internet

Spurred on by Matthew Ingram’s post on blogs affecting politics (and society), I’m wondering to what extent local (Northern Irish) bloggers can challenge traditional preconceptions in our wider society.

That was a long sentence! What I mean is, can blogs like Slugger encourage a wider variety of debate than what we’re exposed to when it’s just one-way propaganda from the party press office?

I specifically mention Slugger O’Toole, because Mick Fealty and the team have done a fantastic job of creating an open forum for debate. In fact, a few people (who don’t know about my double life as Levee) have recommended Slugger to me. They’re always enthusiastic. Many can see from the comments how regressive the ‘old’ attitudes are, and biggoted commentary exposes the futility of the traditional stances (my opinion).

There are other sites which impress me due to their seeming desire to explore new avenues. For instance, Big Ulsterman regularly challenges traditional ideologies by putting forward an alternative viewpoint and trying to reconcile ‘his’ culture and background with Nationalism and (to a lesser degree) Catholicism. He too, appears tired of politics here running around in circles with nothing ever being resolved and rarely ends a post without suggesting something Big that his subject might undertake.

Can Northern Irish Bloggers Make A Difference?

Over to you. Can those of us who blog on politics here make a difference? Is our audience wide enough to make a dent in the old school? What was your motivation for starting a blog in the first place (assuming you have one)?

Update: Slugger has recently run a more detailed commentary on this subject. Worth a read.

Thursday, April 27th, 2006 // Northern Ireland: Politics

EatLiver.com is a bizarre name for a website, especially one which has a gallery of almost 1,000 hilarious pictures found across the Internet.

They’ve got truck-lifting Russian girlfriends, a psychiatrist who leaves his business card on high-rise office ledges and warnings about stepping out on the ice.

Still, my favourite two so far are the ones I’ve included here - the Chuck Norris Action Jeans (straight out of the catalogue) and the Baby sign. No Sleep, No Free Time, No Fun. Next 18 Years.

Well, I don’t know about “no fun”, but the rest is about right!

Monday, April 24th, 2006 // Observations

Mr Levee recently posted about the new phenomena that is Google Idol.

We spotted the Pomme and Kelly videos early in the contest and knew they would go far. It seems that we were right and this week Pomme and Kelly became our new Gidols and were presented with the grand prize of $250 (which they are going to donate to charity!)
The girls entered the contest as just a bit of fun, but have found themselves drawing the attention of the worlds media and have aquired thousands of fans in just two and a half months.

Getting more attention than they bargained for, the girls controversially removed all their videos except their Google Idol entry from their website and asked that anyone with downloaded copies keep them off the internet.

If anyone is checking out the Google Idol site, make sure to check out the Anthony and Katy videos. these are a bit more rehearsed and less raw than Pomme and Kelly’s offerings but equally hilarious!

Monday, April 3rd, 2006 // Observations

Mrs L and I have spent most of this evening laughing at the unfortunate people who have submitted video clips of themselves to Google Idol.

The idea is, you do a video of yourself lip-synching to your favourite tune - and you can ham it up as much as you want - and then upload it to Google Video. Then you enter by submitting your video on Google Idol and wait for the votes to roll in!

The saddos in the picture above are doing their spoof version of Europe’s The Final Countdown. Our favourite Gidols (yes, they have a name) are Pomme and Kelly and their version of Respect. A quick search on Google Video reveals that they’ve got a whole back catalog of classic lip-synchs! If you do one thing today, go and vote for Pomme and Kelly in the competition!

Hold up! They’ve got their own website and they’re canvassing for votes! I could waste a lot of time watching this Google Idol competition!

Saturday, March 18th, 2006 // Observations

While looking through a couple of literary sites I came across an amazing site which?I am ashamed to say I had never heard of before. Given that the site boasts over 300 new members each day and that its title has been added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as a new word I would have thought I would have happened upon it by now.

Many of you are probably already aware of the BookCrossing site, but for those who aren’t here’s what it’s all about.

Basically?next time?you read a good book that you want to pass on, register it with the bookcrossing site. You will be provided a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number), which along with the website address you use to label the book. You also have an opportunity to write a journal entry on the book. Once this is done, release the book!

Releasing?a book can be done in many ways. You can give it to a friend and direct them to the website, give it to charity, or simply leave it on a park bench or cafe table.

You will subsequently be notified by email each time someone comes?to the BookCrossing site?and records journal entries for that book. Or to make?the book?easier for fellow BookCrossers to find you can create a release note stating where the book was released allowing others to Go Hunting for it.

When I found this site, I was sure it was an American thing. This sort of thing can’t go on in Northern Ireland right? Wrong! Imagine my surprise to find out that Northern Ireland BookCrossers have released 34 books into the wild in the last 30 days.

So tomorrow I am on my way to Queens University Quadrangle and Film Theatre,?I will then be touring the telephones boxes of both Bradbury Place and The Dublin Road and see what treasures I can find. If anyone beats me to it I’d love to hear what you found!

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 // Book Reviews