Disqus - Latest Comments for PurpleCar

Re: What “nappy headed” means, and other notes on term usage in writing.

PurpleCar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:41:24 -0000

I love this! Thanks for chiming in!

Personally, I dye my caucasian hair -all sorts of colors- so I can't pretend I'm 100% natural. All people of all time have messed with their hair... that's ok. But when oppressed cultures adopt too many of the dominant culture's style, heritage and identity can be lost (e.g. the monstrous shoulder pads in the female suits of the 1980's. *shudder*). ;)

Heritage and history are to be worn with pride, shared, and appreciated. Nappy or straight, thick or bald, it's our job to educate each other. Thanks for educating us with your beautiful perspective!

Re: Love/Hate T-Shirt - a look in the mirror for your characters.

PurpleCar — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:06:07 -0000

Hi Dan, This is all I found, via BoingBoing.net

http://www.madeindesign.com/prod-Psyshirt-love-...

Re: Rant on Twitter before breakfast

PurpleCar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:01:07 -0000

Will-

thanks for coming.

Yeah, we all love to complain. It's a sport. And yes, you can't really communicate with people who 1. don't follow back and 2. don't answer your @'s or DM's. Some people are Twitter snobs, just as they are in real life, so just ditch 'em. I'm not treating Twitter as a personality contest. I unfollow even the 'famous' social media people if they make too much noise, ya know? It doesn't matter. I just try to have fun with it.

-PC

Re: louisgray.com: The LDS/Facebook Rumor Didn't Pass the Common Sense Test

http://www.louisgray.com/live/2008/08/ldsfacebook-rumor-didnt-pass-common.html — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:34:31 -0000

Sorry if you think I crushed my credibility with linking to the "Are Mormons a Cult" site. When I wrote that story at the end of last year, I definitely thought it was one of the many anti-Mormon sites that do exist out there, unfortunately.

Rather than dig them up, a quick Google Search on the subject brings up a number of points of view.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=...

As for "are they a cult", the fact they have very open meetings and open curriculum and documentation and are clear about their beliefs should end that discussion immediately. There's no hidden agenda. The church is a Christian faith that shares 90+% of its beliefs with other similar religions, and it's become very attractive to people who are looking to find a family-centered religion that has answers and doesn't always threaten its members with hellfire and damnation.

Re: louisgray.com: The LDS/Facebook Rumor Didn't Pass the Common Sense Test

PurpleCar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:42:20 -0000

Louis Gray: Darn I thought that link to the Mormonism-is-a-cult site was going to link to a real cult-watching site instead of a tongue-in-cheek mockery of people who are truly concerned about the religion. Although the openness of the Mormon church that you mention in your post is admirable, all religions have mysterious, non-transparent, extremely esoteric parts. This is undeniably the essence of religion and authority. Do you have any links where the Mormon church addresses directly the more respected cult-watching outlets? I'd like to read something like that, because I've read quite a bit from many different sources over the years about Mormonism, including many personal accounts of former Mormons, and I have to say, it seems just as bad as my childhood religion, Roman Catholicism, even worse in some ways. I'm not trying to be offensive. I just have to say I was very impressed that you would link to a detractor until I realized it was pro-mormon satire. I hate to say it, but that crushed your credibility with me. Can you fix?

Re: Adam Slaney Facebook Warning: Real or DoS attack?

Amy Hampton — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:24:58 -0000

I have just been emailed this warning so unfortunately its leaked out of facebook already.

Re: Adam Slaney Facebook Warning: Real or DoS attack?

PurpleCar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:33:10 -0000

Hi Sally Ann Slaney,

As you painfully know, practical jokes are best left to whoopie cushions and kept well away from Facebook and the web. Starting a fake viral warning is a libelous act and can be proved in court. You can't have one son bring legal charges against another, though.

I'm sorry your sons underestimated the viral ability of the internet. It's a mistake that many others will make in the next 5 years. Hopefully websites' Terms of Service, international law, and common sense will catch up to this wild west by then.

In the meantime:

*Have your son Adam contact Facebook if he hasn't already. I haven't looked closely at Facebook's Terms of Service, but perhaps they can help even if there isn't a violation they must at upon (I have little faith that they will do anything unless legally forced to, but it is worth a try).

*Contact the other Adam Slaneys I found on Facebook and ask them to present a united front to the Facebook guys.

*Contact Snopes.com and ask them to add your son's name to the entry that I linked to above.

