 |
|
| FriendFeed is the easiest way to share online. Learn more » |
Boo › Comments
Do you trust the cloud?
Julia Pichler, Erhan Erdogan, Penguin It's Cold Outside and 68 other people liked this
I mean like really, really, really trust it - enough to keep all your stuff there INSTEAD of on your own computer?
- Sarah Perez
No.
-
For some things. Not yet for enterprise (GMail aside of course :)
- Charlie Anzman
Not at all.
- Yuval Atzmon
i trust cloudcontacts :-P
- Allen Stern
Only the kind you get to through a magic green pipe.
- Shawn Farner
@Allen LOL, nice plug
- Sarah Perez
no way - i dont even trust my own computer enough to just keep stuff there (learned that one the hard way)
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Perhaps I should ask - what sort of things do you trust to the cloud 100%? Your docs? (Google Docs?) Your photos? (flickr, facebook....?) Your contacts (Gmail?)
- Sarah Perez
I trust my own computer(s) more, my (encrypted) backups are in the cloud. (Smartest place for them, IMO)
- Anthony Citrano
I don't trust my own computer at all. Hard drives fail. Houses burn. Earthquakes shake rattle and roll. Most IT departments are far more organized and careful than I am and cloud providers have some very could IT departments.
- Todd Hoff
no, i don't trust it. I'll use it if there's a known backup. Evernote works as I know there's a backup on 2 of my laptops, as well as the cloud (though I do worry sometimes that some bug will wipe the cloud "version", and then without me knowing will wipe my local "version". gulp)
- William Stewart
In theory, yes. In practice, no, not yet. The biggest problem is the gatekeepers. Most things today aren't really in the cloud so much as they are a copy on a single companies' servers. The day when facebook can delete an account and they can't delete the account assets then maybe we can start thinking about trust.
- Todd McKinney
maybe i would trust the cloud (with a double-backup-cloud-solution maybe?) but i don't trust the internet providers too much.. i mean, whenever my net is dow, i can't have *any* of my files? naah...would be another thing with programs, but not all the files
- Le Big Z
Definitely not, especially w/ external hard drives multiple terabytes large & portable USBs at affordable prices, I don't see the rationale in a pay per month service.
- sofarsoShawn
For processing and storage, not for security.
- ·[▪_▪]·
I guess I don't trust "single point of failure" no matter if it's my HDD or the cloud.
- Sarah Perez
I'm with todd. I would prefer not to trust it all to one building (my house). I also would not prefer to trust it all to the cloud. What will Google kill next? Docs? Pics? Mail? How about what happened to Pownce? I had XDrive years ago, too. When I got a new phone from Sprint, they DELETED my picture mail account, and they failed to restore my pics from backup, so I learned that the cloud can fail me. I'm trying to keep my data on multiple services and home PCs, so that one failure doesn't mean total fail.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
@sofarsoshawn - and where do you store these external drives?
- Anthony Citrano
Sarah - It's not failure I'm concerned about. It's privacy and security in the enterprise. Anything can happen once someone else has the keys ... now or ten years from now.
- Charlie Anzman
I trust the cloud _less_ than I do anything else, especially if Google is somehow involved. But that's more due to privacy concerns than anything else.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
Yes.
- Mona Nomura
from fftogo
That's a different cloud Mona :)
- Charlie Anzman
Maybe, who said 'Trust, but verify'?
- Greg Guitarbuster
We shouldn't have illusions here. All your network communication transits backbone networks that have taps on them. Your ISP has access to all your traffic. Are you sure MS and Apple don't have back doors installed? Are you sure your computer doesn't have a root kit installed that's watching your every key stroke and sending back to a bot master? There was a story recently where some guy was living in these people's attic and they never suspected. That could be a lot of us.
- Todd Hoff
Only for things that I'd have no problem with being public. I won't be storing my passwords on a remote server anytime soon.
- Victor Ganata
Is this a blue pill, red pill sort of question cuz I don't get it. The cloud??
- ♥patricia♥
Not yet.
- Bob Gannon
Actually, I back everything up so Im not worried about trusting storage - local, external, or cloud.
- Mona Nomura
from fftogo
Eventually the true cloud will be multiple interacting clouds (instead of equating one service or hosting provider with THE cloud). When we get there, I think there will be more trust because the competing interconnected services will keep each other in check. We're a long way from there yet, but I think it will happen.
- mikepk
Ask former Mediamax users if they trust the cloud -- Mediamax (now Nirvanix) managed to lose a great deal of data for its paying customers. I was one of them. Lesson: always make multiple backups of important data, both locally and in the cloud. Redundancy is the watchword.
- Sean McBride
@citrano sorry never saw that ?, they're just small entirely portable hooked up to your main system through a USB. They're about the size of a medium sized novel you can store them anywhere as such....
more...
- sofarsoShawn
Business idea/opportunity: automatically manage multiple/redundant backups for customers among cloud services.
- Sean McBride
not yet.
- Sebastian Küpers
Trying to.
- Bryan R. Adams
I had better say yes or my data will disappear...
- Edward Craddock
In soviet russia, the cloud trusts you.
- mikepk
Yes, working on getting more of my stuff off my HD and into the cloud
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Its yet to cause me issues, will probably burn me one day but meh I trust it
- BCK
from twhirl
worth a read - http://ascii.textfiles.com/archive...
- Jonathan Greene
As much as I trust anything else.
- Alex Scoble
keep backups on your own drives, always...always! and backup those too
- Adam Singer
@greene the article shares my sentiments re: the cloud, aside from hosting photos I wouldn't store anything in it
- sofarsoShawn
The cloud is to awesome not to trust.
- Kyle
I trust 2 storage clouds a lot more than 1 local hard drive; FAIL is everywhere. to paraphrase: "Trust in Allah, but SYNC your Camel"
- dave mcclure
Genie -- if you are really security savvy, every statement you just made in that public comment should be misleading and false. :)
- Sean McBride
@mikepk I like that idea. For now, though, I wish there were more ways to cross-post data (like photos and files) to free online services. Like something that uploaded to gDocs and SkyDrive, for example. Anyone know of anything like that?
- Sarah Perez
from fftogo
Cloud backups are the only ones I really trust - so I guess I would say yes. What I don't like is "having" to have internet to access them - that is when I get a little panicky.
- Tony
LOLing @genie&sean
- sofarsoShawn
i sure trust my backups on amazon's jungle disk service, and i sure trust flickr. as for contacts and other personal info on fb or gmail, i have less trust. i will have 100% trust when any cloud service i use provides me with very clear and defined control over my stuff, as in how i can export without loosing anything, or knowing i cannot be shut off arbitrarily for example.
- Pascal Bouvier
as A backup, yes--for some things; as the ONLY backup? No, and for private data, no, at least not yet.
- Steve Lowe
@Sarah Perez I've been wondering that same thing. A customizable cross poster would be a very handy time saver. I trust the cloud as a copy like the others.
- Boo
Thus far. I haven't got burned really bad yet...though I'm usually cautious to throw all my data into a platform without any weight behind it.
- Brian Bufalo
So far so good with Office Live and Small Business but I also use Outlook Connector with Desktop Office so I can move items if I want, but nice having Outlook always in synch with 3 computers
- MedicalQuack
Yes.. but no.. but yes! It would need to be a sync with a device at home. It would make sense for the providers of the cloud to brand HDD or even NAS with there service. So that it gives me the ability to "sync" that I wanted to keep accessible.
- Jez Arnold
i trust cloud as much as I trust my own computer : only 50% each ;-)
- Jacopo Gio
Absolutely.
- Håkan Dahlström
@sofarsoshawn my point was, if you're backing up to an external drive that you're keeping on your desk, or even in your house, your data is not protected against a *lot* of possibilities. that's why I back up to "the cloud"...
- Anthony Citrano
yes
- Baard @ Pixum
No, although I trust Google enough with my e-mail. I wouldn't bank on any service lasting more than a few years before the host/parent either goes bust, or discontinues the service, for what it's worth. (See Google Notebook, I Want Sandy and Pownce)
- Tyson Key
Yeah, actually. The cloud has been more reliable than my hardware often is.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
I do, but as time marches on I'm starting to feel like it won't matter if I trust the cloud. I'm not going to have any other choice but to use it so, whether or not I trust it will be irrelevant. That's a little frustrating.
- Michael Fidler
I trust it more than my own storage. I guess both would be ideal - the cloud for offsite back-up.
- jjprojects
There's always a nagging feeling of "What happens if Yahoo! gets bought out/goes under, and Flickr vanishes?" or "What if MP3tunes.com gets struck down by the RIAA and takes the supposed "back-ups" of music collections belonging to people with them?"
- Tyson Key
Yep
- Rich
Trust No One. ;) I use the cloud as a useful place to store/access stuff, but I like to have a backup. I'm more reliant on the cloud now I have an iPhone, and more willing to store stuff online with providers who have been around a while, but there's always the danger (in these troubled times ;), that companies disappear and your data goes with them.
- Surferbill
in short - yes. but there are always exceptions. The Google cloud totally because I think they make too much money to be untrustworthy (opposite to most people I am sure).
- Alistair (alpinefolk)
Dont know if I trust it. But my "wish" for it to be safe is bigger than my fear that its un-safe...or maybe I'm just naive and lazy
- Peter Efland
I work representing an online desktop model and this is an often subject around in order to get ppl to try the service. What I often honestly recommend and do it myself is, to everybody think about Cloud Computing as an extra option other than only the traditional ones. It came a long way for all of us and it's been truly useful. Still, I don't think we should treat it as a replacement for all data. I'm sure it's just gonna get more reliable, it's a matter of time.
- May
It's no longer going to be a firewall it's going to be an umbrella :)
- Joe Dawson
Much less today, after 3 days of Google's FeedBurner returning 404 on my feed. And before, with Flickr randomly marking my photostream as unsafe. The cloud is great and is the way to go - but we need data portability, and a solid backup strategy that you can rely on if you care about such things. Companies go away, strategies change, priorities shift and the economy defines new rules - you need to take that into account. What is free today can return 404 tomorrow.
- Yaniv Golan
No. The cloud is inherently untrustworthy because the data flows out of your network and into someone elses. You can of course encrypt that traffic, but you still have the issue of trust of the other side.
