Now, now, Jeff. I mentioned in the article that I typically prefer native apps or Web apps to AIR apps, but this one is very interesting, at least to me. I dig it.
- Louis Gray
im just trying to be funny...hehe good post btw.
- (jeff)isageek
ah! and I was wondering why my twitter vanity search hit on that topic as I do not like the air apps. but grouping actually would be a reason to try it out. problem: as long as twitter decimates the request rates it is unreliable, but a first step in the right direction. will download it now ;)
- Nicole Simon
Louis, I think you're right - there is still innovation happening around Twitter, fortunately. The fact is there is still a huge audience on Twitter and that audience still has the potential to be monetized. I'm even building something around Twitter at the moment. There is still that threat though, that developers could leave if Twitter keeps neglecting them - it's in the back of the mind
- Jesse Stay
"feels" like Twhirl. Wish it had FF support...if it does it wasn't obvious from the website. I agree with others that I'd really like to see these Adobe air apps with some better skins
- Rob Neville
from twhirl
"Now, now, Jeff. I mentioned in the article that I typically prefer native apps or Web apps to AIR apps, but this one is very interesting, at least to me." - That's part of why I like the platform so much. Most people like native apps but AIR apps are pretty easy to build so there's bound to be a few that people really like. (Ryan - rstewart@adobe.com)
- Ryan Stewart
Wow, and Steve Gilmore can sure turn a phrase, also: "I still can’t get past the reality that when Twitter farts, FriendFeed becomes a complete and total gasbag." It goes downhill from there.
- Rex Hammock
oh, well, that's never happened before :)
- Steve Gillmor
holden: can u splain the activia ref?
- Steve Gillmor
The whole article, Steve. Why does he blame FriendFeed? Is it like blaming Drew's cancer, or something? And why anyone thinks Twitter is better than this is beyond me. (Just realized you're the Steve who wrote it.) Still don't get it. Why do you think Twitter is better?
- Kimber Scott
Kimber: Where do I say Twitter is better. It just is. And FriendFeed brings out whatever that is.
- Steve Gillmor
Steve - Twitter is better at giving voice to teeth whitening moms and life coaches. You can't use Twitter without using some sort of third-party thing. (I use Tweetdeck and FF.) I much prefer spending my time here and checking in there. I have my rooms here. I don't have to click on anything to see a picture. I can talk as long as I want in one post. Liking is much better than RTing and...
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- Kimber Scott
That was funniest Gilmor post I've read. Read it three times and still trying to understand the point but it was great.
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
Yeah. Yet another journalist who doesn't know how to use FF. Why do I think this? B/c in his screenshot Louis or Robert were telling him how to use it! haha.
- anna sauce
No offense, Steve, but I'd like someone with a big following to review FriendFeed who actually knows how to use it. Perhaps the ease-of-use is way past these folks? I doubt it. Or whip out the old "I don't have time/ I have a job." Yet, these people spend their time reviewing, and using, technology. So.... still unclear on why the non-power-users are reviewing it.
- anna sauce
As I said, I'm not a geek and I had no trouble figuring FriendFeed out. It's really not that hard. Really. Actually, it's easier than Twitter. First: You don't have to figure out what it's for. You "get it" right away. It's obviously a communication tool. Second: if you want to jump in on a conversation, which you can actually have on FriendFeed, and as I did with this one, you don't...
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- Kimber Scott
anna I am a power user. Kimber I love FriendFeed but also know why it exists. How hard is it to understand that there is a hugely dynamic symbiotic relationship between the two platforms, dominated by Twitter's reach and FF's depth. Holden, the point was to communicate, which it definitely is doing. And even developers like Dave choose not to explain some of what they write. Activia means what?
- Steve Gillmor
Activia is a company that makes yogurt that aids in getting the bowels flowing...
- Ryan
So, Steve, what you're saying then is there is a symbiotic relationship between a parasite on a pimple on an ass and a body as a whole? That seems like a one way relationship to me and it doesn't reflect kindly on FriendFeed. So, I guess what I don't get, getting back to my original comment, is how you can love FriendFeed and still call it a parasitic ass-pimple eater.
- Kimber Scott
from email
Ryan ahh thanks I use Metamucil when I have that problem, but this piece came easily
- Steve Gillmor
Kimber it's a reference to the original post, and it represents a size relationship in the post Oprah Twitterscape. And one organism's pimple is another's home sweet home. I love host and tenant, one more than the other -- which you'll have to ask elsewhere for the "answer."
- Steve Gillmor
Couldn't you just blame Friendfeed once and be done with it in under 140 chars?
- ianf ⌘
is anyone else wondering where gillmor gets off not googling things for himself? steve... double click the word, right click it, and do the search google option in the context menu... i really is that simple
- Chris Heath
Guess it's nice that you think you're a power user, but you haven't really shown here that you are. Upset with the "gasbag" of FF? Follow new people. Create lists. Get off the main feed. Trim your subscriptions. You can't complain about the content (well, I can) unless you either know the various ways around it. Then you can complain. Otherwise, it just seems that you, like most of the people reviewing FF, have no idea how to use it.
- anna sauce
This whole thread is one the funniest things I have read in a long time, including the post that started it all! Thanks to everyone.
