13 Responses to “Thanks”

1. Afonso Says:
   December 15th, 2003 at 4:04 am

   Thanks Aine
   About BS, let me explain you dear Aine Watson why your assumptions couldn’t be true:

   1. We live in diferent cities, 300 km distant, so it would be too easy to detect diferent IP’s. I know what you’re going to say dear Watson. We could pretend to be using another IP. But last time I was told this is a fantasy stock market, not a real stock market.
   2. He has at least 2 domains registered in his name.
   3. If you do a little research my blog’s first version dates from 4th February and has some details about my ID in it. It’s not a nickname.
   4. Wouldn’t it be too obvious to pretend we don’t like each other? That’s a trick commonly used by lovers to hide their secret affairs. You would expect more from me, right?

   Signed,
   Your friend Afonso Holmes

2. Afonso Says:
   December 15th, 2003 at 4:23 am

   Dear Aine Watson, did you know one of the best world jokes is about us? Please read:

   One lovely evening, the detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusty friend Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After having dinner and drinking a few glasses of wine, they became tired and went to
   sleep. A couple hours passed and Sherlock Holmes awoke, and shortly thereafter woke Dr. Watson as well. He said, “Watson, look up, and tell me what you see.”
   Dr. Watson replied, “Well, sir, I see millions of stars in the sky.”
   Sherlock Holmes asked, “And what does that tell you?”
   Dr. Watson paused for a moment and said, “Well, astronomically it tells me that there are billions of stars and possibly millions of galaxies in the universe. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Horalogically I can deduce that it is approximately quarter past three in the morning. Theologically it symbolizes that God is magnificent and that we humans are small and insignificant in the universe. And meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.”
   To which Sherlock Holmes replied, “No, stupid! Someone has stolen our tent!”

   As you see dear Aine Watson I don’t take you too seriously, I just love to exercice your brain cells. If they get too excited please remember about our friend Freud: “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”

   Now seriously Aine, you know me a little to know that I wouldn’t miss this chance to provoke you…hahaha

3. Aine Says:
   December 15th, 2003 at 10:15 am

   LMAO! I think I should pull your chain more often, if it will result in such creative posts…
   

4. Afonso Says:
   December 15th, 2003 at 11:31 pm

   I was inspired…hehe

5. Ben Says:
   December 16th, 2003 at 8:49 pm

   Blogshares aside, I don’t believe in the idea of reciprical (I can’t spell) link swapping because it dilutes the value of the link. If you only have a few links on your web site and they’re all terrific things you read every day, well…I’ll just say this. If I visit a web site I like and they have four or five links on their site, on one bored day I might take a look at those links.

   On your site though, especially given that you’ve advertised how you got them, I won’t visit any of them. I’m sure *some* are good, but by so casually linking people, it’s too much a gamble for my time.

   I so rarely plug someone on my site, I’d like to think that when I do, my visitors take notice and actually visit it.

6. meg Says:
   December 16th, 2003 at 9:04 pm

   The link idea. Isn’t that something like link farming? When it’s an exchange link place then we don’t really want to be there. Some might so go for it. Otherwise, it doesn’t sound like a good idea.

   Oh, I came here to say that you have one of the attractive blogs I have seen. I like black and white with the touch of red. Very nice. Your place here looks like a quality place to visit. You shouldn’t have to do exchange links. Folks will link to you because they like it here. You’ve got a lot going for you in the design alone (did you do it?).

   We’ll come back another day to look around. Hope you don’t mind this unsolicited opinion about the reciprocol link idea.

7. Aine Says:
   December 16th, 2003 at 11:02 pm

   I don’t mind differing opinions on the link idea. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and I do like to hear what other people think. The links are really there for my own convenience, and exchanging links gives me an idea of the people visiting my blog. If they’re going to drop by, I’m going to be neighborly and drop by their place too. That’s the way I look at it.

   As for Mandarin Design, I think it is a valuable resource for web designers… thus you are listed in the Encode section, which is where I’m putting my favorite design resources.

   Thank you for the compliment on this design. Yes, I did it myself, with a little tweaking help from my friend Morgaine LeFaye (she often catches things I don’t *see* at first). The entire month of November of this year was spent with me pouring over sites about CSS and web standards, and also figuring out how to control the look and feel of this blog. For me, it was like… major enlightment month. I love it when that happens.

