Yes, but I'm sure that 9/10 of a cent results in tons of revenue for the companies. In these days of cost cutting, the executive who dared suggest such an idea would probably be fired. - Ontario Emperor
"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
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
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
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
ooh I need to play that on Rock Band. One of my siblings might get the version with this song. I love that song. & yeah Shey, reggae and other genre versions would be very cool - Kamilah Gill
Have you guys got rockband 2 yet? It rocks, tons more songs and features! - orionstarr
@orion you can download extra songs? From where? - Shey
@orionstarr, cool site, I'll have to check that out! @Shey, you can buy songs from the XboxLive Marketplace or the PlayStation Network, depending on whether you have an Xbox360 or a PS3. They're up to about 350 songs available for download, adding more every week. - Jandy Stone
@Jandy Thanks! Would I be able to still download songs from a modded Xbox? - Shey
That I don't know. Can you use XboxLive with your modded box? If so, then probably yes. - Jandy Stone
Yes I get songs every week in the music store in rockband. With PS3 and 360 you just download them from the online stores. Each song is usually around $1.99. When you buy rockband 2 you get 20 free songs! or bonus tracks for download. - orionstarr
@Jandy thanks yea I use that site to find other online players and you can list what songs you have. - orionstarr
Sweet, thanks. If I can't get a good Black Friday deal to buy an Xbox 360 and Rockband 2, I'll just wait till Boxing Day - Shey
Thanks! Black Hole Sun started playing in my head and suddenly it segued into No Rain by Blind Melon. Time to aggravate my co-workers. XD - Arlan Koizumi
Since rockband I find myself singing all the time... people are like wtf? - orionstarr
“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 ?!!”
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
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
Went to bed at 9 and woke up to learn who our US President is. - Steve Rubel
You should have woken up at 6:30. Then you would have seen the announcement at 11:00. Sometimes, it's important to take a break from official work duties and enjoy certain moments in life. Last night was one of those times. - Bryan Person
@Bryan No way. I get a much bigger charge out of my work. It's my passion. - Steve Rubel
One of the nice things about being overseas is that I am 12 hours off, so I was able to watch everything while eating lunch. :) - Justin Long
Y'know, Steve, I'm just sayin' ... every once and a while you have to step away to get a little perspective. Not miss the moments that just might be changing the direction of the country where you work and can follow your passion. - Bryan Person
@Steve: But I'll give you this: You're certainly up front about your geekiness and passion for what you do. Applaud you for that. - Bryan Person
you could enable the "right-side chat" and "right-side labels" to move chat and labes to right side. combine that with "navbar drag and drop" which enable drag and drop gadgets conspire to making room for friendfeed gadget. - huixing
I worked in a research lab in high school and had to handle xylene, the stuff that makes permanent markers smell so good. It was the best summer EVER.... - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
While I enjoy conversing with all of you, none of you are ever allowed into my house :-p - Peter Ghosh CISSP
as long as you're not addicted to the taste of rubbing alcohol you'll be fine... - Joshua Schnell
I clean my hands with rubbing alcohol and clean my insides with a different kind of alcohol. - Trish R
I love the smell of Off! Bug Spray. It's weird, right? - Meg vM
Heck, Trish R, I had to read that twice...lol - Ian May
I love the smell of rubbing alcohol in the morning. It smells like... - Mark Wilson
@Merry, some of his stuff is really fantastic. He even has one called, "In The Library"! - Meg vM
I've smelled a perfume that stank of old, dusty, moldy library books - it may be the same company...(how many perfume manufacturers replicate the smell of library really?). - Miriella
“I lose so much respect for Democrats when they throw out cries of racism, homophobes and discrimination. I see it so much here on FriendFeed, and it is glossed over because this political leaning is popular here.”
