“[She] looked at me the other day. ‘We need to find you more work,’ she said, ‘and not just for the money, either.’
I wondered what she meant: Was I depressed? Not particularly. Bored? Well, yes, sometimes. Boring? The lightbulb went on. “Oh,” I said. ‘You’ve been reading my blog.'” (from the “highbrow” Buy the Cow)
Hubba hubba hubba, that quote from Monday caused a stink. I found it from another blog called They Won’t Buy The Cow, and thought it was funny. There, that’s a compliment. It was late at night, I wanted to go to bed, so I copied and pasted, without referencing it. BAD faux pas. It’s now rectified, but can you IMAGINE the backlash that has caused from the author, who has now decided to “out” me on her site. Now, I know that I shouldn’t have done it, but IT’S ONLY A BLOG. It’s not a life-threatening experience. I’m not “devoid of talent” or an “idiot” because I didn’t mention where I saw something I quoted. However, if apologies are due, I apologise. Now, put all your toys back in the pram and get on with your life.
If that’s the case, you would have simply explained the error to Elaine when she first pointed it out to you instead of deleting her comment. I don’t imagine you enjoyed being “outed.” You can avoid that in the future by developing scruples.
Love your backhanded compliment and half-assed attempt at an apology to Elaine. Whether you intended to plagarize or the plagarism was accidental is irrelevant. Here’s a newsflash: Copyright Law applies.
Thank you, Bonny G, you pinnacle of society.
NEWSFLASH, NEWSFLASH: are you girls REALLY that upset by his mistake? He admits he was wrong, acknowledges his error and has tried to put it right. Yet all you can do is whinge and whine about it even more. Can’t you find something else to whinge about? After all, you have enough bloody practice…
Jac, Wibbler: The problem is, you plagarized a post written by someone who is a professional writer. The people coming to her defense are not just friends, but also professional writers and editors.
This might not cost anything, might not mean a lot to you and appear to be whining, but when you write for a living, such things do become important. It’s no different than a writer finding something they wrote plastered throughout the Internet. Authors (such as Harlan Ellison) are suing big companies over such things (and winning so far, at least in Ellison’s case). It’s the same reason Napster is dead and gone.
I’m glad you apologized, but for people who do this for a living the wound can be raw even after the bandage is applied. Especially when applied late.
Thanks, Eric, the first post without sarcasm! I take your point, and let’s hope it all goes away…
“The Original and well before the others”? Ye gods.
Excuse me, Eric, but I personally never plagiarised anything. I do, however, agree with you that copying material is both frustrating and infuriating for those left feeling disadvantaged. BUT, in this case, wibbler made an honest mistake and was unable to rectify it immediately because he was staying with his girlfriend who doesn’t have access to the internet. Whatever happened to forgive and forget…?
Jac, Let’s accept your assertion that Mr. Wibbler couldn’t correct his “honest mistake” because he didn’t have internet access. But if he didn’t have internet access, could you please explain to me how he was able to delete my comment (posted around 6pm UK time) pointing out his unsourced “borrowing”? Oh yes, and three other comments posted subsequently by Lauren, Eric and an anonymous source also disappeared before Wibbler posted his apology comment. I’d love to let this rest, but Wibbler’s self-serving
Jac, Let’s accept your assertion that Mr. Wibbler couldn’t correct his “honest mistake” because he didn’t have internet access. But if he didn’t have internet access, could you please explain to me how he was able to delete my comment (posted around 6pm UK time on Monday the 25th) pointing out his unsourced “borrowing”? It seems to me that if he had access enough to delete my comment, he had access enough to correct his post.
CAN WE ALL PUT THE DUMMIES BACK IN THE PRAM BEFORE WE LEAVE.
THANK YOU.
Because he was at work and checked his site just before he left. Admittedly, he shouldn’t have deleted it in the first place, but he later realised the potential consequences and couldn’t put his actions right, having left work to see his girlfriend.
Christ alive, Elaine, would you like me to take out a full page spread in the newspapers for an apology? I sense that no amount of explaining (and I’m certainly not apologising TWICE) will calm your jitters – you seem just to want to nurture your bruised ego. My friends come to my defence, your friends come to yours. It happens. Let’s shut up.
are we winning?
We do hope ! read the famous “much ado about nothing” text . I really do like the title , too -:)
BTW , hello to you , Mr Simon
How incredibly precious these wimmin are!! Do they really believe that they can post text on the website (world wide web, remember) and that someone might not use their words. If they want to copyright/protect their words, keep them to themselves.
However, I do realise that Wibbler appreciates where they are coming from [what patience he has] and should be admired for that!