elroy
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Bret Taylor posted a link
Say Goodbye to BlackBerry? If Obama Has to, Yes He Can - NYTimes.com
Sunday at 7:05 am - via Bookmarklet - Link
"But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful... For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive. Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office, making him the first American president to do so." - Bret Taylor via Bookmarklet
"From my cold, dead hands, Mr. Emanuel . . . from my cold, dead hands!" - Barack Obama - John Craft
re:Obama/ no more Blackberry NYTimes - I would think he could legitimately use a short burst public messaging service like Twitter (likely not Twitter itself) to send public messages like the "Sox!" message they discuss without issue. As long as everything said in that channel was public and treated as so I don't see the issue... humanizes the position I say. - Ben Hedrington
French president Sarkozy emails his wife all the time! - Tammy
change the rules .. this is not a king's court, and courtiers and their rules should get out - Gregory Lent
I can see him changing the rules. He's done it for everything else. - flammable
Change the Presidential Records Act? Can you imagine the outrage if Bush tried to do that? - Brian Newman
Why does he need to change the Presidential Records Act? Communicate simply, probably not on complex issues, in the open in public seems to jive with the act to me... "Enjoying a nice dinner with friends" type messages... humanizes the role... - Ben Hedrington
Two commenters suggested a change to the rules. I'm with you. He is not prohibited from using a Blackberry. He can use one if he chooses. He just needs to be aware that every email he sends can wind up in public. Which I'm sure has his advisors shitting their pants. - Brian Newman
Doesn't the maxim already advise us so anyway: treat all mail you send as if it might be divulged eventually. - John Lam
For most of us, any e-mail we send is exactly as secure as a message sent via a postcard. - Stephen Mack
Will it be a new MacBook Pro on his desk? - elroy
This could be the CHANGE Obama was talking about. Out with the BlackBerry, in with the iPhone. - Kevin Singarayar
well, as long as they set up his device with encrypted security and host the incoming and outgoing email servers, i don't see a problem. - Dustin
@zeigen postcards are _more_ secure due harder costs on sniffing. - silpol
I don't know if I was just more apathetic before, but I'm fascinated at all this behind-the-scenes transition stuff I'm just reading about now. Agree that being allowed to use e-mail or at least Twitter would continue to humanize our beloved Pres. Barack, but I also see how it could be a risk, because nothing's 100% hackerproof. It's a cat and mouse game and there will always be someone out there with a ton of determination and even more time on his or her hands. - Rebecca Sun
The first president to have a laptop on his desk? WTF did all the rest do, have everything hand-delivered to them in print form? Did they have someone read it to them, also? Mr. Singarayar - lol, no. He's an executive - no time for toys! - Mr. Gunn
On day one, he's gonna set up a FF account and put his legs up and hang out with US! - Josh Haley
Nixon was *all over* magnetic tape audio recording technology. With a top security clearance personal secretary as IT support, what could go wrong. - Micah Wittman
Twitter
Mark Dykeman posted a message on Twitter
delicious
elroy bookmarked a page on delicious
November 13 at 3:22 pm - Link
The video is hilarious... - elroy
FriendFeed
Steve Rubel posted a link
November 11 at 11:15 am - via Bookmarklet - Link
"I haven’t used an RSS reader for a year and I haven’t looked back," he says. - Steve Rubel via Bookmarklet
Bleh. Sounds a lot like Calacanis and his "I don't blog" line. If you have 100,000 people clamoring to talk to you then there's less need to read feeds or to post on a blog. Props to people like Scoble who get out there and talk to people anyway. - Daniel J. Pritchett
Genius: "I just go to site that I like. I’ve found it more satisfying and it slows me down. I’m less news/information junky now which is a good thing." We couldn't be less on the same page. File this under couldn't be less interesting. - Sean McBride
One day, maybe I can turn off the news hose. One day. - Rex Hammock
I gave up RSS about 6 months ago or so. It's liberating. Socially filtered content through sites like FriendFeed is vastly more interesting. Your time is a zero sum game. Wasting time on RSS means you can't get the best of what else the web has to offer. - Thomas Hawk
I inject myself with BBC/NYTimes, etc. once in a while via google reader, and personal friend's blogs are still RSS. Socially filtered does help, but not 100% - anna awesomesauce
