Tuesday 16 September 2008

While I was sleeping ...

.. the number of registered Black Boxes blogs and pairs of choices they've submitted soared over the 2500 mark.

While I was under the duvet, snoozing off my jet lag, over 6000 calls to the server were made by more than 1000 different people Blackboxing.

At least 3000 visits to a mystery (but not random - it's all based on your choices) blog were generated by the widget. 

It is now installed on more than 300 blogs - maybe many more (I can't be more precise because the log files are so huge that I can only analyse 12 hour snapshots until I get the abridged one at the end of the month).

Thank you to everybody who has said lovely things about the widget ... and about me. I have to re-thank the other members of team-geek for incredible work in scaling it up to cope with the staggering enthusiasm of the blogging community. They rocked my binary world.

I should also thank Caroline, firstly for giving me the opportunity to do a lovely widget for her, but also for putting her complete trust in me, as I only had a couple of days to execute it which left little space for tweaking. The team at TFP were similarly brave in giving me the go ahead even though I'd only written a few sentences in description in an email. 

My big question when Caroline and I hatched the idea was will people 'get' it? I can't believe how many people totally get it.

For me, the embracing of blackboxing (omg I love that it has a verb, and corresponding nouns "blackboxer/ee") is more than just a pat on the back for having made something fun. As a geek I have always found it painful that other people didn't always see the internet as real life. Many times I've had people ask me "yeah ... but what about relationships in real life?" ... as if somehow the bits of me that blogged and forumed (new verb, I like) and g-chatted weren't really alive. 

Newsflash: It's all real. It's all us. And, whether it was a tiny seed of change or a dramatic revelation, last night, while I was sleeping, the Black Boxes widget and the bloggers who've embraced it, changed someone's life.

--

This episode of chasing-sheep was brought to you by the letters POST and GET and the numbers 1 and 0.

21 comments:

Ken Duck Geraths said...

I agree!!!, I love the black box!
I have been playing it off and on and have found a lot of blogs that I really enjoy (like yours). I'm an anti-geek (ie I can't do crap on the computer) so I have to use others black boxes. but I love the idea, and hope it sticks around!

Thank you so much!

Ken,

Jenny Beattie said...

I'm wondering if you've thought about instigating a 12 step programme, now that so many of us are hooked?

(It's such fun! JJ)

Caroline said...

Post made me cry, of course, because everything is making me cry today!

Come to my blog and see photos of Black Boxes :)

Thanks so much honey.

x

Anonymous said...

Brought to us by the numbers 0 and 1..
I nearly sprayed coffee over one of my colleagues.

And way to go on the virulent 'verbing' you're doing right now.

To me the fascinating thing with the boxes I've clicked through is how so many of them aren't diametric choices.. So while the 0/1 may be how we get the choice its still in the human infinite range between 0 and 1.

sheepish said...

As you know I have been away from blogging for a while so I am about to "hopefully" put the black box widget on my blog. I am totally in awe of your ability with 0 and 1. All I can do is make 1 or 10 out of them!!!

Wish me luck as I copy and paste.

Misssy M said...

Such a little thing is connecting us all. More than a meme, more than a link, more than putting your blog on a list somewhere, this black box has sent so many genuine readers to the Misssives that I can hardly believe it. A big standing ovation from me. (Can one person do an ovation?)

But I'm afraid I can't choose between crisps and chocolate. I just can't.

virtualjourney said...

This could shake up the blogs in the same way as The Shameless Lions Roar for Powerful Words a year ago. They lost track of that at 250K contacts!

Adventure girl said...

Awesome! I still need to take the time to add it to my blog!

Toast to Tuesday-
http://adventuregirlwannabee.blogspot.com/

Dave said...

Blackboxing brought me here - what a brilliant creation. Thank you for it.

virtualjourney said...

ps Bloxxing. It's quicker....

Nik Perring said...

It is a SPLENDID widget!

Nik

Tea N. Crumpet said...

When my husband and I started dating 15 years ago he told me that people would connect on online communities and have relationships (friends and more) and I thought he was nuts. Can you imagine people of Alexander Graham Bells' day hearing that one day teenagers would spend their years on the phone?

I don't blackbox, but you are right-- real life is what you are living. This is life. You adapt or not. Maybe one day the world will relive the '1980's like we like to join SCA or period reenactment groups and have more face-to-face contact.

trousers said...

Lovely words, and it's all been so much fun so far. I feel happy to have been one of the very first Blackboxers :)

Stray said...

Wow! So many comments :)

Ken - if you're on blogger it's pretty easy to add .. just ask if you need extra instructions.

JJ - it's a good thought, and I hope to make some money from my bestselling "Beat blackboxing in a weekend" recovery handbook ;)

Cas - oh baby, you do blub easily at times. The photos look amazing - can't wait to actually sniff it at the launch!

Drak - glad to be of service sir. Tea spitting induction is only one of a range we provide. You are SO right about the 1-0 thing ... yup, very little binary about people really. Especially the ones who understand the joke about there only being 10 kinds of people ... those who are laughing right now and those who haven't a clue what I'm on about.

Sheepish - so many cuddles. Great to see you back and sharing, because we've been thinking of you a lot in our little household. Good luck, with the copy / paste thing and so much more. x

Misssy M - I'm not sure one person can do a standing ovation, but you could get me an ovaltine instead?

Virtual voyage - ok ... now you're scaring me! I've already upgraded my server twice since this started ... eek! And 'bloxxing' - genius!

AGWB - thanks :) Add away ... the more people the better the connections ...

Dave - you're welcome anytime.

Nik - thanks for stopping by :) Loved what you say on your blog about the knife poem thing - anyone who is in favour of the banning should be automatically ruled out of the marking process ...

Hi tea n crumpets - god, that's scary isn't it? How quick stuff changes ... And omg I had such a giggle that this thing has become so popular that people might actually want to identify that they don't blackbox. You totally made my day :)

Hey trousers - you were the very first actual blackboxer - before you did it there were only the chasing-sheep blog and caroline's blog. Wow - you're number one. Maybe I should make you a badge?

trousers said...

The first? Crivens (for want of a better exclamation)!

But no, after all you've done - well over and above the call of duty - I couldn't possibly ask for a badge of any kind :)

Ms Melancholy said...

Crivens? Oh trousers, we do love you!

virtualjourney said...

Stray - cheers; just a random idea, but the instant gratification properties of the Black Box have given me an insight into how it could be used as a simple motivational tool in balancing the old blogging v life dilemma. See mine if you're interested.

XXYXX said...

If I had photoshop on this laptop and less Merlot in my bloodstream I'd knock up the first "Evil Genius, but in a Good Way" award to give to you Stray.

GET and POST rock, and how lovely that it brought you together with a whole gang-bang of other alpha-geeks in a very special late night way.

Reading the Signs said...

I've taken a couple of journey from here, Stray - such fun, even though I can't begin to take in how it works. I never even mastered long division at school. But I keyed in a couple of things anyway. I love surprises.

French Fancy... said...

I wish I could download black box but Firefox keeps telling me it can't get it when I click on the box image. Doesn't this make me sound thick? yes, it does but then I am.

French Fancy... said...

p.s. - I managed to do it (yay, go me - not) but every two or three boxes I go to one specific one - over and over again.when will someone come to me?