- alphaxion
I barely trust hard-drives to retain my data, so no. And that's not even going into the privacy concerns.
- Daniel Bruce
Not me. Murphy lives in the sky.
- Phil Boiarski
I trust the cloud more than my own hardware; companies like Google can afford more redundancy than I can, so I feel safer trusting them.
- Apollo L
Absolutely yes! I trust Flickr, YouTube, Google and Diigo/delicious more than any of my own storage bins let alone DVDs
- Gaby K. Slezák
No, a local backup is always a good idea.It's not the cloud I don't trust, it is the companies I use to get to the internet (e.g., Time Warner Cable).
- LPH™ and his dog P™
I find it hard to trust what is free - for example diigo (which I like a lot) keeps a cached local copy of a page, but it doesnt do it of all pages, and it doesnt keep them - so a site that has disappeared might not have a local copy. No guarantees, no SLA - so I cant trust. Same thing with google - they can lose or remove data or services anytime, and youtube removes things as routine.
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
I trust the cloud enough in terms of privacy concerns. The key is to deal with reputable companies. That all said I keep copies of everything I use on the cloud on a local backup.
- Rob Cairns
I use it to build redundancy into my backup system. I back up locally and to the cloud.
- Dave Gambrill
I use S3 for backup and I have additional copies on google docs. i don't use google docs for my main document manipulation.
- Jason Shultz
from twhirl
The 3-backup set method/regime: 1. external hard drive (local) 2. online backup service 1 (automatic) 3. online backup service 2 (automatic)
- Sean McBride
@sean I'd recommend 1. external HDD on site. 2. a couple of external HDD's/Tape offsite in a secure storage swapped at the end of every week 3. online backup. The most important thing that people totally ignore is data ownership - make sure you have access to your data. RAID array external caddies are cheap enough now that you shouldn't rely on the cloud as your main active storage or backup. And for those who don't trust their own HDDs, why would you trust another company?
- alphaxion
Online backup companies like Carbonite, Mozy and Amazon S3 are entirely focused on backup -- I trust them more than I trust myself, especially if I distribute the risk of data loss among at least two of them. I doubt that two of these companies would mess up simultaneously. The best part: set and forget, and restore to any computer anywhere.
- Sean McBride
I'd still put preference on data you can physically get your hands onto - people totally under estimate the worth of data ownership until the fit hits the shan. Personally, I keep all my data on constantly rotating groups of HDD's - as in I'll buy a bunch of hdd's and copy the data over to them. It means I have a copy of the old data and an ever increasing pool of HDD's to recover from or put to use elsewhere in my home network.
- alphaxion
I Love the Cloud...just use trusted sources who aren't going to disappear anytime soon. And follow the same Backup rules you would on any computer.
- ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift
alphaxion -- a key issue for individuals (as opposed to companies and organizations) is that they are too lazy to maintain a consistent backup plan. If your backups are being made automatically in the background in real time, without any effort on your part, to at least two reliable online backup services, you are more likely to be able to retrieve your data when trouble strikes.
- Sean McBride
Only if it's Google's cloud.
- Jordi Soler
I do "trust" the cloud. Keeping in mind I multiple back-up my data on separate HDD's in different locations. At work, we go the route of a 2 week back-up rotation.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
Only if it's not a rain cloud. /me ducks ;)
- Tyson Key
I think the notion of Trust can be viewed along 2 different angles: 1/ RELIABILITY (not to lose my data, enough up-time), 2/ PRIVACY (my data not accessible by anyone in transit or on server, even system administrator). On RELIABILITY, getting there although for critical data, I would still have a backup somewhere else. On PRIVACY, would say no. What guarantee do cloud providers offer on sole accessibility to the data by the data owner? And how for data in transit? Unclear at best.
- Florent Buiron
Sarah - What about this for a question? http://is.gd/hsck Would really like some feedback
- David Ing
@citrano yeah I was later thinking about ie "acts of God" so to speak, seriously, and I agree, w/ those in mind the cloud becomes more agreeable
- sofarsoShawn
It always strikes me as odd/funny/ironic/sad when people diss Wikipedia as being less than authoritative on subjects.
Nicholas James, Jen (SquirrelGirl), Boo and 10 other people liked this
Agreed. As if a small group of people can be more trusted to compile all human knowledge.
- ·[▪_▪]·
Also their methodology in publishing articles is pretty secure with watch lists & of course citations
- sofarsoShawn
I used to think of it as the end-all repository for knowledge, but after Stephen Colbert proved that it can be easily corruptible by anyone I started to have my doubts that everything on the site was legit. I don't completely knock it, but I'm willing to do some extra research on anything I learn there just in case.
- Haggis (Sean Loyless)
@haggis it's easily edited but all those changes are easily reversed and if users continue to do it, they can be blocked and the articles locked.
- ·[▪_▪]·
Me, too. As long as you stay away from really controversial topics (read: political figures), it's as good a place to start your research as any other.
- Steven Perez
I'm not sure of the report but i remember a study was completed on the accuracy of Wikipedia verse Encyclopedia Britannica. EB: 97%, Wiki - 94%
- Johnny Worthington
@Haggis and the face guy: those are the watch lists, individuals are in charge of watching certain articles to ensure vandalism dosen't occur
- sofarsoShawn
Wikipedia is usually quite solid on most of the subjects I know about. A valuable resource for fact checking.
- Sean McBride
It's an encyclopedia and a very good one if sheer topic coverage is considered. That being said, it is inappropriate to cite any encyclopedia as an authority formally unless it is some self referencing archival citation. It's a great place to start research online, but it's easy to tell sometimes when somebody has only read the wiki on a subject.
- Boo
The Caucus - Is Era of Dominance Over for Conservatives? - NYTimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2008...
Robert Fischer, Chuck LeDuc Díaz, Victor Ganata and 4 other people liked this
It seems like not only fiscal conservatism but social as well has changed so much that it is almost unrecognizable. I would so love for a third party now. There is virtually no place to go and oddly I feel sympathy for the republican party that more than any has been hijacked. I have likewise sympathy for Christians. OY have they been cheated. But true conservatives are ethical thinkers IMO. There has to be a way to keep those voices. This is depressing.
- Boo
Well, think of it this way: There's no where to go but up. I worry about a Dem-controlled Congress and a Dem White House. Too far a swing I think for effective government. But that's how badly the GOP has frakked up.
- Rick Powell
my personal opinion is that this is all part of a much needed period of realignment (for both parties really) - the world has become infinitely more complex and I am not sure that either party has successfully updated the expressions of their core philosophies. I think we will see more of this in the coming years
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Depressing? Au contraire. I'm glad that the culture of greed and heartlessness that has captivated the country for my entire adult life may finally be changing.
- Chuck LeDuc Díaz
Trying to watch "Fringe" I liked it better when it was called "The X Files"
Pete Delucchi, MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS, Yolanda and 7 other people liked this
okay after seeing the photo of the "new born" baby, i am sooooo glad i started watching 10 minutes into the episode.
- Mary Carmen
i lost interest, muted the tv and jumped on to listen to aaron brazell's show
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
hmm don't know about it being an ER replacement, but they do have some sort of surgery in just about every show.
- JSNFLMNG
i dont get this show at all
- Mary Carmen
I don't speak often, but I read and wondered where you'd gone. Hope all is well and wonderful.
- Boo
very kind - all has been tooooo busy - hopefully it will slow down a little soon
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
I am just sad today.
Hugs. And remember it so that when the happy comes it feels even happier.
- Boo
- hugs! -
- Mona Nomura
Educators using social media: Have two confirmed panelists for Sunday's podcast. Would like more. http://uptownuncorked.com/2008...
I am very interested in this but do not think the time is conducive to my participation in anything but listening and the occasional comment. Monday classes begin early you know. I don't know of any pub. ed. teachers using soc. med. for lessons, but I am piloting the use of google docs for class assignments and communication. That means I am accountable and must spend time in those...
more...
- Boo
I hope you stop by - the commenters are just as important as the panelists :)
- Leslie Poston
A TIME-WARPED SEXIST ASSAULT - New York Post - http://www.nypost.com/seven...
Boo, Andre Maltais, Jasmin Smith and 5 other people liked this
@Brian As the son and son-in-law of "dutiful but professionally distant educators" as you coldly put it. I disagree with your statements and the implication that teachers are the ones raising your children. There are benefits and drawbacks to staying home, neither is the "right" choice. There can only be the right choice for your family.
- David Knight
David, I'd have to categorically disagree with you. I don't slightly disagree, I emphatically disagree with every essence of your statement. Don't confuse your own defensiveness with the cold hard facts. Your kids, if you and their mother work full time outside the home, are not receiving the best they could from you. That's plain and simple. I have no intent on being hateful, mean, or disrespectful. But, let's be honest.
- Trevor Carpenter
I agree the author's premise. But I'll also point out that John Edwards was criticized for remaining in a presidential bid despite his wife's cancer. I think that societal expectations of women remain unfair, but I think that societal expectations of men's responsibility to their families are changing as well.
- Chuck LeDuc Díaz
Ok Trevor, let me address two points. First I will not apologize for blocking Trolls, political or otherwise, and if it's cowardly to not feed trolls then lets hope a huge wave of it breaks out. And on this thread you're all making narrow assumptions that I can't agree with. We sacrifice to send our son to a great daycare, there's no less love and you're an ass for suggesting it. Opening my son's life up to new people, wonderful teachers, and an environment of his peers is the best for choice for US.
- David Knight
Wow! I got called a name. Now, who's the troll? I will say, blocking legitimate trolls is totally cool. I have no problem with that. However, blocking people who simply disagree with me, is lame and cowardly. That's why I won't block you, because we're having a real discussion/disagreement. Additionally, you can't even try to convince me that a paid employee is better for your child to spend their time with, instead of you or your wife. That's just not even an argument. That's just silly.
- Trevor Carpenter
I have to agree that there is no replacement for the value of time spent with actual, loving parents. Yes, there is educational value of quality, professional institutions, but there is no substitute to the necessary nature of *both* parents. We are built to survive, so we grow despite what we may lack in our personal experience, but to suggest that it is the same is simply denial.
