Roman von Contzen - Likes

ready....go :) - Kenny

Monster program today. Arrington, Doc Searls, and a cast of others will be on. It'll take a few minutes to set up the call, see you in a few minutes. I'm in Gillmor's kitchen. - Robert Scoble

Make me a sandwich while you're in there. :D - Outsanity

say hi to tina for me. hope you didn't give Calacanis the number...or else it'll be worse than a monster. - Karoli

could you guys provide an audio feed? something like an internet radio? - testbeta

Testbeta - the audio only version is available in the archives at http://www.building43.com/categor... - but not in real time. Sorry. - Rob La Gesse

i meant live - testbeta

The show should start shortly. Gillmor is hooking everyone up. - Robert Scoble

So Google does Ustream's ad inventory? Interesting - Stephen Pickering

video might not be able to stream in sync i am facing low speeds a live audio feed would be great+ friendfeed's commenting section for live question asking session - testbeta

Still working on hooking everyone up. Sorry for the delay. - Robert Scoble

Translation: no one can find Arrington. ;-) - Robert Scoble

looking forward to it ;-) - Xenophrenia

No problem Robert, expecting a great conversation w/ Arrington. - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

okay so it seems i would have to listen to the archives ustream isn't streaming well low speed connection on my part thanks - testbeta

Arrington can be summoned using AOL keywords - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Arrington's out shopping for private jets - Stephen Pickering

lol noise - Alex

I think he's stuck in a meeting. We'll have a good show anyway. Doc Searls, Danny Sullivan, John Tauschek, and others are on. - Robert Scoble

signs of life - Xenophrenia

Alex: you must be talking with someone I blocked. ;-) - Robert Scoble

Anyone know how you find the show in the iPhone upstream app? - Amyloo

lol, steve....so many jokes, so little time. - Karoli

No, Amyloo, last I checked Ustream app was horrible at finding shows, sorry - Stephen Pickering

amyloo, i've never been able to find it. - Karoli

Oh well. Thx - Amyloo

this is what i love long sincere discussion here - testbeta

Heheh. Technical difficulties getting everything to work... - Robert Scoble

Ustream should just withdrawal that app - it's that bad. - Rob La Gesse

Scoble - we can hear you :) - Rob La Gesse

Oh, Arrington is on! - Robert Scoble

Cool. - Robert Scoble

Hey Robert, No one is delivering on your curation tools. What up with that? - JDD Software

We can hear everyone :) - Rob La Gesse

We're on! - Robert Scoble

lolrobert - Xenophrenia

Why does everyone's stream look like the 80's.. except Robert S. Steve? - JDD Software

Scoble is on Rackspace :) Hee - Rob La Gesse

guys do think about having a live audio feed too i would really appreciate that - testbeta

It's poison - JDD Software

welcome to corporate media, Mike. - Karoli

I may have been kicked off the show, but I'm lurking.... - John Taschek

Does Mike have to fill out vacation request forms? - John Taschek

aww - Xenophrenia

Welcome to my life of Corporate Structure....LOL - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

Arrington is more of an idealist than I am. LOL...good luck, Mike. - Karoli

Administrative happiness - I like that one - Xenophrenia

Hi all - Nick Halstead from iPhone

carol barz - empiricator

lame humor - OVER and OVER ... get a new schtick - Rocky Barbanica

i really wish it would actually start disrupting. just sayinn' - Karoli

@Karoli - something needs to start disrupting - things are getting stagnant. - Rob La Gesse

it is disrupting - only it's like water getting into the cracks - it's invisible until the structure is weakened to the point of the disruption ... it's starting to be felt though you see it in the reactions to internet media at the moment - Xenophrenia

In a way, it's some kind of a coda. TechCrunch covered the Web 2.0 era almost from the beginning, and got acquired at the end of that era. - LocoAds

Rob, I agree. but it doesn't right now. ppl b-cast this way, but it doesn't really get the traction that say, Rick Sanchez melting down on live TV does. - Karoli

there are still people who connect to the internet through AOL though aren't there? - Xenophrenia

I think AOL has about 5 million subscribers - not a small number but not what it once was - Kenny

I agree, I don't think Mike should have sold. Things are just starting to take off in this space especially with the launch of live video - Stephen Pickering

It's about timing, you don't know the future. Look at Digg. - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

40% of AOLs revenue is dial-up internet http://www.geekosystem.com/aol-dia... - empiricator

@empiricator - that was I was mentally referencing just didn't remember where I had seen it .. ;-) - Xenophrenia

Someone offered good money, Mike sold. I don't think it's a bad decision. - LocoAds

Steve is right on - the site is meaningless. It's the relationships with the VCs and tech companies. - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Loco: exactly. - Robert Scoble

Ankush: I disagree. Distribution is a huge deal. - Robert Scoble

Yeah, but AOL paid 5min video or something I've never heard of 65 million, so why did TC go for less? - Stephen Pickering

Ankush: Techcrunch happened when there was HUGE disruption in publishing industry. Right now there's not so much disruption. - Robert Scoble

Robert the huge disruption in live video is right now - Stephen Pickering

Stephen: good question! Siri went for $220 million and no one even used that yet. - Robert Scoble

Stephen: yes. - Robert Scoble

Robert: exactly. TC started around the time Jason sold Weblogs, Inc. - LocoAds

AOL is not diluting pageviews by adding TechCrunch - this is an additive affect. Engadget + TechCrunch = more than Engadget. - Rob La Gesse

Stephen, actually aol bought 5min in right time - Alex

ask mike what did he think when he wrote http://www.inc.com/magazin... AOL doesn't put holds to what was his free independant media - testbeta

Robert: point taken - my point is that without Mike, Eric, Jason, MG, etc. there's less access to sources. - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Robert L is right. Engadget + TechCrunch is more than the sum of its parts. I assume AOL will go and acquire more disruptive sites (if there are any). It's the new mission. - John Taschek

