A Blogger Code of Ethics

One of the great things about blogging is its quick time to press. The very quickness in which they post leads to highly colorful prose not found in staid, traditional print journalism.

But along with the positive come the negative.

Boring old facts are often thrown in the gutter in favor of more colorful rumors. Charges and attacks are leveled without proper consideration and often without the ability for the targets to properly defend themselves.

Popular blog articles pander to popular taste, rather than raise the bar to provide quality reading material. The same people who cry about intrusions into public privacy maliciously expose the private lives of celebrity and private individual alike.

Like the practitioners of any other art form or media, bloggers should adopt a code of ethics. It is better to self-police than to come to the point that others feel the need to regulate you. Furthermore, it is desirable to stay within the bounds of legality and ethics.

Adapting from a few other sources (cited below), here is my Blogger's Code of Ethics. Feel free to adopt and adapt, as you will. You can copy my seal using the text box below.

[Update: added Do No Harm section Mar-27-2007]

Blogger Code of Ethics

Accuracy

I will post as accurate only information that I know to be accurate. Whenever possible, I will provide sources and links.

If accuracy may be in doubt, I will convey this to the reader.

Attribution

I will not plagiarize material, nor quote without attribution.

Comments

I will delete comments only when they violate the rules of my blog, such as needlessly inflammatory, racist, or spam comments.

Completeness

I will try to ensure that what I post is not only accurate but presents a complete picture, I won't post only part of a story or an argument.

I won't crop photos to misrepresent news.

Confidentiality

I will not reveal details that have been given to me in confidence.

I won't publish private emails unless explicitly permitted to do so. I won't publish names or details when asked not to do so.

Copyright

I will respect other people's copyrights and not post without the copyright holder's permission, except when abiding by the terms of "fair use" (generally small excerpts for journalistic purposes).

Correction

Unless my posting inadvertently violates one of the other codes mentioned, I will generally not change the URLs or delete my postings, although I may correct for grammar, clarity, or spelling.

If corrections need to be made, I will try to use strikeout rather than deleting the material and mark all updates as such.

Disclosure

I will let readers know if or when I use affiliate links or paid posts. I will disclose whenever I am affiliated with a company or received items as gifts.

Do No Harm

I will not attack, embarrass, humiliate, or make others fear for their safety. I will certainly not do so and then accuse my victims of being overly sensitive or needing to have thicker skin.

I will firstly do no harm. Beyond this, I will endeavor to create what is good and beneficial for society, rather than hurt it or waste its time.

Editing

I will try to ensure that my posts are edited for spelling, grammar, and clarity, and that all links are correct.

Fairness

I will always provide all facts relevant to an opinion when criticizing. I will always assume possible confusion or misunderstanding before labeling something or someone as fraudulent. In this case, I will first try to work things out privately, and, if not satisfied, let the facts speak for themselves in as unbiased a manner as possible.

Originality

I will try to provide original material of interest to my readership. I will not simply quote or link to other blogs.

Privacy

I will not pass on gossip about private individuals nor report on embarrassing facts about others. I will not link to or report information that is accidentally leaked.

Respect

I will respect my readers, critics, and subjects of my posts. I will discuss and answer all people with respect, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, nationality, ability, attractiveness, and social or economic status.

I will not respond with rudeness to rudeness. I will apologize when appropriate and stand on principle only when absolutely necessary.

Responsibility

I will affirm what are my own words and posts, and not claim credit for others, or deny responsibility for my own. I will clearly separate what are my own words from others.

Safety

I will not post anything that could endanger others' safety, including identifying information about minors or vulnerable individuals.

End Note About Humorous Posts

I may occasionally post something that appears to violate one of these codes if it is clear that my post is meant to be humorous or satirical. For instance, I may pretend that someone said something that he or she didn't for comic effect. Any post of this sort will be obviously intended as humor and I will ensure that it cannot be misconstrued otherwise.

Yehuda Berlinger

Copy this text to put the Blogger Code of Ethics seal on your blog:

<a href="http://jergames.blogspot.com/2007/03/blogger-code-of-ethics.html" title="Blogger Code of Ethics"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/427972070_f0ae71447b_o.gif" width="115" height="115" alt="Blogger Code of Ethics" /></a>
Further Sources:

Cyberjournalist
Forrester
Rebecca Blood
Wizbang

Update Apr-16-2007: Modular Code of Ethics

There has been a call for a modular Blogger Code of Conduct, ala the modular Creative Commons licenses. Jon Garfunkle proposed a language to describe a blogging code (which looks suspiciously like a "Geekcode" you would find at the end of a signature).