FriendFeed/Twitter has a big liberal group-think mentality. I would over 90% of them know absolutely nothing about 0bama. - Spencer
Yeah, all those YouTube videos are fake - Dave Hodson
Pirillo: Not saying those things are popular, but Obama supporters making those claims of the McCain side is popular here. I've seen it twice here, and I've been on FriendFeed for 20 minutes this afternoon. - David Risley
David: that's OK, I lose all respect for Republicans when they call us Socialists. Or when they take the country to war based on bad evidence. - Robert Scoble
Scoble: And you should. The extreme rhetoric has been flowing both ways, that's for sure. - David Risley
But ... those things do exist right? So ... are people not supposed to address them? Or just not Democrats? Now if you're saying that some paint with a wide stereotype brush, then ... fine, but that's on both sides of the political spectrum. - AJ Kohn
@Scoble: "Us?" I thought you weren't an American anymore, kemosabe. - Rob Sterling
I'm not registered with either party - I'm a moderate. Fiscal conservatives have been ignored by the republicans. - Jason Kaneshiro
Rob: I'm not an American because Republicans said I'm not. Which greatly made me lose respect for them too. My whole post about not being an American was in response to comments that Republican leaders made. - Robert Scoble
I don't like to broadly toss those terms about, either. But if a person won't vote for Obama just because he's Black, or supports Prop. 8 just because they don't like gays and think it's OK to deny us civil rights, what better terms are there for them? (and BTW- I'm a registered Republican but a practicing Independent.) - Jack Carlson
Yeah, stop discriminating against our discriminatory speech, David. Who elected you to be the speech police anyhow...and I think your comments show an underlying bigotry against Democrats! Just sayin'! :) (OK, this is obviously one of the times when I've broken my own rule and posted something that doesn't add to the conversation...sue me) - Alex Scoble CISSP
Yes. that was one of the lowest points in any campaign I've ever seen. Imagine the outrage if the Obama folks had said such a thing. - Karoli
honestly, I don't respect republicans, bush is a criminal, sorry bitches. - David Lynch
I'm listening to these complaints against the democrats regarding civility, partisanship and fairness. Tell me. Where were your voices during the last eight years and more when anyone who disagreed with the current administration were called anti-american, traitors, unamerican? Did you speak out then? - Rod Bauer
via twhirl
Jack: I suspect VERY few who vote against Obama are doing so for racial reasons. The problem is that too many Obama supporters paint all McCain supporters in that light. For a person who believes in fiscal conservatism, there are PLENTY of reasons not to vote for Obama. Race has nothing to do with it. - David Risley
@Scoble: Ah, so that was just a rhetorical device. I'm not sure which "Republican leaders" you're speaking of, though. - Rob Sterling
I lose respect for anyone -- democrat, republican, libertarian, independent, or green, even -- when they act as if conditions such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and discrimination don't exist. like people who suffer these things are just supposed to shut up and deal with it silently, because what they're experiencing or witnessing isn't really happening. yeah, sure... oh, i'm sorry, i should have posted this on 'little green footballs.' - .LAG
show me how the republicans are forward thinking when it comes to social issues. Prop 8 discriminates against gays. Republicans want r v wade overturned. It's discimaination plain and simple. - Jason Kaneshiro
All you McCain supporters are just scared out of your minds of a gay, black woman in the White House. That's right, I said it--Barack's a secret lesbian! Deal with it. - thepete
Jason, you are part of the problem. Not everyone wants gay marriage to be legal, it doesn't make you a bigot. The same with not wanting people to murder babies. - Spencer
Why do people who are against gay marriage care if it's legal? If you set aside religious beliefs, explain what the objection is. It has nothing to do with anyone but the people involved, and if we are all about the "sanctity of marriage" then why is divorce legal? - Cyndy
Sure, @David Risley, when people follow me around a store as if I'm going to steal something (and I'm dressed in a polo and slacks), when little old ladies the same size as me desperately clutch their purses as I enter a brightly-lit stairwell behind them (while wearing my work ID at my workplace), and when I go to a clinic to fix a computer and am asked if I am looking for the WIC office (or told that the trash has already been emptied), I can believe that racism and prejudice are practically non-existent. - MiɳiMagɘ (Sexy Scimitar)
