Just some general housekeeping. If you’re short on time, don’t waste it here – go check out Gustavo Rojo’s excellent series, The Cycle of Abuse (parts 1, 2, 3).

The blog obviously looks different. Or as Elena told me last night, “looks like ass.” If it looks really really bad, that means you’re still using Internet Explorer or Mac Safari. The obvious answer is getting Firefox. If you have been reading this blog for more than a couple months and you’re still not using Firefox … well, we’re ashamed. We’re deeply ashamed. (those of you who have switched to Firefox, will you please leave a comment saying how much better it is since obviously nobody listens to me?)

If you have Firefox (golf applause) and it still looks like ass, well, I’m working on that. WordPress has redone a lot of stuff in 1.5 including a new templating system, a way of creating static pages, a new way of rewriting URL’s and tons of other “under the hood” stuff. It’s gonna take me a while until I get it looking like I want it.

Blogs have been getting a lot of attention lately in the major media. Some of it’s kinda ridiculous. Liza does a good job dissecting the drama amongst the self-appointed punditry.

William Safire was lucid about the future of mainstream media:

1. On the challenge from bloggers: The “platform” – print, TV, Internet, telepathy, whatever – will change, but the public hunger for reliable information will grow. Blogs will compete with op-ed columns for “views you can use,” and the best will morph out of the pajama game to deliver serious analysis and fresh information, someday prospering with ads and subscriptions. The prospect of profit will bring bloggers in from the meanstream to the mainstream center of comment and local news coverage.

On national or global events, however, the news consumer needs trained reporters on the scene to transmit facts and trustworthy editors to judge significance. In crises, large media gathering-places are needed to respond to a need for national community.

I would disagree with his last point – during the tsunami, there was no “large media gathering place” … it was a blog. I also disagree with Safire that today’s media is liberal while in the 90′s it was conservative. I’d say the opposite if anything. But the rest of the column is right on.

Then yesterday, Sarah Boxer writes an absolutely ridiculous and conspiratorial piece in the New York Times about the three brothers that write at Iraq The Model. Jeff Jarvis does a great job calling her out. I met Omar at the Internet and Society Conference at Berkman last month.

It was nothing more than an introduction, but he seemed like nice guy, a little nervous and a little tired. Omar and Mohammed are clearly conservatives. They are content the United States overthrew Saddam Hussein and believe Iraq is and will be better off because of it. For that belief, they are constantly being cited by conservative bloggers who are short on first hand evidence that going into Iraq was not a complete mistake. And I am sure that – like Instapundit – they make their share of donations. But I would be very very surprised if the three brothers were mouthpieces for the CIA and I would never write it in the NY Times unless I was god damn sure there was something there.

It was ballsy of the Times to print the story – they surely knew bloggers would be all over it. And maybe that’s what they want.

Anyway, what it all comes down to is trust and credibility. As I write this, the Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility conference is getting underway at Berkman Center. I wish I could be there. It’s gonna be a passionate weekend for all the participants. Already, before the conference has even started, there has been a lot of discussion and a few bruised egos.

My sister has gone from sad to happy to sick. Poor girl, she spent her entire three day weekend in bed with a fever that worked its way up to 104 degrees. It was a weekend I wanted to get a lot of stuff done, but I ended up watching movies and making chicken noodle soup. Which in the end turned out to be for the better. I hadn’t realized I needed a break until I got one. So chilling out and watching The Emperor’s Club and Benny and Joon was some much needed relaxation. And Benny and Joon reminded me what a fucking great song 500 Miles by the Proclaimers is. (and probably the only hit to use the word “havering“)

Anyway, yesterday she went to the second half of school and it seemed like she was feeling better, but then I got a call while I was at the gym last night and her fever had gone back up to 102. So I went back home and while rapping about life with mi hermanita, about 4 of her friends call to tell her she was on MTV. I had forgotten all about it, but last year MTV filmed some reality TV show at her high school called My Super Sweet 16. I didn’t really know what it would be about, but I was sure it would be stupid.

But not this stupid. I can’t believe people come up with this shit and encourage it:

Jacqueline and Lauren are really close friends, so they decide to celebrate their entry into adulthood at the Hard Rock Cafe. They hand out invitations at their high school and the word gets out about the party. Their invitation becomes the most prized possession of the day.

