it comes and goes, that's the nature of everything, online or not, that i had experienced so far in my life. it doesn't matter if it is really gone, the fact is, it had been here and it's part of our memory. "memory", that is what makes us human human. it won't get erased by a single "delete" button or so. it would stay - be it a big, be it a small impact.

that's perhaps the way i see it. sincerely, i started out helping beta testing pps last year. i cherished the moment i had then, i learned a lot. it's a path of experience i reckon.

i've seen many fansites of other categories unable to maintain or sustain it's existence due to financial, loss of administrators interest or other relevant reason. but, when the ppl get together after years and a single mention of certain site, it brings back memories, happiness, laughter and even grudges!!! but it's sweet to known that i've been part of it and it had been part of me.

my two cents...

ps: unfortunately, my very own blog is down...

RE attention whores: Well, yes. Duh.

RE the whole administration question: You know, that's a good point. PPS is supposed to be something that's bigger than one person… isn't it?

I keep thinking, I keep thinking… gosh, I don't know what I'm thinking. Minimal administration, in my experience, hardly ever works — there must be some kind of bureaucracy to handle community-oriented projects like PPS.

Oh, as an aside: didn't PPS have an RSS feed? If anything, that'd be extra useful, if you could actually get it running once more.

Mossie! Haven't seen you in a while! Why lah down?

i am an attention whore all right but i don't quibble about over who's getting more hits and how. :)

PPS don't need a committee. let it be self-sustaining.

Self-sustaining doesn't always last.

Let's see.

Most of us reap the benefits of PPS. We ping our entries, people come to our site, we get more hits. Because however altruistic our notions are, and however much you deny being an attention whore, let's face it, getting two hits makes you feel a lot better than getting just the one.

Yet we don't see the work that goes behind PPS. I think for Aiz, it's a labour of love, because nothing else can explain the number of hours he spends on this.

To the point of who owns it - I have a straight answer: whoever paid for it - it being the domain name and webspace. Now I don't deny that they are providing a public service here, but if Aiz pays for it and he works on it, then it is perhaps his prerogative who and what he wants to feature on it.

But that doesn't solve the problem of dissatisfied 'customers'. Or dissatified parties. Which is why I suggested earlier that perhaps, we could have a 'Featured Blog of the Week / Month' whatever, if being featured is really the issue. Which I actually doubt, but casting that aside, even in having a Featured Blog of the Month will cause problems, because then there are issues of who to choose, and who will choose? And why? Further areas of potential conflict.

I vote for a committee admnistered PPS, because if not, things will fall to pieces. If left to minimal admnistration, there is no accountability, and with no accountability, there will be no improvement.

I think people newer to PPS don't know the real story behind what happened, and listening to one side of the story tips the scale in the storyteller's favour. Perhaps, Aiz - and this is a suggestion only - could put up a small note that explains the From the Street and Gambar2 PPS sidebar. One sentence to the tune of: Founders'/ people behind the Streets' blogs are listed here, maybe? As I commented earlier, I've noticed additions and omissions to the column. I might intuitively know why, but it may help to dispel malicious thoughts and intent.

Then again, is it even your aim to appease the whims and fancies of a minority of dissenters?

i agree, najah. Aiz did all of it. So, what are we complaining about....

We're not complaining, fooji. but someone is.

Aiz paid for it, worked on it, it's his baby. Who are we to stop him from featuring whoever he wants? I think no one did, actually.

Until Lionel said it.

We could just ignore all this. Lantak pi lah.. just one or two people buat kacau. But does this solve the problem, though? If there is a problem in the first place, lah.

So it's Aiz's project. That doesn't seem to hard.

Though, hey, what was his goal again? Aggregating and encouraging a Malaysian ‘blogosphere’?

Just because someone criticizes someone else, though, doesn't mean that they're attacking that person.

Aduh, I'm sooo behind the times. I like PPS, and honestly I don't think I can do half as good a job as Aiz did. So I shall not complain. Heck, it was never a big deal to be featured on the sidebar. I'm not, and I've gotten my readership and more importantly, friends.

However it turns out, I think I'll gladly say I'll try and help out, if only to help keep PPS going, however I can.

This is so classic. When thing goes successful like this, ramai nak nama, but when it comes to do all the hard work, ramai nak lepas tangan.

Thanks for writing about this.

Actually I don't see how people who use PPS are 'wrong' for wanting more hits. I mean... isn't that the point? After painstakingly writing something I am sure the author would like some readers. PPS offers that. That's all.

I don't care about the side bar. If I am not interested in the blog featured, then it doesn't get visits from me.

Yet its good that this topic is brought up and discussed, and we shouldn't shoot the messenger (thanks Lionel). Hopefully this will give us some ideas on what best to do from now.

I have to confess, what has coloured my judgment in this issue somewhat, is the link between Lionel, blogs.com.my and Tim Yang. Maybe Lionel is being honest and uninfluenced, and I just need to step up my paranoia medication.