To create a modular blogging code, the first thing to do is to analyze how to break the code into pieces. There are essentially three main aspects to a code of conduct:

1: The blogger's own content.
2: Content by others on sites he or she controls.
3: Content on other people's sites.

The Blogger's Own Content

People have many different political opinions - liberal, conservative, religious, atheist, anarchist, high-brow, populist, etc. - and while cultural norms vary widely from place to place, and time to time, good manners is good manners regardless of how it is expressed in a specific culture's etiquette.

Ethics provides even less leeway. Respecting copyright and citing sources is independent of your politics or nationality. I welcome any cogently-argued dissenting views on this.

Until then, the following sections appear to me to be inviolable to anyone who wishes to be taken seriously, whether writing a book, blogging, or simply conversing: Accuracy, Attribution, Completeness, Confidentiality, Copyright, Disclosure, Do No Harm, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. These are the core elements of any basic blogging code.

Which leaves the sections: Comments, Correction, Originality, and Privacy.

Some people treat their blog as a scratch-pad or diary, while others treat it as journalism. For the former, the sections Comments, Correction, and Originality may not be appropriate.

Furthermore, while personally I consider the Privacy section to be inviolate, I acknowledge that this is not true for other people, such as gossip magazines and the like.

In contrast, there are people who would balk at adult material, profanity, "heresy", and perhaps other sorts of content restrictions that they wish to impose upon themselves.

So for a blogger's own content, you have four choices:

Basic Ethics: includes Accuracy, Attribution, Completeness, Confidentiality, Copyright, Disclosure, Do No Harm, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, and Safety.

Basic Journalist: includes Basic Ethics, as well as Comments, Correction, Originality.

Special Ethics: includes Basic Ethics, as well as one or more of: Privacy, No Adult Material, No Heresy, No Profanity, etc... (to be specified)

Special Journalist: includes both Journalist and Special Ethics.

Content by Others on Sites the Blogger Controls

Whether commenters or other authors under your editorial control must identify themselves, and if they must follow the same ethics that you do or risk having their content removed or censored. For instance, you might personally not write any profanity, but allow your commenters to do so.

If your ethics is journalist or special journalist, you have already committed to ensuring the permanency of comments on your blog, so long as they don't violate any basic ethics.

Your choices are essentially:

Ownership: Other authors must identify themselves, according to rules specified elsewhere (a pseudonym, a valid email address, a personal conversation with the blogger, etc..),

Vs

Anonymous: Other authors may be anonymous. Anonymous authors may be subject to stricter rules enforcement.

And

Same Policy: Other authors must adhere to all special ethical rules the blogger obeys.

Vs

Relaxed Policy: Policy is less strictly enforced for some special ethical areas, such as allowing profanity in the comments.

So for other's content, you have four choices:

Owned/Same

Owned/Relaxed

Anon/Same

Anon/Relaxed

Content on Other People's Sites

When linking to, reporting on, or cooperating with other bloggers who follow the same ethical principles, follow basic ethical principles but not some special ones you adhere to, or violate basic ethical principles.

Your choices are essentially:

Same: Links only to others with the same or higher ethical standards. Of course, this begs the question: what is a "higher" standard? If one blog won't allow profanity, and another will, both can claim to be following "higher" standards. So I mean only that the other site, at a minimum, follows all the rules of your site, and possibly more.

Vs

Relaxed: Willing to link to or discuss items from other sites that have different ethical standards, so long as they do not violate basic standards.

And

Ignore: Will not get involved with or discuss sites that violate basic ethical standards.

Vs

Denounce: May occasionally denounce sites that violate basic ethical standards.

Again, four choices:

Same/Ignore

Same/Denounce

Relaxed/Ignore

Relaxed/Denounce

A Complete Code

So a complete code would look something like:

BE-OS-SI

or

SJ(no profanity or adult material)-AR(profanity tolerated)-RD

Yehuda

Things You're Better Off Not Knowing

Tel Aviv is about to get it's first Hooters restaurant. And no, it won't be kosher. A big shame, as without a kashrut certificate they will lose their potential haredi business.

If you don't know what a "Hooters" restaurant is ... you're probably better off.

Me? I'm more looking forward to the upcoming release of My Little Cthulhu doll.



If you don't know what Cthulhu is ... you're probably better off.

Yehuda

Passover Game: Like The Four Sons

This one is more of an activity than a game.

When we got to the four sons, I shuffled and passed around index cards to each participant. Each card contained four connected images about neutral subjects. Each participant had to choose which image to associate with which of the four sons (children).

