(no really, insults get results apparently)

So, who among us can forget Avon Blake.  The little upstart crashed into the blogging world in September, promising to give away a free version of Thesis theme that was coded by Chris Pearson.  Well, actually what Avon promised to do was rip the code, make a few tweaks and release the theme.  He was greeted with both hostility and admiration in the blogsphere, and given a few good links from posts on UpstartBlogger (that’s a PR 7 at the moment from what I can tell, so pretty good quality links).  He got tons of traffic, promised an iphone givaway….and then, after a few more posts went silent.  We are still waiting for his invasion.  A lot of people commented on his first blog post, telling him not to steal code, giving him instant notoriety.

Oh code, people are so possessive over their code, but code wants to be free.  Personally, I think anyone who codes and says they haven’t “borrowed” (and by that I mean stolen) bits of code from others is lying.  If you’ve ever coded a “hello world” or a “bubble sort”, you have stolen some one else’s code.  Plain and simple.  I like the idea of free software, it is the only way we progress……this quote in particular

Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.

Which I have grabbed from the GNU homepage.

Oh crap, off topic again, so Avon came a-calling and seems to have left.  Well, for all I know he started his 9 other blogs and is making a killing off them. (as an aside, de might have left his theme too late though, I notice Revolution has gone open source)  Maybe he is making money online blogging…..spurred on by Upstartblogger who encouraged him to start up his blog in the first place.   Now and then his blog changes a bit, so I guess he still has it on the backburner.  Recently he got a slap on the wrist from the lawyers at Random House because he promissed to give away a copy of the four hour work week.  Lol…….The irony of this just makes me laugh.  Maybe his invasion will come.  Maybe not.  Maybe he has realised that the make money online niche is over-saturated.  Everyone who wants to make money online seems to start a blog about it.    Avon was going to smash the established order.  He was a punk.  A rebel.  I looked forward to him slamming the A-listers, calling them out, establishing a new order, telling it like it is.  I’m waiting.   I have him to thank though, because he was the straw that broke the camel’s back and got me to start this puppy up.

Now a new upstart (and again linked up from the ultimate upstart of upstarts, UpstartBlogger), Hannah.  Great domain name – HannahSolo.  She grabbed her traffic by insulting Darren Rowse, commenting on his blog and telling him, essentially, that he is full of shit.  Telling him he was running a scam.  Well, she didn’t get the same response Avon got judging from the comments on her blog, but still, she has grabbed a slice of traffic.  I hope this one keeps going.  I hope she keeps blogging.  I hope we haven’t been swindled yet again with a lot of bluster and then no follow through.  I think Hannah should drop by every A-lister and tell them to get stuffed……and write about it, and get a following and then promote a product   Oh the irony that would entail.

I wonder if the new way to mdake  a name for yourself in the blogsphere – or in this little niche of the sphere is to insult people to get an initial run of traffic.  or maybe it’s just a style, born out of people who read upstartblogger…..or maybe Ashley Morgan is getting together a little army of young bloggers to take the power from the established bling bloggers.  Or maybe Avon and Hannah are related to Ashley.  Or maybe they are Ashley lol…..who knows.  If this were hollywood, Avon and Hannah would blog, against the odds of the A-listers trying to silence them, dodging site hackings, insulting all and sundry, eventually they would become aware of each other, fall desperately in love and marry at the wordpress headquarters, with Ashley Morgan riffing in the background with some Miles Davis influenced version of “Here comes the bride”…….   if there’s a tear in your eye, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.

edit….oh I’m too late….the linking has begun.  Hannah has found Avon.

Maybe it is just youthful exuberance, maybe this is how kids can make money these days.  I don’t know.

Maybe I should insult someone to get me some traffic.  Who should it be?  Who is worthy of my insults?  Which pro-blogger needs to be randomly critisised and told they are full of shit?  All of them you say?  Fair point.

(or where I ask the eminent Z lister what’s up?)

So, what the fuck happened man?  One minute avonblake is there, next minute it redirects to a totaly NSFW site.  You been hacked?

Heads up if you browse from work, viewing the site right now can get you fired.

Calling Avon.  Hope you get it fixed quick like. Lets us know man.