Jack Wilson - Likes - FriendFeed

In the spirit of spotlighting a Friend Feeder that I feel has made a positive difference and exposed me to beautiful things that I might have otherwise not seen.

August 15, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

rowlikeagirl, Michael Fidler, Roberto Bonini and 20 other people liked this

Big props to Mitchel Tsai! - Mathew A. Koeneker

23 more comments

Also...Mahdi Ebrahimi. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Thomas Hawk is also a good one for this. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Not to forget the ladies.....Mona has brought a unique perspective as well. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Who has brought some beauty into your Friend Feed? - Mathew A. Koeneker

Here's a few: Mona N (http://friendfeed.com/monasfe...), RAPatton (http://friendfeed.com/pattonr...), Corie (http://friendfeed.com/corieal...), and Sebby (http://friendfeed.com/leafcut...). - Steve Isaacs

Another vote for Mitchell :-) - asiriusgeek

I started listing people, but the reality is that everyone I'm subscribed to -- and plenty of others to whom I'm not -- enrich my experience here. - Joanmarie

Not to be mushy, but I couldn't possibly list everyone who makes a positive difference here. You guys are awesome. - ha3rvey (Ho)^3

Corie Allison (http://friendfeed.com/corieal...), Cee Bee (http://friendfeed.com/ultrasu...), Nick (http://friendfeed.com/hoplit), Brandon (http://friendfeed.com/partrid...) - edythe

Thanks Matthew & asiriusgeek for your support, and Steve for suggesting Sebby... - Mitchell Tsai

That would be so hard. Edythe, Warmaiden(Colleen), Josh Neff, Royce, Mona, RAP Patton, Tad, etc. Too many to really list. This is really such a wonderful community. I start my day with FF. -

Ana Haro (http://friendfeed.com/annaharo), Paul Buchheit (http://friendfeed.com/paul), Yolanda (http://friendfeed.com/yolanda), Maryam Ardakani (http://friendfeed.com/maryam5...), Alejandro S. (http://friendfeed.com/alejand...) Recent discovery has been James/Colide81 (http://friendfeed.com/colide81). Karen Padham Taylor (http://friendfeed.com/karen) has very cool stuff, but doesn't post often. - Mitchell Tsai

thanks for the mention Mitchell - Alejandro

Sarah Perez (http://friendfeed.com/sarahin...), Kol Tregaskes (http://friendfeed.com/koltreg...), Ross Miller (http://friendfeed.com/ross who helped so much interning at FF), Ana Yang (http://friendfeed.com/ana, who's broadcasting live pics from the Olympics), Mark Wilson (http://friendfeed.com/markwil...), Yuvi (http://friendfeed.com/yuvipan..., the freshness of youth), Duncan Riley (http://friendfeed.com/duncanr...) - Mitchell Tsai

I'd like to thank everyone using FriendFeed. Even just one interesting post, often launches me on a Google/TinEye/FriendFeed/Wikipedia scramble across the world, so it's not necessary to be super-active. Maybe in the future, Browzmi or something can share all of the sites which we visit - since I only post about 0.1-1% (or less) of what I see. Sharing ways/tools/communities/friends to navigate the firehose of 6 billion people on this planet is incredible. (e.g. Google and StumbleUpon don't quite cut it.. - Mitchell Tsai

@Mitchell Tsai Thanks for mentioning me! This guy is pretty good too ;-) http://friendfeed.com/mitchel... - Kol Tregaskes

What Kol said :) - Yuvi

;-) - Kol Tregaskes

And for all of you who, like me, do not end up on this list or other lists like this: Just have fun. There is no FriendFeed without you. - Christopher Harley

Those were just some spotlighted folks. I need to start doing that again. In fact, I have learned and had a smile brought to my face by most if not all of you at one time or another. :-) - Mathew A. Koeneker

Kum Bai Ya to all my FFeed homeys and honeys. I am, and forever will be, your FFriend. - Morgan Haley

Christopher Harley http://friendfeed.com/pdxcabb... - Josh Haley

Definitely Kol Tregaskes <http://friendfeed.com/koltreg...>, Manuela <http://friendfeed.com/pushkin> and Bill Romanos <http://friendfeed.com/billrom...> amongst others.. - Tim Ostler

Thanks, Tim! :-) And I second Manuela (with an a ;-)). - Kol Tregaskes

Mitchell Tsai

Revealed: The Internet's Biggest Security Hole [Wired - 8/26/08] - http://blog.wired.com/27bstro...

August 28, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Christopher Perry, Jack Wilson and Tim Hoeck liked this

The tactic exploits the internet routing protocol BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) to let an attacker surreptitiously monitor unencrypted internet traffic anywhere in the world, and even modify it before it reaches its destination. - Mitchell Tsai from Bookmarklet

Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, noted computer security expert and former member of the L0pht hacking group, who testified to Congress in 1998 that he could bring down the internet in 30 minutes using a similar BGP attack, and disclosed privately to government agents how BGP could also be exploited to eavesdrop. "I went around screaming my head about this about ten or twelve years ago.... We described this to intelligence agencies and to the National Security Council, in detail." - Mitchell Tsai

Me: Internet routing is so trust-based (from a different age). I'm very surprised that no one has used these obvious attacks during 1991-2008 to take down the internet more often. In 1991, I probably would have bet that the public would have shifted to more secure routing by 2000. Probably, however, the unexpected growth of the internet has made router-upgrades cost-prohibitive. - Mitchell Tsai

Mona Nomura

Comcast: Comcast's 250GB Data Caps Now Official, Starting in October - http://gizmodo.com/5043253...

August 28, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Hassan Ibraheem, Pete Delucchi, Cee Bee and 11 other people liked this

Read with this: http://friendfeed.com/e... - Mona Nomura

34 more comments

Seriously? No one cares? This is kinda huge, guys. - Mona Nomura

It's not a big deal. This is the same cap they've always had in place. Just now, they are making it public. - Andru Edwards

They did? How so? I live with three people that dl like crazy, and we've never had issues. But that's besides the point. We're gonna end up like other countries where we get charged an arm and a leg. And who knows, perhaps mobile data, too. - Mona Nomura

*sigh*... Australian ISPs are... just *sigh* - Johnny Worthington

You are so impatient :) Of COURSE we care.. but what the hell are we going to do about it. 80% of us don't have another option. And I have downloaded a crapload more than that, and never got notice before. They are making it public, so they can begin enforcing it more. Just my opinion. - Tim Hoeck

i seriously don't know how you, Duncan, Mo, and the others do it... :( Tim: I don't know WHAT we can do. But I have a weird inkling that it's goign to escalate into more. It starts at the home, then mobile... Boycott? Protest? Petition? I don't know, but this is kinda sucky. - Mona Nomura

That would be great to know, Jason. Our household exceeds 250gigs... - Mona Nomura

Jason: This is what I've found so far via answers dot com "Gigabytes in use Broom Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. * The human genome contains 0.791175 GB of data (the 3.1647×109 base pairs[3] represented as 2-bits). * A DVD-5 format disc is specified as capable of... more... - Mona Nomura

I'm still having problems translating that to be more relevant to me, since right now, it's just words lol - Mona Nomura

Wish they had this before they cut me off. I liked their service, I hated the way they dealt with customers. - Dave Winer

I hate Comcast. Does my bill go down now that its capped? Of course not. Greedy corporate jerk-offs. - Tony Kanzia

Frontier is imposing a 5GB cap: http://stopthecap.com/2008... A friend of mine generates reports for all of his family members internet usage and even his mother uses up more than 1GB a *day* just browsing the internet (no games or torrenting) - Benjamin Golub

5gb? WTF? If we don't do something NOW, it's gonna go into mobile. Then all this iPhone vs Android stuff will no longer matter cuz we're gonna get screwed - Mona Nomura

Like these companies aren't making enough money. - Tony Kanzia

Thank you!! Everyone should read the comment Benjamin Golub left: "Frontier is imposing a 5GB cap: http://stopthecap.com/2008/07/... A friend of mine generates reports for all of his family members internet usage and even his mother uses up more than 1GB a *day* just browsing the internet (no games or torrenting) " - Mona Nomura

Part of the issue is we all have "always on" devices that are doing something over the internet. Download a demo on your Xbox, use TiVo, rent a movie on iTunes. It's hard to measure that kind of internet usage and it all adds up (quickly). - Benjamin Golub

i hate comcast - Tony Kanzia

This is another symptom of the problem. Big media does not want the internet to change their game. And this is also what we get for allowing an entertainment delivery company to be a monopoly on our internet service. Comcast doesn't want you watching TV over the internet. They want you paying them for it so they will control how you use your internet. What's next isn't mobile caps, or telling you little sheep to monitor your download. What's next is cutting off your upload. No blog posts. No video... - Adam Turetzky

.. blogs and youtube and viddler compete with their model anyway. You all will stop doing it. Big media's idea to silence all you blog-in-your-pajamas folks is to tape your mouths shut. No more cheaply publishing web sites when it costs you $400 a month to have upload at all and all your readers are afraid to waste their precious 250Gb looking at your photos or going to your blog. Forget about being the next Dr. Horrible or Revision3 that's all done with. Get back to your cable boxes. - Adam Turetzky

