Thanks for nothing, Google

Dear Google,

Your Kool-Aid is tasting bitter these days. If you don't want to be seen as EVIL, please bring your Blogger service up to standard.

After trying WordPress, I now understand why people questioned my staying on Blogger. One very big difference is in the ability to moderate comments and users. On WP, comments are moderated by default, but once someone is recognized by the blog owner, they can post freely ever-after. So when I, for example, pick up a nasty troll, I can simply ignore the comments. Poof! I can also block or moderate specific IP addresses, email addresses, names, words -- so much more flexible.

Seriously, Google, you are GODS in the arena of info tracking, how come you make this so difficult? Sure, there is a "report abuse" button but that is only to be used for reporting an abusive blog -- which mine is NOT. In fact, there is nothing in your terms of service that covers comments specifically and yet many people sign up for Blogger primarily to comment or follow blogs.

I have had this blog for six years and it will tear a big part of me out to abandon it for a new address but that seems like the only option you are giving me. I do not blame the troll for this; I blame you, Google, for failing to support Blogger and its users.

Sincerely,
Cheryl

My new Garden History blog

While I listened to the presenters at WordCamp on Saturday, part of my brain was whirring away, plotting out my new blog. Yes, it was to be a "niche blog" -- it combines three of my interests:

gardening+books+history

Originally my thought was to basically transcribe and annotate the text of the "Profitable Instructions..." book but I knew that was too focused. As soon as the words "garden history" escaped my lips, I knew this was the spark I'd been seeking.

I wrote the About page first -- I started drafting it in a Google Doc on Saturday evening -- so that I could really get an idea of how the site might evolve. While the inspiration was one book the goal I settled on was,

"This blog aims to glean some history — not only about gardening but also about gardens themselves — from books and other writings from the past 400 years, give or take."

With that in writing, I could then start thinking about where the blog might go in the future which may be why my brain would not shut down on Saturday night, long after I walked away from my laptop.

Sunday, I asked Hubby how to do the WordPress install on one of my domains (I chose my personal one, for the hell of it). After some initial fumbling to find my admin panel login and password and later realizing I needed more space (Hubby reallocated things and increased my capacity tenfold), the install was ridiculously straightforward. I spent the next little while fiddling with various templates until I found one that will do just fine for now.

To cut the tale short, I finished a shareable product by 11:00 last night and if you haven't already seen it, you can check out Garden History: Looking back at backyard gardens.

Food in the city

Tonight, I made dinner. I felt the need to make up for my last attempt at dinner when I saw something on the internet and thought it would be fun -- stupid internet. So tonight, I made a nice Greek-style chicken, rice, dilled carrots and a cucumber and tomato salad with tzatziki.

I've been thinking a lot about food this weekend. Aside from the garden always being on my mind, yesterday I spent quite a bit of time working on rebuilding my restaurant guide (for the newer review style see Don Mee, Bard & Banker and Floyds 2). Thinking about meals past and future made me quite hungry. When I went back to it today, I stumbled across a couple of food blogs I had no idea existed: the Victoria Buffet Blog and the Victoria Burger Blog. Locally, there is also The Little Piggy reviews -- I know about them but I tend not to check them too often as I find they come at the reviews from a much different perspective. Surfing further, I got sucked into the forums at Vibrant Victoria so I got little else done this evening.

Earlier in the day was also food-centric; this afternoon we watched The Future of Food -- nice because it helped us explain to Kiddo why the backyard garden is so important to us, beyond thestandard eco-speak she gets fed by media and through the curriculum. Of course, it also scares the hell out of me -- especially as I have relatives farming Monsanto grains. The most startling fact presented is that roughly 97% of all the varieties of seeds grown at the start of the 20th century are now extinct. Even allowing for a survival of the fittest mindset, assuming that some varieties wouldn't be suitable for North American climates, or that some varieties would essentially become invasive weed species, 97% is a lot to lose. As I said to Kiddo this afternoon, it's why I am planting some heritage varieties of seeds. I suspect Kiddo will be spreading that fact to her friends tomorrow -- I probably should check if it's accurate.

Spare a tip, recipe or rant?

Hubby has put out a call for content for three of his projects -- two blogs and one game that is also a Facebook application.

Zigzaggers review

Some of you may already be familiar with the Zigzaggers blog -- it's a great resource which collects reviews of sewing machines. Anyone who has considered buying a machine at a yard sale or thrift store might want to read through the growing number of entries before parting with their cash! (Think of it as the Lemon-Aid™ guide for Sewing machines.)

Anyway, my Singer Style-O-Matic review has been added to the blog (thanks!) and the attachments I mention in the review have now arrived, so I may submit an edit sometime in the future.

Lipstick comes alive!

In my course today, I was doodling in the sidebars of my course material. A lot. One of the doodles was a pig with big kissy-lips. Of course that made me think of the phrase "like putting lipstick on a pig" and within about three stops on my train of thought, I suddenly had a new blog idea mapped out. I texted Hubby with the idea right away (so I wouldn't forget it) and this evening, I slapped it together. Woo!

Lipstick On A Pig now lives at designshortcuts.blogspot.com and will feature shortcuts and resources for quick and easy web (re)design.

Interesting aside, it's my first opportunity to play with Blogger's layout design options... and I quite like them... so far. So don't be surprised if you see Flotsam and Jetsam in a new shade of lipstick in the coming weeks.

Donkey Rhubarb?

Yes, those two words do go together, if only in the title of this Aphex Twin track that I found via Nerd Litter (a blog I'll be re-visiting). The video features some disturbing bright-coloured teddy bears with grinning idiot human faces.... and yet, I couldn't stop watching it....

There's something familiar here....

Check out what Hubby noticed about some recent Fisher Price toys versus a very well-known and well-loved Pixar franchise....

And if you liked that, check out the "You thought we wouldn't notice" blog.

Mmm-hmm. We noticed.