This is a little psychology game, and, as you might expect, everyone had different interpretations for which image corresponded to which son, and why.

You will need to prepare enough index cards for each participant, and more. Prepare these before Passover starts. Some suggested cards include:

• Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
• Love, Fear, Hate, Indifference
• Red, Blue, Green, Yellow
• Zero, One, Two, Three
• East, West, North, South
• Square, Circle, Triangle, Line
• Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, Leah
• Lulav, Hadassim, Aravot, Etrog
• Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
• Dog, Cat, Horse, Snake
• Brain, Arm, Heart, Leg
• Television, Computer, Car, Microwave
• Barbie, Monopoly, Teddy Bear, Slinkie
• Hammer, Saw, Wrench, Drill
• Meat, Fruit, Vegetable, Bread
• Baseball, Football, Basketball, Chess
• Violin, Guitar, Drum, Piano
• Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division
• Fire, Air, Earth, Water
• John, George, Paul, Ringo

Of course, the possibilities are endless.

Yehuda

How To: Cross-Hiking the Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail is one of the most beautiful paths in North America, as well as it's longest marked footpath. It crosses six national parks and eight national forests, and touches fourteen states.

Along its 2,175 mile length running from Maine in the north to Georgia in the south, you can see majestic mountains, verdant forests, sun-dappled fall leaves, rolling green hills, busy highways, and small towns. It encompasses much of what is wonderful about America.

Cross-hiking is the arduous goal of crossing the entire trail from east to west (or west to east). In this guide, I discuss what you need to know before you try to cross-hike the Appalachian trail.

Choosing a Location

Along the 2,175 miles of trail, the trail is by turns wider and narrower. In some places, the trail is as narrow as five feet; in others as wide as twenty feet or more.

Therefore, your cross-hiking experience will greatly depend on where you decided to cross.

Furthermore, you need to choose your crossing location based on where you can park your car. In many places along the trail, you can't get any closer than 30 or 40 feet. That means that you'll be spending even more time walking to the trail than crossing it!

You should also consider the type of terrain you are going to find along the trail in the location you choose. Some places are fairly rocky and make for difficult hiking. Others are relatively smooth and easy-going. The best location will have a lot of shade so you won't need to spend too much time hiking in the sun.

Be a careful hiker and remember to have a driver waiting on the other end of the trail, or you may find yourself with no way to get back to your car. This nearly happened to me.

Choosing the Right Equipment

Light packing is essential when you'll be walking for great distances such as this.

Don't be tempted to bring an entire case of beer and crates of chips. Two beers, a bag of chips, and a few emergency donuts are sufficient. Bring a well-charged cellphone in case you need to call for emergency rations.

Choose a strong backpack with a sturdy frame. Place the the beer and snacks you don't take with you into it and leave it in the car. You'll want to make sure these are safe and waiting for you after the hike is finished.

Suitable clothes include a good pair of sneakers and comfortable clothing that is appropriate for the time of year and day's weather.

You probably won't need a map, but bring one along just in case. Most areas will have signs to help you find the nearest 7/11 after your hike, anyway.

A good personal music device is also recommended, for those long minutes of hiking ahead of you, unless you are going with a friend or a group, in which case you'll need one for each person.

Physical Preparation

As this will most likely be the most exercise you've had in several years, you will need to work up to this level of activity so that you don't end up straining yourself. Too little preparation will cut your hike short.

Practice by gradually taking longer and longer walks on the weeks leading up to the hike. Start by sitting up on the couch - not too fast, you don't want to strain yourself. Then standing up, walking over to the TV and back, walking to the bathroom and back, and so on.

The rule is to not strain yourself. If you find yourself getting tired or dizzy in any of the previous walks, immediately sit down and rest. Make sure you have several bottles of beer to drink nearby and a friend who can help you, if necessary.

Rest Stops

Rest stops for cross-hiking are generally not marked, so feel free to sit down anywhere on the trail that is convenient for you.

The best rest places are in shady areas. You might want to bring a small pillow along if you'll be hiking in a particularly rocky area.

Rest as much as you need, but no more. You'll want to get home for the evening lineup on TV.

Wildlife

The thousands of miles along the beautiful Appalachian trail is home to many diverse species of wildlife and assorted plants, trees, and wildflowers. Some of these are unique to the trail habitat. Many of the animals and flowers you can see are incredibly beautiful. Try not to let these distract you.

