44forks: From Etiquette to Netiquette
by Nick Cernis | 19 September 2008
I’m proud to announce that I’ve launched a spankingly fresh new blog today, and it’s almost as bonkers as Put Things Off:
Thanks for both of your emails asking whether I was dead or not and urging me to write more often. The good news is that you now have 3 posts to catch up on over the weekend at 44 forks, which serves you right for fretting so much.
44forks: from etiquette to netiquette
If our lives are needlessly complex, it’s probably our own fault.
As unwilling netizens of the Digital Age, we’ve inflicted a bizarre and unhealthy variety of rules and regulations upon ourselves, many of which are unwritten and known only to a select group of infuriatingly smug bastards. These curious customs silently shape our success and happiness every day of our lives at work, in our homes, and in social circles ranging from mosh pits to The Ritz.
Until today, there’s been no dependable source to look to for advice on such terrible dilemmas as whether to poke or not to poke and how to behave when meeting your girlfriend’s parents. Oh — and if you’ve ever been mortified at the sight of 44 over-polished forks aligned by your plate with inhuman care, you’ll find a solution to that on the site soon.
If only people were kinder
The goal with 44forks is to provide a central place to answer all your etiquette and netiquette queries (ask an etiquestion here), whilst poking fun at strange old customs, promoting good manners and fine taste, and giving you a chance to read me rattling on about something other than productivity. Which, in all honesty, is a blessing in itself.
Do head over to the site, drop a note in the Launch Party post to say ‘hi’, and please make my day by subscribing via email or your feed reader. Frankly, it would be rude not to.
Why am I launching this now?
I’m pleased to be able to say that, this time, it’s not my fault.
The women you can blame are the wonderfully roguish Taylor “Tei” Lindstrom of Rogue Ink, and the ever-enchanting Kelly Erickson of Maximum Customer Experience.
I took part in a discussion in the comments on Tei’s blog regarding the correct way to drink espresso, where I uttered the words:
“Some days I consider starting one of those social etiquette websites that shows the exact angle to tilt one’s head when passing a fellow Lord on your way to the races. Sadly, I fear that doing so would be terribly bad form.”
Tei and Kelly were both foolish enough to egg me on, and 44forks was born less than one month later.
Much more than a simple childish dare, starting 44forks perfectly demonstrates my shotgun approach to finding happiness in business and in life. I love writing, and this is just another outlet for me. I encourage everyone to experiment with projects, hobbies, and activities as much as possible, and then to fall back on the ones that make you happiest.
How you can help
Few things would please me more than your kind help ensuring that 44forks is a success. If you could take the time to blog about it, tell a friend, or phone your entire address book to tell them you’ve found someone else who cares about promoting good manners in a light-hearted way, I would be forever in your debt.
Diggs, Stumbles, and whatever else the kids are doing these days to spread their virtual seed would also be deeply appreciated.
What about Put Things Off?
I love Put Things Off to a degree that teeters ever closer to the brink of insanity. I continue to promote it (it’s now part of the 9rules network) and tinker behind the scenes. I have various posts in what I shall choose to call “refined stages of unfinishedness”, all of which will go live soon, including:
- Advice on feed reading and online subscriptions from your Gran
- The Web’s only dependable head-to-head comparison of virtual assistants
- A glorious guest post on maximizing your ecological footprint
Stay tuned and know that I’m more grateful than ever to you for putting up with me and for pretending that you care about my little projects as much as I do.
Habari: the future of blogging
Finally, it would be cruel and senseless of me not to end this post without mentioning a free, wonderfully simple product that has made my online life a pure pleasure in the last three weeks.
The eagle-eyed and interminably geeky amongst you will notice that 44forks isn’t running on the WordPress publishing system. Instead, it’s using a breathtakingly brilliant solution called Habari, which I have absolutely no doubt will one day prove riotously popular.
Try Habari today
If you’re a blogger or website owner who’s used to navigating the great meandering tab cascade that calls itself the WordPress administration area, Habari is a breath of fresh air.
