In which I contribute to Business 2.0.

Today Google Base, Google's semantic indexing service, launched. The blogs are abuzz with the news, including B2Day, the official blog of the magazine Business2.0. In their posting on this great event, B2Day included an image from a speculative essay on my own website, Ftrain.com. B2Day did not copy the image beforehand, nor did they link to my site via the image, nor did they provide attribution for the image. They simply incorporated it into their own page, applying my bandwidth to their own needs.

This means, I thought, that they want me as a contributor! I had only a few minutes before I needed to leave for work, so I worked fast and kept things simple.

This is how the page looked when I visited it for the first time.

Moments later it carried a message.

I should keep the discourse elevated, I thought.

Next, I decided I'd leave a message for the blog's proprietors--a word of warning.

And then a commentary on their content.

But finally, I figured it would be in keeping with the spirit of their blog if I created a sizeable ad for my new novel, [Gary Benchley, Rock Star]. Obviously the folks at B2D agree with my capitalist impulses, because that ad is up several hours later. Viva commerce!

Looking back, there are so many things I could have done. Bare breasts. Organ transplants. Swear words. I remember the sweet day when I replaced [this image] with [this one], thus confounding a few corporate websites. I've matured, I guess. Not much, but some. Or maybe I've lost my edge.

. . . . .

Update, November 18: Business2.0 has graciously asked for permission to include the original linked image on their weblog, attributed—which permission, of course, I gladly granted. Sadly, they erased the numerous amusing comments about stoats that people posted to their comment board. I am very glad that someone posted a comment that read: “Stoat riot! Stoat riot! Stoat riot!”--if Gary Benchley ever starts another band, it'll be called Stoat Riot.



