What A Tangled Web We WeaveI'm somewhat bemused, not to say pissed off, to discover that
I'm one of those who've offered
Worldwide Acclaim Success and Good Testimonials on Transjakarta Busway Projects. PT Pamintoro Cipta, '
Engineering and Management Consultants', based here in Jakarta, have linked to
a whole host of my posts rather than
the one which says I like the busway but ....
It would have been nice to have been asked first if it was OK to quote me.
It is true that bloggers' efforts are in the public domain and I don't begrudge other bloggers or, as occasionally happens, journalists using my thoughts as pegs for their own perspectives. The blogosphere is essentially an exchange of news, ideas and opinions. Free speech is essential. What I do object to is the use of what I dribble forth for commercial use.
A similar controversy is brewing in the UK. Tim Worstall, a blogging self-publicist, has just had a book published ~ 2005 Blogged:
Dispatches from the Blogosphere . He has written to Jakartass a couple of times suggesting that I might wish to contribute to a couple of his projects. I don't.
And neither did
Inspector Sands, who wrote:
A couple of months back I was e-mailed by somebody seeking to use an excerpt from Casino Avenue in a "best of British blogging" anthology. I politely declined, and later found to my horror it was billed as "the big events of 2005, as seen through the "eyes of some of the world's most opinionated bloggers". Not something I really want to be part of. And if anybody's going to be making money from this, it'll be me, thanks.The comments, all pseudonymous you'll note, on this post show a remarkable synchronicity of cynicism.
I'm glad someone's raised the issue of this book. It feels exploitative to me: you cut and paste other people's writing, then add your name to it and cream off the royalties.
I do hope that he's distributing all the money he receives for the book amongst all the people he's used (in more senses than one).OK, rant over.
Now for some more folk who've recently entered the Indonesian blogosphere.
Wimar Witoelar is a noted commentator on Indonesian affairs and has turned his website into a blog, thus allowing interaction.Rain In The DistanceA Bali lover who writes well.
Sexy ChefHas recipes in Indonesia but the pictures whet the appetite.
Shinta is a care giver in California and is presumably an Indonesian expat. She's linked to Jakartass. Thanks S. and I wish you Happy Birthday for last Friday
And finally,
Gus Dur, the half-blind cleric and former president, is online. It's not a blog, but still a useful source of his temperate thinking.
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