Sad thing is this is at his new school... where, umm... there are English teachers....
- Her Lindsay-ness
"I" "think" "this" "sign" "is" "stupid."
- Internet's Tad
OH how I hate errors like this >_< They're all over memos and signs at work.
- Kamilah Gill
I agree with Sparky. The "No" stands for New Orleans. It's Cajun flavor. You have to take it from the room because no one wants to hear you scream.
- John E. Bredehoft
from fftogo
"Just a day after the announcement of the first extrasolar planet found orbiting its star backwards, two other teams announced the discovery of a second one."
- Michael McKean
from Bookmarklet
Does this mean most people are left-handed on that planet?
- Robert Kenney
I write software in my sleep during the busiest facets of my project; and they work in the morning
- RAPatton
RAP- done that myself once or twice :) Creepy.
- Roberto Bonini
Me too, but the software I write in my sleep usually just does stupid stuff that we don't really need. :)
- Internet's Tad
I don't know what's freakier, the fact that you write code in your sleep or the fact that you remember it when you wake up.
- Alex Scoble
I dreamed last night that I had to organize a meet up, based on #hashtags, and everyone had the wrong tags. Everyone ranting at me woke me up at 5am.
- Ian May
i was dreaming about new features in feedly last night...but they aren't there this morning.
- Trent Olson
Trent: if you share with us some of those dreams, we will try to look into making them reality :-) Have a great sunday!
- Edwin Khodabakchian
thanks Edwin! to be honest, they weren't very good anyway! you've already implemented my "exclude websites from using mini bar" idea, for which i'm hugely thankful...
- Trent Olson
Searching for something has led me past this post. Was going to press the "like" button and realized I already did. So this is my second "like".
- Sarah Peterman
This is definitely true for me. I sometimes think about programs I'm working on in my sleep too.
- Mike Child
On the full sized - if you look at the front tuft of her fauxhawk, it looks like there's blonde hairs in with the brown.
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew, there was a light right above us. I think it's a reflection from that.
- Rochelle
You're going to have spend so much in cuteness reduction surgery. There's just way too much.
- Matthew DeVries
Nerd alert. In the photo, see the yellow, red, and blue boxes on the shelf? Those are my boxed sets of the entire Star Trek original series. :D
- Rochelle
Do we need more of a nerd alert? The topic is a line from Star Wars.
- Akiva Moskovitz
...yes, but Prison Break is so ridiculously idiotic and completely implausible that it's a guilty pleasure to watch. also, not only did they break OUT of jail on this show, they broke INTO another one. It's completely absurd. I love it!
- .LAG liked that
I dropped Lost after the hatch. 24 is just plain stupid. Bad Guy! Torture! Bad Guy! Torture! Rinse, repeat, yawn.
- Kevin D. White
Kevin, too bad. Now they are building the hatch.
- Cristo
I just find it interesting that these shows all seem to share a common trait and they are all so widely popular.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF
The only common trait is that they are weekly and they have continuing plotlines. I've watched both Prison Break and 24 before, and I don't find them worth the time. There's not really anything intellectually stimulating about them.
- Cristo
Lost isn't intellectually stimulating either.
- Richard Lawler
Richard, it is to me, but then I'm probably not as smart as you.
- Cristo
They seem to all take a single event and stretch it out. Lost maybe not so much.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF
that could explain it Chris, I don't think it does, but it could
- Richard Lawler
AMEN Rah. But at least with 24, the main conflict is resolved at the end of the season. I stopped watching Prison Break after season 1, just couldn't deal with it
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
It took 3 (4?) seasons, a little over 100 days. But now they're back on the island.
- xero
TV? Sorry, you folks are far more interesting [although I do need to see Ninja Warrior (Sasuke) 20].
- MiniMage, sheeple of FF
I didn't watch 24 until after the 5th season, when a friend loaned me the DVDs (I seldom watch TV). Watching season 1 on DVD back to back hooked me. Fortunately this season is back on track with totally entertaining ridiculousness, where last season was just ridiculous.
- jcunwired
I know where everyone's coming from... but please folks... remember that these implausible dramas are there when REALITY shows could be filling all their timeslots. From that perspective I thank all that is holy for these shows -- and all scripted television drama.
- David Muir
...you want 'intellectually stimulating'? you're looking for it in the wrong place if you're looking for it in prime time TV. in the quest for the biggest audiences, they have to play to the lowest common denominator.
- .LAG liked that
When I want my intellect stimulated, I watch D-HC or HIST or some other such channel full of documentaries and crap...LOL
- Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF
...the only reality TV show, I watch, still, is Survivor: there's still something about stranding people in the boondocks and telling them the last one standing wins $1 million that brings out the most devilish instincts in people... it's almost like being at the office. .LOLz
- .LAG liked that
Muppet Babies. You get lost in their imagination. The whole story is over and done with in an episode.
- Rodfather
Lost is a hell of a lot more interesting than this thread, for example. Just watched the first episode again online and it's still good.
- Cristo
the only reality show worth watching is The Amazing Race. It never fails to thrill.
- Rahul Das
from IM
Not me. I find reality TV makes me suicidal. Who are these losers that want to be famous for 15 minutes so badly? It's just an invention by TV executives who don't want to pay to produce content in the summer.
- Cristo
Watching a reality show is like watching your standard prime-time TV Show without all the pretense of it being something other then simple entertainment. TV is the idiot box. There are some channels that fall outside of the "idiot" status, but most are simply for entertainment. Regardless of whether it's a scripted drama or a raunchy reality show, it's still melting your brain.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF
FriendFeed is melting my brain right now. It's like reality chat. Lost is better than most movies. Sorry.
- Cristo
Hey, shut your piehole! Michael Scofield is my future husband!! /end delusion.
