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Alisha Wright

Have you added yourself to @wefollow? If not you should ! =)

April 19 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

I added myself just I didn't get what it did for me though? - Alex Carpenter

Akiva Moskovitz

Sixth generation Golf and GTI unveiled at New York Auto Show - http://www.vw.com/upcomin...

April 7 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Andrei M. Marinescu, Wayne Smallman, Bindu Reddy and 14 other people liked this

DO NOT LIKE - Akiva Moskovitz from Bookmarklet

17 more comments

indeed. - vijay

That's quite a breeding program they have going there. Could this one be the Kwisatz Haderach? - Josh Haley

Those wheels are booty. They look like rotary dial phones from the 70s. - Derrick

D, those are the wheels I have on my Wolfsberg MkV. - Akiva Moskovitz

I have had 3 mk 1 gtis. and a mk 2 ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Oh, well, then you have ugly wheels too, Akiva. - Derrick

I hate you so much. - Akiva Moskovitz

Terrible! - Jorg Jansen

My first new car was a Golf (actually, a 1980 VW Rabbit). This makes me smile. Best part: Comes with one of the swanky new 2L clean turbodiesels. Awesome. - Chris Baskind

Too bad it's needlessly overweight, the GTI gets heavier and heavier every model. It doesn't deserve the 'pocket rocket' status anymore - Mo Kargas

Fugly. - Admiral Anika

This is why I went w/ the '04 R32 and not the refresh; the new ones do not cut it. - JA Castillo

I think they look really nice, if only I could afford to get one - Alex Carpenter

Are they bringing the Polo over anytime soon? I like that little bugger. - Derrick

I just want that engine in whatever VW will sell to me. - Chris Baskind

The grill LOL WTF. - Mona Nomura

I'd buy that - nouhad

I like it better than the MkV's. Signed, a happy Mk IV owner. - Paul Reynolds

Derrick

First shots from the new camera.

February 5, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

bcultral, Anna Haro, Alex Scoble and 18 other people liked this

First thoughts after shooting RAW for the first time and full frame: WHOA. The quality of the image is really breathtaking. Very impressed with the level of detail and the clarity. The lens is a 50mm f/1.4, which is very fast and is equally impressive. Pleased as punch. - Derrick

6 more comments

Very impressive. - Tyson Key

Nice have fun with that - Alex Carpenter

Is that a 5D mk 2? I had the same reaction. Pics looks great. - Michael

First gen, Michael. You can really get them for great prices now cause everyone's hungry for the MkII. - Derrick

What? You have to take shots of a furry animal of some sort. That's like an unspoken rule for new cameras. ;-) - ronin

Well, this hallway is seen in John Carpenter's Escape from New York. How about that? ;) - Derrick

ooohhh nice :) - Anna Lynn M.

Thomas Hawk

How Would You Feel if Your Flickr Account Were Permanently Deleted? - http://thomashawk.com/2009...

January 28, 2009 from Thomas Hawk Digital Connection - Comment - Like - Share

Richard Soderberg, Tjeerd Jan van der Molen, Katy Pearce and 132 other people liked this

I would feel like giving Flickr people a good kick´n the nuts !!! - Jose Villar

116 more comments

Wow, and they don't ask first? - Jen Kuiper

Truly sad and disappointing. - Carmen is cold!

How much will this bad publicity hurt them? - Rob Sellen :o)

I haven't been a fan of Flickr since Yahoo made everyone use a Yahoo account to sign-in. They really need to take a look at how Google handled the YouTube integration. Now it seems they need to take a better look at how they handled their TOS too. - Steven Cains

This reminds me as to why I need to grab a backup of my flickr account and also keep it backed up somewhere else, like zooomr. some of the photos on flickr are the only ones i've got after a drive crash...it shouldn't be zero sum, particularly with a Pro account. why couldn't they just lock it from public view and give her time to at least download her pics? - Karoli

Rob, unfortunately not much I'm afraid. Flickr staff has over the past few years taken a holier than thou approach to almost every issue like this. It's been a sort of attitude of if you don't like it then leave. Flickr would do well to take these issues of censorship much more seriously. They are entrusted with one of the single most important online cultural jewels that exists today. It's unfortunate that they do not. - Thomas Hawk

Flickr is congenitally dumb. There are simple ways to handle these issues and they just dont seem to get it. I had a run in with Flickr recently and was not impressed with the way they handled it. - Mel Buckpitt

best start using sommat else. ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Karoli, I'm thinking the same thing. I have 2 years worth of photos on flickr, that I can not find on any of our harddrives. I'd hate to wake up one day to see they closed my account and all my kids baby pics are gone forever. - Admiral Anika

Terrence on their staff is pretty much consistently one of the ones doing much of the censoring. If you even mention his name in the help forums you can be censored or banned. They call it finger pointing there. - Thomas Hawk

this is fucked - Darren Heydon

Hope she had everything backed up. - CW™

Rob, using someone else isn't the answer. Rightly or wrongly the community today is largely at Flickr. It is also where the world's most significant organized collection of photos resides. I think pressure needs to be put on Flickr rather to change. To operate with more humility and to give much heavier thought into when such drastic action must be taken. - Thomas Hawk

Pissed off - Michael Fidler

I agree... but I meant...like a second place to store..like karoli did. ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

And even if drastic action like account deletion must be taken I think Flickr owes it to it's users to back up the data before permanently deleting it and even allow the user and opportunity to get their content off of Flickr's servers. They do not do this today. It's just delete and all of your photos, contacts, comments, faves, etc. are gone. - Thomas Hawk

using someone else isn't the answer, but redundancy never hurts. i use flickr for the community and also for a place other than my hard drive to store photos. There really isn't an excuse for Flickr to delete those photos with no pathway for me to recover them. - Karoli

I'd be livid - RAPatton

Ya know as a SYS Admin, I always disable a offending account first before deleting. Never know when there will be "Evidence" needed at a later date. If the issue is resolved then the account can be reinstated without loss of data. Deletion is a crap policy for any company or SYS Admin. - CW™

Karoli, indeed, redundancy is very important. Personally I'm not so concerned about all of my own images. I've got them all backed up. But a lot of other people do not. But my own stream has thousands and thousands of community comments on my photos that are emotionally very significant to me. I can't actually see Flickr deleting my account but it would kill me if I lost them and it pains me to see them do it to other people. - Thomas Hawk

Also why not just take off line the "questionable" pictures? All this smells poorly of Over Moderation which is rampant on the web now a days. - CW™

you use firefox? if so..grab the "scrapbook" add on... the you can capture whole pages. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

I'd be angry, and probably never use them as a host again, certainly never get another paid account. - Grant Bierman

This is really sad, especially for a paid Pro service and for something there is no undo. I am using a flickr group so my blog readers can showcase their pictures, maybe I should start looking for alternatives to flickr. This is such a horrible way to treat paying customers. - 1001 noisy cameras

I would be really really angry. This really sucks. But I just can't believe that the files "went away". If the government came in and seized someone's Flickr account that had been "deleted", you can be sure that they would be able to "dig" those pictures up. - Laura Zickus

Thomas is right, pressure needs to be put on Flickr to do the right thing. By pressure I mean Arrington, Laporte, Pirillo, Belmont, Scoble et al, those who are among us and have a pulpit to preach. We're their consumers and they our adovocates/protectors - Matthew DeVries

yeah lets see what sort of influence they have then :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Yes it sucks to lose all of the comments (I'm sure she has all of the images) but perhaps she should build her own website and do whatever she wants to there. - Mattb4rd

why it is so important to have own space or somewhere you OWN.. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

certainly flickr had every opportunity to try to tell a different side to this story, but instead they just referred to the woman who'd lost her account as the "offended party" OP and locked the thread effectively killing any sort of conversation or protest over this action. Sadly this happens frequently there with no repercussions whatsoever. - Thomas Hawk

I would be a little miffed, but since I don't have alot up there, I wouldn't be too peeved. - Christian (Simply X)

In the light of this disgraceful situation, is there any way to download a complete backup of all of one's Flickr metadata? Especially comments, keywords and geodata? This should be accessible to 3rd party apps, correct? - Neil Creek

use firefox scrapbook add on. - Rob Sellen :o)

Neil, I'm not sure the API allows you to export things like faves and comments. I'd doubt that it does. - Thomas Hawk

that scrapbook captures everything...as a page. - Rob Sellen :o)

I would be taking a flight to Flickr HQ and prolly get freaky on someone ... - johnpiercy from twhirl

Rob, that's a cumbersome and time consuming way to do things when one might have hundreds of photos on Flickr. Not to mention wasteful, when all the other guff unassociated with the image would get captured as well. Geodata wouldn't be captured this way either. - Neil Creek

why would it? can you not have a long page with lots of the pics on with all the comments on them? I dont and never have used flickr..so i dont know....just trying to help. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

I'd be happy if they deleted my account, but only if they gave me back a prorated amount of what I paid for it. I've gotten so many nasty and immature comments on my photos at flickr. I'm very tired of the vapid community there. Zooomr is way ahead in this department, if nothing else, but it's what matters most, to me anyway. - Bill Scherer

OP generally means "original poster". - Admiral Anika

Thanks for the suggestion Rob :) Unfortunately Flickr doesn't work that way. - Neil Creek

sorry not a help. :o( - Rob Sellen :o)

I would be so unbelievably pissed. So much time and work. - Alex Carpenter

Flickr also deleted the account of Spanish National Treasure - Qwurky (aka David) of Barcelona. The Spanish version of Honoré Daumier, he is a wry observer of the human condition and a satirist who poked his sharpest Photoshop barbs at his own artful self-portraits. - David Newman

Guess I should download a backup of my Flickr archive and not assume it's a good backup? - sean808080

This is totally garbage. If you're a paid user, a Pro account holder, you are a paying customer. Deleting without warning, is just harsh. But again, don't use Flickr as a backup... you clearly want to use it as a showcase, and it shouldn't be the only place your images are kept... - Colin Charles from twhirl

I'd be livid! - Jeff P. Henderson

"I think the best solution is host your own version of Flickr then you can't be shut down". What would your "own version of Flickr" actually do -- just host pictures? - Brian Sullivan

There must be more to it than that. Heather has pictures of herself in her photostream. If the whole exchange was saved, why are Heather-the-admin's comments the only ones shown in the post? - Kevin Fox

I would CRY!!!!!! This is SOOOOOOOOOOOO WROOOOOOOOONG!!!!!! AUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH! - Susan Beebe

This sucks. Does this mean the pix of lolcats (thjat I didn't take) will be deleted too. If not - isn't that discriminatory?? -[ - Chris Loft

Things similar to this have been happening on flickr regarding accounts from other countries as well. A large number of people boycotted flickr for a year or so, but nothing has changed. Many people tried to go to another service, but never found anything as good. I agree with Thomas that somehow the staff needs to be held accountable. - Rachel Lea Fox

Why is Flickr so popular? Is it all because of the community, or is there something else? Smugmug (and even Picasa) seem much nicer to me. - Paul Buchheit

I am thinking of switching after reading this post... Flickr's draconian behavior is unacceptable! A paid account can be deleted without even contacting the user first?! whoa!! Not cool... really poor customer service - Susan Beebe

Paul, I believe it has everything to do with the community. I've made friends, found photography I never would have, and the rooms often provide challenges that I never would have found. Oh, I also use smugmug - but I use it in different ways. - Rachel Lea Fox