Jacqueline and Lauren want their party to be perfect so they need the perfect band. Lauren asks her dad if he could see if they could book Christina Aguilera, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park or even Dashboard Confessional. Through Lauren’s dad’s connections, they learn that Beyonce will do the party for $500,000 dollars. Shocked at the price, Jacqueline and Lauren decline Beyonce’s offer. Worried that they won’t have a band at the party, Lauren presses her dad to find them one. Finally, Lauren’s dad is able to get Unwritten Law to play the party.

Next, Jacqueline and Lauren have a private fitting at Saks Fifth Avenue. They try on many dresses and eventually decide on the same black dress. In the end, it appears that Jacqueline and Lauren will be wearing the same dress to the party. Jacqueline and Lauren do not seem pleased with each other’s choices but in the end they are cool with it.

Just hours before the party starts, many people who don’t even know Jacqueline or Lauren call them up asking if they could be a guest at their party. Jacqueline and Lauren become fed up and don’t answer their phones. With their cell phones off, they concentrate on getting ready for the party. Lauren tells Jacqueline that she will pick her up at 8:00 p.m. but beforehand, she’s going to shave her legs. Lauren heads to the kitchen, hops up on the kitchen counter and starts shaving her legs in the kitchen sink.

Jacqueline and Lauren arrive at the Hard Rock Cafe and learn that people have been trying to get into the party with replicated invitations. Not phased, Jacqueline and Lauren enjoy the party regardless of the crashers. Suddenly, Jacqueline spots Pauly Shore at the party. A very excited Jacqueline asks Pauly Shore if they could take a picture with him. While taking pictures, Pauly Shore asks Jacqueline and Lauren if he could get a kiss on the cheek. Jacqueline replies, “No, way that’s bad.”

As Unwritten Law begin to play, a mosh pit forms on the dance floor. Hard Rock Cafe’s security and even Lauren’s dad try to calm the kids down. Jacqueline gets pulled into the mosh pit and gets punched in the face. Finally, the party comes to an end. Jacqueline thinks the party was a great success whereas Lauren thinks it “wasn’t anything special.”

Well, at least the chick gets punched in the face. (joking, calm down) But seriously, Nina Diaz (who’s in her 90′s – good lawd) should be ashamed of encouraging the competetiveness and teenage backstabbing which is already so prevalent in high school and then putting it on national TV.

Here is a brief biography of Diaz from the Screening Room:

Nina Diaz is a supervising producer for MTV News & Docs. Diaz joined MTV in 1995, as an associate producer. Prior to her move to MTV, she worked on shows at PBS’ Thirteen/WNET Television, Fox Television, TBS and ABC News. At MTV, Diaz has produced, directed and edited music and documentary programming including the Ultra Sound and True Life series. Her latest achievement is the creation of MTV’s highly successful Cribs series. Lora Hays began as a features editor, then moved into non-fiction and classic documentaries in the 1960’s, including the CBS documentary 16 in Webster Groves, a study of middle-class teenage Americans. Now in her 90s, she continues to edit documentaries for HBO, Discovery and the Learning Channel. She has taught editing at NYU since 1981.

Here is what she says about My Super Sweet 16:

“These kids are determined to go all out – and to out-do all of their friends – with these ultimate birthday blowouts,” added Nina Diaz, VP of MTV News & Docs. “Our viewers are in for a wild ride as we go behind the scenes for all the drama, surprises, and over-the-top fun that make up this new breed of ‘sweet 16′ parties.”

Sigh.

Anyway, the title of this post may seem a bit strange. It’s because I spent a great majority of yesterday trying to understand this. In the end, all I had to do is delete the .htaccess file I already had, make a fresh one in notepad (just a blank file saved as “.htaccess,” upload it using filezilla as ascii, not binary, and then chmoding it 666. Then finally log in to wordpress and go to Options >> Permalinks >> Update Permalinks. That should be it. I’m still having problems keeping my own customized mod_rewrite rules in the file without them getting overwritten, but at least everything should be functional by now.

If you have any questions with the rewrite rules in WP 1.5 (ie. if you’re getting an internal server error report), feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help you out.

Woojay (am I allowed to type that?) has moved his blog. I updated our link – you should do the same.