- Jeremy Hall
BTW, when did I say anything about love? I'm talking about what's generally best... Additionally, I guarantee an audit of your personal choices and priorities would demonstrate areas where you could sacrifice even more to the benefit of your child(ren)/family. People have no idea what they could cut, to open up room. Our available time, "need" to have two incomes, and personal kingdom building has a massive effect on our "need" to outsource our kids.
- Trevor Carpenter
@Tevor: "...cold hard facts. Your kids, if you and their mother work full time outside the home, are not receiving the best they could from you..." This is not a cold hard fact. This is constantly debated.
- JP Landry
As a follow up, I don't suggest in any way to judge someone's approach to parenting. If you can find a way to have that quality time with children and have other professional (and other) pursuits in life, more power to you. There are only so many hours in the day though, so sacrifice takes place somewhere; you just choose where and who gets it.
- Jeremy Hall
JP, just because a "debate" is occurring, doesn't mean it's being debated by balanced healthy people. Many of those same people are cool with "choosing" to kill their children, because it's inconvenient. So, if an inconvenient kid makes it past the "choice", then there's still a good chance that they'll get the shaft and be sentenced to years of childcare, when a few basic sacrifices would get them a parent at home to help care for them.
- Trevor Carpenter
I am a stay at home mom and I am always worried about one thing. God forbid, what if something happens to my husband? I am well educated, have a good work history, but lets face it, I have been out of the workforce 2 and a half years. It just isn't that simple to jump back in. If I had chosen to work after I had the child I would know that I could support myself and him. Now I'm not so sure.
- Michelle Martinez
I truly believe in my heart that I am doing the best thing I could for my child, but I am scared of the consequences should I lose hubby.
- Michelle Martinez
Michelle, that's what a good insurance policy is for. Not to say that you don't have good insurance. However, you should find a good agent, who has access to a variety of programs and companies. They can help find your family a great policy, designed for families that make good sacrifices like us. God bless you for making the hard choices.
- Trevor Carpenter
What about a single parent? I think you can safely say that they absolutely *can't* stay home. Or even in a two-parent household where neither parent makes much money and they need the combined income just to get by?
- Nine
Ha! Good try, Lindsey. I'm sitting here, hanging with my wife and 4 kids. I squeeze FF in between kicking my son's butt on Lego Star Wars, right now. In about an hour, we're going to drive up the coast, to hit a not-so-local Trader Joe's, and then spend the afternoon together as a family, doing who knows what, just being together. My work as a cop gives me many days off, during the week. For that, I sacrifice job promotions and reassignments that would kill my schedule.
- Trevor Carpenter
Lindsey, you're right about it depending on that "one income". Nine(9), you too are right to bring up the single parent issue. Of course, not everyone has, or can have the best case scenario. Brian's suggestion of work at home careers are an option for many. The problem is that many are too stuck on their existing career path, to consider that a different job might be better; because of scheduling or proximity to their home.
- Trevor Carpenter
When we made the decision to stay home, we cut back like crazy. I clip coupons, we don't eat out as often, and we haven't had a new shiny piece of electronic equipment since the baby was born. I feel bad sometimes when I see friends that both work in their big house, new mac, and PS3. But, you have to do what you think is best.
- Michelle Martinez
I don't think I'm better than them. I'm positive that they make other choices where I fail. However, to suggest that there can't be a best case scenario is what's silly. It's just that in this case, I do what it takes, to provide what is clearly best for my children.
- Trevor Carpenter
That's what I'm talking about, Michelle. You do what it takes. But I'm sure that you have a connection with your child that many others don't. You are there when they walk first. You are there when they talk first. It's YOU that they run to for comfort.
- Trevor Carpenter
Now, that's sound wisdom, Lindsey. Even with my strong opinions, I'd never once suggest taking anyone's freedom to have children. I'd fight for that right. I have fought for that right. Thank you for your "rant".
- Trevor Carpenter
Part of it is personal responsibility - I work because I don't like the idea of being "dependent" on my husband. I earn half the income, I get to have a say in how half of it is used. And if something happens to him, I'm only half as bad off as I would be otherwise. Maybe my kid didn't get as much attention as he could have, but I grew up with a single parent and learned how to take care of and entertain MYSELF because of that (I think that's an important skill). I knew my mom loved me anyway.
- Fa La La La Lindsay
Some people weren't made to stay at home... Some people don't define themselves only as a parent. Parenting is important but to be a healthy happy individual you have to purse other interests as well.
- Fa La La La Lindsay
The decision to have children is of the utmost importance. A family MUST look at the effect it will have on their lives. They must be deciding that their legacy will be drastically different now. To not consider these things is quite selfish. To even have kids, and do it right, is the opposite of selfish. It's the end of your selfishness. The pursuit of "other interests" at the cost of one's family/children is outrageous. I'm not suggesting that we can't have extra-home interests.
- Trevor Carpenter
and I'm with David and Lindsey
- A.T.
Oh, and my wife and I both, as a team, decide how to use my paycheck. Just because it has my name on it, doesn't mean I get to decide how it's spent.
- Trevor Carpenter
What gives any of us the right to decide what is best for other people?
- Andy Roth
I'm sure you're only talking about issues like those discussed above, right Andy? Because, we have the rule of law, that decides a lot of things for us, under the pretense that it is "right". Sometimes those laws are over-reaching, but we would all agree that you're an idiot if you don't put your kid in a safety seat, when driving. So, we do have the right to decide what is best for other people and their kids, in some circumstances. Just a bit of perspective. We all just dont agree on where to put the line
- Trevor Carpenter
Sorry folks. We're off for the day. I wish I could stay and chat some more...
- Trevor Carpenter
Cleary we need laws to protect people from unsafe activity. You are right, Trevor, that is hard to know where to draw the line between a matter of safety and beliefs about what is best for a person in general. My point is that people should not try to impose their beliefs on others. You believe that it is best for a child to have a stay at home parent? Great, then you or your spouse figures out how one of you can stay home. But, don't be telling your neighbors that they should make the same decision.
- Andy Roth
It goes beyond this issue. It seems there are many people these days vigorously pushing their personal beliefs on others. Don't think a person is qualified to be VP? Great - don't vote for her. (Hate to open this can of worms, but) You think gay marriage is an abomination? Great - don't marry a dude (or a woman if you are one). Just don't feel like you have some right or imperative to decide for other people.
- Andy Roth
As I mentioned before (and I'm staying clear of most of the debate) I don't judge others' choices where possible. Where it does impact society and the burden we take on because of others choices, then it is ok to put out your opinion on the choices of others'. Not saying that every aspect of this debate falls under that umbrella, but the shift in where society goes from where we are today is important. That's all broad speaking of course, but it is an underlying point to this debate. It does matter.
- Jeremy Hall
@brian I've stayed out of this largely because it deals with an area of utmost sensitivity for every parent: their kids. Like others my wife and I made sacrifices so that she could stay home when we had our son in April BUT I also believe that is not a decision every parent is able to make - i think many agree with your assertions but are less focused on whether right from wrong exists and more on the fact that many times life in an imperfect world only offers you good or better to choose from
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
I'm going off the issue of staying at home or not and more to the sexism issue brought up in the article. I am not a fan of Palin so far in my research, but I would completely concur that she's been dealt a double standard that is obscuring the real issue of her being fit for the job of leading a nation. One heartbeat away and all that.
- Boo
My only complaint about the political discussion is how smug people are. They complain about partisan politics but then always assume that the other side is stupid simply for being on the other side.
Jason Wehmhoener, Boo, Melanie Reed and 22 other people liked this
You are not the sum of your opinions, people.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Word.
- RAPatton
You should see the debates at our family table. Same way. My brother (Ben) thinks I'm stupid. I think he's stupid. At the end of it we're still brothers.
- Robert Scoble
Yeah: everyone's boiled down to either being an evil fascist or a mindless follower. Come on, give me some credit: I'm an evil follower, people.
- Mark Trapp
Totally agree.
- Jason Shultz
from twhirl
I love the discussion, but some people are not mature enough to participate without resorting to name-calling and throwing tantrums. It's perfectly ok to think someone is stupid, but it's not ok to say it out loud as part of your debate. Not here, anyway.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
In a lot of ways, this video could be applied to politics, not just racism: http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- Mark Trapp
Totally agree. Human nature, really. It's very difficult not to get trapped in a "team" us vs. them mindset.
- Lon Harris
from twhirl
Agree with Rahsheen. I'm voting for the 1st time in the US and keen to earn more about the issues and differences to educate myself.
- Sally Church
I just don't understand the mentality that makes people think that someone is stupid simply for having a contrary opinion. It gets worse when people become dismissive of others simply because of a label. I've been guilty of that myself but I'm trying to be more mindful of that kind of thing.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Thank you for reinforcing my beliefs that the political discussions happening on my FF are not part of this. The only person I've seen call someone stupid for their beliefs is Vincent Ferrari. I blocked him for the bullying. Otherwise, everyone else on my FF are acting like adults.
- Admiral Anika
Akiva: when my brother and I fight it's because he wants to control my world and take away my freedoms. He also likes it when everyone agrees with only him. So, I react to that. I just visited Nazi headquarters in Berlin. That's how they started out: trying to make everyone the same as themselves. I just want to see a world that biases toward science and education and technology. The Palin choice is anti all of those things. It does come down to a sports team metaphor, though. We like to cheer our team.
- Robert Scoble
Brian: if you were a German in, say, 1934, wouldn't you be saying the same thing? Especially as the rest of society started agreeing with you?
- Robert Scoble
i've been wrong about too many things in my life - makes it difficult to get up in arms with someone who disagrees, no matter how firmly i believe in a particular opinion. plus the only people who have ever impacted my thinking on anything have been those who took the time to understand my position and then respectfully offered their thoughts - at the end of the day life is way too short to give someone the power to anger me
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Robert, yeah. I can understand that. I guess I'm just trying to champion some civility. Discuss the issues and not the person discussion the issues. I got into a tussle with someone on Friday who, instead of answering the argument, chose to make fun of word choice. What does that accomplish? It's pitiful.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Strong debate may make you stronger but it doesn't make you smarter. So much debate today is open mouths and closed minds, with yelling and 'strong' statements not designed to convey information or convince another, merely to drown out opposition.
- Andrew Leyden
Vincent: you're what's wrong with America. I want you to know that.