Most plants and trees are avoidable by carrying a portable DVD player with you while you're walking. Watching a DVD while you hike increases the possibility of tripping and falling on the trail, so to protect yourself, make sure that the DVD player is solid and won't break if you fall. Try wrapping the edges of the player with a shirt or blanket, and clutch it to your chest as you tip over.

A DVD player won't protect you from encounters with nature's creatures, so here is a quick guide to some of the animals you may encounter, and what to do about them:

• Deer: Deer don't eat people. People eat deer. If you encounter a deer, taunt it with a salami sandwich: "Hiya Bambi! Your mom sure tastes great! I still have a few slices left if you want to have a try."
• Wolves: Wolves eat people. People don't eat wolves. Don't hike where there are wolves.
• Bears: Bears eat people. People eat bears. It's a toss up.
• Those small things with wings that fly around in the morning making a racket: A few well tossed rocks should do the trick with these.
• Thruhikers: These extremely dangerous animals are to be avoided at all costs. They typically walk up and down the entire trail from south to north (or more rarely, from north to south) and some are known to be hippie fanatics who don't watch television and carry granola. If you see one, turn and run as quickly as possible, preferably waving your arms and screaming in terror.

The Reward

Many people give up cross-hiking before they even get out of the car. Don't let this happen to you. The reward of success is more than worth the effort.

If you complete your journey, consider rewarding yourself with a new reclining chair with built-in refrigerator and remote control. You've earned it! And what's more, you'll have great memories of your youth and the fine day that you overcame all obstacles and managed to cross-hike the entire Appalachian trail.

Take it easy,
Yehuda Berlinger

Passover Game: Bingo

One Passover I made Bingo cards to keep the kids awake and alert.

Create a number of bingo cards in advance for the seder night. Since you can't write on the Seder night, when you come to an item, mark the Bingo card with a chocolate coin. You get the coins only if you fill up the entire card (if you want to keep it fair for all participants).

To create unique bingo cards out of a list of items:

Make the first card alphabetical, going across the top row and then the second row and so on.

Make the second card alphabetical using each second even item, i.e. items 2, 4, 6, ... . When you come to the end of the list, begin again with each second odd item, i.e. items 1, 3, 5, ...

Make the third card using every third item in the same way, and so on.

For my cards, I used the names in the Haggadah for board spaces:

• Pharoh
• R Eliezer
• R Yehoshua
• R Elazar Ben Azarya
• R Akiba
• R Tarphon
• Ben Zoma
• Yehoshua
• Terach
• Avraham
• Nachur
• Yitzchak
• Yaakov
• Eisav
• Lavan
• R Yehuda
• R Yosi Haglili
• Moshe
• Raban Gamliel
• Hillel
• K David
• Masshiach
• Eliyahu
• Aharon
• K Sihon
• K Ogg

Alternative: There are more than 25 biblical quotes in the Haggadah. Use a quote for each board space.

Yehuda

A Bend in the Road

Academia vs Blogging, Part 2

My wife Rachel is wrapping up her PhD and had applied to various locations in North America for postdocs. One by one they were coming back rejected.

Last week she was bummed out, low self-confidence, and feeling like a failure; so it was one of the few weeks that I could really relate to her well.

Sat night, the last place that hadn't yet replied, University of Toronto, sent her an acceptance e-mail: an offer of a postdoc and a nice salary for next year.

Rachel was over the moon, crying and laughing simultaneously for a half and hour.

The bad news is, is that I'm staying in Israel where my kids still need me, so we will be having a long-distance relationship for a year. Urm.

Eitan is going with her, probably, while I will be here. Ariella is going into the army. She has her dad's to go to, but I hope I can give her something in the way of support, anyway. Saarya doesn't need me much, as he only sees me once every three weeks anyway. Tal, on the other hand, is starting a new school for ninth grade.

The good news is, is that this is great for Rachel's career. She'll write a book, she'll make contacts, and she'll travel around doing some lectures (depending on how much time she actually needs to be at UofT).

The other good news is that she'll probably come back to Israel twice, and I'll probably go to Toronto, twice. Or so.

So after four years, it's: Academia - one-year postdoc and a nice salary. Blogging - $75 and a great group of readers.

Time to rework the resume, again. Suggestions are still welcome. Offers of work, too.

One day I hope to be as famous as one of my favorite fantasy writers, David Eddings, who wrote The Belgariad series (the second best fantasy series ever), and just recently burned down his original manuscripts, office, house, car, and mother-in-law (almost) when he decided to see whether a big puddle was flammable by throwing a burning piece of paper into it (it was).

"One word comes to mind," the renowned wordsmith said as he stood in a pajama shirt and slippers. "Dumb."

