I've got a Blackberry (actually its a Samsung...). Nothing unusual about that, but I've found myself irritated at how many blogs are virtually unreadable because of all the multi-column formatting and doodads that cripple a site when viewed on a 2 x 2.5 in. screen (50 x 62 mm).

When I'm waiting in line or otherwise idle on the road, I'd like to read my favorite blogs, but am confined to only the most simply formatted. Even then, plain-Jane sites like Instapundit have this annoying edge detail that obscures the leading edge of the text.

Thinking you might also like to have something to do while waiting for a flight or for a seat at a restaurant, I've created an optimized home page for internet-enabled cell-phones here.

The URL is:

http://anatreptic.com/pda.html

Its a single column, relatively large type with full entries for every post. It looks pretty good on my phone, except for the masthead--a solution still eludes me.

I'd appreciate some feedback from anyone who views the site on their phone to say whether its readable or not, and what model of phone you are using. You can use the comments of this post, or simply email me at admin-at-anatreptic-dot-com.

Long story, involving hackers, phishers, and a suicidal hosting service who insist that thousands of phishing incidents involving their customers has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with their security.

We've moved to a new hosting service, rather more abruptly than we planned. Anatreptic should be back up and running tomorrow at some point.

We've been offline for about 24 hours, but we've brought up most of the site's functionality and blogging resumes.

This is the second time I've been burned by a webhosting service, although the first was many years ago. The irony is that they were and are both owned by the same man--Fathi Said, a German born Arab who currently lives in Austria and was responsible for what many have taken to calling the FeaturePrice disaster.

FeaturePrice was a webhosting service that quite suddenly shut its doors and took 60,000 websites with it. Within weeks, Said had reopened as ecommerce in Austria, colocating in the US with Rackspace in Hopkinsville, KY.

Where did the capital come from after FeaturePrice was apparently broke? No one appears to know.

Then there is the interesting aspect of the story that has ixwebhosting hosting al Qaeda and other radical Islamic sites, one of which promised the kidnapping and beheading of the leaders of several western countries, and their family members. Complaints results in the site being taken down, and then immediately restored. Apparently issuing fatwas doesn't compromise the terms of service, but getting hacked by phishers does...

...I called the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and alerted an employee to the Al Firdaws site content. He thanked me and said a company official would investigate. Within a couple of hours, the site was off line.

However, a couple of days later the Al Firdaws site was reactivated. Clearly identifying myself as an investigative writer, I called IX Webhosting (also apparently doing business as Hosting-network Gmbh and www.ecommerce.com) on Tuesday, to see if the company had reactivated the site or if its operators had switched to another service provider.

An employee who answered the telephone said that her company was indeed hosting the site. Then apparently thinking I was the Al Firdaws site owner, she launched into a profuse apology for the site being taken down, as there had not been, she said, any violation of the company's terms of service.

I then reiterated to this individual that I was an investigative writer, not the Al Firdaws site owner, and that the site contained a significant threat against world leaders. Asked who made the decision to reactivate the site, the IX employee said it was a member of the company's management. I asked to speak to a manager. The individual took my telephone number and name, and said I would get a call back.

Informed that I would be reporting the situation to the FBI, the IX employee said that the FBI could communicate with the company by the U.S. Postal Service if they wanted the site taken down.

I also told the IX employee that I would make public my conversation with her. Hearing this, she said I could not do that as to do so would be violating her constitutional rights.

Hmmm.

An Arab guy in Europe, mysteriously reopens for business after presiding over the equivalent of Fannie Mae in the webhosting business, providing safe haven for radical Islamic web sites, and mysteriously plagued by hackers who appear to have root access to customer accounts and inject malicious code producing phishing sites on a massive scale, enabling persons unknown to steal millions from unsuspecting bank customers and send the money....where exactly?

Does this sound like a scheme by possible Islamic radicals to raise cash for I dunno, rockets? Anthrax research?

Sounds like someone at the FBI should be interested in looking into this.

You may have noticed that the rogue's gallery on the masthead seems a little longer than it has been, and you'd be right about that.

I've invited Sarah from Sarah Et Cetera to contribute her views here as she sees fit, and you should see something from her in the next day or two.