I really do like Flickr, but I would never use them as a reliable storage facility. From their TOS: "5. FLICKR'S RESERVATION OF RIGHTS Flickr expressly reserves the right to immediately modify, delete content from, suspend or terminate your account and refuse current or future use of any Yahoo! service, including Flickr pro, if Flickr, in its sole discretion believes you have: (i)... more... - Kevin Fox

Social Media networks Fascism SUCKS. I had My Twitter account suspended all of a sudden. I had over 500 followers. I put in a support ticket, but got no response from Twitter. We Netizens have no rights when it comes to Social Media Networks. VERY BAD - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Smugmug and Picasa are for sharing photos with your friends, who already care enough to look. Flickr helps people discover your photos. A musician in Brazil used my photos in his CD liner notes, and a physics textbook might use one in their new edition. Part of the joy of posting photos is seeing feedback, and Flickr provides an opportunity for that. The others just let you post your photos. - Seth

Thomas: What are the procedures or guidelines at Zooomr for such infractions that would cause Flickr to hit the Delete button? - Nils Sandin

I use flickr for sharing with strangers. If I just wanted to share with friends, I'd use Smugmug (or maybe Picasa). - Amit Patel

I'm not a fan of Flickr. So - Why not boycott Flickr for a week (just one week): no uploads, no comments, no favorites, nothing! - Or leave Flickr there are plenty of alternatives: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Philipp Mertens

Terrible PR for Flickr. I don't use Flickr and don't particularly like there UI, but have been tempted for the social aspect to the site. I think I;ll find an alternative, but they are so big I doubt they'll care about losing 1 or 2 users. - Alistair (alpinefolk)

Nils, Zooomr doesn't censor or delete accounts except in very rare cases. Childporn is the only example where I've ever seen it happen. But this isn't about Zooomr and I'd rather not the conversation go in that direction. Zooomr's a nice site. So is SmugMug. But no site has as large a community and audience as Flickr. Nor is any other site likely to in the future. Flickr is not just about storing photos there. Photos can be stored almost anywhere. - Thomas Hawk

The thing is it's about the community and audience of Flickr. That's just where it's at for better or worse. Flickr though ought to be thought of as more than just a business by Yahoo. It should be regarded with the cultural significance that I really believe it is. Flickr is the single largest well organized collection of images on the internet today. It's the largest community in the world built around serious photography and not just image hosting. Flickr needs to be there. - Thomas Hawk

But there needs to be outrage when they do stuff like this I believe so that they don't just keep doing it again and again. Flickr has talked about having a way to reverse photos deleted for years, something that would be simple to build and yet they just won't do it. They talked about doing this after they made the "mistake" of deleting one of their most popular user's photos over a... more... - Thomas Hawk

@Kevin. Kevin I do hope that there is more to it than just this. And I'm sure Flickr may try to put some sort of spin on this if it gets large enough like they did with Rebekka in the link above. But anyone can read through that help forum thread and they had every opportunity to respond but instead just chose to shut the conversation down. I suspect this will likely turn out like Rebekka's case to be another unfortunate non-reversable "mistake," if they own up to it at all. - Thomas Hawk

Gosh! That ain't good! - Nia

Flickr doesn't need your business, and they know it. They can do what they want, when they want, and even if they lose a few $25 accounts, who cares? They know enough people will stick around regardless. Flickr has never really impressed me, and there are definitely better photo hosting/sharing sites out there. - Dave Roth

There has got to be a better way to handle this, why not block the photos in question, talk to the flickr account user and settle the issue. I have family pictures on flickr that go back to 1904, the people who took them are all long dead. why I have pictures on multiple applications - Kim Landwehr

Ugh, bad form from Flickr. I didn't know they did stuff like this... :( - Tyson Key

on reddit here: http://www.reddit.com/r... - Thomas Hawk

Lots of people post other peoples pictures and screenshots. I'm sure they will re-instate. Probably. Reminds me of when Scoble got his Facebook account shut for running the Plaxo script. - james rock from twhirl

Raises the never ending issue of whether a machine can determine fair use or how quickly folks will demand clearer brightlines - certainly a great opportunity to figure out attribution & where "value" originates ... - Scott Moskowitz

I'd feel sick - Shey, Jamaican of FF

Hello, BBB? Or better yet, a lawyer. This kind of thing does not add up at all. I feel disgusted by this, especially after paying for Pro, myself. - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

i would be irate. but it wouldnt be the end of me. i have 3x backups w/ 1 copy off site. and nothing could ever stop me from taking pictures. - Plug1

@Chris, the BBB can do nothing. They are allowed to do this to you in their TOS. Allowed, but shouldn't in my opinon. @james rock. The thing is that Flickr says that they *can't* re-instate accounts. Once your photos, comments, etc. are gone, they are gone for good. They should fix that too. - Thomas Hawk

I cannot arrive at a informed opinion on this just from the comments posted in this thread, but it is very interesting to me. I'm reading a lot of assumptions and I still have questions like; Was she in violation of the Terms of Service for paid accounts? Was her account deleted due to copyright violations or was it due to content violations (porn or whatever). - Mattb4rd

Mattb4rd. Her account was admittedly of an erotic nature. Both the shots that she took and the shots posted of her. But that's why Flickr allows you to self tag your photos as "restricted," which she was doing. This way they are hidden from everyone on Flickr who hasn't signed up to see restricted content. I suspect that there is more to the story as well but in typical Flickr fashion rather than discuss it Heather simply killed the thread on the issue. - Thomas Hawk

And the other question: did the photographer in question actually complain? I mean there's no chance they could find these images at random, so someone must have complained. I suspect Flickr lives in terror of a copyright lawsuit of the kind that kills online services, and I bet there are industry bodies out there waiting for an excuse case. It doesnt excuse the abrupt way they go about... more... - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Anyone from Flickr is of course perfectly welcome to chime in at any time and tell a different side to the story. In fact I think that they owe the community at the very least some sort of response over this rather than simply shutting down the thread the way that they did. Then again maybe they are just hoping that this will blow over and go away. - Thomas Hawk

Joelle, even if this is a copyright issue and someone complained. The correct way to handle this would be to mark the disputed photos as private temporarily and enter a discussion with both parties. This would shield them from any liability. Instead they just delete accounts without any appeal process or recourse, and not just the disputed photos, your *entire* account. - Thomas Hawk

I totally agree with you on that one - they dont seem to have a process to handle things gracefully, and they really should, because it must happen in some form every day! - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

One extra-large FAIL for Flickr coming right up! - Michael Forian

I am late responding to this thread so apologies if it is out of context. Deleting someones account in a "its gone for good" way immeadiately seems extremely unfair. Freeze the account, have direct dialogue with the account holder, ask them to remove what ever is in breach of the T&C's then unfreeze if they correct whatever it is that caused the freeze. If no suitable compromise can be found then continue to freeze the account. - Rob Brammeld

There seems to be more and more reports where if the particular online services you subscribe malfunctions in any way it is difficult for the user (often a fee paying user) to get a quick solution or even in some cases even be able to raise the issue with someone. My broadband provider for example. I recently had a problem with my uploads (as were other users of the service) and the only option available to me as call a premium line and pay £££ per minute to raise and seek a solution to a problem. - Rob Brammeld

Thomas: Last summer TWiP interviewed Heather. Any chance the guys over there would want to bring such censorship topics up with her in an open forum or interview? Or provide a contact to Heather directly? E-mails and locked forums don't get very far with her, it seems. - Nils Sandin

@Rob: We don't know that Flickr didn't have a direct dialogue with this user because Flickr has clammed up. The issue then is; should the community have access to the private communications that may or may not have occurred between the service and the user? Even if the user were to divulge portions or "all", discerning parties not directly involved would still be left with raised eyebrows. - Mattb4rd

Terrifying thought. - susan mernit

It's sad the Heather doesn't even have the common courtesy to respond to e-mails from the premiere photography podcast. In my post, I didn't mean for the public to contact Heather directly, but instead that TWiP or others who do know her contact details to do so. But as your wrote, it wouldn't seem to help. - Nils Sandin

The scary thing is that I perceive fee paying as giving me rights to an SLA and a process, which is one of the reasons I use a pay for service for, say email. But when the T&Cs are a bit too broad which means they can just terminate everything saying you breached the terms, with no process or option of appeal, then what is the point of paying? - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Is there any other photo service offering unlimited space at a comparable (read: ± $5.00 USD) price point? Perhaps if there was some direct competition at that level, we might see less nastiness out of Flickr. Would Google purchasing Yahoo! help make Flickr less evil, too? - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

It's not just the storage, though, it is the community. I get some connections and feedback on my photos, and that is due to the large number of people - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

I would be terrified to find my account deleted. I guess it's time to fire-up Fusion and try Downloadr - http://lifehacker.com/5125257... to backup all of my pics. - bch12

I wonder if it's a Yahoo culture problem, I see similar sorts of attitudes with respect to delicious - Andy Davies

The issue isn't so much the photos - I don't even keep the high res versions on Flickr. It's the 20,000 faves and 10,000 comments I've left over the years, as well as the countless thousands I've been fortunate enough to receive and the many bloggers who've used my photos and linked to me. That Flickr would take such a drastic action with no warning or recourse is simply unconscionable. - Eric P

I think Apple or Google should buy Flickr, Delicious, and/or Zimbra. Yahoo doesn't really give these services the love they deserve. - Glenn Batuyong

And Thomas is right. With all due respect to Zooomr, Flickr is just the 800 lb gorilla in this space. I'm a member of a half dozen photo sharing sites all valuable in their own right, but none come close to the reach that Flickr has. It has the largest audience, community, and it's increasingly the place you need to be to get "discovered". Jumping ship doesn't seem like an option, and I don't see Flickr being unseated in the foreseeable future. - Eric P

It's also clear that Flickr is fairly set in its policies regarding censorship and deletion and seems unwilling to change them. They cannot, at this juncture, be unaware of the user complaints in these areas. Which begs the question of why do they insist on these draconian policies? - Eric P

@Nils I doubt getting TWiP involved would help anything at all, as those guys are just as guilty of causeless summary executions as flickr is. It would be way too hypocritical for TWiP to call flickr out on this, as they're just as evil. - Dave Roth

Wow, first time I heard TWiP called evil! Any comments, Scott, Frederick, Alex? - Nils Sandin

I think TWIP is the best photography related podcast on the internet. Certainly there is a debate about moderation in any group on Flickr. I have no problem with private groups on Flickr choosing to moderate comments for any reason at all. I happen to admin an "uncensored" group there and things can get very ugly very fast there for better or for worse. But I think moding a group is a far cry from deleting a user's account without good reason or warning which I think ought to be the core issue here. - Thomas Hawk

There's a difference between moderating a group (public or private) and the Flickr staff essentially shutting down discussion about their deletion and censorship policies. It's like speech in China - you're free to talk about anything except stuff that makes the government look bad. - Eric P

Eric, one of the truly odd things is that you are not even allowed to mention Terrence's name in the help forums. You can mention Heather's name but no one is allowed to mention Terrence's name, even though Terrence seems to be involved in an awful lot of the protested cases of censorship. I just don't get that. Flickr closed the thread I'd opened the other day about my five censored images. They close threads down almost every time they become critical of them. - Thomas Hawk