I would invest in companies that can actually, with a high degree of correlation, find online live video similar to the content I am currently interested in. - Rob La Gesse

another area that is going to be disrupted and few seem to focus on is money, what it means, how its used, it's place in our interaction with it and the people around us and the whole culture of everything having a price ... the internet is disrupting ... period ... ;-). - Xenophrenia

hyperlocal+vertical - empiricator

Xenophrenia: it's a very interesting area. what is money as we move away from cash? - LocoAds

techcrunch=fundamentally a hyperlocal (Sillicon Valley)+Vertical (startups) conversation - empiricator

Watch the pageviews for both Engadget and TechCrunch as they start cross-posting articles. - Rob La Gesse

empiricator: Techcrunch has employees all around the world. - Robert Scoble

what is value? is it money? is it content? what is content and how we determine it's value and it's distribution ... all aspects ... the whole way we view the world ... ;-) ... I just see changes - like when you get the people who believe knowledge should 'free' ... all of this stuff ... - Xenophrenia

the internet is changing how we view the world ... and I think a lot of the old media is seeing it's walls crumbling and they are desperately trying to create virtual walls ... just don't think it's possible to have 'real' walls in virtual space ... - Xenophrenia

Sorkin hates the internet and social media. This was his personal take on it - Stephen Pickering

I'll stop philosophizing now ;-) - Xenophrenia

Sorkin hates bloggers - Kenny

Lawrence Lessig seems to have the same take as Jeff Jarvis on the movie - Xenophrenia

Lessig's review is the best. - Robert Scoble

Do feel that it will cause a Facebook drop-off at all? - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

No way. - Robert Scoble

didn't Jarvis say the movie was an attack on geeks? - Kenny

If anything it'll increase its use. - Robert Scoble

agreeRobert - Tina Chase Gillmor

Kenny, yeah, - Stephen Pickering

Sorkin knows that more people can associate with the stud in the movie than with the geeky nerd. - LocoAds

David Kirkpatrick on the Social Network: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a... - John Taschek

@Kenny - yep - Xenophrenia

Lawrence Lessig is speaking at TEDx, San ANtonio this month - I've never seen him speak in person - really looking forward to that :) - Rob La Gesse

http://www.tnr.com/article... - Xenophrenia

John: Kirkpatrick knows Facebook better than anyone. - Robert Scoble

Winklevoss? - Stephen Pickering

Lessig rocks as a speaker. - Robert Scoble

Lessig's article is the link I posted - Xenophrenia

Robert, I just wanted to say thanks to you for all your videos,conversations and twitter-lists. They are pricelsess experience and sources for young people here in Europe.Thanks ;) - Alex

And as a human being. - Robert Scoble

Alex: thanks! I'll be in Europe a lot next five months. - Robert Scoble

Rob- Is it invite only? - Jim Posner

Jim - no, it is public, but I think the deadline to register may be over - but shoot me an email - I may have some Rackspace invites to share (we are sponsoring it) - Rob La Gesse

Robert - Lessig rocks period ;-) - Xenophrenia

Of course, lawyers are gods :) - LocoAds

gods of the underworld ;-) - Xenophrenia

Rob-Thanks..will do. - Jim Posner

We have Donald Pink and Lawrence Lessig both in San Antonio this month - and we are involved in both events - I'm pleased :) - Rob La Gesse

Robert: that's great to hear, I hope I will meet you sometime in future. ;) - Alex

Hollywood and the Media like to turn things that they don't understand into Spectors. - Stephen Pickering

Larry has cohones ;-) Zuck didn't know how to drink vodka until Kevin Rose showed him ;-) (At least that's what I've heard Kevin say on one of the podcasts) - LocoAds

it's an ascetic thing - that bit of the Zuck character rings truer - Kevin Marks

Watch Sorkin and Fincher on Charlie Rose the other night - they addressed many of these questions. - Ankush Narula from iPhone

So Cal vs No Cal! hehehehheheh - Stephen Pickering

A very good point by Steve. Mark built the site to address his handicap or need. - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

Here's Lessig's comments on how lawyers spoil tech http://www.tnr.com/article... - Kevin Marks

Don't we all like talking about compilers? - LocoAds

@Kevin - Thanks, I was just looking for the link - Kenny

I prefer talking about linkers ;-) - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Loco: I do! :-) - Robert Scoble

@Kevin tell me about it... met so many awful lawyers I almost lost faith in mankind ;-) - LocoAds

Which is why I can hang out with these guys. - Robert Scoble

Zuck gives 100 million to help educate our children - and he is what, 26? Sorry folks - it's hard to demonize a guy like that, no matter his other personal / social traits. Not like he is a pedophile or anything. Why hasn't that come up? - Rob La Gesse

I enjoy hearing technical folks/founders discussing things other than tech..music, culture, family - Jim Posner

Rob: good point. - Robert Scoble

Geeks and Musicians are similar, they're absorbed in their own world, so what? So were Shamans. The world needs them both. - Stephen Pickering

@Robert Which is why my wife thinks I need to spend more time with "real people" ;-) - LocoAds

Loco: real people suck. ;-) - Robert Scoble

what about Salesforce+Chatter - empiricator

you don't think the 100 million was a PR stunt? Just happens to do it right before the movie comes out? - Kenny

Human Highway - Arnie Klaus

The Social Network reminds me that @lessig said east coast money comes from old crimes; west coast money comes from providing new facilities - Kevin Marks

@Kenny even if it was, someone will get to benefit from that rainfall - LocoAds

People are generally afraid of change - particularly technology driven change. So guys like Sorkin give them a voice. - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Kenny - no - those talks started WELL before the movie was being hyped. Besides, you can elect to look for the good in people, or assume the bad. I look for the good. - Rob La Gesse

Kenny: if it were a PR stunt, who cares? You think that Bill Gates isn't doing it a little bit for PR too? - Robert Scoble

