it's good to know that someone is keeping the lights on around here, no matter how meekly they burn.

oh, and happy Canada Day.

It's like a United Colors of Benetton ad! But with cats!

Aren't they vile? And yet I just can't stop making them.

SD,

You are so weird. And yet I'm glad you're doing this ...

--MSK*

PS: I think lethargy has set in, plus the general exhaustion with "the usual suspects" (ayanhirsiali-ites, stupid neo-con-ish idiots, regional politics, etc.) Can't wait to see eerie's changes.

Speaking of cats, damn that anti-spam lock. I just signed a comment over at The Head Heeb with the word "cat"...

Haha

The cat thing is a bit inane, but it's still the most effective (and simplest) anti-spam mechanism I've come across.

BTW, do others find that it takes 5-8 sec for comments to get posted? (i.e. time between hitting Submit and page refresh)

I don't know about 5-8 exactly, but yes, it takes a little while. Didn't use to be like that.

Dear e,

Yes, it does.

--MSK*

I believe it's a scaling issue. Aqoul has a lot of entries/comments and the current MT version seems to have performance ceilings in these areas.

V4 is supposed to be more scalable, but who knows.

One blogger I read uses a simple random mathematic sum (like 2+39) as a Captcha. The galling thing is how often I get it wrong.

And another thing...I really hate the word "Aggregator". Such an ugly (although precise) techie term, not sure why I chose it.

I want to redesign that section, give it a better name (Newsroom? Newsfeed?) and a more memorable URL, e.g.

rss.aqoul.com
feeds.aqoul.com
newsfeed.aqoul.com
newsroom.aqoul.com

The Aggregator is basically a pre-populated RSS feed reader for people who don't know how to use RSS, but I think it could be better. Suggestions?

And another thing...I really hate the word "Aggregator".

I want to redesign that section, give it a better name (Newsroom? Newsfeed?) and a more memorable URL, e.g.

"Coalescinator?" "Collectivisor?" "Cohereinator?"

Oh, oh - "AGGLOMERATOR!" Eh? Eh?

If not, howbout "The ME/NA Bedazzler of the Mind." Huh? Huh? Yeah?

C'mon, work with me here.

The cat thing is a bit inane, but it's still the most effective (and simplest) anti-spam mechanism I've come across.

Perhaps you could replace the old picture with one of SD's . . . Then, in a month or so, you could post a thread listing the various guesses people made.

I think lethargy has set in, plus the general exhaustion with "the usual suspects" (ayanhirsiali-ites, stupid neo-con-ish idiots, regional politics, etc.)

There's a lot to this. There's also research that indicates that the mean "interest period" for an on-line forum is about 18 months, i.e., the average poster will stop participating in a forum after about a year and a half. I suspect that, in part, this is because there really isn't anything new under the sun and that the discussions start to repeat themselves. Aqoul does seem to have lost a number of important contributors. I haven't, for example, seen any of Bint's exposés in quite a while. Even C can't muster the energy to properly excoriate drooling idiots like he used to.

This is all perfectly understandable -- we all have things to do. I'm certainly in no position to throw stones as what little energy I'm able to muster is focussed in other directions.

Nonetheless, there are solutions to the problem. For a while there, Aqoul was a unique and vibrant place and was discussed -- and quoted -- in unlikely places. Perhaps part of the answer is ensuring that fresh authors/contributors get on board to provide both fresh energy and a fresh perspective. Hard analysis is good but so are cultural pieces like Bint's. Even cultural musing from people who live in the region are quite interesting. They're infinitely more valuable than the cultural musings of uninformed loudmouths which makes up the vast majority of MENA-related internet fare.

Should the emphasis on first-person perspective and analysis fail, you could always go with the water-skiing squirrel.

All fair points, Anon. Finding interesting/intelligent contributors (and getting them to actually write something) took up a lot of my time last year, ex handling the tech side and writing entries myself. Actually, I think my long absence was mostly due to burnout.

However, I am mucking around again and it doesn't feel like a chore.

BTW the Aggregator now spits out the latest blogosphere chatter on MENA/Islam, in addition to the pre-selected bunch we used to have. It's cool, if unpredictable.

Since this didn't get any answers in the last new month thread, I'm just going to go ahead and ask again:

I'm looking for a good, comprehensive book on the PLO, its history, leadership and organizational structure, etc. Not Palestine and Israel in general, and not the PLO's approach to the Oslo process or whatever, but simply the PLO -- something I can buy and keep for reference. It need not be released last year, but being up-to-date at least past 1993 is a big plus.

Someone here must have a favorite to share.

Whoa: The United Nations has transmitted messages to Israel in recent weeks that the organization's mapping experts have determined that the controversial Shaba Farms on Mount Dov near the Lebanese border, now controlled by Israel, is Lebanese territory. The UN, which has communicated to Israel that the disposition of the Shaba Farms should be dealt with as soon as possible, has proposed to senior government officials that Israel withdraw from the area and that it be considered international territory to be controlled by UNIFIL.

Un-Whoa: The United Nations and the government denied a Haaretz report on Wednesday that said the world body had requested Israel transfer the disputed Shaba Farms area on the Lebanese border to UN peacekeepers.

British blamed for Basra badgers. Perfidious Albion denies all charges.
"UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: 'We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.'"

ROFL

By the way, I just finished reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memoir, Infidel, but I'm feeling a bit too ragey to write a review right now.

Lovely Lolcats =^¨^=

Ah, I'm glad someone else provided vital badger-blogging. The Badger, naturally, had a brief comment.

From one of the side links:

Readers of Passport will be able to place Savage in his proper context. He's a buffoon, a performance artist who says shocking things to get attention. But read about him for the first time in al-Masry al-Youm, and you might think he is a mainstream, influential figure. And that is a very dangerous impression for the United States to be sending

I don't know if Blake realizes how much he's looking at a mirror there.