life liberty pursuit of happiness. Interracial marriage was illegal once. I can't imagine that my marriage was once considered detrimental to society. - Jason Kaneshiro
Rob: if you haven't heard the Republican leaders throwing around the anti-American label lately you haven't been reading http://www.memeorandum.com try Palin for one. - Robert Scoble
MiniMage, WTF, man?!?! Who said it doesn't exist? All I said is that Democrats tossing the label around so liberally is a bad thing. - David Risley
@Cyndy: +1. In addition, for those that want less government in their lives, why is it suddenly okay for government to dictate the terms of marriage? Seems pretty intrusive. If the division of church and state persists, and marriage is a legal device, then why would the values of any church be relevant? If a church believed mixed marriages were against nature should we seek to prevent that? The church *is* well within its bounds to not preside over those marriages. There is where choice resides IMO. - AJ Kohn
I don't care about gay marriage either way. I am just tired of someone being labeled a "bigot" just because they feel a marriage should be between a man and a woman. - Spencer
Where are all these "cries" you're talking about? Link them. I haven't seen anyone crying about anything regarding racism, discrimination or homophobia. - ♫ Rahsheen™
Spencer: I don't care what you believe but when you try to take away rights from other people because you don't agree with them then, sir, you are a bigot. Or worse. - Robert Scoble
Not a man, David, and you told Jack that you suspected very few who are voting against Obama are doing so because of race. I submit to you that if I, trying to influence only my destiny, can encounter so many adverse reactions due to my skin color (not the only ones, btw, but I can only type so much here), how many more folks are being just as knee-jerkish over someone who is possibly going to affect untold millions of people's futures? - MiɳiMagɘ (Sexy Scimitar)
no David Risley, what you said was that you lose respect for democrats "when they throw out cries ...." you did this with no qualifiers - you made it an absolute statement not the responders - David HC Soul
Same with abortions, AJ Kohn. Why should those who don't want one dictate to everyone else what they can or can't do? Don't want one? Don't get one. Let others have the freedom to follow their own conscience. Freedom to choose seems to frighten some people. They prefer to dictate through the government what all citizens can do. - Jack Carlson
We keep having these discussions with no context and it's kinda pointless. - ♫ Rahsheen™
@Spencer, get used to being called silly things for silly reasons. Over the past 8 years, anybody with even slightly liberal leanings has been called a "terrorist sympathizer," or "Anti-American". Don't you think some of us are sick of being called anti-american terrorists just because we live in San Francisco and have gay co-workers? - Jason Kaneshiro
@Cyndy i'm going to vote no on 8, but there are 2 reasons people are against it. One is some semantic argument about what 'marriage' means. The other is that it actually costs taxpayers a lot of money to support marriages: http://family.findlaw.com/marr... - Sam Pullara
David, here's a question that's yet to be answered. My guess is, based upon some level of intelligent discord, you are up to the task. "For a person who believes in fiscal conservatism, there are PLENTY of reasons not to vote for Obama." I would like to hear your argument why there are reasons TO vote for McCain. Stay on the topic of fiscal conservatism, if you will. Thanks. - JC unwired
Not to mention that those of us not on the far right don't support the troops. As a veteran that accusation never failed to royally piss me off. - Jack Carlson
Jason: over the past 8 years? How about the past 8 weeks? The sad thing is, most of it is initiated by those who wish to lead us. - JC unwired
There are non-bigoted reasons to oppose gay marriage... you believe children should be raised by both a man and a woman, for example. It's a perspective that depends upon one ignoring the realities (failings?) of modern child-rearing and heterosexual relationships, but it isn't automatically bigoted, IMO. Wilfully ignorant, maybe. - Roger Benningfield
Jason: I think you are exaggerating a bit there. - Spencer
@Sam, then why is marriage legal for a man and a woman if it's so expensive? Outlaw it altogether. And there is no non-bigoted reason. Explain the difference between "A child should be raised by a man and a woman" and "A child should be raised by a man and woman of the same race/color/religion." You can claim it's not bigoted, and yet it is. There is no difference between forcing your issues about sexual preference on others than there is forcing beliefs about race on others. It's all the same thing. - Cyndy