Thomas Hawk - I use Google Reader (and RSS feeds) to scan and read Friendfeed much more efficiently. GR increases my leverage over FF by a factor of at least 100. - Sean McBride
I swear the world is turning Republican. Next thing we're going to hear is how only the Media Elite read the news anymore, or I get all the news I need on Sunday in church. And btw, what is evolution again? Does it always go forward or does it sometimes go in reverse? :-) - Dave Winer
And btw, fyi Thomas -- there's a lot of RSS in FF. Just a thought for your day. - Dave Winer
I couldn't live or do my job without it. - Steve Rubel
I am using Google Reader to bookmark interesting feeds. Not actually reading them. But it is good to know that they are there in case if I get extra free time to do some feed reading (never happens, though). - Uldis Bojars
This makes one wonder - what % of readers reported by Google Reader, Feedburner, etc. are actually reading the feeds as opposed to just downloading them. - Uldis Bojars
@capstsolo Would love to see some overall metrics around how engaged readers are with their feeds. Newsgator is doing this with APML. - Steve Rubel via IM
Jason Freed is just one person. It means nothing. We need stats. Plus facebook users get RSS maybe without realising it. That is cool use of RSS. I don't use a reader anymore. I use iGoogle (I have about 100 feeds in there)and twice a week feedly (300+ feeds) - DC Crowley
To each his own. My feed reader is my primary news source, and as DC points out, one data point does not a fact make - Deepak
Dave, I stand corrected. I certainly do access RSS through FriendFeed. My statement was more directed at traditional RSS readers than RSS itself per se. - Thomas Hawk
Steve, why not just create imaginary friend accounts for the RSS feeds that you just can't live without inside of FF? You could even put them into a separate list called "Steve's RSS?" - Thomas Hawk
@Thomas Hawk - Good call with lists for RSS Feeds. I've had some imaginary friends for a while but hadn't thought it through to that point. - elroy
Besides RSS, 37 Signals have also declared they do not use photoshop - http://www.37signals.com/svn/p... personas - http://www.37signals.com/svn/p... and my guess is the computer is next to go. Good for them. It seems to work. - Andrew Smith
I am reasonably new on the RSS bandwagon (only about 6 mths) but I can see what Jason is getting at. If you have to go out of your way to get the info, you are more likely to value it and less likely to get distracted. But on the other hand readers make it a lot more efficient to process and filter information quickly. - Alistair
We need something like this now that 'I don't own a television' isn't so radical anymore. - Bruce Lewis via fftogo
The full potential of RSS feeds has barely been tapped. In the future, RSS (or an evolutionary variant) may well provide the framework for managing all of your daily information flow, in all departments. Advanced recommender systems and personal assistants will dynamically prioritize and reprioritize the flow of feed items based on your behavior. AI-based machine experts in various domains will collect and process huge flows of information from RSS feeds. - Sean McBride
@Thomas: I've just stripped some of the loudest voices out of my gReader and put them into FF lists of imaginary friends. Good tip! - Daniel J. Pritchett
FriendFeed
Charlie Anzman posted a message
“20 ft snow drifts in South Dakota, 70 F here in Central PA today ... and Hurricane Paloma just went to Cat-3 south of Cuba. Global warming or just really messed up weather? Kinda like the earth's axis is moving ?!!”
November 7 at 5:49 pm - Link
wild weather patterns FTW! - Susan Beebe
Universe Warming? - elroy
It snowed here too, this whole morning in MN thanks to the winds from South Dakota - ♣genieyclo♣
Backtype
elroy commented on a blog post on Backtype
November 6 at 4:45 pm - Link
"C" - elroy
FriendFeed
Benjamin Golub posted a message
“I still visit http://froogle.com when trying to use "Google Product Search"”
November 6 at 9:49 am - Link
Me too. - Dan Hsiao
I didn't even realize it wasn't froogle anymore.... - elroy
me2 - Shey
I always thought the froogle name was genius - RAPatton
@RAP I never got it until much later on - Shey
I do check froogle occasionally, but then I also hit pricegrabber and shopper.com for comparison. - Phil Glockner
Yeah, I liked Froogle. The name works especially well for me because I *am* frugal; I hate spending anything more than necessary. - Voyagerfan5761 via fftogo
agree.Froogle was a very cool name. Then it became "Products" and then "Shopping". So dull. And unlike Google to introduce confusing nomenclature changes. When it was "Products" I had a hard time finding it. - LauraBrarian
Twitter
RevTim posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Mark Wilson posted a message
“How tall are you? I'm a nerd and wonder about these kind of things.”
