Bring back Ande's Blog!

[Blackbeard's Peg]

For all those who voted to move the thread back to the general swimming discussions, how many of you voted for Obama - where your vote was a "Vote for Change?" If you answered in the affirmative, don't be ashamed if you feel a bit hypocritical right now.

I won't lie to you - I am a fan of the status-quo. But new things are good. They expand horizons and open new doors for new opportunities. Think of 15 years ago, how many of you had internet? Of those that did, was it dialup or always-on? Without the internet, we wouldn't have this forum. Without the always-on connections, Fort Wolf and Stud wouldn't be able to post 80 times a day. I could go on...

What most of us outside IT and web development don't always understand is that the status-quo on the Internet is NOT a good thing. Sites need to be constantly upgraded with new features and new software or their users lose interest and move elsewhere (just ask yahoo, altavista, excite, lycos... who lost tons of market share on searches when Google came out), and with them goes sponsors, membership, revenue, etc.

Let's face it, most of us are still going to the blog section to check it out, and I definitely see people continuing to use the new facebook despite the "horrible" new look. Change is a part of life - some of it is good, some is not. I'd encourage everyone to take a Mulligan on their blog/new feature judgement and give it some time to sink in. In the mean time, thanks to Jim for keeping us all up to date.

[anita]

Actually, since this thread was started I have spent some time trolling the blog section--something I never would have done before. I'm not a blog-fan, but I have found some great workouts from people's blogs, and have enjoyed reading about others' experiences.
So in my opinion, the change was/is a very good thing, as it always is. And no, I did not vote for Obama.

[The Fortress]

For all those who voted to move the thread back to the general swimming discussions, how many of you voted for Obama - where your vote was a "Vote for Change?" If you answered in the affirmative, don't be ashamed if you feel a bit hypocritical right now.

I won't lie to you - I am a fan of the status-quo. But new things are good. They expand horizons and open new doors for new opportunities. Think of 15 years ago, how many of you had internet? Of those that did, was it dialup or always-on? Without the internet, we wouldn't have this forum. Without the always-on connections, Fort Wolf and Stud wouldn't be able to post 80 times a day. I could go on...

What most of us outside IT and web development don't always understand is that the status-quo on the Internet is NOT a good thing. Sites need to be constantly upgraded with new features and new software or their users lose interest and move elsewhere (just ask yahoo, altavista, excite, lycos... who lost tons of market share on searches when Google came out), and with them goes sponsors, membership, revenue, etc.

Let's face it, most of us are still going to the blog section to check it out, and I definitely see people continuing to use the new facebook despite the "horrible" new look. Change is a part of life - some of it is good, some is not. I'd encourage everyone to take a Mulligan on their blog/new feature judgement and give it some time to sink in. In the mean time, thanks to Jim for keeping us all up to date.

Nice Muppet!

I thought Ande should just post workouts in the Workout section like Jonathan and Tall Paul. (And, yes, I voted for Obama.) Anyway, I crossed the picket line and started blogging. I'm not a fuddy duddy.

[ande]

Dear Scarlett,

the thread achieved a milestone, I just pointed it out and gave folks an update,

I'm not asking for the thread to be reopened

Though I am curious if the poll results would have been different if the response choices were phrased

Should Ande's blog be returned?

Yes, return it to General Swimming-Related Discussions

No, I don't want ande to share his workouts on the USMS forum


Scarlett, I've gotten over it and moved on, I love swimming and I enjoy helping others improve

my recent workouts are blogged at:
http://andesswimmingblog.blogspot.com

Jim offered to move the contents of the old blog thread over to the blog section, I'm inclined to take him up on this offer as long the old thread isn't deleted or destroyed

I sometimes go back to check workouts and training results from previous seasons to compare with results of the latest season. It's helpful.

Wish you the best with your swimming.

Take Care,

Ande

Ande - With all due respect, you need to get over this.

[ScarletSwimmer]

Should Ande's blog be returned?

Yes, return it to General Swimming-Related Discussions

No, I don't want ande to share his workouts on the USMS forum

You haven't seemed to grasp that this isn't about you, it's about the way the forum has been reorganized. You've taken this decision personally and been hurt by it. Others have accepted this framework, I don't understand why you have been so reluctant. All you needed to do was to go with the flow, and you could have remained on usms happily blogging away.

You've always been such a great friend to the forum. I don't understand the "take my toys and go home" attitude. I'm sorry that you feel this way. Our loss, and yours.

[gull]

Personally I don't think the blog format lends itself as well to the open discussion and exchange of ideas that we see in the threads. Ande's Blog was arguably the most popular thread on the forum (200,000 views).

[Chris Stevenson]

Personally I don't think the blog format lends itself as well to the open discussion and exchange of ideas that we see in the threads.

Let me preface this by saying that I enjoyed Ande's blog/thread and my comments aren't about his particular journal.

I think Gull is right about the exchange of ideas, the threads are a little better. But I don't think that is the usual purpose of a blog, really. The workout threads can work for that purpose.

Blogs are closer to public diaries, with some degree of interactivity. I now maintain one and think it less intrusive than a thread. I would never have started a similar thread because I would have felt it too "in your face." But as a blog, any of the few people who are interested can read it, or not; the fact that you have to seek it out is a plus for me.

[quicksilver]

Our loss, and yours.

True.

It was read by many, but then again, it still can be.
A copy and paste from 'Blogger' to the blog section is all it would take.

[rtodd]

I scan the blogs regularly and it would be great if Ande's was migrated over.

[JMiller]

Ande,

You should take the offer, while it's still on the table. Please, I don't want to click a million different places, I like to read all the blogs, and they're all in one place. Now you're ignoring the fans that gave you the high thread count in the first place, think about it. Your Swimming Tips thread will be breaking 100,000+ views soon, even sooner if you revamp your blog. In swimming terms, you're clearly in the lead, but not if you get out of the pool.

Jim offered to move the contents of the old blog thread over to the blog section, I'm inclined to take him up on this offer as long the old thread isn't deleted or destroyed

I sometimes go back to check workouts and training results from previous seasons to compare with results of the latest season. It's helpful.

[ande]

Jim,

a while back you offered to move the contents of my shut down blog over to the blog section

is there a way to do so with out deleting or destroying the existing thread?

Ande

[matysekj]

a while back you offered to move the contents of my shut down blog over to the blog section

is there a way to do so with out deleting or destroying the existing thread?

Yes, my understanding is that the migration tool isn't supposed to alter the original thread.

I did download the tools and tried to play with it a little on our test area. I didn't have any luck with them, but I really didn't spend much time on it. If you're interested, I can try it again some time. I won't do it on the live forum unless I've successfully tried it in our test area and verified that it didn't alter the old thread or do any other harm.

[ande]

Hi Jim,

OK try it out
let me know

Ande

Yes, my understanding is that the migration tool isn't supposed to alter the original thread.

I did download the tools and tried to play with it a little on our test area. I didn't have any luck with them, but I really didn't spend much time on it. If you're interested, I can try it again some time. I won't do it on the live forum unless I've successfully tried it in our test area and verified that it didn't alter the old thread or do any other harm.