Has Lionel raised a valid point? Perhaps so. I am just suspicious as to the intent of him raising that point - and why no one has ever voiced such an opinion before, where as PPS has been around for quite a while. Is it apathy? Is it because others don't have an issue with the featured bloggers columnn?

Here I am again.

Good point, Idlan. I have a feeling it's a little of everything. And maybe it's also because to some bloggers (including myself), PPS is merely a tool to extend their content to the masses, never to completely do the job for them. Hence nobody really said anything, because there was nothing TO say. Maybe I need my meds too. Heheh.

To answer Benel: PPS, IMHO, never guarantees that an afiliated blog will get more hits, and I don't think it was even part of the reason why the site was launched in the first place. That is entirely up to the author. I know at least ONE blog that's never on PPS, but the readership for that one is just incredible. From personal experience: building a readership takes time and effort. You can ping PPS 10 million times a day, but if a blog's content is indistinguishable from the scores of others out there, then there's no point.

I fail to see why there's this "expectation" that PPS will generate more hits for any given blog. Content is king, and until we understand that, ain't no blogtal, portal, or dotcomdotmy will help you.

I certainly have no issue whatsoever with the 'featured blogs column'. Agree on Idlan's point re: the 'ownership' issue,who pays on it and works on it, certainly fair to say that he 'owns' it!
If I see a link which I perceive could be interesting, I click on it, and after I put up a post at my blog, I usually pings to it - that's PPS to me. From those pings and links, hits grew; from them hits, new acquaintances and friends were made. Ideas heard. Information shared.
And there's nothing but a big bouquet of thanks from me to the group of people who made PPS a reality.

imagine PPS as the Chinatown street itself.

the pings are the many stalls vendoring their goods. the feature columns are just a few of those who had initially set up their business on the street long before others did.

what brings customers back to each stall? how are they enticed to come back again and again? not exactly how often the stalls are opened, or for how long, or at which location. a few old timers being around will also not threaten promising business.

if the goods up for sale are of high quality and value, these stalls can open just every other day or once a week, at the most indistinguished spot and still patrons will hunt them down.

else, these stalls may not even need to be on PPS and still we will hunt them down.

oneway of finding out who owns pps, is to ask who gets the money when pps gets as big as google?
isnt that what every one who sets up a service like this aim for , one day? that it becomes the portal of choice for millions and then they add other services and go public like google.

Am not an attention whore, but I'm a comment whore! :D

Kenapa saya suka PPS?

Saya suka PPS kerana sejak saya bergiat dalam bidang 'blogging' ini, saya telah berjaya mendapat ramai kawan-kawan yang mungkin saya tidak kenali jika saya tidak menjumpai blog mereka. PPS telah membantu saya meluaskan pandangan saya dan memperkayakan pengetahuan saya, di samping membolehkan saya mengetahui apa yang berlaku di tanahair.

Sebagai seorang pelajar di luar negara, saya kadangkala terkilan kerana tidak dapat turut serta dalam kegiatan dan perjumpaan ahli-ahli PPS. Ini adalah kerana ayah saya tidak memiliki Syarikat Penerbangan Malaysia. Walau bagaimanapun, saya tetap merasakan PPS telah banyak membina jambatan di antara diri saya dan begitu ramai rakan taulan, tidak kira sama ada pendapat kami sealiran atau berbeza.

Hidup PPS.

(I so screwed my BM!)

Idlan: Anda telah menyebabkan saya terguling di atas lantai dalam gelak tawa.

Hidup PPS!

Idlan: Sila jumpa saya selepas ini dengan membawa slip keputusan SPM anda, dan jika boleh beberapa keping pizza yang enak.

Jangan bersepah dengan pensyarah yang menggunakan BM setiap hari

(lit: Don't mess with a lecturer who uses BM everyday)

to answer idlan:

"I have to confess, what has coloured my judgment in this issue somewhat, is the link between Lionel, blogs.com.my and Tim Yang. Maybe Lionel is being honest and uninfluenced, and I just need to step up my paranoia medication."

i feel that i've stepped into "uh-oh" territory now that some people are thinking tim yang and i are affiliated somehow. yikes, we're not! he invited me to use blogs.com.my -- i liked it, and i took the offer. is the sentiment against tim yang this bad and lasting? i feel like i have sinned by dealing with the devil.

"Has Lionel raised a valid point? Perhaps so. I am just suspicious as to the intent of him raising that point - and why no one has ever voiced such an opinion before, where as PPS has been around for quite a while. Is it apathy? Is it because others don't have an issue with the featured bloggers columnn?"

i have always noticed the sidebar, and for a while i was okay with it. later, i started to think it was a bit ridiculous, and later, i thought more so, all the while never once meeting another blog service that practices it. when i finally decided i would mention it, i have let months pass by before i did. there ya go.