- Mona Nomura
I've never seen any of these shows, so I couldn't say how good or bad they are. The last TV shows I followed rabidly were Star Trek TNG and Twin Peaks, so I'm waaaay out of this game. Lost would be the one I'd try, if I tried one at all.
- jojo, adventurer
@Laurie, Oh man. Those are serious granny panties!
- ♥patricia♥
I'm thinking Mona likes the kind of underwear that covers her womanly bits with dental floss. [EDIT: Not that there's anything wrong with that. I bet she looks smokin' in em.]
- Laura Norvig
This beats all other iterations of the "slide to unlock" schwag...
- Jon, the Beartato of FF
Out, I am not loll! You're freaky deaky dude. And you guys are all missing where the actual slider is positioned. Cha-Chiiiing!
- Mona Nomura
from IM
Mona, I know you are hinting at something so but I've been rubbing my screen for the last hour trying to work it out and all Ive done is worn a hole....what am I doing wrong?
- Threepwood
Its all nice but please get it off Celina Jaitley, she is yuck and she talks weirdly. Please photoshop it on someone else. Then I would enjoy it more. =P
- Faraz Mullick
This would sell AWESOME in the Chicks with D*cks/ Wangs demographic (hermaphrodites/pre or /during op Trannies) market, so as to jump the lines at sporting venues etc. & YES they ARE GRANNIES!
- sofarsoShawn
With my luck, they'd be password protected.
- Robert Hafer
Mona, if these are granny undies, what exactly do you wear? lol
- Daynah
Anna, apparently the nail polish is there to give perspective on how giant the panties are. Full story (towards the bottom of this post): http://metalia.blogspot.com/2007...
- Laura Norvig
Thanks all! I'm so excited about it. People have a perception about MS but they have been nothing but accessable, supportive and responsive to any of our needs. Much more so than other web series creators working with standard entertainment companies. We're excited to be doing the show again (and paying people again, woot! :) )
- Felicia
So excited! You ever need volunteer gaffers/gofers/whatevers, give a holler!
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
You get the copyrights for the show. You can to pay people. We can watch it for free. Not region locked. And subtitles! I <3 MS! =P
- Dani Figueiredo
A big vote of confidence! I hope you were able to keep your ownership and distribution deal and able to get more $$. You deserve all the good karma from this.
- David Monroe
I'm SO HAPPY! :) Can't wait for Season 3.. and my Season 2 DVD. :)
- Daynah
I like how drinking makes me not care about inconsequential things that would ordinarily concern me. "Did I just put too much sugar in the iced tea? DON'T CARE!" "Was there just an onion in this arrabiatta sauce that I accidentally ate even though I hate onions? DON'T CARE!" "Did I just cook too many noodles and not enough sauce? DON'T CARE!"
Yes, I asked if vodka or rum would be better in Jandy's iced tea and he said vodka.
- Rochelle
I would've done either. I usually drink things with rum. But vodka's a new addition to my bar area (and by bar area, I mean corner of my counter where my alcohol lives), so I needed some new things to try it with.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
If you DO want to keep the wine flowing then you must get @garyvee on. Then you could talk tech and about the wine you are drinking.
- berchman
I wasn't that bad. Some of the conversation points you brought up with Lisa Bettany were interesting.
- Verbal
We CAN'T have Gary V on. The wine tasting segment is sponsored by his competitor - the other New Jersey Gary, http://garyswine.com/twitlive. (They don't buy TWiT - they buy the live segment just before but the impact extends into TWiT, I'm afraid.)
- Leo Laporte
While I do enjoy the Live show when I get the chance, the podcast version is where I get my TWiT mostly.
- Adi
I wouldn't have been annoyed if you guys hadn't talked over each other so much.
- Jeff Benner
I listened to the live feed via my iPhone. It was sureal, but yes, John C Dvorak.org/blog was to blame, he should have gone with the flow. Could not see that funky wine pourer though, better download the ODTV version
- Darryl Adams
it really wasn't as bad as all that. seriously.
- Thomas James
Start a new show: TWiG This Week in Grape. Or TWiJ This Week in Juice...
- Michael Kaiser
It was fine Leo. Variety is good. Maybe ballance with Dave Winer too. Really!
- Tom Hofstatter
maybe save the wine for "special" episodes? - TWiT has always been fun... some episodes are extra fun!
- John Slanina
TWIG This week in Grog (is grog an Australian term only?)
- Andy
No, I thought the show was great, Leo. Don't change a thing.
- Gregory Harbin
I didn't have an issue with it. Variety never hurts...
- Corey Marthaller
from Nambu
Ah... That would explain why I don't hear Gary's Wine ads on TWiT. Perhaps the wine show's could be TWiI-This Week In Inebriation. All told I look forward to TWiT every week Leo. Many Thanks.
- berchman
Thank you Leo. This week was too much. I do not like the direction the show is going. Glad to hear you will try to get back on track. And I don't mind the twitter stories. It is news after all.
- glenn frasier
Maybe you could talk to Jason Calacanis and ask him to cut out the impressions.
- PC Easy
from twhirl
The only thing I'd blame @theRealDvorak for is a relentless pursuit of an interesting conversation. Leo + John alone makes for a great cast. Keep the wine and @theRealDvorak, pepper in some real tech and it will be just like old times.
- Jeff Vilimek
Great show! Dvorak has a habit of closing some things down when it could flow a little more but would we have it any other way? You need to get the video out so people can see it in context. Perhaps your subconscious has already moved away from only audio
- Glenn Williams
I think the wine tasting at the front end makes it hard to start TWiT with any momentum. Maybe you can do the tasting after TWiT? I liked listening to the wine critique, it was something different - but it doesn't really mix with tech news.
