Dear Shoban,

I was reading some of your earlier entries. One from Sept. 3rd, entitled “Sorry I cannot blog” caught my eye. You write: “I am not really sure what a blog “ring” is or what it does to its members”, “I just don’t have enough free time to read other people’s blog everyday, leave alone “blogging” everyday.” “I don’t consider blogs as Web sites”

I’d like to add my two cents to your observations. Firstly, however, since I’m commenting on this entry, I’ll say that here in Los Angeles, there are a lot more than just one language spoken. On my drive into work I see dozens of billboards in different languages. I only speak English, because I was born here, and even though I took four years of Spanish back in school (enough to read the billboards) I don’t speak that language. In some parts of town, I sometimes think I’m a “foreigner” in my own hometown. So I’d have to disagree. There are lots of languages in America. And a lot of folks in America use more than just English.

Now, to comment about your “sorry, no blog” entry. I’m only one person, and I’m sure I’m not the norm when it comes to websites, but I’ve had my personal website online since 1999. (It went online on my birthday, May 1) It’s address is http://www.allthingsmike.com I can’t write HTML from scratch (well, I can, but I prefer the Dreamweaver program) Before blogging software became ubiquitous, I was writing “journals” on some of my webpages. The “blogging” software merely automatically adds the date. Unlike you, I think of a blog as a webpage. I even index my blog, as I do my website, and some pages of my blog are linked from my site, and vice versa. I also try to insure that the “style” of my site carries over into my blog. “Blog” just stands for “weblog” and the software was initially used for journaling, hence the datestamps.

I happen to run a few blogrings. Unlike a webring, which linked like minded websites, a blogring can be a mix between a webring and a ‘group’ or ‘club’, email software which allows folks to communicate through the group. With a blogring, the communication is through the blog entries, which can be linked through the web pool on the blogring. Most blogrings are just lists of sites. Some, like mine, the Internet Island, are participatory. I have a site for the ring and I propose subjects upon which the “Islanders” can write blog entries.

I agree that an individual can’t “blog” every day. Some people do, in fact I think there are some people who “live” on Xanga by the amount of comments I see on their sites and the amounts of comments they leave. I prefer to visit every once in a while, and then I write “letters”.

Interesting viewpoint. I’m going to have to find your other websites and check out the style. I’d appreciate an assessment of my site (link above) It’s possibly the largest free personal website left on the web, and most of the links still work too! I must have over a thousand pages online in dozens of sites, all linked back to allthingsmike.

Thank you for the nice comment on my Cultural Blender Video (which is a part of my Cultural Blender website. )

Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool