning what price per blog, TV show, etc... provides what sized audience. That's not what this thread is about so I'll leave you to your own reading on the matter.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN
What I explained was that technology has more than moved forward, and the cel phone is no different than a landline in terms of how it is used, or the relative value of the conversations people have on them.
This notion that mobile phones somehow cheapen the conversation (vs., I suppose, making the effort to don a smoking jacket, pour a brandy, sit next to the fire and "CALL" someone, like this was 1962)
Content >is< king without it a site dies - no one will visit a site that does not contain relevant information.
This is the reason that so many CAP-centric sites die quickly. Someone with an ax to grind or "new spin" decides to light up their AOL account and make the "most awesome CAP site ever", then realizes after the first week that they have nothing new/different to say, or that their spin on things is so far from the mainstream no one cares.
The web is democratic, but it is also brutally honest.
Eclipse;
Well, I suppose my cell service is inferior. BUT, I don't hear the cues vocally that enhance conversation. Mostly, I'm asking, if someone "can hear me". Hold on. "Is that you?"I notice the same for others. Your mileage may vary.
After spending years providing content on a professional basis for networks (I'm a writer -and I still do the work, for a bit... any way) I'll stand by my content "performance" comment. For instance, you can't take an hour to research every post and two hours to write it. Neither can I. So we're making the same evaluation even here and today. Expediency and quality are difficult to reconcile. In TV today... they've ended attempting this reconciliation. They're just riding the tired and dying goodwill of the audience into the sunset. Too bad... it was a great gig.
All the best;
ED O'BRIEN
It might be time to trade in the bag phone for something made this century. Cell service has its "issues", but the vast majority have the same or better quality than landlines.
Most of my issues are caused by trying to have extended conversations while walking into the wind on a busy street - the same as standing on your deck in the wind on your land line.
I will grant you that the universe has been "TMZ'ed" to death, but you have to have "something", even if its rehashed, half-truths.
Eclipse;
I want the cell phone Jack Bauer uses on "24". The thing works in subbasements, planes, bank vaults, and shootouts.
The issue with cell phones isn't technological. It also isn't generational. It is expectational. I expect conversations to be of high quality. Therefore, my friends... or at least the friends I'm speaking in this case all hate cell phones. You can always tell a writer on deadline. He always puts-off the outgoing calls but takes incoming calls. A writer... who is actually writing, I mean in the writers heat of mania writing... turns his cell off. A writer on vacation, doesn't bring a cell. It's a business tool only. Writer's are a breed apart. We must be. It's our job.
Peace and quiet with fewer interruptions, does me fine. If we could plug our brains directly into each other, I'd say no thanks. You're not invited in there. It's mine and it's me. I imagine you'd feel similarly. Well that what 24/7 cell phones feels like to me. To much contact, call you back later.
Good luck always;
ED OBRIEN
Drifting.
Quote from: Smithsonia on May 12, 2008, 03:47:29 AM
Eclipse;
I want the cell phone Jack Bauer uses on "24". The thing works in subbasements, planes, bank vaults, and shootouts.
The issue with cell phones isn't technological. It also isn't generational. It is expectational. I expect conversations to be of high quality. Therefore, my friends... or at least the friends I'm speaking in this case all hate cell phones. You can always tell a writer on deadline. He always puts-off the outgoing calls but takes incoming calls. A writer... who is actually writing, I mean in the writers heat of mania writing... turns his cell off. A writer on vacation, doesn't bring a cell. It's a business tool only. Writer's are a breed apart. We must be. It's our job.
Peace and quiet with fewer interruptions, does me fine. If we could plug our brains directly into each other, I'd say no thanks. You're not invited in there. It's mine and it's me. I imagine you'd feel similarly. Well that what 24/7 cell phones feels like to me. To much contact, call you back later.
I suspect your issue has
nothing to do with cell phones...
Shorning said- "I suspect your issue has nothing to do with cell phones..."
