The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?I’m a U.S. citizen in my late 20s. I and live in the Mid-West. I’m a Christian, but I also follow science. I love to read, especially science fiction. I like learning new things. I have a number of hobbies that I sporadically invest time in.

I started my site (blahblahblahger.wordpress.com) because I thought it would be good to have an outlet for my randomness. I wanted a place to post whatever random thing I thought of or came across. I didn’t expect to have much of a readership, but am consistently getting a small number of hits each day.

Some of this information is probably repeated, but here’s a quote from my About page: “So, apparently I’m supposed to write about myself here. I don’t quite know what to say. I am a combination of seeming contradictions. I’m a Christian, but I like science (and SF). I’m generally considered a nerd, but I’m not conversant in 1337 (leet) or computer programming. I enjoy reading, but read slowly. I can’t think of any more off the top of my head, but periodically find myself realizing new seeming contradictions. I guess I have my head in the clouds and my feet on the ground.”

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

I’d like to think I’m growing as a writer, but I haven’t been blogging for very long, so I don’t know if I am yet. I hope that the simple act of writing will help me improve my writing skills.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

I haven’t been blogging long, but, for now, I’d have to say my most memorable experiences involve looking at the stats page and finding out how people are finding my page and which posts get the most views. My top (most visited) post for awhile was a post about a budding actor, Dileep Rao, appearing on an NPR program. Then my post about the death of George Carlin was the top post for a while. Several people have come to the George Carlin post because they were looking for information about “Shiny Time Station”. It made me happy to know that I was able to help people find out that he was one of the men who played “Mr. Conductor” on that show. Now, my top post is one about Bastille Day and a couple obscure holidays. I think part of the reason that it gets so many hits is because there is another site that also posted about these holidays and there is a link from it to my site.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

I don’t do much. I try to post responses on my blog when I can think of something to say. I post on a couple other sites, but that’s mostly so I can give my thoughts on the projects there. I don’t know if that counts as a real dialog.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

YouTube. I think YouTube has changed the use of sound bites. It allows the candidates to both question and answer questions in a way that wasn’t possible before now. If something is taken out of context, someone can post the context and explain the situation without having to spend a lot of money on advertisements. There was even a debate that had questions taken from YouTube.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?

Yes and no. For people who want to have the information, technology can make it easier for them to get that information. But for people who don’t care about the information, it doesn’t matter how easy it is to obtain.

Additionally, the internet has a lot of information on it, but not all that information is correct. Sifting through that can be problematic. Some things just don’t sound right, but for other things it can be harder to determine if they are true or not.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?

I don’t know. I could say because I’m writing it, but I doubt that any of my individual ideas is unique to me. If I had to pick one thing that was notable about my site, I’d say the amount of haiku. I’m sure there are other sites that have haiku, so it’s not unique, but it’s still a fairly regular feature on my site.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

I’m not sure I’d consider myself a success. I don’t always make the best choices, even though I try. I guess, I’d say that I’m most successful when I’m honest about what I want and strive to achieve it.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

As mundane as it may sound, my gloomiest moment was when I was dumped. My happiest moment would probably be when I realized that was the best thing that could have happened. That relationship wasn’t good for me, and it was a good thing that it was over.

Do you think [the use of Twitter and other social networking tools by politicians] is bandwagon jumping or what?

I haven’t seen politicians using Twitter. My main exposure to Twitter is through the webcomics and stories I read online. For now, the use of social networks by politicians is probably more of a bandwagon than anything else. I know that other famous people use social networks. I think it depends on how the people use it. If they have someone else manage the site for them and never actually interact with the people they are supposedly interacting with, then I think it’s a bad thing. If they have some involvement then it could be a good way for them to have a personal connection with more people then they would otherwise be able to. As long as the people using the social networks are honest about who they are and how they are using it, I don’t have a problem with them using such sites

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s
paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?

“In the world” is both limiting and daunting. Part of me would like to go to outer space, but that’s not realistic at this point. Another part of me realizes that the world is a big place and there are a lot more than three places that would be interesting to visit. You mention “no worries about how it’s paid for”, but another concern I would have would be how safe it would be to travel to the destination, and how much time I would have in each place. I’m going to assume that those issues aren’t a problem for the purposes of this discussion. One of the places I would pick would be Antarctica, so I could see the scientific endeavors there. Another place I would choose would be Jerusalem, so I could go on a tour of places that have Biblical significance. Picking a third destination is hard. I guess I’d pick southern France. I took French in high school, and it would be nice to go somewhere and see how much I remember. And, from what I’ve heard, I think I’d enjoy the French countryside.

What is your favorite book and why?

It’s really hard for me to pick one author, let alone, one book. Besides the Bible, which is good for guidance, and reference books, which are good for looking information up in, I guess I’d pick “The Feline Wizard” by Christopher Stasheff. He’s one of my favorite authors. I like the interaction between the main characters. They are flawed, but more realistic because of it. The two young protagonists grow a lot on their adventure.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?

Usually how they interact with others. I’m a natural observer, so I generally see people before they see me. I also notice how well they are proportioned, general physical attributes, and what kind of clothing they wear, especially bright colors. I’m not a particular fan of bright colors, so they stick out to me.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?

Maybe an English teacher, but people are generally supportive of me writing. This support is generally for me to write fiction, so I don’t know if that counts for this blog.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?