- Mark Trapp
Mark: I blocked Vincent a long time ago. I'm glad to see that he's still worthy of a block (I didn't see his comment, but I saw yours).
- Robert Scoble
Also, I seriously doubt you'll ever be able to change anyone's mind, especially just through a discussion thread. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but the chance is entirely slim. There are a few topics that I find it nearly impossible to keep quiet about (religion, for example), though, especially when people ignorant about things so I just put down a few facts and then walk away. They can either listen or not. Not my problem.
- Akiva Moskovitz
lol @brian +1 re: ibanez
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
I've never played an electric guitar but I have my father's Ovation Roundback.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Funny. I used to be a conservative (my photo of Ronald Reagan is still hanging in the Republican Headquarters in Silicon Valley), a Christian (attended an evangelical church in Silicon Valley for more than 10 years) and am still a Mac user (I own two of the damn things) -- I have been an Apple user since 1977 when my dad brought home an Apple II. I don't play guitar, though. You just didn't know me in the right decade! :-)
- Robert Scoble
@ brian heh, heh, I still draw the line at Gibson players for what Gibson did to Opcode. Old grudges die hard.;)
- m.0
Unfortunately folks we do not have a debate..think about it.. sign up for a 3rd party and than attempt to get both major parties to let you in with TV coverage to debate them ..what happens folks? Yes that is right 3rd party gets banned from the debate we have what is called you do it our way or else debate.
- Fred Grott
I blame the campaigns themselves and the "dumbing down of America". The spin doctors and PR pundits have discovered that it is easier to manipulate others through emotions than through logic (as have trial lawyers, car salesmen and others of their ilk). If they make you hate the other side, you stop listening to them. Then they can tell you things that aren't true because you have no other source of information, reinforcing the hate.
- Robert Hafer
This is one thing that would be cured if everyone had to teach children for a week. Or coach debate. Sometimes if you get an opinion at all it is a win. Apathy is the enemy even. But I'm no saint. Unfounded rumor as opinion doesn't get smug dismissal, it gets comedy or flat cold busted with a hand out of the corner to save face. I agree with you as to the adults who use this losing and alienating strategy. No benefits to it.
- Boo
Robert Hafer, well put. Boo, I was under the impression that parents were supposed to be teaching their children ever day of their lives.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Yes. That is what they are supposed to do. And when I have the honor of meeting parents that do, I thank them and secretly want to hug them. Sometimes I do hug them! Where I am it is not an everyday honor. Indifference and indoctrination a far more common. Many kids are afraid to have opinions lest they be harangued.
- Boo
what is your favorite cliche?
Carrie, Yolanda, Nathan Rein and 2 other people liked this
never give up
- RAPatton
6 of one, half dozen of another
- anna sauce
you have to love yourself first.
- edythe
RAPatton: I gave up using "never give up" ... :)
- LPH™ and his dog P™
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. the runner up is - everything happens for a reason.
- carlotta fancypants
EAT MOR CHIKN
- Bwana ☠
Majoring in the minors
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Just found this site: http://www.clichesite.com/ with over 2100 cliches.
- LPH™ and his dog P™
I'm going to raise hell and put a brick under it. (handed down from my father)
- Noah Carter
Can I list my most hated clichés instead? "Who's to say…?" and "God helps those who help themselves."
- Mark Trapp
Mark: "As a matter-of-fact" you can .. hehehe
- LPH™ and his dog P™
the grass is always greener.....
- Ňicķ
well, i guess i was thinking of this as most-hated...
- edythe
"it's the exception that proves the rule" (except on those rare occasions when people actually use the expression correctly)
- Nathan Rein
"that's so cliched"
- Hutch Carpenter
The only cliché I use even semi-regularly is 'we'll burn that bridge when we get to it'.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Most hated cliché: "At the end of the day", and all hockey player interview clichés
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
It is what it is
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
I freaked out.
- Carrie
S/He gave 110 percent!
- ♫Geek in the 410♫
"At the end of the day"
- AJ Batac
The crack of dawn wasn't safe around him.
- Boo
No news is good news.
- Chuck LeDuc Díaz
bob's your uncle
- Duncan Riley
"there is nothing new under the sun"
- Paul Haahr
"It's un-Australian"
- Kate Foy
Keep Living The Dream & Go Big or Go Home!
- Niall Connellan
"let's make sure we're all on the same page here"
- Nathan Rein
Opentape a Muxtape replacement. - http://opentape.fm/
I wish people would use these things to post word art more instead of music. Some spoken word pieces or some comedy. Or even Garageband fiddlings. Creation instead of repetition.
- Boo
The Swedish government is making it illegal for schools to teach religious doctrine as if it were true. -Should the US Follow? - http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment...
Jen (SquirrelGirl), Nick Cowie, Christian Bolstad and 21 other people liked this
"One Nation, under God....."
- Mona Nomura
from Bookmarklet
;)
- Mona Nomura
Getting out my 10 foot clown poll for this one... :)
- Johnny Worthington
Religion has a place in school. It's called the Theology class room. Where the christian creation can be taught along with the other dozens of creationist doctrine. How they going to like that?
- Geoff Schultz
I thought that's the reason private schools existed in the first place
- Rodfather
Why not teach religion as part of literature? It's not half-bad fiction.
- Patrick Beard
from twhirl
Because as literature, it's not really that good?
- ·[▪_▪]·
I teach philosophy in public school and religion is very welcome in that mix. But dang, they are looking to develop an underground by poking around in the private schools. I wonder if home schooling there will take off more (as it has in the US) in reaction to the bans. They may actually be making things more dangerous if so.
- Boo
Boo: I agree, regarding underground. The option to learn should exist, but not mandated. Like Geoff said: "Theology Class"
- Mona Nomura
Yes, teaching the world's creation stories in a theology class makes perfect sense. "Teaching religious doctrine as if it were true" doesn't make sense. Which doctrine? Which truth?
- Ayşe E.
Illegal? Really?
- Mona Nomura
I don't get it, Mona.
- Pete Delucchi
My question, Pete?
- Mona Nomura
Mona, the god part is a recent addition to the pledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... you'll find the founding fathers weren't all that hot on religion.
- Duncan Riley
The statement, Mona.
- Pete Delucchi
as to the question: I can see some merit in it, although it's difficult to reconcile in terms of a free society. We are far better off equipping our children with critical reasoning than blind theology. If they then decide to follow, so be it.
- Duncan Riley
I can't believe that people don't think science is THE religion in our paradigm... :P
- Kenn Ejima
Duncan: Yes, I looked it up during ongoing "Ban the Pledge of Allegiance" controversies :) I just wrote it to get people's attention. Pete: ?
- Mona Nomura
I support the motivation for this law, only object to telling privately funded schools what they can and can't teach. I blogged about this (http://frethink.com/?p=79) and have gotten nearly 20 replies (on Disqus), mostly supportive of the law.
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
i agree with Daniel Dennett on this one. a solution is not less religion, but more religion. mandatory teaching of world religions in schools is a good start. they are already doing it in Modesto, CA - http://bit.ly/2ywsfs
- ~C4Chaos
Jack: WOW. @~C4Chaos: Interesting, thank you for the link.
- Mona Nomura
I say let the private schools teach whatever they want.
- Tad
I agree, Tad. As long as they're privately funded, they can teach wizardry and alchemy as fact.
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
I'm not sure I like my site's comments being rerouted through Disqus. I wish there was an option to have them appear on the site while comments could only be made through Disqus. If I disable Disqus, do the comments already made disappear? Or can I export them back to my blog? (Sorry for the off-topic)
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
Wizards aren't real?
- Shannon Jiménez
Jack: I don't have a self hosted WordPress blog, and don't want to give you an inadequate answer. I suggest asking on the DISQUS forums. The dev team is really active there :) http://disqus.disqus.com/
- Mona Nomura
Mona, just to be clear, I'm not in favor of making this illegal. It's a big world w/ lots of ideas. Best to expose the kids and teach them how to think critically about them.
- Ayşe E.
+987923749823739874 For Critical Thinking!!!!!!!!!!
- Mona Nomura
Just finished watching Dr. Strangelove for the first time. Hilarious and scary. Like hot and sour soup. So. Damn. Good.
Read the book, Its a stunner.
- Parth Awasthi
I will. Thank you for the recommendation.
- Boo
What do the freaking tech bloggers want? - http://scobleizer.com/2008...
Diana Valerini, mr-mojo-risin, Susan Beebe and 66 other people liked this
Sorry for the long rant. It's just I had a lot to say about the topic.
- Robert Scoble
heck, publish that and it's your second book. nice thoughts... thanks.
- adam christensen
What every geek wants! The hot chicks, the cool toyz, and a private Star Wars screening with Lucas.
- Todd Jordan
Todd: well, I have two out of those three. I saw Star Wars with the guys who started Hotmail, though. Does that count? :-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert: we'll go with that for private screening. :)
- Todd Jordan
Oh yeah, LOVE - they want comment love, and soc net love - hint hint
- Todd Jordan
Nathan: cliff notes? I'm looking at differentiating myself from other tech bloggers. That means telling PR people (most of them, anyway) to either get me interesting and different stories than TechCrunch gets, or routing around them and finding my own stories that don't require them to be involved at all (like StackOverflow).
- Robert Scoble
Robert: cultivating a variety of relationships has got to be key. I'd wager your biggest key to success is two things: persistence, relationship building.
- Todd Jordan
Winnov! I integrated those into a video conferencing project back in the '90s.
- Northorn
I thought I was going to hate it, but it made total sense. Thanks for not ranting!
- Jason Kintzler
Zee: I don't know why your stuff is still getting moderated. I approved it, though.
- Robert Scoble
Will someone tell Scoble PitchEngine is worthy of a look-see? Zee? htttp://pitchengine.com/alpha
- Jason Kintzler
Jason: if you're gonna pitch me, at least get the URL right! :-) Here it is: http://pitchengine.com/alpha/
- Robert Scoble
Thanks Zee! Goldberg, will you second?
- Jason Kintzler
Thanks, must have been the nervous jitters...
- Jason Kintzler
Def. need to check out PitchEngine...worth a look.
- Eric Miltsch
Great post. Just had a meeting with PR and AR today, so your post was especially refreshing to me.
