.... greeeeat. Just in time for BurningHippie. Buy not only a brand new playa-bike, but fancypants decor for it, too! :/

Hey there BB Gang- the event isn't a "night" event, actually, it's a daytime shindig: 3pm - 8pm. Just FYI.

Thanks again to the BoingBoing community, for being so supportive and awesome, for our guy Todd!!!

Such a beautiful video- my long, jet black spider-farmer hairdo almost grew back, just watching it.

Wow- I was but a 4 y/o babe, when this came out. At least that was around the time I saw Debbie Harry on the Muppet Show, and decided I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.

James Dean's head-stone, as vandalized by fans who regularly nick chips off of it, to take home as "souveniers." It evidently needs to be replaced every few years, as a result- but I liked the lipstick marks!

Someone just emailed me, bringing this to my attention:

When Violet was criticizing Flickr on her blog some time ago, she included a link to a Flickr image- on which I wrote a comment, offering a devil's advocate angle for folks to consider, prior to rushing to judgments against Flickr.

Violet promptly deleted my comment, and blocked me from further commenting to her Flickr account. This of course, was what then prompted her to call me out as a "troll" to her Flickr pages. Was it a comment she didn't want to hear? Sure- and technically that does meet the criteria of being a troll... but, common sense I think dictates otherwise, if the text of the actual comment is read.

Apparently someone noticed my comment before it was deleted, and quoted it in her blog:
http://worldmegan.net/2007/06/the-big-flickr-scare/

As with my other posts here, I'm not out to smear Violet- but given the acute criticism being lodged against BoingBoing, and wanting to provide as much context as I can to ease their burden in this situation- I've done the commenting, as I have.

And, personally- "coming out" finally, after avoiding parties and day to day cowering in fear of what crap Violet will sling at me next, for over a year- this experience, while "not about me," has truly been a great catharsis.

Unless someone else sends me publishable stuff to share- I'm off.

Keep up the civilized debate; it's a good one, and one that obviously has been long overdue.

Food for thought: "Needing To Know"

http://www.kickingpebbles.net/?p=107

Not including my blog-link to pimp my blog... which most I can assert, will find to be generally irrelevant and boring, in it's entirety.

Only posting as a link, because the scrolling and ascii-overload of this post, is already over the top- and, the post does not directly discuss details of this article.

@Ambrose #1427

... it's not all about "Person A"

This all seems to me to be a very complicated issue, that has emotionally drained many involved- and at this stage of the game, the discussion is in it's 3rd overtime. For the hockey fans among us, that's a reference to 2 teams in the playoffs having both played for over 2 hours of ice-time, over usually 5 hours of real-time; and what was once an exciting and pep-filled hockey game of skill and play, is now just 'night of the living dead' on ice.

The BB'ers have been diligently responding to most concerns for the last 2 days; and have been appearing to be reading all of them.

I think everyone needs a break- and maybe at a later date, when everyone has had requisite sleep, non-tech time, and time to discuss in meatspace among friends and colleagues- maybe a richer discussion can happen at a conference, tech town-hall, or something.

At a minimum- everyone does need a beer, some fireworks (ok, maybe not the best combination), some cake, and definitely some human f2f interactions with folks outside this discussion.

So: shall we take a breather?

So- now that I'm reading thru some of the comments, this has actually blossomed into quite a dialogue- which perhaps, can be a positive takeaway from everything, disagreements and expressions of support, aside?

A few fix-its were requested to my earlier comment, from a friend who read it (and yep, got a fire up her ass that I wasn't clear on 3 points):

1) Violet identified me by my name, in her blog-post that initially brought our situation to her public stage.

2) The stolen images, were both re-posted without attribution, and copyrighted by her, under her ownership. I personally could give two hoots- but professionally, it's a pretty big deal to steal another person's work- copyright it as your own- then get on a high-horse about DRM and other "free media" issues. Myself and a number of other photographers, are in this boat- and none are too happy.

3) Slander is one thing. Abusing your chair on a panel at a professional conference (SXSW), to slander your target in an effort to bring both credibility and empathy to your own 'situation'- or for whatever reason- (nuff said).

Reading the LA Times articles, it also really sounds like these guys & Xeni have been thru the wringer on this one. They're human- and amazingly it seems, have read all the comments. At a minimum, do applaud them for that- and for listening.

Wow. This all, has just got to stop.

"Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her."

BoingBoing, as an organization, was well within their right to act as they did- citing the above reason, and providing no further details.

For the hordes who, after years of credible blogging and journalism (and please don't pick apart my use of either or both of those words- because this isn't about that), have chosen to flip over BoingBoing exercising their right to make this decision that I am speculating was extremely difficult- I am happy to lend some insight into Violet Blue's behavior over the last couple of years, from my own personal and professional experience. Why? Because Violet has already made the choice to make these situations public- and if by finally telling my story, I can shed some light on her poor professional choices that many credible professionals would quite reasonably wish to distance themselves from, and if it could potentially offer some insight into the character that perhaps directed BoingBoing's choice- I'd finally like to.

