Blog Cooperative – has its time come?

Take a look at Mark Carey’s work at Blog Co-op; what do you think?

I’m still trying to grasp what the intent of this Blog Co-op is from the content provided. Is this a real business model, one with promise?

Or is this something that’s DOA?

I can see the benefit to making use of the power of aggregated blogs; it’s a community that acts as one, uses its critical mass to effect a change.  But in the case of Blog Co-op, is there a direction, a particular locus for change?  Is it something that’s on standby, just in case?  What is it exactly that this co-operative is trying to do?

Another concern I have is the natural tendency for blogs to network and aggregate, whether tied structurally (as in Salon blogs) or by content and like-mindedness.  Does a Blog Co-op transcend this self-organizing force, or does it blatantly ignore it, discounting the potential disruption that self-organization might cause on a more formal relationship?  Are there already Blog Co-ops out there that operate successfully without the obstruction of an official structure?  Assuming, of course, that a Blog Co-op is different than a Blog Ring…

Think I’ll take a back seat, a move to the shade and watch for a bit before I make up my mind whether this is a good thing.

Feel free to jump in and tell Mark what you’re thinking; looks like he’s waiting for commentary.

UPDATE -- 9:02 PM EDT --

Yup, the link is hosed; I went to Mark's home page, http://www.markcarey.com and discovered he's in the middle of changing hosts.  Damn, that figures!!!  Watch his home page for an ETA to completion of the move.

7:14:58 AM    comment []

RantsCounterRants:  So where is he…???

Remember that poor Masters’ student who’d done a complete report of this nation’s infrastructure as his thesis?

Where is he?

Bet you dollars-to-donuts right now he knows where the weak points are in the power grid, where the redundancies failed during the power outage yesterday and where they will continue to fail today.

Somebody offer that kid a job NOW, for cryin’ out loud, quit whining about him being a threat to our national security.  We need that kid working for us, STAT!

7:10:39 AM    comment []

Just a Reminder: Virtual Occoquan call for submissions

Deadline: End of the Day 15-AUG-03

It's that time of year, when we're all too fatigued from the heat and lemonade has lost its charm; when the paper is filled with advertisements for 'Back to School' supplies; when some fiendish neighbor slips excess zucchinis into your mailbox in the middle of the night.

It's the End of Summer edition at Virtual Occoquan.

Now calling for End of Summer submissions -- email yours to Mark Hoback or to Rayne Today.

6:48:12 AM    comment []

Em-Powered

Looks bad east of here, not too good south of here.

Rather tenuous here...but we do have power!

This morning’s temp is already 70F, with a wicked humidity level of 93%; this means there’s going to be a lot of air conditioners running and placing a much higher than usual load on the portion of the power grid that’s up and running.

Detroit is not in good shape; they’re boiling what little water they have.  Same with the greater Flint area, only about an hour north of Detroit; they share the same water supply as Detroit.  (This means we may have family members heading here for a visit this weekend.)

Hubby is excessively optimistic – he’s just left for a meeting in Detroit with one of the Big Three automakers.  I don’t think he’ll find anyone in the office.  He thinks he can reach someone by cell phone on the way there.  Hah! 

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Damn – I just realized I should have made him take a couple bottles of water with him this morning! I better stop for a second and call him…ah, good job, he thought to take some with him.

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I’m going to get out the emergency preparedness list, check it over.  We found a few holes in the plan yesterday.  First, we’ve been working on the assumption that the worst case would occur during winter.  Second, we’ve not checked our supplies since spring.  Not goodl; batteries could be critical.  I’m going to play it safe, sanitize some extra buckets and run some water in them in case the power grid in this area collapses later today.  The cell phone is staying on the charger until I leave the house or the next blackout.

Looks like I’d better reduce usage here, too, and be prepared for unstable internet service.  I’ve already written a few posts for the day, will put them up but not flip them on until later, depending on local power.

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Just as I suspected…hubby just called, even as I’m typing this.  The folks he’s meeting with in the Detroit area don’t have power.  He’s turned around and heading back to his local office.  I wasn’t too sure he’d make it; there’s a refinery between here and Detroit which has a “HAZMAT situation” in progress.  Apparently hydrogen stored on site exploded when required cooling equipment failed last evening.  They’ve shut down I-75 north and southbound in that immediate area; hubby would have had to take a wide detour to make it to his meeting site. (UPDATE 708AM EST: Hmm, the newspeople aren't too certain where this refinery is -- conflicting information available right now.  It might be south of Detroit.  Whatever...)

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Well, off to tackle my emergency preparedness chores and think of ways to keep the kids amused without television or air conditioning today.  Or, in other words, make like 1955.

Stay cool out there!

6:31:03 AM    comment []