tom moody

Have been having some back-channel email discussion about whether a Facebook "like" of an artist's pronouncement, also made on Facebook, by a curator or critic, counts as an endorsement of the artist. What if three curators all "liked" it at the same time?
It seems if we're going to talk about a "like economy" (shudder), we're going to have to accept that social media buttons have meaning and that meaning can be preserved via screenshots. So therefore, if you're going to high five an artist who is hard at work building what an Art Papers writer, years ago, called a "personal legitimation script," you waive your right to complain if someone catches you in the act.
The conversation took an unpleasant turn with the suggestion that opinion-mongers had two alternatives: (i) to yuck it up, favin' and likin' artists along with high school and college buddies on Facebook (called a "social media presence"), or (ii) to live a life of bleak despair with a commentless blog that has no "like" buttons or any social media share options other than a copy-able permalink.*
Bad as option (ii) sounds, it doesn't mean being cut off from tbe world (people still endorse, trash-talk, and screenshot you) but best of all, you don't get poked.

*Update: and RSS

Have been using Bloglines as my main feed reader but couldn't access my account today. When I visited yesterday I was logged in but today a screen I hadn't seen before was asking me which social media service I wanted to use (answer: None, that's why I have Bloglines).
When I attempted to log in another screen said "that page is reserved."

So I checked out feedly.com. Here's the deal: Google is killing Google Reader on July 1, 2013.
If you use Reader and sign up for Feedly now, this is what happens:

1. You download some software (I used the Firefox extension)
2. Feedly redirects you via popup to your Google account and accesses your feeds.
3. You mess around with preferences to get your feeds looking they way you want them (am not crazy about light green as the mandatory color for hyperlinks).

Then on July 1, the day Feedly is calling "Normandy" (shouldn't it be "Dunkirk"?), you will theoretically be pre-migrated into Feedly when forced to flee the Google continent.

The FAQ is silent on whether you will then still log in through Google or whether they'll start making Feedly-only logins available. I would prefer the latter, to keep as much data as possible out of Big Goo. I've only been using Reader as a Bloglines backup and was glad I had it today.

Feedly claims to be "self-funded" but it's impossible to predict where your online reader experience may ultimately be funneled. Bloglines went down in 2010 and was acquired by a company called MerchantCircle, which up until today ran the old Bloglines software without tweaks or bugs.

Am still bullish on independent blogs aggregated through a reasonably neutral reader. I hope those following tommoody.us will take steps to find a new reader because "You Won't Find Me on Facebook."
Another option is "The Old Reader," which I haven't tried yet.

Addendum: Am using "full article" as my default view in Feedly. This means I can actually see at a glance all the content that some blogs, notably Paddy Johnson's, hide on a jump page. Other blogs (such as Corrente and Simon Reynolds) have configured their RSS to give you only a teaser, so you have to click through to their blogs anyway. Not necessarily a bad thing. My blog is better in Feedly for music files, since Feedly has embedded media player (not autoplay, don't worry) and I'm still atavistically resisting any embedded content here (I just hate that hang when scripts don't load properly).

Update: My Bloglines login is working again. Will continue to use this service as my main reader and watch how Feedly weathers Dunkirk. Bloglines is, all and all, a better, simpler design, and it's not an obnoxious "app" with a popup asking periodically for a rating.

see also dI4pkkX

Photo of children holding anti-GMO signs.

Gandhi quote.

Both links are to "Natural News," a Taiwan-hosted, English-written natural foods advocacy site whose main author appears to be based in Houston. Indie bloggers are spreading the word of the takedowns. Natural News isn't what you'd consider dangerous or irresponsibly nutty. The GMO protest was global. Sadly, the site considers Facebook so indispensable to getting the word out that they accept these suspensions and complain rather than take their social media business elsewhere.

Do biopesticides cause autism? As the Daily Howler would say, we don't know. The links above are presented as a public service re: what gets you blocked on Facebook these days. They are so restrictive over there, their eyes blink when their kneecaps move.