*Contact your state rep to see what is happening in your state's legislature and federally. You may want to get involved that way, to give some meaning to this ridiculousness. If you can help stop it from happening to my son (who is 2 years old right now), I and other moms around the world would deeply appreciate it.

People have changed their legal names after such incidents, so it is no small matter. It may take years if not decades for this to die down. I haven't seen this particular fake warning anywhere other than Facebook, but it will probably leak to places like myspace.com, Twitter.com, et al., and continue ad infinitum. If your son is serious about building an on-line presence for his business, he should gather solid evidence on how this interrupts those goals (don't make decisions based on 'feelings' about the internet. Get measureable data). If the "bad press" proves to be insurmountable, I suggest he start using his middle name, change his name, and/or change his company's brand name, and move on.

I'm sorry there isn't much more I can offer you. Maybe my readers have some helpful suggestions to add. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

-Christine (PurpleCar)

Re: Rant on Twitter before breakfast

PurpleCar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:17:05 -0000

Thanks Sarah and Pai! Hate to be negative, ya know? But I'm truly embarrassed by all of this. Makes me want to steer people away from Twitter and social media in general.

Re: Book Club, Anytime, Anywhere!

PurpleCar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:54:10 -0000

Ann, that's awesome! I'm gonna check out your site and podcast!

I agree, we need a Ravelry...

Re: Rant on Twitter before breakfast

PurpleCar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:53:10 -0000

Thanks guys! I try to avoid ranting and YELLING, but this is ridiculous.

I'm not sure there were any internet days that weren't like this. I've been driving around da interwebz for 20 years and I have to say, not much has changed. There is just more of it. This is a good and a bad thing.

Re: Stolen Article from WSJ about anti-Long tail theory

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:52:08 -0000

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Re: Stolen Article from WSJ about anti-Long tail theory

PurpleCar — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:50:09 -0000

I deleted the image. Thanks for calling it to my attention. It truly didn't occur to me.

I understand that you must keep track of your copyright, but the photo was pretty basic stock stuff of a person at a laptop. I would think its worth is pretty low and you'd rather have the free press, since the photo was credited to you in the article, but to each his own. I know it is hard for photography outlets these days.

Please feel free to respond with your website, link, and price range to your stock photography. If you like, I can make a new post with some of your photos for an ad. I'd be happy to send my readers your way for their stock photo needs. It may be a refreshing change to iStockPhoto.com.

Thanks again for contacting PurpleCar.

-PurpleCar
http://www.purplecar.net/

Re: The Death Of The A-list

PurpleCar — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:01:08 -0000

Have we all lost our minds? Maybe I should let us all fantasize in this little bubble where everyone is famous, making no-one famous in our echo chamber or beyond. But that just isn't human nature. We will always look to raise some people (and their content) above the rest. We will always make value judgments. And that's ok. That is how we are structured.

There will always be an A-List. We will simply replace Scoble and Calacanis with Louis Gray and Corvida. Honestly. It's like none of us ever suffered through sociology 101.

Re: Best Bot on Twitter

PurpleCar — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:33:06 -0000

Aw! That's a shame. She said she needed an owner.

:-(

Re: Writing Gems (WG) - New Category

http://www.purplecar.net/2008/07/05/writing-gems-wg-new-category/ — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:07 -0000

Hah.

Re: 1st Look BOOK REVIEW: “Here Comes Everybody” Is Muck.

PurpleCar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:39:06 -0000

I have NO problem making up words. In fact, I'm all for it; Here in the PurpleCar household we make up words (and song lyrics) on an hourly basis. But some basic standard of communication must be followed if, as an author, you want people to buy your book. It is far harder to be concise and clear than to communicate without
plan or filter. Editors used to nuance this keen skill of clarity out
of authors. Editors like that don't exist anymore. It's a shame.

As for Clay's word, amateurization, the '-ization' on the end of the word just complicates things. '-izing' would be better, if we must make up passive verb forms. I still think the word 'amateurization' will make only vague sense at best to the majority of people, and the minority that understands it will have to pause to parse it out (which is bad and exactly what you DON'T want when you are making up terms). That word, in combination with all the other buzzwords in Clay's first two chapters, adds up to the 'literary equivalent of celery' of which you speak, Rick Wolff. Sorry to hear that the rest of the book is pretty much the same. Once I get it back from the library, I'll let you know. (No, I didn't buy the book).

As always, Mr. Wolff, I love your wisdom. You are welcome anytime at PurpleCar!

