Very
soon (as from March 23rd) the only way you, my loyal readership, will
be able to access my blog with its extensive archive (reaching way
back to Aug 2008) and hear about my new and upcoming work will be by
being explicitly invited. And I guess the only way that is going to
happen is by you making yourself known to me via email
(toyntanen@googlemail.com).
Obviously
you can make up a alternative name for yourself if you want to keep
your true identity hidden from me – and I have no problem with
that; the best way is probably to start up an alternative Google or
Yahoo account or whatever for yourself in a fictious name (as I have
– Garth Toyntanen is not my real name).
Alternatively
I shall try to keep you updated via my Tumblr account and I shall
endevour to transfer the entire Behind The Barred Window back
catalogue to Wordpress and / or some section of The Original
Institute website and carry on regardless there.
Meanwhile, please feel free to mine and download as much of the archive as you want - and QUICKLY, before it's gone. I ask only that you share it around a bit and pass on my alternative contact arrangements via your favourite form of social media.
Please
believe me when I say non of this is of my making – see message
reproduced below (sent me via email 23rd Feb)
............................................................................................................
Dear
Blogger User,
We're writing to tell you about
an upcoming change to the Blogger Content Policy that may affect your
account.
In
the coming weeks, we'll no longer allow blogs that contain sexually
explicit or graphic nude images or video. We'll still allow nudity
presented in artistic, educational, documentary or scientific
contexts, or where there are other substantial benefits to the public
from not taking action on the content.
The
new policy will take effect on 23 March 2015. After this policy comes
into force, Google will restrict access to any blog identified as
being in violation of our revised policy. No content will be deleted,
but only blog authors and those with whom they have expressly shared
the blog will be able to see the content that we've made private.
Our
records indicate that your account may be affected by this policy
change. Please refrain from creating new content that would violate
this policy. We would also ask you to make any necessary changes to
your existing blog to comply as soon as possible so that you won't
experience any interruptions in service
Google will not implement the announced change according to an official statement on https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!category-topic/blogger/jAep2mLabQY
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous! Thanks for the heads up on that. So, something of a bluff then... Or they lost their collective bottle. Actualy I read a similar thing on the blog of Mr Tawse, but didn't think it was official but just a rose-coloured rumour... We'll see.
DeleteTo sum it up: shall we make ourselves known to you or will you emigrate to Wordpress like many other bloggers?
ReplyDeleteHi Orage! I do actualy have a Wordpress blog alteady, have done for a couple of years. But there's not much on it - I couldn't really get to grips with it; it didn't seem as intuitive as Blogger. And you know what? Right this minute I can't even remember what I called it! But, yes I'm hoping to be able to move everything across there once I figure it out. I also keep quite an active Tumblr account, but I don't think the Tumblr format really suits text, though it's great for graphics and as a source of graphical inspiration. I am reluctant to give up on Blogger, though. A lot of work went into getting the 'look' right and a lot of that was customizing things like the banner and sidebar width by poking around in the HTML code.
Delete...Continued.... But as you will have seen above, it MAY not be nessesary.... We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI also read the thread on the google forum but does anyone know if it's official? The only email I received from them is the one that say my blog is being closed.
ReplyDeleteHi there, GhostWriter. That's my problem, and just about everyone else I have spoken to. Is it official? My gut feeling is that if it was the new, superseding 'party line', then Google would have emailed it, saying so - just like they did initially.
ReplyDelete