Eric Johnson

2. Almost everyone on this list is a popular blogger. - Robert Scoble

3. There is a definite tech bent to this list. - Robert Scoble

4. In the first 100 I see only a handful of names that I didn't know a year ago. - Robert Scoble

5. Most of the people on this list have been to at least one conference or event I've attended in past year. - Robert Scoble

And yet the most of use don't really care about them... http://www.ffholic.com/Entries... - Johnny Worthington

So, lessons? 1. it's hard to get onto the top of the popularity lists and wasn't made easier when a new service came out. 2. such lists favor people who network their behinds off at physical events. 3. Participation in FriendFeed helps you move up a little bit, but only if you are both very active and throw interesting content into FriendFeed (like, say, Mona). What else do you learn by looking at this list? - Robert Scoble

Johnny: well, you might claim you don't care about them, but in aggregate I see that most of us follow people who are already popular, not people who actually participate. Of course, since FriendFeed is, at top, an aggregator, just putting your RSS feeds into here is participation, I guess. - Robert Scoble

We do subscribe to them, because they are beacons. But you also have to weigh that list by the amount of 'active' users who subscribe to them. I know of at least 5 people who are members here on FriendFeed, who subscribe to most if not all of the top 20 yet never come on here. The core group is what matters. Those who are recognizable names will always get more follows, but the core of the group http://www.ffholic.com/Users.a... is what drives it. Rankings are always skewed. - Johnny Worthington

I think part of this is that many people use FriendFeed as an aggregator. - Aram Zucker-Scharff via bTT

This list just looks like every top 100 for every mainstream (in tech) online service. It shows that in the main, the top 100 don't use friend feed but send feeds to it, I don't think that = participation, at all. - Kevin Dixie

Kevin: there is a participation effect, though. On Twitter Leo Laporte has twice the followers that I do, but not here. Why? The participation effect. I've gathered quite a few followers by participating here. - Robert Scoble

I agree - participation is key to any community see my example here (a userguide to my community) http://www.fuelmyblog.com/inde... Online has the very same rules as offline and glad you are showing that - Kevin Dixie

FriendFeed is far more of a 'community' than Twitter is, participating here counts for far more than almost anywhere else, however, participation (and how much you participate) is also a lot less visible here, in my opinion. FriendFeed (as a system) favors those who create content to import into the stream, not those who contribute to the community. - Aram Zucker-Scharff

The smart people (like you, Tina, Mona, and others) know better. The result is that being active on the community nets your rewards from the community itself, not the system. Is that a bad thing? - Aram Zucker-Scharff

Kevin : I disagree, when you are sending feeds in FF, you are pointing at us, poor human, what you find interesting. I think this is a kind of participation. Robert is doing that very well (too well ?). The only exception is twitter for me. I find it very hard to follow a twitter conversation here on friendfeed. - Olivier CASTETS

Good discussion. I interact and participate much more on FF than on Twitter. Why? Because FF is a much better tool for enabling engaging communication. I find myself being very careful conversing on Twitter because I feel it's easy to pollute the stream, whereas on FF you can do this without the same effects. - Mark Krynsky

The first thing I notice about the list is that NOBODY on FF has more than 20,000 subscribers. I reach more people through my blog on a regular basis. Is FF really all that influential? It does seem to be a great way to connect with the geek elite, but is that its only value? - Eric Hamilton

Is finally FF the blogging tool of the near future? You just posted one line and a link and the most interesting and remarkable thoughts and comments appeared in minutes from all over! - philos

Who would buy these? - Aaron Krug

Did anyone see the creepy MySpace class skit on SNL? http://www.hulu.com/watch/1420... - Chris White

@Chris yes, saw that SNL skit! Was hilarious... yet creepy. Very creepy. - Gary Bacon II

More importantly; who would buy these at $22 each? - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina) via IM

@Aaron: Dummies, of course! :) - ♣genieyclo♣

Yeah, there's no Twitter for dummies, either. :p - Helen Sventitsky

FFundercats steps up to the plate, no? - Josh Haley

Wouldn't "Twitter for Dummies" be a pamphlet? - Mark VandenBerg

Exactly, Mark...not much too teach is there? - ♣genieyclo♣

we could fit "FF for Dummies" on a cocktail napkin. "Like, Comment, Post, Repeat." - Matt Musgrave