Scott, Flickr will be dethroned by services like FriendFeed, but it will take 3 years. FriendFeed has better social networking features than Flickr, and provides a place where people can establish an audience regardless of how/where they host their photos. It just doesn't have the user base yet. - Bruce Lewis from fftogo

Bruce - think you are right that FriendFeed might replace the social part of Flickr. I see so much more Flickr photography since friendfeed. I love that I get to see my friends favorites, I never have time to go sift through it on flickr. - Rachel Lea Fox

I'll kick their servers i guess - Murat Bişkin

I will say that FF has taken a chunk of my time away from Flickr and is very social like Flickr is. I'd love to see more and more photography tools built into FF over time. I also really like the fact that I've seen very little censorship on FF as in none. If you don't like something you just hide it. Easy enough. If you don't like a person, you just hide them as well. Or a service. I really appreciate the censorship free environment on FF. - Thomas Hawk

I think Friendfeed is too diluted to ever really replace Flickr or any sites like Flickr - there's no sets, not tags, no way to search for photos, no groups centered on certain photographic subjects, techniques, or equipment (and no easy way to add particular photos to rooms, should someone create such rooms). FF would need a major feature overhaul to really work for that purpose. - Eric P

Also Friendfeed doesn't really have to deal with censorship because other sites already handle it. It won't show Flickr photos marked restricted, for example, because they're not in the RSS feed. Which excludes 90% of the nipples on Flickr. - Eric P

I could also, if I was so inclined, upload my art nude photographs to a public Smugmug gallery and have them come up in people's feeds as great big thumbnails. I'd wager that people wouldn't be too happy with that and start clamoring the FF developers to do something to block nudity. Eventually it'll be a real issue, and then and only then we'll see how FF addresses censorship. - Eric P

Eric, if you did that people would just use the Hide feature and/or move you out of their home feed. As for tags, I don't have any inside info, but it's my hunch that FriendFeed will implement them some time in the latter half of 2009. Other sites will implement feeds that pass through tags/keywords that specify equipment, techniques, etc. Filtering noise is a core FriendFeed function, so it won't stay dilute long. - Bruce Lewis from fftogo

Maybe Eric. It will be interesting to see if/how FF deals with censoring images if/when that becomes a problem. So far here it seems that the community is pretty responsible. But certainly having the ability to use the hide functionality greatly empowers the user to get rid of things that they don't want to see. Flickr doesn't have that sort of functionality. - Thomas Hawk

"Hide" is wonderful, but it still winds up on your screen before you can click it, a no-no for people surfing at work and can get in trouble. Which is why so many places on the net have some form of flagging and filtering of such content (which is what Flickr does). It's not a big problem yet but I do see Friendfeed having to deal with it sooner or later. - Eric P

This was so handled improperly and unprofessionally and with total disregard to ALL of us as users. Everyone who feels this way should, at the very least, leave a comment stating such at her retribution post here: http://bit.ly/18d2Ct This copyright bullshit is going way too far. - Ian Maffett

this is ridiculous - mjc

I'd be enraged. So high-handed, it makes you wonder why you pay them? That kind of poor behavior is that of a fat bureaucracy, not a private sector company. - Rick Cogley

Alex Carpenter

Emerging Tech: New Paint Could Block Wi-Fi From Nosey Neighbors - http://i.gizmodo.com/5139315...

January 26, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Morton Fox, David Potts, Alex Scoble and 2 other people liked this

Does this stuff really work? - Alex Carpenter from Bookmarklet

I doubt it. I wonder if it would affect Bluetooth or ZigBee transmissions too, for what it's worth (or even things like analogue video cameras, DECT phones and baby monitors also operating on the 2.4GHz spectrum). - Tyson Key

Hmm, are they aiming it towards users in overcrowded apartments/flats with several 802.11 access points all interfering with each other? Or is it for the "I'm safe if I buy this useless junk that I just read about" crowd? - Tyson Key

Robert Scoble

Are you ready for virtual actors in movies? - http://scobleizer.com/2009...

January 12, 2009 from Scobleizer -- Tech geek... - Comment - Like - Share

James Guske, Mihai Secasiu, Jeff P. Henderson and 12 other people liked this

it feels like we're already there sometimes. - Jason Shultz from twhirl

10 more comments

i'm with Jason - too late, we're already there. - Warren Butler

It will never be the same with virtual "people". It's almost impossible to create human like feelings and emotions portrayed on screen. - Alex Carpenter

They could have just used a virtual Brad Pitt for the whole Benjamin Button movie. All it'd have to do is stare at the side of the camera, stricken with a dumb look. Most of the new generation of actors in Hollywood & tv do basically the same. Couldn't get much worse is what I'm saying. - Christopher Galtenberg

@Alex: Yeah, Keanu's always had that problem. - Yan

Alex: the directors are saying that isn't true anymore. They are already mixing in virtual actors into the real ones to do scenes that are too dangerous, or too expensive. They predict we'll soon see a movie made with virtual ones that will be very hard to tell from real ones. - Robert Scoble

I think virtual actors would only work well in place of actors like Keanu Reeves. - Shane Floyd

Just discovered I was about the write exactly the same thing as Shane Floyd it seems. Great to know I am not the only one. More seriously though, for a lot of the background roles, I think virtual actors are going to become more and more common place, but as for main characters, not quite yet. That said, if the actors decide to go on strike again, who knows. - James Fridley

What would you call Keaneau Reeves? - sofarsoShawn

Next, virtual stars in virtual Hollywood on a virtual red carpet. - Phil Boiarski

Jar Jar binks? -5 - Bill Romanos

Are you trying to tell me that Keanu Reeves is a real actor? A virtual talent? - Rob McNair-Huff

Alex Scoble

Gran Torino is definitely one of the better movies I've seen in a while.

January 23, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Dan Liebke, Kol Tregaskes, tinypants - Hagitha of FF and 2 other people liked this

It's interesting how Clint has focused on dysfunctional families in his recent movies. - Alex Scoble

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I have to agree with you. Was pleasantly surprised, always been a fan of Eastwood. - Alex Carpenter

I'd have to watch it to properly frame my disagreement, and I decline to do so. - Richard Lawler

ROFL, Richard. - Alex Scoble

Thomas Hawk

Cool. Popular Photography Magazine is going to publish one of my photos in their April issue.

January 20, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Christopher Harley, Shey, Jamaican of FF, Niklas Sjostrom and 91 other people liked this

Congratulations! - Shrisha Radhakrishna

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Congratulations! - John Rubier

Score! That is awesome, Thomas! - Yolanda from NoiseRiver

WIN - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

Congratz Thomas! please update us with the shot if you can. - Carlos Ayala

Nice! Congratulations. - ♥patricia♥

Congrats :) - sergiooo

Awesome. Congratulations, Thomas. - Derrick

Congratulations, that's awesome (but no big surprise to us fans). - Kenton

Where can we see it? - Jorge Avila

That's cool Thomas. Congrats! - Rutger Blom

Fantastic! - RAPatton

Here's the shot that they are going to publish. http://www.flickr.com/photos... They're going to pay me $200 for it and are using it as an example of pattern photography. It will be in the April issue. - Thomas Hawk

Congrats! - stretta from twhirl

Congrats, TH!!! :D - Anna Haro

Right on! - Jeremy Brooks

Awesome and well deserved! :) - Kevin C. Tofel

Awesome! - Justin Korn

congrats - Venky Chinnathambi

yep, congrats - Glenn Batuyong

Congrats Thomas! - Alex Carpenter

Wow - good going! - BEX

Congrats, Thomas!!! - David Cook

very cool! a friend that had the same thing happen, tho they renegged when they changed the layout and his photo didn't fit anymore. - Neil Bernhart

that's awesome - congratulations! - planetMitch

ooh, congrats! - Glen, Bespectacled Elder

Big deal, Thomas. My mom puts photos I take on the fridge like *all the time*! - Mitch

Awesomeness!!! :) - Susan Beebe

Congrats! - Katie is Frittering

Very cool. - Jordan Hofker

Well done, Thomas! - Kol Tregaskes

How did it happen? Did they find you online or did you pursue the opp? - Alex C. Williams

Cool! - Anne Bouey

Congratulations. Always nice to be published. :-) - Håkan Dahlström

Congratulations!!! That's great :) - Nia

That's really awesome, Congrats! - Michael Fidler

Congratulations, Thomas :) - Baard @ Pixum

Great! You must be chuffed. - Rob Brammeld

Wow, congratulations Thomas, that is awesome :) - Nicola Quinn

wow, congratulations on that - Peter Efland

Congratulations - Nicholas James

noice! - Shey, Jamaican of FF

Alex Carpenter

25 random things about me... because everyone else is doing it...

January 19, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Steven Perez, Adriana, vijay and 8 other people liked this

1.) I have a Canon 40d, Canon Rebel XT and a Canon AE1 and want a Canon 5D Mark II : ) - Alex Carpenter

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2.) I have a Border Collie dog named Bongo - Alex Carpenter

3.) I used to skateboard on a daily basis. - Alex Carpenter

4.) I am a Twitter addict - Alex Carpenter

5.) I used to redraw the covers of Disney movies when I was younger - Alex Carpenter

6.) I am currently taking 3 photo class in one semester, all with the same teacher - Alex Carpenter

7.) I am one of the few people who still where a watch as a source of telling time. - Alex Carpenter

8.) My left arm for some reason goes numb when I hold my girlfriends hand. - Alex Carpenter

9.) I accidentally ran over my old Flip Ultra after I forgot about it on my tailgate so I got a Mino HD now - Alex Carpenter

10.) I really enjoy going out at night and doing long exposures of the sky and horizons - Alex Carpenter

11.) I work at a feed mill and make animal feeds on a daily basis. - Alex Carpenter

12.) I had only talked to my current girlfriend once before asking her out and now we have been dating for over 5 years now - Alex Carpenter

13.) As much as I hate some of the things Scoble talks about he always is interesting to listen to. - Alex Carpenter

14.) I took 2nd in nationals for wrestling when I was 15 years old - Alex Carpenter

15.) I procrastinate a lot when it comes to homework. (I should be writing a paper right now...) - Alex Carpenter

16.) My photo teacher at college once was an apprentice for Ansel Adams - Alex Carpenter

17.) I enjoy watching documentaries like "King Corn", "Helvetica" and band documentaries. - Alex Carpenter

18.) My favorite Twitter app is Tweetdeck on the desktop and Tweetie on the iPod touch - Alex Carpenter

19.) I never liked eating broccoli until this year and now I really like it - Alex Carpenter

20.) I ate stir fry for dinner tonight - Alex Carpenter

21.) I drive a 1998 purple Toyota Tacoma - Alex Carpenter

22.) Blue is my favorite wardrobe color. I have way to many blue shirts. - Alex Carpenter

23.) I have only read about 10 books total throughout my life and half of them are Dan Brown books - Alex Carpenter

24.) Wilco, Bright Eyes, Ray Lamontagne and Guster are a few of my favorite bands at the moment. - Alex Carpenter

25.) There are about 30 deer sitting outside my window right now as I am writing this up - Alex Carpenter

Ray LaMontagne, FTW. I saw him a couple months ago here in LA. Thanks for your list, Alex; tres cool. - Derrick

Wilco and Guster ROCK! - Christian (Simply X)

Steven Perez

Video shows evidence of phosphorus bombs in Gaza | World news | guardian.co.uk - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world...