- Matthias Zeller
Robert, I believe that this is one of your better posts. Thanks!
- Tal Keinan
My office is in Wyoming, we can Qik-it while fly fishing.
- Jason Kintzler
Robert, I enjoyed your blog post again, just like your others. I know nothing about the PR business, but it's good to hear it from your perspective. Keep up with the good work!
- imabonehead
Todd Jordan, I absolutely do not want hot baby birds!
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
from NoiseRiver
Robert, your post is a gift, excellent and thoughtful. I hope more people read it and learn. Thanks.
- Cathryn Hrudicka
There's passion. About what I've no idea forgive me. I started watching your podcast because you made developers focus on why their gadget was useful and that came across again in the post. I don't come from a tech world perspective like so many new and coming users and when I find someone who can bridge the info. gap it's a gem. Most times TechMeme is in the "so what" chasm to folks like me. You didn't do that often in the podcast and have used some of the things I found there. I cannot say that about many
- Boo
One thing you didn't explicitly say (or if you did, I missed it) - know who you're pitching to and tailor your message accordingly. Some people DON'T want PR pros on their front lawns. :) Your interests differ from Louis Gray's interests, or from Corvida's interests. In fact, some people probably shouldn't pitch to you at all, but should pitch to Corvida because their product more closely aligns with her interests.
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
BTW for the record, I didn't beg Dave Winer for a link. I either asked him what I had to do to get a link (which is what I think I did) or I jokingly begged him for a link and he took it the wrong way. Big difference even if he didn't see it that way.
- Alex Scoble
And as for PR people figuring out how to exploit blogging, et al, if you hadn't showed them, someone else would have. At least you got something to show for it.
- Alex Scoble
Ontario: actually if Corvida or Louis like something there's an extremely high chance that I'll like it too. I read both of them like a hawk.
- Robert Scoble
Interestingly, I covered most of this ground in my post yesterday (the only one in the meme Robert didn't cite). The PR person is an evolving position, one that's moving past someone who can click send on a press release and towards someone who needs to be part entrepreneur and part researcher/resource for the journalists they work with.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Mark, sorry for missing that. Mark's post is here: http://mashable.com/2008...
- Robert Scoble
best post in awhile! actually, the last few have been really good!
- Jeff (the マクダジ of FF)
PitchEngine is certainly worth a look-see.... it seems to have a good foundation for what could be a better way to organize pitches. Brogan is already a fan and I could see it getting some serious legs.
- Jason Goldberg
excellent one (again) Robert. It will be interesting to see if new startups and PR firms will actually read it and start acting upon it. I think theTechMeme game is a game that everyone (including the echoing bloggers themselves) will find increasingly boring and less effective ;-)
- Alexander van Elsas
I appreciate long posts. It lets me really get into the material.
- DGentry
Lay it all out. I love it.
- Capn' One Eye - adrift
I like this post. Robert, you set the idea of WHAT a tech blogger should be trying to do front and centre. While not all of us may have PR firms flooding us with pitches, we can find intersting stories ourselves in other ways, because those stories are out there waiting to be found.
- Roberto Bonini
Some long posts really lose me, but when Robert rants I'm glued to it from top to bottom. Great post.
- Sarah Perez
Good stuff, but #8 was uncool. It sounded like you said "Spam Friendfeed so that your item comes to my attention." You didn't mean #8 that way, did you? Because that just transfers the game that you're already tired of (competition to show up on TechMeme) over to a new playing field (Friendfeed)
- Matt Cutts
I think they want sponsorships!
- Adam
another great post. i can feel the passion oozing out of you, Robert. thanks for doing what you do best. how “XYZ product solved this need and transformed my life”? exactly. this is the best question to ask. say, have you looked at Dean Kamen's Slingshot, lately? http://bit.ly/21ccZ5
- ~C4Chaos
Why do you think I keep telling you to come to Arizona, dude. We have stories NO ONE sees:-)
- Francine Hardaway
Still don't care about the John Edwards story
Jordan Hofker, Gordon Swaby, Nathan Rein and 3 other people liked this
Why not?
- Michael Tefft
How about now? Do you care now? It's been six whole minutes!
- Akiva Moskovitz
Can't say for sure - I've made no secrets that I am a partisan (some may even say hack lol) so its not like I would ever support the guy to begin with - I get the whole character/trustworthy/person-of-your-word side of it but we have some pretty steep challenges facing us and I think the whole Paris Hiltonization of news coverage takes the focus from more important things. Pandora's box has been opened but I wish the climate of a few decades back existed where we just never focused on that kind of stuff
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
@akiva ha! mmmm - nope still don't
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Dang!
- Akiva Moskovitz
From the other side of the partisan fence, I totally agree with you Marco! I wish people's private lives could stay that way.
- Jennifer Dittrich
I agree Marco, but if it comes out that John McCain had a love child I expect you to say the same thing. ;-)
- Michael Tefft
Well, we already know that McCain cheated on his wife while she had cancer. In fact, he divorced her and married his second (current) wife.
- josh neff, geek at large
@michael you don't have to worry about that one lol
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
-exactly what Michael Tefft said.
- Mike Lewis
At least the Dems don't make morality a huge plank in their platform. It's a lot worse for a member of the Moral Majority to commit such an act. Edwards has always looked to me like a used car salesman. I like his accent though.
- Tad
I would agree with that Tad
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Exactly Joshua, and the MSM beat the drum on that one big time.
- Michael Tefft
I don't care about John Edwards activities either. It's of no consequence to anyone except him and his family.
- Ian May
Don't care about the story either, but gotta say, if anyone looks like a used car salesman it's Huckabee. Edwards looks like he's moved on up to RVs or a local news anchor. Ron Paul looks like a pharmacist and Mitt looks like a motivational speaker. These things deserve due weight of consideration.
- Boo
Thanks Boo - I think you pegged em all!
- Tad
No way...Romney is totally the used car salesman.
- Corie
My reaction to the story is, more or less, who cares? -- But I gotta say, Romney strikes me more as the motivational speaker type
- Nathan Rein
I'm with you Marco - it's not like the fact that some US politician not being able to keep their d*** in their pants is news.
- Steven Hodson
@Steven Hodson, Sir, I take umbrage with that. I may want to be a philandering politician and I would hope it would make the news if I kept one of those in my pants. No publicity is bad publicity and females still don't get equal coverage.
- Boo
Ready 4 this? there isn't enough room for all fo the details but: met this kid at a dc tech event, recommended him to friend for internship at campaign, he interviews to day, i follow up with friend - friend says they had to call the cops and have him escorted out. FAIL
felix, Morgan, Czar and 18 other people liked this
Ultimate FAIL'age!
- Mona Nomura
I wonder why they escorted him out? What did he do?
- Colide81 (James)
Wow, that is jacked up. If I ever saw kid again, I'd have to choke him...at least a little
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
oh, dear... hope that won't reflect on you too badly?
- edythe
lol i am still trying to get the details - at first I thought my friend meant he had been arrested in the past - nope. I called another friend who said "Ohh that was your guy?" i was out of the office but when I came back my intern told me she had to sit with some guy until they could come get him and escort him out. @aaron you were there the night i met this person - it sounds like it was just general weirdness
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Crap! That sucks. And that's what you get for trying to be helpful, eh?
- Andy DeSoto
Most important question - is your friend still your friend?
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
ouch!
- Mitchell Tsai
Wow. I've had some crazy interviews, but none ever involved the police.
- Cyndy
Aw. You just met him and went with that impression. I think it could happen to anyone and don't think it will tarnish your rep. I wouldn't hold that against someone, but then I work with kids and know how they can switch up sane with weird in a heartbeat of nervousness.
- Boo
lol that is so brutal... i hope you explained your relationship in the process of recommending him.
- Frankie Warren
sry been trying to recover from this week - @ontario still friends - he thought it was funny and said everyone else got a kick out of it. @frankie luckily I am very careful with recommends so I had made it clear that my impression was the result of limited interaction. so weird though!
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Go back and ask your friend for the details...why?! that's really pathetic!
- Susan Beebe
Update: so apparently he had interviewed for internship in diff department (which I knew) and had acted all creepy (which I didn't know) so when the guy who had interviewed him previously saw him in the office again he sounded the alarm (so to speak)
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
New Blog Post: As I Get Older, Some Online "Friending" Gets Creepier http://www.louisgray.com/live...
Chris Loft, Allison Kipta, Suvi-Tuuli and 17 other people liked this
Yeah, welcome to the club. One of my online things is virtual worlds. I registered for one call Habbo Hotel (if u know it, yeah sorry I assume things.) All the sudden I found myself surrounded by teens. Play acting or real I don't care...EJECT! Haven't had to worry about that sort of thing much in spaces like this, however.
- Jim Stanger
By the way, LG, that tiny url is either very wise or very not wise. People are gonna find you googling "too young" aren't they? They're probably not folks that you'd appreciate connecting with. Just a thought...
- Jim Stanger
@Jim, it could be worse. I didn't check to see if "barely legal" was taken. And maybe it's better that I have it than somebody else who would be linking to a darker place.
- Louis Gray
I think that the fact, that someone at 31 is having problems with being followed online by a 14 year old geek - who is probably seeking a role-model - or by a 20 year old girl (isn't that what people used to call woman in saner times?), and instantly starts to worry about "people assuming things" is telling. When I was 10-14 I used to hang out with older people, learning from the collegues of my mother - usually mechanical engineers or such - or of my father - working in the computer industry.
- Roland Hesz
Truth, brutha! The Einstein painting video I posted about earlier today on Twitter I tried to get /einstein linked to. Taken. Homesteading is in full effect! :-) I should secure /roadup but the domain is shorter than the tinyurl anyway. Oh what the hell...heh.
- Jim Stanger
@Roland... telling? Explain a bit for us.
- Louis Gray
I think it is a sad thing that you have to worry about "what people will assume??" If a teenager can't follow adults, how in the heck will they find a normal, everyday role model? How will they learn something useful? Why don't we just wall off people of separate ages? Sorry, but this is just plain crazy.
- Roland Hesz
@Roland It is crazy, but it's a truth of modern day society...at least in the United States. Even if that truth wasn't there, though, I'd still hope a youngster would be able to find a role model they could learn from offline. At least start it offline, and take it online if it's something that works for both.
