Blogger video bug news (i.e. none)

Two days on and videos uploaded to Blogger (like most of them on this blog) still aren't working.

The collective frustration of the 73 (so far) who've managed to find somewhere to 'communicate' with Blogger's 'customer service' - quite a feat in itself - can be inspected HERE.

One that stood out for me offered a simple practical solution to the problem that they haven't acted on:

'Two days, blogger - pretty unacceptable. I assume the current video player is an upgrade gone wrong, 'cause I looked at some cached results on google and the old video player works just fine and still plays my old videos. In which case, why not reupload the old video player whilst you're fixing the current one? It's common sense really, rather than having tens of thousands people dissatisfied with your service.'

Another pointed to the only longer term remedy:

'this is a cruel but valuable reminder of the limitations of "free services".....Unless you pay for it, you cant own it!.Since none of us is paying for anything, we have no right,& most important,no value.....Instead of giving us all these "free services we don't need, why not charging us something that could provide quality and a minimum level of customer's attention and care?. I am too young & too proud to consider complaining, I am putting monies where my mouth is.....Moving to more friendly territories. Google is not the only platform for bloggers.'

Blogger video problem

The following 'Blogger Status' announcement appeared late last night (UK time).

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Users are experiencing problems playing videos in Blogger blogs. We are investigating and will send an update when fixed.

Posted by Siobhan at 22:50

Visitors can check the current situation by clicking on the Blogger Status link above.

Meanwhile, I'm sorry that no one will be able to see any of the videos (other than the embedded ones) until Google/Blogger get their act together, and hope that you'll return once the problem has been resolved - which I'll post on Twitter in due course.

And, if you're thinking about starting a blog and can't decide between Blogger and Wordpress, this depressing news is yet another reason why you should chose the latter, and why some of us are planning to migrate there from Blogger.

Martin Luther King Day - and a reminder of how to use rhetoric to convey passion

Today is Martin Luther King Day in the USA.

But regardless of where we happen to live, it's a good excuse for spending a few minutes (and it only lasts 11 minutes) watching his 'I have a dream' speech.

When talking about the use of contrasts and three-part lists, I'm often asked whether the use of such rhetorical techniques will somehow diminish the sincerity and passion of a speaker using them to get his or her point across.

The most vivid way to answer to the question is to play a clip of Martin Luther King using them (as he did with great frequency) and to ask people to reflect on whether, now they can see what he's doing, it makes him sound any less sincere or passionate?

One such example is the last few lines of his 'I have a dream' speech, which concludes with two three-part lists, the first made up of three contrasts and a second one of three repeated phrases - in both of which, the third item is longer than each of the first two:

We will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children,

black men and white men

Jews and gentiles

Protestants and Catholics

will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual

"free at last,

"free at last,

"thank God Almighty, we're free at last"

For more on rhetorical techniques, see HERE or type 'rhetoric', 'contrast', 'three-part list', etc. into the search box at the top of the page.