January 16, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Jonathan Lee, triple t, edythe and 2 other people liked this

"Video showing injuries consistent with the use of white phosphorus shells has been filmed inside hospitals treating Palestinian wounded in Gaza City. Contact with the shell remnants causes severe burns, sometimes burning the skin to the bone, consistent with descriptions by Ahmed Almi, an Egyptian doctor at the al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

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Oopsies. Israel really isn't doing much to keep the world on their side are they? - Alex Scoble

White phosphorus. DAMN. Didn't the Israelis learn ANYTHING over what happened in Fallujah four years ago? - Steven Perez from IM

If there's something that can be used to light up night to make it look like daylight it probably shouldn't be on your skin. That stuff looks really bad. - Alex Carpenter from fftogo

It's pretty much as horrible as everyone says. Instant leather, your skin turns into. - Steven Perez from IM

#israel also admitted using phosphorus bombs in their attack on lebanon in 1996 #gaza - ernie yacub

I agree with Alex (Scoble). Aren't they afraid that someone will start doing that to them as well, or worse? We are losing our humanity. - Chris Loft

Alex Carpenter

A 3G iPod Touch would be ideal, so I can still use my Blackberry for messaging and phone calls but have the touch for web browsing and internet capabilities.

January 16, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

I like having the keyboard there but i also like the iPhones browsing - Alex Carpenter

Alex Carpenter

Circuit City to be liquidated: report - http://news.yahoo.com/s...

January 16, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

This might be a good time to buy some more camera batteries, memory cards, and maybe an external monitor also. Any suggestions? - Alex Carpenter

Kol Tregaskes

If Only I Had A Better Camera | Shutterbug Source Photography Tips - http://www.shutterbugsource.com/general...

January 15, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Janet, Solaris™, Toby Graham and 37 other people liked this

"“If only I had a better camera, I could be a great photographer.” I hear comments like this every day in my gallery, and I know other photographers hear the same thing. Unfortunately, when people see great professional photography, they mistakenly believe that the camera, not the photographer, is responsible..." - Kol Tregaskes from Bookmarklet

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Its not all about the camera its about having the "eye". - Mathew™ one of a kind

So very very true. Awesome camera and glass don't always make the best images. I've actually seen better iPhone camera images from one friend, than another friend with Canon 5DmkII and L glass... - Mathew Packer

Yeah, but the ladies would be all over you if you had a "lens" that big. - Kenton

The camera doesn't make you a good photographer you have to have the skills first - Alex Carpenter

equipment is to photographer as cookware is to chef - Neil Bernhart

If somebody gave me one of those $5,000 pro cameras, I'd still take crummy pictures. - Pat Rice

A match grade rifle and shaky hands won't get you dinner. - Alex Scoble

Yep, it's TOTALLY not about the camera. Can't teach imagination and creativity. - Derrick

I agree 99% of the time... There are some pictures which my camera just can't pick up eg certain macro, low low light etc... So the camera helps, but you still have to put something in front of it. - Johnny Worthington

A Wonderful photograph by machine. - istanbuldailyphoto

I wish I had a better camera... =) - Jauder Ho

I think if your camera lacks aperture and shutter speed settings, it limits a lot of shots, but you can work with it. - Alix Whitmire

I'm going to say maybe. I'm definitely limited by my lens choice on my 7 year old semi-compact camera. There's just some things that cannot be done - Mo Kargas

I need a better camera too, but I can't afford everything I want... - Ian May

I want to see some examples of 'great' photography taken on point-and-shoot cameras, 'cause that's what I have. I got to use a SLR once on a trip, and I took some great shots, but I havn't taken any with my PAS. - Will Higgins™

http://flickr.com/photos... are my PAS efforts. OK, there are a few cellphone ones in there too, when I had nothing else with me to capture a moment. - Ian May

Will, this was shot on my Canon S400 (a mere 4MP camera) and is one of my most popular pictures on Flickr http://bit.ly/2VVJ - Jauder Ho

@Will, if you use Flickr, it will let you see other shots done with your exact camera model. It helps inspire me to be better. - Alix Whitmire

I like learning all the things a camera can do. Trying to emulate a certain shot is fun in the learning process as well. - Rodfather

Wow, thanks, good information to have! - Christian (Simply X)

Absolutely. No matter how my D40 behaves, I still get good shots. While a D3 may give me low light performance, it dosent change my creativity. - Roberto Bonini

Steve Rubel

Google is shutting down Google Notebook, Video, Dodgeball and Jaiku - http://searchengineland.com/google-...

January 14, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Nicholas James, Aaron Draczynski, VC Freak and 84 other people liked this

Wow, interesting. Another Twitter competitor bites the dust. - Andy DeSoto

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bummer. i really like Notebook. - MikeAmundsen

Just in time, as I've just moved all my Google Notebook notes to Evernote. - Rob Haas

Sad about notebook, although I don't know why. I used it for a few hours, said "this is cool, I'll use it all the time," and never used it again. - Gregory Cohen

I am honestly surprised about Jaiku. I thought Google was going to try some thing with it. You can probably assume that leashes are much shorter these days on these sort of ventures. - Rolf Schewe

What?? Notebook is one service that is actually useful. - Morton Fox

Gregory: That's why. :-) - Brent Newhall

Google is doing everything right lately IMO. Shuttering areas where it doesn't hold a core skill and focusing on things that it does well. - AJ Kohn

You always use Evernote instead of Notebook and post to the cloud - Sally Church

@Sally Evernote won't be around in a year or two either, unless they get acquired - Steve Rubel

Dang, I understand the reasons, but I like Notebook :/ - Bec Rowe @d0tski

Gmail is ad supported, clearly invested in and a driver of search. It's sacred. Now how about Google Reader? It doesn't make Google a dime! I wonder what its future is. - Steve Rubel

@Steve, good point - Sally Church

It'll be interesting to see. I'm thinking maybe little AdSense boxes at the bottom of every few articles? Or perhaps a side bar like Gmail? Or... maybe they'll just shut it down :( - David Andrzejewski

I liked Google Notebook. :-( - ursi

It's been a while since I read the gReader privacy policy, but it cold be a *bonanza* of information qualifying its users. You are what you subscribe. - Chris Baskind

hey what about Grand Central?! - Susan Beebe

not notebook! - Yolanda

dammit...I used Notebook as much as I did Reader! What other free alternatives are there? - JA Castillo

@JA Gmail. Check out my nerve center series. - Steve Rubel

The way I read the Google Notebook blog, it is not going to vanish. We can still use it. Google just won't allow new users. Is this the correct interpretation? - Steve Dittmore

@Steve Sounds like it. But why bother living in something that's not loved. - Steve Rubel

Shutting down video? Not nice, there are videos that people link to. - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

So that will be one less option for Surfulator users that don't feel like paying for an upgrade. - April Russo (app103)

it's not shutting down Jaiku though, that will stay around...going open source - Zee.

Steve why do u say that about Evernote? About it not being around in the future? - Zee.

Zee, do you have a reference for that ? I see secondary sources saying things about Jaiku, but can't find anything official. - Michael C. Harris

Ah, Zee is correct re Jaiku, http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2009.... It's not closing. - Michael C. Harris

@Zee, money. - Steve Rubel

Michael, I'm on my iPhone but click the link in this post through to the official google post about Jaiku - Zee.

@Steve Rubel, Evernote just got a good round of funding, and has footholds in a lot more platforms than Google Notebook. I will be surprised if they don't keep growing, especially when people have finally realized their name is a misnomer for what they actually do. - Lindsay is in 20-ten

@Lindsay, Evernote will be acquired. That's my bet - Steve Rubel

Evernote also has paying customers. I don't know how many, but I know that I happily paid. - Joey Gibson

I hope they're not, Steve, or if they are, it's not by Google. I would be heartbroken if it languished and died the way almost all the other things I like that they've bought have. @Joey, I paid for my subscription and bought 2 gift subs for people for Christmas gifts... and turned Tad onto getting a paid sub too. They have a pretty loyal following and their services are worth paying for. - Lindsay is in 20-ten

Shocking news! I really love Notebook; am using it extensively to prevent information-overload.. - Winston Teo

Jaiku was always doomed without the SMS short code. But I really liked notebook. - Chris Mayer

we haven't got SMS for Twitter here in the UK though Chris...and it's growing ridiculously fast here - Zee.

SMS to Jaiku was working just fine last time I tried. - Michael C. Harris

At least they're going to keep Notebook active ... they're just stopping development. - Brandon

Not Notebook, damnit! What am I supposed to do with my Notebook stuff now? :( - Tanath

And indeed still does work. Perhaps "SMS short code" means something else ? - Michael C. Harris

@Tanath Best I could find was to export to Google Docs. You have to do it for each notebook and it creates a single Gdoc with all of the items in that notebook. - Warren Butler

Notebook was (is?) really good but needed offline access. E.g using Gears. - Warren Butler

didn't think jaiku would last that long. twitter is far superior - Alex Carpenter

I wrote off Jaiku months ago. And after Evernote, Google Notebook paled in comparison. - Phil G

I really like Google Notebook :( - Jennifer Van Grove

Have you tried Evernote, Jennifer? It's really good. - Phil G

Phil, yeah I've tried Evernote...even have the iPhone app...but Google Notebook was a great fit for me...more than a little bummed - Jennifer Van Grove

No big surprises here. Sad to see Jaiku go. It was good having a competitor to Twitter. Keeps the game fun. RIP Jaiku - Sloan Bowman

Looks like Jaiku is going open-source. In which case it might rise to be even bigger than before. And as for Evernote - hey they have a pretty good revenue model. They're here to stay. - Leo Laporte

so my theory that Jaiku has been bought as missing ready-made geo-data (BTS coordinates) for Google Mobile Search seems more or less plausible by now. - A.T.

http://www.jaiku.com/blog... - A.T.

I wonder if they are going to get rid of video for Google Apps users too? I could see getting rid of the public Google Video since it competes with YouTube, but Google Apps video has a different purpose. - Rob Boek

google notebook is awesome! why discontinue that? - Kelly Johns

Notebook seems particularly suited to their mission statement. It ought to be improved, not discontinued. - Tanath

I'm disappointed by the drop kicking of Notebook. You spend the time tagging entries with meta data, then poof, you have to deal with converting it into another system/workflow. I just did "Export to Google Docs" as an escape hatch move, but it's not the tool to gather new clippings entries. - Micah Wittman

Ugh, I have quite a lot of stuff in Notebook. - jjprojects

i was just tryin' to get into it :-) - mirko

I'll miss Google Video - Marcos Marado

Times are hard - Marcus Beagley

Notebook is the big one for me, I use it all the time for particular projects. Anyone suggest an alternative? - Alistair (alpinefolk)

oh bummer, I love Google Notebook. I use it all the time - Imabug

Zoho seems like a good alternative. Still wish Google would keep Notebook though. - Tanath

Alex Carpenter

google favicon history

January 14, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

from this story http://valleywag.gawker.com/5128948... - Alex Carpenter

Alex Scoble

It definitely seems like people are participating more on friendfeed of late...I'm liking it.

