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Loic Le Meur posted a message

“No comment”

July 22 at 10:14 pm - via twhirl - Link

Ville Vesterinen, jeremy franklin, jjprojects and 10 other people liked this

Ibid - Scott Moskowitz

13 more comments

technically, if I comment here, do I invalidate the "no comment" part? ;) Saw you from a short distance tonight, didn't get to say hi before you were swept away again! - Lucretia Pruitt

damn you failwhaleeee - justine

Ha ba ouai, heuresement qu'identi.ca marche encore lui - Jean-François Amadei via twhirl

I'm getting sick of people liking the fail whale. I never want to see it again, I just want the damn thing to work properly. That is all. - jjprojects

Uggh. I hate the fail whale... on another note, Loic: any word on a Twhirl iPhone app? Develop it and I will pay :) - Michael Yurechko

roll on identi.ca - Kate

Build it and they will come. Build it and they will pay? - jjprojects

Where's the 'hate/die in a fire button'. No more whales. Scheduled or otherwise. - Mo Kargas

I thought it had gotten quiet on my twitter feed for the last 30 minutes or so. Hi Fail Whale! Out for your nightly swim? - Adam Turetzky

@jjprojects If anything is good enough, I will pay. - Michael Yurechko

that was cute loic - Caroline via twhirl

It would be nice if they told us before 'planned' maintenance - Andrew Fielding via twhirl

@Michael I agree. I pay for flickr and pownce pro. I'd pay for twitter pro if it helped it to work properly, but it wouldn't, they have money. I'd pay for a twhirl iPhone app too, if it had no ads. - jjprojects

the question is when will people be ready to pay for Seesmic pro :) - Loic Le Meur via twhirl

There is going to be a Seesmic Pro? What extra features will it have? Have you decided? - jjprojects

Eric Rice commented on a blog post on Disqus

Re: Is Tech Blogging Getting Boring?

July 20 at 4:28 pm - Link

Bill Anderson, melmcb and justine liked this

"Why Birthdays Will Fail" - Eric Rice

YES. - melmcb

Jeremiah Owyang posted an entry on Web Strategy by Jeremiah

Debate: Does the President need to know how to use a Computer/Web?

June 13 at 5:16 pm - Link

David Young, Mavericky McAwesomesauces, Thierry R. Andriamirado and 30 other people liked this

No. That skill has no bearing on my vote. - Hutch Carpenter

39 more comments

I think it's important that he has people who know the internet (it wouldn't be a good trait if he/she didn't do that, and I'd consider that behind the times) but I don't think the actual president needs to know how to do that. Frankly, there are a MUCH more important things that I feel the president should master than the web.... I might actually consider the president to be wasting time if he decided to take that task on just to take it on. - Kate Brodock via twhirl

The President will never need to use their own computer while in office; however, knowing how the web functions, its role in the economy, and how 90+% of the country uses it is very important in the 21stC - Nicholas Molnar via twhirl

Seriously... the president needs to pick good advisers and have experience in government. Hire someone to explain Facebook to him. The main decisions involve foriegn policy, not whether twitter is better than plurk. - Soulhuntre via twhirl

Nope. But he should understand Web/tech regulatory issues. - Shey

Wouldn't the President need to know how to use email to communicate with the White House staff? - possible248

I think the President of the United States in the 21st century should be capable of operating a computer and making use of mainstream internet services. - Jason Wehmhoener

Is pushing "The Button" considered computer use? - Andrew Smith

they should know how to read e-mail & google. - clarke thomas

I think a President does need to know how to use a computer. Question is, would he/she use a PC or a Mac - Richie Escovedo

So, so many more important aspects of what makes someone a good leader for a whole nationt han whether they can surf the frickin' web. - Soulhuntre via twhirl

I think there are some very important issues that my grandma does not understand, because she doesn't understand computers and the web - Charlie via twhirl

Technology is already a big part of our lives and will only grow. If a President can't even operate a computer, they are out of touch with the people they represent. That's the truth. - Shawn Farner via twhirl