I dont care if it was PR, if he gave 100M to education - Alex

Kevin Marks Exactly! West Coast is about "entreprenuerial" while East Coast has a "how can we get the money" first feel, over innovation - Stephen Pickering

Kenny: also, Oprah says he wanted to remain anonymous. - Robert Scoble

Not saying it's not going to help lots of people but timing just seemed interesting - Kenny

and the immediate 'billion dollar industry' reference - the whole monetary aspect of this has to change if it's going to be people that matter in this - Xenophrenia

why NJ? - Karoli

@Robert, well, yes, it's just as hard for me to follow their conversations as it is for them follow mine - LocoAds

I wonder if Arrington will become a AOL exec. - Jim Posner

Karoli: he met the Mayor and became enamoured of him and what he was trying to do. - Robert Scoble

Jim - he already is an AOL exec - titles aren't as important as influence. - Rob La Gesse

Rob: exactly. - Robert Scoble

Rob-Seems he is in the publishing space..wonder if he will drive a larger strategy play. - Jim Posner

East Coast has the feel of inheritence and heirarchy in establishment, while West Coast has the feel of upstarts disrupting their world - Stephen Pickering

I doubt Mike would have it any other way - and I think AOL bought Mike as much as they bought TechCrunch (or they are more stupid than even I think they are) - Rob La Gesse

and both coasts are obsessed with money ... ;-) - Xenophrenia

Mike owns 70% of Techcrunch so that's true. - Robert Scoble

Only 37% of posts on twitter come from twitter.com: http://twittersource.info/lastwee... - Kevin Marks

So, someone will buy Mashable next I guess - Stephen Pickering

Stephen: well, Arrington hates Mashable so I doubt it'll go to AOL. ;-) - Robert Scoble

Conde? - Ankush Narula from iPhone

Mashable goes to Yahoo? - Rob La Gesse

Ha! - Stephen Pickering

Rob: hahahah. Yeah, after Carol Bartz figures out what Yahoo is. - Robert Scoble

@Kevin, but there is no larger single source of tweets, is there? - LocoAds

is that what this means? Other tech media properties will be snapped upnow? - Tina Chase Gillmor

Ankush: Conde doesn't even like Reddit, so that would be death for Mashable. - Robert Scoble

What's weird is, Yahoo still has 2nd most page views in the world, why can't they do something with that? - Stephen Pickering

Tina - historically, yes - a feading frenzy starts. - Rob La Gesse

Tina: investors and MA happens in packs. - Robert Scoble

Wired and Ars seem to be doing well under Conde. *shrug* - Ankush Narula from iPhone

no Loco, that's the point - they have a huge long tail of clients - Kevin Marks

bets on the next to pop? - Tina Chase Gillmor

I wonder why old media companies like WP and NYT are not buying any new media properties. - Jim Posner

@Rober, maybe Naspers will buy Mashable? - LocoAds

Jim: those properties still are managed by people who are struggling to like new media. - Robert Scoble

Jim: NYT is not a fane of new media - Kenny

Maybe IAC? - Stephen Pickering

@Jim Posner - good point. The old media companies do have large cash positions. I think they lack the vision to figure out what do with the cash - consolidate the media or go disruptive. - John Taschek

@kevin I see, understood :) - LocoAds

Seems NYT has some smart people on the tech side that are working for them..must not have much business influence. - Jim Posner

Jim - I don;t think the NYT is nimble enough to do much of anything. - Rob La Gesse

@Robert - they are aren't so much struggling to like new media but desperately hoping the money will flow there since everything else is but they are entering a culture that is alien to them - Xenophrenia

Social still hasn't figured out its Magic Bullet for revenue, but Scoble figured it out years ago: SEARCH! - Stephen Pickering

Here's a link to the Borthwick news.net info: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010... - John Taschek

Steve, Twitter has been in position to kill themselves since the beginning ;-) I have faith in those guys. - LocoAds

Scoble speaks truth. Search and curation - Karoli

NYT acquired 538..that was a smart move. - Jim Posner

Sorry - News.Me (auto correct "fixed it") - John Taschek

Some days its really hard to take Twitter seriously - particularly when the fail whale rears its head. - Ankush Narula from iPhone

538 has deteriorated since being acquired - Karoli

Has, will Foursquare reach escape velocity? - Stephen Pickering

I'm curious how these *expected* acquisitions will affect the syndication deals some of these independents have already put into place. - Rob La Gesse

Stephen: unknown. - Robert Scoble

@Stephen the question is what will happen to 4sq when people get bored with badges and checkins? - LocoAds

@Rob - I think that's the real question. Distribution and syndication issues can kill any acquisition strategy. Just think about how columnists are syndicated -- or even comic strips. - John Taschek

LocoAds Good point - Stephen Pickering

Amazon want to boss developers like they did with publishers... not gonna happen - LocoAds

What do people think about Microsoft suing Moto over Android? - John Taschek

I actually work in the acquisition space..technical integration..and it is a very interesting space and experience for the acquired companies..especially on the culture side. - Jim Posner

unless Amazon comes up with their own Android tablet/ebook reader - LocoAds

My battery is dying. - Robert Scoble

:-) - Robert Scoble

@Jim - I'd love to talk to you at some point. jtaschek@salesforce.com - John Taschek

@Robert -- did you time it to end with the show??? - John Taschek

John - yes - these things are going to be VERY complex. Will keep Lawyers engaged and employed for a long time - but certainly these independents will face some challenges maneuvering this space. - Rob La Gesse

John-will do - Jim Posner

@Jim - doesn't it often kill the acquired companies culture to some extent? - Xenophrenia

Xeno - depends on how it is done - AMazon bought Zappos - that culture is probably stronger than ever. - Rob La Gesse

Phil Wainewright talked about acquisitions, media, etc. in an interview I had with him a couple of weeks back: http://cloudblog.salesforce.com/2010... - John Taschek

@Xenophrenia you have a point. TC understood the problems that the startups they were covering have, because they were a startup themselves - LocoAds