@Rahsheen sez "We keep having these discussions with no context..." I disagree. The context is American society. I admit that I'm making an assumption here, because in the end, you may be a FF auto-posting 'bot'... but you live here, don't you? If you've never heard a "cry" of racism, sexism, homophobia, or discrimination, then i have to kindly ask you to move from beneath the rock you've been living under. - .LAG
+1 to everyone who asks why does government have to decide whether it's right for a same sex couple to be married. let them do their thing, and tax the hell out of those two incomes, like you always do. ;-) - .LAG
LAG, the original comment specifically focuses on FriendFeed as the place where these cries are coming from. I was just staying on topic. - ♫ Rahsheen™
@Cyndy could be. i don't know why it is the way it is, i wasn't around when it was instituted. i'm not sure how the children thing even got into the argument since it is possible without marriage for two people to have children and raise them (gay, straight or whatever), in fact some people say it takes a village. maybe marriage was instituted to stabilize society for all i know. as a former member of a 'domestic partnership' i'm not going to try and stop it. - Sam Pullara
@Scoble: Yes, but how does it apply to you? - Rob Sterling
Cyndy: I actually think you've got it backwards. Preferring both a male and female parent is a preference for diversity in the child's upbringing. It's a rather stupid preference, IMO, since it places too many restrictions on individual liberty and ignores the practicalities of modern life... but it isn't as knuckle-dragging an outlook as you'd like to believe. - Roger Benningfield
"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
Yeah well, when I didn't want to join it last night, or the day before, or the day before that, or the Robocop Fan Fiction room all last week, you could've taken a hint, man. - Mark Trapp
How was I supposed to know that DRPFF stood for Disney Robocop Princess Fan Fiction? I thought it was Deranged Ron Paul Fan Fiction, so I ignored it. - Ontario Emperor
via fftogo
I hope those room names aren't real. That would really scare me. - elroy
No, Erotic Disney Robocop Princess Fan Fiction would scare me. - Michelle Marie Miller
Tough one Mark. Then again, everyone wants to be your friend :) - Charlie Anzman
I don't know about that, Charlie: you buy one fan fiction novel, you're on a list for life. - Mark Trapp
Until FF provides some way to discover rooms I think this will continue though. - Brian Sullivan
Brian, there are two ways you can publicize a room without being a douche about it: create a FriendFeed message so everyone who's subscribed to you can see it, or add a message to the FriendFeed Rooms room. Just think if you could cause a notification to fire off by sending shares to everyone you're subscribed to: it defeats the purpose of not subscribing to people, as they still can reach you if they're subscribed to you. - Mark Trapp
until FFeed comes up w/ a better room directory, it's not worth it - clarke thomas
Mark - It's becoming just as tough here on Friendfeed (but I'm still here). You could be blocking someone that has something to offer in every third piece. I set up second accounts on FF and Twitter last week. That was part of the reason (and a viable alternative) - Charlie Anzman
I'm not a fan of FF rooms, to be honest. I throw everything in my main feed and leave most room invites unanswered. - Tamar Weinberg
Charlie: by some stroke of luck, the people who blind invite me are people I'm not subscribed to in the first place, so I'm not missing anything. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that if you're not subscribed to someone, they shouldn't be able to add stuff to your experience except via friend-of-a-friend. Failing FriendFeed doing something about that, I need to do something about it: probably easier to just delete people's subscriptions to me rather than block them. - Mark Trapp
There should be a feature to invite people who have not been invited. This helps by giving new subscribers the chance to experience the rooms, of which I love several, and would leave people off who already received the invitation. The most effective way to add people to a room is the invitation, still. A post to your feed falls off the radar without most of your subscribers even seeing it. Then you get accused of posting that room too much. lose/lose. - Eric @ CS Techcast
Eric -- as far as I am concerned an unsolicited room invite is spam or close to it. - Brian Sullivan
Eric, not sending to people who've already been invited would be nice, in addition to not sending to people who are not subscribed to you, and a general opt-out of room invites altogether option. The little icon on the page isn't the problem, for me at least, but the emails from the notifications are. I didn't ask for emails that essentially amount to advertisements, so in that sense, they are spam. General spam rules should apply: I wish FriendFeed would institute them. - Mark Trapp
