It was a good decade (UPDATE)

By Razib Khan | April 1, 2012 12:48 am

Update: Actually, I was going to put up a post “10 years in blogging.” But right now I don’t have the time, seriously. 10 years is a LONG time though, so I now feel more comfortable talking about events “offline” which date to over half a decade in the past. One thing to note is that my current style of comment moderation crystallized in the mid-2000s because of various time constraints. The fact that I was going to school full time, or had a 65 hour a week job as my firm was coming up to a software release date, and, was in a long distance relationship, was not anyone’s business (did I mention I had freelance web development projects on the side, and was developing a content management system for a client as well?). But it certainly inculcated in me a lack of patience for bullshit. I was cranking out blog posts on Sundays, and in the hour I had after dinner & and my freelance project and before sleep. I recall in the fall of 2006 amusingly some moron left a comment about how I must have a lot of time, since I was posting on Friday evening. Apparently cron jobs and scheduled posts were strange and exotic concepts to the idiot. If there’s anything that’s become a motto for this weblog that emerged during that period f my life, it’s this: don’t be stupid or lazy. I try not to be stupid, and if I could manage to blog with all the various things that have gone on my life in the past, you can manage to not insult me with idiotic commentary born of lack in forethought or consideration.

In any case, I plan on blogging away. I do have lots of offline responsibilities, with my daughter foremost. But I started talking about “retiring” from blogging in 2004 to my co-bloggers at GNXP classic. It hasn’t happened yet. I have a big mouth. Though expect variance in posting frequency to continue.

Go back to original post:

You may have noticed that I put up a great many posts up over the last 24 hours. There’s a reason for that. In April of 2002 I began a blog. That was a long time ago. I’ve met post-docs at conferences who read me in high school! My blogging ‘career’ started on a lark. I was playing around with designing a content management system to learn Java Servlets. I sent my website link to a few friends to test it for bugs, and Steve Sailer linked to me, which resulted in new traffic. In May of 2002 somehow I got on Glenn Reynolds‘ blogroll. This was back when blogrolls meant something! In June of 2002 I joined the new ‘Gene Expression’ group weblog, though I stipulated that I was not going to be the ‘front person.’ Let’s just say that it didn’t quite work out that way….

And so began my parallel life on the internet. I’ve been at it for 10 years, and lots of things have changed in my ‘real life,’ personally and professionally. I have obligations which I’ve admitted in public (my daughter), because at one point I thought I would blog her personal genomic results. I also made explicit the fact that I’ve been in a serious long term relationship over almost the whole of my time blogging, but I generally did not mention it because I figured it would be best if the weirdo creep virgins who left comments explaining how I could best pick up women did not know that their advice was not needed (interestingly, their null hypothesis always was that everyone else was a weirdo creep virgin, unless otherwise stated). Professionally I worked as a web developer at a firm where we were on a tight deadline for software releases in the mid-2000s, and I also got a second bachelor’s degree, without those aspects of my life ever bleeding into my blogging, or vice versa. But sometimes it was a juggling act. For example, at a presentation at work one of my bosses was playing around with Google, and mistakenly typed my name while talking to me. Blasted onto the conference room screen were results related to my blogging. Awkward! Though we had a major bug to fix, so there was no comment.

But at this point I don’t think I can juggle everything. My obligations outside of blogging are getting bigger and bigger. Sleep was already scarce before my daughter arrived on the scene, and now it’s a memory. The back and forth on this weblog is invigorating. Mentally I’ve gotten sharper due to great readers. And I’ve stumbled upon some great research. But at this point I don’t have the marginal time. And over the last few weeks I thought: wouldn’t it be fitting if I ended blogging on the 10 year anniversary of my blogging career? I always said that I’d turn GNXP into an archive, and retire from this aspect of my life. Why not now? I have a little 13 pound person who is making this really the only option.

So with that, I’m signing off. I will keep following comments for a bit. Perhaps show up on other blogs to offer my quasi-wisdom, and threaten to ban people just for kicks. But as they say, it is done.