- frankiecarl
Unfortunately Steve is right, if Twitter goes down, the quality of realtime information in FF decreases... it is still the best client for Twitter but sharing and discovery still happens first on the fail whale network
- Alberto Saavedra
from Nambu
Holy smokes! I agree w/Frankiecarl, this is hilarious.
- Mark Evans
from iPhone
I commented on Steve's article, because I felt there was way more he could have written about the actual problem, the DDoS attack. However, there is one thing that bugs even me sometimes. It's one thing to have the best platform amongst social media, but it needs to be demonstrated in times like this. Needs a few more people using the strengths of FF to do a bit of citizen journalism.
- George Hall (Australia)
Alberto, that's exactly my concern in the future as Friendfeed grows. As mass mainstream enters, quality the way we think of it decreases to Twitter Trending Topics.
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
ianf: no. anna: what makes you think gasbag is not a term of endearment? George: it's really simple, FF's fault. Chris: I don't use search except as a spell checker, and I trust Dave WIner's spelling implicitly.
- Steve Gillmor
This is a hysterical thread in response to one of the funniest posts i've read in a long time. the stuff about Steve not Googling for himself...that's just rockin' funny. thx for the laugh. I needed it.
- Karoli
ff's fault only in that they don't always take opportunities to demonstate FF in such times NOT for what's happened.
- George Hall (Australia)
from BuddyFeed
how could you possibly know what happened. Me, I Blame FriendFeed
- Steve Gillmor
Why is Blame always capitalized? I feel like I'm missing out on something.
- Jonathan Langdale
Why, Steve? Why? What did FriendFeed do? I shouldn't even respond to this silly post anymore. It's almost like you're an artist who's painted a mess and is being vague about it with the hope that people might get the impression it must really "mean" something. Twitter goes down from a DOS attack and you Blame FriendFeed, but you love FriendFeed. You sound like my ex-husband.
- Kimber Scott
from email
Give the resources of TechCrunch to Twitter and just stop spreading shit like this over the web. Everything will be good.
- Ryo / Fuck Facebook
Alberto, when Twitter went down, my FriendFeed folks continued to serve me quality contents. Really.
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
Steve, your article made perfect sense to me. Sorry others didn't agree. It's clear that the tweetstream is the core of FF's value to most people, even if FF has oodles of other features that we "native" FFers get a lot more mileage out of.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Why doesn't everyone just pick a horse and ride it? This quibbling over platforms is tiresome.
- ZuDfunck
Daniel: wasn't too hard, was it. thx
- Steve Gillmor
i'm a tad inebriated, but still... wha? if twitter is the be all end all of online communications then we're f'd... seriously (in an inebriated kind of way)
- Chris Heath
and by 'be all end all' i mean 'end all be all' and by that i mean 'core of FF's value to most people'
- Chris Heath
Is it because I've just exited the 25-54 demo and now face the death panel, or does anyone else detect some ageism in comments about Steve's opinions on tech? I noticed it when GG was on Leo's network, too, from commenters who needed to teach the old men about things only a gen-xer or younger could possibly comprehend. I get it from younger people, too, who KNOW I won't be able...
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- Amyloo
like which comments Amyloo? sometimes stuff like that can be unintentional just because a younger generation's social norms deviate from the past generation and your perceptions are different than their intentions - misunderstandings and miscommunication are some of the pitfalls that are abound in life (and even more so in online life where there's not facial expression or tone and inflection of voice to give other social weight and cues to our words).
- Chris Heath
in regards to steve, his style, and the reactions that his writings and online activities provoke: I think steve is either 1) trying to 'stir the pot' to 'get a rise' out of a certain type of person in a john c dvorak kind of way, 2) maybe he's really just a crotchety old man, and i mean that in the kindest of ways that a stranger can say that about someone or 3) something else -- and i...
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- Chris Heath
chris: I write something, people comment, I comment back. Pot is constantly stirred, doesn't need any extra. some people are trying to inflict damage by calling me old, or fat, or whatever. it usually say more about them since I am 60, fat, and whatever. The ageism thing is subjective: I could outlive all of them or none of them. WHo knows. Their problem, not mine.
- Steve Gillmor
Rice Dream FTW. Best substitute I've found. Protein supplements for working out though are really tricky. Even those that claim to be lactose free give me problems :(
- LANjackal
This is the story of milk intolerance. Milk intolerance tend to reduce the enzyme that breaks down lactose almost adults become. they have only to eat cheese or yogurt instead of milk.
- Ami Iida
Ami, yes, because those products have the enzymes needed to break it down. Adults tend to lose enzyme production at a faster rate as they age. A good counter measure is to get a juicer and drink fresh vegetable and fruit juice. Drink it within 20 minutes or the enzyme activity dies. Do this over time and it will help replenish and build up enzyme production.
- Melanie Reed
A lot of the way we have tended to eat is behind food intolerance and allergies. Rotate your foods (moderation) and include fresh often. Stay away from pre-packaged and processed foods. They don't "exercise" your system. You lose what you don't use.
- Melanie Reed
I agree on the Rice Dream. Used to take it a few years back.
- Roberto Bonini
Roberto, yep. I used (and still do on occasion) Rice Dream, Almond milk, soy milk, goat milk...when at my worst, I even made "milk" out of a number of nuts and grains. Many cultures rely on these "milks" and have for ages. However, I found once I took the load off my system, let it rest and heal, built up enzyme production, I am now able to drink cow's milk again.