@Rob - I think Zappos put their foot down before the deal was done didn't they? - Xenophrenia

Battelle's piece on why Google won't/can't buy Twitter is good - Stephen Pickering

well depends on whether they will operate as a whole owned subsidiary or fully integrated..sometimes you are more interested in acquiring a product/code than the culture..smart folk thrive in most cultures. - Jim Posner

Leave the desktop - discover the enriched real world. - Arnie Klaus

I think Amazon's culture has improved since they bought Zappos - so a great acquisition. - John Taschek

Xeno - of course they did - they had a CEO, and a culture that meant more to them than money - and still does. - Rob La Gesse

@John MSFT is suing people using Linux left and right. They sued Amazon for royalties on some Linux code, maybe that's what they want from MOTO? - LocoAds

I need twitter for earthquakes and wild fires - Arnie Klaus

@Arnie you're my man, man :) - LocoAds

@LocoAds - so many lawsuits in the mobile space. Paul Allen is suing everyone but Microsoft in the meantime. It's a good time for lawyers! - John Taschek

Hipmunk! - Stephen Pickering

@John is there ever a bad time for lawyers? ;-) MSFT has some patents on Linux code and they are suing everone who makes money with Linux. - LocoAds

Seriously, Doc speaks truth. Travel scheduling is amazingly screwed up. - Karoli

MG is reporting that massive re-org at the top of Yahoo will happen on Tuesday - Yahoo is fun to watch ;) - Kenny

Kayak and Hipmunk are both great tools for this. Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia very web 1.0 - Kevin Marks

That's what Mike's working on, I assume? - Stephen Pickering

It was brilliant that early on Microsoft early on actually sold and owned a Unix variant...Zenix I think. - John Taschek

It is unfortunate that airlines are stuck in their 1990's mentality, and not in their 1970's mentality - which actually had a fucking culture, and was customer focused. - Rob La Gesse

That's why I'm a Libertarian, because of what Doc just referred to - Stephen Pickering

TV could improve their numbers so much if they gave TV schedules in RSS form for free - LocoAds

I couldn't believe Barry Diller said he didn't think much of Twitter onstage - Stephen Pickering

The fact that you need to pay license fees/royalties for access to tv schedules is ludicrous - LocoAds

I like that idea Loco! - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

I guess that means Barry wants to buy Twitter! - John Taschek

He told Arrington he wouldn't have it! - Stephen Pickering

@John it was Xenix. - LocoAds

any industry that is built on control is going to resist a disrupting force - as the internet gains the ability to control is compromised - Xenophrenia

When I type in Finance in Google it takes me to the Yahoo Finance on top - Stephen Pickering

Wikipedia is a search calibrator. - Arnie Klaus

haha - - Kenny

Hello, Robert! - LocoAds

This episode had a lot more viewers then I've seen in recent weeks - Kenny

peek-a-boo - Xenophrenia

Kenny, your right - Stephen Pickering

Rackers! Why didn't Arrington just move the site to Cloud Servers? - Stephen Pickering

Stephen - no comment. - Rob La Gesse

:-) - Stephen Pickering

bye! :) - Karoli

ta-ta - Xenophrenia

bye! - LocoAds

Heck, Rob, Arrington could have just hired you to end his tech headaches! heheheheheheh - Stephen Pickering

Bye bye all - Stephen Pickering

Great show - thanks everyone. - Rob La Gesse

Have a good weekend - Kenny

One less reason to have a Mac. - Sue - Friendfeed is best

2 more comments

SuezanneC - What's one more reason to have a PC? - Joel

Using it for the last hour - really enjoy the ultrasmooth scrolling. www.flickriver.com scrolls like butter. BUT when trying to post this comment, it failed. Converted back to FF to post this. - Mark Interrante

Thanks for this Robert. Been waiting a while. Running it now. - MoTO Bott

Choose your theme at http://friendfeed.com/setting... - Bret Taylor from Bookmarklet

81 more comments

I'm a Blue Wave man myself. - Bret Taylor

Nice, but I think I like the Classic style the best. :) When can designers submit more themes, or users upload their own? - Pistos

That wouldn't have anything to do with Google Wave, now would it? - Daniel Sims

Who would believe that *I* would be using the "Flowers" theme? :) - Ana

Helvetica - Christopher Chung

Pistos: user submitted themes are coming soon. - Bret Taylor

Pistos: It's in the blog post. ;-) - Kevin Fox

I prefer to keep things Fresh - Dan Hsiao

oooooh boy!! - Micah

Nice! how much control over theming when user submitted comes out? Twitter-like? more? Sharable? - Justin Hart

Helvetica for now. - Jimminy, CoG of FF

Whoops, didn't even see that there's a blog post. Sorry. :) - Pistos

Justin: most of that (user submitted, shareable, etc) is coming, this is just a first step. - Bret Taylor

Awesome. - Justin Hart

thank you jesus - Sarah Perez

This is awesommeee!! - Burcu Dogan

Thanks :) - Tracy Benham

Nice - Kreg Steppe

*awesome* I <3 Helvetica! - Sparky, lurking

Helvetica for sure! - Burcu Dogan

This was all due to Kevin's (http://friendfeed.com/kfury) hard work in case it wasn't obvious. Great job, Kevin! - Bret Taylor

Looks like I signed on just in time today. - Yolanda

Thanks guys. Rockin Helvetica for now. Needs the FF logo though. - Andrew Smith

Helvetica for now. - Darryl

This post came when I was thinking how FF logo is a Twitter look-like. Dont change the Helvetica version! - Burcu Dogan

Thanks.. but I'm not a big "theme" guy... I'd rather see updates to the API... I guess I should be hammering Ben for that :) - Tim Hoeck

ohhhhh snap! - Nathan Chase

Niiiiceeeee. - Simon Wicks

I chose Fresh! - David Schmidt

It became clear as soon as the FriendFeed Themes room was taken over. - Andrew Trinh