Adam: that scares me even more... thank you for your insight. :\ - Mona Nomura

http://luke.francl.org/lessig-... <--- read that to see part of how we got here. Then help change it. - Adam Turetzky

Adam, omg, This is excatly the first step I was looking for.Thank you! http://luke.francl.org/lessig-... and Lawrence Lessig Keynote from OSCON 2002 via O'Reilly http://www.oreillynet.com/pub... - Mona Nomura

I've donated $100 a year to EFF when I can. Which hasn't been often enough I'm sad to say. I'm thinking of canceling my landline because of the cost. I don't really have enough to donate $100 a month to the EFF, but I should! So what I'm thinking of doing is not just canceling my landline to save the nearly $1,200 a year I'm wasting with it, but to cancel it and setup auto-pay with my bank account the exact amount I was paying AT&T for phone service donate it to the EFF monthly. $57.95 - Adam Turetzky

Lets see: 250GBytes = 2,000Gbits = 2,048,000 Mbits. That is 409,600 seconds of moving data @ 5Mbits/s, or 6826 minutes = 113.7 hours = 4.74 days, or 15% of a given month spent downloading. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it doesn't seem outrageous on the face of it. Not that the telcos are any better, but I'm not surprised that a big cable provider is making this move before a big telco. - Erik S

Erik: I can't speak 100% on this so I don't want to talk out my ass, but go ask a Korean or Japanese what internet is like in those countries. The point being, we should be going in the other direction. Tokyo residents get 40 megabit /40 megabit dsl connection as part of their regular landline phone at about $40 a month for the whole deal. Same in South Korea (and I think France too). Their idea of using internet is downloading 20Gb a day of video programs.... - Adam Turetzky

.. my Korean friend and his wife got kicked of Comcast in 3 months by mimicking what they had done with relatives over there. Their daily allotment of bit torrented Korean language television shows hit that cap in days each month. Their relatives over there laugh at their crappy USA internet connections. - Adam Turetzky

The more pressing issue is whether or not Comcast is subject to FCC jurisdiction on Net Neutrality issues. - Andrew Feinberg

Andrew, this is in part a move to moot the issue of whether Comcast is subject to FCC jurisdiction on Net Neutrality. A cap substitutes for traffic shaping. - Erik S

Bad news indeed. My current ISP doesn't impose caps, but they're coming in future no doubt. Time to increase my Usenet and P2P downloads while the going's good. - Jonathon

Adam, don't get me wrong, I'd like to see more progress on broadband availability and pricing in the US (and improvements in upstream bandwidth in particular). Right now I have a choice between comcast with their tradition of poor uptime and their conflicted business model on the one hand, and Qwest, who can only get my DSL to 3Mbps and whose fiber to the node offering, when it arrives is still going to have under 1Mbps uploads. - Erik S

BTW 250GB month = 6.3 hours a day, every day of the 720p h264 video that seems popular on bittorrent. On second thought, that drops to 3hours a day if you have a non-selfish share ratio. Still, that's way more TV than I care to watch on a sustained basis. - Erik S

this is the route that all isps will go. it's gonna stifle creativity and the potential that a lot of "regular" people bring to the internet. i think it really sucks - Cee Bee

Here in Taipei, I have 10 megabit up, 10 down, FTTB, $40/mo, no cap. I'll move back to Silicon Valley when they straighten out the bandwidth there... - Indio Apache from twhirl

Those thinking about individual types of downloads are not taking in the whole picture... I use Skype for my phone, we use Amazon to download movies (others use Netflix), standard browsing (between shared users), downloads, remote data backup/syncing, streaming.. it all adds up. Most of this is done without me even being on my computer or my knowledge. - Tim Hoeck

So all the advanced media capabilities we've been talking about - Slingmedia, Simplifymedia, just downloading some ISOs from RedHat or CentOS - all that stuff is going out the window because Comcast wants you to eventually use their music and movie services. - Ernie Oporto

Mike Fruchter

Make FriendFeed & Twitter your social portal - http://michaelfruchter.com/blog...

August 17, 2008 from MichaelFruchter.com - Comment - Like - Share

Ray Metzen, accesine, Charlie Anzman and 19 other people liked this

looks interesting, might give it a shot... - Tim Hoeck

11 more comments

I am on your screenshot!! =) I haven't tried Gridjit personally, but from looking at the screenshots, is this organization of information really better than the default FF layout? Does it also do auto-refresh of your FF feeds? - Winston Teo

Winston, I think the way the information is laid out on Gridjit is organized much better then the default FF layout. It makes it easier to keep track of conversations. It get rids of all that wasted white space as well. Definitely a visual enhancement. - Mike Fruchter

From testing it does not auto-refresh. - Mike Fruchter

Do you have an extra invite code? - Irene Katz

Would love to try, but need a code. - Brad Nickel

Brad, hang tight I will see if I can get some extra invites. - Mike Fruchter

I really like this! I'll wait to get my invite code. :) - Daynah

I'll like to have one too! Thanks in advance! - Winston Teo

this invite code probably has a lot of uses left: 67aaad9. try it and let me know if it doesn't work. dude said it could be used 100 times. - J450N

Yep that one worked for me. Thanks jpeg2000 - John Cooper

Not sold on the screenshots, but I'll try it out for fun. Thanks for that invite code Jason. - Nick

Thanks for the heads up Mike - Just got back and logged in. Will be interesting to watch. - Charlie Anzman

Louis Gray

Make FriendFeed & Twitter your social portal - http://michaelfruchter.com/blog...

August 17, 2008 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Mike Fruchter, Oliver Ding, Jack Wilson and 2 other people liked this

Alex Scoble

I'm not quite sure why people use Twitter for microblogging...This seems to be a much better way of doing it

August 13, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Joe Dawson, Mathew A. Koeneker, Jeff P. Henderson and 9 other people liked this

1. Force of habit. 2. Not wanting tweets to get mixed up with Friendfeed shares so that our subscribers can choose to hide those. - Morton Fox

5 more comments

true, this is a great tool, but not everyone has adopted it yet. It's great to be an early adopter but many of the people I network with aren't using Friendfeed. Many more people in my industry use Twitter. So for now, I use both. - Brian Watkins

Twitter's strength lies in its SMS roots. With twitter you can be out with friends and they can start following you right from their phone. - Krishna Gade

I like FF as my "platform" and twitter as my microblogging "service". As Morton said: this allows people to use the on / off functionality. - Erica Toelle from twhirl

Ok come on, did Robert put you up to saying that? He's been plotting to pull everyone off twitter to ff for a while now :) - Jamie Dool

Nope...He absolutely did not...although he was the reason I joined FriendFeed. Oddly enough he didn't really pull me in the direction of Twitter. - Alex Scoble

This thread has got my brain into 2nd gear. That and the joe. :-) - Mathew A. Koeneker

John McCrea

My Report from the Bigfoot Press Conference - http://therealmccrea.com/2008...

August 15, 2008 from The Real McCrea - Comment - Like - Share

Peter, Jeff P. Henderson, Jack Wilson and 2 other people liked this

Funny, CNN is reporting that they were grilled: http://www.cnn.com/2008... - Mark Trapp

7 more comments

There were skeptical questions from the audience, but there was nothing like we've come to expect say from the best of White House press conferences. For example, no one asked why Biscardi was still claiming "DNA evidence" when the results of the testing refute his claim! - John McCrea

I called hoax from the beginning and I'm still calling it now. I would have laughed if I were there. I am watching a report on it now and cracking up. Is this the Loch Ness monster hoax for this millennium ? - Candace

Candace, good job! I, too, called hoax from the beginning, but where I was wrong was that I thought it was a hoax as part of grand PR strategy from some Silicon Valley company. So sad to find it was not an elaborate ploy of smart people, but rather a clumsy redneck hoax that was so poorly executed as to be embarrassing. - John McCrea

from CNN: "[Scientists] said it's unlikely a tribe of 7-foot-tall creatures would have avoided discovery in a region popular among hikers, hunters and vacationers." ..... YA THINK!?!? - Tim Hoeck

It's the 'new in'. First, the Montauk Monster, now Bigfoot... Both coasts, got headlines, made money ... when 10,000 more important things were happening in the world. (Cool pics). - Charlie Anzman

Thanks, Charlie on the "cool pics" comment. :) - John McCrea

I can't believe anyone, especially the media, is taking this thing seriously!! - Jeff P. Henderson

Maverick should totally do a publicity stunt like this with the Maverick Monster - get a couple of guys say they found Big Foot, get all the media there, and when they get there have the Maverick Monster come running out with free sodas for all. They could make a mint off that stunt based on the press these guys got! - Jesse Stay

Loren Heiny

Would you find it interesting if Robert Scoble interviewed various celebrities about how they use technology?