- Melanie Reed
our bodies are meant to lose the capacity to digest lactose during childhood as a built in mechanism to ween us off of breast milk and onto solids - it's only due to a specific gene mutation that some humans were able to consume it without it causing adverse issues when digesting.
- alphaxion
I can't drink milk without severe pain in my gut. Nobody else in my family has the problem. It's only really annoying when I have to use it to cook something with, but then I just use substitutes instead. Cheese and any processed milk products are fine, it's only the raw stuff that hurts.
- Otto
interesting. I always wondered why cheese doesn't bother me but milk does.
- Sheila Taylor
It's because we bomb all of the good probiotics out of it with pasteurization.
- anna sauce
... and the cows that it comes from have a diet that's about 90% corn
- anna sauce
Anna, bingo! Trace it back up the pipe and you find the issue. So many things are like that and typically we overlook it and draw the wrong conclusions with the apparent evidence. Pasture lands have been stripped bare. Cows are given feed that they would never have eaten in the past (as are chickens, turkeys, etc) and yes, that does affect the chemical make up of milk.
- Melanie Reed
Anna -- agreed. Big dairy milk is an engineered product that is impressive from a technology point of view... but being able to drink raw milk isn't in line with Big Dairy designs. We'll have to wait for a consumer revolt before Big Dairy hires the same people that trashed raw milk to turn back the clock and extol its virtues.
- Jay Cuthrell
Can one build up lactose tolerance by continually drinking lots of milk?
- Jess Lee
Jess, it didn't work on me. The more I drink, the worse the aftereffects.
- Ha3rvey (more more more)
Jess, you can build up an intolerance to a lot of things by overdoing it. If you do, avoid, rotate, and replenish. Then challenge test at various points. Some do the avoidance but never replenish their enzymes. That's only one part of the protocol. the other is getting better food back into your system after you clean out the gunk. What an animal eats, you and I eat. When it eats what...
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- Melanie Reed
Then, they were first asked to look at configurations of blue and red rectangles and focus only on the red ones. Each arrangement was flashed on a screen twice, and the students had to decide whether the red rectangles in the second frame were in a different position than the first. Surprisingly, the students who were “light” multitaskers had no problem with this task — but the “heavy” multitaskers were terrible at it. “It turns out they’re actually extremely bad at multitasking,” says Clifford Nass, a professor of communication and one of the study’s authors. “The expectation was that they would be better at multitasking. This shocked the heck out of us.”
- Hutch Carpenter
I tried look up the gender mix of the students, but could not find it in the original article as well. http://news.stanford.edu/news... I've always thought women are much better multi-taskers then men; it would be interesting to see whether it is really so.
- ǝuǝƃnǝ
You can now get a daily or weekly email digest for anybody's feed on FriendFeed. You'll get a daily or weekly email with the most popular posts from that person's feed. To get the email, click the "Email/IM" link at the top of anyone's feed, and select the "Best of day" or "Best of week" email option.
Thanks to Kevin for doing a great design for what turned out to be a more complex set of UI options than we had originally anticipated, and thanks to Tudor for implementing the email backend.
- Bret Taylor
I now get the FriendFeed Feedback posts as a Best of Day email so it doesn't fill up my feed, but I don't miss feedback. I also set up a "Best of Day" email for my "Technology people" friend list so I get a pretty good overview of tech news every day via email.
- Bret Taylor
This is a really cool idea Bret, I wish you can make that an RSS feed option as well. I'd be much more likely to read summaries in RSS than in email.
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
Neat feature, but it's more focus on big shiney new features, while ignoring the glaring issues in need of polish in the site we currently have.
- Matthew DeVries
Casey: Thanks for the tip. What's the 7 before the "?" mean in the URL? The number of likes or replies needed to be included?
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
this is killer, the random influx of email during the day was kinda getting fail-ish. I love the daily digest.
- Drew Lucas
Very cool! Any way to get archives of previous months? (especially helpful for those of us who leave the internet for weeks at a time...)
- Mitchell Tsai
Just curious - at what time of the day will we get these emails ? Midnight US-Time, or will it respect our timezones ?
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
Ahsan: it is somewhat random right now when the emails are sent, but we built in the backend capability to control what time they are sent, and we plan on exposing that control to users in the future. Right now, it is kind of random - sorry!
- Bret Taylor
But what exactly is "Best"? Is it anything that has a certain number of likes/comments?
- Laura Norvig
@Bret LOL THAT WAS MY PROJECT! I will release it tomorrow. But you've also did it and killed my friendfeed application **sigh** But mine has multi-reporting weekly-daily-monthly at the same time and adjustable entry count!
- Alp
@Bret please consolidate me or I won't code new apps with you api! :-)
- Alp
Alp: we were not trying to withhold data. Later today the documentation will be updated to reflect the ability to obtain "Best of" for users. The feed id will be USERNAME/summary/N (similar to "Best of" for lists)
- Benjamin Golub
Hi Ben, that is pretty funny, I tried that URL earlier today to see if it has been secretly released :)
- Paul Kinlan
Bret: While Twitter struggle to keep their fail whale under control, you guys are developing stuff like this. Amazing - Thanks!