Awesome! - Frankie Warren

thank you! - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

Helvetica! awesome. BTW, pause button is clipped by a couple of pixels on WebKit browsers. - Kelly Norton

+1 to Helvetica! - Joel Webber

Helvetica is loveable but I wish it was white, black and red instead of being just 1-bit. - Berk D. Demir

haha :) thanx for that. - Ahmet Alp Balkan

helvetica ;) - Faruk Kaymak

@Burak, yup, more beauty ♥ - Zulema ⋅ spicy cocoa tart

Yeah, great job bro. i like the Helvetica edition - Simto Alev

"Bamboo" suggests there's a picture, but all I see is brownish colours, at that don't match the friendfeed logo. - ˈpɛbə

I like "fresh" - ˈpɛbə

I like Blue Wave. Fresh should be the default theme and the Classic should be dumped. ;-) - Kol Tregaskes

MIcah says his scripts still work with the themes btw: http://ff.im/4DlX9 - Kol Tregaskes

OMG LOVE!!! - BEX

Perhaps post your favourite theme and whether you like or dislike the themes in the new *official* FF-Themes group here: http://ff.im/4DluG :-) - Kol Tregaskes

Peter, there should be an image inthe lower right corner. What browser/OS are you using? Thanks! - Kevin Fox

this is great! - Joe Pestro

Be Gone Grey! - Eric

Blue Wave for me :) - Great work FF! - Roy Herrod

You guys flippin ROCK - BEX

Why are they all so girly? - Gabe

@Kevin Fox: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6 - ˈpɛbə

I'm with Gabe: after considering BlueWave, I went with Helvetica, everything else is just girly. I might just stick with my 'stylish' hacks. - Joel Bennett

Yea, flowers and stuff are annoying. Helvetica version should be improved for better spacing. - Burcu Dogan

Thanks, Kol, that's what I was going to ask - if themes conflict with scripts. Sounds like it's cool - heading off to choose one now. I have one stylish userrstyle script and two greasemonkey scripts applied to friendfeed. We'll see if they can all play nice. - Laura Norvig

Laura, how'd it go? - Rochelle

works great - I'm trying helvetica now. It's super clean because I have avatars removed. Me likey. - Laura Norvig

cool... when is that nasty orange "ParisLemon" theme comin? :P - Susan Beebe

This'll make it prettier when I'm using Chrome anyway. :) I think I'll stick with the Stylish scripts and hacks on Firefox, though - I like the typography modifications they provide. When user-generated themes come in, will they be able to modify the typography/spacing, or just the background and colors? Thanks for the options, guys! - Jandy

Thanks Bret. Hel-vet a lot better. - E-Advocate Network

Thanks Bret, I love the Helvetica theme, btw, your new avatar is awesome:))) - K.D.

Helvetica. WIN - Jamie

Tres cool. - Jason Toney

It's good that ugliness is no more reason #1 to stop connecting. Next I would like to have is d&d to sort out friends in categories - Michele Costabile

Helvetica... Minimalism. Thank you! :D - Brandon

Thanks, FF team! - Anne Bouey

Good stuff! Thanks! - Rick Cogley

Great! - Shun Fukuzawa from twhirl

Helvetica! Clean:) - Dave Blankenship

Try this Helvetica - http://userstyles.org/styles... - ThenWang

Bret, BIG MAHALO for the themes! I'm going Hawaiian! Check me out! http://friendfeed.com/AlohaAr... - Arleen Boyd

Helvetica definitely :) - Ahsan Ali

Flowers & Butterfly Corner are good,but a little bit girl stuff.Any good theme for a guy? - Steve Chou

YAY! - Alli Worthington

Coolness! - Ron Bailey

I like the Helvetica, who created it? - Juvenn Woo

Sorry, but were there no "real" designers to push out some mindblowing themes? It´s just a change of color and background? - Hans Kainz

Like those themes. Would be nice though, if they also show up if someone visits my page. Or does it? - Sven

When I click your name, Sven, I get the bamboo theme, which is what I chose. If you have chosen a different theme from that, we know it just remembers yours. It seems to work differently from twitter. - Rick Cogley

It's Helvetica for me! - Rui Pires

I think i'm going bamboo... - diego morelli

@Rick: Thanks. I get the idea. The twitter concept would be nice though. Like personalized version of the FF page. Now, if there were archive links now..... - Sven

don't you know it :) - Zee.

28 more comments

interesting. I decided to give FF a 2nd try (I signed up for it when it first came out) not because of the celebrity flood to twitter but I wanted a place for *discussion* that wasn't limited to 140 characters. - Violet Mae Lim

I still rarely use FF compared to Twitter as I'm often using Twitter from a device. That said, I love how my digital life aggregates into a single place, along with everyone else. The key will be search. Tracking "popular" on search topics on FF should be very interesting. - Geoff Wilson

it's all about the meta data. Twitter will never be as valuable as FriendFeed for that very reason. - Steffan Antonas

Fab Image! - Elizabeth Muskrat

The "cool kids" might be moving, but I doubt that the cool kids can make FriendFeed a success (that is, compared to Twitter. a network as diverse as Twitter). Twitter was the first in its kind. Many people consider it "good enough". - Meryn Stol

Because you aren't cool anymore and the REALLY cool kids (re celebrities) are on Twitter. - Laurent Courtines

Fascinating! - coldbrew

It is really going to be fun to watch the mass migration ... followed by the media exposure 2 years later - Keith Barrett

Beatles! - Charlie Anzman

Hei, I have been using FF for a long time as an aggregate, never thought it could be use this way! - MoRiza

Thanks for posting my link Steve. I've been a subscriber to your lifestream for a while and I'm happy to float in it :) - Jesse Newhart

Just don't pee in it Jesse! - Kevin Elliott

Kevin - LOL I'll try :p - Jesse Newhart

Friendfeed is Twitter on steroids - Thomas Power

sheesh, I guess this means I need to leave now... - Cheryl

I wanna be c0ol too!! - Billy Warhol

Agree. FriendFeed is significantly more useful for sharing real information. No comparison. - Hamilton Wallace