- Jim Stanger
I'm 36. I have friends and colleagues who are 20. Ay 18, one of my best friends - and a great mentor - was nearly 30. Don't worry about it.
- Didi Chanoch
@Didi Good on you. I'm not much older and I find teens and early 20's people a strange but fascinating alien species. Wish I didn't. Is it another sign I'm getting older? Do people of any age have to lose touch with younger people, or am I just closing myself off? And when will those damn kids get off my lawn?!? ;-)
- Jim Stanger
@Louis Gray telling that you have to worry about it. That's a problem I think.
- Roland Hesz
Part of this is also that the perspective is changing as well. I've been at the same company for about 8 years, starting there when I was 23. I've always been the youngest, or one of the younger, people in a specific category. As I grow older, and the next generation starts to be in the peer group, it takes getting used to. (Not creepy per se, just new)
- Louis Gray
@Jim problem is, that if a Hungarian teenager wants to learn about, say rocket science, he will have to look for a US engineer say. Given that it takes about 20 hours to fly to the US, or more, the offline bit is impossible. The online thing will work, and sometimes that's the only way. And a 20 years old is not a youngster. That's an adult :)
- Roland Hesz
Louis, that tinyurl link is throwing 500 errors.
- Duncan Riley
@Roland Fair 'nough. Academic or similar contacts I see differently. The great promise of email all those years ago was the idea you could contact experts in a field that were otherwise inaccessible by other channels. I wouldn't wish that away for anyone, anywhere. General "kid looking for a parental figure" thing, though? Yikes! Too many unknowns, no rules.
- Jim Stanger
@Duncan it works perfectly for me. http://www.louisgray.com/live... maybe try the full.
- Roland Hesz
Roland, ended up going to Louis' site directly, but the tinyurl... here's a pic http://skitch.com/duncanr...
- Duncan Riley
I know, if you sub LG you see them all, but just in case here's the other FF discussion going on about this: http://friendfeed.com/e...
- Jim Stanger
@Jim I agree. I still think it's not about the age, it's about the 1) reason and context of contact 2) modified by age. What is perfectly normal with someone over 20 or your own age is weird with a teenager, and the other way around. But I would not say that "I won't contact people younger by X years". I will not in any circumstances welcome a kid on Second Life, but I will gladly talk with him or her about software development or music on twitter, msn, plurk, whatever.
- Roland Hesz
@Duncan I see, well, I believed you, just tried to help, but then all is good :)
- Roland Hesz
Michael Arrington just tweeted that TinyURL appears to be "completely hosed."
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
To find all relevant conversations, search for "creepier" and ignore the older stuff.
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
This is an ancient thread, but I just read the article. My life situation is strange (10-yr-old at college), and I wish that people would just value others based on who they are (not title, class, sex, race, age). I'm 41 and take ballet/jazz/hip-hop classes with people -29 yrs younger, and was at a springboard diving competition with a lady +64 yrs older. One relationship was with a lady +16 yrs older, but always with older women. My Facebook friends are 17-75 (avg 37).
- Mitchell Tsai
ancient thread perhaps, but thanks to things like FF, I get to be alerted to it in all my business lately and it was very thought provoking. got my wheels-a-turnin. I might just write something on it soon. This is what I love about technologies like this and other aggregators - posts that normally might have escaped me are brought into the foreground for me to "munch" on and digest and...
more...
- TheMacMommy
from twhirl
Melissa: I saw this article in Louis's monthly recap (July 2008) http://friendfeed.com/e... http://louisgray.com/live.... Have you read that yet?
- Mitchell Tsai
But don't you seperate who you add on twitter for example compared to maybe Facebook. I hardly check who adds me on twitter, compared to Facebook which I only add people I've met in real life, and non of 'virtual friends' Mind you, so far I know... I don't have any kids following me or adding me 2 FF, FB or Twitter... To a great extent, its just how much of your life willing to put online for whole world to see.
- Sebastiaan van den Akker
I think it is refreshing that someone actually thinks of this. So many just want the followers. Age wasn't really the focus to me, but it seems that was the stopping point for many. It was more about that weird feeling of when you know you've stepped into a maturity level that is not your own. And frankly, at some of the levels things can get dicey. And generally, that has some relationship to age (but not always). It is creepy.
- Boo
Apologies for coming late to this discussion, but don't see a point having been made here tht I think needs to be made: wrt twitter, ffeed and identi.ca (at least), following/subscribing is very much NOT the same as "friending" on other, more deliberately "social" social media e.g. facebook. I've never used the latter, so actually have trouble groking this issue. For me, subscribing/following says nothing about any desire for reciprocity; I'm just using a tool to make it easier to read your stuff.
- Tegan Dowling
Oh, crud, sorry -- I see my point/issue *is* well-addressed over on the other thread, at http://friendfeed.com/e... Come on, Ffeed, get that de-duping stuff done!
- Tegan Dowling
I'm 47 and my feelings on this issue are complicated. I do feel creepy when I find myself occasionally in situations surrounded by people 22-25 years my junior (in other words, 22-25-year-olds). Or more -- I felt totally gross when I innocently friended my 17-year-old niece on Facebook, only to find that I was apparently more than twice the age of her next-oldest friend. Eww! (con't on next rock)
- Mitch Wagner
OTOH, it's wrong to judge people based on their age. And, as we get older, we have to work to keep our brains from becoming calcified, and one way to do that is to associate with people of *all* ages. I surround myself with people whom I consider peers, aged from early 20s to nearly 70, and I think that's good. When I find myself in a gathering that's much younger than me, I try to behave in a manner appropriate to my age -- which, I think, involves being a bit aloof and avuncular. (con't on next rock)
- Mitch Wagner
That said: I like to go to clubs in Second Life, and when SL introduced voice, I was pleased to see a lot of people were using voice in one of my favorite clubs. I switched on voice myself -- only to discover that most of the people on voice appeared to be teen-agers. Ewwwww! I had no idea that they were teens -- I guess when we're clubbing in SL, we all behave a bit in an adolescent fashion. I never went back to that club again.
- Mitch Wagner
P/D/P 3 pm GST that 11 am for me. Theme: Shoes. Got it.
I repeated the message. Good chance I'll call you this weekend, just to check in on, you know, stuff.
- Erik Lehtonen
Thanks Erik. That was very kind of you.
- Boo
Five People I Would Love to Have Dinner With: Christopher Hitchens, Anthony Bourdain, Thom Yorke, Richard Branson and David Gilmour - you?
edythe, Victor Ryden, Jeff P. Henderson and 7 other people liked this
Thomas Pynchon, Christopher Hitchens, Jeff Mangum, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and David Lynch.
- Akiva Moskovitz
David Fincher, Clint Eastwood, Hunter Thompson, Gary Oldman and Bootsy Collins
- Mark Forman
Oh, if we were including dead people, my list would be quite different.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Pol Pot, Mother Theresa, Che Guevara :)-
- Peter Dawson
Do they have to be all at once? I'm kind of officially an introvert.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
from NoiseRiver
@MiniMAge, no not all at once.. 1 for each day of the week :)-
- Peter Dawson
Nate Hawthorne, Joseph Campbell, Lao Tsu, David Sedaris and my nephew Cary Grant.
- Boo
Thomas Pynchon, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bridget Fonda, Jon Stewart and Bono.
- AJ Kohn
Of the dead: Bruno Shulz, Italo Calvino, Andre Breton, Stanley Kubrick, and George Carlin.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Robin Williams, Alan Greenspan, Lance Armstrong, Scott Adams, and Stephen King.
- Aaron Schaub
Ronald Reagan, Pete Rose, Stephen Covey, Jon Anderson and John Candy.
- richrecruiter
sry should have clarified was just keeping my list to living people. Am finding a bunch of people I don't know and am interested to learn about! @forman YES Gary Oldman! he would be fascinating. @Aaron Robin williams and scott adams would be awesome! @reich Covey would be cool - @minimage lol I was thinking about that - all at once would suck, the conversation would be fascinating but you wouldn't get the full benefit
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
This is reminding me how much I loved and miss Dinner For Five on IFC.
- Michael W. May
Robert Downey Jr., Barack Obama, J.J. Abrams, Graham Greene, and the so-what-if-he's-fictional Howard Roark :)
- Blake N. Cooper
@ blake I'll second JJ Abrams, I'd imagine he would be facinating to talk to
- Keke
If they have to be living: David Lynch, Stephen Colbert, Robert Scoble, K Eric Drexler, Neal Stephenson - maybe also Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Brian K. Vaughan (Y the Last Man), Grant Morrison, and I could probably think of many more.
- Tad
Christopher Hitchens is damn cool http://del.icio.us/simonst...
- Noah David Simon
Wow - hardly anyone wants to have dinner with any women.... Let's see I'd love to have dinner with: Kathy Sierra, Melinda Gates, Cali Lewis, Yuu Watase (Fushigi Yuugi).... oh! and Mona. With Lindsay along of course! ;) :P Oooh - and Diane Keaton (have had a crush on her since I first saw Annie Hall.
- Tad
Russell T Davies, Joss Whedon, Warren Ellis, Neal Stephenson, and Phil Lesh
- Andrew
Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman.
- Shawn Farner
Michael, I miss that show, too.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Joss Whedon is great too. I just thought of Burt Bacharach too.
- Tad
Dinner For Five FTW - And now that I have started thinking about Dinner for Five I want to add David Cross and Carrie Fisher to my list but I don't know who to remove. :(
- Andrew
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lauren Bacall, Tad Williams, Queen Elizabeth II, Edythe
- Michael W. May
dinner with women? Does Waterboarding with Arundhati Roy count as dinner? ...because that would be a blast! Porn watching with Gloria Steinem! Fisting with Catharine MacKinnon... er hmmm why not Condoleezza Rice and an Ann Coulter menage toi... bring the whole Blogher group with 'em
- Noah David Simon
Gina Trapani, Robert Scoble, Dare Obasanjo, Pat Helland, Edythe. The fact that i've had dinner with 3/5 of these folks is not a coincidence. ;)
- Chris Hollander
What? You don't want dinner with your girlfriend Amanda Chapel? [Why am I doing this.]