- Jim Connolly
awesome feature, this will be highly useful for my corporate group ideas / content sharing; projects, etc.... THANK YOU :)
- Susan Beebe
Great work. I especially like that it works on lists too.
- Meryn Stol
my inbox might say different, but I like that :-)
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
Wow, this is really neat! And it links into the idea I expressed earlier, re: reducing signup friction / enabling limited guest privileges. Imagine if I could embed one of my FF rooms on my personal web site, and enable people to subscribe to that feed by e-mail with just a couple of clicks... rather than saying "you can get e-mail notifications but you have to sign up for Friendfeed first." "sign up" -- though admirably lightweight on FF -- is still a huge barrier.
- Adam Lasnik
is there a love button cause I dont like this option I LOVE this option..great work guys
- (jeff)isageek
Three options I would like (1) Can I select "top 100" instead of "top 30"? (2) Could I select both "best of day" and "best of week"? (3) How about older timeperiods? I'd love to get an e-mail with stuff from last week or Mar 2009? Start & end dates? Anything to help me read FriendFeed off-line would be great since I spend long periods off-line at festivals (especially during summer time) or overseas. - Awesome job guys!
- Mitchell Tsai
Great way to keep up with those you're most interested in; things you don't want to miss.
- Diego Barros
So this works on groups too, cool! But we still cannot see Best of for groups on the site on friends lists. :-( I have several friends lists that include just groups and when I select to view the best of the page it's empty (even though if I got to the individual best of for those groups there are entries there).
- Kol Tregaskes
does anyone know of a web service that can do this? (I'm thinking weekly email updates of my favorite feeds/people) I don't think there's anything like friendfeed ..
- Bicentennial (Franc)
It's true, I started a blog. Finally decided it was time to make time and write. Let me know what you think really appreciate all of your guys feedback.
- Caleb Elston
Great start for a blog, Caleb! You should add it to your FriendFeed.
- Meryn Stol
Enjoy the concept exposed in the headline, have to dig it more.
- abdellah
i dont understand why people dont love diggbar
- Ahmet Soyata
seems very short sighted of digg to have gotten so greedy.
- Caleb Elston
Caleb: They only have so much funding and they keep taking people (Google) down the alter and get jilted which means they will either die (running out of cash mainly) or they'll grow up get a revenue model and become self-sufficient - which is what they're doing now ;)
- Nicholas James
Nicholas: Yeah, you are right, the business realities are forcing their hand a bit, but it is rarely a good idea to piss off your users.
- Caleb Elston
Louis, you think there's really something to be done for OSs? I think we simply reached the end of it all. Slowly, the browser will take over everything. A potential step for OS X (say 10.7 or 10.8) would be to make something like Fluid.app a true core part of the OS, let Spotlight search the web really well (via Google, Bing and Wolfram Alpha API's)... But this all doesn't warrant to take it to eleven.
- Meryn Stol
Simply put, I see the OS slowly fading into the background. It will remain essential (a browser needs an OS, period) but it won't matter for innovation.
- Meryn Stol
Therein lies the question, Meryn. I don't know that Apple would simply discontinue the operating system and get out of the business, right? So whatever they would call it would have to work in this new environment, whether it has a version number or not. So how do they adapt? And when will they communicate to customers these planned changes?
- Louis Gray
I think the people who are truly short-sighted in this are those who believe it's an either/or proposition: either it's OS-driven or browser-driven; either it's local or cloud; etc. The next step isn't ditching the OS in favor of the browser or the hard drive for the cloud, it's making the two completely indistinguishable from each other. In a way, Microsoft was ahead of everyone when...
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- Akiva Moskovitz
I think Microsoft sees this too and they're really starting to come back. Apple's got some serious pressure to start innovating again.
- Jesse Stay
Louis, I think they're slowly adapting to making "web devices". Iphone was meant to have web apps only at first... I think there's still a lot of money in making superb web devices. A strong OS is a part of that, but it won't really be a selling point. For Iphone, you see Apple de-emphasizing tech specs. It's a gradual retreat from lower layers towards U/X and hardware design only. But that's exactly the place Apple always has shined. I think the OS really can be cut out between without hurting Apple.
- Meryn Stol
MSFT has a bigger problem... Windows 7 is about the end for them too. Many people can still get around with XP. It's all about the browser nowadays.
- Meryn Stol
Also, don't forget, there's more to the OS than just providing a means to get to the Internet. Although I think we'll one day see on-demand access to games even more advanced than the ones that require two DVDs to be installed on a local drive, we are far, far, far away from that. In many ways, gaming drives hardware more than anything else.
- Akiva Moskovitz
PC Gaming is a weird phenomenon. Somehow, I'd expect it to move to consoles... But it's seemingly hard to "extinguish". But I think we'll definitely see on-demand downloading of game content. The actual game engine doesn't have to be that big.
- Meryn Stol
I'm glad that gaming hasn't been 'extinguished' on the PC. It drives innovation more than any other aspect of computers. Even if other products might have brought about 3D graphics to computers, it would have come much later and at much slower of an acceptance rate and at a far higher price to consumers. Gaming is as vital as ethernet.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Another option is just like the Wizard of Oz. "It was right there in front of you this whole time!" as the iPhone OS moves to the desktop. (Photoshop and Office I am ignoring for now)
- Louis Gray
For me it is all about the apps. The OS has always been about abstracting the hardware so that developers have a stable and predictable environment to create their apps that serve people's needs. Apple has built more "Apps" and app like functionality into their core OS and I expect they will continue to do so. What we really want are the OS's of the future to not only abstract the local...
