BoingBoing's credibility crisis

Bloggers have been crowing about their increasing relevance and importance, and it's hard to argue. I certainly get more news through RSS feeds than ever, although I also read newspapers (online). But blogs are a relatively new phenomenon, and there isn't exactly a strong code of journalism. They're making it up as they go along, and sometimes that's painfully obvious.

BoingBoing.net is caught up in a dramafest, having purged its archives of all articles containing references to a fellow blogger who apparently "displeased" an editor. No explanation or criteria is forthcoming, although all arrows point in one direction: Xeni Jardin (a very serious journalist).

Now I ask you, if A.M. Rosenthal had ordered the destruction of all articles in the NYT archives containing references to Truman Capote because, well, Abe was jealous of Truman's shinier head, would that fly?

Blogs will soon overtake what they call the "mainstream media" and if so, people will hold them to something resembling journalistic standards. They can't use the "Daily Show" argument to try to wriggle out of accountability: when they raise serious issues, they're serious about them. BoingBoing wields tremendous referential power, and they've been caught exercising it poorly. Credibility is a hard thing to build, and such an easy thing to throw away.

The Carpenters remembered

How will The Carpenters be remembered in fifty years when their contemporaries are mostly gone? My guess is that they will be patron saints of the Scientologists, Raëlians and other UFO religions in eternal gratitude for their cover of the paen to World Contact Day: Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. (The original groovy recording was by Klaatu featuring the groovy Mellotron.)

As for Karen Carpenter, Todd Haynes' banned masterpiece Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story will forever be considered the definitive account of her life and death, despite of (and because of) her brother's attempts at eradication; in contrast, the E! True Hollywood Story scarcely bears mention. The film is no longer in official circulation, but can be intermittently viewed online or purchased as part of a collection of illegal art (it sits proudly on my shelf).

Colour laser printers not anonymous

We have a lovely new colour laser printer. It is pretty sweet... except I can't use it anonymously. If I print something that annoys somebody, like maybe expose corporate or government corruption, or express an unpopular or dangerous political opinion, it can be traced back to me.

This is done with little yellow dots scattered across the image. You can't see them easily. They are intended to fight counterfeiting of currency; there is no law mandating this; some (not all) printer makers do it to mollify governments. And hey, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that counterfeit currency is a bad thing that hurts us all. But to solve that problem I'm not willing to end privacy and anonymity of the printed word.

So imagine that I do want to use my printer for anonymous communication. Say I call my printer manufacturer to ask how to turn off the narc bits: chances are, I'll get a visit from the goon squad to ask me what my intentions are. And chances are I'll get added to a list of "troublemakers".

That sounds like good company. Count me in.

Another ode, in the Key of 36

Could everyone with brains 3ven hesitate? Horrible legal strategies, yes. 0verrun 4thright 8usinesses which ought've 8een 4sighted. Keep cognizant good knowledge will win over 0bstructions.

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