Re: Wacko Wednesdays: YOU JUST DON’T GET IT: Catch Phrases

PurpleCar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:24:07 -0000

Yes Rick Wolff, "Maybe I'm not explaining this well" or some variant thereof is my "You just don't get it" phrase, too. What I didn't include in this article is my whole history of constantly hearing "You just don't get it" from my older brothers. Confidence issues ensued, obviously. Took me years to realize the fault lies with the spewer of "You just don't get it."

Re: Writing Gems (WG) - New Category

PurpleCar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:23:07 -0000

Turdomatic,

nice name. Thanks for commenting. Could you be a bit more specific? What, exactly, is shite?

Thanks again! Have a good day!

-PC

Re: 1st Look BOOK REVIEW: “Here Comes Everybody” Is Muck.

PurpleCar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:04:28 -0000

Thanks, Annie, I respect your opinion!

Re: My Rant on Loren Feldman

PurpleCar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:29:46 -0000

I'm happy for this to come to light (a year later!) because I'm discovering more black voices on the net. And if you think that's 'racist' of me, you don't understand the role power has in any culture.

The other day on Plurk Scoble wondered why there seemed to be more women on Plurk than Twitter. What ensued were endless sexist jokes that offended and disgusted me. Maybe you white guys out there can imagine what that feels like, being reduced to someone who makes tech decisions based on colors or something inane like that.

There are things that I say to my friends of all races and they say to me that would make any stranger's skin crawl, but not one of us would say them 'out loud.' Perhaps Loren thought he was pushing the envelope, I don't know. Joking with friends at home is fine, but there are some struggles that just aren't over, and no public jokes about them are acceptable.

Re: louisgray.com: Late-Night Seesmic Desperation Yields Results

PurpleCar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:05:47 -0000

LOL! My kids love seesmic, they have from its inception. All the early adopters from last year on seesmic have heard all about Webkinz, have seen my 2 year old raspberry (i.e. spit) all over my laptop, etc. We also dance. A lot. They like to view the entire video before I post it, and they wait, like hungry lions, for replies. Now my 8 year old is using it to occasionally DM other 8 year olds around the world.

These video comprehension skills are vital to their success in the coming decades. Bidee-yo on, man. Technology is a language they need to acquire when they are young, when it is effortless.

Re: 1st Look BOOK REVIEW: “Here Comes Everybody” Is Muck.

PurpleCar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:44:06 -0000

Hi Reed.

The examples I provided are typical for what I've read so far. I've skimmed the rest of the book, and looks like more of the same style. I have a feeling Clay Shirky writes the way he speaks. I blame the publisher more than I do Mr. Shirky. Unfortunately, editors just don't have jobs anymore; publishers find them unnecessary. How very wrong they are.

I'm sure there are perfectly great points buried in the pedantic style, but it's such muck I'm afraid they will be lost completely.

-PC

Re: I

http://www.purplecar.net/2008/07/05/i/ — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:45:28 -0000

I have all the materials from Nikon School, happy to let you take a look. They do a really good job. I came away from the two days with at least a dozen solid tips that immediately improved my digital shooting and workflow.

Re: I

PurpleCar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:42:06 -0000

Cool! Yeah, I can't see myself ever buying a $3000 lens, but hey I may win the lottery someday. You never know.

Great tip on the Nikon School. Found the link: http://www.nikonschool.com/index.html . They are off for the summer but there will be a fall schedule coming up soon.

Re: I

http://www.purplecar.net/2008/07/05/i/ — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:29:35 -0000

I compared Nikon and Canon and decided Nikon by a slight feature advantage. At the time the D70 LCD screen was slightly larger than comparable Canon and even the D70s, which had just come out. Of course, now I covet a D300 or D3x...bigger the boys, the bigger their toys, you know?

The best investment I made, though, was taking the Nikon School of Photography travelling workshop course when it came to Philly. Two days of class with two Pulitzer Prize-winning shooters, Michael Schwarz of Atlanta and Nick Didlick of Vancouver BC. They made it feel safe to take the camera off "auto" and non-threatening to start shooting RAW (NEF, in Nikon nomenclature). And the control you have when you shoot RAW is amazing. White balance errors? No problem, correct in PhotoShop. Underexposed, not an issue. Lots of control.

Nikon also has what I consider to be the best glass. Even though it may be years before I can justify spending $3,000 for a lens, the size of their lens family makes it attractive as a permanent investment with a clear upgrade path.