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- Caleb Elston
Your post and the discussion here sparked me to finally start my blog discussing this very issue! If you are interested it can be found at http://calebelston.com Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
- Caleb Elston
A Google engineer recently posted a message on the Chromium development board stating that his team would be implementing a synchronization service into Chrome's open-source progenitor as early as this week. What's different about Chrome's sync service? It uses a "push" service, through Google Talk protocols, to instantly move bookmarks, settings, and other user data into a Google account base, where it could be accessed on the web from any browser. A developer channel build of Chrome with some of the first features implemented can be expected as early as the end of this week, according to the posting. Does a push-synchronized Chrome change your view of each web browser's strengths and weaknesses? [via Ars Technica]
- Bwana ☠
While everyone seems to be joining the microblogging, real-time, blah-blah stream, I seem to be getting attracted to old-fashioned RSS. Socialized Google Reader, LazyFeed, Toluu...wow!
There is no excuse "Twitcam" did not know going in that they were impinging on TWIT's copyright. I really wish Leo would go after them with a vengeance to show other would be URL copyright infrengers to think twice about it.
- earl wallace
And there are others who I will not name here that I told of the problem with their use of the word TWIT in their doman name & they told me the that they were not concerns about it. Oh well.
- D Lets
No kidding, (not that you can own a url, you can't, it is still solely up to ICANN as far as who can or can not keep a url). US Copyright law does not cover use of company names. Actually it would be US Trademark law that covers this kind of thing. But, speaking to that, the name Tweeter is still not available until all their debts are paid. But, putting 'tweet' in a name for a twitter...
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- CLC Radio
I can't believe that these companies can't do a simple google search before going with a name..
- Anton Tanderup
from BuddyFeed
They should use "twat". No one would want to contest that.
- Andy Bakun
Aw cripes. And from Livestream, too (formerly Mogulus). These guys were actually wooing me to use their service so I know they know TWiT exists. I hate having to do this but I've spent so much time and money and social capital creating the TWiT brand that I really have to protect myself. -sigh- It's a great idea and if they'd called it Tweetcam I'd have no problem with it. Please folks - do a trademark search BEFORE you launch your business.
- Leo Laporte
¡Que será, que será! One must do what one must do! There are lots of products with Tweet on it, why this? No excuse!!!
- Luis D. Santos
Leo: I'm totally with you on this one. As Emperor Palpatine said to the newly-anointed Lord Vader in Revenge of the Sith, "Do what must be done." (Not sure I should be comparing you to a mass murderer, but whatever...)
- Eric Geller
They're not very creative, that's why. Tweet just sounds better, makes more sense. But, it's not part of Twit[ter]'s name. I think it's usually a brand association attempt. Notice Twitter does nothing to protect itself against such associations.
- Jason Nunnelley
I thought Twitter was trying to trademark the word "tweet." They were probably afraid. Well now they are going to have to deal with Leo.
- DalThu
See, here's the thing. Long before TwitCam was TwitPic. And Leo has actually uploaded pics to TwitPic... see http://twitpic.com/1jf77 so why sue one service using "twit" and embrace another?
- Mitch Canter
Mitch - Read the trademark regarding TWiT and you'll see it's mostly tied to audio/video production or content (from my understanding) twitvid/twitcam fall into that category while twitpic does not
- Bwana ☠
My friends just launched a startup that makes it easy to find movers, painters, childcare, etc. Give it a try and let us know what you think: http://www.vavoca.com/. They also made a cute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch... (all startups should have cute videos)
at the #crunchup August Capital party I talked to the CEO of Twitvid, Adil Lalani, he was raving about the great results from work he's shopped out through oDesk vs other "gig" type sites
- Brian Hendrickson
Sounds good. I need to find a husband who will put things on the wall and fix broken dressers, etc. Or I could just get a handyman.
- Louis Gray
The closest people to where I am are over 3900 miles away :-). Cute video though :-)
- John Mueller
Cute videos are a must for startups :) hehe
- Susan Beebe
I just tried it. I love the idea, but the results I'm getting aren't that great. Here's my search for a plumber in Nashville TN http://www.vavoca.com/search...
- Andrew
We are working on populating the categories and hope to reach other area like Nashville soon. Mostly our efforts initially are focused on the Bay Area for proximity reasons, but there is nothing preventing providers and jobs to post in other areas as well. We would appreciate any marketing help in other city's through word of mouth, facebook, etc.
- Drea Lester
Thanks for the bug report Space Cowboy, we have it resolved now. By the way...any relation to THE Space Cowboy? http://www.spacecowboys.org/ Very sad no mid day parties this year on the Playa.
- Drea Lester
Drea Lester - no problem. About the name, let's just say I liked 'Happy Feet' a lot. :)
- Space Cowboy
Thomas, Reader will never be the place for "conversation", but the likes have promoted more interaction already. Facebook has blatantly copied features as well, but also does not really have the same level of discussion.
- Rob Diana
Google Reader and even Facebook have awful features for discovering new people, for what it's worth. In FriendFeed, it's serendipitous - neither can match that.
