Blogcritics

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Overlooked Blog Review - Big Dog's Weblog

John Bambenek — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 18:12:34 EST

Big Dog is an anonymous milblog written by a 24 year retired veteran of the United States Army. He also hosts a radio show on a conservative talk radio station, Wide Awakes Radio (which is currently down for upgrades). Big Dog primarily writes on political subjects and current events from a conservative perspective and has been blogging since August 2004. Far from being a typical partisan cheerleader, a regular feature of the blog is the "Jackass of the Month award", this month's award going to Republican politicians.The blog design is clean and easy to access without the cluttering of a tremendous amount of widgets and blogrolls that characterize so many other blogs. The content, not ads, take center stage.The writing is clear and relevant to the issues of the day. Big Dog brutally slays opposing points of view without descending into the fecal-slinging typical of the gibbering yard apes that can populate the blogosphere. The blog is frequently updated with several new posts a day covering whatever is news at the moment. The one drawback is that there doesn't seem to be much in the way of discussion on the site.Big Dog's Weblog is active in several conservative blogging groups and provides unique and insightful commentary (albeit direct and blunt) that makes it a must-read particularly for those interested in popular conservatism.If you would like to suggest a blog for the Overlooked Blog Review, please contact John Bambenek at jcb.blog {at} gmail [dot] com. You can read the guidelines for nominating here. Blogs profiled are given a free month membership to Blog Soldiers.

John Bambenek is an academic professional for the University of Illinois. He is the author of Illinois Deserves Better and is an information security professional, part of the Internet Storm Center and a courseware author and certification grader for the GIAC family of security certifications. He blogs at Part-Time Pundit and is the executive director of The Tumaini Foundation which helps AIDS orphans and other children in Tanzania to get an education.

Blog Review: American Future

John Bambenek — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 05:16:10 EDT

Good foreign affairs blogs are hard to find. Regardless of where they are on the political spectrum, most of them are simply random people bloviating on what they think really goes on in the world. However, American Future is different. Of the three contributors, two are Foreign Service Officers with the State Department (Dr. Demarche and George Smiley, previously of Daily Demarche). The main author is also well-versed and trained in the subject. Far from armchair generals, they know what they are talking about. They bring crisp and informed commentary to the foreign and national security headlines.Generally focusing on commentary in the media from so-called foreign policy experts, they dissect opposing opinions point by point and convincingly show their perspective. It is free of the vile and inflammatory attacks that characterize most attempts to engage "political opponents". Most conservatives would feel at home at this site (though I disagree with them about whether Hezbollah won against Israel or not).The design is clean and puts a clear emphasis on the posts, not full of all the "widgets" that have proliferated in the blogosphere. It's down-to-earth and straight to the point.American Future is a must-read for anyone who wants to keep up with foreign policy and national security issues.If you would like to suggest a blog for the Overlooked Blog Review, please contact John Bambenek at jcb.blog {at} gmail [dot] com. You can read the guidelines for nominating here. Blogs profiled are given a free month membership to Blog Soldiers.

Overlooked Blog Review: Urbanagora

John Bambenek — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 00:07:17 EDT

The point-counterpoint style columns and blogs are ubiquitous and run very close to being cliché. However, Urbanagora overcomes that problem with two solid writers who do the Hannity and Colmes format the right way.Brian Pierce and Billy Joe Mills are both columnists for the Daily Illini and two of the more influential political writers in central Illinois. They both are solid thinkers who communicate their points well. In fact, it is hard to read anything they write without coming away thinking you can't really disagree with it.Their commitment to serious discussion with opposing points of view is a refreshing change from the WWE-style form of political discussion that is all too common in the blogosphere and on cable news channels. In fact, both writing from a college town, they overcome the typical mudslinging that pervades the conversations among the supposed "intellectual elite". Those mediums spend their time presenting personalities and suck up all the oxygen in the room leaving nothing left for ideas. Billy and Brian bring ideas.By stimulating serious conversation between opposing points of view, they are doing the University community and the blogosphere a great service. This is the way political discussion should be done.If you would like to suggest a blog for the Overlooked Blog Review, please contact John Bambenek at jcb.blog {at} gmail [dot] com.