The Best of Blogs

I think you are headed for a heart attack. That’s SO much work Jim. I know you are trying to partial to all but, when it comes down to it, the difference in points for Blog A coming in first and Blog B coming in second etc. is so small.

I do realize that 2 points could be win or lose for anyone but, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t hurt me at all to not win the popular vote.

I guess you’ll hear different from others.

PLEASE go take a nap!

By Anne on Jan 18, 2006

I agree—too much work. What about something like equal points to the top three, or something like that? I don’t know the answer, but you are about to kill yourself.

By Belinda on Jan 18, 2006

I don’t know the answer either. I do know that the majority of my regular readers have only been allowed to vote once, myself included. The popular vote thing doesn’t matter much now. Although since we’re all pretty close in the other scoring areas, the popular vote will probably largely determine the final standings.

Maybe you could start from scratch, go with your plan of erasing each night but only allow the voting to last a short time, a week tops. (to limit your workload)

Another solution would be to reset the vote tallies to zero, set the system to only allow one vote per person ever and then let the chips fall where they may.

Then it’s not a contest of who’s best at begging their readers to vote repeatedly, but how many individual readers feel like voting.

I don’t think any rational person will be mad at you whatever you pick. You’ve done so much work and being picked as a finalist is enough to up all of our readerships, which is what I think most of us wanted to get out of this anyway.

I say just end your misery as quickly as possible. {{hugs}}

By Kathryn, The Daring One on Jan 18, 2006

I’m confused…would this plan be in effect from here on out or would we be starting over?

Since it’s pretty evident the system has ALREADY been tampered with (or is just full of quirks) I don’t see how it could be fair unless we did start over.

However, starting over obviously makes more work for the judges and…for the voters. But if we are trying to do what is right in the name of fairness here and get the most accurate popular vote (which I know most of us are) that seems like the best bet.

Just my 2 cents…

By Janet on Jan 18, 2006

Jim,
Don’t you DARE introduce so much more work for yourself….

If you are so worried about the integrity of the voting, why not reduce the amount of points making it out of 10 rather than 20? Much, much easier for you, and your team….

Minerva

By Minerva on Jan 18, 2006

I say reduce the number of points for voting. I agree with Minerva. Too much damage has been done already, and I don’t think your solution will solve the problem of certain computers with unrecognizable IP numbers being able to vote multiple times regardless of how the program is set.

Perhaps if we reduce the percentage of voting in the competition, we can also reduce the period for voting. It’s getting a bit wearing on everyone. How about saying two more days or so and then quits.

Again, as I’ve said many times, this isn’t a reflection on your effort. We know you are putting countless hours in to make this fair, we just want to stop the bleeding sooner and move on.

: )

By Raehan on Jan 18, 2006

Oh, and I should mention I have still never been able to vote more than my vote the very first day.

One idea is to take a vote (ducking head) on whether to eliminate voting as part of the competition, reduce the worth of voting, or keep it as is.

But then if the voting system isn’t working…..

You could vote on this through comments.

By Raehan on Jan 18, 2006

Jim,

Do what is easiest for you.

I don’t think you should start the whole thing from scratch, as some commenters have suggested. The initial rush has passed and I don’t think it’s valid to write this off as a false start and go again.

I think we’d all do to well to remember that the popular vote is only one aspect of this. And above all, I don’t think any of us want the pleasures of writing (the reason we blog, I assume) to be consumed by competitive complications.

My sweet man, your last posts on the voting system gave me a much needed laugh but in truth I really think you should sleep and take a break from this.

Warm Wishes,

Magdelena

By Magdelena on Jan 18, 2006

Or perhaps, if you do find a way to get into the system, you can see whether there is any evidence of foul play, and if so, we can either reduce voting percentage or eliminate it.

If we don’t find any, then just leave it as is.

No more comments for me! I obviously am procrastinating on someting big and ominous.

By Raehan on Jan 18, 2006

What about reducing the voters to those on the jury? Or hand-pick a larger jury. Allowing the citizenry to vote is patriotic, but not practical.