Ed O'Brien said:
Your point is completely lost on me. There was a point? Specificity and direction are better ways to ask a question or give an opinion. Insinuation means either a cowardly stance... or you can't think of a good way to say what you mean. Better luck next time. But, I'll stay away from arguing, drifting, and wish you all the best.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN
What does this have to to do with CAP based blogs losing content?
As a Blogger myself I do not know how you could keep a page up and running based solely on the subject of CAP.
DATA, and his crew have done a phenomenal job keeping timely, material on their site. Unfortunately when you are as narrowly focused as CAP blog are you end up being fed the dirt, and scandal of the organization, and you can only do that so many times before you get demoralized.
As with any information outlet it is tough to keep a balance of material.
Thanks for all of your hard work guys. I know I enjoy your blogs.
Question: CAP-centric Blogs dying? What does this have to do with this thread?
No personal disrespect intended in the following as I am a participant too.
Answer: We are experiencing death exampled inside this single thread:
1. A runaway discussion (drift)
2. Snide yet pointless insinuation and remarks
3. Confusion among readers
4. Lack of context (too short of answers) AND lack of gravity (long dissertations without point or purpose)
5. Bloggers hiding in anonymity.
6. Alternative or unexpressed yet obvious personal agendas.
There IS your answer. BUT, once again this has more to do with Blogs in general than CAP-centric blogs.
It is a maturation process. People have seen, written, and done enough blogging to want better than items 1-5. Social engagement on cell phones is imperfect due to poor quality and technical issues... the same is true in the blogosphere. We miss the social queueing system of life. We misread as much as we read. We infer what is never meant. We construe from our personal drama insults which do not exist or are intended. These are imperfections we tolerate when the experience blogging was novel but we grow tired of over time, when we expect more. That my take. Yours?
With regards;
ED OBRIEN
interesting perspective,
But how do you explain the continued de-evolution of culture and discussion. With social networking as the bus of the latest media craze groups like Face book, Flicker, and myspace IM the communication that you love seems to be degrading more and more into short multi character tid bits. If blogging as a phynominum is dying off it is certainly not a revolution back to a more literate, and structured culture.
Insert Quote
interesting perspective,
But how do you explain the continued de-evolution of culture and discussion.
texting is not a phone call. Blitzing off an email is not like writing a long well considered letter. Hi and bye, is not hi and how are you? Human communications has made us the most powerful animal on earth. After all, when the bears, lions, and humans all competed for the same food source -- it was communications and transmission of human intellect from generation to generation that eventually made us "superior." Communications made us what we are.
So, human discourse has made us what we are. Human discourse will make our future too. Separating the best from the glib. Supporting the smartest not the better marketed, most popular, richest, or charismatic -- is important. The best and brightest among us are not necessarily the prettiest, tallest, or most fashionable, etc. Sturdy ideas that are tested and proven constantly contest the with distractions of the unusual and trendy.
Its a battle inside the brains we carry. It takes analytical time and quiet to sort it all out. I've got plenty of information. At a certain point -- I prefer knowledge and understanding. Someday, I'll even attempt wisdom. Choice is not the issue. Proper selection from the choices is. The same is true for eating healthy, spending money, who one marries, and which blog you attend.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN
PS -- I'm not sure we are devolving. Although it looks like it some days. But human existence is like the stock market. It goes up and down but the trend is generally up. At least, I hope so.
Smithsonia, check your PMs. You has mail.
Quote from: isuhawkeye on May 12, 2008, 01:59:35 PMWith social networking as the bus of the latest media craze groups like Face book, Flicker, and myspace IM the communication that you love seems to be degrading more and more into short multi character tid bits.
You said it yourself: it's a media craze. A craze is not a trend.
What is Facebook being used for, really? I would venture to say it's mostly superficial conversation. I use Facebook to play Scrabble with my wife and track which books I want to read.
I'd like to think there is still a place for serious conversation and meaningful reading. You won't find it on MySpace, but that shouldn't be the only place you're looking, either.