Like every other author here except myself, she linked here, I went there and then liked what I read. I'll let her do her own introductions, but her choice of topics and style of writing will add "complexity" to the anatreptic stew.

I had to go over to Sarah's blog to see a comment to the effect that some of the posts weren't "signed". I am the missing author, and apparently I had neglected to populate a field. Its taken care of.

I am contemplating an extended absence, perhaps even a permanent one from these pages.

I have been blogging since 2004, and in the beginning it was a thrilling exercise in the sense that I was learning to do a new kind of writing and enjoying a remarkable camaraderie that characterized the army of Davids we were back then. You could write, and if it was good, you'd get linked and people would read it. My pleasure in that process reveals a lot about my motivations--I find writing the best way to organize my own thoughts and I have enough of an ego that I appreciate it when people find the expression of those thoughts compelling, or at least entertaining. I saw myself quoted in the mainstream press, on cable news shows and occasionally as a prominent cold front in a blogstorm. It was fun.

Things have changed rather drastically in the past few years, and I've come to believe the blogosphere is pretty much a dead letter--at least the blogosphere that I used to know. It all came to a moment of perfect clarity yesterday as I read an Examiner.com post extolling a dozen of the "best" conservative blogs. They were in fact the blogs that the author knew about, but hardly the best. I clicked on a link to one he mentioned that I hadn't been to in a while and saw single line references to news stories. I was not impressed.

The political blogosphere has become a careerist venture for the ambitious where marketing and schmooze can do way more for you than a genuinely original insight. The reality that there is no money in it doesn't seem to dissuade the hopeful--a confirmation of the economics of crack cocaine--dealers live with their mommies and make less money that if they worked at McDonalds.

You could post the equivalent of Hamlet and it would languish unread in this environment. Of course, I've never posted Hamlet, so maybe I'm wrong about that.

Ultimately, I just find it depressing that no one ever changes their minds about anything unless you traumatize them. The blogosphere, talk radio, the entire mediasphere is really just a an exercise in apologetics--people want to hear affirmations of their beliefs, and successful media types prosper by affirming them. Pointless unless you get paid.

I hesitate to make my departure definitive, but I am going to post "part-time" for the foreseeable future. If that works, then fine, but if the traffic drops to zero then I'll know to shut the doors.

To my loyal readers--your attention has been the most excellent compliment I've ever received.

Be well.

If you hadn't already noticed, I'm blogging again on a regular basis. The vacation has been good from any number of perspectives.

Why now? I guess I just found my mojo again.

No, I'm not announcing my retirement...again.

I've had some kind words written to me, expressing appreciation for the things I write. I wanted to reply and say how pleased I am to be of service. I could probably count the number of readers who know me personally and well on the fingers of one hand, but one of the values I live by is service to others. I find meaning in my life through the things I can do for others, particular those things I seem to have talent for.

While I was on hiatus, I still had occasion to speak to some people about politics rather spontaneously. Rather than get angry, they thanked me for my insights and almost invariably told me that I 'should write a blog'.

The irony was not lost on me.

The time away did give me a new perspective and I will be implementing some changes on the site in the next few months (as time permits...).

I've always been impressed with the dynamism of American communities, particularly in comparison with other countries I've lived in. There is a sense of empowerment here that is unique and vital. Well, the past year has seen that dynamism in action, and it is awe-inspiring.

Since I sold the UNCoRRELATED domain, anatreptic.com has been rebuilding, and now seems as good a time as any to reconstitute it as an on-line community rather than strictly a blog. I've been writing the code from the ground up for a few weeks now, and should have a beta site up and running in a few more weeks. I won't say much more than that at the moment, because some elements of the site will be new, nontraditional and hopefully very cool.

Final thing: I hope you all enjoy Dave and Mark as much as I do. Every post by either of them is like Christmas morning for me. It is the value of their insights as much as anything that made me realize that the site needs to stop leaving so much human capital on the table. I'm sure plenty of you have really valuable things to say and experiences to share and I want to provide a place for you to express it and have others hear it.

Once again, thanks again for the kind remarks and truly astonishing loyalty.