July 31, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

americanm, Lora Heiny, Jennifer Van Grove and 6 other people liked this

I was thinking in terms of broadening the appeal of his work outside of the traditional tech world. I've heard of several musicians that use technology quite extensively and it would be interesting to see what they do. But I get your point, that for the tech community this probably wouldn't mean anything one way or another. - Loren Heiny

26 more comments

we will be in Neil Young's studio doing exactly this on Monday. - Robert Scoble

Cool! - Loren Heiny

No. I'd find it more interesting to see how regular people are using technology to improve things for themselves, for their families and for society at large. I couldn't care less how Paris Hilton uses her blackberry. - Alex Scoble

I would, if it betrayed incredible stupidity on their part. I mean, come on, if he got footage of Brad Pitt shaking an iPhone and yelling, "How does this stupid thing work, dude!?! Fuck!!!" then I'm not sure I'd ever be able to stop laughing. - Ciaoenrico

alex: I am on a plane right now and the guy next to us is using Windows 2000. You really sure you want to study how average people use tech? I would rather talk with the guy who is archiving Neil's music and who can demo to us why Neil said that MP3's suck. But that is just me. - Robert Scoble

no. - Cee Bee

Alex, I can't imagine Paris Hilton using a blackberry. "Like what are all these buttons for, and where are the pretty pictures?" - Rob Diana

To answer the actual question, no I have no interest unless it is something like Neil Young or Jay Z and his new social network. Other than that, "regular" people would be more interesting. - Rob Diana

I can't imagine a celebrities use of technology to be any better/different than your average geek or social media mogul. That said, I think it would be a great reality show. Kinda like Cribs or Pimp My Ride, but it would be on G4, DSC or SciFi instead of MTV. - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

@Rob - Hilton's blackberry was hacked three years ago, so I guess she used one http://gizmodo.com/gadgets... - Laura Norvig

Neil Young -- my son the guitar player and sometimes student is a huge NY fan -- he even has a record deck to play NY vinyl. - Brian Sullivan

i'm interested in Robert Scoble interviews of people doing innovative or otherwise nifty things with technology. i don't care if they're celebrities or not, personally; i certainly wouldn't want any celebrities in/excluded on the grounds of celebrity status, if i had a say in such things. - idnan

There's nothing, on the face of it, wrong with using Windows 2000. The better question is WHAT is he doing with it. I think you can find far more interesting and inspiring examples of people using technology in the real world to solve real problems...and in fact, you have done this before. You found many real people using tablet PCs to do interesting things, for instance. And MP3s don't suck. Low bit MP3s suck. Humans can't tell the difference between high bit (240kb/sec and above) MP3s and FLACs or CDs. - Alex Scoble

@Laura - oh, I thought she had a sidekick hacked. Weird. - Rob Diana

Okay, I'll break from the pack. Yes, I would find it interesting. I'd love to see the social networks my favorite musicians use, I want to know how geeky they are. Why? Because it reminds us - when it comes down to it, they aren't any different than us. They're just famous. - Shawn Farner

Definitely. Looking forward to the new interviews Robert! - Daynah

Yes! - Chris Luckhardt

no. Not because of Scoble, but because I really don't care what celebs are using...well maybe with a few exceptions :-) - Duncan Riley

Robert: Very nice, I am a big Neil Young fan. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Alex: You are quite correct. Unfortunately, most folks link mp3 with lossy formats. Most of the tapers that I know are pretty hardcore about their standards of flac or shn. (Akiva - yes, I do the ALAC but just to try out tunes on the I-Pizzle) - Mathew A. Koeneker

Celebrities? No. Interesting people who may happen to be famous? Perhaps. - Paul Rodriguez

Yup,If Tech celebrities:) - Igor Poltavskiy

I want to see Robert interview Paris Hilton. - Sarah Austin

"Today, Robert Scoble interviews Paris Hilton and how she uses the net" - Outsanity

Yes. There are great examples out there that I'd like to know more about. I've heard from Linda Epstein and others that many of the musicians who go through the Hollywood Bowl have phenomenal tech equipment. Good idea. - Lora Heiny

not really, I don't think. - john conroy

But... idea for a Reality TV show. Scoble comes into celebs homes and shows them how they can become more connected etc. using social technology and gadgets etc. - john conroy

ka3drr

Distributed Real-time Embedded Analysis Method - DREAM - http://dre.sourceforge.net/

August 14, 2008 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Wilson liked this

Leo Laporte

Is NBCs Tight Leash on Olympics Webcasts a Mistake? - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008...

August 14, 2008 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

tomit, Jim Bednarz, monkeystick and 3 other people liked this

Now NBC has released the first batch of research on how people are actually watching the Olympics, and its findings raise questions about whether the network’s fear that more liberal Webcasting would cannibalize its broadcast audience was unfounded. (TV Decoder has more on the research so far.) - Leo Laporte

Dave Winer

Censorship Foreigners Don't See - Stuff that didn't fit in my Op-Ed - http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconver...

August 14, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Tim Harding, Lova Rakotomalala, Steve Chou and 16 other people liked this

China's system of filtering websites by blocking web addresses and keywords of overseas websites has come to be known as the "Great Firewall." (No that is not it's official name - I believe the term was first coined by some frustrated bloggers.) But the GFW, for short, is only a small part of Chinese Internet censorship. - Dave Winer from Bookmarklet

5 more comments

Well written, bravo. - Aaron Krug

The hints of a more generalized policy of censorship in China seems to point to a system that is maturing to the point that they simply won't care anymore. To give people completely unfettered access to freedom of speech when they've been denied it in the past may just be too risky. Maybe they're just letting the system of censorship crumble to the point of uselessness before they let the flood gates open? - Ben Madsen

As Naomi klein says at http://www.alternet.org/story... this "police state 2.0" is an exportable product. Coming soon to an ISP near you (don't worry. Legislation will take care of itself) - ĎÚβĨŐÚŚ Dod

Never. Ever. - Robert Linthicum

@Robert but think of the children! ;) - Sam Levine

This is an amazing post. Thanks, Rebecca! - David Sifry

Hutch Carpenter

I’ve Joined Connectbeam, and Social Media Got Me the Job - http://bhc3.wordpress.com/2008...

August 13, 2008 from I'm Not Actually a Geek - Comment - Like - Share

Franklin Pettit, Sarah Perez, Igor Poltavskiy and 44 other people liked this

Hutch congratulations! - Mike Fruchter

25 more comments

Congrats! I'll send you an E-Mail address where you can direct part of your signing bonus via PayPal. ;-) - Mark Dykeman

Thanks Mike - Hutch Carpenter

Mark - HA! Gives new meaning to pay per post... - Hutch Carpenter

ConnectBeam looks interesting... You should look at integrating it with Atlassian's Confluence. - Jason Carreira

Congrats! I got my job through my blog - who says social media can't be monetized ;) - Morgan

Congrats Hutch! - Dobromir Hadzhiev

Way to go Hutch! Congrats! - Shey, Jamaican of FF

Congrats and thanks for sharing the story in detail. Very cool. - John McCrea

Hutch, that's very cool. Congratulations. But as much as you give credit to those who support you, you earned this on your own! - Louis Gray

Congratulations, Hutch! You're living the dream. - Mark Trapp

"Security, control and reliability are still important" - It's MOST Important. and con'grats on your new role.. HAVE Phun !! - Peter Dawson

Cool. Congrats. I'm looking for a job too, social media. ;-) - C. K. Sample III from twhirl

Congrats Hutch. - Charlie Anzman

Awesome! - Mitchell Tsai

Huge congrats ! - Eric Berlin

Thanks everyone. Doing the typical first day stuff now - laptop, Outlook, network access. - Hutch Carpenter

Awesome story and Congrats! - Justin Korn

Congrats & cheers! - Dave Martin

Congrats Hutch....nice to see you land at a cool place - Shane Pearson

Congrats!! - Chrimmus Tad

Congratulations. I saw / heard about Connectbeam recently in a trade rag. Very interesting. - Atul Arora

Thanks guys - to actually have something happen from all this blogging and FriendFeeding was a surprise. There is truth in the emerging idea that Google Search = your resume. - Hutch Carpenter

Thanks Shane - the BEA folks are landing in some interesting places. Looking forward to seeing Ajay (Oracle) and Cameron (Jive) at future shows. - Hutch Carpenter

Wow, congrats Hutch! Small world, I just spoke on the phone with a ConnectBeam VP of sales this afternoon, great guy. Looking forward to the demo. - jcunwired

Cool Jody! I just sat through my first customer preso/demo today. I'll have to make sure I can attend the one for you. - Hutch Carpenter

Congrats! - Igor Poltavskiy

Social Media Club: Oscar Antonio Moralí

Social Media: Everything Old is New Again - http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC...

August 13, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Glenn Batuyong and Jack Wilson liked this

Duncan Riley

still no statement from SF MOMA re: Thomas Hawk. Are they just wishing it will go away?