- Tyson Key
Loved: "If Twitter is the equivalent of a high school diploma, FriendFeed is a Master’s degree." Great post, Rob.
- Mahendra (SkepticGeek)
Tyson, I agree that Reader has very little discoverability and the new features just help with searching. Facebook is a little better for discovery as the network is significantly more powerful, but they still have a ways to go.
- Rob Diana
Thanks Mahendra. My thinking is that people complain that FriendFeed is "too complicated" and Twitter is "so simple". But that never really explained the relative difference.
- Rob Diana
Yes, that is only part of the truth. Is the pace of 'introducing new features relative to your critical following base' a lesson to learn for FriendFeed?
- Mahendra (SkepticGeek)
As long as friendfeed continues to lead the way, they will be well rewarded for their efforts eventually. I wonder what the “killer” feature is going to be which you mention. It’s funny you should be the one to bring it up, because I keep thinking about your suggestion of a unified communication platform. From what I’ve heard, that’s what Wave is supposed to be, but I haven’t tried it yet, so I don’t know. I still think you were on to something, and perhaps friendfeed will be moving in that direction.
- Michael Fidler
Maybe so, but I can still like Google Reader's innovation.
- Louis Gray
Michael, I do not know what the killer feature might be. Wave is closer to the unified communication platform, but could definitely impact FriendFeed eventually. However, it is still in a very closed beta, so there is plenty of time to wait.
- Rob Diana
Louis, the incremental changes in Reader are very interesting. There is significant power with google behind it, and likes have definitely had some impact. I am curious to see if the activity changes at all.
- Rob Diana
Oh, come on! Since when are software products, and then webapps such as GReader, expected to be set in stone once out in the open? Of course they will be changing, and adopt proven solutions from other domains. We should be grateful for them for taking that route, even without attribution to "our" FF [it's not ours, btw., its Bret's and Paul's and Ana's and Sanjeev's and Jim's and...
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- ianf ⌘
Doesn't anyone think FriendFeed is ripping off what came before it just a little? The liking system is very similar to Digg's votes, and the topic+comment system is a forum in AJAX clothing. There will always be innovation on the web, we just tend to see a lot of innovation being built off others' ideas.
- Mitch
Mitch, I wish FriendFeed would rip off some some threaded comments and rating system. The comment system at DailyKos has been real-time for almost 3 years.
- Anika
Yes! Threading would be much appreciated. In one of Paul Buchheit's interviews he tells us that comment liking is coming, so at least some form of rating is on the way.
- Mitch
An aside: I absolutely HATE how Google Reader haphazardly added Like to post items. WTF cares? It doesn't fit there.
- Tamar Weinberg
Conversely, do you _want_ "the masses" on FriendFeed?
- Rick Cogley
It's funny - As much as I want FriendFeed to go mainstream, I remember how much better Twitter was a year or so ago.
- Jim Connolly
Some of the new social features feel like they were added by committee. "Add a 'like' button, ok? And can you make it real time?"
- Rick Cogley
Rick and Jim, the masses may not have quite the same effect here as they did on Twitter. Because you can create your own lists, and really tailor what you see, a larger user base may not be as visible to you.
- Rob Diana
Rob, you don't have to follow everyone on Twitter, you know. Just follow people you know, trust, or who's opinion you value or need to hear.
- Ian Betteridge
Ian, I know that you don't have to follow people on Twitter. I was just pointing out that FriendFeed has better features when dealing with larger groups of people. Twitter by itself does not provide that, although almost all of the third-party clients do.
- Rob Diana
BofA supports Chrome? Wow. I'm stunned. Chrome has become my favorite browser.
- Ha3rvey (more more more)
I tried our sharepoint site on Chrome. And. It. Works.
- Ginger Makela Riker
It's interesting that they list Chrome explicitly, but so far I haven't encountered any site (that I normally use) where Chrome didn't Just Work.
- Tudor Bosman
or is it because BofA did not have to do anything to support Chrome, but they take credit for it?
- kartik vaithyanathan
In all fairness, I think they're just being as complete as possible (although no Opera mention, teehee). I wouldn't call it an informed endorsement, as they're still recommending Internet Explorer for Mac 5.
- Mark Trapp
And they recommend Safari for Windows, on OS 10 only (!?!)
- Nick Lothian
Cleaning has got to be one of the grossest things one can do. The dirt was out of sight and out of mind before! Why do I want to add liquids to it and get all sweaty scrubbing it up? Where's my self-cleaning house, flying car?
- Mark Trapp
from iPhone
the dirty little secret of the Roomba robot is that you can spend as much time cleaning it as you would vacuuming :-D -- but that said, coming home to a freshly Roomba'd living space makes you feel like you're living at some indeterminate point in the future, like you should be dropping the keys to your flying car on the table before programming the food synthesizer in the kitchen... ;-)
- Karim
The roomba, unfortunately, doesn't do stovetops, ovens, woodwork, sinks, counters, windows, toilets, tubs, or integral calculus. Vacuuming is the easiest of the cleaning chores!
- Mark Trapp
from iPhone
agreed. perhaps it is pollyannaish of me, but i tend to look at it as, "Well, there's *one* crappy chore i didn't have to do" :-D
- Karim
I stick up an ad in my local Craigslist for a local high schooler or college kiddo to come in and clean during my move-out for $20. Sometimes if I know it is a very dirty job, I'll go $40 for two kiddos. Never had a problem with it and it works out well.