This is 2008, if you can't surf the web and do other basic tasks with a computer, you are out of touch in a big way. For most people, that doesn't matter. For the president, you don't get to be excused. - Rah™

Each Human needs to know how to use a Web. Is President a Human?:) - Igor Poltavskiy

@jason, well stated. - Clay Newton

Not sure if the president needs to know how to use the computer but I am pretty sure that he needs to know that he can't keep a war going for 100 years. - Krishnan Hussein Subraman

I would think that it can be expected that a Presidential candidate should have had the time and the willingness to have learned how to use a computer before the duties of the President PERHAPS make it irrelevant. - Matthew Imakyure via twhirl

Similar discussion here: http://friendfeed.com/e/6f7b5a... - Jim Stanger

Yes. Not having even basic computer skills in 2008 betrays a lack of curiosity and intellectual rigor. - Chris Baskind

@Chris - nicely put! - Matrixx333

Although my vote would depend more on the vision and positions of a candidate, I think that to be in the position of the most powerful person on the earth, you would need to have at least a minimum amount of knowledge, not just about PC's and the internet BTW. Imagine Medvedev or Putin sending an IM message that goes lost without a reply :-) - Marc Dierens

Of course. 80% of the country uses computers, and over 50% is on the Internet. It is a way of reaching his audience, the voters. It's now part of basic literacy skills. Does he have to spend the day online? Of course not. - Francine Hardaway

Yes. I'll second Chris Baskind's comment. - Eric Thompson

FYI: I blogged about this yesterday - http://tinyurl.com/42fqcp - Mike Keliher

communication is key. Yes. - Sean Oliver

This is a dumb question and a non-issue. It should be: Can the Candidate function as an everyday American using the tools, institutions and opportunities available to everyday people? - Andrew Feinberg

YES! Doh! - Susan Beebe

Andrew - Isn't that a bit harsh? There are no dumb questions? It is an issue whether or not you think it should be. To answer the question, I would like to see overall literacy and competency in my elected officials. - Mathew A. Koeneker

No. I'm tired of the issue being parsed and based on videos and sound-bites when the underlying one is whether or not the candidate is aware of the issues that everyday Americans face. It's one thing to be driven around and have people take care of your correspondence, advise you, and speak for you. That's ok. But you still need to be able to drive a car to really understand traffic and fill up a gas tank to see the price. Remember George H.W. Bush at the grocery store in 1992? - Andrew Feinberg

So by that logic, you would throw out McCain or Obama? - Mathew A. Koeneker

Neither of which, I am pretty sure, fill up their own cars with gas. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Although (and I can't believe I'm having this conversation) Obama's filled his tank a lot more recently than McCain has. But yes, a leader ought to be reasonably clued into what his constituents are doing / how they are interacting, etc. McCain's cluelessness about the 'net is obvious and a bit troubling. Having said that, I was annoyed when MSM was giving McCain crap for saying he "watched" Drudge, implying that he was describing it the same way as a TV show. That was unfair, because a lot of us... - Anthony Citrano

..would say we "watched" people online who we found interesting. I don't know whether McCain meant it that way or not, but I'm as sick of seeing people unfairly jump on McCain as I am the reverse. Let's stick to the real issues instead of this "gotcha" shit. - Anthony Citrano

There are more important things to worry about, but not gonna lie.. if my grandma can figure it out, I'd definitely love to be confident that our president would be able to check his email in a dire situation. - justine

The bigger issue is the one Andrew brought up. I want to know that the President has some basic understanding of the issues that will be coming up in the next 4-8 years. Those include amongst -many- others: mid-east politics, oil, stem-cells/genetic engineering, and yes regulatory issues surrounding the Internet. It's hard to deal with anything if you rely completely on your advisers. - Steve Spalding

Steve: scratch Mideast politics, as well as information technology, as a domain in which John McCain possesses any expertise -- he doesn't even understand the differences between Shiites and Sunnis. Basically, Lieberman whispers into McCain's ear, and McCain produces garbled renditions with a single message: WAR, WAR, WAR! Scary, considering that the Iraq War is costing Americans trillions of dollars while playing perfectly into the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. - Sean McBride