January 14, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Nia, J. Abdul-Qahhar, Kol Tregaskes and 18 other people liked this

Yeah - I've added lots more friends lately. Hi new friends! - Tad

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I know I have started to use friendfeed more and can see me using it a lot more in 09 then I did in 08 - Alex Carpenter

I'm new, newly participating and loving it! w00t! - Christian (Simply X)

made a total move from twitter to friendfeed. I like one stop shopping :) - BEX

Christian, as a new face may I ask how you came to FF? I love seeing new people here and I wish there were more! - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Tina, Haggis is an IRL friend of mine and told me I should join up since I was already on MySpace and Facebook....I resisted for months and finally gave in. Now I'm thinking of ditching my MySpace account for reasons I'm not willing to go into at the moment. lol - Christian (Simply X)

I got into FF last year, got laid up for some months, and have been getting back into it last few weeks - and commenting more - Patrick Jordan

Awesome Christian =D I've managed to get my husband to join but he's not been on in half a week. That doesn't bode well for his addiction. I mean, his participation... - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Live Crunch Blog

Watching Top Chef I just like something about that show, its like watching new tech gadgets ,but you can make it your self.

January 14, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Alex Carpenter liked this

I love watching Top Chef, one of my favorite shows - Alex Carpenter

Scott Beale

WARNING: Tweetie 1.2 is coming… - http://blog.atebits.com/2009...

January 14, 2009 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Aaron D'Amico, Alex Carpenter, Kevin Tunis and 4 other people liked this

Tweetie app rocks. Looking forward to the 1.2 update - Kevin Whalen

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Agreed, once I switched to Tweetie, I never looked back. - Scott Beale

Tweetie rocks! - BEX

Tweetie is probably my favorite twitter client now - Alex Carpenter

Tweetie is the best. Can't wait to see what's new in 1.2. - John Holzer from Nambu

Fast Company

Steve Jobs Announces 'Medical Leave' from Apple - http://www.fastcompany.com/1139974

January 14, 2009 from Fast Company - Comment - Like - Share

When I click this link, it just shows me a big ad. - Glen, Bespectacled Elder

Yeah I always get the add to - Alex Carpenter

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog... - Kevin Tunis

Robert Scoble

Smartphone competition: It’s too late for Nokia and Microsoft, but not too late for Palm in USA - http://scobleizer.com/2009...

January 12, 2009 from Scobleizer -- Tech geek... - Comment - Like - Share

thegeniusfiles, LonelyBob, Aykut Karaalioğlu and 32 other people liked this

Robert, How are you doing? (j/k) It seems like your calling game, set, and match for Palm in the smartphone wars (at least for the near term). Is it really that cut-and-dried in your mind? From what I have seen, perhaps it is that simple, but having only seen the Pre and the G1 in videos, it's hard to nail down the details. My question is can Android evolve to compete with Palm's new WebOS? If so, how far away is it? If not, why? Thanks. - Robert Clockedile

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"Am I wrong? Argue with me." - Heh. I don't think Win Mobile (or its successor) is dead - Microsoft will continue to be the "safe choice" for many IT departments for a while, and large companies will ensure its inclusion in the carrier product mix. (It's never been a significant retail consumer choice, anyway.) - John Craft

As a European guy I've always had the understanding that Nokia and Microsoft never got to the American people. Europe and America have 2 really different customers and carriers + services - Qbat

Robert: yes, it is that cut and dried. Android will do fine. They have T-Mobile. John: I'm not saying they are dead. I'm saying they aren't going to do well in the US. Two separate things. - Robert Scoble

Robert: The one note I'd offer RE your analysis is that while Sprint is the "exclusive launch partner" for the Palm Pre, and while Palm historically rolls out much of their new hardware on Sprint, they have an ongoing relationship with both AT&T and Verizon. I'd certainly expect the Pre to be on one if not both by the end of '09. - Ken Sheppardson

"can Android evolve to compete with Palm's new WebOS?" - Does "android" have to? The Pre's killer feature is its ability to synthesize multiple contact groups and calendars. Hopefully someone's already working on that for Android - I'd sure buy it. - John Craft

Isn't Palm six months from real? Will anyone buy a Palm between now & then? - Phil Boiarski

Apple iPhone! I believe Apple's next iPhone will again blow our minds. I still think it's amazing how they in no time came from nowhere and started to compete with the big guys. - Rutger Blom

While the providers have their phones I for one don't want a phone a provider has completely made garbage with their own limitations. This is the primary reason I moved to Nokia and other unlocked phones. Yes I end up paying more money but I get the phone how it was intended. I personally wish the providers would get out of the this phone that carrier game and just let US choose for ourselves. - Sloan Bowman

Phil: I believe the Centro is $49 subsidized from your choice of Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T. I'd be amazed if the Pre comes in competing at that price point. They also have the 800w and Pro running a pretty classic Window Mobile, full keyboard alternative to the Blackberry that may well continue to compete directly with RIM even after the Pre launch. I'll bet Pre revenue starts up in Q2, so I wouldn't worry too much about a pre-Pre dip. - Ken Sheppardson

"I still think it's amazing how they in no time came from nowhere" - Motorola ROKR, anyone? Still, I'm sure you're right, the next iPhone iteration will be a leap forward. - John Craft

I believe one of the issues handset providers run into with carriers is the carriers don't want to be seen simply as a back end connectivity provider. They want to control the user experience, from point of sale to the handset to the online customer service experience. Palm's been able to walk that line with Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T and keep them all relatively "happy". Nokia just doesn't bother, and sort of skips the carrier. In between you've got RIM and Apple, who haven't quite mastered the art. - Ken Sheppardson

Hmm, both Android and Nova are Linux-based, right? Surely someone enterprising person will concoct a "Novaroid", given the chance. - Tyson Key

For Palm's sake, I sure hope they expand beyond Sprint, and in a hurry. If they don't, they're dead. - Fred Ochsenhirt

The palm came out of left field and killed it with he pre it looks like - Alex Carpenter

John: want to see the future of the iPhone? Watch this video with Broadcom (they make the chips that go into cell phones): http://www.kyte.tv/ch... - Robert Scoble

Wasn't the ROKR an almighty flop? Or at least it didn't seem to be very popular, except as a "proof-of-concept" device, amongst a niche group of users... - Tyson Key

If the "desktop" os is converging on web based apps in the cloud, is the mobile os going to be much different? 5 years from now do we really want to be writing apps in objective c or in html/jscript? - Hayes Haugen

What is Microsoft going to do with Danger? - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Good question, will they eventually make a Windows Mobile-based HipTop or something like that? I always thought that Microsoft would just let Danger languish, or close the division and move the employees elsewhere... - Tyson Key

"Wasn't the ROKR an almighty flop?" - Exactly my point - Apple's "out of nowhere success" was actually the result of a lot of hard work and a previous market failure they learned from. @Robert S., thanks for the video - sometimes it's still hard to fathom how radically telecoms have changed during my career. - John Craft

Isn't Robert's argument essentially that carrier lock-in determines success, and that the lock-in is so long-term that Nokia and MS can't make big money on a carrier's product line? I'm just not sure either of those points is watertight. One should note that both Nokia and MS have much less distance to catch up than Palm did, and if they really dug down, could take their platforms beyond the best of current offerings... Which I would say is more predictive of future success: the strength of their offerings - Christopher Galtenberg

Isn't Nokia "too big to fail"? - Tyson Key

I don't think it's to late. Palm was really behind and they came back and killed it - Alex Carpenter

Anyone can make a comeback. Does anyone remember Apple in its OS9 years? Would anyone have imagined then that it would become what it has today? - Aram Zucker-Scharff

I have to agree. I mean I understand it's a bit subjective, but I've always felt WinMo was crap. And with the time it's taking them to really get in the touch game, they'd have to do something amazing. The thing I love about the Pre over the iPhone is its focus on multitasking. I've never liked the way the iPhone basically put you in at 1 app at a time. I love the ability to switch back and forth between apps. Also the "WebOS" aggregation of information is great - Chris Brakebill

@Aram - I agree, Apple seem to have changed unrecognisably, since the Mac OS 9 years. They seem to have slowly started to lean more towards the use of open standards, and open source, although some would still call them highly proprietary. I've thought of them as being the New Sony for a while. - Tyson Key

Alex: but look at how Palm killed it. They hired a good part of the iPhone team from Apple!!! That route is NOT open any longer. - Robert Scoble

I don't think the UK mobile market works the same as the US market. We also have 5 main carriers (Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3). The iPhone is exclusive to O2, and some of the other carriers have exclusive phones, but you can get most Nokia phones on any of those networks, including the N95 for instance. Could the US market move away from these exclusive deals? Wouldn't it be better for the device manufacturers to have their devices available across all networks? - Graeme Shaw

Graeme: The handset folks would certainly like to be on all carriers. It's the carriers that limit which handsets can/can't be used on their networks either directly by preventing activation or through negotiated exclusivity. - Ken Sheppardson

Ken: so carriers will frequently only take a phone if they get an exclusive deal? I suppose it's one of the only ways they can make their offering different to their rivals, when what they're selling is essentially a commodity. Makes sense from their perspective I suppose. - Graeme Shaw

I predict Nokia will buy Palm - Andrew Eisner

Andrew - God, I hope not. - Aram Zucker-Scharff

Robert, you must read more Schumpeter these times. Microsoft with all its mistakes can try and try again a million of times. Did you see silverlight for mobiles? - Sebastian Wain

Sebastian: agreed. I didn't see Silverlight for mobiles yet. It's going to be hard for Microsoft to get Palm and Apple to support that. Nokia might, though, but Nokia has other problems to solve first. - Robert Scoble

i don't know in US but in Italy need a phone a step over Iphone, another phone similar would have a poor actraction. - Felter Roberto from twhirl

Robert in the end consumer space iPhone is a must now, but in the productivity/enterprise space Visual Studio is a more productive platform than xcode, that means less investment for a company. Also iPhone doesn't have a model for deployment of applications within a company (oh yes... synchronizing thousands of iPhones with iTunes) - Sebastian Wain

This last year was the first time I didn't buy a "smartphone". Why? Because touch screens drive me nuts and never work right. Also, phones are too small to be functional anymore. I find myself buying less phone because the fancy phones just don't work for the working class. - MarkCarras

Well the Pre still has yet to prove itself. Would people really switch to Sprint just for the phone when all the other carriers already have their phone/device? Maybe, we will have to wait and see. I am already with Sprint, so it will be a no brainer for me. Hope you are right though. - Robert Peña

@scobleizer you've buried Nokia too early - just follow my lips FRE-MAN-TLE ;) - A.T.