CATEGORIZED UNDER: Blog

MORE ABOUT: The End

Antonio Pedro

I am really sorry to hear that. I learned a lot here. Really. I hope you will be back soon. Thank you.
http://emilkirkegaard.com Emil

This makes me very, very sad! This is my favorite blog.
RafeK

Really sad to hear your signing off. GNXP has been a major influence in my intellectual pursuits. Congrats though on ten years of very good content, and on the new baby. Hope your comments won’t be to scarce on the web, the science blogs world will be a bit dimmer without your presence.
Ezequiel

Hey, it has been a fine ride! You will be missed. Good luck in the real world. Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!
SVK

Thank you for your stimulating posts over the years …great work!
All the best from down under.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal Jason G. Goldman

Wow wow. I haven’t quite been reading for a decade, but certainly more than half a decade! I hope we’ll at least be seeing you around the twitters and whatnot.
http://churlsgonewild.wordpress.com Nick

Thanks and congratulations for maintaining a great blog for a very long time, Razib. Sorry to hear you’re going but all the best in your offline life.
Dylan

April 1st is not a good day to be posting this.
http://www.parhasard.net/ Aidan Kehoe

Thank you for ten years of great content! Best of luck with your personal and professional lives beyond this .
Alex

Razib you’ve done some great things with GNXP. At one point GNXP was the go to blog for anyone who wanted to quickly and easily insightful, controversial and very informative opinions on evolution genetics. Although I never earned a degree in biology I’ve always been stunned by the quality of the debate in the GNXP community, it was an incredible place to hang out and welcome relief from the boredom and tedium of Madonna, Britney and all the other insiginifcant pop figures out there. As I said on Facebook being able to chat with you was cool, if not cooler than chatting with Lady Gaga, Bono or any other well known media creation.

I think you’re doing the right things. I loved reading your articles but what really made GNXP was the crazy and brilliant community of contributors who came developed a symbiotic relationship with your website.

Your interviews were absolutely brilliant and it’s a shame that you were discouraged by the “Tyranny of the Masses”. Personally I would probably start watching television again if people like were on it more often. Can you imagine that instead of Glenn Beck TV, Razib Khan TV I would definitely pay $12 dollars a month to see that! However that’s not the world we live in and the biologists,physicists and geneticts are not the superstars that everyone looks up to. Oh well I guess we have to make do with the world we have. Anyway it’s been a great run and I hope your next projects is even more successful than GNXP. You’ve done a great job and should very proud of all the interest you’ve helped generated in evolution and genetics.

Best Wishes,

Alex
Justin Giancola

Holly cow man!! when I joked about his in an email I didn’t think it would be so soon or permanent. This was a daily part of my life and had become a prime resource of my education.

If comment 7 doesn’t hold water can I have a mentoring summer camp??
JL

Heh. I’m not buying this, not today.
stillwaggon

I’m sorry that I won’t have your blogs to look forward to, but I wish you and yours a fabulous life.
Marcus

“Why not now?” Because it’s April 1st damnit! Unfortunately this doesn’t read as an april fools, so I’m sorry that you’re quiting, really enjoyed your blog. Best wishes to you.
Åse

Oh, noes. Well – you know – it does get easier (sez the mom of three with a halting science career). It’s been fun and interesting, though. Good luck with everything. And, here’s hoping for a future relapse….
D

*sigh* Like they say, all good things must come to an end. All the best.
Jacob

I haven’t ever commented on your blog, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed following you for years now.

I wish you the best. Thank you for hours of thought provoking entertainment.