I don’t know the specifics, but several of the sites I’ve seen that have “Donation” buttons on them. A lot of the time this is an incentive so that they will write more or post more of their comics. Another way that I’ve heard of is “Project Wonderful”; again, I don’t know the specifics, but it is something I’ve heard about several times.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?

I’m not sure if it’s true for a lot of bloggers. I know that I have a lot of time on my hands, but some of my posts don’t take me that long to write, so I don’t know that having a lot of time on ones hands is a requirement for a successful blog.

I think also think part of it depends on what the blogger considers a success; what their motivation is to write it in the first place. If the bloggers want to communicate with distant friends, then I doubt a lot of time is required. If they want to get a certain number of hits a day, then they will probably need to take more time to be successful.

What are your thoughts on corporate blogs and what do you think the biggest advantages and disadvantages are?

I really haven’t thought about it a lot. My first thoughts are that corporate blogs could be advantageous by connecting with customers in a way that the corporations couldn’t easily do before. A disadvantage could be that it sounds like a sells-pitch and discourages buyers. Another thing that could be bad is if the corporation wasn’t up front about the blog having a connection to it. If customers felt lied to, they might stop buying products from that corporation.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?

They can do what everybody does, be a positive influence on the people around them. The difference is that they can reach people they wouldn’t have been able to without their blogs. I doubt that all bloggers are trying to make the world a better place, but I hope that those who aren’t trying to make it better don’t influence that many people who don’t already believe as they do.

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?

The only one that I can think of that I’ve been flowing for any length of time that could be considered anything close to a normal blog is “Michael’s ‘Deep Thoughts’” (http://michaeldavidjay.wordpress.com/). Another blog I’ve been following for a little while, because of it’s connection to “55-a-day” (http://55aday.blogspot.com/), is “Air Theremin” (http://airtheremin.wordpress.com/). I follow several stories online (like “A Northern Heart” (http://writtenfire.com/) and “The 3 Seas” (http://www.the3seas.com/)) (both of which can be found on “Pages Unbound” (http://www.pagesunbound.com/)), and several webcomics (like “Insert Credits” (www.insertcredits.com) and “Red String” (http://redstring.strawberrycomics.com/)); but, I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

“Bastille Day, Among Other Things” has gotten the most views, but no comments. “Relative Gas Price” has gotten a couple comments, one was about finding cheap gasoline, another was about alternatives to gasoline. I responded to their comments.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?

I know very little about Pakistan. The first things that come to mind are Middle-East, and Muslim. But, when I think Muslim, I don’t automatically think militant. I think the militant groups are a relatively small number of Muslims. I think, in some ways, it is similar to the extreme groups in Christianity. A very small group of people are very loud about their position and people who don’t know better think that this small group represents the rest of the group. The vocal minority skews how the rest of the group is viewed. I’m sure there are other examples of this, but this is the one that came to mind. I think too many people listen to what the extremists in a group say, and not what the average person in that group has to say.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?

Not really, but I’m not easily stunned, and I don’t read a lot of blogs.

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?

Developing countries don’t seem to have learned from the mistakes of developed countries. Of course, developed countries don’t always practice what the preach. One example is the ideal of protecting the environment often gets overshadowed by commerce. People who have influence over such things, need to make it more desirable to do what one ought to do. Some people won’t choose the “right” option just because it is the right option. If the people who have the ability to change such things were to make the “right” thing easier or more cost effective, then more people would choose that option.

And if we, in this case I mean the United States, want others to do something, then we should be doing it, too. No one likes a hypocrite. If we want others to change, then we need to change as well.

Another thing occurred to me; in developing countries there isn’t enough to eat, in developed countries there is too much to eat. In the U.S. obesity has become an epidemic. If farming and distribution were better in developing countries, then starving wouldn’t be as much of a problem. It’s not as simple as that, but helping improve those problems would be a start.

What is the future of blogging?

Millions of voices speaking, no one listening? I’m not sure, actually. I think that most blogs will have a limited following, but some blogs will reach a larger audience and have greater influence. I think some people who write blogs do it so they can communicate with people they wouldn’t otherwise be able to; they have family and friends who live far away from them. Others are trying to change the world, or their little corner of it, by expressing their views on things. And some are trying to tell a story they might not be able to in a more traditional market. I think the future of of blogging is diverse, and things will probably come from it that haven’t even been thought of yet.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?

I don’t know that it does effect me much. It’s nice to see that people have visited my site; it makes me feel good to know that someone is interested in what I have to say. And it does take up some of my time to update, but it hasn’t had a discernible effect on me.

What are your future plans?

To keep on keepin’ on. I plan to continue posting regularly on my site. I may see if there is a way to put a donation button on my site, if the host allows it. I hope to have fun on my site, and occasionally be informative.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?

I can’t think of anything that I would specifically say to your readers, but something that is good for everyone to remember is that a government isn’t the same as the people who live in a land. I know that more people in the U.S. need to remember this. And I know we (in the U.S.) have more control over who’s in our government than a lot of other places, but campaigns cost money, and not everyone can raise enough to run even if they wanted to do so.

Looking at a government and it’s people as separate entities is, in a way, an extension of the idea that everyone is unique. Assuming something about one person because of the actions of another person won’t always be accurate. Of course, there are modifiers to any assessment, but not two people are exactly alike; at least, not in my experience.

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