- Melissa Good
I thought the show was fine- a little "lubrication" never hurts to keep the discussion flowing!
- Barry Wiseman
It just seemed like an early episode of Diggnation, which is great in its own right, it's just not TWiT. I think, with your open schedule, there's no problem in having yet another tech show, but one intentionally light-hearted and off-topic. Maybe with a gadget focus, rather than business news.
- ZacG
I thought it was fresh and edgy. Content was a little slow. Many weeks ago, I recall you throwing around ideas for viewers donations (like Steve Gibson's yabba dabba do). On the next TWiT I would get the tech stories done early and crack open the wine after you receive $1000 in donations from the viewers. Have a tally board showing the running donation totals :-) A bit of fun.
- Nathan Davies
I'm glad you took notice. The show was okay and still interesting, but I think the quality of the discussion diminishes in proportion to the wine. Maybe you could do a separate wine tasting show in addition to TWiT (as if you don't do enough shows already!)
- Phil Maxwell
I think the only problem was Dvorak and Shira. And the fact that one was trying to get the other drunk.
- Chip Duford
I thought you did a great job with the edit. Listening to it live, and then listening again to the proper podcast, made me realize even more that you know what the hell you are doing. Trust yourself.
- Dave VanderWall
I think it was less the wine and more the guests this time. I don't mind seeing you guys get a bit wacky, but if I'm going to be honest, Shira was just annoying. She talked over people, talked too fast, kept focusing on stuff that didn't matter or wasn't interesting, and just came across as self-important. Dvorak and Lisa were okay, but you just needed another tech-centric guest for the most part to keep things centered. Needs more Becky Worley, Molly Wood, Amber MacArthur, Veronica Belmont, etc.
- Staticharge
I agree with most. The guests were fine. The topics were fine. It's just that the wine takes the signal-to-noise ratio to a whole different level. And I felt that with some of the other recent episodes, not just this one.
- Steve Hampton
Do not know about CA about legal liability about serving alcohol and then letting people drive home intoxicated.
- Greg
You know, it wouldn't hurt to actually have a This Week in Social * show.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
kinda fun. a little wine loosens everyone up. of course Dvorak was responsible..he is, after all, the real enophile...will continue to listen and watch even more now!!--KW in Nevada City...
- kent williams
I think tha't what net at nite is for?
- americanm
That's true ... I think Shira definitely needed a ride to the airport.
- Chip Duford
While the show ideas are being thrown around, might as well suggest "This Week In Twitter"?!
- Jeff Vilimek
I've been thinking the same thing. Or like a 'This Week in Social Media' that way, the twitterstuff gets out of the system in a different forum...
- David Buttrick
And while we're critiquing the show...why apologize for talking about Twitter if it happens to be one of the biggest tech stories of the week? I think you do great job balancing the discussion, it just so happens that twitter has been at the top of the tech news quite a bit in the past year.
- Phil Maxwell
i dunno. i'd love a drunk show. axe TWiF and use the same cast for This week in Drunk. Sarah and Martin can watch old Hitchcock movies (or whatever) and drink drink drink. think MST3K plus wine.
- Mark Hartwell
I caught a replay and although not a "normal" TWiT show it was very enjoyable and as a discussion provided some very good insights into how people approach/deal with social media. You need to get some (silent) A/C thou. :)
- Techdribble
And I have thoroughly enjoyed the last couple episodes. Me likes. Listened to them all front to back. What's that Audible link again ;) Keep on doing it.
- Eric @ CS Techcast
I enjoyed the episode as well. If people want just news there's plenty of other 'casts out there, but I enjoy a little bit of personality and opinion in the show. And wine.
- Nathan Loehlein
I seriously don't think it was the wine, it was the combination of guests. Shira talks a mile a minute, plus you gave her alcohol. Dvorak kept refilling her glass, for the lulz I would say. When you had the wine tasting that included Brian Brushwood it was one of the best TWiTs in recent memory, and you ate fire. So either don't have Shira on, or don't let her drink.
- Matthew
If you like This Week in Wine, you should check out CS Rumcast. No, seriously.
- Eric @ CS Techcast
Maybe create a new show, This Week in New Media or something of the sort. You offer a lot when it comes to commentary/advice on new media and its business implications, but I can see how some might not want that info constantly mixed in with their tech news. Also, it'd give you a legitimate outlet for twitter news. Dvorak wouldn't be able to complain any more :-)
- Doug Jones
Maybe if we do the wine tasting before TWiF instead of TWiT
- Jamez
Thanks Leo. If I want people getting drunk and cursing I will watch diggnation.
- Jim Williams
Let's get back to basics on TWiT, and cancel the wine tastings! - J. Gilbert
- Joe Gilbert
yep, feel like the rest of you. actually un-subscribed from twit a few weeks ago, right after the last drinking episode. this was a big decision since having followed twit from the very start. should i reconsider, or is twit becoming the least interersting show of the wonderful leoville channel?
- Peter Nõu
I listened live - they were all over the place - just listened to the edit - brilliant editing - they sounded almost coherent. Let's hope this is the very last wine tasting TWiT.
- Michael Ohajuru
Yeah! Lately TWIT has been getting less interesting with each new episode. It's sounding like a bunch of high tech good ole boys just getting together to shoot the shit and enjoy each other's company rather than trying to be an entertaining and informative show for the listeners. Too much small talk and fluff, not enough meat.
- Tokyo Dan
Don't know what the big deal was, I enjoyed this week's TWIT. I'd rather have a good lively discussion than listen to Calacanis yabber on about twitter for 20 mins.
- Paul Grav
I have liked the Twits after the wine tasting. I think the girls mellowed John. Leo don't change a thing.