- Akiva Moskovitz
Hunter S Thompson, Scott Bourne, Leo Laporte, Adam Duritz and Michael Palin
- Johnny Worthington
Terry Gilliam, Alan Moore, John Stewart, Kevin Smith, and Woody Harrelson
- Pete Delucchi
I thought this tangent was going towards women for dinner. aMANda Chapel is exempt from my feminist orgy. oh and I would never invite Robert Scoble over for dinner even if he would come. He's a bitch, but he would eat all my food.
- Noah David Simon
Classy Noah!
- Andrew
if your saying that robert is a "eat all of the mashed potatoes" sort of guy, then you're putting him in very lofty company. :)
- Chris Hollander
really... I would like to meet. Sarah Cudo, Justine Ezarik, Beth Cleaver, Orli Yakuel, Leora Israel, Michelle Oshen and my own girlfriend. I'm kidding about my porn fantasy. come on that was rare sexist form for me. don't I get at least one knee slap? ...er also maybe Christine Cavalier if she can stop calling me a stalker
- Noah David Simon
Gary Coleman, Emmanuel Lewis, and I'll have to think of the other three later
- Nathan Rein
BTW, my list wasn't just hypothetical... i'm free for dinner all this week. :)
- Chris Hollander
Scoble will eat ur potatoes Chris Hollander
- Noah David Simon
I want to hear Scoble's list, since he's already talked to so many interesting people.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Nathan just google famous midgets
- Noah David Simon
Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Andrew Wiley, Herman Melville and Alan Moore.
- Blake Robinson
@Boo Joseph Campbell is dead. I'd like to meet him as well
- Noah David Simon
@noah, tnx, i now phear midgets, necrophiles, and potato eaters.... GASP!
- Chris Hollander
lol @nathan are you making your list off of Bloodhound Gang lyrics? ; p Terry Gilliam, Robert Downey Jr, Terry Gilliam and JJ Abrams would be interesting
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Aden Pennington, John Lennon, Mozart, Charles Manson, Clint Eastwood
- Eric Truman
Oh living people. Only two of mine were. Subbing Bill Bryson, James Burke and an unknown.
- Boo
on a more serious note... I would like to have dinner with all living former supreme court justices. I wanna talk about porn with the pros. hey Clarence... LONG DONG SILVER was the bomb!
- Noah David Simon
The Pope, Clint Eastwood, My Dad, Queen Elizabeth, Dahli Lama...
- Kathy
After some deep contemplation, I would like to respectfully un-invite Obama to my dinner party and replace him with Cal Ripken Jr.
- Blake N. Cooper
I'd like to have Bill Kristol and Noam Chomsky over and make them talk to one another
- Nathan Rein
Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, Nick Cave, Richard Dawkins, Werner Herzog
- Robert Stribley
yoda, god, confucious, bruce lee, & stephen hawking
- chaz2b
craaaap... thoughts? http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008...
Rob, Christopher Slagle, Tim Hoeck and 27 other people liked this
well that sucks about shaving your head but it is a damn cool idea.
- Paulo Elias
from twhirl
His site is getting hammered at the moment. Kevin effect?
- Vincent X
DO IT!!!
- Adam Maldonado
embrace your inner kojak
- Seth Long
Considering my hair is at least 6" past my shoulders, I would cry if I did this. Literally. Good idea though as @Paulo mentioned.
- Matthew Horton
I fully support this meme
- Mike Doeff
i did it in college once also for charity.
- MG Siegler
I shave my head every two weeks. In fact I shaved it today. What's the big deal?
- Jason Toney
Bah, you have short hair anyways! SHAVE IT! :-P
- Matthew Horton
gotta do it! hair grows back, and an awesome idea can't stop at the first person
- Donny Warbritton
Dude...you've been double-dog-dared. Do it, then call out DVORAK!
- Jim
Talking about calling someone out! - Flip it, donate double his call out and pay some to shave their head, so the game can continue!
- Brad Parler
come on! it's just hair, it will grow back!!!
- Chris Jones
from twhirl
you're asking us? where are your walnuts?
- sean808080
from twhirl
Yes! You do have great hair and that's all a better reason to shave it off. I'll donate to your charity if you do it. This is some quality entertainment!
- Rachel Rubin
Lol talk about pressure. Ouch! Just give the money to charity yourself bro - keep the hair...
- Calvin Robinson
from twhirl
DONT DO THE HAIR, just give the money. lol Maybe give double so you DONT have to shave it. lol
- Leslie Poston
You need to do it since others will do it simply because you have done it. Think of the charities that'll benefit and remember it'll grow back :) Oh ps. your lady friend will dig you doing it for a noble cause
- Greg Rosen
from twhirl
dude, you gotta do it!
- Ryan
shave, baby, and get some nice razor lines put in too. Temp tat style.
- Boo
Dude I've been watching you since Screen Savers, you have had short hair before, and it is a damn good cause and idea from an awesome dude.
- Brandon
Do it!
- Andrew Fielding
from twhirl
Do it Kevin! Don't let things come to a screaming halt this early! Then call out Laporte!!! Leo your time is coming!!! LOL!
- Robert Couture
from twhirl
Or better yet ... SCOBLE!!!!!! Hah!
- Robert Couture
You're screwed. You better do it...at least it grows back...well it does at your age ha!
- Francis P Bonnemere
Do it Kevin!! It will grow back - Then yeah, call out Laporte or better yet - Dvorak!!!
- Les Zaldor
Do it. I need more blog fodder. LOL. P.S. Don't call me.
- Todd Jordan
I doubt that this thing will catch on... I'd be much more impressed if, I don't know, maybe if it was a contest with a prize from Gary, and that to be part of it you need to chip in in order to gather a big amount of money for a charity, skipping all that hair stuff. Or maybe to spread awareness about sites like Kiva.org, and get people involved. Kevin and Gary both have a lot of power in their hands, but I think there are more efficient ways than this hair thing. Best of luck though guys! Hope this works.
- Vincent X
It's like a reality game show: video double dog dare, pressure from the audience, and if you don't do it you should get voted off. Besides, it's for charity, so there's no harm.
- Pete Delucchi
do it and have Alex or Leo be next. Patrick would be too easy his hair is too close
- Todd Proffitt
Here's an idea - instead of shaving your head, amend it to say that if you don't shave your head, you double the amount donated
- Clay Levering
This is a great idea, but man I feel for you! How about everyone that comments here sends $5 as well?
- Rob
I am growing weary for the growing number of posts seeking to deconstruct the web's latest buzzwords to prove they are being used incorrectly - I don't care if a social media "community" is not the same concept as a "community" in early 19th century America
George Bounacos, Christian Anderson, Mark Douglass and 20 other people liked this
We can all agree that meaning of words change -- but it is still useful to have a common understanding of what a word now means even if its different from before
- Brian Sullivan
@brian very much agree - i am all for constructive discussion and critical analysis I just feel like some find they don't have a whole lot of positive value to add to the conversation so they begin looking for things to tear down so that they too can be an expert
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
@marco - Well said. I do however, enjoy any discussion regarding changing linguistics and the construct of community.
- michael sean wright
@nice fish tyx - I do as well - in fact I love any kind of discussion that challenges CW or critically discusses ideas
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
"horseless carriage" and "web" probably different meanings, too
- Mark Dykeman
that explains the weird looks lately when i tell people i love surfing the horseless carriage ; p
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
@marco - winner!
- Mark Dykeman
While the etymology of new terms and meanings is helpful for newcomers to the net and having a repository of them as a reference would be cool (an ever changing wiki often based upon keystroke errors would be kind of dorky funny), in order to take away some of the intimidation factor the terms have for people, I try to liken it to a toy that only has instructions in a language you do not know. Best to play with it to figure out what everything really means. I agree, repeated analysis is tiresome.
- Boo
Marco++ LOL
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
@mark @rasheen *making hand washing motion and walking away* "I'm out!"
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
Remember the old Tired/Wired sidebar in Wired magazines? That kind of talk is accelerating. If you want to ride the wave of it you need to be here on FriendFeed.
- Tad
Things that are dead (add your own).
Boo liked this
Apple. Digg. Twitter. Linux.
- Chris Baskind
Whatever gets me attention by saying 'x is dead'.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Linkbaiting headlines are dead
- Chris Baskind
Prohibition, women not voting, and easily accessible Coke-made-with-real-sugar.
- David Worrell
FriendFeed, Identi.ca, Social Media
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Dead is officially dead. Yea! We live forever. Oops.
- Dave "Freedom 35"
Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
- Chris Baskind
Estelle Getty, Sinatra, and Elvis.
- Archangel ωαřмaiden
Red.
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
Banjo-Kazooie
- Outsanity
Uh. Can I put a wish here?
- Boo
The true days of innocence, for all of us.
- ::Kristen::
Not punk, it just smells that way.
- Jàson Puçkett
When does the new Facebook design go live for everyone? I'm still seeing the old template.
Boo, Susan Beebe, Roger Kondrat and 5 other people liked this
I heard Monday. Since that was last Monday, and no changes yet.....
- Russellreno
I was able to finally force it to the new layout by going to http://www.new.facebook.com. Eventually it stopped redirecting back to the old one.
- Mark Trapp
Huh. I use it from three different machines and all of them know about the new layout. I subscribed to the Facebook profiles group, which is how I knew about the new.facebook url. But once I tried it it stuck.
- Sia Stewart
Mark - I got right in.
- Russellreno
Mark - that did the trick this time. I had the same problem with that URL just loading the old template as well. But worked this time. Thanks!
- Hutch Carpenter
I didn't try the new layout: I think that if it's not live for everyone yet, this is because there's still some anoying bugs. I really don't need my profile to be broken.. so I'm waiting too. I love to beta test stuffs, but not this time..
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
Hutch, I had the same issue as you, and it also now works. Thanks Mark T.
- Robert Seidman
Thanks Mark, mine was old as well.
- jcunwired
Thanks for the tip. Although, I'm not sure I like the new landing page. Giving the apps their own dropdown though is thumbs up.
- Jason Toney
I had not heard about it and just used that link provided by Mark Trapp up there. Thanks for the tip. It's so very cluttered looking. I'll keep my old until the mess is forced upon me.
- Boo
yeah, i'm now seeing the new layout after going to new.facebook.com and it's stuck that way.
