When I'm not busy writing platforms in which to predict news headlines I'm also writing a blogging platform in classic ASP.  Since the operation of an umbrella of sites and blogs like the Headline Prophet are handy to me, I like to run this engine as the blogging solution where I can as a way to sort of beta test it.  Hence, the new Headline Prophet Blog you are so in awe of this very second is now running on Battle Blog.

Battle Blog itself, let alone the Headline Prophet and this blog, is "under construction".  While running this unknown blog code helps me to test it, and while it gives me maxium control over presentation and functionality, it is nonetheless buggy.  Expect occasional breaks and in-eloquent behavior until I can address them.  It will all be worth it in the end!

The latest Facebook changes are now going through the process of “ritualistic rejection”.  Witness one example of countless as it appears in the New York Daily News today, "Facebook’s New Design Has Some Feeling Unfriendly".

Ritualistic rejection is that phenomena where after a major release or change to a popular website or application, a body of users organize to “reject” the change.

Statistically, of course, there is likely nothing unusual about bodies of a given user population rejecting changes.  At an individual level we all have our customizations in place and our preferred path in using applications.  When they are abruptly changed we tend to be very skeptical and even critical of anything that interferes with those established protocols.

What makes ritualistic rejection tangible is the combination of the predictable “balk” in combination with the mainstream news media’s eagerness to find and amplify it.

If, as a dedicated Headline Prophet, you had logged something similar to “Facebook Users Upset Over Facebook Profile Changes” before the changes were let loose today, you would have easily garnered points and mystified the public with your abilities.