Update: The original post for The New Blargy Design has been removed. An explanation of why follows.
A previous incarnation of Blargy used a highly edited version of the Cutline theme by Chris Pearson. While the ultimate design ended up being a wide departure from Cutline, it still used some of the original CSS from the Cutline theme.
Worried that Chris wouldn’t like what I’d done with Cutline and that he may not want any attachment to it, I called my theme Cleanline, an underhanded homage to its predecessor.
The reference was apparently a little too underhanded, for nobody got it and it was perceived as code theft. Chris rightfully got pissed, wrote a pretty hefty post in response, and sent a few angry folks my way. I’ve been getting hate mail and sarcastic comments ever since.
Moral of the story #1: give credit where credit is due no matter how minor.
Chris is cool about it now and I’m cool about it, too. While we’ve both moved on and had a cyber-handshake, a lot of people still find it an interesting expenditure of their time to leave vile remarks about it here at Blargy.
They can get bit. Preferably by a rabid dog. Or a dinosaur.
The internet is a petri dish for people who have nothing to share but their trite opinions and no way to pass it along without sarcasm and hatred. And for all of the negative comments and emails I’ve gotten about this situation, only one single person ever asked me what had actually happened. That was Chris himself, but unfortunately I was about 12 hours late in responding to him. His post, complete with butcher knife, went up in the meantime and this easily avoidable situation took root.
Moral of the story #2: check your email.
While it was my intention to leave all the original posts and comments up, I’ve recently changed my mind. You could say this is bad journalism since I’m removing the negative, so that’s why I’m removing everything. All the good comments stating I’m a stand-up guy, the ones stating that nobody owns code and that Chris was wrong, the ones wondering what the hell was the big deal anyway, the ones from people who were impressed that I didn’t tuck tail and run, and even those from Chris saying all is well. Everything. It’s all gone now and not even archived.
Why?
For one, the only constructive thing to come out of any of the negative comments was being told I also stole from Christian Montoya who I’d never even heard of. I may never have discovered him if not for the comment. I’ve since learned that Montoya rocks and have become a big fan, so I guess there’s always a silver lining.
Two, I’m ridiculously awesome at what I do, only part of which is Blargy, and none of which is the product of theft. Helpful people like Chris, of course. Inspiration from designers and writers, absolutely. But this site is mine. I take pride in it for its design, its writing, the help it provides to others and for its readers whom I’ve come to adore. If the situation as described above was voluntary design theft, I suppose I’d need the reminders and warnings. But being that it was no more than an oversight on my part, I don’t.
Three, I don’t read the Enquirer and I don’t watch big media news. I don’t get excited about celebrity wedding rumors and I don’t happen to think life is scary and terrible. People who feel it’s up to them to remind me there’s trouble in every quarter are doing me and everyone like me a disservice. Go step in front of a bus or something.*
Lastly, this site is nobody’s sandbox. I don’t mind, in fact I invite, diverging opinions, but this is my house so you at least have to wipe your feet.
If you came here looking for something more meaty and “gossip-flavoured,” my apologies. Chris’s original post on the subject is still up, as are other finger-shaking posts by your average sycophant types who probably just needed something to post that day. Read all of it if you want and read this and consider yourself as well informed on it as you’re ever gonna be.
* Disclaimer: Please don’t go stepping in front of any buses now just because I said so. If you choose to become radiator fodder that’s your own choice.
1 Comment
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