August 12, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Diana Valerini, Jesper Kjær Hansen, Kol Tregaskes and 30 other people liked this

what bloggers say doesn't matter. Only what the New York Times says matters. Imagine they kicked out an NYT journalist. Would that guy still have his job? No. - Robert Scoble

33 more comments

they did change their web sites to reflect new camera policies.. so they are building up a strategy ! - http://friendfeed.com/e... - Peter Dawson

Scoble, definitely no - Duncan Riley

at the pace of 'internet memory', it's already gone, isn't it? - Jeremy Toeman

Peter (and Justin), good catch on the update of the policy. Mona previously noted that two PR people at SF MoMA said a statement was forthcoming. - Ontario Emperor

Robert - Bloggers are breaking stories almost half a day before most of the mainstream. I can think of at least 4 stories in the past two weeks that started on blogs and then hit the International press (There are a few exceptions). It's the perception of who'd reading it that really matters. That's certain to change over time. - Charlie Anzman

Mona has been following up the with SFMOMA to see when/if there will be a statment: http://pixelbits.wordpress.com/2008... - Justin Korn

@Scoble I call bullshit. High profile journalists have been kicked out of plenty of places and it's always a much bigger story to them than it is to anyone else. SFMOMA probably isn't going to say anything because they don't want to say "He was kicked out because one of our employees felt he was a perv, then he got argumentative". - Jason Carreira

Justin, saw that, but that was also yesterday. Another day and still silence - Duncan Riley

they are still reading my post, so I'm not sure if something's coming. Hours and hours spent, i tell you. last long visit as of 5 PM today. http://reechard.vox.com/library... - Richard pancakhaus Walker

I don't mean hours spent reading my post, more like using at as jumping off point to the other conversations. FYI :-) - Richard pancakhaus Walker

@Scoble Agreed. Had it been a mainstream publication, it would have garnered a lot more attention, even though bloggers broke the story first. Interesting how they changed their policy. - Jack Wilson

Wondering if anyone, TH or other has attempted to interest the main stream media with this story? I have not heard a peep about any such action. So either no one has, or the mainstream is not interested. There are also several high profile consumer action groups in the Bay Area that would most likely look into this issue. - Jeff P. Henderson

Had it been a mainstream publication, the photographer would have acted like a professional photographer. - Cyndy

Cyndy, my guess is that they would have still raised hell, but in a different manner, and probably not on the spot. - Jeff P. Henderson

Jeff, the first thing you are taught in journalism is to document the story, not BECOME the story. Swapping out lenses, taking pictures as someone is talking to you, etc. is all contrary to basic journalism 101. There would be no story. Raise hell? Probably, but totally under the radar. - Cyndy

Cyndy, can you distingush between the two,please. How does a professional photographer act vs a non professional photographer ?? in so much as they are both people and have human reactions. take time to reflect before you give an answer. I have collateral available (on hand) as rebuttal. - Peter Dawson

@Peter, the only rebuttal needed is "Thomas"'s history of run ins. He likes being the story. - Jason Carreira

@Jason, sorry TH is not the topic of discussion. If you have anything to add to my specific question, please feel free to comment. Else your injection of OT shit will be treated as BS. Please respect my question. Nowhere am I speaking of an individual. - Peter Dawson

TH is the story. He made it that way, as is his want. If you don't get that you haven't been following TH's exploits very long. - Jason Carreira

Peter, show me where any photographer is supposed to BECOME a story instead of document one. We are discussing photography, not performance art, aren't we? Because if we are discussing photography AS performance art, then by all means, I'm sure you have collateral available. - Cyndy

Bet they haven't seen it - Francine Hardaway

Cynd.. yes he (kevin) become the story.. as a professional blogger/ professional photographer after he he cut the Devils Dogs 301 letter. So for telling the truth he become the story. <http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b...> So lets see, what is the core traits that differentiate a professional photographer act vs a non professional photographer ? is it telling story the best way they can ? not telling the truth ? or what -- please quantify and 4get TH - Peter Dawson

Here's the old policy at SFMoMA as it appeared on Aug 6, 2008 21:06:59 GMT: "Photography is not permitted in the galleries. Flash photography is permitted only with a handheld camera in the Atrium." http://209.85.173.104/search... Here's their new policy:... more... - Christopher Harley

"There are people in our own country who would weaken your institution and our nation by telling you it's OK to betray our guiding principles by not making the tough decisions, by letting difficult circumstances turns us into victims or worse, villains." - Peter Dawson

We are reading the same story, right? "But I have never in my career been a "gotcha" reporter hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so that I can catch them." and "Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or read my dispatches is aware of the lengths to which I've gone to play it straight down the middle" are right in the first two paragraphs. He was documenting a story and was shocked in people calling him out. He didn't create the story. He didn't put himself in the story. And he was shocked. - Cyndy

@cyndy, why are you side stepping my question ?? just tell me what is differentiator between a professional photographer act vs a non professional photographer act ? just keep it simple and in plain english. - Peter Dawson

professionalism - Jason Carreira

Peter, perhaps *I'm* dodging the question, but based on MoMA's rewrite, I don't think they want professional photographers to come there - unless they're exhibiting. - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

I'm not sidestepping it. I already stated that a professional photographer never tries to BE the story. The article you referenced as proof of the opposite corroborates my take on it. This photographer is only talking about what he documented after being forced into the story. Did he involve himself in the story as it was unfolding? No. Did he at any point ask for attention for himself in this? No. If that isn't plain enough, I don't know how else to explain it. - Cyndy

Duncan glad to see you stand up for people and use Social Media for advocacy! The real power of Social Media! Respect! - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Robert Scoble what we as Bloggers "standing together" say does matter! When we stand together we are not "anonymous" but more powerful than Mass Media! - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Am I missing something? What does this issue have anything to do with being either a professional photographer or a professional journalist? What I see is citizen TH was taking photos in a place that allowed photos, and even verified it with management before hand. He got accused of doing something he says he was not doing and stuck up for his rights, got kicked out anyway. He then wrote about the incident, telling his side of the story. Why does it matter that he was or wasn't the story? - Jeff P. Henderson

Leather I'm very aware that only one side of the story has been told. No one can say if HT handled this correctly until we hear the other side. Simon and SF MOMA have had ample time to provide their side, but have chosen not to. That is not TH's or anyone elses fault but theirs. I don't think my last post was necessarily defending TH, just trying to understand why it mattered that TH is a blogger, photographer or just joe citizen based on the conversation above. - Jeff P. Henderson

Actually, SF MoMA pretty much accused Hawk of behaving "in an inappropriate and harassing manner." http://www.sfmoma.org/press... - Ontario Emperor

Scott Elias

Back from a nice walk. Not quite fall yet but not oppressively hot like a week or so ago...

August 12, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Wilson liked this

Justin Korn

SFMOMA seems to have changed their wording on the website... - http://www.sfmoma.org/visit...

August 11, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Jesper Kjær Hansen, Bjorn Stromberg, Jack Wilson and 13 other people liked this

Now reads: "Cameras Photography is allowed for personal, noncommercial use, except where noted. Flash photography and videography are not allowed in the galleries. Tripods are not allowed." - Justin Korn

8 more comments

Used to read: "Cameras Photography is not permitted in the galleries. Flash photography is permitted only with a handheld camera in the Atrium." - Justin Korn

google caches :- http://72.14.205.104/search... - Peter Dawson

interesting... - Mona Nomura from fftogo

Well that is certainly much clearer and actually sounds a bit broader than the previous note. I sounds like you are free to shoot anywhere unless there is a sign stating you can't. I applaud them for not just out right banning photography all together as a knee jerk reaction. - Jeff P. Henderson

"except where noted" hmmmm - Johnny Worthington

So do you think the will now hang no photography signs around all of their employees necks? ;-) - Jeff P. Henderson

Jeff +1 - Johnny Worthington

Let me remind everyone that Thomas had called and clarified the policy before shooting that day. - Michael W. May from twhirl

another +1 for Jeff - Helen Sventitsky

Sid Yadav

Startup, Inc - What You Need to Know Before Starting a Company - ReadWriteWeb - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archive...

August 12, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Krishna Gade, Royce Mathew, Atul Arora and 18 other people liked this

This is fantastic. Must-read for a newbie entrepreneur. I found it 500 times more useful than the stuff you find for "how to incorporate" on Google. :-) - Sid Yadav from Bookmarklet

I agree. Wish I would have had someone explaining things to me BEFORE I hired a lawyer to help. It was still a good idea but not COMPLETELY necessary. - Dave Ploch

Typical rww style - simple, essential info. Very helpful indeed. - Jamie Dool

Robert Scoble

I'm seeing that Twitter is limiting people to 2,000 followers. That sucks. I tried to get you all over to scalable FriendFeed.