Twitter on Oprah was the best thing for FriendFeed. An eureka moment as she jumped into the Twitter stream... - zeroinfluencer

I've been on FriendFeed since March 2008 and I love it!!! :) - Susan Beebe

The REALLY cool kids have identi.ca accounts and use it to talk about coding rather than congratulating each other over their new media gasbaggery. Just sayin'. - Tom Morris

friendfeed has way better noise reduction filters than twitter atm - philsmirnov

I dont know about cool kids, or I dont care if I am one, but I just did it! - Lakshman Prasad

Steve must be prescient - I think it was last summer when he kept saying FriendFeed was actually more useful than Twitter, which is why I have both! - Joan Vinall-Cox

Just found it again today..I like it! - Enriqueta Turanzas

i'm a cool kid. whew. - michelle lamar

michelle, of course you are. you have a pug. :) - Karoli

It always comes down to Pugs, doesn't it. Good thing we know the truth. - michelle lamar

It's basically impossible to converse with any manner of context on Twitter. It's maybe a one- or two-blurt attention span. Perfect for those with ADD. I like FF much better. - Rick Cogley

And, I have a Golden Retriever, so I have no need for a pug. (they're cute, though!) - Rick Cogley

It's all about the filters ... but most people wont set them up. The system needs to be smart enough to know. - Jason Goldberg

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To people who say I should follow fewer people: if I can have a conversation with one person in a stadium filled with tens of thousands, I should be able to do the same thing on a webservice where I follow only 1300. Not to mention using filters implies that I know today the interesting and compelling content that others will post tomorrow. Again, just how I use the service. Others may use it differently. - FFing Enigma

We should be ab le to filter on the fly... that would help. - Wolfman-K

Following fewer people reduces the usefulness of the service. Filters might be a good way of handling things, but how do I know they aren't filtering out things that I'd actually want to see? - Chris Charabaruk

This is one of the things that's so appealing about the new FF: with filters, I can see in real-time the stuff I *want* to know about as soon as it happens, and peruse the rest as I feel like it. - Ryan Waldron

Real life.. I see that phrase often in games like WoW and RoM. I prefer the virtual version :) - Michele

I'm not sure I appreciate the added value of the beta design, particularly in light of the additional management and time it's going to take me to get it right. The current design has flaws (such as content updating out from underneath you when visiting a link) that are further amplified in the new design. There must be a way to address the update and management issues. - Loren Heiny

The new friendfeed is like talking on a party - to all people at the same time. I feel like a social juggler. - Daniel van Moll

Loren: The link issue could be solved by Paul & co. stealing the Diggbar from under Kevin Rose's nose. - Chris Charabaruk

Perhaps they should add settings like Twitterfall has... - Cris McRae

I am still learning how to use it myself, but I training myself - Ikes Network

What do you think about the new Friendfeed User Interface? See the poll: http://twtpoll.com/q68d2y - Yaron Orenstein

I've said it elsewhere, the more people you follow, the more of a need there is for filtering. It's not a preference, it's essential. It's true in Twitter, it's true in Friendfeed, it's true in email, it's true in Facebook. If you refuse to use the tools they have given you to manage the noise, then you have to deal with the it's design. That's your choice. - Bwana ☠

Just heard on Cnet BuzzOutLoud (http://bol.cnet.com/) that it may not be visible to everyone yet. See http://beta.friendfeed.com/ and see if you experience the new features. - Andy Pflueger

I'm pretty sure I don't have 300—let alone 3—people in real life constantly telling me every single thing they do and create in real time. ;) They send me an e-mail, a tweet, or I catch up on their activity in my Flickr contacts list on my own time. This is a very different and interesting shift for social media. - David Chartier

Mine's not moving fast at all. I suppose I wasn't using it to it's full capacity before... :-\ - David Wynn

Bwana: Filtering isn't the panacea you're making it out to be. There's a reason I follow the people and topics I do, and if I filter them out just to save some peace of mind, I might as well just unfollow them entirely. - Chris Charabaruk

No way I'm following fewer people. The more I follow, the more fun I have here. So far, not too fast for me. We'll see tonight when it hits prime time. - Eric

Jason Goldberg: "The system needs to be smart enough to know." Forget lists and filters. Smart automated recommender systems are the future of social media. Why isn't Friendfeed leading the way? - Sean McBride

Umm no, this is not real life. - Corvida

Since when is it the user's fault when the user interface doesn't work as expected? - Albert Willis

To people who say you should filter more for getting the real life: they should get out of their geek-holes and understand what it is to make choices for real life persons. :p - Ton Zijp

I think the beta is awesome. Looks great on my iPhone in landscape mode. - Steve Sill

i don't agree with the premise that because real time = real life folks should be able to keep up with their interests by scaling down their activity or number of people they happen to follow on a site like this. that's a nice simple thing to write, but it's certainly not practical if you're looking to interact with people on friendfeed. it's sites like these that afford all kinds of info to be exchanged among all kinds of people -- much more than in "real life." if the point of exchanging information lies - Cee Bee

How about having less followers? I don't understand this kind of maths really. If everyone starts following less people just to use a "tool", your own voice won't be noticed. I'll follow everyone I think he/she could bring more knowledge/fun to me and it'll be up to the tool to satisfy my needs, not the opposite - directeur

with a few people what's the point of being on a site like ff? - Cee Bee

There's a live back channel for the Gillmor Gang Leo's streaming right now at http://beta.friendfeed.com/stevegi... - Ken Sheppardson

Indeed, _very_ aggressive "hide" and "unsubscribe" are at least turning FF's "river of shit" UI a bit more palatable. - Dossy Shiobara

In real-life, I don't have 1000 friends. And Leo, we're not friends in RL, right? - AJ Batac :)

I asked yesterday how anyone actually kept up with hundreds of people on twitter. Never got a response, so I figure people actually don't. - Barry Biddlecomb from twhirl

