Listen up, because this is as close as a FAQ you will likely get:
Killoggs is primarily a tool for Ben and I to keep in touch with people we are friends with. Secondary to that, it's something to entertain all of us (us and those people). Thirdly, it's a way for all of us to look back and see what we were doing X years ago. Fourthly, it's a blog/journal site for all of us. Fifthly, it was (and continues to be) a project that allows me to learn coding and database design.
I'm sure there are things beyond that, but those are the most important ones to me.
But really, what it is changes based on what people put into it. I've found that posts tend to bring out similar sentiments... So drama posts bring more drama, while "crowd interaction" posts bring more of that, while personal posts bring more of that. So if you want Killoggs to be more of something, or just more, the only way is to contribute.
There are few rules on here for posting. No (or little) hate speech would be nice, though Brandon has kind of pushed the boundaries on that one... No pron, etc. Most of these are just kind of implied/understood. We covered what it would take to get kicked off Killoggs in another post, awhile back. I'm sure you could find it with a little digging. We used to care if you posted more than once in a row, but Brandon and me have both blown the doors off that one, lately.
So post whatever you want, with whatever ulterior motives (or lack of them) you want. Just remember, everyone else is doing the same thing, and to them, their posts (and the site) may well be something different than for you.
I do think people should be nice to people inside of their journals. People post to their journals because they are avoiding the skirmishes of the front page and news posts. So try and be nicer there, unless someone obviously doesn't care or is asking for it.
Me, personally, I just like for people to post with what they are up to. If they read an interesting news article, post it to the news. If they are at an interesting site, post it to the links. If they feel like talking about their day, post it to the front page or their journals. If they have a funny IM conversation, post it. If they take a picture they like, post it. If that have a thought or a dream that for some reason stays with them, post it.
To me, it's all worth it because without Killoggs I would likely never have become friends with Kara or met Mary or stayed in touch with Brandon or Sara or Zack or Talice or Milky or Kiche or Craig or Amy or any number of other people. To me, that's more than worth it.
Hopefully this helps you. Feel free to chime in with what it is to you - or not.
ed [email] said at 11:22 AM 04-27-2004: I said, a lfetime ago, that I love Killoggs because it's like therapy. And it is. It's group therapy with everything from raving lunatics to people who you just know have it all together. I've been on both ends of the spectrum, as have most of us I'm sure, and right now, I'm somewhere in the middle.
Thanks, Josh & Ben. This ol' place means a lot to me.
Jake said at 1:08 PM 04-27-2004: Killoggs is an amazingly well designed site.
It really sets the standard for me for other weblog/discussion boards...and I've found little out there that does everything as well as killoggs does.
Now if I can just scrub this brown goo off my schnauzer...
I actually have a whole bunch of questions I came up with last week...I assume it's okay if I post them here, to see if I can get answers?
One of them was, why is it bad to constantly refresh the "recent activity" page? Is it significantly different than refreshing the front page?
Jake said at 3:58 PM 04-27-2004: 1. Have you coded interfaces for yourself to do upkeep things, or do you have to crack the whole thing open when you want to make changes?
2. Is the halloween prank ever going to be added as a "filter?"
Jake said at 4:43 PM 04-27-2004: 1. I guess I should have asked, are there regular upkeep tasks that you do, and do you have a graphical interface to do them or do you have to do it by code...like adding new heads, or, I dunno, other regular upkeep?
josh [email] said at 4:47 PM 04-27-2004: 1. Hmm I have some scripts to do these, but new heads isn't hard and i don't have a script for that.
Things I do have graphicsl scripts for include : sending mail to all members, viewing all images in the killoggs db (and deleting from them), making the appropriate folders and static files for new users/all users, re-publishing a or all posts, clearing all null files in the killoggs db, the daily photo manager, daily comic manager, random image manager...
Jake said at 4:48 PM 04-27-2004: what were you testing in the "stupid bowl" post?
I assume you're going to ignore any of these that you don't feel like answering--my general curiosity likely outstrips your interest in specific explanations!
Jake said at 5:05 PM 04-27-2004: ahh, if only I had IM at work.
I'll go back to saving these q's up for a big email.
you've been so kind to indulge me, sir. so kind.
Jake said at 5:01 PM 04-27-2004: Some super dorky questions:
Have you ever considered...
1. coding frames for links people click within killoggs?
2. Locking old, long time past posts so that they can only be responded to at the bottom, instead of mid thread?
3. Deleting old links (like for news) that no longer work?
4. A way for headed users to go back and "claim" responses they posted when not logged in (or before they had heads!)?
5. Said it before, will say it again, a "best of" or "historic" archive...
josh [email] said at 5:40 PM 04-27-2004: 1. no
2. no
3. no
4. yes, but it probably won't happen. actually in the stats this is taken SOMEWHAT into account.
5. yeah i want to do this.
cecil [email] said at 1:45 PM 04-27-2004: I would like to see a family tree graphic with all the heads. Showing who knows who through who, and where people live now. On the other hand I like the fact that the heads make everyone seem like a character so I don't think too much "real" info should be revealed.
kiche [email] said at 4:25 PM 04-27-2004: i would actually like to see a useful graph of who has beef with who and why, but this is probably not a realistic or healthy desire.
art said at 1:13 PM 04-28-2004: This would be fun. There could be 'basic incompatibility' links between certain heads that denote the subjects of disagreement.