August 11, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Liz Isaacs, Sylwia Presley, Justin Levy and 49 other people liked this

@Scobleizer did Twitter lop off a bunch of your followers or is the new limit for new users? - Christian Anderson

38 more comments

another step backward. i guess open & federated microblogging will be the alternative... such as http://identi.ca (which runs http://laconi.ca/trac/) - lohang

Dude, you're like one of the few that gets to have more than 2000. I want to say I'm jealous, but I'm already over twitter. - Pete Delucchi

really? thought there's at less three ppl with over 50,000 followers, one of them being @barackobama - Pajama Domain from twhirl

@Ev says its not true. There's no limit to Twitter followers one can have - Christian Anderson

I think Ev is going to say that limits do exist but there is not a hard limit at 2,000 - i.e. the limits are different for everyone based on various factors that they won't make public. That's their party line (for now) but there is a lot of evidence piling up that new users can't get past following 2,000. - Mike Doeff

I wish everyone I follow on twitter will move to FF as well, will make everything so much easier. - Amit Morson

And I don't follow new people on twitter, all my new follows are on FF only. - Amit Morson

Yeah it is a stupid move. Can't they be a bit more inventive in preventing spammers - Michael McGimpsey from twhirl

The limit is not on the followers you can have but on the number of people you can follow. Big difference I'd say. - Alexander Kohlhofer

A lot of bad info making the rounds on this. They're not limiting followers. They're limiting *follows*... the number of people you can follow. That's a much more reasonable thing to do. - Mark Jaquith from twhirl

Yeah, I've gotten a ton of "followers" who follow 3k+ and are followed by around 100... I'm not adverse to limiting these types of people so that they will only follow me if they're actually interested in what I have to say. - Frankie Warren

Aah, this is a nice exercise in seeing how quickly mis-information spreads. First it was that Twitter cuts the ones you follow, then the ones that follow you, and the whole time @EV denied the whole "meme." http://twitter.com/ev... Long live social media! - Vincent van Wylick

The follow limit SUCKS. There's a group of us who are petitioning Twitter to get rid of the follow limit. Yes, and to clarify, they are limiting the number of people you can follow, not the number who follow you—it has to do with the ratio. If you get above 2000 people you're following, and it's even a few hundred more than are following you, they suddenly (without warning) put you on the follow limit. It's very frustrating and does not work well for those of us who have corporate clients on Twitter. - Cathryn Hrudicka

it sucks but for only a minority of the twitter users or so... - Ouriel Ohayon

This is a new follow limit, and seems somewhat arbitrarily enforced (see my previous comment). This is not smart for Twitter, either, as they are creating a climate of frustration, distrust and general unhappiness among loyal users who have professional reasons for needing to be able to add people, and we are in a position to recommend Twitter to our corporate clients—Twitter's business development says they want more corporate clients. How can we recommend Twitter to clients if THEY will be limited, too? - Cathryn Hrudicka

this doesnt concern me much for the moment :) i wonder if all followers actually read and digest info or it is merely for stats. - Hayk H.

Look guys, stop the groupthink-inspired panic. There is no limit. @Scobleiser, whom you're all responding to, is following & followed by 30K people. - Vincent van Wylick

And the downfall of Twitter continues. The ride was good while it lasted. I guess this means that FF will replace it. - Bob Blunk

conversation OVER. no limits http://gigaom.com/2008... - Ouriel Ohayon

what's up with all the limitation everywhere? it doesn't matches to the web evolution! - Orli Yakuel

Aren't there a bunch of apps that rely on follows to function? Doesn't this severely limit their adoption? - Hal from twhirl

This really limits community building. They should do a percentage rather than hardline the ceiling at 2K - Mike Sansone

Do you guys even read the comments that other people are writing in this thread? - Vincent van Wylick

99.999999% of everyone who will ever use twitter will have less than 50 followers. Let's be honest here - even if this limited existed (and there is good reason to think it does not) it woudln;t limit twitter for regular users one bit. As for FF... good tool but totally different value than Twitter. "Move to FF" is a odd statement to me... I cant do what I do on twitter on FF. - Soulhuntre

I work for a large magazine printer. This isn't very encouraging but I agree. - DivemasterDoug from twhirl

The only thing I know of that FriendFeed doesn't do that Twitter can is SMS. Which I couldn't possibly care less about. Yet I can think of many things FF does better than Twitter without needing a bunch of 3rd party websites. - Paul Reynolds

The 99% argument is flawed. It's the same with homeland security and surveillance. 99% should have nothing to hide. - Benedikt Koehler

You convinced me! - Shannon

Umm.... civil rights issues are INTENDED to favor the minority. Software services are developed for the majority of the users they serve. You do see how flawed that analogy of yours is, right? - Soulhuntre

When FF is easily used via SMS, and supports the thrid party services and is easy to teach to the only semi-nerd folks who use twitter but woudl NOT sit down and use FF (SMS is good for that) then call me. - Soulhuntre

Follower limit st'oo'pid.Despite early mover status,catchy name,deer in headlight fawning press,another reason to look at alts. - JimmyJet

I thought Facebook was wrong only allowing 5,000 friends, now Twitter only allows 2,000 followers? What is this Web 2.0 world coming to? - Jeremy Campbell from twhirl

@Biz on Twitter said you could have as many followers as you want. - PC Easy

Robert, does that mean they will be limiting your followers? - Nicholas James

No way, this is for new people, if they start a cull they will lose everyone! - Joe Dawson

I see a pro twitter feature coming soon - Wayne Sutton

Flickr tried this a while back and there was enormous backlash. They tried limiting your contacts to 5,000. They later rescinded the limit and changed it to you could have no more than 5,000 *non-reciprocal* contacts. Since most people don't add spammers back, this easily deals with the spammers while letting those with larger social networks still manage their larger pool of contacts. A smarter way to deal with the problem. - Thomas Hawk

Twitter is limiting the number of people you can follow depending on a ratio of how many people you follow to how many follow you. Personally I have no issues with this flexible limit as it prevents idiots who run bots and follow 30K worth of people and only have 1,000 following them. This will keep the idiots at bay - BCK

yes - I have not been able to reciprocate any followers for a while and I am at 2000......so I wonder if my following limits will ever be lifted? very frustrating......anyone know if they will change this? There are people I would like to follow too to see their updates.... - Big Paw Designs

Louis Gray

Given Posty can publish to Twitter and Identi.ca at the same time, it's all I'm using these days for tweeting, replies and friends' tweets.

August 10, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Aaron Myers, Susan Beebe, funkyboy and 15 other people liked this

I like TweetDeck as well, but Posty doesn't make me choose or double-post. It also can post to FriendFeed, Jaiku and Pownce. - Louis Gray

13 more comments

I didn't know Posty worked on indenti.ca as well, thanks Louis - Mo Kargas

wait a minute. is www.posty.com the single worst website i've seen in quite a long time or, and this is quite possible, am i missing something? found the download at http://spreadingfunkyness.com/posty... - Christian Anderson

http://spreadingfunkyness.com/posty... is the URL. - Louis Gray

now if it only were something else then Air. don't need another memory hog. - Alexander Kucera

Posty you say?????? hmmmmmmm - Erin @queenofspain

ping.fm is godhead - adolfo foronda

Using Twhirl and Posty - Twhirl to interact - Posty for blog posts .... - Charlie Anzman

partial to ping.fm myself. - Admiral Anika

Posty is awesome. I also love Ping.fm - now available from friendfeed thanks to a greasemonkey script. - Sarah Perez

ping.fm is my choice. Excellent service. - Håkan Dahlström

The screencast on the Posty site shows "Hello from Posty" as the message being posted and when it shows the resulting post on FriendFeed, it's "Hello form Posty." :) - Gus Perez

@Mo If you want more news about Posty send me a message to posty AT spreadingfunkyness.com @Alexander I chose Adobe Air as cross-os platform. I agree with you that it is a bit memory hungry. @charlie with Posty you can also interact. @gus I recorder many takes, it wasn't easy to find all the services responsive in the same time span. I probably misplaced some window. Thanks for notifying the error. - funkyboy from Posty

I am using http://Ping.fm for mult-posting needs...works VERY well!! Twitter, Identi.ca, Facebook, Jaiku, etc... - Susan Beebe

hellotxt.com supports twitter ff and Ident and there m.hellotxt.com has a very userfriendly mobile interface - johnpiercy

Thomas Hawk

More on the Whole Simon Blint Fiasco - http://thomashawk.com/2008...

August 10, 2008 from Thomas Hawk's Digital... - Comment - Like - Share

Sally Church, Ole Begemann, Bryan Villarin and 68 other people liked this

Good follow-up TH. - Justin Korn

36 more comments

As I commented earlier, the employee in question acted outside the rules set by MOMA and took it apon himself to have a person ejected DESPITE other people in the gallery performing the same actions. As "Director of Visitor Relations", you are not some type of low level employee, you are a person who is the public face of an organisation. - Johnny Worthington

I think it's SFist, SF Fist sounds like a completely different site... - Phill Price

Phill +1 - Johnny Worthington

I like that you also mentioned the general harassment photographers are facing everywhere. It concerns me that this is getting to be commonplace in our society. -

thanks Phill, I'll correct that in the post :) - Thomas Hawk

I am with JMS but would add the photograhy 'IS A CRIME' virus has also infected the UK and France. - Mel Buckpitt

increasingly I'm hearing stories of harassment in the UK. I think much of the recent harassment in the UK can be directly attributed to a public campaign on the part of the UK's Metropolitan Police to demonize photography. http://thomashawk.com/2008... - Thomas Hawk

Excellent followup. I can't wait to hear the response to this issue form Simon and the SF MOMA. - Jeff P. Henderson

powerful, thanks for sharing your experiance - sean percival

I attended the Ekka this weekend (Queensland, Australia's version of a state fair) with the intention of photographing it. I rang the organisers before hand and they said while it is not allowed, they will not enforce it. The Terms Of Entry signage outside also said photography or video is not allowed. Within 50 meters from the front gate, I counted at least 11 DSLR in use. If these rules are going to be created, they must be enforced or face this type of situation occuring. Luckily, I was not 'Blinted'... - Johnny Worthington

@tv the UK stuff is blown out of proportion and the met only covers London where u shoot daily without harm - Phill Price

It's nice to read a follow up story after everyones emotions quieted down. - Bob Gannon

Consider the fact that Thomas did take the time to follow-up. Reading other posts from over the weekend, I really think this got blown way out of proportion. It's almost surreal. - Charlie Anzman

