Some random thoughts...

[reviews_and_ramblings]

I don't do rates (it's like a statement, I don't do drugs, I don't drink...). I always hate scheme and similar, my Italian teacher in highschool, after fighting for years to force me to plan my writing before starting them, surrendered and let me do as I wanted; I wrote from scratch, I still do, without almost editing it... It's like I'm, you can't change me, and so, how can I summarize what I wrote with a rate?

And above all, I don't believe in rate since they are "cold": I can read a book today, and since I'm in a fool mood, I can hate or love it, and maybe next week I will change my mind. Same as you: a book for me is wonderful since touch something in me, and for you is boring, since that same spot wasn't touched.

I'm not a reviewer, I studied Economics at College, not English or Literature! I'm a reader, and I read what I like, so please, don't take offense if I don't like a book, I believe that I have never said that a book was bad, only maybe that I didn't understand it or that it left me unaffected. And I'm not a writer or an editor, so I'm not nursing the secret idea to publish a book... I have some stories that swirling in my mind, but I'm not good enough to write them, and so they will stay in my mind.

English is not my language, so I can't judge if a book is grammatically good or not, and I don't want to... I write what as a book left me, cold, happy, sad, and I believe that you can understand it from what I write. It's not like I love every book I read, but if I write a post, probably there is something in the book that pushed me to finish it: and since I have in this moment more than 400 books in my reading list, if a book managed to catch my attention for enough time for me to finish it, then it means that I like it. For the "love" verb, the book has to be very good.

Don't try to involve me in fights, I don't like them; and don't believe that I can't fight, I can, but this is my sand box and I do as I want here. But I love confrontation, so don't worry if you want to leave "nasty" comments, if they have a sense, even if bad, probably I will reply to them.

And if you heavily lift from my LiveJournal and take the credit for my work, could at least don't gloat over how good you are? Ask you to at least put a link would be too much... I love when people link me, one of the happiest moment is when I discover that someone notice my little sand box and say something. I don't pretend that you ask me nothing, don't get me wrong, it's part of the pleasure of life, and an happy surprise, when I find something of unexptected, but I hate when something I spent time to prepare get apparently unnoticed to discover that raised a sandstorm somewhere else.

Comments

[valkovalin.livejournal.com]

You said: "you, me, and I believe very few other, are alone in maintaining our site ... so probably it hurt more when someone with better visibility try to shadow what we are doing."

That's a good insight! I hadn't stopped to think about, but you're right.

You said: "What I absolutely don't like is when they lift without even trying to understand what I wrote and why."

I think that they do it because it's hard to write original content. They lack the ability or they are just too lazy. Their desire to have a successful website outstrips their willingness or ability to work for it.

So they "lift" heavily from the content of your website to add to their own. They hope that they can get away with it so long as they give you credit or link back.

It is true that there is no "global law" under which this sort of theft can be prosecuted. But if they repost too much of your content, it is still theft. The internet community in general will not tolerate it. So there is an informal "global law" of all of internet content writers looking out for each other.

Too many of us are angry about pouring all of our energy into creating original content and then having it "borrowed" by the parasites who want to keep up with everyone else but don't want to work for it like the rest of us.

The more successful someone's website is, the more it tends to get victimized by content theft. I'm not THAT successful, but I've still had my content reposted in its entirety by fiction writers whom I've reviewed who should have known better. (It's rare that fiction writers do it.)

I've also had it reposted by kids over at WordPress, among other big blog publishers. The big blog publishers are so nice to deal with. I send them a link to the stolent content and they just rip it down immediately. Problem solved in no time!