b.rox

This chart (via StatCounter) shows the long slow decline in monthly traffic to my blog since June 2007. I wish I had stats going back further but I don’t. I suspect we’d see an even more dramatic pattern if we could look back all the way to Katrina. The first big spike on this chart [...]

After much dithering and even more mulling, I’ve decided to implement a new policy regarding comments on this blog. From this point forward, I’ll be moderating all comments. In other words, until I approve a comment, it won’t appear here for public view. In the past, this was semi-automated. Certain posts would be flagged for [...]

I’m going to be making a presentation to a special interest group at the American Educational Research Association’s upcoming conference. My topic? Blogging in post-Katrina New Orleans. My idea is to recount five or so of the biggest stories to emerge from the local blogosphere since the flooding of the city in 2005. I mean [...]

I’ll be on that panel tonight (Katrina 5.0) and they’ve asked me to read a post from my blog from the first few weeks after Katrina. The question, of course, is which one? My mind immediately sprang to something I wrote at the end of that dark November, which I titled Random Electronic Squawking. But [...]

Next week I’ll be on a panel called “Katrina 5.0: A Symposium on Technology & Blogging” hosted by the Louisiana State Museum. Among other things, I’ll be talking about blogging, my experience of writing about the aftermath of the levee failures, and how the platform or community has evolved in the past five years. I [...]

Today I moderated a panel discussion titled “Web Logs and Scholarship.” I recorded the audio live, so here’s a slidecast of the entire thing.

If I haven’t written here as much lately, perhaps it’s because I feel constrained from public discussion of many of the topics which are currently preoccupying me. There’s an election coming up, and I’ve got opinions, but I’m afraid to express them. Whoever wins, FOLC will have to work with them. It won’t help FOLC’s [...]

Occasionally I get a comment so penetrating, so insightful, that it just begs to be given special attention. So herewith I present the penetrating insight of Chris Dillcog: I was very fortunate to be born and raised in Sevier County and Pigeon Forge and was not as amused at your ramblings as you apparantly are. [...]

It’s been a little over five years since I started blogging here in earnest. I thought this would be a simple extension of the journal-writing I’d done off and on for years. The main difference, I supposed, was that I would be less likely to write about the minutiae of my life, that I would [...]

After a month of cajoling on my part, I’m happy to report my co-worker Nancy Hampton has finally launched the Xavier Library Blog. Please check it out and leave her a comment.

I think I was secretly hoping the Beyond Jena forum would be a bust. I’ve never been involved with organizing something on this scale before, and it was a little challenging, a little demanding, a little stressful. I knew if it was successful I might be tempted at some point in the future to try [...]

I mentioned earlier that I was working on the Beyond Jena forum, which is rapidly approaching on the last day of this month. We’re still working on some loose ends, but the event is coming together and I have every reason to believe it will be a success. I’m excited about this because it brings [...]

Three cheers for Steve Volan. He’s blogging again. He’s writing about a hot topic in New Orleans. And he’s the only person on the City Council that I look up to. I mean that last part literally. They call him “Tall Steve,” and there’s a reason for that. Did I mention he’s on the City [...]

Here’s some more webstats for this blog. That September 1st peak is when Gustav made landfall, and it’s been downhill ever since. Apparently I need another hurricane to boost my readership. I’m joking of course. Actually I have been reflecting lately on what I’m doing here. I see this as a primarily selfish enterprise. I [...]

I recently became aware that people who subscribed to get e-mail updates for this blog are no longer getting them. Something broke when we migrated to our new webhost, and I haven’t had time to fix it. However, I have found a quick fix that’s almost as good, maybe even better. In the unlikely event [...]

Haven’t had much chance to read blogs lately, but I went over to Cliff’s Crib Saturday night and what I read there about his weekends post-Katrina really knocked me for a loop.

I’m not sure what the game is, exactly, but I noticed this blog links to an old post of mine; it looks human at first but a quick scan thru the site confirms it’s being compiled by robots.

Last week I moderated a blogger panel. I was disappointed with the low attendance, but at certain times of the semester it’s hard to get faculty to turn out. However, I was very pleased with the actual content — the bloggers were articulate and thoughtful and passionate. It was a great discussion. A big thank [...]

I’ll be participating in a panel discussion on “Media, Communication and Community: Private and Public Interests in Rebuilding New Orleans” this Wednesday night. It’s sponsored by the Xavier University Communications Department and it’s open to the general public. More info. Next week, I’ll be moderating a panel discussion on “New Media and Community Activism in [...]

I see Slashdot is celebrating its tenth anniversary. That gave me pause to reflect on an artifact from my life ten years ago, which for various reasons I’ve been re-reading recently. It’s called Stone Cold 97, and I suppose you could say it was my first foray into blogging. Actually it was a collaboration between [...]