Not sure what planet I was on yesterday but I completely missed this whole incident till I saw @stevenhodson 's post on it . I have had similar, but not as direct, experiences over the past couple of days...more to say about this on the blog later. - Karoli

I don't think this is blown out of proportion because too many photographers are experiencing harassment. Seriously people, we need to wake and up and start making some changes before our rights are taken away. I know this many sound extreme, but it all starts with a small act that no one says anything about or objects to. -

JMS... I guess the TWiP guys are gonna sell out of their 'Photography Is Not A Crime' shirts real fast! (I'm still getting a Hey Everybody!) - Johnny Worthington

@Thomas: Thank you for following up (and listening to your wife about the choice of language on your original post). Like Jeff and others, I also wish the museum would respond somehow. - David Muir

Shakespere does have a way with words, Gregory. I agree. Surely this could have been settled with a nice, civil letter to the management? Sticks and stones, you know? - Roberto Bonini

gotta forgive him at some point, or you'll be dragging it around the rest of your days. imo. - Josh Haley

Good post Thomas. I disagree Gregory. Because this incident has already received so much attention it requires clarification. Search google for Simon Blint... - Rafael Robayna

One of the things that bothers me about this whole affair is just the issue of Googling for Simon Blint. It turns up hundreds of references to Mr. Blint, calling him jerk, asshole and will likely permanently affect his future job prospects, From TH's account (which no doubt is truthful), his actions were objectionable and uncalled for. But Thomas does not have to worry about future job... more... - Brian Sullivan

Very well said Thomas. - Shey, Jamaican of FF

You know, it looks to me like photographing people in public without their consent is actually illegal in Canada - see http://www.stevekwan.com/archive... and http://www.cbc.ca/technol... - due to privacy laws. Clearly unenforceable, and I know it doesn't apply in this case, but it's interesting. I bet European (and UK) laws are similar. - Owen Byrne

I don't know who's right and who's wrong here, but if I ever see Thomas Hawk in my neighborhood, I am staying the hell out of his way. Seriously, this kind of contretemps scares the shit out of me. I'm a teacher. What if some day one of my students' parents decides to blog about something I innocently said or did in class that happened to piss him off? How long before my home phone and kids' pictures are all over the web? If you think it can't happen to you, well, don't be so sure. - Nathan Rein

For those awaiting a response from SF MoMA - to my knowledge they haven't issued one yet, but people started posting comments on an unrelated post in the SF MoMA blog. Suzanne from SF MoMA ended up responding, but she said that she didn't know the scope of the complaints and couldn't weigh in, and could everyone please stay on topic? http://blog.sfmoma.org/2008... - Ontario Emperor

@Owen, As you pointed out, Thomas is in the US where it is Not illegal to take photos of people in public places. Usage of the image is where permission or release comes into play. For non commercial and news related uses permission and releases are generally not required. Of course there is always common courtesy. If someone asks nicely not to be photographed I certainly oblige. Thomas has stated many times that he fallows this mantra also. Of course that was not the case in this instance. - Jeff P. Henderson

@Jeff, I just brought it up because I take pictures myself, and I am in Canada, and I sometimes feel uncomfortable taking pictures of strangers and posting them on flickr (especially children or teenagers). But I never thought it would be illegal. - Owen Byrne

Good follow up. People really should be careful how they act in public. You never know who's got a camera. :-) - Jeremy Brooks

This has been a very interesting event to follow. I would love to hear a reaction from the MOMA to see if they are paying attention. - Michael

Quick note: fiasco means failure. - Alexei Tolkachev

Regarding MOMA's response, the only reactions I've seen were a comment in the MOMA blog and two verbal replies to Mona's post. It sounds like a response is being prepared. - Ontario Emperor

sometimes I think that the security guards need to pass around headshots of Thomas with a note attatched that says "Leave alone -- will cause bad publicity". The rest of the time, I just figure that they already have been passing around his headshot, which is why he gets stopped much more often than anybody else. - Wirehead

The reason he gets hassled more than anyone else is that he probably shoots photos more than anyone else. He carries his camera everywhere, so he's bound to run into people who object to it's presents or object to being the subject of his photos. I've seen him shoot and anyone that has knows he gets very focused on what he is doing, almost to the point of possibly not knowing who is around him or what is going on near him. - Jeff P. Henderson

(cont) What probably happens sometimes is that he will be busy shooting and someone will make an expression or gesture of displeasure to his activities or his presents. He might not even notice. The next thing you know the person gets annoyed and confronts him. I can easily see this scenario happening. - Jeff P. Henderson

Leather, Have to agree with you on the renegade photography part. This has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think Lane Hartwell gave a comprehensive summary and opinion here. http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008... But in this case I don't think that was the issue as he was clearly shooting in an area that he was allowed. - Jeff P. Henderson

For those who haven't read SF MoMA's statement, here it is. And it's not an apology. http://www.sfmoma.org/press... - Ontario Emperor

I have simple question how or what reasoning can any public figure of an art institute submit that suddenly denies an art patron their art patronage simply because they take photographs? Is there a sing that states "you lose your art patronage rights if you carry anything with a camera lens?" What we had here was miss communication between two art patrons f''ed up by a very naive public rep. - Fred Grott

Corvida

The Repetition of The Blogosphere - http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r...

August 4, 2008 from SheGeeks - Comment - Like - Share

Irene Katz, R. Ferguson, Charlie Anzman and 41 other people liked this

Thanks for sharing your experience... - Mitchell Tsai

17 more comments

Interesting post, Corvida, as I've felt the same boredom in recent weeks. I do think August ennui has set in and once fall approaches, with all its myriad tech conferences (ahem), new excitement will spring up. - Carla Thompson

LOL Carla. We've always known it as the "pre-DEMO doldrums" when NOTHING new launches and everyone just churns the same content. - Cyndy

Why didn't you send me a memo about that Cyndy. DEMO needs to hurry up and get here. - Corvida

Corvida, we haven't had a good bitchmeme in weeks either. - Rob Diana

@Rob lol very true. What's there to bitch about that we haven't already bitched about? - Corvida from twhirl

early stages of blogger burnout. i've seen it happen to hundreds before. if it were me -- and i've blogged since '99 -- i'd step away from the computer -- and the mobile device -- and do other things for a while. however long it takes. and put the de rigeur 'on hiatus' page on my blog. lol - .LAG liked that

Unfortunately it hits harder if you are blogging on your own. I agree with what Aaron said in the comments. Guest posting. You could find a friend of yours that does not want to start their own blog and just ask them if they want to contribute to yours every now and again. Its likely they would give you great ideas on where to take things. - Amber, Random Time Lord

I wondered where you went. :) Don't worry, it's just a little case of burnout. You'll be excited again soon. - Sarah Perez

There are tons of stories, even in Silicon Valley. I just visited Meebo and learned a ton. They have 10x the users of Twitter. But why is Twitter on Techmeme every week and Meebo isn't? - Robert Scoble

Sometimes you gotta hit the pause button. - Bill Sodeman

I just watched Roberts Qik Video on Meebo and installed a chat room on a web site..Interesting for sure - Ian May

Robert, Meebo mostly just rides the backs of other instant messaging services. Do you want to read about AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Microsoft Messenger -- things that haven't really changed much in years? Isn't some of the reason folks are so enamored w/Twitter because it is a big change vs. those services? - Robert Seidman

@LAG @Sarah Perez - I don't consider this blogger's burnout. Sarah, we had a talk about my stage of blogger's burnout lol. I still have my desire to blog. I'm just having a hard time finding something of value to blog about. - Corvida

i think it's just temporary burnout - i get it for a week or so here or there - feels like i've been blogging about the same subject forever (more than 1100 posts on the same subject anyway) but then i get back in to it from a spark. it usually starts by me getting out of my comfort area and checking out new blogs and personalities - there's something about fresh powder that stirs the old desire to write. - Morgan

@Corvida: the desire to add value to your posts is why people enjoy reading and following you. more power to you. - .LAG liked that

Corvida - A little confused here. Are you still doing RWW and Mashable, or did you switch? Just curious (I'm sure I'm not the only one ?!) - Charlie Anzman

Charlie I've only worked for RWW and Guidewire Group, not Mashable. - Corvida

I've been feeling the same way the last couple weeks - John Duff

Ben Jackson

Anatomy of a Subway Hack - Banned in Boston! - http://www.innismir.net/article...

August 11, 2008 from innismir.net - Comment - Like - Share

Dave Dugal and Jack Wilson liked this

Duncan Riley

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - http://www.inquisitr.com/2281...