- Ardith
It was interesting. Kinda like listening to Kup's Show in Chicago in the 70's. The tech part disappeared, but the interaction was great. Maybe a new netcast "This Week in Talk"...
- Timothy Magnuson
I have listened to most of the Twit group for a long time. Show 191 This week in Tech was the most HORRIBLE unlistenable thing I have ever heard! It started horrible so not sure it was the wine. What ever else you did please stop it! Normally I love these shows and would not miss a single show.
- Dirkbonesteel
90 minute long TWIT, 10 minutes of tech discussion. I don't mind the banter but these "in studio" episodes are just a party for Leo. Getting very close to replacing TWIT with audiobooks. Leo PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE no more "in studio" netcasts. Use Skype and try to keep it on topic for at least half the show. PLEASE
- Al Degutis
Ummmmmm.... after 191 free shows over a number of years (not including the entire TWiT network) that keeps 95% of you wanna-bes ahead of the curve when it comes to new technology, services and social media and some of you here are ready to throw it under the bus for one less than great show? Take a look at yourselves guys...
- Johnny Worthington
Personally, I liked the episode. I listen to TWIT to hear the banter and insight. Sometimes there is less insight then other times, but it is still entertaining. Leo, don't change because of what could be a vocal minority.
- Larry
A little chit-chat is good, but yeah, past a certain point it becomes less like listening to a podcast and more like eavesdropping.
- Butch Curry
Good to hear. I was worried I was being a buzzkill but I couldn't get through the last episode.
- Thom
As a recovering alcoholic, it's hard to listen/watch others drink it. I quit watching it about 2 weeks ago. I don't mind if you drink if you do it responsibly. What I've seen and heard in the last 2 weeks wasn't responsible. I know the signs. It wasn't pretty.
- Anita Pesola
You can blame him, but you CANT SPAM him!!! ;)
- Julien Bérubé
I love TWiT...this week not so much...but still love it! Only way to top it now is bring back Woz and Mitnick for next week.
- andsmi
I listened to the edited version, like normal, and I enjoyed most of it quite a lot. One of the things I adore about TWiT is the variability; some episodes are super serious and tech heavy, and others are chatty, silly and party-like. For me, the secret is Leo as ringleader, serious or silly.
- Bob M. Montgomery
there's a difference between wine tasting and wine drinking. You might want to focus more on the tasting and not opening so many bottles.
- jccalhoun
Maybe you could ask Gary's Wine if you could move the wine tasting to after TWiT?
- Crystal Tillman
Yeah, this isn't Diggnation. Lets have Dry TWiT.
- Andrew Leahey
It's your show, Leo. Have fun and lots of it. Otherwise you burn out, get tired of it, or retire from doing TWiT and we ALL lose out. There's a happy balance on both sides of this equation, no worries!
- Mike Lewis
very glad you can't have GaryV on - can't stand him.
- Brian Conn
I still enjoyed it. Just keep the bottle away from John and you'll be fine :-)
- Keith Barrett
I got the feeling it wasn't a very heavy week in tech news anyway:-)
- Francine Hardaway
All the news that week was twitter (Oprah, Kutcher, King, unfollow blocking, etc), so you couldn't win anyway
- Keith Barrett
there was tech news but leo covered most of it on mbw, sn, ww (like pc sales, kindle drm, youtube premium content), and if he has that on twit, people will complain about overlap...
- Jayesh
Noooo, don't listen to the complaints Leo. If I want hardcore tech news, I'll go read Slashdot or Wired or CNET... but I listen to TWiT for the entertainment. The best episodes happen when you get the right chemistry in the room (and via Skype) that hilarity as well as thought provoking discussion come naturally... thus I quite enjoyed 191. It was like Diggnation, but with wine and a hammered Dvorak (that's GOLD Jerry, GOLD!). Stick with the stories you want to discuss and go with the flow!
- Kristian
Leo, you don't need to change the show. I think of TWiT as a dinner party with fellow members of the tech community. Some of the conversation will be about tech and some will be random conversation. It's all good.
- archaictree
No don't worry about it, it always keeps it interesting.
- Kelby
If you want to have a random collection of folks sitting around tasting wine and talking about and/or avoiding talking about semi-technical news/social media topics, go for it. Seems like the issue might just be some folks in the audience are tuning in expecting something else more technical/directed.
- Ken Sheppardson
i've always thought (and leo said this on sunday) that twit was just friends getting together to relax and talk about the news of the week... and when there's not much news they can talk about twitter, or just ramble on about nothing... when people want to unsubscribe, well, that's their prerogative
- Chris Heath
Painful just painful and Shira was killing me.. bring back Shwood
- K3ViN
I listen to TWIT for the conversation and the "vibe." I hang with my friends for the same reasons, not for news content. Don't let Dvorak change the personality of the show. If all he wants is news let him listen to Cranky Geeks.
- Hamilton Wallace
I thought it was great, nice to see some variety, looked like everyone had a great time
- Gary Prechtel
Still a hell of a lot better than an hour and a half of recession talk. I dunno about other people but I like hearing people have fun.
- Chris Lawrence
Still love the show, but agreed: a little less wine would be good. Also, what about getting Bwana back on the show?
- Budak
The thing I like best about TWiT is every week it jumps the shark. I am always sad when the show is the same 2 weeks in a row.
- Michael Hansel
Ignoring Twitter news when it's the story of the week is a big mistake despite Dvorak's protestations.
- Gregg Scott
The only problem with the show as I saw it was wine that fine should have been accompanied by lamb chops marinated in rosemary, garlic and olive oil. But then, I was a sommelier once.
- jcunwired
Leo, Do what you need to do. However, the most recent "wine fortified" episodes of your podcasts have been MOST entertaining...
