Disqus - Latest Comments for chrispian

Re: Newspapers: Stop Hiding Behind The First Amendment

chrispian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:01:49 -0000

It's probably me. Re-reading it it's perfectly clear, lol. Just one of those days. Interesting idea of not allowing anonymous commenters. I like the idea. When you say anonymous, do you mean like they don't know who they are, or simply requiring a name/email address? Because if you want the newspapers to verify the commenters then would you be willing to do the same? Requiring some ID or something? I know I'd be less likely to comment just because of the hassle factor alone, lol. On the other hand, as a web publisher, I love the idea of having a user accountable for their actions. They'll behave better and the sheer process of making an account would deter all but the most serious of trolls.

If it comes to the issue of litigation tho, I think the newspapers have a strong case. I can't recall any cases where someone successfully sued a web site that allows *anyone* to post. Most of those were based on the precendant set for not holding ISPs accountable. Blogs and Newspapers seem the most likely to be vulnerable (legally) vs say, a forum or myspace type place. And when I say vulnerable, I mean like could lose the case. In this country, they'll try to sue you because you used a font they didn't like, yet you let them pick the font!

I need to think about it more, but I think my gut instinct would be that this couldn't work, if we are talking about really knowing who a commenter is. If we are talking about just asking for name/email, then just pretend I didn't type anything here today and carry on.

Re: Newspapers: Stop Hiding Behind The First Amendment

chrispian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:00:08 -0000

Jason, so if I understand correctly, you think the papers (and thus, every site online) should be held accountable for what anonymous commenters say?

How would you go about proving who said what? How would you even know this is me? I could come back in an hour, find this post and sue you for it (assuming I said something to get you/me into trouble). So now, as a web site owner, I have to worry about anonymous comments. Even when someone is logged in, they might as well be anonymous. I can go right now and sign up for a fake email, gravatar, disqus, twitter account and suddenly be a "real" person.

There is case president on protecting blogs, forums, web sites, service providers, etc. in cases like this. How could you be liable for what another person says in essentially a public place. I may be mis-understanding you on this subject. I'd love to talk more about it. This is an interesting subject!

Re: Saddleback Leather is Just Delicious - video review

chrispian — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:45:11 -0000

I've had my eye on these bags for a while. Saving up to get a couple items from them. Very nice looking stuff. Love it.

Re: Confusing the blogging concept with the current ecosystem

chrispian — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:33:08 -0000

Yeah, I remember when TV was invented and they stopped publishing books, newspapers & magazines. Oh, right. Never happened.

Re: The ‘numbers’ of blog readers are bullshit

chrispian — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:56:34 -0000

Couldn't agree more. For years I've been calling these things "websites". Call me crazy.

Re: Why Pay For a Blog Platform?

chrispian — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:33:01 -0000

Good point, I totally forgot about the other licensing.

Re: Why Pay For a Blog Platform?

chrispian — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:25:20 -0000

No offense to Drupal, but even I'm not that geeky. The original reason for EE was at the time there were only a handful of CMS packages that were stable enough and robust enough to do what we wanted and after using it, I really like it. It's also dirt cheap for CMS of it's class, I think around $249. Huge community, the company is big into open source (code igniter) and I still haven't found anything I like better.

Do you have a CMS you prefer for larger than wordpress sites?

Re: Why Pay For a Blog Platform?

chrispian — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:11:42 -0000

I'm a big fan of Wordpress and use it wherever I can, wherever it makes sense. But we also use Expression Engine for our bigger sites, things that require a full blown CMS. It's apples and oranges for us. I would be very unlikely to use anything but WP for a blog style site. Likewise, I'd use EE for any big site that benefits from the extra features of a full on CMS.

Re: A New Hope - Obama/Star Wars Spoof Now Available as a T-Shirt

chrispian — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:35:24 -0000

Ok, now that's cool.

Re: Sucks to be a Blog Network These Days

chrispian — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:53:24 -0000

I have the same advice for content folks as I did during the dot com bust. Tighten your belts but stay in the game. Those who continue publishing and maintain their properties will be in a good position when things turn around. Likewise, this is a good time for new people to get in if they are willing to tough it out at first to establish themselves. This thing could last a couple of years and if it does were going to see a lot of big, slow companies losing faith creating opportunity for smaller more agile companies. I'm not saying it's going to be easy and I agree 100% with you but I'm also looking at this as another opportunity. I missed the last one, I won't miss this one. Just my two bits.

Re: Zappos pays new employees to quit

chrispian — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:44:39 -0000

I discovered them at sxsw for the first time in 06 and have been following the company since. They are one of the few companies that seem to get it and it wasn't by accident. I hadn't heard about them offering new employees a quitting bonus. Very original.

Re: God Bless Everyone

chrispian — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:49:50 -0000

Not a big fan of "Political Correctness" at all. It's okay for people to be different and be proud of being different. However, the America part isn't the offensive part anyway. Leaving 'God' on there is still a problem for people. I guess to be truly PC it should just say "Bless Everyone" or "INSERT DIETY BLESS EVERYONE* lol.

Don't get me wrong, I love the message of this shirt! I'm just poking a little fun at the irony.

Re: What’s Duncan Riley got up his sleeve now?

chrispian — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:50:55 -0000

Looks like a popurls/alltop type directory thing, which I like. I want to do one mixed with a little memetracker type stuff.

Re: 10 Questions with Patrick O’Keefe, Moderation Guru & Author

chrispian — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:13:04 -0000

Great interview guys!

Re: How can you tell this is going to raise a shitstorm?

chrispian — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:06:27 -0000

As long as they don't TAKE AWAY existing features I'm fine with them charging for extra features. That seems like a pretty fair trade to me.

Re: Do You Have A Mentor?

chrispian — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:10:00 -0000

I think this is something that should be brought up more often. Mentoring used to be something that was much more common that it is now. I've been fortunate enough to have a few mentors along the way in my life and most recently a more "formal" mentoring relationship with someone here locally. It's an amazing way to learn and grow. I highly recommend it.

chrispian's last blog post..GPD08 - Good People Day

Re: Good People Day Meme (GPD08)

chrispian — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:00:31 -0000

Great post! Gary did an awesome thing pulling this off on such short notice and on top of that being out of town and flying for 7 hours of it! This was a great idea and I can't wait to see how big it gets next year!

chrispian's last blog post..GPD08 - Good People Day

Re: http://gary.tumblr.com/post/78889102

chrispian — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:25:04 -0000

I love how jazzed you get about stuff. I love the idea, I'm in. I'll pass it on!

Re: Blog Comments Need to Be Simple

chrispian — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:19:56 -0000

Indeed. I'm seeing this happen more and more. I'm all for making it harder for spammers - but don't make it harder for people. Another trend I've been seeing is people who don't have comments at all on blogs. While I used to think that was okay, when I see people posting something I want to contribute to, especially if it's to offer a correction or add something from my experience. I was in the camp of blogs without comments were fine, but now I don't really see the point. Plus, it annoys me personally ;)