10: The blockquote sandwich

Lede, blockquote, analysis, quip.

The form is simple, and done well, it makes for a perfect post. As a formula, however, it's poison.

First, introduce what you're going to quote. Then quote it. Then say what you think of it. Got nothing to add? Drop the analysis altogether, or replace the quip with a question for your readers.

What do you think, guys?

He also doesn't like it when people essentially rewrite posts in their own words, as it's essentially like blockquoting but with more effort involved and with the illusion of writing original content. You know, because you're just repeating what someone else says but not taking the time to add your own analysis or insight. That's what he had for #9!

He also mentions image macros (check!), snark (check!) and trolling for attention (fuck you, Beschizza! Also, John McCain is old and Sarah Palin is a backwater nutjob! Anyone who disagrees with that is a racist!).

His number one worst type of blog post?

1: The Top List

Yes, even this one!

So self aware!

In the end, it's a good reminder that no one is immune from falling into routines and having their work suffer because of it. We've been tasked with providing quality content to our readers, and we owe it to them to put in effort on every post we write, ensuring that it doesn't tread on familiar territory and remains worthwhile and valuable. I pledge to you that from now on, I'll take blogging as seriously as it deserves to be taken. I won't let you down.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go crap out 75 words about some USB thing with lights on it or something. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

Since Orwell spent some time as both journalist and teacher, I suspect he may have found the idea of blogging his journals intriguing, on an educational level. As for what he'd have thought of our society, it's impossible to tell, though perhaps the proliferation of surveillance cameras (making "Big Brother is watching you" seem ever truer) would've struck a chord or two with the man.

I have a sneaky feeling he'd have disapproved of the Giz, though. Consider this guideline for good writing, one of six from his book Politics and the English Language: "Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." [Orwell Diaries via Laughing Squid]

(1) Industry Structural Analysis Industry-based information tends to be randomly delivered by many companies in a variety of different formations, including RSS and web pages. Analysis of this information requires the combination of these formats. "Industry structural analysis technology" assesses the relationship between seller and buyer for raw materials and finished products using algorithms that integrate information from different formats and evaluates this information in light of analysis results from previous corporate activities. Based on this assessment, regular analysis is conducted to determine the company's position and its relationship with other companies in terms of products and services.

(2) Comparative Product Analysis
The presentation of product information released on web pages differs from company to company. It is therefore necessary to understand the meaning of each presentation and classify it accurately when conducting a comparative analysis of products. "Comparative analysis technology" for comparing rival products determines the characteristic differences between products by looking at product information spread across multiple web pages, as well as product outlines presented in different formats. This is done by applying an algorithm to identify product pages by scanning for keywords such as "outline" and "features" as well as relationships between web pages. Another algorithm is then used to calculate the similarities between product features by scanning for keywords such as "high resolution" and "thinnest".

Besides just having as deep a knowledge of smartphones as most gadget bloggers we've seen, he also offers many, many, many insights only a comedian of his caliber can. These choice quotes were picked by Wired and BB Gadgets:

We know what an insult to the human spirit were some of the monstrosities constructed in past decades. An office with strip lighting, drab carpets, vile partitions and dull furniture and fittings is unacceptable these days, as much perhaps because of the poor productivity it engenders as the assault on dignity it represents.

Well, computers and SmartPhones are no less environments: to say "well my WinMob device does all that your iPhone can do" is like saying my Barratt home has got the same number of bedrooms as your Georgian watermill, it's got a kitchen too, and a bathroom."

Sony Ericsson M600i: "Just how dumb are the software engineers, designers and marketeers at Sony E? [It's] the clumsiest, most asinine method of internet connection ever devised.

We spend our lives inside the virtual environment of digital platforms - why should a faceless, graceless, styleless nerd or a greedy hog of a corporate twat deny us simplicity, beauty, grace, fun, sexiness, delight, imagination and creative energy in our digital lives?

And one of our favorites, about Windows Mobile:

Let's look at the WinMob now. The HTC Touch is called (by idiots) an iPhone killer because it comes without a keyboard and makes a brief and rather feeble nod towards the idea of a strokeably operated touch-screen offering a silly cube transformation effect with big buttons. Oh, and the Touch is WinMob 6 rather than 5 (you won't notice the difference - a quite cool coloured line fribble in the agenda which shows you which days of the week are busy is the best addition, otherwise it's virtually indistinguishable from WM5).

If you're reading this Stephen—and based on how much you keep up with gadgets, we bet you are—we hope to see many more posts from you like this in the future.

[Stephen Fry via Wired via Boing Boing Gadgets]

If NEC's PaPeRo has anything remotely like a sense of humor, I'm totally screwed. It can blog for its master by listening to what you tell it, searching the web for related multimedia content, and composing a post all on its own and putting it online. I'm scared; I need to go dick around on YouTube or maybe rush a post out without proofreading it, that'll make me feel better. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [via Digital World Tokyo]