- Stan Augustyniewicz
this show and the last lost their focus real quick when the wine was being poured. People listen for Leo & his guests on tech news vs 99% twitter news. Ok.. Leo & Ev don't get along, point made. Lisa was 7/10 as a guest but can't contribute on tech news since mainly a photo blogger. Shira was a waste. High and mighty and she acted holier than thou with Dvorak and the others. She's a pretty face and a chic = ratings. Bring back the tech news and less eye candy + booze.
- david amodt
Big fan of wine. Especially with @theRealDvorak. Hopefully a bit of the juice can make him say something incriminating. (ie: moreso than usual.)
- Raj Singh
I've been a subscriber since #2 and I found this really fun. It's fun to listen to everyone loosen up a little.
- Travis
Leo and John...I love ya, but it sounded like 2 old guys trying to get a couple hot girls drunk. It was like Baby Boomer Diggnation. Lisa cracked me up though. She was in fact crankier than JCD. Shira(sp?) annoyed me talking over everyone, going on and on about nothing and name dropping.
- Jeff Lee
Even after all those booze and those ladies, Dvorak still couldn't say he likes Twitter. I've been a subscriber since the early days too and this was one of my favourites, but in the same breathe, my least favourite. I thought it was funny as hell, and I get some humour @Jeff Lee who thought you two sounded like you were trying to get a couple hot girls drunk. I THOUGHT THAT TOO!!! But, I know better. I also have to agree with Jeff when Shira kept talking over everyone
- Kyle Burton
Continued... I also think Shira was trying to lead the conversation and in some parts direct where things were going. At at least one point, I took notice that she was directing and overpowering Dvorak and cooling him down. For me, that was a big turnoff and I actually switched to a Brittany Spears song (my iPod got ram sacked by my ex). But once i cooled down, I picked up where I left off. Sorry for the rant, but thats the only thing I didn't like, the rest was awesome as always. Nice work Leo.
- Kyle Burton
I will take drinking Dvorak any day over Calacanus.
- BigMatt
Hah, I'm going to click like on this, which will cause the link to come to here. Here's why I do it: the conversation is important, not just the link (often). 2. clicking "like" in friendfeed is a LOT better than RT'ing for many reasons (easier to search, it spreads news to my friendfeeders, etc). 3. I want you to come to friendfeed because friendfeed is a better place to talk about the news than Twitter is.
- Robert Scoble
I agree with you but I do know that Dwight is adamant about using Twitter over FF.
- Trish R
Trish: well when Dwight insists on using an inferior conversation tool he has no right to complain.
- Robert Scoble
May be we need a friendfeed bar that will frame the actual source and show the real time conversations on the top :)
- Kiran Patchigolla
We should post this link on his technology page on the Chronicle website, LOL.
- Trish R
I understand his frustration. It can be ridiculous sometimes.
- Michael Fidler
Interesting that Dwight hasn't shown up here yet. Heheh.
- Robert Scoble
I find it annoying, but I completely understand why you do it. It makes sense to point someone towards the entire story (comments included) and not just the link, because that's what FriendFeed is all about.
- Lee Ingram
"inferior conversation tool?" maybe the value you get is different from the value he gets. that doesn't make one better than the other. It's easy for you to link a small URL to the source and another to the discussion. Maybe we don't all get paid by our sponsors to converse on the real live web. Some of us get paid to work the shoe leather and find the news that is discussed here.
- Andrew Feinberg
Yeah but how hard is it to ignore the comments and click the second link to the actual story? Takes an extra second or two? Bill it! ;)
- Lee Ingram
Andrew: friendfeed does not make it easy to do that. I have one choice: either link to friendfeed or link to the source URL. I've decided that because it's me doing the work I'm going to link to friendfeed first. The conversation is more important many times than the source material.
- Robert Scoble
w/ friendfeed's send to twitter capability it's easy to "nudge" someone to come participate in a thread they initiated ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
Mike: yeah. Dwight really needs to see how much better this is for conversations than Twitter. Dwight is a professional journalist, which is why I responded to his complaint.
- Robert Scoble
Could be worse, Friendfeed could do a diggbar-esque kind of deal.
- Andrew Leahey
Gad, don't even think such things @Andrew
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
lol - yes he is robert, though not typical of traditional journalist, he is participating - and he's a co-worker of mine ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
Got to agree with Robert on this one. Have been getting lots of value by visiting friendfeed and catch the conversation around link & tweet all in one place. Brilliant tool. Going to use this more often!
- Peter du Toit (S.Africa)
I like Dwight a lot, too, and he DOES participate. He just prefers to participate through Twitter than FF.
- Trish R
Robert: I meant take the time to insert a tinyurl-type link to each in your tweetstream.
- Andrew Feinberg
Why should he take the time to do that?
- Michael McKean
I had the same discussion with a twitter follower (a couple of them actually) and so I turned off the friendfeed comments posting to twitter by default, but like Robert, I click like on the FF item so that my twitter followers will come and participate in the discussion here. So, I felt obligated to "like" this item as well. I also don't care if people don't like to look through two links. If I didn't want you to come to the discussion, I would just post the link to twitter.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
And to prove the effectiveness of the Friendfeed links, I had 2 comments on twitter before I finished typing the above comment.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: what's funny is I started the friendfeed to Twitter thing as a protest against Twitter. Since doing that I've gotten 15,000 more followers. Why? People who post good content get followed. My friendfeed likes are the best content on the web right now http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei...
- Robert Scoble
Andrew: if you pay me $1 each, I'll do that. There's no way I'm taking the time to do that otherwise. Sorry.
- Robert Scoble
It would be nice if we could choose which likes get sent to Twitter.
- Michael McKean
Michael: I'd like that too. I'd also like to customize the message that gets sent through too.
- Robert Scoble
Having to click on two links to get the article annoyed me at first, too, until I started checking out the conversation on FF. It can and often does add value. Thanks, Robert!