My Space for Dummies is a tautology - Nadine Schaeffer

You missed "refresh" and "post LOLcats religiously" - ♣genieyclo♣

genieyclo- that's FF for advanced users. lol :p - Matt Musgrave

MySpace for Dummies makes sense... MySpace for smarties, OTOH would be a mystery - Sean Reiser

You know what's missing from that collection? AOL for Dummies. - April Russo

Robert Scoble says smart people are on FriendFeed, so we don't need a Dummies Guide. Ok, well, that's not what he says, but I'm just going to keep telling myself that's what he says. - MiɳiMagɘ (Sexy Scimitar)

We don't need FF for Dummies. We have a nice room to send the newbies to: http://friendfeed.com/rooms/sc... - April Russo

Orkut is missing though! :) - Sameer Panchangam

No Twitter for Dummies either. But then again, what's there to learn? - Morton Fox

We don't want dummies to FriendFeed. FB and MySpace is for them ;) - Jemm

Would be a cool idea. Hey Jemm, common you elitist :) - Ryo

Gem of a post! - Rahul Deodhar

"To be a company that society wants to exist." - Bill Strathearn

Entire industries, and nations, can rise or fall based on their understanding (or lack thereof) of this phenomenon. - Sean McBride

well, he can drop the style, and be real, and come back to it one of these days .. - Gregory Lent

Steven, when your boss hired you, he knew what he was getting....Re Lyons, is it possible that this is an elaborate stunt? Lyons has been known to pull such stunts before. Probably unlikely, but one can hope. - Ontario Emperor via fftogo

Who? - Mona N.

It's hard to understand. I don't speak the language. But the people in the back are very interesting. Great vibe. - Robert Scoble

its @davidfeng - Web2Asia

@Web2Asia, sorry, I just copied Shel Israel. - Robert Scoble

Blame it on Shel :) - anna awesomesauce

you've been there a week, you'd think you'd speak fluently by now...jeez... - Zee from WeDoCreative

If you can't understand it then...ok, nevermind! - WorldofHiglet

Looks like someone should've invested some time with Rosetta Stone. - Akiva Moskovitz

any cool tech company addressing the language issue? seems like a huge opportunity to make this country and whats happening more accessible - simonpure

It needs some red vinegar - William Stewart

yummmmieeee (going to thaw some now, not as good at all, but hey) - anna awesomesauce

Picasa Album (17 photos): http://picasaweb.google.com/Mi... - Mitchell Tsai

dumplings - Igor The Troll

This was my NYC cheap eats run for dinner tonight. My ex-girlfriend Jacqueline wanted some cheap high-quality Chinese recommendations. Her new boyfriend is a chef. - Mitchell Tsai

(1) $4.50 ($4.00 takeout, 4 dishes, rice, soup) - Lunch Box Buffet. 195 Centre St (just north of Canal) - Yelp http://yelp.com/biz/lunch-box-... Village Voice http://villagevoice.com/locati... The NON-Americanized version of "Panda Express". Food like Mom serves (not Michelin) Choice from ~80-100 dishes for dinner. 5 dishes & soup. - Mitchell Tsai

(2) $8.00 - Fruit from Chinese vendors [not pictured] 1 lb Chilean cherries $2.50, 3 Asian pears $1, 4 large tangerines $1, 1 lb Longans $3.50 - Mitchell Tsai

(3) $1.00 (5 dumplings for $1) - Fried Dumpling. 106 Mosco St (between Mott St & Mulberry St) - Yelp http://yelp.com/biz/fried-dump... Decent quality dumlpings at a killer price. It wasn't good to go at 7 pm. The dumplings had been sitting around too long. Hot Sour Soup $1. You can get frozen ones for home. - Mitchell Tsai

(4) $2.50 (Mongolian lamb shish-kabob $1.25, Steak kabob $1.25) - BBQ Express. - Yelp http://yelp.com/biz/bbq-expres... Midtown Express http://midtownlunch.com/blog/2... This street stand opened just ~6 months ago. My first time here. So-so, not amazing. - Mitchell Tsai