People mostly use Twitter as a bullhorn; I doubt that many feeds are being read very carefully. - Sean McBride

or just hit pause. it's not that big of a deal. you just hit refresh like you always have. - Nathan Chase

Agree with Tina. Filtering for topics implies a preset agenda of interests which makes it much less interesting. And if real life was so great more people would live there :-) - Todd Hoff

I didn't even know there are filters. They could make it easier to notice and use like put a filter button there on the page. Or explain that you can do that and how to do it. - Nathan Mylott

It's not a matter of telling you HOW to use something, it's a matter of telling what's available to help you DEAL with data overload. Lists and Filters are there to help consume the data in a manner which is pleasurable. It's not the only way to use FF, but it's something to ADD to your existing way of using the tool to make it better. I realize not everyone uses the tool like I do, but the features I talk about are there to HELP you manage the madness. - Bwana ☠

For example, not everyone uses labels in Gmail to manage their emails. But I've recommended some people use labels to organize the information and it has helped them. For others, it hasn't. The point remains, that labels are there to help with that and they are worth a try to see if it works. It's part of the toolset. Same is true with Lists and Filters on FF. They are there to help you. Give them a try. If they don't work, fine. Plenty of people have found they do work and that's why we say use it - Bwana ☠

Me, I have an "Everything" list so I can see all my followers... but sometimes, I need a break and I move to my other lists or fiilters to munch on those. I spend the most time in the Everything list though. My home feed consists of individuals who I have liked or commented on more than 50 or 60 times.. - Bwana ☠

I'm not sure following fewer is the best idea. The pause button puts the whole site back into static mode, i.e. what the old FF is. So just hit that. :-) - Kol Tregaskes

It's already gotten better, since yesterdays hype slowly went down. I'm quite happy with the (number of) followers now... It's manageable. - Holger Eilhard

Personally I can not see what all the hoopla is about. May be due to not following a hunndred people - Greg

I just started using it, and I love it so far.. I can now see what Leo and Steve were so excited about. - Basenet InterMedia

...And... Leo haven't commented here after 23 hours. Busy man. Busy man. - AJ Batac :)

I like how powerful the filtering is. - David Delony

just wish there was some type of sms capacity, like twitter - Steve Austin

Well Said Leo: "Real-Time = Real-Life" and I can't wait for Facebook and Twitter to get real! - Garin Kilpatrick

@Leo: real life is throwing up on your shoes, too. don't want that. - MikeAmundsen

I love how celebs are actually using their SM presence in order to spread the word about important causes not to brag about their new BMW :) - Ahmed

What is the current +/- estimate for DDT vs Malaria? - Robert Hafer

Now I'm hanging out in the Apple store where Jobs shows up frequently. Will let you know if I learn anything. - Robert Scoble

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Investigative journalism at it's best. :-) - Andrew Dobrow

Scoble tracking Steve Jobs' eating route. Oh dear. - Oyvind Solstad

Scoop McScoble. - Thomas Hawk

What flavor does Steve like? [edit] Seriously, I think it would be interesting. Sort of like asking what your favorite animal is, I think it might reveal something. - AJ Kohn

You know you are going to make AAPL stock rocket in the morning if you keep this up? - Dominic Jones

Yeah, I saw him last month eating spicy Indian food and swiping through his black iPhone. He looked perfectly fine. - Mason Lee

Are you stalking him or is this a 'walk a mile in his shoes' sort of thing? - Anika

Scoble- our man in Palo Alto. Thanks. - Roberto Bonini

AJ: they wouldn't tell me. :-) But they say that they deliver a whole bunch to Apple's executives every week. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Have missed your FF comments today! - Michael Krigsman

You do realize that if you keep this up and you're going to be nabbed as a SJ stalked. - amygeek

"In Search Of" LOL - Von Glitschka

The store is http://www.fraicheyogurt.com/ by the way. - Robert Scoble

it's the paparazzi on Steve Jobs! - Elijah Nicolas

Of course they gave me a sales pitch for how their yogurt is keeping him healthy. :-) - Robert Scoble

What is it with the reemergence of yogurt shops these days anyway? It's like it's 1983 all over again. Are they replacing coffee shops? - Ciaoenrico

@Scoble @AJ I bet it's Schnozberry (sorry for the obscure reference) - Andrew Dobrow

http://swanktastic.org/... I guess other people have met Jobs there. - Robert Scoble

I'm watching the after-hours trading in AAPL to see if this great breaking news has any impact. Still four minutes left.... Will update :-) - Dominic Jones

Ciaonenrico: I had a latte there too. The yogurt is the best in Northern California. - Robert Scoble

They need some help with their blog: http://www.fraicheyogurt.com/blog... - AJ Kohn

http://scobleizer.com/2008... is my report and photos of one of the co-owners. It always has a line of people waiting to get in. - Robert Scoble

Why is it that Apple isn't confirming or denying anything do you think, Robert? - Mona Nomura

Mona: Apple won't confirm or deny anything. Try asking them whether Steve Jobs is CEO. I bet they wouldn't confirm or deny that. - Robert Scoble

@Mona N. Because they believe it's no one's business if Steve sneezes. - Dominic Jones

The real CEO is clearly Dick Cheney - Andrew Dobrow

So, he's still alive? ;) BTW, what is THE interview you wish to make in 2009? - Konstantin

But clearly, he is not well... isn't it about time they say SOMETHING? :\ - Mona Nomura

Then what? Sell your stock? If Apple's value is so wrapped around one person isn't that a clear risk already? - Hayes Haugen

Konstantin: 1. Barack Obama. 2. Steve Jobs. 3. Steve Ballmer. 4. Mark Zuckerberg. 5. Bret Taylor. 6. Evan Williams. 7. Jonathan Ives. 8. Vic Gundotra. 9. Barack's CTO. 10. A bunch of geeks who I don't know but who are changing the world. - Robert Scoble