- Dan Walters
Dan Walters, I totally agree, and think of it this way... if you're coming from friendfeed you only need to click once to get to the article, and the conversation's right in front of you... the two clicks is only an inconvenience for those coming from twitter (and who in their right mind would be doing that anyways?)
- Chris Heath
i agree that conversation if often at least as important as the link. that's what motivated us to create amplify.com. hate to plug my own service like this, but it seemed so relevant to the conversation that i thought it would be appropriate.
- eric goldstein
Robert: That IS funny. It's certainly worked. The "Liked" & "via FriendFeed" plus the video you made on how to use FF & Tweetdeck together to watch gajillions of tweets are what got me here in the first place. It's taken a little bit to get ramped up to really use FF (still not quite there) but the more I use it, the more valuable it is to me. And the less value I see in twitter as an "end"
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Michael & Robert: There's been a couple of discussions about both the word "Liked" (I don't always actually like it, and I'm sick of the twitter people flaming me for liking horrible things) and there's also been some discussion on putting a "per Like" option on the post to twitter. Would be nice if likes and comments could go out to identi.ca too :) Would love to see both of those on the comments. I would post more comments outbound that way -Twits get upset during fast multi-comment discussions.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Chris: The twitter people think it's an inconvenience because they don't understand how to do anything but mindlessly click links. There's such a big crowd there that are trying to game their twitter stats, and game other services like digg -so they just want fast links that they can quick see if they can/want to reshare or retweet.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
guruvan, the 'liked' issue is something that i'm pretty sure friendfeed is aware of as an issue (not sure how far up in priority it is) - and all those people you mention 'gaming' and playing the system(s) ... well F-em - i could care less what they care about... there's value in sending someone here instead of directly to a link .... if they can't see that then why should i care what they have to say about it... (i realize we're in agreement here, just ranting at the end of the day) - :-)
- Chris Heath
Chris: Rant Away. I had to like this item just to piss off a few twits ;) heh. And we are in agreement. There's MORE value in sending someone here than directly. A) I like conversation better than just reading article after article, and B) FF may get another user. And that, I think, make us all happy
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Robert: I am from the make-things-as-easy-for-the-user-as-possible. When I see a link in Twitter (or anywhere, actually), I expect to click on it and get what I want, not have to go through some gateway. Yeah, there may be a conversation going on here, but guess what: That very likely is not what I'm interested in when I click that link. I want the info that was promised. And, if I want a conversation, I likely am going to find it at the source, providing the source is two-way (and most are, these days).
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: sorry I totally disagree and because I am quite consistent you will know what you are getting.
- Robert Scoble
Sorry, hit return too fast... This is a major reason why I find Friendfeed far more irritating than Twitter. It adds an unnecessary layer of complexity - sometimes multiple layers. My time and attention is valuable. Let me direct both DIRECTLY, rather than through some middleman.
- Dwight Silverman
I know you disagree, Robert. You've become quite the FFF (Friendfeed Fanboy), and that's fine. But don't presume you're doing everyone a favor by directing them through FF, because you're not. Sometimes, it just gets in folks' way.
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: if you want to go direct just read my friendfeed like feed at http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei... --everything there goes directly to source. I will never understand why you insist reading me on an inferior service.
- Robert Scoble
"an inferior service"? Hopefully you're yanking my chain. Either that, or you just descended into a bad parody of the Mac vs. PC ads.
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: Furthermore, certainly someone on Twitter has posted a link to most of the same articles...you could follow them and get right to the source. Just like some of my followers don't care for the links from FF, I personally don't care for the constant noise-tweets from blip.fm. Twitter is a free place. Listen to and post what you want.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Dwight: I am NOT yanking your chain. Twitter is a totally inferior service for a whole lot of reasons. I am getting fail whales every 20 refreshes lately. Inferior. The search doesn't work nearly as well. Inferior. I can permalink to conversations here, not on Twitter. Inferior. I can search JUST your stuff you've liked, not on Twitter. Inferior. I can see your comments in live time, not on Twitter. Inferior. Your comments are threaded here, not on Twitter. Inferior.
- Robert Scoble
I can retweet here (we call that "liking") in one click here, on Twitter a retweet takes four to six clicks unless you use a tool. Inferior.
- Robert Scoble
I can click to a database of all my likes, er, retweets here, and you can see all the commentary about those likes here. You can't do that on Twitter. Twitter is INFERIOR and anyone who says it is better is just plain misinformed.
- Robert Scoble
And if that gets me marked as a "friend feed fanboy" well, then, tough. Are you a journalist or a Twitter fanboy?
- Robert Scoble
The conversation here is FAR MORE important than the original link in many cases. In many cases I click "like" to make sure that a conversation happens. If you don't like that, tough. When you pay me for my "work" here online you can complain. Until then, just unfollow or follow. Those are your two choices.
- Robert Scoble
You can like it in one click, and two whole networks of people found out about it. THAT is superior IMO
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: exactly. It's hyper efficient. Anyone who asks me to do more work without paying me is a jerk, IMO. Especially when doing that additional work results in less utility. By the way, since adding my friendfeed "likes" to Twitter I have gotten 15,000 new followers. So, the followers have spoken.
- Robert Scoble
I think you do plenty for free as it is ;) Many of us in your debt I imagine (If for no other reason that the food for thought which creates our blog articles, and potentially software dev projects and so on
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Excellent point all! Thanks for pointing all that out Robert.
- BASEnet
Ah, I see I have wandered into church. Forgive me for disturbing y'all's worship. I'll head back to the bar. Later.
- Dwight Silverman
I am debating turning the "Twitter to --> FF instead of source link" button soon. This is an interesting conversation. When I get home and on a non-IE6 computer I can check out the live convo.
