Mulubinba Moments

What is your Mulubinba Number?

Mathieu of Ban Sidhe appears to have become a collaborator in The Blogroll Small World Experiment. Whereas my original idea was to start with a random weblog and find the shortest path back to your home weblog via Blogroll links, Mathieu has come up with the concept of the Mulubinba Number, which is found by finding the shortest path back to your home blog starting from Mulubinba Moments (here).

Here are the instructions to find your Mulubinba Number:

Step 1. Start at mulubinba.typepad.com/mulubinba_moments/
Step 2. Use the blogroll (or any list of links to other weblogs) to find other weblogs with blogrolls.
Step 3. Compile a path of links through the world of weblogs that will take you home to your own weblog (or any other target you choose). You may have to explore several different possible paths until you find the shortest path to your home weblog.

The number of clicks needed to get to your weblog is your Mulubinba Number.

Remember, to get from blog A to blog B, blog B must be listed on blog A's blogroll (regardless of whether the reverse is true).

The theory is that most weblogs will have a Mulubinba Number of 6 or less. Let's see if that is true.

(Of course when I add Ban Sidhe to our blogroll its Mulubinba Number will change from 5 to 1.)

Trackback spam

We are currently experiencing problems with trackback spam. As a consequence we have disabled our trackback option for a while. Is anyone encountering similar problems?

Two stories and a blog worth reading

I have been following two stories on the internet over the past few days, one relating to a case of plagiarism and one relating to a case of breach of copyright (I think). Both stories have been very well outlined on this wonderful blog from Ontario called Bow.James Bow. Take a look at his entries on Parody and Fair Use and Fun with Hornets. In fact take a look at his entire blog - hours of good reading. i would be interested to hear your opinions on the two stories he details so well.

I really must try to find some blogs of similar standard in my own country so that I can at least understand the politics!

Blogging can be a Dangerous Pastime

When we started this blog we regarded it as a fun way to show a potential handful of readers our part of the world and an opportunity to write about topics that we found interesting. Occasionally it has been a way to vent some wrath. It appears however that blogs are deceptive. When you write a post and save it on your blog, typepad prints the words "publishing now". It is important to take these two words seriously. Posting means publishing and there are rules that need to be followed. If they are not, the unwary blogger may find themselves in serious trouble.

Some months ago Geoff wrote a post entitled Plagiarism and my Bedroom Wall which questions whether bloggers, who are having a bit of fun and unwittingly or knowingly use someone else's material without referencing correctly in a non serious blog, can be formally accused of plagiarism. The answer is a resounding YES! A google search on "Plagiarism and Blogging" led me to all sorts of results, one in particular caught my attention. It was written in April 2003 by Cynthia L. Webb, a Washington Post Staff Writer. The article entitled The Great Blogging Ethics Debate is well worth reading. Correct acknowledgement and reference when quoting someone else's work must be taken seriously whether you are writing a formal "professional type" blog or a blog that you think only your closest friends will read.

If you can't understand referencing then don't blog. Blogging is public not private. One of my daughters has started a blog along with many of her friends. She has been told about plagiarism and that there can be major consequences from the adult blogging world if she breaks the rules. Naivety and youth may not protect her.

Another caution: Occasionally readers can get caught up in the emotive issues attached to a post and can write comments that are vitriolic in nature. Avenging comments mobs like this however may need to take heed of an article written by Pejman Yousefzadeh on TCS Tech Central Station The Next Litigation Battleground. Apparently people who write comments of a derogatory nature about another person in the comments section of a blog can be sued for defamation.

Blogging therefore is not the benign activity we initially thought it was. I feel a surge of paranoia - I'm sticking to posting my own photos and writing my own material (no matter how mundane) and I'm certainly not going to mention anyone by name. Better go and check my past posts and will I leave my blog open for comments?....The "avenging comment mob" may head in this direction.

Magical Weblog Tour

I've been visiting a lot of weblogs lately - impressed by all the writing styles and feeling very much at a loss as to what to write on this one. The mug of tea is symbolic of the level of my inspiration - half empty is how I would describe it at the moment. I am therefore going to send visitors to this blog on a journey to some people I really find interesting. Sit back in your chairs and enjoy.

Travelling to the United States first, drop into Feathers of Hope in Davis, California. Pica is a friend of mine from school, 30 years ago - both she and Numenius write superbly. Heading across the country, we have Tvindy writing from Muncie, Indiana. This is always an enjoyable read and I particularly look forward to his Friday posts. For a glimpse into the life of a writer/poet/philosopher/farmer/environmentalist treat yourself to spending some time in Virginia with Fred at Fragments from Floyd. Moving north, more than an hour can be spent with Beth at Cassandra Pages who has been keeping us captivated by writing about the Consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire. The comments attached to these posts are also great reading and thought provoking. In Canada, visit Dan at North Coast Cafe and Chris at Bowen Island Bowen Island Journal. These are fascinating weblogs with beautiful photography.

Now, heading across the Atlantic, drop into Coup de Vent's weblog London and the North - "A tale of two lifestyles: living between the capital city and a Yorkshire village". This blog is a treat. For a taste of life in Spain and Spanish culture, a visit to Jonathan's Puerta del Sol Blog is a must. (Which reminds me that I should be studying for my spanish exam on Dec. 1st). We then move onto Japan to Laughing:Knees - a beautiful weblog - hours of work must go into this one and it shows. Butuki puts my expressive writing (or lack of) to shame.

Back home, I hope you, the imaginary reader, have enjoyed this "Magical Weblog Tour" I have taken you on. Now, to the Spanish study without delay......

The world's best blogs.

Today's Sydney Morning Herald has referred us to their opinion of the World's best blogs. Take a look.World's best blogs

Plagiarism and my bedroom wall

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s literary, artistic, or musical work as one’s own. Under copyright law, the fair use principle permits limited reproduction of another person’s work without permission for such purposes as teaching, research, news reporting or criticism. I copied the above from our 1993 edition World Book Encyclopedia (without permission). Is this allowed in a weblog? Or anywhere? Since I started contributing to our weblog I have assumed that a weblog is like any other type of writing, and that whenever I have copied information from elsewhere I have acknowledged the source (usually by including a hyperlink). But I have never asked for permission to do so. In a way a weblog is both private and public at the same time. You don’t need permission to stick a photo from a magazine onto your bedroom wall, and perhaps some would regard the weblog as an extension of the bedroom wall, but in a way which allows the rest of the world to look in through the window. Is that publishing? Does anyone care? I would like to do the right thing even though my words will probably be read by no more than ten people in the entire world!! (...Geoff)