State of the Blog / STILL, Absolutely Nothing on Sale Here

 

So, I'm pretty floored at the lack of traffic here on Blogger these days.  I guess it's the nature of internet locales that they come and go, and we imbibe our digital tonics in different ways as time moves on.  Of course, not blogging in nearly a decade might have something to do with the handful of hits I'm getting per post (versus hundreds or thousands fifteen years ago).  Nonetheless, if you build it, they will come, and I'm going to stick right here for the time being at least.

My main issue with the Blogger setup is the image system.  Even the extra large images are not large enough, and, moreover, the images look grainy and sad.  I used to use image hosts, but they are in no way permanent, as evidenced by the sad tinypic face adorning many of my old exhibits.  Using hosts allowed me to post various sizes of image which was nice but very time consuming.  I'm going to continue to use the Blogger hosting now, as at least I know they aren't going anywhere, ever, and it's very fast and convenient in putting up a post quickly.  If you want quality images, you can always, um, DOWNLOAD THE SCANS, as that's what they are here for.  I absolutely love seeing my scans on wiki pages, blogs, pinterest, etc. etc. and it's even better when people use the uncut quality images instead of ones that have been stepped on (if you haven't realized it - image degradation is a very real thing when it comes to the way images are handled on the web).

As for the scans themselves, I've re-established a mediafire account.  I'd let my old one go because of the expense, but, once again, I'm happy to pay so that the digital ice cream truck can keep rolling through your hood with those sweet ice cream cones.  I also plan on getting new scans up on archive.org.  A lot of my scans are up there already which is great, but I do want a hand in their presentation going forward.  BTW, archive.org and other digital libraries are (and will remain) under threat from powerful interests that challenge our right to share within the public domain and expand its boundaries.  Let your voice be heard, eh?

https://blog.archive.org/2023/03/20/stand-with-internet-archive-as-we-fight-for-the-digital-rights-of-all-libraries/

I suppose I'm like a lot of GenXers in that some of my original optimism about the potential of the internet has been tempered by the reality which is that the internet is largely a digital hellscape lacking originality, deep thought, art, or humanity.  Commentary on articles and youtube and whatnot (where they still exist) often reveal the ugly underside of American culture with the anonymity giving any asshole a chance to troll nasty.  Intellectual subtleties and deep dive journalism have been replaced by tweet length screeds meant to be shared but barely contemplated.  Shitty ads for shitty products and shitty articles meant to simply be a space for more shitty ads litter the digital landscape.  I'm an old man yelling at clouds here but I can't help but mourn wasted potential.  And this isn't to ignore the great articles and galleries I do find on blogs authored by genuine human beings on the web, because I do appreciate every single person out there that leaves the web a better place than they found it.

So, STILL, nothing on sale here at Darwin Scans, EVER.  This is my museum, and I'll never pimp it out for ad revenue or some partnership with Amazon.  Writing for free on the internet can sometimes seem fruitless, but it has its freedoms as well.  The oft-used tag from McCoy that I led with speaks to the scanner ethic which is still strong after all these years.  In my short time back, I've seen fantastic work being done by conscientious and skilled scanners. I love it, and the spirit is contagious.