I wish the Pre would come out faster - I love my old Treo and have wondered where Palm went... that they caught the last train out of town? Well - I'll defer to your judgment on that Robert. - Lucretia Pruitt

seems to me like this is not about the phones as much as about the apparent brokenness of the USA mobile market. basically, there will be no proper competition between phone brands when operators choose their favorites. and similarly, there will be no proper competition between operators when the customer cant bring his own gear, again because the operator is doing the choosing. - turn.self.off

What a lot of people fail to recognize is demographically, geographically, the markets are different, the needs are different, the usages is different... everything is just different. If you read Robert's post, he states at the end this is for the US market ONLY - and for the US market, I agree with him 100%. But aside from that, Nova's technology is revolutionary. Will Pre be "the one" ? Who knows. But at this point, it will sell a hell of a lot better than the G1 - guaranteed. - Mona Nomura

It blows my mind that these companies are opening with these exclusivity contracts with carriers. I don't understand it. The Pre is the phone I want, but I am not willing to suffer through Sprint again to have it. Even if they went with 2 or 3 companies, they're be ensuring they get my business, I'd go Verizon or ATT or stay with Tmobile. When you go exclusive like this, they're locking themselves out of people who've been burned by their carrier, and I fear for Sprint, they've burned more than not. - Matthew DeVries

Palm is forcing me to compromise what I want, and go with a G1. BTW, is there turn by turn GPS nav on the G1 yet? Exchange server syncing? - Matthew DeVries

Can't beat the Open Handset Alliance and Android I believe - Bob Sonin

Microsoft is building Silverlight for s60, it's an official project. - Hayes Haugen

Brent Spore

January 13, 2009 from Flickr - Comment - Like - Share

Alex Carpenter liked this

what dell desktop is that? - Alex Carpenter

Alex Carpenter

I don't know if electric cars ar a great idea. First off they're extremely expensive to buy and the demand for electricity will go up causing electicity to go up in price. What do you guys think ? a great i

January 12, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Michael Listberger, Rodfather, Kelly W. and 6 other people liked this

Hmm, electric cars are a nice idea, although I can't see how well they'd work logistically. Yes, the idea of going to a petrol station is ingrained in the minds of most motorists when running low on fuel/energy, but I don't know how well an electric car would fair, if it's battery ran out in the middle of a motorway. - Tyson Key

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If it helps us move away from dependence of foreign oil, they are a good thing, short term...long term we need to greatly increase the efficiency of our transportation systems or rethink how we build communities...rebuilding communities will be much more expensive. - Alex Scoble

plus how do drive them when it's cloudy outside? - Thomas Hawk

Well they need to be affordable to the everyday person to make a difference first - Alex Carpenter

@Thomas - I don't see how clouds would be a problem, unless it was a solar-powered car, but then you'd still have to have some sort of very large capacitor or/and a back-up battery. It'd probably just take longer to charge. - Tyson Key

He said electric cars and not solar cars, Thomas. - Alex Scoble

Who said an electric car would run on a battery? Why not a tram like system where the power is built into the road? - Johnny Worthington

The next gen Prius will be able to run from just electricity for short hauls and be wall chargeable from what I understand. The average car buyer can afford a Prius...at least they could before the economy went south. - Alex Scoble

I know, I'm just kidding. - Thomas Hawk

1 - elec cars remove the power generation from the vehicle, big plus. 2 - electricity can be generated from just about anything dirty coal to solar. now we can change source w/o changing cars. 3 - centralizing power generation simplifies pollution control (not easy, just not as complex). 4 - costs are upfront b-cuz parts and service are way down as is cost per mi. this last one is hard on folks but we'll need to accept it in the long run. - MikeAmundsen

They need to be practical. With a recharge that takes overnight and a range of +- 200 miles, a trip from LA to Las Vegas would be 3-4 days one way. That isn't practical. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Hmm, and what about easements for actually installing the "power tracks" on driveways and on other land connected to the road system? How would you deal with the fact that it's possible to take more than one route on a road (assuming that the car isn't "attached" to the tracks, sort of like a Scalextric(?) set), as strange as that sounds? - Tyson Key

@johnny now your onto something there. Just very expensive to get going. - Alex Carpenter

@Mark: practicality is important, but not a stopper. first 'horseless carriages' couldn't go far at all. things changed over time. this will have to be the case again. and the way to do that is to get started now. and we'll have to re-build commuter transit, too. just the way it is. bummer. - MikeAmundsen

Regenerative breaking just seems like a no-brainer. No matter what got you going in the first place. - Andrew Smith

Regenerative breaking doesn't recapture much energy though. - Alex Scoble

@Andrew: the ultimate use of regenerative breaking: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...] - MikeAmundsen

Solar Power. - Admiral Anika

@Mike That's the phase I see now. A curiosity, an oddity for a small group of fanatics, but nothing more. When we can start replacing long-haul semi-truck with electric versions, or remove the diesel generators from trains, we'll be somewhere. The electrical infrastructure and the battery technology do not exist yet. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Why do so many people point out as a problem to electric cars being that they can't do long trips. For the average American, 90% of all of their driving is within a 90 mile radius of their home. A distance easily travel able in an electric car. The internal combustion engine will never be replaced by elec. for long trips, but just changing over to electric for that other 90% would help so much. - Wizetux

And the electricity would not need to come from coal, but can be wind, or solar. Also, when there is less pull on the grid than the energy that is being produced by these methods, we can store this energy by converting water to hydrogen and oxygen to use during peek usage times or at night. - Wizetux

And you can't get from here to where we want to be by just building the same old cars that we've always built. Plus there is a huge untapped market for economical super efficient short-haul vehicles. GM really was incredibly EPICALLY stupid for killing the EV-1. - Alex Scoble

After it was explained that most driving done is within 90 miles it made total sense. My commute is usually around 50 miles round trip every day so if I plug-in at night, theoretically I'll only fill up maybe once every two months at worst. The demands on the grid are nominal since electricity is cheap even with extra load (until the utility companies decide to run its business like OPEC and speculators). - Glenn Batuyong

@Mark: well, trains and semis are small potatoes compared to jets. IMO, the first task is to convert private transport to elec to conserve gas/diesel/jet-fuel for mass transport. once private vehicles are 'off the fossils' we can start working on larger vehicles. commuter transport is here now (but expensive if left unsubsidized). large transport is decades away and needs billions in research investment. nothing's cheap, but some of it's ready now. - MikeAmundsen

Give it 5 years, then ask me again - Slappy Line

@Mike Okay, yeah, I buy that. Still, the electric car today is still in it's infancy. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Too true, Mark...too true. - Alex Scoble

@Mark: yep, elec vehicles, have been out since day one, but still 'infants' since nothing sustainable (grid-wise, etc.) is there. big probl is fossil fuels are in their 'twilight years.' we need to get on the stick ASAP. even converting current private vehicles to LNG would buy us more time to build up the (wait for it...) *infrstruacture* to support elec vehicles. but we need to act now. - MikeAmundsen

Isn't only the Tesla really expensive? Check this out from Fast Company: 6 Electric Cars Coming Soon [pics] - http://www.fastcompany.com/multime... - Lynne d Johnson

Don't forget, generating electricity makes just as much energy as burning gasoline. - pitlord from twhirl

"the electric car ... is still in it's infancy" The first electric car was back in 1832, and was more popular because it was more quiet and cleaner than its gas competitor. Gas only was used because it was cheap and easy to come by back then. - Wizetux

So, if the electric grid infrastructure (everybody drink) is built, and the automakers develop reasonably priced ($25K) full-on electric cars that don't look nerdy, how long before this happens? - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

15 years perhaps (unless government intervention steps in.) But way before hydrogen cars became a reality (probably some 30 years) - Wizetux

http://video.google.com/videopl... - Wizetux

Yeah, I gave up on hydrogen cells. Even sold my Ballard stock. I think Wizetux has the right timing for the car being built, but the electricity grid build-out... no way that's done in 15 years. More like 30-40 years. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

@Mark: GM Ev1 had a range of 160mi on a overnight charge for about $35k in 1999 (yeah a decade ago) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...]. no added infrastructure needed. so i would say in less than 5yrs if automakers launched the model cycle this year. so the only remaining issue is sales. and i suspect that will take some 'social engineering' (i.e. tax policy) to prime the pump. just like housing, hiring, and luxury yachts. - MikeAmundsen

Just get Apple to make the electric car that works with the iphone of ipod, then everyone and their grandmother will want an electric car. Call it the iCar. - Wizetux

@Mike No grid build-out was needed to charge 200 cars. What about when you plug in 200,000 cars? - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

@mark: Does every house that you know of have electricity? Then no build-out is needed. Now, having the ability to provide the needed electricity, that is a different question. But the grid is there. - Wizetux

You guys have heard of the Chevy Volt, right? It seems to address what most of these comments are looking for. http://www.chevrolet.com/electri... - Jared B. Luther

@Jared: Not ready until 2010. If Chevy doesn't go bankrupt before then. - Wizetux

@Mark: hehe, it was more like 1100 (660 gen1, 460 gen2) and now that WSJ is reporting power companies sweating about a drop in consumption [http://online.wsj.com/article...] i think we can manage any projected surge comfortably. hell, we should *have* such a problem, eh? - MikeAmundsen

@Wiztux The existing residential lines and house drops are rated to carry a maximum of whatever amperage. I doubt very much these will be suitable if everyone is drawing a much larger amount of electricity for extended periods of time. Yes, everyone has the equivelant of 'dial-up' electricity, and it needs to be upgraded to a high-speed pipe. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

"Can the grid handle a large fleet of plug-ins?" [http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13...] - MikeAmundsen

@Mark: OMG, every electric car that I have seen just plugs into a standard 110 V outlet. In fact, most have less amperage requirements than the standard electric range which requires three phase electric, so the home drops can support the load no problem. - Wizetux

"How to Build an Electric Car Charging Infrastructure: Smart Grids, Fast Charging and Universal Access" [http://gas2.org/2008...] - MikeAmundsen

@Wizetux I'm considering the longterm goal of a fueling stop for an electric car taking no longer than it does today. That's why the grid needs to be upgraded; high volume, high resistance power transfers, not just at home, but at fuel stations as we have them now. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

@Jared The Volt is still a gas/electric hybrid, isn't it? - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

no matter how to cut it, at this point, the issue is not a lack of tech, it's a lack of commitment. sure, it'll be a painful switch and it won't be cheap. we've spent the last six months ponying up $350bn to ward off a perceived threat to our economy. that didn't seem to involve much hand-wringing. - MikeAmundsen

@Mark: drive train on Volt is elec. w/ ICE used to recharge the batteries. - MikeAmundsen

A Tesla goes 240 miles on $3 of electricity here in California at current rates. Same car would cost $20+ or more to go that far in gas. With electricity the power production can be centralized, which COULD mean fewer greenhouse gasses, thanks to scrubbing, or better, solar, wind, and nuclear power. If we are going to get rid of pollution, or keep it down to a dull roar we MUST go electric. There is no other option. Burning crap in decentralized engines is not going to get us there. - Robert Scoble

Also, we need to get rid of energy sources from people who hate us. Hint: 9/11 was funded by the Saudis. Most of the world's oil is in the hands of people who don't like us very much. If we can switch that in a big way we'll be much healthier economically. - Robert Scoble

And that is the reason I feel that the government should have made a string to the bail out funds for the automakers to force them to start making electric cars rather than hybrid ones. - Wizetux

@Mike So, the Volt uses a gasoline powered on-board generator to create electricity. Still burns fosil fuels... And yes, it's a paradigm shift in thinking. I'm all for it, but like you say it's going to be a painful expensive switch, for sure. I just was pointing out some of the things people don't consider; things that need to be in place and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

@Robert I agree with what you say, but it takes time and money to get there. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

I agree with Robert and would further raise the solar and wind additions as a way to reduce greenhouse gases -- Not so much nuclear as there are still too many down-sides to it. The point is that all-electric or electric with a constant-RPM engine is far better on the environment then the petroleum diesel and gasoline variable-speed engines we current have. - Robert Miller

Robert - bingo. BUT decentralizing power generation is a big key here. Half (yes half) of all electricity generated is lost before it hits an outlet. We also need to factor in the impact of the car itself. Like CFL's there is a heavy metal problem with batteries... and that matters. - Brian Roy