August 10, 2008 from The Inquisitr - Comment - Like - Share

Mrsth, Todd Defren, Igor Poltavskiy and 44 other people liked this

Thanks Duncan. - Thomas Hawk

48 more comments

Thomas, you're in the right on this one, so no probs at all. Hopefully what has happened sparks some deeper discussion about how copyright and privacy have gone to far as well. How have we moved to this state of fear today? - Duncan Riley

Steven Hodson rightly points out that Thomas Hawk is not the only one who has run afoul of authorities. One common thread in all of these incidents is an accusation that the photographic device is being used for some scary purpose - as a laser pointer, to take upskirt photos etc. This is then followed by silence from the accuser. - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

Saying Thomas is wrong simply for using the word asshole is dangerously myopic in the context of the battle for our personal liberty. - Morgan

There's 2 issues here: being in the right in the museum and being in the right in how to deal with being in the right in the museum. "Thomas" was probably right in the museum, but 100% wrong in the reaction and in calling out someone by name to then be harassed. Also, if you're going to call someone an asshole by name in public, man up and do it with your real name. - Jason Carreira

@jason - in reading the original post nowhere does "Thomas" remotely suggest any type of boycott, protest, or harassment against Blint/ MOMA. He doesn't ask anyone to support his cause, he simply tells his side of the story. In a world where "ass" "bitch" and other explicatives are routinely carried across drive-time airwaves, choosing "asshole" as a descriptor comes down more to a question of taste than a question of right vs. wrong. And it's hardly on the same level as the erosion of personal freedoms - Morgan

@Morgan, I have a longer history reading "Thomas"'s rants and diatribes. This is not an isolated incident, but rather a pattern, and one that has included calls for public mob action in the past, so "Thomas" has a feeling for how these things will play out. If I wanted to watch soap operas, I would. - Jason Carreira

@Jason - Thomas legally (by nature of his job) can not blog or participate online with his real name, however, if he could, I'm sure he would. - Justin Korn

Jason, please oh please tell us how you would have dealt with the situation. I am intrested in your stragery for dealing with this individual and how you would achieve effective change at SFMOMA, or indeed other places where photography is a crime, without using publicity. I want to know how you would defend everyone's constitutional rights by only making a whisper and how effective that would be. Throwing stones is fine but balls out yourself son. - Johnny Worthington

@John you're right, it's all a coincidence and "Thomas" is just a magical lightning rod for injustice. - Jason Carreira

No, it's that Thomas is just one of the tallest lighting rods that everyone can see from the ground... still haven't given me your solution yet... - Johnny Worthington

Thomas' words might have carried more credibility had he not used the expletive, but that does not in any way diminish the treatment he recieved. The bottom line is that the museum had a stated public policy on photography and Mr. Blint was in the wrong. - Jack Wilson

Jack, indeed. And since he acted as an individual, outside of the SFMOMA policy, he is right for a calling out. - Johnny Worthington

I think that what Thomas did was great. However, I think he should have been a little more careful about what he posted and his seemingly knee-jerk response. The Museum deserves everything they get though for the simple fact that they allow photography specifically where Thomas was taking photos and that he went out of his way to verify this and even became a member for this single fact. I would like to hear the Museum's side of the story and the PR people should respond as soon as possible. - Brandon Titus

Kudos, Duncan. Dugg it. - Dave Martin

Well done Duncan - Charlie Anzman

SF MOMA is not a public facility. It is a private facility. And at the end of all this, what does anyone really think is going to happen? Are they going to prostrate themselves at everyone's feet begging for forgiveness? Or are they going to back to banning all photography in the facility simply because it's easier than dealing with this PR nightmare? Sometimes, all tht's necessary for the triumph of evil is for zealots to push too far. - Cyndy

@Cyndy. Just saying, museums are considered public places without regard to any proper legal standing. This should end with the institution affirming their posted permissions and taking whatever internal action they feel appropriate to prevent their policy being violated by their own hired help. In the least the employee might be placed on double-secret probation and become interested in seeking his fortune in a venture more attuned to his special gifts. May I suggest something in the penal system. - Dave Martin

We have a similar situation in DC with Union Station, a public building operated by a private company. IMHO, Employee (E) was out of line. Written communication between Thomas (T) and Museum (M) confirm photos OK. T takes photos. For any number of reasons, E throws him out, despite institution (M) having granted permission. Private property or no, a policy is a policy. That T is member might mean M in breach of contract, not to mention unlawful arrest (even for guards) and if they touched him, assault. - Andrew Feinberg

Cyndy, if it was a private company I'd have still made the same call, but the fact that there was at least some public funding to me should make it more accountable. As much as there is a broader debate on photography/ copyright privacy, take that aside and his treatment alone was appalling. No body likes goons throwing their weight around in a civil society, full stop. - Duncan Riley

Sean, that's just it. As Jason points out, this isn't the first time. And yet I've known professional photographers as well as amateur photographers who've never had the same situations happen. There is a polite and professional way to handle things that wasn't this. And if it results in no photography allowed at all there, who wins? - Cyndy

Cyndy, so what you are saying is that I shouldn't vigourusly stand up for my rights because there is a chance that others could fight back and possible take away more of my rights? - Johnny Worthington

So the Internet has etched his name in stone for a bad day? John, what I'm saying is that there is a way to go about it without being a jerk in return. After the ludicrous amount of attention this has gotten, does anyone really think that SF MOMA will respond in a nice way? A pound of flesh has been demanded, and that's going to put them on the defensive. - Cyndy

So far it comes down to one guy going off the rez. What owner of any business would not want to hear about an employee treating a customer badly. Getting this story out there amounts to a public service. Boil it down. What happened here was an employee violated a posted policy and did so acting in a rude and inappropriate manner. What's important is what happens next. Stay tuned. - Dave Martin

@John, I think the point is there's ways to do things without being inappropriate. I've been harassed by security guards at the back of Federal buildings and across the street from secure military contractor sites when taking photos. In neither case was I detained or escorted from the premises. There's ways of talking to people and then there's ways of confronting people. If you don't get the response you feel you should, take it up with management later. - Jason Carreira

Causing a confrontation and then publicly calling out a person and institution is more likely to get a negative, defensive reaction, rather than a thoughtful response that might improve the situation. Being rude and belligerent only reflects poorly on photographers. - Jason Carreira

Jason, I too have been confronted many times with security gaurds and parents. I often took the action you suggested where I left and took it up with higher authorities later... but I have since stopped that. Why? Because by not standing up for my rights, I am reenforcing to those people that their actions are just and that what I am doing is wrong. And it also allows this to happen to others. I refuse to be made to feel like a pedofile or a threat when I am exercising my right to produce and express my art - Johnny Worthington

I didn't say to say nothing, but to be polite and informative of how public photography is ok, but when faced with someone who is not going to accept that, why continue to argue? They're not going to change their mind, and you're only going to hurt your case. - Jason Carreira

Here's a hypothetical scenario for you.... let's say a celebrity goes to SFMOMA and everyone breaks out Canon 5D's and (with no flash) starts taking pictures of the celebrity. The celebrity is going to be unable to enjoy the works of art. While the photographers are technically not breaking any rules, if they are somehow interfering with other patrons enjoyment, what should the management do? I'm sure someone complained to management about "Thomas" so what were they to do? - Jason Carreira

@Brian, I don't hate "Thomas", but I'm tired of the bullshit. It's not helpful to the cause. I'm tired of the martyrdom. I'm tired of the blind mob mentality rallying to the attack and not questioning. I also think it's incredibly cowardly to defame a person's reputation publicly from behind a psuedonym. I doubt "Thomas" would have used that language to a person's face, so doing it from behind a keyboard stinks. - Jason Carreira

But your scenario glosses over the fact that Canon 5D's are allowed in the SFMOMA according to thier guidelines, no charges of annoyance was conveyed to TH by Blint. If your 'celebrity' was to make a complaint, and that was conveyed as the reason for asking you to leave then yes but making a blanket ban cause someone would get offened is over kill. Plus the policy applies to the Attrium... I beleive this is a meeting space rather than the gallery 'proper' - Johnny Worthington

You assume no-one complained. I'd bet someone did. - Jason Carreira

If they did complain then that should have been conveyed to TH as the reason for his ejection. He was ejected because 'this type of photography is not allowed (DSLR)' and 'Blint suggested TH was taking photos down people's tops'. - Johnny Worthington

So rights are only for some people. Interesting world you live in. - Jason Carreira

Jason: you then work with your customers to solve the problem. If you have someone who wants privacy then you find a way to serve them. For instance, you could make one hour a day camera free. Celebrities often get private viewings, for instance. But if you have a policy that says that cameras are OK you can't change that because of complaints on the spot. Many museums allow photos, including the Louvre in Paris. - Robert Scoble

@John, I'm sure it's that 2nd reason that was the reason for the complaint. Right or wrong I bet another SFMOMA visitor felt uncomfortable. - Jason Carreira

Nice bait, not gonna take it though... The celebs is a red herring. Any one who has a complaint about another persons behaviour should be able to report it and the person should be given an oppertunity to hear the accusations, with a right of reply, before being ejected. - Johnny Worthington

@Robert, I'm sure they're reviewing their policies. Hopefully it won't end with a no photography rule, but if it does, I'd put some of the blame on Hawk's shoulders. - Jason Carreira

Jason, it was a staff member (says Blint) and she was wearing a jumper + scarf... Facts my friend. - Johnny Worthington

Cyndy & John +983755509325453 The rest of you seem to be too caught up in an emotional knee-jerk reaction to Thomas' digital call to arms, to think clearly. We don't have all of the information and this lynch mob was created off of one man's rant. The inflamatory language of his original post and threat that he was going to blog about it, doesn't do much to prove himself to be the innocent victim that he claims to be. - Louie

