stat uncounter?

So, apparently this blog has had 0 visitors since April of this year. I don't check statcounter much anymore, being content with simply naively trusting that there is something like a readership in existence. (Perhaps my alien friends don't get counted on statcounter? Which suggests a cosmic xenophobic bias in the statcounting technology, there. Get to work on fixing that, please.)

So...helloooooooooooo? Are you there, Readers? It's me, JTB...

dear alien friends, "National" means you too...?

Dear Alien Friends,

Since my "Blog in Space" html code has stopped functioning, I know that I'm technically no longer beaming my bloggy thoughts out to the stars in your general direction. But I assume that when I was, some of you caught on and no doubt have become loyal readers, because after all, rude truth is addictive. And I will further assume that your incomprehensible technically advanced culture will surely provide ways of alternative access to this blog even if I'm no longer blogging-in-space myself.

So I feel the necessity to offer an excuse and apology for my human, Christian brethren (and sistren) who have decided to start making noise about a National Day of Prayer. They're not apparently aware of the millions of God's chilluns that their strangely restrictive invitation is leaving out. I know that may seem strange to you, especially since God has always shown particular concern for the aliens among us, but--well, have you ever heard of the human idiom "blind spot?" There's this excellent parable, too, about specks in your brother's eye and logs in your own...Oh. You might not have "eyes." Never mind.

Anyhow, I hope you'll forgive this cosmic faux pas, and that this doesn't incite any hotheads on your side of the universe to, say, want to destroy the earth or something.

Thanks for sticking around, alien friends! It's nice to know we're all stuck in this same universe together...

culling the crowd

Some of you may have noticed that this blog, unlike many others, does not require a word verification or a blogger name/password in order to comment. That's mostly because I blog about things most people aren't interested in discussing--personal news, occasional theology and posthumanism just doesn't get much traffic. That's fine, because that's how I like it.

But other blogs and groups are organized around the purpose of generating discussion and/or debate. GKB's was a veritable hotbed of controversy back in the day before he got kindler and gentler. It can be an enjoyable or exasperating distraction, and it can sometimes lead to a helpful clarification or expansion of a topic, a sort of virtual seminar, if it goes well. But it doesn't always go well and probably mostly doesn't; many people have noted that the anonymity and disembodiedness of virtual encounter in the blogosphere tends to encourage loosened standards with regard to the epistemic virtues of intellectual rigor, honesty, humility, and courtesy.

Which brings me to my question. How do you determine when enough is enough? What standards are fair when deciding to block comments or bar participation? And how do you balance this with maintaining a spirit of openness to dissent--an absolutely necessary component to any collaborative human effort at seeking truth together? When does moderation become censorship? When does dissent become blasphemy? When does consensus become tyranny?

And what might our alien friends think of all this misbehavior?

my other audience

Hello aliens,

I hope you're still reading the blog. I know that generally the concerns addressed here are rather parochial from your undoubtedly cosmic point of view but I like to think that my blog-in-space efforts have an audience. Unfortunately, statcounter isn't able to track you (what's your ISP?) so I can never really be sure.

But it looks like we may have found your home. Or maybe a neighbor? Or maybe we're way off...but if we're right, then you might have water, like us, your planet might be rocky or might be one big ocean, and you're probably a lot shorter and stockier than we are 'cause your gravity is 5 times the 9.8 m/s2 we've got going on here. But there's a chance that, if your planet's like ours, you might be a great deal like us...enough that we could maybe communicate. Of course, reading this blog kind of answers that question. Please feel free to leave a comment. And if we've got you confused with someone else's planet, it would be really helpful if you'd let us know. Maybe a map? Or at least a nudge in the right direction.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/24/exoplanet.reut/index.html