November 5 at 9:00 am - Link
I'm 6'0 - Mark Wilson
5'4" - elroy
5'7" - Lindsey
5' 9"... I think. - Akiva Moskovitz
5'2" :-/ - Far
5'9"...and my fiance is 5'9" - Alex Scoble CISSP
6'0.5" - Ian May
:) 187 cms - Sasha Kovaliov
5'3" - hubs is 6'3" - Carmen
6'2" - RAPatton
5'5" on a good day 5'4" on a bad - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
4'9" and my fiance is 5'11.5" (or 6'0" in shoes) - Ladybug Heather
5'10" - Kamath ॐ
5'10" - Jason Shultz via twhirl
5'10 ...didn't we do this already? - Shey
5'10" - Derrick
Maybe, Shey, but if Tina didn't chart it, it didn't happen. :-) - Ladybug Heather
5'8" - Emma
6'0 right on the mark - Christopher Harley
188cm - John Fink
5'7" I think - Rory
5'8" - Mlibrarianus
6'1" - Morton Fox
5'9" - xero
5'10"....6'2 in heels, HA! - Live4Soccer
6'-0" - JA Castillo
Just shy of 5'1" / 1.5m - The Bohemian Penguin
3 apples high. - Secret Squirrel
5'4" ish. Very ish. - Nine
with or with out elevator shoes? 6'3" - Zehn
6'4" - J Wynia
5'5", but I always wear at least 3" heels so I can feel a bit bigger. :D - Amanda H.
6'5", roughly. - Jonas Bush
5'7" - Heather
I am 6'0' - (jeff)isageek
A few microns shy of 6'2" - Slippy Lane
69 INCHES - stretta via twhirl
5ft6. I'm dinky :P - alphaxion
1.74 m - Alejandro S.
+10 alphaxion for using the term "dinky" - Mark Wilson
5' 7" - Mitchell Tsai
5ft8. - Kol Tregaskes
6'2" - James
5'10" - Josh Haley
5'9" - Aaron Krug
Google Reader
Stefan Hayden shared an item on Google Reader
November 5 at 7:37 am - Link
I would can her because they didn't make her interesting. She's one dimensional in way the other characters aren't. - todd
I'll admit I watch the show with my wife. It isn't a bad show. But, I didn't see how having lesbian doctors added anything to the show. It seemed pointless. Maybe I'm used to House (the format, not the recent edition of a lesbian doctor on that show also). - elroy
Disqus
elroy commented on a blog post on Disqus
October 23 at 9:35 am - Link
"What a novel concept (from the article): "Lastly, America needs the next president to be an energy efficiency trendsetter, starting by reinventing the inaugural parade. Get rid of the black stretch limos and double-plated armored Chevy Tahoes inching down Pennsylvania Avenue. Instead, let the next president announce that he will use no vehicles on Inauguration Day that get less than 30 miles per gallon. He could invite all car companies to participate in the historic drive with their best available American-made, fuel-efficient, innovative vehicle." Maybe Obama will do it....." - elroy
Twitter
Mark Trapp posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
niniane posted a message
“Which health insurance do you have? I'm with Kaiser, and considering switching to a PPO.”
October 22 at 10:50 am - Link
My wife provides me with United (PPO). - elroy
I switched from Kaiser to a PPO after leaving Google. I actually liked Kaiser better personally since everything was slightly less work (vaccinations for a trip didn't require an appointment or anything, etc). But I haven't had any serious illnesses nor do I have children, so I haven't really tested my health care in any real way, and I think that is when the differences between the two choices are more evident. - Bret Taylor
My wife was injured outside of the country and I was surprised that United covered some of the bills. It wasn't cheap to go to a "private" clinic in the Dominican Republic. - elroy
I switched from Kaiser to a PPO while at Google, then to a HMO now at FriendFeed. Don't underestimate billing hassles - it seems that various departments operating in the same building (internal medicine, radiology, pathology, surgery) have different billing departments, and you'll end up faxing your insurance info and clearing up billing issues on the phone over and over again. Kaiser has none of that - everything Just Works. - Tudor Bosman
The downside is that you have to do everything (including pick up your prescriptions) at Kaiser facilities, but IME that wasn't such a big deal; there are many Kaiser hospitals in the Bay Area, and Kaiser is pumping a lot of money into building new centers and renovating the old. - Tudor Bosman
Your PCP often acts as a gatekeeper at Kaiser, and they seem to vary widely in their propensity to refer you to a specialist. For some, all you have to do is send them an email ("I need a referral to an otolaryngologist" - "OK"), while others seem to think that they can solve any and all problems. YMMV, ask around. - Tudor Bosman
I am with my wife's United PPO for last 4 years (includes child birth). haven't see any hassle except when I was charged for baby+mom (about $400) and we tried to get it waived, but did not happen. one reason to stay with United PPO was her employer does not have monthly deductions from the paycheck. have been referred to specialist for my kid and was not a hassle. - kartik vaithyanathan
ppo all the way... i have two friends who work for kaiser and even they don't recommend it! - reza
Cigna PPO. It's the best I've worked with - Piaw Na
Twitter
Mark Wilson posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Bwana posted a message
“Looks like Derek Anderson remembered he's an NFL quarterback. He would do it when I bench him on my fantasy team.”