No, let him try to learn how to run a country first. Oops, silly me, ti's too late, he's leaving soon! - Ian "plumber" May

Yes, they do, it is an important issue, the internet is quickly becoming or currently is the major means of communication in the world a basic lack of understanding of such a tool of communication and commerce - Justin Yost

Presidents have to know how to use computers & Internet. So they can understand how these tools can (have to) impact on the country and on the whole world's future (present!), regulation issues and so on.. a good balancing is required.. and it depends on the country in question. Presidents -have to- understand: they have to use them, and it is really important that they have good advisers. - Thierry R. Andriamirado

Thierry - McCain's advisers are dominated by the same neoconservatives who engineered the Iraq War. So not to worry. - Sean McBride

Yes, for the same reasons that I would expect a political leader to know how to use a telephone. - Andy Murdoch

Louis Gray posted a link

“Size Comparison: Twins vs. Electronic Gadgets”

July 19 at 9:09 pm - via Reshare - Link

Mitchell Tsai, Joe Cook, René-Pierre Corbu and 80 other people liked this

"Yes, it's me, abusing my baby pictures quotient on FriendFeed again. But in case you wanted to get a visual on Sarah's size, here's one item for comparison - the iPod Touch. Also included, Matthew, sleeping next to the iPod Touch, TiVo remote and Blackberry. It's better than using a ruler!" - Louis Gray

39 more comments

Man, the iPhone is so BIG - Aaron Brazell

LOL LOUIS!!!! - Mona N.

This will replace the pencil markings on the wall as a measurement of growth. - Hutch Carpenter

Way too cute! - Nice Fish Films

will there be an unboxing at some point - Allen Stern

The TiVo remote has hardly changed at all in 10 years. - Robert Seidman

WOW, they are SMALL! cool pics!! I love the one with the baby on the couch with 3 devices - Susan Beebe

Okay that's just really damn cute :) - justine

one day these kids are going to say, 'dad used us as props for his gadgets!'...and then there will be blood! lol - .LAG the Plumber

@.LAG, then I'll remind them how when we parked in what I thought was acceptable shade outside Babies R Us today, they both went nuts, and I had to extract them from their car seats and walk into the store (using the exit), with the pair held tight to my chest, to commiserate with their mother. I'm sure I was quite the sight. "Hey! Look at that guy! He's in over his head!" (fingers pointing) - Louis Gray

Hey! Someone should say you - this is really unhealthy!! : ( - Erhan Erdogan

@Louis - You definitely look in over your head. However, I was that way with only one. Now my children are 21 and 18 and I still remain in over my head. ; ) - Rex Hammock

This made Maryam crack up and say "that's cute!" - Robert Scoble

in terms of Product Design i still think GOD(Evolution) did a better job than jobs ...:-) - Hakim

@Rex, I look in over my head? Definitely? Where's the proof on that? I disagree. :-) - Louis Gray

Maybe good idea to get the RF away from the newborns? Just sayin'. Amazing scale comparison pics though Louis. Thanks for sharing. Now get those radio wave emitting devices away from the generation that will hopefully save us all :) - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

I don't believe you all - Robert, Louis, Maryam, all likes, comments - i urgently need a judge for this photos! : ) Your tech love is get out of control!! - Erhan Erdogan

now let's see the Touch duke it out with the Blackberry - Paulo via twhirl

I'm so going to do this one day when I have one. haha - Daynah

@Erhan and Brian, 1) They're not sleeping with the gadgets in their cribs (yet) and 2) I am not worried about that nonsense. I might as well unplug the microwave and TV while I'm at it, no? - Louis Gray

We always left a computer keyboard in our kids cribs as a toy -- they loved it. - Jay Tannenbaum

The important thing to remember is that if Louis were forced to choose between his children and his gadgets,,,well, I'm sure the kids would find a good home. (JUST KIDDING!) - Ontario Emperor

definitely unplug the tv!! :-) - Gregory Lent

Yeah, I know I know Louis. I'm just waiting for the time I go to the Dr. to get the "news" after having gone through life carrying 3+ mobiles around in my pocket. It's safe to carry 3+ phones + EVDO + Cradlepoint wifi in my pockets right? - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