- Derek Shanahan
wreckandsalvage: guy: In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic... - http://emilyqualey.tumblr.com/post...
Boo liked this
Very well worth the time. Thanks for posting it.
- Boo
Im not real intersted in tech these days, i just dont give a shit if twitter works, and I've never met a bigger group of scared pussies. time to move on I think.
winckel, Donna Mugavero, JegerPhil - Phil and 5 other people liked this
There's a lot more to life than tech. I spend half my time these days blogging about the Mets.
- Rob Safuto
Move where, Loren?
- Barry de la Rosa
Yeah, it's time. I tried to make these morons interesting for a minute. I failed.
- loren feldman
See ya.
- David Risley
laters!
- Nathan Eckenrode
Thing is, we had all these great new apps and services that were supposed to facilitate all this great, killer new content. But then, instead of getting that great new content, the apps and services themselves became the destination. Thousands of experts in how to communicate in 140 characters and tell others how great it is. Where did the end product, the entertainment and content go? I am with you Loren.
- Eban Crawford
from Alert Thingy
Just don't cross the streams and you should be ok.
- Nick Martin
With you as well, Loren. Most people seem to be using Twitter and FriendFeed to talk about Twitter and FriendFeed. Everything is completely self-referential and self-contained.
- Alexander Carlill
I almost recommended that you move into politics, but then I realised your outspokenness wouldn't really work in that sphere.
- Alexander Carlill
Then why announce it? Just move on.
- Vince DeGeorge
I see you have never been to a no-kill cat shelter. Thems some sacred pussies en mass.
- Boo
Vince: I think he announced it because it was worth saying. People around here need a wake-up call.
- Alexander Carlill
All the great apps & services are supposed to facilitate "conversation" except that people spew the same vapid rubblish online as off. Plus all the great apps & services allow things like "blocking", etc. which means people don't even have to pretend they "tolerate" you like they do offline. Social media has decomposed into separate non-communicating echo chambers. Real conversation (ie. opposing views) is rarely even possible.
- William, CPU Media
Super well said, Alexander: "Most people seem to be using Twiter and FriendFeed to talk about Twitter and FreindFeed."
- Frank Roche
The economy is in the tank. These days, people care about making real money, and vaporware is going to go Poof! soon. Technology that makes companies more productive, saves money, or helps people concentrate on the critical few instead of the distracting many, is where it's at.
- Frank Roche
Vince, you're a business guy, you know that. Those in the echo chamber never figured that out. Most of those dudes are like people who are new to walkie-talkies: What are you doing? I dunno, what are you doing? I'm talking to you. So, what are you doing?
- Frank Roche
Ha, totally on the money. Those that can, use. Those that can't, teach, er, understand I mean.
- Eban Crawford
I had a run in with Jacob's set of idiots and start ups(canot see what FW sees in them completely F'ed up)..lets just say all sheep go banaa before slaughter....
- Fred Grott
Its when people Start tweeting about their previous tweets that twitter has failed in its design. I think I use twitter more as an outlet for boredom, and dampening it, more than anything nowadays.
- Jason Cazier
Catch-22: These services need an influx of non-technical people in order to diversify their content. But those people aren't going to be attracted to the services in the first place unless they're diverse.
- Alexander Carlill
Another thing: it's a bit frustrating that in order to get any value out of things like Twitter and FriendFeed I need to find new people to follow, because my existing friends just don't use them.
- Alexander Carlill
I wrote a blog post about this a couple of weeks ago. I think the trick is giving friends an 'in' to things like FF. I'm going to tell all my friends to follow me on here when I'm on holiday in Japan.
- Martin Bryant
The tech rebels are far from the VC centers I think..stop inhaling the VC shit and things come back to normal :)
- Fred Grott
A view from the cheap seats: These services first attracted me because I was interested in the ideas from people in this medium even more than the conversations in the communities. I would say the last few months, the scales have tipped for me. I'm far more interested in the virtual neighborhoods I've visited and the people I've "met" and their ideas. I'm not going to disrespect the...
more...
- Donna Mugavero
It's all bullshit, nothing really comes of this shit, I mean I met some nice people and stuff, but ultimately its all just noise. Most people are just interested in getting noticed, they are desperate to feel that they matter, meaning traffic.
- loren feldman
Loren, are you going to keep the videos going on other topics? They're pretty amusing.
- Alexander Carlill
Alex - I will, just not a lot of tech anymore. Im going to talk about other things I find interesting. I'm also going to do more long form stuff.
- loren feldman
All of these toys have value beyond the self and it will be made apparent as soon as they are used within the context of learning and teaching. The forest for the trees. Where do people learn and teach? From there application and meaningful learning begins. A school. It would work. Do you think developers would work together with their devices to create a new institution? Charter schools are legal in all states. It would provide all that is sought and more. Or are people to engaged with their navels to see?
- Boo
Loren: Well, good luck with that. Just keep up the humour, you're good at it.
- Alexander Carlill
So, um, people are self-centered? People are interested in getting attention? There are jerks on the internet? Yes. But I don't think they ruin the experience; you have to block, ignore, or otherwise shield yourself from them.
- Brent Newhall
I'm jazzed to see what evolves, especially with the long-form videos.
- Donna Mugavero
I forget about this old blog post until someone new gets offended by it. Boomers? Offensive? http://smokeringsandcoffeestains.com/...
I used to feel very much like this as well and often discussed these things with my hawk boomer father and dove boomer momma. It was my mother who noted the clock. "Times a wastin' whachoo gonna do 'bout it?" She said all funny but poignant. Spilled milk stinks a long time if you don't clean it up. So I set about doing that in my own way. You do it in your own way too. There aren't...
more...
- Boo
edythe, Michelle Marie Miller, Hao Chen and 9 other people liked this
awww...adorable. :)
- Anna Haro
He looks like he will be a tall drink of water. What a cutie pie!
- Boo
cool :)
- marinka239
lol my former boss and mentor was in town last night so he finally got to see asher - he wanted to see the pics so I uploaded them to picassa and sent him the link. thanks for the kind words!
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
What I *love* about the NYer cover is that people are way way too careful, let's blow the whole thing up and have a laugh. Lighten up!
Susan Beebe, ryan, Brad Davis Seal and 14 other people liked this
I'm a huge Obama fan. And I love the cover. I think it's hilarious and perfect satire. A lot of people have commented that many will not get the joke and will use the cover to hurt Obama. Since when should we curb satire because some people will take it the wrong way?
- Bill Bittner
from twhirl
No one ever gets to have any fun. Wolf Blitzer is just a reporter he isn't king god of the universe. He may not have a sense of humor, but that doesn't that the rest of us can't ever once in a while have a laugh. What's the point of all our wealth and power if we can't enjoy it a little. :-)
- Dave Winer
Don't you think a lot of the uneasiness is about not wanting to talk about race in a direct way? I learned not to be uneasy the easy way, working in an environment with a 20:1 black:white ratio.
- Amyloo
You're absolutely right that there's uneasiness in discussing race. However I there are many things in the cover that aren't productive in race discussions. There's satire for the sake of discussion, and there's satire for the sake of satire. I believe the cover is in the latter category. Maybe I'm just over-analyzing the whole thing and I should let it go. I probably am
- Thomas B
What I love most about the NYer cover is the stick-up-the-rear blow hards who aren't sure whether it's kosher to laugh at it.
- Michael Markman
I'm pretty sure the type of people who are exposed here, and they are quite numerous in America, will love the cover too http://scienceblogs.com/pharyng...
- Adam Turetzky
The thing is brings up is that, believe it or not, its not outrageous *enough* (for some people) to be obviously a satire on the politics of fear. In other words, its too close to what serious anti-obama people are putting out to be a joke... it perhaps cuts a little too close to the real thing.
- Gabe Wachob
from twhirl
Look ont he bright side, this cover will probably win hima lot of fans over on the Daily Kos - until they realize it is satire. Then they will be dissapointed.
- Soulhuntre
from twhirl
@Soulhuntre that's a cheap shot
- Thomas B
No, that is his wife, Michelle. It's so ridiculous that people think this is tasteless. It's so obvious that they are parodying not Obama, but peoples' perceptions of him. Political correctness is alive and well unfortunately.
- Kevin L
A cheap shot? I don't think so - have you seen some of the peopel who call Daily Kos home? I think @klecu has a good point about political correctness but you do have to realize that accusing folks of being racist about Obama is literally a campaign strategy at the moment for many Obama supporters. They are trying to equate any criticism with racism. As such, PC is not only alive but thriving.
- Soulhuntre
DailyKos is a bloody cesspool. More times than not when I've gone over there, I've encountered rabid antisemitism and a lot of frightening sentiment in extremely poor taste. Of course, you can find a lot of the same at Obama's campaign site, Huffington Post, and so on and so on.
- Akiva Moskovitz
I love the cover. I think we should be able to laugh.
- Francine Hardaway
In a strange irony the critics might not want to be lumped with the same people who wigged out about a certain Danish cartoon.
- Oldengrey (Jay)
I agree that it's over the top satire... but now the Obama and McCain campaigns are officially offended. I wonder... could he not be? If he's not offended and sees it as it is, he plays into the "elitist" arguments, is misinterpreted as endorsing it(ie it is true) and that he is not the president of the people. Interesting conundrum.
- James Williams
The cover is great. It brings to light and creats a discussion of the whisper campaigns against Obama.
- Erik Weese
It's smug satire. I just hope that once again the self-satisfied aren't handed their asses by their butts. More Bottom than Puck, too bad the play is not a comedy. Do butts of jokes often engage in discussion as to why they are being laughed at? In my experience they get meaner and dirtier to maintain a seat at the ego trough. Nope. You don't open a dialogue with the bear by poking him with a sharp stick or pointed cartoon even.
- Boo
I have to say I fell for it badly then. I thought they were "satirising" Obama's race and name....which just isn't satire. I was offended. I feel a bit stupid now as you guys are telling me they were satirising the whisper campaign. I have to say if it wasn't clear to me, then a lot of people are going to be pissed off.
- Chris Nixon
back from an awesome first date thing. pfew. i need some sleep after this crazy week.
congrats. First date awesomeness is a rare gem indeed.
- Boo
Other ways to read this feed:
