For those of you who don’t know – I’m the software engineer behind Xanga Minis, and the Credits system (I had a lot of help from rest of the engineers though – and the look and feel of the Minis system is 100% Marc and Chris).  I only joined the Xanga team three months ago, so I essentially cut my teeth on the Minis system.  As such – I get a little testy when people talk nasty about my “baby”.  Now mind you, I have no problem with a little constructive criticism or requests for new features, I might even accept a comment about how “minis are too goofy.”  However, if you’re looking for a way to attract my unending fury, just post a comment like:

“Wow, that’s really stupid…   you have to PAY for a large, obtrusive
icon to be displayed next to your comment?  And you expect to actually
make money off of this?”

“who thinks of crap like minis and pulse anyway??? someone with a facebook account that thinks xanga needs to compete?”

I spend three months coding this to listen to this?  “C’mere and I’ll mini your face!”  That’ll teach you to insult my babies.  But looking into the issue a little more deeply, I found that a lot of people feel very strongly about Minis.  They either love them and use them obsessively or they believe that Minis are an abomination signaling the end of days for Xanga.  After putting some thought into why this might be, I’ve come to believe that there is some core misunderstandings about Minis and Credits and where we at Xanga hope to go with them.  Here I’ll attempt to address the top 5 complaints and questions (from my personal point of view). 

1)  What is a Mini and why would I ever give someone one? 
A Mini is essentially a miniature gift card.  Think Hallmark, but designed to fit in a comment sized area on your page.  You give people Minis to mark special occasions or to show your fellow Xangans that you appreciate them.  Any time you would send someone a gift card, you would send someone a Mini. 

2)  What are Xanga Credits and why do I need them to buy Minis?  This seems like Xanga is just trying to get into our wallets!
Xanga Credits are not meant to be treated like cash.  A better analogy would be like Frequent Flyer Miles for Xanga users.  The Xanga community primarily gains value from two simple things a) people writing good posts, and b) people commenting on those posts and encouraging those people to continue writing.  As such Xanga passes out credits for every new eProp a person gives and for every new eProp a person receives.  If you are a good blogger, or you are a supportive commenter you’ll rack up the credits in no time.  We also give out credits for becoming a Premium member.  Currently the only way Xangans have of redeeming credits is by purchasing Minis – but we hope to provide all sorts of additional perks (its just a matter of how fast we can program the new features – sorry! ^_^).  Of course if you don’t feel like being a supportive member, (or your blog isn’t as popular as TheTheologiansCafe) and you still want to give out a gaggle of Minis, we do allow you to buy credits.  But that’s up to you. 

3)  But why aren’t Minis free?!  If I’m giving them out, I’m being supportive aren’t I?
One of the big complaints with eProps was that they don’t mean anything.  If they’re free to give, what is the point of giving them?  Well, when you give someone the 1000 eProp Mini, its your way of saying “WOW that post was worth 2 weeks worth of accumulating Credits!”  You really rock!  We want Minis to mean something special and putting a credit cost on them is one way of doing that. 

4)  “Minis are ugly” or “Minis totally clash with my Goth Emo Xanga Theme.”
Minis aren’t for everyone, just like profile pics, or eprops, you can go into your account settings and turn them off.

5)  Doesn’t Facebook have a gift system?  Xanga is just trying to be like Facebook.  I like Xanga because it doesn’t have all that lame stuff. 
Fine.  The next time you want a new feature, don’t talk to me about it.  [hehe just kidding].  Seriously though, we here at Xanga are always trying to innovate and come out with new and better ways for people to express themselves.  That means we may sometimes share some features with other folks, but our style is distinctly our own.  Besides, we [Xanga] were here first.  

Over and out

 - Joe

I always thought I would make a great guidance counselor.  Prior to my current job at Xanga, I was an academic advisor for three years – a camp counselor for 2 summers – and a camp administrator for one.  Additionally, I’ve made my share of mistakes in my college and job applications, and had my share of lucky breaks.  I feel like I know the ropes and could be a real resource to my fellow men and women attempting to make their way through academia. 

Unfortunately – I often forget the most important lesson of my years mentoring (and of fighting with my parents about what I’m going to do with my life).  When seeking to help someone, giving advice is less important than giving support.  Most of the time – people already know the solution to whatever challenge they face.  Rather than suggestions, what they really need is someone to help them find the courage to do what needs to be done.  I’ve failed at helping someone I care deeply about today – and even worse, I lost my temper and exchanged some angry IMs.  I don’t know what to do.  I hope I can make it up to her. 

Any advice? 

I’m a bit of a homebody – but I’ve always had an attraction to places where snow is an anomaly, rather than a common place.  (Perhaps its my Michigan up bringing.  I still have nightmares where I’m shoveling the driveway, and the snow reburies the driveway faster than I can shovel it.  A sort of modern winter time Sisyphus.)  The tropics and various equatorial regions satisfy this requirement fairly well.  I also have a thing for waterfalls out in the middle of nowhere.  You know the kind I’m talking about.  The kind that pour crystal clear water from like fifty feet up from a lush vegetation covered cliff.  And coconuts.  Mmmm… coconut milk.  And no noisy tourists romping around destroying the ambiance and disturbing the wild life.  Unfortunately – my desire to live on a remote tropical island tends to conflict directly with my need to be connected to the world wide inter-grid at all times.  That and my immense fear of spiders.  And snakes.  And mosquitoes.  Huh….

…On second thought.  I’ll just stay put. 
   

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I’d want my body to die during the process of melding my mind into my perfect android form.  That opportunity lacking – quietly in my sleep with my loved ones nearby.   

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There are several practical problems with torture – besides the obvious moral and ethical implications.

1)  While it is easy to see why torture would increase the probability of a response to questioning – there is no guarantee that the response will be truthful.  You can get anyone to say anything if you hurt them enough, even if that anything isn’t the truth.  This is ultimately why information gathered during torture isn’t used as evidence in US courts.   Take an innocent (or guilty) person and put them in a life/death situation – I’d be willing to bet that the innocent person breaks as often (or more) than the guilty person. 

2)  Escalation.  First its ok to torture terrorists.  Then its ok to torture people associated with terrorists.  Then its ok to torture family of terrorists etc… etc…  Its a very slippery slope when you say “by any means necessary”.

3)  Even if you think its ok to torture, you have to admit that A LOT of people don’t.  You cannot ignore the power of public opinion.  If you start to lose the moral high ground, you’ll also start to lose public support and the support of your allies.  You also make it harder for moderates in your enemies’ camps to push for peace. 

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