(5) 10.00 (Crab meat soup dumplings - "shao long bao", $6.65 + tax/tip) - Joe's Shanghai - 9 Pell St (Bowery & Doyers) http://joeshanghairestaurants.... - Yelp http://yelp.com/biz/joes-shang... Great time sitting next to two businesmen & 3 Korean tourists at their group tables. Not as good as the ones at Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Taiwan http://youtube.com/watch?v=3f-... - Mitchell Tsai

(6) $1.49 (Blueberry whole-milk Brown Cow Yogurt) [not pictured] Morton Williams Supermarket - 130 Bleecker St (next to "The Bitter End" http://bitterend.com/schedule.... - my favorite place for music) http://mortonwilliams.com Die-hard Californian has to do the healthy food. :-) - Mitchell Tsai

(7) $5.50 (chicken kabob sandwich) ??? place north of Bleecker St where I went after tonight's concert Syrian owner. - Mitchell Tsai

(Total) $32.99 - Mitchell Tsai

I think I've seen the first place but not the second. I'll stick to Flushing Chinatown. Still exploring the various cheap eats there. - Morton Fox

oh, It's Dolmeh دلمه :) - saeedeh

Saeedeh: Some of these have "soup" inside (not just crab, meat, and vegetables). They are special to Shanghai, China. Do any Iranian dolmeh have soup inside? Poland has pierogies, but I like Chinese dumplings better. - Mitchell Tsai

William: I'm not a vinegar fan. I just use soy sauce - admittedly, soy sauce is a little too sweet for this. I'll have to figure out some sauce combination I like for these. - Mitchell Tsai

Siao long bao! Although Joe's isn't my favorite, still love these things. =) - saeba

I spent a lot of money on these in SF-Chinatown once, dim sum, fresh lobster... nice memory, also the all-dumpling place in Beijing I went to, very very nice - anna awesomesauce

I want :( - shandiz

Now I'm hanging to go to Camy's. - Bec Rowe

They look so yummy! - Ekin Acar

Anyone with favorite dumpling places in NYC? I'm headed for more dumplings tonight. - Mitchell Tsai

Mitchell, on a dumpling roadtrip eh? :) - imabonehead

OMG. WANT! NOW! - Cyndy

This is a classic example of never browsing FF on an empty stomach. I gotta find some dumplings now. Are there any good places in the Beaumont, TX area? - Jason Huebel

ha i know exactly where this is. morton check out this map of spots in flushing: http://www.nytimes.com/interac... - Cee Bee

Cap Gemini's World Wealth Report 2006 - Asset allocation of HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) 31% Equities, 22% Alternative Investments (Hedge Funds, Commodities, Foreign Currencies, etc..), 21% Fixed Income, 16% Real Estate, 11% Cash - Mitchell Tsai

From 2006 to 2008, HNWIs shifted to more cash & fixed income (up 13%) and less real estate & alternative investments (down 16%). - Mitchell Tsai

Cap Gemini's World Wealth Report 2008 - Asset allocation of HNWI - 33% Equities, 27% Fixed Income (up 6%), 18% Cash/Deposits (up 7%), 11% Real Estate (down 5%), 11% Alternative Investments (down 11%). - Mitchell Tsai

See also Harvard's allocation strategy for their $45 billion http://friendfeed.com/e/c51c0a... 33% US/World equilty, 13% Private equity (up 2%), 18% Absolute return, 8% Commodities, 9% Timber/Land, 9% Real Estate, 11% bonds (down 4%), -3% Cash - Mitchell Tsai

[Note] Wealthy people (11%) and Harvard (9%) have really small amounts of money in real estate, unlike most middle-class (and the ton of people trying to get rich on real-estate). But real-estate is that rare item that middle-class people feel comfortable leveraging 5X (e.g. 20% down-payment)... If you leveraged the stock market 5X, you'd make more than on most real estate. :-) - Mitchell Tsai

If any investor could have avoided the credit catastrophe, it should have been Harvard. Harvard, the ultimate long-term investor (it's been compounding assets for more than 350 years). - Mitchell Tsai

The Harvard Management Company http://hmc.harvard.edu has the enviable but challenging task of managing Harvard's mammoth endowment. As of June 30, 2008, HMC managed more than $45 billion, the vast majority of it endowment assets. (Here's HMC's annual reports http://vpf-web.harvard.edu/ann... and data on its impressive recent performance.) http://hmc.harvard.edu/investm... - Mitchell Tsai

The 13-F