Splogs: The next new thing

Here's another new word: splog, a blog that's actually spam.
Umbria Communications recently reported that of the 80,000 blogs created each day, about one in five is spam, created only for marketing purposes.
Speaking of spam, I'm getting it on my comments to this blog. But I've learned how to quickly hit my delete key.

Posted by cmatthews at January 3, 2006 02:48 PM

Here is another new word, actually a phrase I stumbled upon, "jump the couch" The Internet writing Journal website describes it here:

http://www.internetwritingjournal.com/iwjblogaug05/

Posted by: Glenn Moore at January 3, 2006 07:37 PM

I note that you use Movable Type for this blog. It is what I use for PomboWatch. Since updating to the most recent level 3.2, I have not had any of the comment spam get through.

As for new words, the Internet jargon that comes to mind is "freep," derived from the name of the far-right conservative site, Free Republic, which uses fake postings to other blogs and discussion lists as a standard procedure to create a false impression of popular support.

Posted by: Wes Rolley at January 6, 2006 07:05 AM

Also, splogs or spam blogs are mirror images of actual legitimate blogs, thus creating confusion.

It is possible for this blog to be hosted in another site, containing similar content but maybe the title changed.

Thus, they can be both very annoying and harmful.

Posted by: Amadeo at February 14, 2006 12:55 PM

That's a shame. It's bound to happen, but the blogs with unique content and actual opinions will thrive. Also, if you are a big blogger with great OG content, then you should copyright yourself. I would be really mad if someone did this to me. I would do all in my power to shut the blog down, including bombarding them with comments like FAKERS.
I may be marketing myself in my blog, but I also try to make content interesting, unique and valuable, atleast from my prospective. I try to keep shamless self-promotion to a minumum because people don't want that.

Posted by: Brian Barringer at March 2, 2006 11:33 AM

Creative lawyering punches loophole in open-meeting law

Worth reading, from the California First Amendment Coalition: City council closed sessions to discuss "pending litigation" are an excuse for conducting important business in secret.

Hubris, Wi-Fi and "community character elements" in 2005

Just read this on SFGate: Hubris is the word of the year, just as it could have been 24 centuries ago.

The Greek term for "excessive pride or self-confidence" was chosen by 41 percent of 2,300 SFGate readers who participated in an online poll. "Disaster" finished second.

My word for '05 is Wi-Fi. Not only is it a new listing in the Associated Press stylebook for wireless networking, but when I got my laptop and started traveling to other towns where we now own newspapers, Wi-Fi in offices and coffee shops became my lifeline.

I noticed other words dropped into conversations for the first time this year: intelligent design, insurgency and Katrina, God rest her soul.

Locally, streetscape was bantered about, as downtown roadwork continued in 2005. The term identity theft became more mainstream as more people experienced it. And Community Character Element, in the vernacular of Tracy’s new General Plan, found its way into numerous news stories. Who coined that mushy mouthful?

My favorite dictionary site lists the most-looked-up words of 2005, including xenophobia and ubiquitous. Now those are great words.

Word Spy lists fun words that plugged into vocabularies in 2005, such as podcasting, vodcasting and podcatching.

Pupperware and puggle are words worth looking up, if you're a dog lover like me.

Meanwhile, with this wicked wind in Tracy today, the satellite on my roof may go the way of my lawn furniture, which means my Wi-Fi will die and Mother Nature will get the last word.

So blogmates, send your words of the year and feel free to take over this conversation!

Hi Cheri,
Hubris is a great word, I'll add it to my vocabulary. Have a great new year!

Posted by: Ed Gable at January 3, 2006 02:32 PM

One more look at 2005

The year 2005 is almost over, and in these waning hours of the old year, we've come up with a list of the TP's Top 10 news stories. What do you think of our choices? Did we miss anything big? Do you have any predictions for 2006 in Tracy?

Here's our Top 10 for 2005, in no particular order.

1. Sheriff in shackles
Former San Joaquin County Sheriff Baxter Dunn pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges and served jail time during the year. The high-profile corruption case forced Dunn and three co-conspirators, including former Supervisor Lynn Bedford, to make plea bargain agreements with prosecutors in January. Monte McFall, a former court marshal, went to trial and was convicted in March, and now he demands a new trial.

2. Downtown digs
Tracy’s downtown facelift was mostly completed in 2005. Central Avenue was torn up in the spring and repaved in time to show off a new streetscape for some of the city’s big events in the fall. Crews from Granite Construction didn’t find any tunnels leading from the buildings that once housed old saloons, but they did find at least one basement entrance that served to keep speculation alive that a secret passage under Central Avenue had existed at one time. The project won’t be complete until the Grand Theater and old City Hall are restored. Work on those projects will continue through 2006.

3. Major medical work
Sutter Tracy Community Hospital opened its new outpatient surgery center and emergency room in December 2004, but the hospital’s $24 million expansion continued through 2005 with a new maternity wing in February and more recently the new parking lot that takes the place of what used to be part of Beverly Place between Tracy Boulevard and Bessie Avenue.

4. West’s speedstersIn June, the girls on West High School’s track team became the first since 1994 to shatter Southern California’s dominance in California state track and fields events. The team ran away with the state title. The team, led by Olympic hopeful Brittany Daniels, beat Long Beach Wilson High, 48-43, for the California Scholastic Federation’s Division I crown.

5. Hate-mongering Kansans
A high school math teacher’s remarks about homosexuality caused a minor controversy at the school, but it was enough to draw the attention of Kansas minister Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church with protests against gay rights groups, other churches and the United States of America. The congregation came to town to protest at local graduation ceremonies and at churches.

6. Water, water In July the South San Joaquin Irrigation District completed a new $126 million water treatment plant and pipeline that will bring water from Woodward Reservoir to Tracy and three other cities. The pipeline took about 16 years to plan and a couple years to build, but it was encouraging for district and city officials, who were pleased to find a way to make inter-agency cooperation the key to a valuable public works project.

7. Tough Little Leaguers
Tracy’s National League All Stars represented their city well in the Little League World Series. Tracy’s top youth baseball players made it to the Western Regional Tournament in San Bernardino in August but lost the title game.

8. Hurricane’s helpersHurricane Katrina may have been a big story for New Orleans and for the nation, but Tracy people got involved, too, and not just in fundraisers for disaster relief. Tracy people went out to the disaster site to help victims, and San Joaquin County also welcomed people who had to move away from their homes.

9. Campus here or thereSan Joaquin Delta College’s plans for a Mountain House campus seemed to hit a snag when it came down to negotiations with one of the new town’s developers. The city of Tracy stepped in and offered the college the city’s community park site on 11th Street at Chrisman Road. That apparently brought everyone back to the negotiating table, and in October, the college and developer were able to confirm plans for the Mountain House campus.

10. Half-million-dollar houses
How could we get to the end of the year without construction of new homes in Tracy as a top story? It turned out that a slow-growth measure from 2000 finally took hold in 2005, and by the end of November, the city had issued permits for only 373 new houses. December’s numbers aren’t in, but we could see the fewest new homes built during the past year since 1996. At the same time, the city also saw unprecedented home prices. The real estate market started to cool off by the end of summer, but median-priced homes reached $540,000 in October, compared with $430,000 for the same month in 2004.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Thanks for visiting my blog. Merry Christmas to all!

Posted by cmatthews at December 23, 2005 11:14 AM

Best season's greetings, too!

And it's good to be back in Tracy.

Posted by: Amadeo at December 24, 2005 12:27 PM

Merry Christmas to the Tracy Press, best wishes for a prosperous 2006.

Posted by: JimF at December 26, 2005 01:47 PM