You know how blogs have let any would-be writer spew their deep thoughts onto the Internet, regardless of taste or talent? Some call the medium a tool for the democratization of ideas. We call it the worst thing to happen to our leisure time.

So we're troubled by a new platform for would-be publishing mavens that takes the whole "barrier to entry" thing — which has kept the financially, and talent, deficient off the cultural radar for so long — and throws it out the Microsoft Windows.

It's called MagCloud, and it's a glossy DIY service that lets anyone (yes, even bottom feeders like bloggers) turn their ramblings into a full-fledged magazine, with point-and-click ease. All you have to do is compile your wannabe magazine title into a PDF, click upload, and MagCloud takes care of the rest: printing, binding, mailing, and subscription management.

Industry types will call this technology "print on demand," and, well, it's nothing new. Some have been printing books this way for years, and even Amazon.com has jumped on board with BookSurge, which lets publishers spit out new copies whenever a customer asks. And while book catalogs have been overwhelmed by crap for decades, MagCloud is bringing the same plague on the magazine industry.

But before you go complaining about how we're cramping somebody's style, because anybody who wants to publish a magazine should get to, consider these MagCloud magazines, and then tell us whether or not you think publishing should be a democracy:

Daguerreotypes from the Library of Congress, $16; Pumpkins, $16; Venice Florida in June, $6.60