- Miss Elle
I should've done that, Miss Elle. I am pooped, the inspection is in about a half hour, and I'm not confident that I'll get my entire security deposit back. Seems like a waste of time that could be better spent on FriendFeed.
- Mark Trapp
I have before and after pictures, but it's completely up for interpretation what normal wear and tear is: like, all the paint is peeling, and in lots of places, any amount of scrubbing will make the paint chip worse. Also, the carpet is worn, but it's been 3 years. And who knows what else that was missed? I don't think I've ever gotten my entire security deposit back.
- Mark Trapp
I think God just bitch-slapped me for the use of universal judgements and being pessimistic: I got my entire security deposit back on the spot. I didn't even know it was possible to get a deposit back immediately. In the past I've gotten my deposit back weeks later, with most of it gone.
- Mark Trapp
That's the iPhone weather feature, Jeff. You snap the screen and capture whatever is there.
- Christopher Harley
Yep I have an iPhone, so you just used a camera to take a photo of the screen then. I was hoping that there was a screen capture app for iPhone. I'll have to go search the iTunes app store to see if there is one available.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Clicking the home and power buttons at the same time does screen captures.
- Rob H.
Grasslands is pretty cool looking, but when I comment on a post, the comment field is hidden in the grass. :D
- Josh Haley
Nice job! These are some pretty spiffy themes. I would have commented earlier, but I was busy shooting ducks. I switched from Helvetica to Steampunk for now. I still want my old school monochrome monitor black screen and green text theme :P
- Ⓐ ☠ slayerboy ☠ Ⓐ
"old school monochrome monitor black screen and green text theme"? oh hellzyeah! can we also get an amber monochrome version?? they can be called "Hercules Green" and "Hercules Amber"! :D
- Joe Silence is not dead
oooooo...I like that...Hercules Green and Hercules Amber
- Ⓐ ☠ slayerboy ☠ Ⓐ
Grasslands has sun and clouds in Opera, but not in Firefox.
- Peter
Peter I see the sun and the clouds even in Firefox
- Niki Costantini
Cool, I like Orion and Duck Hunt is fun in a simple way... But I'm going to stick with Helvetica for now. Wouldn't mind a Blue variation of it.
- Grant Bierman
Cordys Cloud application had the cloud+grass combination since about a year, and now this theme of FriendFeed makes my page look like my applications ;) mighty nice ;)
- Ashish Tiwari
I'd like,, I really would like to have a full black and green theme, like old vintage computer from the '80's, but with the power of new technology. SO, please, make me happy...
- Francesco OC
annnnd back to helvetica.....steampunk is too slow on my netbook. really really want vintage computer "hercules green" or amber theme guys! :)
- Ⓐ ☠ slayerboy ☠ Ⓐ
yes mike! hercules green or amber theme! perfect...
- Francesco OC
E-trade offers them for $25 https://us.etrade.com/e.... The way it works is that this keychain thing spits out a new number every minute, and you include that number with your password at login. Even if someone gets your password (due to a keylogger or the like), it will quickly be invalid.
- Paul Buchheit
Blizzard almost never has them in stock. Whenever they get a batch they sell out in a few hours. Apparently they work. lol
- Heather
I do not know how reliable they are now but a few years ago, the quartz in this would get out of sync for a non trivial percentage of users, which resulted in a lot of customer support issues.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
bought one for the hubby's warcraft account. he hasn't been hacked since. (nearly once every couple weeks prior to that)
- Nathalie, Dreamer of FF
I would pay for this option also and being that I run GApps at work, would also do it for all staff.
- Travis Koger
from iPhone
What would keep someone from writing this as an iPhone/Android app?
- Matt Cutts
It would need to hook into the Google auth system Matt. (or automatically change my password every minute, which would probably trigger some abuse system inside google)
- Paul Buchheit
Matt: Nothing, as demonstrated by Blizzard's implementation of it as a free iPhone app already. :)
- Stephen Mack
I wish this could end phishing, but it can't, because "it will quickly be invalid" doesn't help much if it's used to generate a session token the very moment it's entered. Perhaps the key should ask you what OS/browser you're using, how recently you logged in on that machine, etc. -- facts known to Google and associated with your browser session -- and generate different numbers depending on your answers. Tricky business.
- Daniel Dulitz
It doesn't solve all problems Daniel, but it does solve some. The twitter hack for example was apparently due to a guessed password or something (though I'm not up-to-date on the news, so maybe that's no longer the story).
- Paul Buchheit
Frankly, I want an RFID-like chip in my cell phone + ubiquitous RFID readers. The cell phone would also require you to type a password or PIN, so it's something you have + something you know. And there's a fake PIN that looks like it worked but causes a lockdown behind the scenes, so if you get mugged you tell people the PIN is 5555 when your PIN is really 2343.
- Matt Cutts
Paul, it's just a lot easier to make this happen if it solves the _biggest_ problem. :-)
- Daniel Dulitz
I think the biggest problem is that people want absolute convenience and absolute security. I have never had any personal information stolen or accounts hacked. It might be because I'm a boring person not worth stealing from, but it could also be that I don't put information all over the place. I only use my phone to make calls, I only download from well known sites, I don't allow porn...