- Amani
Dwight: someday you'll see the light. :-) By the way, THIS is the bar. You just left the church. I use the service that is technically superior and provably so. YOU are the one who is sticking with religion and calling ME a "fan boy." Geesh. Twitter fanboy, I guess.
- Robert Scoble
I love how people stick with inferior technology despite all the facts. Thanks afterDARK. I could keep going, too. Friendfeed has filters. Neither Facebook or Twitter do. Friendfeed has decentralized moderation of conversation and is very spam resistant. Something that no other online service has cloned yet. Friendfeed has rooms, er, feeds, that can be private. The DM features here are far superior to Twitter's too, and provably so. But, no, I guess I just got schooled by a "TwitterFanboy."
- Robert Scoble
Personally I would rather come to friendfeed through a link to get to a story because then I can talk to people about the story o Friendfeed. I think Dwight is just lazy.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
Robert: I haven't really engaged in whether one is better than the other. What I AM is a fanboy of simplicity. I believe in making things as simple for the user as possible. When I offer a link (on any service), it's directly to the source. I would consider it an imposition to send them through a gateway. All I'd like is a simple link. Anyway, I am behind on a project. Nice chatting with you folks. Later.
- Dwight Silverman
Since I represent a news magazine show on a public access station and online, I need to remain, "fair & balanced" cough-cough, in my comments. I use and like all the services, just like Robert, but since using ff most often, I have certainly come to appreciate its "pro's" over the competition.
- BASEnet
Dwight, you're missing the point. We DON'T WANT to link you directly to the site. If we did, we would share the link through another service. The Like to direct you to here is the simplest way to get the twitter users to engage in the full conversation. If you don't like the ff.im links, DON'T CLICK THEM. It's an imposition on US to listen to you bitching.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Well, I can actually see where Dwight is coming from and I like both FF and Twitter. Sometimes though, you have to go with where the convos you're most interested in are at, irrespective of the service. For tech geeks, FF wins hands down, but for others that may not be the case.
- Sally Church
Sally: here is the rub. I am most interested in talking with early adopter geeks who care about using the best tools. So, someone who thinks Twitter is better than friendfeed? Not for me, thank you. And anyway I have gained 15,000 Twitter followers since sending my like stream over there. So I will go with them.
- Robert Scoble
You can see from my feed here, and my tweetstream that I spend plenty of time on both. I have both open pretty much all day long. But honestly, I usually share things in such a way that they get the most views from my friends as possible. So, when I discover an item, I tend to "Share on Facebook" then it goes there, here, and out to twitter. If I could have FF posting outbound to FB I would share it here so that the FB people would come here too.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Liked for the comments. You know, this wouldn't be such an issue if FriendFeed had their own bar frame showing number of comments, number of likes, and the latest comment, updating in real-time. Then the ff.im link could bring someone straight to the linked content, with the bar keeping the person in-touch with the conversation.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
When you're reading thousands of pieces of information the last thing you want to do is click a link. Slows down information filtering quite a bit.
- Richard A.
Robert: I can see and appreciate that, I'm just saying that for others their definition may be different, either in terms of the types of people they interact with or the topics of conversation. I love the science and tech stuff here, for example, but my Pharma and real life friends prefer Twitter and Facebook. Drives me up the wall cos your points on ease of convo are bang on.
- Sally Church
Sally: My point still remains: It's not our "duty" to provide other people with the links they want. It's our "duty" to provide them with the links WE want. If they don't like the links, don't click on 'em. On twitter, if you follow the right people it's only going to be a few minutes until someone posts a different link to the same information. At least that's what I see.But then, Dwight has some 5000+ fans and doesn't follow but 650 people. Not a surplus of wealth of information in his timeline.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: Agreed but I wasn't talking about links. I get frustrated because I can't convince more friends to use FF over Twitter or FB. They get bewildered by FF for some reason, I get ratty because they force me to engage with them in a suboptimal environment (for me). C'est la vie.
- Sally Church
Well, I think there's no question about it: Friendfeed is fairly complex, and somewhat overwhelming to the first-time users. One of the things to do is have a pile of useful example filters that look at more than just the tech-news. If/when we can have "shareable" filters (in a way other than a link) especially ones that have the realtime update, the value will become readily apparent, and help to negate some of the "first time user fear"
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
AND: If we could just have the "import the rest of my twitter friends as invisible users" tool then it would be all over. They could easily just start with FriendFeed as a really useful twitter client, and grow their usage from that point.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
liking that dwight dropped by to converse, understand his perspective even though i too am a huge ff fanboy - its not for everyone and lots of folks love the simplicity of twitter, which is also not for everyone - especially me ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
i can see dwight's point, but i don't agree with it. and Robert, are you going to turn those posts into an "inferior" blog post? i think you should ... it would be a great post! -- remember controversy is good for ratings ;-)
- Chris Heath
Blog? What is that? Not sure I need to do anything else to get my point of view across.
- Robert Scoble
well if you don't then i just might... off to bed for now tho... c u 2moro kthxbai!
- Chris Heath
what? where is this possible? after careful consideration i'd probably only use it cause i'm a nerd rather than because it's a convenience (or not)
- Glenn Batuyong
Bwana - So was the guy at McDonalds. Hey, Paypal has a debit card ... why not Google? (IE: I was kidding around but it's not beyond comprehension or ... positioning so if they come out with one next week, they get an invoice :)
- Charlie Anzman
"Don't pretend it hasn't occurred to you. You're watching the Trix Rabbit try desperately to fool a bunch of goddamned kids into giving up a simple bowl of cereal, only to be thwarted at the last minute... when something snaps inside the enormous bunny-man, and he pulls out a gun, slaughtering the cereal-hoarding tykes mercilessly, quickly devouring the cereal before taking his own life. You've thought about it. And rest assured, the Trix Rabbit has also thought about it. Many, many times."