October 13 at 6:51 pm - via Ping.fm - Link
Bumming. - elroy
FriendFeed
Veronica posted a message
“I'm a zombie!! Oh no!”
I'm a zombie!! Oh no!
October 13 at 2:35 pm - Link
Well since it's too late, you should read up on your new life: http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Zomb... - Haggis (Sean)
That's a pleasant new look for you - Paul Salzman
Half-Dead doesn't look half-bad on you, Veronica. - Josh Haley
Paul, I think so too. And I spend a lot less money now on cosmetics! - Veronica
Now I have the urge to listen to some Zombie Girl... - Michael W. May
That comment you deleted was way out there (at least the one I saw). What was with that? - elroy
Use Windows for too long, kids, and see what happens! - Mark VandenBerg
a zombie with luxuriant hair and a manicure... hmm... actually it looks a bit like there was just some kind of mishap at the jelly donut factory. maybe an IED (improvised explosive doughnut) - Karim
I wish I still had the pics of my zombie Halloween about 10 years ago, taken with a cutting-edge floppy disk-based Sony Digital Mavica camera. They were pretty awesome. - Vincent X
Nearly unidentifiable except for those lanky fingers and the "V" neck tee. - Paul Reynolds
Whoa!! that's freaky!! ok you can have all my candy! *screams and slams door shut!* - Susan Beebe
Goodness. You look like Sid Haig in The Devil's Rejects - Rodfather
It looks like you're just having the typical case of the Mondays. - imabonehead
"...and that's why I use Dove. It's one-quarter cleansing creme." - Karim
so scary.. - Ervin Ter
Are you a Good Zombie or a Bad Zombie? (in my best Glenda the Good Witch voice) - David Z
This is the first time I've seen you look bad... even in that video where you were sans makeup... - Jason Wong
mmmmmalicious. I'd lick-ed that zombie - ⓃⓄⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂⓄⓃ
very scary - johnny rodriguez
RAWR! Freaked me out! :D - Ron
bRAAAAAIIINNNNSSSS..... - Terry O'Fee
mmmmmalicious... tasty blog crack - ⓃⓄⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂⓄⓃ
FriendFeed
Abby Martin posted a message
“Observation: Since the "sexy" cartoon avatar was replaced by a picture of my (beautiful) daughter and my (real) self- a whole bunch of subscribers peeled away. Interesting.”
