Last time, if you'll remember, we discussed acronyms. We hardly got to the real meat and potatoes of what this blog is going to be all about. The real heart of the matter here at TiWWK.
When you first hear the name This is What We Know, it probably conjures up ideas of conventional wisdom in America and the world, which inevitably leads to the discussion of the power of social norms and their influence on individuals. From here, you will of course be forced to question these beliefs, and the responsibility you, as an individual in society, have to maintain constructive social principles and eliminate ones that are destructive to all types of institutions. "Yes," you say to yourself. "This is What We Know. And with this knowledge, I, in fact, we must do what's right."
Yeah...no. You're wrong, that's not what this blog is about at all. If you're looking for a blog like that, you should probably leave. That would be best.
When developing this blog, I took note of what the majority of blogs were doing, and set out to do the opposite. Politiblogging, technoblogging, news blogging - it's all been done. Sure, I could spout off my political beliefs. And yeah, I could tell you about the new cellular telephone that takes pictures, plays movies, and substantiates candy. And of course, I could aggregate the day's news and worthy websites, including such heart-warming sites as Puppy Bowl, featuring dogs dressed as people. Sure I could do any of these things. I have this capability. I could probably do all three on one blog, if I really wanted to. But no. There's something more appealing than all of this: Originality.
And what's more original than telling you what you pretty much already know. "Who does that?" my archetypically crazy college roommate Bode [Real name Pete Jorgensen - I have no idea why he goes by Bode.] asks. I'll tell you who, Bode: Me.
How will I expel this common knowledge? Why, I can think of no better way than through the clever use of personal anecdotes, life experiences that have actually happened to me. Personal anecdotes pointing out things that you probably already know? That's an untapped market, my friend. One might call this a journal of sorts, one where I can share my life occurrences. Consider this a kind of lifejournal - or livejournal, if you prefer the present verb form of the word - that will be published over the web. If that's not originality...
...Wait a minute. Son of a bitch.
Next time on TiWWK: Are doors getting heavier? And things you can learn by watching the Olympics.
Tags: new blog, originality
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
We Know What?
Hello and welcome to This is What We Know. This being the inaugural post at TiWWK, I bet you're wondering what this is all about; what, exactly, you might be asking yourself, do we know?
However, first things first: Abbreviation. When I decided on the name This is What We Know, I knew I'd have to cut that down to an abbreviated moniker. What with terms such as "e-mail" (short for electronic mail), the "web" (short for the World Wide Web, which is another term for the nerdier-sounding "internet"), and "blog" (short for weblog, which invokes the term "world wide web" which, if you'll remember, we learned before), anything involving the "web" seems to have no more than two syllables. Far be it from me to act unorthodoxly, and, by last count, This is What We Know has no less than 5 syllables.
That is why it is necessary for me abridge the name of this blog so that when people reference it as they might reference an e-mail or blog in casual water-cooler conversation, they won't be winded at the end of their statement. Just imagine. "Hey Palmer, did you check out the latest world wide web log entry on This is What We Know, found at uniform resource locator http://thisiswhatweknow.blogspot.com?" - "No, I did not, Coniferous, my long-time co-worker and friend here at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Pray tell, what did you extract from this internet log entry?" Who'd want to party with those squares, let alone talk to them around the water-cooler.
So the question is, what should the condensed version of This is What We Know be? I have already snuck in the first candidate: TiWWK. This is the obvious acronymic option. It looks pretty snappy, in my personal opinion, but it lacks the phonetic quality of, say, NASA, NAFTA, NATO, or most other acronyms that start with "NA." If we were to say TiWWK phonetically, we end up with something like Teewuwuk, which, unfortunately, sounds like gibberish. And if we choose to simply say the individual letters, we end up with more syllables than if were to just say the actual name for which it stands.
Do you see the conundrum? Oh well. Call it what you like. Just don't talk like those zeroes Palmer and Coniferous and I think we'll all be fine. Coniferous. Who names themselves that?
Hit up Teewuwuk next time, where I'll tell you more about what we know.
Tags: webspeak, new blog
However, first things first: Abbreviation. When I decided on the name This is What We Know, I knew I'd have to cut that down to an abbreviated moniker. What with terms such as "e-mail" (short for electronic mail), the "web" (short for the World Wide Web, which is another term for the nerdier-sounding "internet"), and "blog" (short for weblog, which invokes the term "world wide web" which, if you'll remember, we learned before), anything involving the "web" seems to have no more than two syllables. Far be it from me to act unorthodoxly, and, by last count, This is What We Know has no less than 5 syllables.
That is why it is necessary for me abridge the name of this blog so that when people reference it as they might reference an e-mail or blog in casual water-cooler conversation, they won't be winded at the end of their statement. Just imagine. "Hey Palmer, did you check out the latest world wide web log entry on This is What We Know, found at uniform resource locator http://thisiswhatweknow.blogspot.com?" - "No, I did not, Coniferous, my long-time co-worker and friend here at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Pray tell, what did you extract from this internet log entry?" Who'd want to party with those squares, let alone talk to them around the water-cooler.
So the question is, what should the condensed version of This is What We Know be? I have already snuck in the first candidate: TiWWK. This is the obvious acronymic option. It looks pretty snappy, in my personal opinion, but it lacks the phonetic quality of, say, NASA, NAFTA, NATO, or most other acronyms that start with "NA." If we were to say TiWWK phonetically, we end up with something like Teewuwuk, which, unfortunately, sounds like gibberish. And if we choose to simply say the individual letters, we end up with more syllables than if were to just say the actual name for which it stands.
Do you see the conundrum? Oh well. Call it what you like. Just don't talk like those zeroes Palmer and Coniferous and I think we'll all be fine. Coniferous. Who names themselves that?
Hit up Teewuwuk next time, where I'll tell you more about what we know.
Tags: webspeak, new blog
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