- James Ferguson
from Bookmarklet
Don't like: When reading comments in real-time mode, sometimes the comment I'm in the middle of reading disappears into the "2 more comments" link. Please, stop that.
From Science Daily: "A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for a beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. At the center of a new image made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand."
- Mark Trapp
from Bookmarklet
That Green Giant. Peas for lunch anyone ?
- Jaffer
probably because those who wanted to filter you out figured out how to do it long ago & right off the bat, and those of us who enjoy reading you don't care to help people do otherwise?
- Lucretia Pruitt
@Scoble Should be more like "Show messages without Scoble, Scoble'sm, Scobleizer" :D
- Swaroop
That's great as long as you don't like what either of us has to say, LOL. I wonder how many people out there are like that? I probably don't want to know.
- Alex Scoble
I think twitter should be very wary of entering into any sort gatekeeping or upsetting the playing field.
- Vidar Andersen
Twitter shouldnt, the user should. Im sure they can figure out some creative ways to do this
- Vin Turk
sure they should, would prevent a lot of confusion and also avoid senseless discussions about if somebody is real or not
- Johannes W.
from twhirl
who is a celebrity though? there are "online celebrities" that arent well known in the mainstream. Every niche has its own superstars. I dont see how this would be manageable. What about a challenge system so if someone does have your name you can claim it?
- William Kapes
you're right that there are many (niche) kinds of superstars/celebrities. But they could at least try to verify publicly known personalities like Steve Jobs, The Dalai Lama, etc. upfront and let the user's, lets say, challenge/question the identity of others.
- Johannes W.
from twhirl
I think there should be a badge Twitter gives to those that are verified. That way it puts it in the celebs court and Twitter doesn't have to have a P.I. department.
- MarkCarras
Define celebrity. Impossible. But anyone should be able to refute their own identity
- Derek Erb
No. twitter doesn't verify who YOU are, so why celebrities? But unlike you, celebrities have fan clubs, and PR professionals, and agents, and managers, and dozens of different ways to manufacture press coverage on TV and radio, and the media, generally, where they can tell you where to find them on Twitter, if they really use it... and you don't. keep the playing field level. it's just 140 characters. .LOLz
- .LAG liked that
If someone is compelling enough to follow or obnoxious enough to block, what matter that an alpha-numeric pointer represents an identity? Keep a healthy skepticism of everything on Twitter.
- randulo
"and then the fiery parakeet plunged its dagger like beak into the side of the great beast, tore open its side like a machette, ate its intestines and burrowed inside all snugly and warm like Luke on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. The End."
- Steve C
Must be updated model... Looj has been out since at least middle of last year. Wanted to get one, but I can't get up to those things to use it!
- Chuck Stanley
They're $70 right now on iRobot's site, but they are green. Hopefully it can be fully cleaned without partial dismantling, unlike my Roomba
- xero
Now this is something helpful. Top on my list..
- Sloan Bowman
They make some snap on covers so you never have to clean the gutters again. I have them on two houses in heavy oak trees and never have problems.
- WilliamMuncrief
I'm still waiting for someone to ask me what I think of the whole thing.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
So, Robert, if not posted in a blog, a point of view doesn't exist/matter? What happened to original reporting or fact checking?
- Chris Shipley
What I wrote is mostly my opinion and market feedback I am hearing. I didn't talk with either you or Mike because I don't think it would have added to what I was writing about. But I am interested in what calling you would have added to my article?
- Robert Scoble
Robert, Chris might say something that informs your point of view, even slightly. That would make it worth the call, no?
- Sam Whitmore
Sam: it probably would but this is a two-way conversation. Why does every blog post need to be a NYT article? Sometimes I just want to tell my readers what I think and I want to start a conversation. Not report on what everyone else's point of view is.
- Robert Scoble
I don't think a blog is necessarily the same as a newspaper or magazine. While I think it's important to have a consistent standard of ethics - of fact-checking on stories, etc. - a blog is typically your personal point of view. It's more an op/ed and less a newspaper report. You don't have to proactively go after every possible point of view, or be objective or neutral, so long as people know this.. I think bloggers _are_ trusted more when they are honest, open, check their facts.
- Justin Long
I think we have seen that social media, like FF, like Twitter, like Memeorandum and others are spectacular vehicles to create and support echo chamber thinking and echo chamber creation. Many bloggers do good work, but many do shoddy miserable work - and so far I don't see the bad ones punished by the readership.
- Soulhuntre
from twhirl
Soulhuntre: you are probably right but tonight I waited on the phone an hour to participate in a radio talk show. Here you can correct and be part of the story.
- Robert Scoble
Daniel, what did you think of the whole thing?
- Todd Hoff
Chris: I just searched Google for your phone number. It can't be found. So, how are we supposed to call you? For the record, my phone number has always been on my blog. You can search Google for it and call me. It's +1-425-205-1921. That's one thing you can do to make it easier for journalists and bloggers to call you and get your point of view.
- Robert Scoble
Chris, how many calls did you receive from so-called "true" journalists? When I read newspapers and other work from the "traditional" media, it often seems that the reporter simply regurgitates the press release.
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
I also won't click on anything where people hide the preview.
- Trish R
Wait, you mean you didn't click it? It was awesome! There were a bunch of balloons and a monkey and oh man it was great. You missed out, Mark. Too bad. This was probably a once in a lifetime thing too.
- James Ferguson
i just finished the install and going through set up
- Kyle A Koch
Installing it at this very moment... excited to use it - but nervous about my ability to type posts coherently (and efficiently for that matter)!
- Ryan Spoon