October 13 at 2:13 pm - Link
Well, that sucks. That happened to me when I used the morphed self portrait/Yoda as my avatar. Some people are just shallow. - Helen Sventitsky
I still think you are made of awesomesauce o mavericky one! :) - Abby Martin
Next time I think I'll just put up a gender-neutral icon of indiscriminate age as an experiment. - Abby Martin
I liked the one with the dino head - Lindsey
Boo on them Abby. - Yolanda ♥s Nuttycakes
I wuv you too, oh ex-gothy one. :D - Helen Sventitsky
their loss - Corie "Viper" Jones
that is interesting - Kyle Lacy
I like the new pic. - Jordan Hofker
Hmmm, maybe I should "sexy up" my South Park Slippy avatar. A thong, perhaps? - Slippy Lane
I subscribed. Hopefully that will balance out the shallowness a little. Though Yoda is hard to beat :-) - todd
Thanks guys. Lindsey- that was my daughter in her dino outfit- she loves to roar. I may go back to that but I fear the damage is done. Time to look into Botox or a bag I guess. :) (Not really) - Abby Martin
Serious?....lame on them... - Live4Soccer
Botox is evil. - Helen Sventitsky
Well, the avatar was really cute. (I'm rather cute too but it looked younger than me and possibly skinnier. So it goes.) Though I think the daughter is about a million times cuter than anything else. - Abby Martin
I love your new pic, personally. - Carmen
Seriously? That is most lame. - JA Castillo
Abby, that's how pathetic some people are--getting off on a cartoon image. :| Really, it's for the best. You don't want those kind of creepers subscribed to you anyway. - Anna Haro
Then you are better off without shallow people like that. - Flippity
Dammit! I didn't realise I could be losing out on subscribers by using an unedited picture as my avatar. :( - David Young
i didn't even notice it had changed. eh, some people are weirdos. we enjoy you here on ff abby. - Cee Bee
No you couldn't David. That's a nice shot. You look good. And who wants people who would base their opinion of you on it anyway. (That's how I am trying to look at this.) I just find the whole thing - Weird. (not you- those who subscribe on the basis of cuteness.) - Abby Martin
perfect- that is how you weed out the creeps from the keepers - Maria
EXACTLY mortisha! Abby, your new pic is lovely! :)) - Anna Haro
Oh Anna Haro, once again you prove that you are an amazingly sweet woman. <3. (You too mortisha) Cee Bee- I like "eh some people are weirdos" but in Canada that might be "some people are weirdos, eh" :) - Abby Martin
I didn't know subscribing based on avatar was big thing. I don't even notice avatars most of the time. - elroy
For reals? Sounds like you clipped off the ones that needed to be clipped off. Life's too short to not be yourself. - Josh Haley
That's bizarro. However, you gained one subscriber here :) - Bec Rowe
Hi Bec- and yay. Nice to meet you. - Abby Martin
newly subscribed as well - Alan Le
@Abby. I think you are looking at this in exactly the right way fwiw. :) - David Young
Hi Alan and nice to meet you. Thank you David :) - Abby Martin
Hi Abby... wow, that's interesting. I think that's a GOOD thing :) cheers! - Susan Beebe
I like your new avatar - RAPatton
Thanks RAP. That's me- warts and all. And my gorgeous kid. - Abby Martin
Ah, they're stupid. I love your picture! - Bonnie Dean
Thanks Bon. You're a doll. :) - Abby Martin
Sorry to hear that so many people unsubscribed. :-) The new picture is nice. Anyway to have a closer view of your faces? I don't have enough time to go through my subscribers, editing people via do-I-like-their avatars... much rather just read what they have to say. - Mitchell Tsai
Twitter
Mattie Kenny posted a message on Twitter
FriendFeed
Paul Buchheit posted a link
Fury over cat eating festival | The Sun |News
October 8 at 9:16 am - via Bookmarklet - Link
"The 'Gastronomical Festival of the Cat' – dubbed the 'Massacre of the Moggies' – sees townsfolk in Canete, near Lima, feast on the fluffy pets for two days. They believe that eating cat burgers – and fried cat legs and tails – can cure bronchial disease. It is also believed that feline meat serves as an aphrodisiac. The cats are bred especially for this festival – which takes place at the end of September on the Day of Santa Ifigenia." - Paul Buchheit via Bookmarklet
LOLLUNCH :) - Paul Buchheit
I can't like this, but I do like your comment. - elroy
OM NOM NOM - Gabe
No... :( - BeeLing
LEAVE THE LOLCATZ ALOOONE! - Dobromir Hadzhiev
Oh noez! :( - AJ Batac
Tails? 4srsly? - Mark VandenBerg
that is so wrong, cats are great and should not be eaten. - Jeremy Campbell via twhirl
*Cries* - Ron
all animals are great and shouldn't be eaten. ... except the chicken. chicken are dinner food. - Nine
:O :O :O :(((( - Maryam Ardakani
Like lambs, but I eat lamb. Like cows, eat them too, ducks are quite cute, wouldn't say no to a nicely roasted duck breast, chickens have character, and taste really good... ...I'm sure if I was somewhere where I didn't understand the language, and no-one miowed at me, i'd not only eat cat, but i'd probably like the taste too. - VickyPearce
I see the picture and keep misreading the title of the story as "Furry over cat eating festival" - Andrei M. Marinescu
@Vicky: but cats are too intelligent to be served as dimsum... :,-( - Ron
What's the big deal? Every night is an eating festival for my cats! - Gabe
WoW , Delicious Kitty :D - Farzad
I love cats! They taste just like chicken. :) - Adam Lasnik