But I just read Marcus’ post about it being April 1st…. hmmm… Wir werden sehen, ne?
Chris

This is an April Fools Joke, isn’t it. You are just toying with our hearts.
Amit

Sepia and now you? I really enjoyed your blog, Razib. Good luck with everything, maybe I’ll see you at a conference in the future.
MDB

I enjoyed your work, thank you
dave chamberlin

No, I’m sorry, but you are an internet addict, you couldn’t quit if you tried. Dr April Sloof is an expert in this area and the only way we are going to get you away from that computer screen is to throw you into her recovery center. There over a long and painfull process you will be reintroduced to the real world. Remember, you will never be cured, sit back down in front of a computer screen again and we will have to start all over again.
Åse

Yer not april foolin us, are you?
LongMa

So long Razib, been interesting, I’ve been following you for about 6 years, when I was in grad school in Texas and married. Now I am expecting a child, live in Singapore, and probably getting remarried. Life has a way of being unpredictable. and although we have not always agreed on various issues (specifically IQ) I have always respected you, mainly because you have been far more about “the science” than many of your colleagues. You have also taken your share of abuse from left and right.

Looking back, I loved your posts on population genetics as it relates to migration of ancient populations. You really did open my mind to a new world. Good luck with your little one.
http://www.jamesgraham.bz James Graham

Many thanks for what you’ve accomplished and best wishes to you and to your family.
Naughtius Maximus

What Ase @ 20 said!
John Roth

I’m really sorry to see you go; your blog was one of the first I found with reliable information. Besides the population genetics, it was the blog that gave me a rough sketch of the religious and political landscape in Islam. Like a lot of Americans, I really had no clue how it was organized, and it was refreshing to see something that didn’t have either a religious or political ax to grind. I’ve missed those posts the last few years.
miko

Razib,

I hope this is April Fool’s. If not, I’m greatly saddened! An awesome blog with an unheard of level of good discussion on a broad spectrum of topics… the only one I know of that avoids being an echo-chamber of one kind of righteous nonsense or another.
Lank

Not cool!
marcel

if not an April Fool, I will miss you. I’ve learned a lot in the couple of years since I found this blog — not as much as I’d have liked, as I could have if I’d had the time to master the necessary statistical techniques to make sense of your graphs and charts (like you, I have a day job, which requires use of a completely different set of techniques – someday perhaps I’ll have the time).

Makes a lot of sense that you do this. As someone who’s raised 2 kids (I think my older one is just a few years younger than you), I couldn’t see how you could continue this and a job (I don’t imagine that Discover pays adequately to forgo that, unless your partner is covering that for you) and be serious about raising your daughter. Even with FT daycare.

Good luck.
pconroy

Razib,

This is indeed a sad day, I know you’ve struggled over the years with IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder), but I’m sad to hear that you have had to take the ultimate step and go cold turkey. My best to you and your family, and I hope for a speedy recovery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_addiction_disorder
http://www.brownpundits.com nandalal_rasiah

and let this be a lesson to all of you commenters–get a goddamn life! I know I’m inspired.
Clark

Kids do that Razib. Happened to my own blogging. Good luck. And of course kids are worth it.
Sha (@_sh4)

Retiring!? Say it isn’t so!

I hope the next post will be about how this one was an April 1 prank.

But why April 1, I wonder? Is it some sort of an anti-joke to announce retirement on April 1?

Anyway, if it is true, thanks a lot for all the awesome posts!

As an electrical engineer, much of my genetics education happened right here on this blog, which I’ve been following (+reading archives) for the last two years or so.
http://3lbmonkeybrain.blogspot.com/ Mike Keesey

Most introspective April Fool’s joke ever.
Charles Nydorf

Razib
Your presence on the blogosphere will be missed. No one else is following the human population genetics/ archeology beat in quite the same way. Maybe one day you’ll have time to come back.
chris w

i don’t buy it.
http://www.lonestaronalark.com/ looloolooweez

This is totally an April Fool’s joke right? … Right?!
Sandgroper

Sincerely, Razib, thank you and best wishes.
Darkseid

Wow, I am stunned. I thought you’d be in it ’til the end. Thanks for all the great free info over the years. GNXP will have a very long life living in the archives of the web.
Antonio Pedro

Razib, can you really stop blogging?
Keith Grimaldi

Joker!
Greg laden

Hahahaa. See you on the second!
silylene

Hopefully, this is an April Fool’s joke.

This is one of my favorite blogs, I check it nearly every day.
AndrewV

I suspect that this is the right decision.