@Louis: Yeah...and might as well not have had a kid to begin with...I mean, Radio waves bombard this planet CONSTANTLY...if RF signals are THAT dangerous, none of us should have kids. [/sarcasm] On a more serious note, love the pics...I have one on the way myself...my wife is due 10/21. - Sean McGee

lmao I'm so reporting you for this. Too hilarious - Corvida

Hey guys you have to see this related post... Scoble is competing with Louis' over coolest kid toys! http://friendfeed.com/e/caa0bc... - Susan Beebe

Again with the cute overload! They're so tiny which makes them even more cute! - Candace Holly

OMG! that's priceless! I <3 it! Put the device on vibrate and see what happens! I bet it would sooth any crankiness. Can you say iTunes visualizer? Better than Baby Einstein. Makes us AND them drool into relaxation. My son has gumdrop iMac in his bedroom specifically for that reason (glorified nightlight). Hey! We have to do what we have to do, right? Why not have some fun with it? Hellz ya! - TheMacMommy via twhirl

You know Louis, most parents use a wall and a pencil to show height and growth, you choose electronic equipment, what comes next? comparisons to the wii and ps3? then a macbook, then macbook pro, then dell blade server, where will it end?!!?!? - Allen Stern

Oh what beautiful little souls! I'm sure they are very precious to you :-). - Heather Colman

umm... it's not too heavy on him?! - Orli Yakuel

those photos are really embarassingly sad. Please leave the kids alone. - Claudio Cicali

A coochii coo! They are too cute! Twins are born small but they'll catch up in no time! Congrats! - zoblue (Zulema ❤'s you)

LOL.. awesome pics - Aviv

Not loading for me :( (the pictures) - Bjorn Tipling

apparently Amazon S3 is down - Shey

Total weirdness - the cuteness overload causes the pics to show for me even when S3 is down! It might be just my cache, ofcourse, but I like the first theory better :) - Yuvi

I'll take the electronics when the kids are all grown up. It won't matter to me that the stuff is decades old. - possible248

oh this is ROFL! - susan mernit

Ok, from one tech geek to another, that has to be the most cute thing I've ever seen. =) - Joe Cook

Randy Ksar posted a message on Twitter

“having my bowl of Special K thinking about how to engage a community in conversations - any thoughts?”

July 18 at 8:15 am - Link

justine liked this

From Bryan on Facebook: Engaging a community in conversation: How about a virtual relay race on Google maps tracked by pin placements with an ongoing conversation on each pin? Put it in a blog/forum/wiki where people can comment on the race/racers/direction/next place to go. - Randy Ksar

I think you just did :) - justine

thanks man.. that reminded me to eat the breakfast I brought.. - mark

Thomas Hawk posted a link

In an Iranian Image, a Missile Too Many - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog

July 10 at 11:48 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Kol Tregaskes, Gavin, tomit and 104 other people liked this

For its part, Agence France-Presse retracted its four-missile version this morning, saying that the image was “apparently digitally altered” by Iranian state media. The fourth missile “has apparently been added in digital retouch to cover a grounded missile that may have failed during the test,” the agency said. Later, it published an article quoting several experts. Throughout the day, several news sites have taken steps to disown the photograph that they ran on Wednesday, including LATimes.com and MSNBC.com. - Thomas Hawk via Bookmarklet

23 more comments

photoshop disasters... - Kemal Yaylali

Oh come on - you'd think they would learn that we live in the 21st century by now? - DAVE ID

Idiots. - Shawn Farner

We should have caught this on the desk though. It probably got validated in a hurry and wasn't thoroughly checked - Jon Dillon

Yikes. - l0ckergn0me

That's amazing. lol - justine

I find the enthusiasm of media funny. Media should better direct our country's foreign policy than scoring some brownie points on photoshop disasters. How does it matter if one missile failed. What matters is what we are going to do to stop missile proliferation without using our own missile. Scoring such brownie points are kid's play and not media's. - Krishnan Hussein Subraman