8. Afonso Says:
   December 17th, 2003 at 7:14 am

   My thoughts about link swapping:

   I do agree that to link someone just because I consider them as friends can lead to some low-quality blogs, but then I think “if my friends are special, their blog is also special”. That’s the way I see it. Besides who knows me a little know how selective I am with friends, so that values even more the value of my links and the people listed in my blog. I also never ask for reciprocal links because I don’t like the feeling of someone linking to me because the feel some kind of obligation to do it. Same with comments. Most of the times I never comment in the blogs I read. Some people think that a box full of comments means it’s a wonderful blog. For me it just means that most of the time people comment because they want to be seen, not because they really like the blog. I had some hilarious comments of people in my blog just because they wanted a link back. The comments were hilarious because they usually refered to the first paragraphs of the post. A few were written by frequent readers.
   This said, I like Aine’s idea of neighbours in a medium(the net) without fisical frontiers. What she says make all sense. A few days ago I read a post of a known portuguese blogger where he wrote about the same refering to the portuguese “community” of bloggers.

9. Aine Says:
   December 17th, 2003 at 1:34 pm

   Who is to say what is a “low quality” blog? I certainly don’t feel compelled to conform to other peoples’ definitions when composing my own entries or designing my blog. Not only that, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt… I like to think that by giving them exposure, I’m also giving them a reason to improve their writing or their design… because, hey, somebody’s coming to visit!

   I actually had an entire rant written up on this subject, but I haven’t decided whether I’ll post it here or not because likely it would just lead to more of the same sorts of comments.

   Suffice it to say, the sidebar links on my blog are there for my own convenience, not that of my visitors, but if they respect my opinions and the ideas I write about, then they might find my sidebar links rather interesting. These folks in my sidebar are my neighbors in cyber space, where there are no borders, no fences, no boundaries, and really, no rules.

   If I only link to what some people consider to be the “top blogs” (and my opinion obviously differs from theirs) then I limit my exposure to people who are currently outside of that box …and keep in mind that in order to make their way into that box, they need to be seen and read.

   You won’t find links to porno or multi-level marketing sites over there in the sidebar. You also won’t be seeing my blog plastered with ads, even if those ads would be a source of revenue for me. I do have some standards. *grins*

10. Afonso Says:
    December 17th, 2003 at 2:29 pm

    That would take too much time to explain Aine…too much time. But if in a few weeks you’re still interested I will e-mail you my definition of what a low-quality blog is.

11. Aine Says:
    December 17th, 2003 at 4:23 pm

    My point, Mr. Afonso Sherlock, is that each of us have in our own minds the definition of what is a “low quality” blog, and that by virtue of us being separate individuals, it is likely that what one person considers “icky” another person might like. Such is the nature of the human brain and aesthetics.

    And I do think that if a person starts getting visitors to their blog, knowing someone is reading can often lead to a desire to improve things. If you know you’re not being read, you have no incentive to improve except that which exists within yourself. Having others remark on things is another form of motivation and inspiration. One is not inherently better than another, but every little bit helps.

    My goal in having a blog is not to attract a huge audience and join the people in the box, though I’ll admit that would be a nifty bonus,… my goal is to have a place to write my thoughts, a place to speak my mind… whether anyone is listening or not. In as much as my blog is online and viewable (by myself, but also by others), and I haven’t blinded or hurt anyone in the process, I’ve succeeded. hehehehe

12. Afonso Says:
    December 17th, 2003 at 5:16 pm

    Holmes. My name is Holmes. Afonso Holmes…

    Ok, serious now. Of course more visitors is a reason for someone to improve their blog, Aine. That already happens to people speaking to a small audience or a huge one. what I meant was that I am not going to link some shity blog hoping they will improve it’s quality because I link to them. They must have to meet my minimum standards. I care a lot about the quality of my links. One of my readers even says she visits them because she knows in advance it’s worth the visit. I am not saying you’re right or wrong. What I am trying to say is that one thing is my bookmarks list where I keep the links I personally like, and other thing is my blog list which is where I put the links that I personally like and that I think may be of some value to my readers. I also don’t always link to top blogs.
    And when I write my blog I keep in my mind that I am the first reader, but it would be selfish to write it only for myself. If I wanted to write for myself I wouldn’t need to share some of my intimacy online, I would instead write a paper diary and keep it private.
    About the audience and comments. Well, as I use to say, I don’t write a blog for people to massage my ego. I know what I am worthy. If people criticize I listen. If people praise I listen. I love to learn with other’s experiences but I do have my own way of doing things. Like Morgaine once said to me, other have the right to have an opinion, but it doesn’t mean I agree with it. She couldn’t be more exact about what I think of comments. I am not bribable, and I am not easily shaken by ugly faces. In fact sometimes I do prefer ugly faces. It means I am in the right path…I know, I am a stupid arrogant…hehehe

13. Arvind Satyanarayan Says:
    December 25th, 2003 at 2:44 am

    ps. linked to u http://blog.arvind-satya.com/ After I saw a news thing from you’re blog I’ve become a pretty much avid reader !