There could also be a list of hot-button topics likely to send that head into a tirade.
dave said at 2:07 PM 04-27-2004: i found killoggs probably in 2000 or thereabouts by googling "blog". i found some nerd's blog, but he had a link to killoggs and ben's cartoon graphic was intruiging. it's weird because i've read so much about all your personal shit i feel like i know the people that post here. i've had to catch myself from saying "this person i know..." when relating a story i found here. anyways... i like killoggs because there's a good number of people that reply to posts and the discussions are always intelligent and funny, and almost never degenerate into a right/leftwing flamewar. so basically what i'm trying to say is that killoggs has helped me waste at least 2 hours a day for the last 4 years at work. yay!
Bendependent [email] said at 12:03 AM 04-28-2004: killoggs is my declaration of peace with you. It is a repudiation of the use of coercive power to achieve my own ends, or to abet the domination of any man by his fellows, or over his fellows. It is a renunciation of the use and support of structures that function to create discord and disparity among men and between nations, and peddle mayhem and mischief under the aegis of security and protection, and carnage as an acceptable cost -- not of survival, but of satiety.
killoggs is my declaration of independence from corrupt and debauched systems that institutionalize the dominance and submission of the mind and conscience, pillaging the property of the peaceful and raping the human spirit. Authority is a form of privilege. There is one kind of wealth that one can only gain at the expense of another, and that is privilege; money may follow privilege, but it may only buy privilege when there exists a warehousing authority to assign it.
killoggs is my statement of intention to mind my own business, and not to interest myself in yours beyond what is welcome, mannerly, and appropriate to our relationship, because I expect the same courtesy from you. We will only care about each other when our relationship is peaceful, and it is not a peaceful act to care to the extent of violating another person's boundaries.
killoggs is my vote of confidence in you. It is not in the interest of any neighbor to harm his neighbor. As neighbors and peers we may not always get along, but we're as unlikely to do each other violence as we are to do it to ourselves, since the former is simply an indirect means of doing the latter -- like committing suicide by cop. As long as neighbors don't carry badges conveying immunity from making rash judgments, we won't hear of too many "suicides by neighbor."
killoggs is my conscientious objection to the tyranny of other people's visions, opinions, schemes, fixations, and priorities. We don't need to understand each other's motivations, wants, or concerns, but it is essential to extend to others the same respect we expect from them. What we share willingly is a gift or a loan; what we are forced to share is a stolen item; and that is why free trade brings peace among people: it creates the fewest debtors, and rewards the fewest thieves.
killoggs means many things to many people, but to me it is a state of grace. The stars in the sky do not appoint rulers to tend to their hierarchy; nor do the birds have political dynasties, or the fish in the sea erect thrones for the whales. Natural law and order is not pandemonium; it took man to create pandemonium out of natural law and order, and I'm a nature lover.
killoggs is my bill of rights; written by the finger of the benign life-force which forged time and space, day and night, male and female, and signed by those who believe that we are all worthy to draw in the same perpetual and impartial breath of the universe. Man can only bring about inequality, by defining equality in terms that persuade us it was never ours to begin with. We are only as equal as we perceive ourselves to be. To consider yourself my equal is to accord me the respect of being yours as well.
killoggs is my profession of faith in the brotherhood of man. The fact that we are different is a fact that is honored among brothers, and a source of delight to those who are willing to learn from one another. We honor our differences with people we respect; they do not ask our approval or we theirs, yet behold, we get along with them. Mutual respect is an affirmation of shared humanity, and it speaks in a universal tongue.
killoggs is socially responsible; it doesn't pollute the environment, has no incentive to create factory farms, or engage in nefarious back room conspiracies. It takes a corporatized government, or a politicized corporation, to do those things, because no other institution can long rationalize -- much less profit from -- such short-sighted and damaging behavior.
killoggs is not a utopian scheme, because if we're all able to create our own little interlocking utopias, then no two will be alike. There is no one-size-fits-all paradise, and one person's heaven may indeed be another's hell; to force your heaven upon someone else is as atrocious an act as creating a hell for him. Good intentions are no excuse for making prisoners and hostages of people who have less political clout than you do.
killoggs does not divide us into partisan systems; it unites us through the realization that if we do not function as part of a sublime and inter-related network of lives, we're pulling against the tide when it's much less strenuous -- and infinitely more enjoyable and rewarding -- to drift along with it.
killoggs does not pay lip service to diversity. killoggs is sincere belief in diversity put to the test in practice, and a guarantee that diversity will thrive. If you honestly value diversity, yet believe that it must be administered or doled out by a central authority, you anticipate that the one thing that is most capable of killing diversity, and also has the best incentive to destroy it, will magically act to preserve it. Giving diversity a limited range of acceptable ways in which it can manifest doesn't honor it any more than protest zones honor the right to free speech; that's just another way to quarantine the healthy elements of society against infecting the diseased ones.
killoggs, at its finest, is an expression of unconditional love. It doesn't bind the hands, or shackle the feet; it doesn't presume to have superior authority or better wisdom; it doesn't constrain speech or prohibit choices, even for your own good. It knows that the decision regarding what is good for you must rest with you, because only by being responsible for ourselves can we fulfill our obligation to ourselves, and grow into something beyond ourselves. We're capable of it; why settle for anything less?