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- Heather
I disagree with that reasoning Daniel. The phishing problem is real, but today's Twitter problem for example does not appear to have been phishing related, and probably would have been prevented by a device such as this -- is that not sufficient evidence that this solvable problem is worth solving? It also prevents people from using bad passwords, using the same password on multiple accounts, etc, which is very useful in the apps-for-your-domain context.
- Paul Buchheit
As soon as PayPal offered theirs I bought it immediately and like many others, I'm in line to get one for our two WoW accounts. I loved these as a Systems Admin where we required them to get past the firewalls if you were a remote worker.
- bear (aka Mike Taylor)
+1 Paul, I've been a SecureID user many years at work, and with ETrade, so I've got two, so far, but it makes you wonder if every account you used required SecureID, you'll eventually need a REALLY BIG keychain. ;)
- .LAG liked that
There is no reason why the same SecureID fob can't be used with more than one site.
- Jauder Ho
Matt Cutts: BlackBerry (maybe only BES) has had "password under duress" for a while. When enabled you swap the first and last characters of your handset password, it unlocks but also triggers admin side alerts. Quite cool, but I suspect the only people that use it will be the military :)
- Alex Lomas
jh: yeah, RSA should probably offer this as a service; get one SecurID from them, and you can register it with any site that supports it.
- Tudor Bosman
Paul, no, I don't think the fact that some hacks would be prevented by a method is sufficient reason to implement that method. Apps has supported SAML for quite a while, see http://code.google.com/apis... , so Apps admins can use auth methods of their choice including this one. If I'm going to take your $25 for a token, I'd like to make it more...
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- Daniel Dulitz
@jh, @Tudor: yeah it would be great if one SecureID could service multiple accounts for the owner, but i think each key fob is unique to the account holder and service they're issued for; some foreknowledge of the site/account the fobs will be used for is required. with the one I use at work, I signed some paperwork, sent it to Tech, and then got the fob few days later. Sounds like a potential customer-service nightmare for RSA if they when that route.
- .LAG liked that
They'd probably pick up more paid accounts. Just the concept would probably convince numerous new users.
- Charlie Anzman
Great idea! It's also a great way of branding the name if it's on a key chain of something else cool. Verisign offers it as a second layer of security on their OpenID accounts. They were charging before, but I just checked and it's free now. I'll have to get it for my account. Two-factor identification should be standard everywhere, especially on bank accounts.
- Michael Fidler
I'm waiting for Google to handle all my Internet passwords, all encrypted behind a master Google accounts password and a security calculator/keychain type of mechanism. I wouldn't perhaps need to use that physical extra security code each time I log in. It could be set to once a day, and secure login can be reset at any time during the day (if you don't feel confortable using public web terminal at a netcafe, you can simply activate secure login for any activity done after you logout.
- Charbax
Also, I believe Google should easily show me a complete log of all activities on my Google account, this way I could find out if something fishy is going on. If one is paranoid while using a public terminal, there should be a "monitor in realtime all activity" window so you can see if anything weird is going on while you are logged in and you should imediately be able to cancel/restore/logout in realtime once any of that fishy activity has been detected.
- Charbax
For $25 -- that's worth the peace of mind.
- CarolAnnB
Matt, regarding RFID: I've seen applications using bluetooth for a similar purpose. If a specific phone comes within range, the computer unlocks/wakes up/launches the missiles/etc. I'm not sure that RFID adds much, though I'm unfamiliar with how easy it is to spoof the identity of either bluetooth or RFID.
- DGentry
in case you weren't aware, there are other options for SecurID other than the fob - like the mobile app http://www.rsa.com/node... or software token (RSA is an EMC company, my employer)
- Stuart Miniman
I have my paypal key, I feel secure because of it. And it only cost me $5.
- Luis
The future of security is going to include some strong password/identity tools. Agreed on the value of the rsa key, could our smart phones generate similar sequences without risking theft?
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
@Charbax: Gmail (and possibly other apps?) does show you when someone else is logged in at the same time as you are, as well as their IP. Not precisely what you're suggesting, but is still quite helpful.
- Joel Webber
surprised these things are still popular. Years ago we used them at GE and perhaps they still do... But wouldn't it be more convenient to add a dynamic part to a password with a question like your wife's age + XX, or day first child was born + XX or year this picture was taken + XX. The variation of lets say 5 questions plus a random addition or subtraction would add enough variation and security no ? curious to see this your comments.
- Bart LePoole
I have the Paypal one, and one for my BofA account. I would definitely get one for Google and for my Amazon account. *HINT*
- Ha3rvey (more more more)
Why would I want one for every account? Why can't I use the same one for all my accounts?
- Gabe
paul, that's a great idea for a start-up (btw user should have *one* item for all accounts)
- Massimo MaxKava Cavazzini
Stuart: thanks cool that rsa is proactive about it. It also looks like Matt suggested mobile devices take on this responsibility earlier in the thread
- Mark Essel
from iPhone
These tokens are mostly based on OTP solutions. Google also must consider the other options; PKI - for maksimum security (e-signatures) - And also, Google's application must be supported with most tokens regarding to its support (PKCS etc.)
- Zafer Yılmaz