It has nothing to do with stock, it's handling smooth transitions IF there is something wrong so we (consumers) have confidence in them (Apple). - Mona Nomura

Mona: we're all dying. I know a lot of people who have died that were very healthy. Or seemed to be. Marc Orchant anyone? I don't know that Steve isn't well. Having cancer can cause you to live healthy and lose weight. But, I already assume the dude will die. So will I. Until he's ready to talk I have to assume he's fine. Obviously he's not bedridden if he's coming into yogurt stores. - Robert Scoble

Red Mango or Fraiche? I prefer Red Mango on University. - Randy Ksar from twhirl

Randy: I'm partial to Fraiche. Maybe we need a taste-off? :-) - Robert Scoble

We're all speculating and won't know for sure until Steve Jobs either steps down or retires. Either which way, this is really bad on Apple's part because they are (to me) encouraging rumors and speculation, irresponsible journalism, and publishing. The question is: Are we ok with that? - Mona Nomura

Mona: Apple is too secretive about everything. But that's who they are and they probably know that this publicity is good for them. It keeps us all wondering what the real story is. Guarantees everyone will attend Jobs' next press conference. - Robert Scoble

If people are getting worried when a CEO is getting thin, shouldn't we be more worried over weight CEOs? They are more all of a heart attack time-bomb than SJ is a health risk. Why don't we ask all those fat CEOs to disclose *their* health record? - Clarence Chiang

Clarence: yes. +1000. - Robert Scoble

I'm not worried about him. Is no one familiar with the old adage, "An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away." - Kevin Murray

Clarence: It's not just any CEO. It is Steve Jobs. Do you think his predecessor will generate this much news? Robert: I understand that, but that is so not ok, in my book. - Mona Nomura

Mona: Apple doesn't listen to me on PR issues either. Heheh. - Robert Scoble

hahhahahhahhahha - Mona Nomura

There's a Red Mango here, and I've had Fraiche. I prefer Fraiche. - Jesse Stay

I find myself wondering if SJ has an Alcor policy. - Michael R. Bernstein

Who is Steve Jobs? - Steve Rubel

Do they even make apple yogurt? It probably tastes better if you eat it with a mock turtle neck on. - Keith James Designs

So I was there today with Robert when he got the scoop. Spiderman's frenemy James Defranco was spotted there. http://www.fraicheyogurt.com/ - Ross Mayfield

Why don't u interview him? I can see it now... "so who are you?" - mal

That place is buzzing - why hasn't anyone else reported seeing him there? - Jesse Stay

Hope he's well. In any case, despite all the coverage, what I haven't heard about is whether Apple's doing anything at CES? Do they usually exhibit? CES isn't something I've paid any attention to in the past but if Apple's becoming (as some are saying) the new Sony, wouldn't CES be important? - Gordon Vaughan

Apple never goes to CES. Apple has its own show from now on: it's called its network of stores and Engadget. :-) - Robert Scoble

Schnozberry! Who's ever heard of a schnozberry? - Kerri

Now that Jobs has made his January 5 announcement, we can all reflect. In my view, even if they didn't know anything, Apple & Jobs should have made some sort of statement in December, when the Macworld announcement was made. It wouldn't have been perfect, especially since they may not have known about the hormonal imbalance at the time, but better to say something than nothing. If nothing else, it would have kept Robert out of the yogurt shop. :) - Ontario Emperor

"When I talk to entrepreneurs who have moved here from other places they do say money played a part. But, they also said: 1. Access to talent. If you’re going to build a scalable system that can handle hundreds of millions of users there are only a few engineers in the world who have built those kinds of systems and most are in Silicon Valley. 2. The environment. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve never been anyplace that discusses business and technology as regularly as you hear it here. You walk down the street and you run into VCs and CEOs. 3. The weather. Sorry, after spending two weeks in Europe and another two in China, there’s nothing like California sunshine. 4. The diversity of cultures. There are very few places in Europe that have the cultural and economic diversity that you have within 60 miles of San Francisco. That turns into a much more diverse set of food you can go out and enjoy, etc. 5. The support. Need a lawyer that has taken a company public? They are here. Need..." - Robert Scoble

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Scoble, we're waiting you in Greece, sunshine (plus great beaches) included :) - George Tziralis

I just blogged arrington's reaction to leweb...synchronicity! - susan mernit

ha ha - well, I am sure everyone can write a similar list on their place of origin compared to any other place. Obviously we are not all as ignorant of where we live as opposed to a tourist who´s only spent 2 weeks in the country. Scoble is surely right about the tech aspects of California, but business, cuisine, culture etc. - these are bold statements to generalize about in such a way. - Peter Efland

George: would love to come to Greece, but probably will have to wait for 2010. I've been traveling too much lately. Now gotta focus on my blog and business stuff. - Robert Scoble

we can't wait :) - George Tziralis

I think the points are well made on the environment, all these things do matter. There is also a culture of entrepreneurship(I had to leave my country to start a business). Two more things which are often missed: 1) the availability of incubation - do we really think google would have survived had they had to pay for their infrastructure at market prices from day 1? University and... more... - Iphigenie

Peter: I've made about a dozen trips to Europe, my mom grew up there, I have lots of relatives there, so I have a little more than just "two weeks" of touristing there. You might look into the facts before you open your mouth. Heck, my 15-month-old son has been to Europe three times already. - Robert Scoble

I moved to the US principally because of the different mindset. London is a great city but if you told someone about an idea there you would hear 'my brother tried that last year and it didn't work'. In America you hear 'that's amazing! can I invest?'. There is generally a greater sense of possibility here than back home. The visa system needs to be fixed though! - Tony

agree on the general sense of possibility - it goes with that haste that is mentioned in the original article. It also goes with a culture where failure is far less negative and the act of trying far more positive. But I think these were easier when the markets were flush and high, - for a while you didnt need to do anything useful or anything that people would be willing to pay for,... more... - Iphigenie

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