@Wizetux the market can not be forced or told what to purchase, and companies are going to produce what people want to purchase. Forcing you to make blue widgets when the world is buying red widgets will put you out of business very quickly. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Once the tax pigs realize there is revenue in it, electricity for cars will sure as hell be taxed. - Ian May

@Mark and that is why I felt that we should have let the auto makers fail. Because they were not making products that Americans wanted to purchase. So by your logic, they should have been "put out of business" but our government thought it better to bail them out. Another fail for the Bush administration. - Wizetux

@Brian Again, the grid needs to be able to carry larger amounts of power with less loss. That is a big part of the e-car becoming a mainstream product. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Mark - why not invest at the edges of the grid. Put up small solar/wind generation in every new home built... push generation to the edge and allow the grid to generate, collect and store excess capacity for when needed? - Brian Roy

Bush or no Bush, any business that so spectacularly failed for so long to produce a viable product should be allowed to fail. Kinda like the Darwin award for companies... - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

What about the fact we don't know how long batteries will last. How long will an electic car run for before it becomes scrap? Land Rovers last for 30 years surely that is a better car in the long term than a small electric car on the scrap heap in 10 years time. - Nick Stone

Brian: That can work. As can neighborhood-sized nuclear powerplants, no bigger than a phone booth. Creation of the power can be made everywhere and anywhere. The problem is the current (bad pun) model of the distribution grid is over 50 years old. We need to do better. I do like the localized power generation, though. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

@Nick I have a 6 year old 4.6 HSE. If Land Rover traded me even up on a brand new one I would turn them down. This thing has been less reliable than my dad's '78 XJ. It has been so bad I get a feeling of jubilation if it starts. But I understand your point about reliability. - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

The democratisation of power generation is one of the smartest moves in taking the politics out of energy. But just watch big business and big oil take steps to ensure it doesn't happen. The sooner we're free from centralised production (coal, oil and nuclear) the better off we'll be. Of course that strategy raises issues about pollution control and grid maintenance but these are far from insurmountable. - Peter Fletcher

Land Rover has the worst return customer rating than any car manufacturer in the market today, because the customer after purchasing the car figure out that it is a POS. - Wizetux

Brian, I'm dubious of "small solar/wind generation" in the home being able to completely power the home *and* the car. At best you are going to a few dozen kWH off the roof, and the electric motor in the Prius is 67 hp (~50 kW). I haven't done a back-of-the-envelope calculation, but offhand it looks like choosing between having electricity in your house and being able to drive to and from work. :-) - Karim

Again with the batteries? Nick, poor form! Toyota warranties the batteries on the Prius a minimum of 8 years/100k miles (10 years/150k miles in some states like CA)...They expect them to last much much longer. And they cost about $2600 for the gen 2 Prius to replace (cheaper on the gen 1). People need to stop spreading FUD about the frickin' batteries. - Alex Scoble

Karim, you are still connected to the grid. You don't need the solar to generate all of your energy, just enough to offset the cost of energy and the cost of the panels. - Alex Scoble

Seems like there will definitely need to be a distribution system. Even if we had the capacity to charge all electric vehicles, it's not going to work if the majority of people come home at 6 PM and plug in their cars all at the same time. Likewise we need to do something for people who park curbside or in lots, as well as people who live in apartments where the available roof space isn't going to support everyone on solar. - Karim

Alex, I'm refuting the idea that "small solar/wind generation" in each new home is sufficient to eliminate the need to upgrade the grid -- not refuting that idea that home solar is a good idea. - Karim

Karim - for about 20k I can put enough solar on my roof to run my home (pool included) AND put power back on the grid. Please do some research before you post (I'm not trying to be snarky but there is already too much FUD). I didn't say we shouldn't upgrade the grid... I said it was about generation, storage and distribution of excess capacity... Not centralized generation and distribution. - Brian Roy

Brian, Mark was arguing that we need to upgrade the grid, and your response to this was that, quote "small solar/wind generation" in new homes could address this. Based what little I know, I'm doubtful. There's FUD, and then there's blowing sunshine up people's asses. ;-) Do you have any figures to back up your assertion? How many kWH are you getting off your roof every day? In the winter? How much excess do you produce, and is it anywhere near enough to charge an electric car? Just curious. - Karim

actually my response was distributed generation with solar and wind as examples. I believe my quote was for 45 kWH... But I'd have to look it up to be sure. I grant you I'm geographically advantaged (phoenix). - Brian Roy

Yeah... see I had to look it up... 520 - 650 kWH/Month. Between 4100 and 5100 DC Watts (peak). And these are conservative given we are Phoenix. Also, the 20k reflects the rebates offered by SRP here in AZ... but every power company offers rebates for solar installs. Granted I have no idea what the draw is to charge an electric vehicle... since none exist. BTW - if you really want mfg info check out this link: http://www.southwestpv.com/home_so... - Brian Roy

not sure what you mean by "none exist." :-) found a PDF saying electricity used by an EV would be roughly 15 kWh/day (http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog...) -- you, living in Arizona, represent a "best case" for solar and that is still using up 75% of the 20 kWh/day off your roof. Most other locations in the country will be able to generate a lot less electricity on a lot fewer days. So it does sort of look like a choice between the house or the car. - Karim

actually no... You didn't read the page I linked to. Those estimates are for average solar radiation in the US. But yes, the EV would use much of the production - of course only ~18% of produced would be lost as opposed to 50% lost in transmission for centralized generation. The point I'd generation at the point of consumption is both possible and much more efficient. - Brian Roy

sorry if I misunderstood. where did you get "520-650 kWH/Month?" assuming that's accurate, you are still talking about the majority of the electricity (450 kWh/month) going into a car and not a home. - Karim

I think electric cars can be a good idea for many parts of the country, particularly places like California. This is especially true if a battery swap system could be implemented. However, I'm a little concerned about how they would do in places like the Northeast where it gets cold in the winter and producing heat takes a fair bit of juice. Also, plugging in works great for many home owners, but what about places that rely on a lot of on-street parking? - Tracy Hurley

Electric cars would be great....if we didn't have to generate that electricity by burning hydrocarbons - Slappy Line

edythe

Potentially Embarrassing Question: What was your first concert? - http://furryrabbits.tumblr.com/post...

January 12, 2009 from Tumblr - Comment - Like - Share

Iggy Mwangi, Brad Kligerman, Andy C and 22 other people liked this

I saw a very young James Taylor make his solo debut at the Troubadour in LA in 1969. Does that count as a concert? I think it was a pretty decent first live music experience. :) - Kevin Gamble

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George Jones and he showed up, but my mom insisted that I be home by 10pm, so I only got to see a little of his performance. It must have been somewhere between 93 and 95. My first non country music was Live in 1995. - Heather Solos

Simple Minds; though, with my family I saw many a country and bluegrass concert, Simple Minds was the first I bought tickets for and drove to myself. - Michael W. May

My first proper concert was going to Weezer at the Astoria when I was 16. Cast and Coast were supporting. The gig was rescheduled from a few weeks earlier, can't remember why though - Rory

.38 Special - Jeff Quinton

Kiss, 1978 or so, in Huntington, WV....I was in 8th grade and my mother took me, one of my classmates, my younger brother (5th grader I think), and his friend. - Craig Eddy

Jodeci and MC Hammer. My mom took us, and she was mortified when she saw them grindin on the floor. - Shevonne

Ozzy Osbourne "No More Tours" Tour outside Springfield, MO. - Jason Shultz from twhirl

Marillion, at the "Olympia" (not the classic French house for concerts in Paris of course), in 1992. Yes, I was 14, and in theory I couldn't be there, because I was with a friend with the same age :D I probably was in some other concert with my parents before, but I don't really remember of it. - Bibi

Tears For Fear--1985, Jacksonville, FL - Kelly W.

America, 1975 - Floyd Davenport

The Jackson 5 back in the 70s, when dinosaurs walked the earth. My mom took me and my sister. - ha3rvey (sayin' nothin')

@ha3rvey how did you have time to go to a concert with the civil war raging on? - Jason Shultz from twhirl

Crosby, Stills, and Nash when I was 11. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

truly it was Ladysmith Black Mambazo - 5th grade... but my first rock concert was Janet Jackson during the janet. era. - JoEllen

Meat Loaf and bunch of other bands at an outdoor (in a park type thing) show. Girl I brought (first date) was not impressed when we got right up close to the stage and ML was huge and sweaty and apparently his spit was flying :( - Patrick Jordan

They Might Be Giants - awesome concert, led to a college concert addiction. - Steve C

New Kids On The Block in '89. The Fat Boys opened up for them. KILLER SHOW. - Brad Williamson

Gordon Lightfoot '67 - Brian Sullivan

I saw John Denver in the mid 1970s. I think that was my first concert of a name pop artist. - Ontario Emperor

Van Halen's "1984" is the first concert that I bought a ticket and attended. I went to plenty of concerts with my folks prior. - Mathew A. Koeneker

My first pop concert was Lionel Ritchie. His opening act? Some woman called Tina Turner trying to make a comeback. I'd never heard of her before that concert.. - Kenton

Never been to one. - Morton Fox

HALL & OATS, FTW - stretta from twhirl

The Dead Milkmen - Summer of 1992 - Sam Harmon

AC/DC - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

Less Than Jake. - Alex Wilhelm (FF BLOWS)

The B52's Love Shack Tour Baby!!!!!!!!!!! - Martha

Skid Row / Dangerous Toys / Bonham - late '80s, Long Island NY, yes !! - Eric Berlin

I saw a Beatles cover band a couple years ago. Haven't been to any "professional" concerts. - James Ferguson

Greg Khin Band/Tawny Cain, Redding Civic Auditorium, Redding, CA, 1982 - Helen Sventitsky

RATT, Speedway and Bronze - ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift

They Might Be Giant at The Vatican on their Apollo 18 Tour (a club in Houston, TX; not the one in Rome) - Christian (Simply X)

It was Live's "Throwing Copper" tour. Opening acts: PJ Harvey and Veruca Salt. - Lon Harris from twhirl

Bow Wow Wow, at Magic Mountain. - Thomas Hawk

Honestly, Cheap Trick at Six Flags in Eureka, MO (suburb of St. Louis). The first one I enjoyed was U2 at the St. Louis Arena in '87 (Joshua Tree tour) - cjmart

Bryan Adams "Waking Up The Neighbors Tour" - 1992 - Jared B. Luther

My first concert was The Statler Bros. They were great. I was quite young then. Since then, I have probabaly seen hundreds of different acts in concert and I am only 21. Concerts FTW! - pcnerd37

alice cooper killer, and he lost the snake... - maidel

The Wallflowers at the Illinois State Fair, 1997ish - Kirk Kittell

Duran Duran on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour at the Gamecock arena, Columbia, South Carolina in.... 1984? - Luke Robinson

the first i went to on my own or the first with the family or school? - Dave Winer

Kool and the Gang on their 'Celebration' tour. With my older brother and 2 girls from church. I was 12. My first concert with just me and a friend was Missing Persons on their 'Spring Session M' tour. I've seen a bunch of shows since them, some rocked, some sucked. But they were all enjoyable. - Morgan Haley

Starship. Rushed the stage and stood on front row chairs. Couldn't remember my home phone number afterwards thnx to second hand pot smoke. - Josh Haley