I went for twenty years on three hours sleep each night and I really do not recommend it.

Captain Oblivious says, do as I say and not what I did. When the baby goes down to sleep so should you.
Darkseid

ok, i’ll admit you got me pretty good. but let’s PLEASE NOT DO THAT TO ME AGAIN…AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! i had already frickin’ gone into frickin’ panic mode, Razib. man…..i even replaced your bookmark with Steve’s and everything. gullible….
Eze

Hopefully you will be back soon.
Grant David Meadors

(If this isn’t an April’s Fool’s joke): Thank you for blogging, Razib. You’ve written lucidly on intricate issues of history and culture interwoven by genes, and you’ve stimulated me to read on phylogeny and statistics and thus make a whole new group of friends. Best to you in all your endeavors (and may they include your resumed blogging tomorrow).
Paul Givargidze

My Daily Routine:

1. Wake
2. Check Razib’s blog
3. Check Dienekes’ blog
4. Shower, brush teeth, etc.

Sad day. But, the best to you and your family. And, if this is indeed your swan song, many thanks for everything.
Brett

I’ll wait and see until after April Fools Day.:D

Seriously, though, it’d be better to just post less frequently if you’ve got a lot going on in your life. That’s the genius of RSS feeds – I can just pick up on your posts as they appear, even if you’re only turning out a new post every month or two months.
Robert

I don’t think I have ever actually commented on your blog, but I’ve been a regular reader for the past few months. I’ll miss reading this blog, but I wish you all the best in the future.
TonyGrimes

You look like Peter Sellers. He was fond of practical jokes.
Matt

Deep. Well planned, well played.

Still, if this had been true, I’d want to say your blog’s really changed by thinking about a lot of things, for a long time. And that I wouldn’t be able believe I wouldn’t be checking it every day (or every other day) like I have been for the past 5 (or more!) years.

In terms of what you talk about, your knowledge of history, insight into future trends, synthesised with population genetics is something very few people do, not really any I can think of to your level of sophistication and nuance. Glad you’re still not ready to shut up.
odin

I don’t know you personally, so I have no idea where the joke is. Damn.
Kiwiguy

***And over the last few weeks I thought: wouldn’t it be fitting if I ended blogging on the 10 year anniversary of my blogging career?***

Razib,

I hope that, time permitting, you return again in the future. This is a fantastic blog. You provide rich and thought provoking material over a range of topics and you will be badly missed.

I have an 8 month old daughter so appreciate the energy and time commitment involved. All the best.

Kiwiguy

p.s. I’ll also miss Friday fluff – hope the cats are adapting to having a new addition to the family.
Prasad Rao

All the best in your personal life, Razib ! I know I shall be missing your posts in my personal life
Sandgroper

She’s cute.
Åse

Phew.

And, Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

(OK, I’m a sucker for babies)

(And, that means I have to move you back to your original place in my RSS feed page…. Man, I’m gullible! Now, what else did I fall for yesterday)
Justin Giancola

Pfff, how much you wanna bet long distance relationship is code for Finland!
rimon

adorable baby.

april fool’s?
David R Bachinsky

I really learned a lot from your blog-take time off but do not stop-great resource of information. Wish you and lovely daughter/wife all the best
dave chamberlin

kids, wouldn’t take a million for the ones I got, wouldn’t give a dime for another
Mary

Oh, I’m glad I missed this on April 1. You are so mean! What’s wrong with ‘Your shoe’s untied’? So glad you’re not leaving. Since you posted a pic of your little sweetie, let me boast that my almost 2 year old twin grands have learned to say “Eeeeeewwwwwww” at all the right times for a good laugh.
April Brown

I’m glad that you’re going to continue to blog (I keep reading this blog assuming that at some point, I will have been exposed to the concepts and terminology enough so everything will click), but I don’t know how you do it with a baby in your life. My son’s arrival permanently broke my brain. I remember having thoughts – I miss them.
dave chamberlin

censoring baby nipples is a nice touch. U B absurd

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