Since 2003, Violet and I shared a close friendship. In 2007, we had a falling-out; and rather than discuss our differences in even a single attempt at a conversation, she disclosed the full situation- my name and plenty of details excluded, with much drama and exaggeration included, in a lengthy post on her blog.

Poor Behavior #1) For a professional blogger, the above is not credible behavior- is a major abuse of the audience they have with their readership- and, well- is just somewhat 4th-grade. Not opening the can of worms with regards to the blogosphere's longstanding grassroots effort to clearly delineate "personal" blogs from "professional" blogs, and the ethics/standards which distinguish each (beyond the obvious)- and, well- Violet crossed some lines.

Violet continued to slander me among friends and colleagues, and characterized my efforts to contact her to initiate a dialogue, as "stalking." So at that point- I just stopped. The very deep personal pain from that situation alone, was huge- but no, suck as it did, there was only one mis-step in professional judgement made that constituted "poor behavior" as the professional community might see fit to recognize, and that was her public blog summary of our private (and messy) situation.

The next chapter: Violet posted in her blog, a request for readers to tend to "her" Wikipedia page:
http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2007/07/dear-lazyweb.html

This of course, erupted a major shitstorm, which is clearly evident looking at the history and discussion on the Wikipedia page that now best documents Violet in it's history, and not in what should be a concise and accurate encyclopedic article.

Poor Behavior #2) Wikipedia is not a PR tool. Wikipedia is not a vanity device. Wikipedia is not a place to brag, to display celebrity connections, nor a place where users document themselves- or ethically, are to in any way become involved with their own documentation, lest personally correcting occasional factual errors or disputing through Wikipedia's systemic dispute system, potentially slanderous claims.

I made 3 contributions, in total, to the Wikipedia page about Violet Blue, and all 3 were in the beginning. One, stated: "Ms. Blue's boyfriend is not an objective contributor to her page edits." The second edit, said "... seems to be more a subject of debate than one of fact- omitting, altogether, as it also seems to be somewhat irrelevant to the rest of Ms. Blue's work." The third, was a deletion of information regarding the subject I questioned in the second point, as being of relevance/significance for a Wikipedia article on Violet Blue.

At this past year's SXSW conference, Violet formally "outed" me, as "her online stalker." Violet's boyfriend, Jonathan Moore, sat on her Sexual Privacy panel, and in her PowerPoint deck and in the MP3 AudioFeed, Violet makes the claim- that Jonathan then substantiates, using a screenshot from Wikipedia, that displays a coffeehouse WiFi's IP address that I'd made the 3 Wikipedia edits from (as well as I suppose, sending emails to his account on, months prior- good catch).

The SXSW Panel "outing" aside, Violet has referenced me as "Ninapedia" in her blog, as "her stalker," and has done her best among the Bay Area's tech community to smear my name, with her baseless claims that I've not only suffered a great deal emotionally from, but as well have lost business from. Her verbal claims have been that I've been the sole- or one of a few, very active participants, in "vandalizing her Wikipedia page." Well for one, it's not hers. Secondly- yes, it has digressed into quite the shitstorm... but vandalism as a label, is a stretch.

Poor Behavior #3) Slander. Plain and simple. Tarnishing the professional reputation of a person, for personal reasons rooted in hurt, and not at all in the pro-ported "facts."

Poor Behavior #4) ... and this one is minor respective to the situation; but stealing images, photos that I have shot of her, photos that I have shot of events we've both attended, and photos that other people have shot of her. Taking these photos that we exchanged with her as friends, and re-posting on her Fotki and Flickr sites, un-attributed- but Violet is careful to properly attribute folks with whom she is currently on good terms with.

Personally and professionally, this has been one of the toughest years I can remember- for many reasons. Violet's contributions to those hardships, have been significant. And unfortunately, I'm not alone in this unique 'club' of "Violet Survivors" of sorts.

I don't know why BoingBoing made the choice that they did: I'm acquainted with 2 of them, haven't corresponded with either in a while, and I don't believe either know details of what my situation with Violet has been- nor of many (or any details at all) of the others. It's been difficult to distinguish personal/professional damage in this whole mess- but the bullet-points of clear professional ethics violated that I outlined in my situation alone, are I think rather significant.

So, there you go: that's my story. Mine, not BoingBoing's- but a peep into the questioned poor behavior of Violet Blue, that so many have demanded insight into.

There is a time and a place for "full disclosure," and there is a time and a place to just shut the hell up, be human, and hopefully be respected for that. I ask that folks please step-back, and respect the BoingBoinger's for their decision. They've been doing this for years, and have done so much to pave the way forward for integrity and ethics in blogging, and re-defining the ever evolving media-scape. To deny a human element in any of the above, is perhaps the greatest mistake that many make- so, just please.

I need peace, these guys/gal need peace. Violet also needs peace- and to her, I ask that she just pick up the phone, have a conversation with one or all of the BoingBoinger's, and find that peace- and stop searching for that elusive peace that a public platform and batted eyelashes with a few slips of the truth, will never provide.

- Nina Eleanor Alter

@sam I agree wholeheartedly... tho the craftsmanship on the zen-fire thingys and that bar, is second to none- beautiful, beautiful metalwork!! The fire "whistle" on the bar whooshes something fierce, too!