Popular publishing systems commit several crimes against human interface design by crapping every single possible option across the entire width of your screen, like some kind of giant pixel-powered blunderbuss. Habari simplifies all those options–without sacrificing usability or power–into a single, breathtakingly elegant list (click for larger version):
Want to start a new post? Hit Q and then 1. Want to edit an existing one? Q and then 3. See a list of your plugins? Q and then P. You can also click the list to select an option too, of course. Habari is free, faster, easier to use and more elegant than every other publishing platform I’ve used. It has already saved me hours with 44forks, and I suspect it would do the same for you too.
If you’re a developer or web nerd, there are a heap of other reasons you’ll love Habari, most of which stem from the fact that it’s not linked to a multi-million dollar corporation with commercial interests in having their wicked way with its future. Many of the plugins you use with WordPress have Habari alternatives here, and more are being written every day. Get involved now and have the chance to shape the future of blogging.
[N.B. We aim to port some of our themes at Wordprezzie over to Habari, and will continue to be involved with WordPress too: we recognise that it's popular for a reason -- we just think it's great to have such a strong alternative out there. Competition is good.]
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Tested and approved
19 Sep 08
17:09
Amy Derby
Anything (or anyone) inspired by Tei and Kelly scares me. :-)
And I love that you’re turning it into a book too.
You rock.
19 Sep 08
18:09
Wendi Kelly-Life's Little Inspirations
Hello and good luck on your new adventure. Of course I was just standing around my feedreeder waiting for you to pop up and there you were!
What a pleasant surprise to know I FINALLY will have some netiquette, since I have been running around clueless since I arrived.
I can’t thank you enough.
So first question. IS it ok to poke poor Tei when she is too busy to blog and tell her that her adoring fans miss her? Or would that be rude.
19 Sep 08
21:09
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
What?! Another f-ing blog to compete with? How dare y-…
Oh, hell, it’s *YOU*, Nick. Well, by all means, carry on!
;)
19 Sep 08
22:09
Janice Cartier
Oh, what does one get for a blog warming gift? I loved that espresso dare and hoped , so hoped, you would take it. Huzzah, huzzah…must go over and make gleeful happy words there.
20 Sep 08
00:09
Kelly
Nick,
Oh, how I wanted firsties at 44forks! Ah, well. Missed it, because you have so many people who love you. As you should.
The site is so lovely, just what I expected from a classy gent like you. I enjoyed reading your kind words about mememe here and there, but most of all, I love having more places to read your words. You inspire me in the most wonderful ways.
Best of luck!
Amy,
Thank you, I’d say the same about you any day, darling. ;)
Regards,
Kelly
20 Sep 08
05:09
Vince
Kindly give credit to Merlin Mann, or risk having me unfollow you on Twitter.
20 Sep 08
16:09
Lisbeth Tanz
Nick - Love your comment: I encourage everyone to experiment with projects, hobbies, and activities as much as possible, and then to fall back on the ones that make you happiest.
I recently turned down a full-time job offer - as a writer, no less - because I (perhaps foolishly) value my freedom more than money. Not that money isn’t important, but the thought of going into an office everyday (really just a redesigned closet that I would share with 2 others) made me want to cry. Yes, the money and great bene’s would have been fabulous, but not at the expense of the life I love living.
Thanks for a brilliant bit of wisdom. Love your work!
Warmly,
Lis
21 Sep 08
18:09
Nick Cernis
@Amy Derby - Thanks! Re: Kelly and Tei. Sometimes the best inspiration comes from like-minded souls. :)
@Wendi Kelly - Poke away, I say. Just don’t tell her I sent you!
@James Chartrand - I can only assume that means I have your approval to blog with an air of disregard unrivalled by any Canadian, which is a challenge in itself. :)
@Kelly - Thank you for the continued inspiration, support, and for popping by to comment on my first few posts. You’re welcome back any time, of course. I’ll ready the guest quarters, wot wot!
@Vince - I’d be happy to, Vince, but I’m genuinely not sure what I owe him credit for.
If you mean the use of a whole-digit number in the mid-forties, I’m not sure where the problem is; presumably you wouldn’t ask me to also credit http://www.43things.com/ or http://37signals.com or the great many well-known domains that also begin with two-digit numbers?
If instead, you refer to his excellent series of websites, such as http://43folders.com that all provide a steady trickle of humour and presentations on completely unrelated subjects then, naturally, I salute the man.
@Lisbeth Tanz - Glad that it rang a note with you. I share your feelings regarding freedom vs money to the letter, and intend to hold onto mine for as long as possible!