I'm pretty sure it was KISS. If not KISS, it was Motley Crue - Alan Simpson

Blood, Sweat & Tears - I was 4, and we had front row seats. - Jennifer Dittrich

Can't remember, I was stoned. - jcunwired

I know I went to one but I can't remember who was playing .. that period of time is shrouded in smo .. errrr fog - Steven Hodson

Kenny Rogers. With my grandmother. ;) - Cyndy

Embarrassing because it was so recent. Snow Patrol, Austin, spring 2008. I was a sheltered child. I'm trying to make up for lost time, really I am! - Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF

Peter, Paul, and Mary 1966 - Greg Guitarbuster

Ummm Guster I think - Alex Carpenter

Yay Austin :) - Patrick Jordan

My first concert was those guys that sang that song "I wanna be a Cowboy and you can be my cow girl..." The concert didn't matter to me (can't even remember the band's name)... it was getting to go to the big city (Spokane, WA) with my girlfriends. After that, I moved to Orange County and saw Depeche Mode at the Colliseum, David Bowie, U2, and one of those concerts was opened by Siouxsie and the Banshees. So I guess I made up for my first concert experience. - Trish Haley

Somehow I won tickets to see Dizzy Gilespie at the Toledo Masonic Auditorium. A friend had to drive me because I was only 15. The first concert I paid for myself was Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Ft. Wayne Coliseum. - Tödd Nëmët

May 10th 1985 - Julian Lennon - Honolulu Hawaii. Next was Jefferson Starship/Airplane (what ever they were calling them selves at the time).The 1st tickets that I ever bought though were for Club Nouveau and Yellowman. - Miranda

Mine was Joe Walsh at Pine Knob in MI, around 1980. David Lindley opened with stuff from El-Rayo X. Awesome show! @BrianNorwood : I was at that show! Was just talking about that concert the other night with another friend that was there with us. - ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ

First "Big" concert was Guns and Roses in Buenos Aires (92'). - Martin Añazco

The Waitresses at some small venue in Pasadena I think... - Just Ken

The Fall - Hazel Grove Youth Club (1979) - Andy C

Aerosmith - 1976, Hershey PA - Janet

1988: Chicago with the Beach Boys. Loved it. :) - Ladybug Heather

Aubrey Sabala

OMG. Daniel (@dburka) brought in his 8 wk old Bernese Mountain puppy, and I had to steal her. CUTEST PUP EVER!! http://www.flickr.com/photos...

January 12, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Classic trick to pick up chicks haha - Alex Carpenter

Steve Rubel

Tweetdeck (blue) is beating Friendfeed (red) on Google Trends - http://www.google.com/trends...

January 11, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Patricia F. Anderson, Bill Romanos, Rob Diana and 12 other people liked this

Amazing. Yet, I don't get what has everyone so wild about this app. - Steve Rubel from Bookmarklet

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Same here. I thought it was a bit messy, and why can't you make the text larger? - Steve Isaacs

I tried it for a bit. It is still just Twitter. - Yolanda

For people who need a realtime feed, it's the closest I've seen—you can tweak your refresh settings for each function (tweets, replies, DMs, etc). I use its groups feature to make sure I don't miss tweets from close friends/family. Lack of keyboard control is irritating though. - Dan Byler

I don't use it myself. I haven't had the best luck with twitter apps, so I am holding off until I absolutely have to. - Martha

I find Tweetdeck more useful than most of the other Twitter apps I've tried. I use the search function to sort out tweets on subjects I'm actually interested in and I use groups to keep track of a few people whose opinions I don't want to miss (without having to resort to not following people who follow me). It cuts down the time I spend on Twitter. However, if all the people I wanted to follow were on Friendfeed I could do without Twitter. - Carl Pruitt

When I spoke to an audience at CES a majority were using Tweetdeck. When I do interviews I see Tweetdeck on everyone's computer. It has -- overnight -- become the most used client for Twitter. - Robert Scoble

I really wanna customise tweetdeck more, though I do like it. - Mike Scott from IM

I'm also really keen to see someone push the interface in terms of twitter clients, they all seem to be pretty similar (for good reason) - I just wanna see something unique, different, that pushes the envelope - Mike Scott from IM

Tweetdeck is definitely the best twitter desktop client. Best look, simple interface, and the group feature is probably the biggest perk. - Alex Carpenter

I find the conversation on Twitter too fragmented. FF is my first choice these days but I like how it sends my stuff into Twitter. - Steve Rubel from IM

I love the features that tweetdeck offers. Eventually I'm sure there will be an app where you can have all the features you want but until then tweetdeck is the best from what I've experienced. - David Spinks

I have used both and I am enjoying friendfeed much, much, more. Tweetdeck seems to always have small little nuances that irritate me. You can keep your statistics Steve! - John Bellone

I made a delete on a box and cannot retrieve it in Tweekdeck.. irritating - bcultral

I don't check twitter often lately. I'm seeking more signal here - Toni @ NavinoT

I think most people are missing the dynamic here. Twitter is an input. Friendfeed is a gathering point. Big difference. - Daniel Miessler

I just downloaded the sucker. I like it. Frankly, if they could expand the other Twitter-related apps it's tied to (it has search, for example, as well as a tag cloud), I'd be happy. Sort of a central point of the Twitter ecosystem for your desktop. - Anthony Baker

Brent Spore

Bracing myself for another looooong night. Any killer iPhone app recommendations to help keep me sane?

January 11, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

I would suggest Tap Tap Revenge, very addicting and fun. - Alex Carpenter

Alex Carpenter

My most visited websites of 2008.

January 11, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Tyson Key, Alix Whitmire, Bob Gannon and 3 other people liked this

I think I should make another graph showing what I think 2009 will look like because I know there is going to be some changes on what sites I use more often. Probably start using friendfeed a lot more and cut back on twitter but also drop viddler and start using vimeo for HD videos. - Alex Carpenter

Tyler (Chacha)

Friendfeed is more fun than school. Sadly ... it isn't as educational

January 9, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

VC Freak, Tyson Key, Penguin It's Cold Outside and 17 other people liked this

it's educational if you're interested in learning more about bacon though. - Thomas Hawk

34 more comments

*search google for jobs about bacon* .. Sorry ... doesn't help :( - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

it depends on who you hang out with - Dobromir Hadzhiev

I'm trying to find the 'interesting people' ... but I'm stuck! - Tyler (Chacha)

So just add random people. - Steven Perez

I just took a peek at your subs and rooms. I can see why you feel that way. - Admiral Anika

Who am I missing? - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

I think it's a good place to learn about photography, but not so great for other things. - Alex Scoble

You have a lot of people who post things that are better left unsaid or posted to Twitter. Then you have a ton of tech people who pretty much post about each other. If you're already reading their blogs, you're not going to hear much new from them. As for the other people, well that's where your "fun" comes in. What other interests do you have? Join those rooms and you'll find new people! - Admiral Anika

It can be very educational. A lot of people post scientific research, news and stuff like that. It also helps greatly with developing your LOLSpeak vocabulary.... better than anything. - Dee S.

I'm graduating in int. marketing and FF is clearly the best source to discover researches, debates, ideas and stupid memes - and I may try a PhD on the last ones ;) - Jérôme Flipo

I need a PhD in Friendfeediness.... - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

Luckily, the PhD is a study at home course available via a direct download for the low low price of... Wait. Nevermind =D - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Tina has been watching too many SHAMWOW ads... - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

..wait til you see my nuts - WorldofHiglet

Ok .. this thread is dead - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

(the *other* advert the mad shamwow guy does) - WorldofHiglet

HI! I'M BILLY MAYS, AND I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ***FRIENDFEED***!!!! - Steven Perez

.................. - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

Feature Request: The Ability to lock an entry so no more comments are made. You can delete comments/like/unlike, just no more comments - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

..if you ring right now, you can get your PhD and we'll through in a diploma in advanced Social Media...ring now - WorldofHiglet

And this is why. - Tyler (Chacha)

He finally gets comments on his threads, and now he complains. Kids these days, I tell ya ... - Steven Perez

:) can you hide your own threads? - WorldofHiglet

yes - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

...but you obviously haven't so..... - WorldofHiglet

........ - Tyler (Chacha) from IM

I think you doth protest too much! - WorldofHiglet

Oh .. get off my thread! *grumbles like an old man* - Tyler (Chacha)

Go educate your subscribers then. Maybe they'll educate you back. :) - Meryn Stol

Oh, I think he's been schooled today :) - WorldofHiglet

hmm? - Tyler (Chacha)

Friendfeed is educational. You just have to find people who share stuff that you need to learn about. - Morton Fox

Bees and dogs can smell fear. Done and done - you are edumacated. - Steve C

beer can be educational sometimes as well. - Thomas Hawk

I would beg to differ. I find friendfeed to be highly educational, just not what the schools would be teaching you. - Alex Carpenter

mashable

Do You Hate Automatic Direct Messages? - http://mashable.com/2009...

January 2, 2009 from Mashable! - Comment - Like - Share

Jennifer Windrum, Gordon Saunders, Charlie Anzman and 13 other people liked this

ALOT, instantly unfollow that person - Alex Carpenter

6 more comments

TOTALLY!!!! - Lisa L. Seifert

I hate them - Loic Le Meur

I hate them and participated in Mashable's survey because I hate them so much. - Jennifer Windrum

I was OK with it, but now I'm annoyed. - anna sauce

It depends. - Akiva Moskovitz

With a passion. - Logan Leger

I hate automatic direct messages too. - Svartling

Scot Mcphee

Twitter VS FriendFeed. I've only been on FriendFeed for a few days - since Scobleizer posted the video showing the features. I gotta say it's starting to prove to me how much better it is than Twitter. Twitter is too constrained for true conversations. There's def'ly more interesting content on FF.

January 2, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Nicholas James, Web20Critic, Allen Blair and 17 other people liked this

And in recent days I've started seeing the twitter over-capacity message again - the reason I dropped my first account on it earlier in 2008. - Scot Mcphee

9 more comments

Welcome, glad I could help but it has actually been quiet lately. - Robert Scoble

Friendfeed is different then Twitter. Why is everyone trying to compare them, Friendfeed is made for discussions that doesn't mean Twitter is any less of a service. Twitter is not made for large discussions just quick messages. - Alex Carpenter

I'm experiencing the same thing. Only problem is taking the time to subscribe to all the people I follow in Twitter. - Jeff

To me Friendfeed and Twitter are two different things - Adriana

Alex, I would say that they are similar in terms of short content items, with pointers to external content, about which people have conversations, or data interchanges. - Scot Mcphee

The other thing is, FF just seems to present more "use value" for me. Twitter is just *status*, and Facebook already has that as it's *least* valuable feature. - Scot Mcphee

Scot - Twitter is much more than just status'ing to me. Have you used it for a long period of time? At first I thought the same but over time saw differently. - Jeff

I like FF much better than twitter because it is threaded and you can have an actual conversation on a single topic. - Jeff P. Henderson

Jeff Hilimire, I used Twitter a lot last year, but when they had their performance issues, I deleted my account 'cos I got sick of it being down. I re-added the new account maybe two months ago. The FF threading is *the* killer feature. - Scot Mcphee

I was all about twitter until I checked out friendfeed the second time. The first time I looked and thought, "ack there's too much stuff." And I didn't know what feeds were. Now, I love the stuff and feel like twitter is missing a lot. - BEX

Alex Carpenter › Comments