Yehuda

Weekend Gaming

My Mantra: It Can't Be Done

We dropped a barfing dog off at my daughter's mechina program on the way to the SPNI field school at Ein Gedi at which we would be staying for the weekend.

Check in wasn't until 3:00 pm, so those of us who arrived early hiked up and around some of the famous trails of Ein Gedi. Our trail up was Nahal David, named after King David, as this was the very trail he hid among while hiding from Saul.

I'm getting older; I admit it. I'm only thirty-seven, but I'm not as dexterous, energetic, and aerobic as I once was. And of course, the less I exercise, the harder I find it to start again.

One thing I know, however, is that I can get over the hump and then keep going for a long time. I simply have to expect that my first few hours of activity look like this:

+ Walk a bit
+ Sit and rest
+ Walk a bit less
+ Sit and rest
+ Walk a bit less
+ Sit and rest
+ Want to go back
+ Walk a bit more

After which I can pretty much walk for several hours straight.

To keep me going, I use a mantra for inspiration. It goes as follows; you might want to try this yourself:

"I can't do it. It's impossible. I'm too tired. I'll never make it. This is pointless. It can't be done. I hate this. I'm a total failure. ..."

And so on, for until I get over the hump. Later on, when my companion needs a rest, while I am ready for tireless walking, the mantra is:

"What's your problem? You want to rest already? I'm not tired, I could keep walking for another few hours. What great air! I feel great. ..."

Which pretty much makes me an all-around pain-in-the-ass.

It was this persevering attitude that allowed me to cross-hike the Appalachian trail, however. A subject for another post.

Modern Parlor Games are Victorian Parlor Games

I didn't feel like hanging out with the grownups Saturday morning, so I went to find the children at play.

I'd been telling these kids that I play games, teach game, have lots of games, and so on. This was generally met by skepticism and funny looks by the kids. So mostly this morning, I simply watched to see what they were doing.

It turns out that the games they play today are simply repeats of the same games we've been playing for more than two hundred years.

They played "Broken Telephone", which wasn't called that before the twentieth century, of course, but was played under a different name. Broken Telephone is where a message is passed around a circle to see how garbled it becomes when it gets back to its originator.

They played "Hide the Ring", where one group either passes or pretends to pass an object between them, and then the second group has to guess who really has it.

They played "Red-Light-Green-Light", although they called it something different in Hebrew, and the current name I give the game is also not its original name. One person counts to three and spins around, trying to catch the others sneaking up on him or her. When caught, the caught players must step back three steps.

And so on.

Which doesn't mean that I was no use, at all. I would occasionally suggest some variants to the games. For instance, for Broken Telephone I suggested passing multiple messages simultaneously, in one or opposite directions, to make things a little more challenging. Just one example.

The Real Gaming Begins

Rachel went on another hike on Saturday afternoon, which allowed me to ply my trade.

Actually, I was on my way to rest and read the newspaper, when I passed the same group of children desperately in need of my help. For crying out loud, they were playing War.

I offered, and they accepted. I said, "Wait right here, and Dr Games will return in a moment." I returned with my box of brought games.

One of the girls recognized Apples to Apples, so we played a game of that. Since there were only four players at any one time, I added a random card from the deck on each round. The deck almost won, too.

We tired of that. One of the other girls recognized the game Set, and I sent them along to play with that, asking them to return when they were done. They returned about ten minutes later asking to play something else.

I brought out For Sale and we played first a five-player and then a six-player game of that. They loved it, and asked for another game.

So we played several rounds of Pit, which they also loved. We continued with Pit until Nadine came over to play Puerto Rico with Rachel and me.

Each game, I suggested that they can play on their own, but they wanted me to play with them. All-in-all, I think I finally convinced them that I was serious about games. It was a fun afternoon.

Puerto Rico

I reintroduced Harbor to the game, as in our previous few games nobody had bought the replacement building I usually place there, Large Business. Unfortunately, Harbor proved as unbalancing as it always has been. Nadine overlooked buying it in favor of Factory, and as a result was unable to use her Factory successfully before the shipping points ran out.

I was playing third, and I had a pretty good start. Rachel and my Harbors fed off each other, but I also had coffee in front of Rachel and a few early victory points for third position. So I ended with an easy victory.


Aside from the games, it was a lovely weekend, with nice company, fresh air, and nice accommodations and food. Nadine played a major role in organizing the trip, and we were all grateful to her.

Yehuda

P.S. Jack has a few preliminary sketches up for It's Alive.