The Iranians should be writing Photoshop tutorials instead of trying to mimic their missle supply! - John Barker

busted by the Lizard Army - Jeff Evans

Great story! - Daan

Nice catch ya'll. Wag the dog indeed! - Mathew A. Koeneker

http://www.flickr.com/photos/a... I suck at Photoshop :-( - AJ Batac ♘

Good that AFP caught it. I've been documenting "fauxtography" in the media: theory.isthereason.com/?p=1164 - Kevin Lim

If the photo would have come the Pentagon instead of Iran's Revolutionary Guard the AP would have checked it out. - Robert Hafer

@Robert you mean the AFP - Rubin Sfadj

Animated version http://tinyurl.com/6gg57x - Jay Tannenbaum

@RobertHafer, the AFP ran the unedited, doctored satellite photos prior to the war in Iraq. - Prolific Programmer

Looks like one of their missiles didn't fire! - Ben Metcalfe via twhirl

"If you suffer from Ballistic Missile Launch Malfunction, then Misalys may be right for you..." - Live4Soccer

5 to 1 they used a pirated copy...they need to download a few Photoshop Podcasts for some tips on cloning...better yet, download "You Suck at Photoshop"... - Live4Soccer

That is incredibly disturbing; the Photoshop clone tool will prolly be the cause of the button press on the next significant US-involved conflict. - Clay Newton

Photography can be a powerful tool and terribly politically influential. I watched a photography documentary recently that cited the famous photo of a buddhist monk lighting himself on fire as the tipping point on the Vietnam involvement with President Kennedy. - Thomas Hawk

My Dad told me that it was when Cronkite declared the war "unwinnable" after the Tet Offensive that America changed their tune on the war... - Live4Soccer

seems the bbc hasnt noticed. now they are showing footage of the missile launch that matches the AP photo and then also different newspaper front pages which published the photos, some using the AFP and others AP, but no mention of this. interesting. - Katie Ratcliffe

Let's just drop the old one down the memory tubes to get rid of the double-plus-un-true version. - Nicholas Molnar

Dan Kaplan posted a link

Shrink says Facebook and MySpace generation 'cannot form relationships'

July 8 at 11:36 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Steve Garfield, Andrew Baron, Akshay Dodeja and 6 other people liked this

Dr Himanshu Tyagi, a psychiatrist at West London Mental Health Trust, said.. "This is the age group involved with the Bridgend suicides and what many of these young people had in common was their use of internet to communicate. It's a world where everything moves fast and changes all the time, where relationships are quickly disposed at the click of a mouse, where you can delete your profile if you don't like it and swap an unacceptable identity in the blink of an eye for one that is more acceptable. - Dan Kaplan via Bookmarklet

9 more comments

oh, dear. well, that's heartening. :| - edythe

[rolls eyes] - David Risley

There wasn't reference to a single study. Next: "Expert says that flushing toilet is the leading cause of global warming" - Dan Kaplan

The article was about a presentation given to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Presumably the presentation WAS the study, for whatever that's worth. I'd like to see data what this Dr Tyagi has assembled as well. - Nathan Rein

Probably quite true. - justine

THat is not really surprising - Akshay Dodeja

Is that actually supposed to be surprising? I've said for years that people of the digital age have a harder time forming relationships because we're all tied to our devices rather than talking to the person sitting next to us. - Margaret Kerr via twhirl

Justine, Akshay and Margaret: I agree that this might seem likely, but the guy did not point to any real evidence. Sounds like a bunch of intuitive assumptions, but I'm waiting for the study. - Dan Kaplan

@Dan you are right, to validate this you really need to do proper studies. Although the reason I say I don't find it surprising is just from personal experience. The relationship aspect on these social sites are really black and white. The problem is that people in the FB/Myspce generation think/firmly believe that they are communicating effectively using online tools. Tools make it really easy to fake or exaggerate your personality.. there is some sort of breakdown in real life - Akshay Dodeja

Or Maybe these people are on Facebook/Myspace and the like is *because* they can't form relationships offline. - Grant Bierman

I bet the study's probably out there, you may have to do a little digging around. Sounds to me like the reporter just attended a talk and wrote it up - Nathan Rein

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