By Stu Mark on Jan 18, 2006

I have been observing all that is taking place here and even though I do not have a blog, I do read many of the blogs here. Myself and many others that I know have placed their votes here for the first time but nothing went through. I do understand that all this takes a lot of work, however, I do believe whatever task one sets out to do he/she must do it to the best of his/her ability. This is the price of offering a service like this free or not. People are talking and will value this award based on how you handle a situation like this. This system can be improved from the flaws which you can correct to some extent hopefully, so, go a head and do what must be done.

I hope the people who agree that it’s too much work are not saying this because their blog or the blog that they are voting for is leading. In the end the award of this award is what’s at stake. If people get the idea that you are not dealing with this situation properly or believe it is rigged, then who do you think this will look bad on? The reputation of this blog award is presently at stake. You can take my advice or ignore it. Some will not see things this way but that is fine everyone has their own opinion. I am not attacking anybody here and if I sound harsh sorry but just stating the facts. It is not a matter of pleasing everyone but everyone ( those who think you should leave the way it is, and those who think otherwise) will respect your hard work and determination to make things as smooth as possible.

By Marlon on Jan 18, 2006

What they all said!

#6 and #10 seem like particularly good suggestions. #11 has some valid points but is clearly a glass-half-empty kinda guy.

By andrea on Jan 18, 2006

Well, BifSniff is not the vote leader in it’s category and I think the solution described is too much work and doesn’t really solve the issue.

For example I got an email from a friend of mine who pointed out that several people in his office wanted to vote, but they all have the same IP so they can’t.

There will always be issues I’m afraid

We’re happy to have made it into the final ten, and let’s face it voting stuff is always an issue.

At least this award had the good sense not to make voting the entire process.

As andrea said 6 & 10 were good ideas, but can we really change the rules mid-game? I’d be happy enough, but then I’m not the vote leader!

I say leave it as is, let the chips fall where they may, let the losers (us probably) whine about it on their blogs, let the winners gloat, and figure out a better voting solution for next year!

By frankp on Jan 19, 2006

Hey, you guys do whatever you think you need to do. Just know, I am thrilled to be on the finalist list and I have gotten a TON of hits from you guys. That is what it is all about for me. So, thanks. You guys ROCK!
EF

By Eccentric Father on Jan 19, 2006

Last year, one of my blogs came in last place, and this year my other blog is trailing badly. I simply don’t have the technical savvy to rig the system, and both years I didn’t learn until mid-game that you could vote more than once (although it hasn’t accepted my votes after Day 1).

Fool me once, as they say.

Even so, I’d be lying if I said I’m just fine with this. The whole concept of voting more than once irks me. It’s undemocratic, rewarding those who can do the electronic equivalent of ballot-box stuffing. Hey, do I win extra points if the people who vote for me are dead? Or drunks I haul in off the street?

Next year, you need to work out the voting mechanism before you upload the pretty design and fancy ads. The horse goes in front of the cart, please.

And you’ll need to have someone with copy editing experience go over your posts explaining contest rules for clarity and completeness. Copy editors do much more than fix typos and grammatical errors, though you could use a hand with that too.

Having the voting rules posted as a bulleted list in a sidebar would also help, including how often we can vote and when voting ends, etc.

I’ve rewritten this several times to avoid sounding peeved, which I am, so I apologize for the tone. I’m of course thrilled, grateful, etc. to have been nominated in two separate categories in successive years, and am impressed by the panel of judges you’ve assembled. They’re good folks and great bloggers and will do much to restore the contest’s credibility.

Now, go get some rest. Come back ready to fix this and move on.

-Anne Levy
Inland Empress and Book Buds blogs

By Anne on Jan 19, 2006

I have to say that I’m surprised at the more-than-one-vote thing. Allowing multiple votes makes this whole thing seem like a race to see who can get the most votes, instead of it being an award for the best writing in a given category.

Of course I want my favorites to win, but voting more than once makes me uncomfortable.

By suburban misfit on Jan 19, 2006

But it WILL be a best writing thing because the popularity vote thing is such a small part of the contest…

Minerva

By Minerva on Jan 19, 2006

I think there should be one vote per person. Voting more than once seems like cheating to me.

By Jody2ms on Jan 23, 2006