Sorry, Everyone, I've been sick lately. I'll get back when I can. (Hopefully next week?)

        "My fellow JUians,I ask you:         "Do we really needeach poll result listed in an individual article?         "Do we really needthe Newest Articles part of the sidebar filled with &*^%#$ingpoll results?!         "Express yourself!What do you have to say to these poll regurgitators?"       &n...

How do people delete all their articles when they disappear? Do they click on "delete" one-by-one? Or is there some Master Destruct button somewhere that I've missed? For that matter, if one was so inclined, how do you close your account and drift into oblivion?

        Cue the musicplease. "You're so vain, I bet you think this blog is about you.Donchew, donchew, donchew...."         I had someblogging milestones in July: Two articles on the front page at the same time. (While others have accomplished it in the past, this was a first for me.) For a brief moment my blog was actually in the top 20. (After having received an artificial ...

        So I'm sittinghere, waiting for something good to pop up on the sidebar. A newarticle. A new comment on a thread I am following. Anything.         It's times likethis I wonder why I was distressed to (temporarily) be officiallythe biggest JU addict . (I'm still No. 2.) Clearly it was not aninaccurate label.         So I'm sittinghere clicking reload, checking my em...

        Well, we lostanother blogger. WrecklessErichas deleted all his articles and dropped out.         In the old days,miners would carry canaries into the mines with them as a gas meter.The poor little feather balls were more sensitive and more quicklysubject to the effects of poison gas than their much larger humancompanions. If the canary died it meant there was poison in the airand time to beat a hasty re...

        I'm tired of theinanity. For the foreseeable future 90% of my articles will have thecommenting turned off. Maybe one of those extra subscription onlyfeatures available when JoeUser goes alpha will be the ability tosubject readers to a quiz before they are allowed to comment. (Goodidea, Brad!) I'd like to make sure you a) actually read andcomprehended the article, and have an I.Q. above 12. I can thinkof several of my fellow JUsers the latter ...

        As long as I'm in anapologetic mode ....         I am seriouslydyslexic. It gets worse when my chronic illness (with itsmental-faculties destroying effects) enters its chronic phase. (As ithas been most of this year.) I've noticed some of my comments aregetting spotty at best. Take thisone : For all you know you were just a pawn in some devious rift she was play...

        I noticed I hadthree different ideas for "troll" related articles laying around.That would be a bit excessive. Instead I'll just briefly comment onthem in a single article. (Thus denying myself three times thepoints. Maybe I'm not such a point ho after all.) Finally a Use for the Troll Feature!         Yes, I havestarted "troll buttoning" people. Some people just deserve it. When aperson's entire "contr...

    For those who might not have seen it, Karen Hobbs hasa blog where she pondered whatyour ScreenName says about you. Where did it come from, what doesit mean, how does it relate to you as a person. Quite a few of yourfellow JoeUsers have left comments answering the question. I'm goingto do so here instead. That way my regular readers will get to seeit. (And I'll also get at least 3 times the points. Ain't I astinker?)     (ScreenName is really an ...

    When you begin your daily JU adventure,what page do you start on? Thefront page? Theforums? Your own page?     I used to always begin on my own mainpage, but now I have three different places where I begin dependingon my intentions. My Own Main Page. While I used to always start here, it's too long and takes too much time to load for everyday use. Now I only go there first when I want to know how frequently my articles are being ...

    You see that information box at the topcorner of your JoeUser window that gives your user points and rank?(Non-registered users need not apply.) I've been sitting here staringat those icons wondering just what the hell they are supposed torepresent. Even the ones I recognize don't make sense. "My Account" Icon. Okay, that one's easy. It looks like half a computer monitor. Or, if I don't look too closely, my old Mac+. "My Blog" Icon. Easy but with...

There's been a lot of talk lately about what is or is notacceptable blogging practice. Some people say there are a bunch ofrules you should follow, others say pretty much anything goes. Somehave even suggested that the blogging about blogging has gotten outof hand and should be outlawed. Me-- I'm just looking for somethingto write about. Another blogging sin I haven't noticed get much play lately isbeing the first to comment on your own article. There seems to besomething morally dishonest a...

    Forget Frodo! Forget Spock! Forget DarthVader! *   SmartAz Lives!!!     After weeks ofmortal combat with the Realtor from Hell I am now safely ensconced inmy new hovel -- a whole 7 blocks from my old shack. Things are almoststabilized and as back to normal as they're likely to get for thetime being.     I'll soon be backhere blogging regularly. Start cutting your palm fronds now for mytriumphal return. (Strike that -- ...

    I thought I was satisfied with my JoeUserexperience. I was content with my place in the world, hovering aroundthe 250s. I thought it was an accomplishment only being here a coupleweeks and already being at that user rank. Then I wrote my article on TrollAttacks and was propelled into the 150s. Still happy. Still in myown little "user rank" world. I even took to checking in every day tosee how I was doing,. The ranks of other users never entered my mind.   &n...