…this time it’s Abel Pharmboy, who’s now here. Please reset your bookmarks.
Farewell, friend. I’ll still be reading.
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Another one gone…
- Post author By Orac
- Post date July 21, 2010
- 14 Comments on Another one gone…
By Orac
Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.
That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)
DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.
To contact Orac: [email protected]
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14 replies on “Another one gone…”
Can somebody please tell me that the reason for this exodus goes beyond the appearance and subsequent removal of the PepsiCo shill blog?
Oh, damn I posted that too soon.
allow me to say that you should not construe the above to mean I somehow support the idea of pepsico having a paid PR presence under the flag of Scienceblogs. I don’t.
But I do consider that while it was a breach of trust on behalf of the Scienceblogs decision tree, I don’t think it was an irreversible mistake or a fatal error. They realized their mistake and corrected it. But I am wondering if there wasn’t some underlying cause beyond the pepsico thing, and if the pepsico kerfuffle was just a symtom of an underlying disease, like the man who has shortness of breath that is actually having congestive heart failure.
@DLC: Bora Zivkovic’s post at http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2010/07/scienceblogs_and_me_and_the_ch.php is generally regarded as the best on this matter.
Oh no! Don’t tell OMGWTFBBQ that another blogger gone to WordPress! He may not survive another hissy fit.
DLC:
Bora wrote about lots of things, and so did GrrlScientist. Among other things are the late checks, the lack of tech support (there has been a tech support position available, and someone on GrrlScientist’s good bye post mentioned he applied for it but never got a call), and then there are the inappropriate ads.
It seems that there are lots of little grievances that have building up, the PepsiCo fiasco was just the last straw.
Just a diversion from the exodus, Orac.
Barbara Loe Fisher will be included in a debate on vaccine safety tomorrow morning at 9:20 on Impact Cincinnati.
http://www.wvxu.org/schedule/program.asp?id=37
Oh My Proverbial God. How many’s this now? 20? I’ve lost count.
I came to scienceblogs because Orac moved here. So if everyone’s favourite box of flashing lights moves on, I for one will follow him there.
Just one question: No one, so far as I know, is even mentioning the possibility of Adam Bly ‘retiring’. He seems to be the source of many of the SB problems, but I haven’t read anyone even suggesting he be removed. Why?
I thought it must be so. I knew PZ Myers had written something showing his personal viewpoint on it all, but I wondered if anyone else had similar thoughts.
I guess it’s just going to each person here to decide what to do on their own, and for us readers to wait and see.
Aww…thanks so much, big fella. As I said in my post, you were my blogging mentor even before I started at Sb and you were always encouraging to me and others, linking to us early and often.
You know I’ll follow you here or wherever you go. And in real life, well, I know where you live. Hell, I might even be healthy enough after LungMutiny2010 to see you at another cancer research meeting.
@DLC, everyone’s got their own reason(s) but I agree that Bora’s post is the most comprehensive that speaks for many of the reasons. I had a farewell post ready the night the Pepsi blog appeared, scheduled for posting the next morning. But I thought, watched, and listened, and didn’t think that my long-term goals were consistent with what was happening here.
And Brother Orac, thanks again for your friendship and kindness. You can’t get rid of me that easily.
Abel Pharmboy leaves it is on him to draw me in. I came to his blog here at Sb. He has now left. The reasons have nothing to do with me. I won’t be following. He left his audience.
I like him and I like his blogging but if he leaves his audience behind he risks it not following. Sorry, I’m not a duck or a puppy. If he wants me to read his stuff he can come back. If he doesn’t it clearly means he misses his check and tech more than his audience.
Plenty of good bloggers out there. Only one Sb. And no, I’m not willing to give up the convenience of this blog network, even in its crippled state, to track down and visit the various blogs individually. In a network your a place well worth visiting. As individual blogs, not so much.
@1 – the issue seems to be that only a massive communication gap could have allowed the idea to get as far as it did. How on *earth* could Seed Media not have known what the blogger’s reactions would be?
Or, more sinisterly, did they think that because the bloggers are being paid for page hits that meant that they were a captive tame group who could not/would not cavil?
Beats me why the bloggers don’t pool a little money, put up a website (it isn’t difficult) and take advertising.
Y’all are missing the elephant in the room.
As discussed on several fora, Seed is apparently running negative cash flow.
It all comes down to money not being made but spent.
Until I’d read those posts, I’d been of the opinion that this was much more about people not wanting to be associated with the Pepsi blog. If that was the sole reason, I’d still be of the opinion that the backlash was unfair.
But the more information I’ve received, it’s apparent that the exodus from ScienceBlogs is about a whole host of issues. And in that case, I fully support anyone who decides that they’d be better off blogging somewhere else.
@9
Seriously? You won’t read him anymore because the link on your web browser has changed?
So, if a show moves from on TV station to another, you wouldn’t follow it because it “left” it’s audience?
Let’s hope they can sit down with Lord Draconis Zeneca (VC, iH7L PharmaCOM Orbital HQ) and resolve the matter asap.