As I noted earlier, the world is filled with nice bloggers and cartoonists.
courtesy of Hugh via Alan Weinkrantz
Werner Vogels writes: In order to get closer to their customers, humanize Amazon, increase sales, and stay modern, Amazon.com has decided to make all Instant Messenger (IM) handles of its employees public. This way Amazon.com customers will get unprecedented access to the talented engineers at Amazon to answer all their questions, or just to have an interesting conversation about a new book or that old sci-fi movie. If you want to know why the shipping prediction date was not really clear, feel free to IM Justin Rudd, and get the details behind the algorithms he used to give Amazon.com customers a fast estimate on when they can expect their purchases. Amazon Gets IM on - 1st of April ;-)
A number of emails reached my inbox today one by a professional writer noting:
'That review is unconscionable. There's no reason for anyone to be that vicious, particularly in public.
It might still be more effective to have others respond to the nasty reviewer, at the very least to demand civility. He's entitled to say he doesn't like the book and doesn't think others should buy it, but that level of vitriol suggests that either
1) this person has a grudge against you or
2) this person is immature enough to think that kind of nastiness passes for wit.
You have my heartfelt sympathy. '
Another selected email hot off the press:
'Those words you hear that hit you so hard are words of anger, but the anger is not at you or your book. The one who writes them is one angry person to use such words to express anything. To use those words to express quality of writing just proves that he--and yes I'm sure it's a he--isn't talking about writing at all. dog turds and shoes.
The first sentence is obviously a lie. How likely do you think it is that it was that he literally tripped over the book being used as a door stop? The comment about trees is totally uninspired, hackneyed and trite.
This is a person, who maybe was there and has a different story . . . carries his own baggage. What he wrote is about him.This could also be written by someone who just doesn't like you and has never even seen the book.
You'll never know for you or worse, you'll always know and never be able to confront the person. You see, I know the pain of anonymous reviews--i've have one written about my personality.
But you cannot let the small of spirit and the cheap of love steal your joy or your confidence.
The world needs you and so do I.'
As they say, the river to getting positively reviewed is never a smooth one ... No great accomplishments are ever realized without first having to endure steep surf, hard rips and sharp turns.
In many ways, hate and indifference are very dangerous combinations ... The road to totalitarianism and horrific episodes like Auschwitz was built by hate but paved with indifference.
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
Elie Wiesel (US News & World Report 27 October 1986)
Inspired By Shel Israel - Hugh of Gaping Void fame draws on his deep sense of back-scratching humour 'Should Amazon Blog?' Nobody Cares ...