@John, if you had been contacted by an upset customer and you were in Blint's position, and Hawk was standing up there continuing to take pictures of you while you're trying to talk to him, do you think that would make you more or less interested in hearing what he had to say? A confrontation was created, but not all on one side. - Jason Carreira

'Blog about it' is today's I'm writing a 'letter to the editor'. - Johnny Worthington

But TH was technically still a customer and deserves the same rights of a fair hearing as the accuser. - Johnny Worthington

Don't you people realize that this is a classic example of someone spinning a story by omitting facts so that you feel sorry for them? Some of you may have been out of the dating game too long to remember this, but it happens all the time. Oh, it was horrible, he treated me bad, we got in arguments, blah blah blah... woe is me. Then you find out, hmm... little miss innocent isn't the fairy she portrayed herself to be, in reality. - Louie

Other companies may have a different policy, but where I work, if an employee feels harassed/violated in any way by a customer, that customer is ejected from the premises IMMEDIATELY. It could be quite possible that the female employee, referenced in the director's reasoning, was the one to make a complaint about Thomas and his DSLR aimed at her direction from above. - Louie

Guilty until proven Innocent? There's some rights for you Jason - Johnny Worthington

Was "Thomas" sent to prison? Talk about hyperbole... you've learned well from "Thomas" - Jason Carreira

You are right Jason. I was wrong. Thomas (My gawd he doesn't even use his own name!) did the wrong thing. He shouldn't have made a fuss about it. Maybe I should ask a few people only to ride at the back of the bus and tell my wife she can't vote. Hell I can get my 2 year old daughter to work in a sewing house in 3 years. Now THAT's hyperbole... - Johnny Worthington

About an hour ago, Jason suggested that Thomas Hawk should have taken this up with management. However, Blint IS managment. As the Director of Visitor Relations, he is the person responsible for Hawk's experience at the museum. Well, we'll have to wait and see what Blint says about this. Since (to my knowledge) he didn't say anything over the weekend, presumably he'll make a statement Monday. He will, won't he? - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

The real story here is the power of bad publicity. Whether or not this story happened as Thomas told it is almost irrelevant. The internet is becoming a more and more powerful medium for stories like this to get out of hand and quickly destroy the reputation of people or businesses and establishments like this museum should quit ignoring it and hire someone to work solely on conversing with the online community and ensuring their reputation. - Brandon Titus

ka3drr

The Changing Blogosphere and Blogging 2.0 - http://www.inquisitr.com/1964...

August 10, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Wilson liked this

Ham radio bloggers get it. We're actually a good fit for the Blogging 2.0 model. Well done! - ka3drr

But do you think Ham radio operators are using blogs as a source of information? - Jack Wilson

Yes. I believe ham radio bloggers are supplementing traditional media forms such as printed. We are emerging as information and content sources across many ham radio topics as well. Subsequently, we might be the heart of information and content for traditional sources. - ka3drr

Karoli

i cannot believe that with all the real news out there the Edwards story stays at the top of everything. We are a pathetic nation.

August 10, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Todd Defren, MikeAmundsen, The Hive Mind and 6 other people liked this

I once visited Central Park Zoo; a kid cried out to everyone: "The seals are fucking! The seals are FUCKING!" They got a crowd. - Michael Markman

22 more comments

Karoli: this is not new. In 1989 I wrote a story about a sex scandal at West Valley Community College in Saratoga. Our newspaper "sold out" in 10 minutes. That never had happened before. Journalists learn at a young age that there's nothing that can pull a crowd like sex. Look at the front of magazines. How many of them have the word "sex" on the front page? I see it almost every month. Why? Sex sells and sells like nothing else out there. - Robert Scoble

The evidence suggests nothing is more interesting than the drama of celebrity character flaws, the exposure of dirty little secrets - Dave Martin

No question, Karoli. It is astounding that it still leads. - Warner Crocker

just because you *can* put 'sex' in the news, doesn't mean you should. too bad $$ accounts for more than propriety. - MikeAmundsen

There is no news anymore, there is only entertainment and ad sales value. Editorial review and content management is the ringmaster's job now. - Michael W. May

People magazine is the #1 best selling magazine in the USA for the simple reason that people are obsessed with celebrity + sex sells - Dave Martin

Mike: in college our newspaper was free and I didn't write that story to make money. I wrote it because it was news back then. The New York Times has something interesting to say here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008... - Robert Scoble

it's really pathetic. google Vincent Bugliosi and you'll know what I mean. - ~C4Chaos

@Michael Malcolm Muggeridge agrees with you. "New news is just old news happening to new people." - Melanie Reed

Perhaps I'm a minority that is truly not interested in the sex lives of public figures. Anyway, magazines and the tabloid rags never get explicit enough to provide true titillation to anyone that is searching for that, so I have never seen why folks get so animated about such stuff. - Ian May

+1 Ian. I think it is the fact that it shows normalcy in "celebrity". People like to see others taken down a notch. - Adrienne Van Houten

Robert: your example shows audience obsession. my point is: just because you can doesn't mean you should. let's not chase ambulances - MikeAmundsen

@MikeA. Nobody likes this stuff but the audience and they can't get enough. - Dave Martin

@DaveMartin: yeah, that's the issue, right? audience might like live intercourse video, but we don't show that. is that just because it's currently illegal? or is there some level of propriety that stops the editors from putting it on? - MikeAmundsen

@MikeAmundsen they do - Look at Sex in the City, Tell me you Love me, many of those shows on HBO show more than needs to be shown. - Adrienne Van Houten

@MikeA. Legal porn makes the case, it's popular and profitable no matter how wrong. Propriety and sensibilities too often $ driven - Dave Martin

@Adrienne, DaveM: Now we're to the heart of it. we all agree sex sells. Do we think "Sex in the City" = "AP Newwire"? do we think "CBS Evening News" is legal porn? I don't want to stop printing Playboy, I just don't want it labeled "The Nightly News." - MikeAmundsen

Ah but we are capitalists, ergo if Playboy sells and the CBS news doesn't then the logical step for CBS is................? - Adrienne Van Houten

@MikeA. Actually CBS EN is news porn. It suffers from pack journalism that is each of the news shops end up chasing the same stories - Dave Martin

@Dave: LOL, as I wrote the "CBS EN.." line, i figured someone would point out their lame strat. Props to you. - MikeAmundsen

@Adrienne: yep, and capitalism is what prompted my first comment on this topic: "...too bad $$ accounts for more than propriety." - MikeAmundsen

SEX sales. PERIOD ! - Peter Dawson

Not just sex, but gossip in general. The Enquirer and the likes, all of their sales rival any other non-gossip news mag. - Adrienne Van Houten

Cyndy

When FriendFeed Creates a Mob - http://www.fourlittlebees.net/shakesp...

August 10, 2008 from Shakespeare I Ain't - Comment - Like - Share

Varun Mahajan, Dereck, Dean Thompson and 75 other people liked this

this place has become the new / old digg - linkman77

51 more comments

I would disagree that re: about Digg. The comments I find on FF rarely degrade into the crass name calling I run into on Digg. As for group think: sadly, it's a constant in humanity. Your going to find it everywhere, and FF is no exception. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I can't process the group think mentality. I'm not sure if it's just that I'm too eccentric or that I can't stand people telling me what to do. When I first read the post, I was indignant as well. But I also know that my knee-jerk reaction is often wrong. I looked at the MOMA site. I thought about it. I read all the buried comments on Digg. I can't form an opinion until I have more facts. But I know that there is this insane witch hunt here, and I don't like it one bit. - Cyndy

@Cyndy: Groupthink is a fascinating subject, because just about everyone responds exactly as you do. It's the anathema of what we consider an independent and intelligent mind. However, it's also the basis of religion and community/social structure, not to mention the entire advertising industry. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I admit it: I got caught up in it and dugg the story when it was first submitted. I realized how insane this was when people found the guy's Facebook profile and implored everyone to harass him there, and when people charted the vacation schedules of the guy's bosses. The SFMOMA one is notable in that its groupthink now transcends Friendfeed, but have you seen some of the utter crap that becomes popular on FriendFeed nowadays? It's becoming much harder to distinguish it from Digg or Reddit. - Mark Trapp

Wisdom of the crowds :-) - Denis

It's all about who you follow. More importantly, who you don't - Geoff Schultz

Mark- I likey'd it as well and enjoy Thomas' work. I respect Cyndy and have gotten to know her a little. She's not only a good author but a lot more. There's basically two takeaways here. 1... The way things are right now, people will endorse stuff on social networks if their best friend does. 2... I didn't know half this stuff til I read this thread. Think some are getting way too wrapped up in SM and maybe need to take a few days off. The sad part is that (re 1) people vote in elections that way too. - Charlie Anzman

I think we all need to realize that this type of mob mentality is a symptom of a homogenous group. The more alike everyone is, the more likely the mob will kick in. Digg is, despite it's size, a fairly homogenous group of traffic seekers. When FF gets a larger user base, you'll see more 'mobs' but each one will be a smaller portion of the whole and less likely to affect the remainder of the group. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Very engaging entry, Cyndy. It is people like you that are willing to approach the other less popular angle that help us to avoid group think. - Geoff Schultz

I wasn't following this but it doesn't shock me. I still appreciate Cyndy's take on it though. My take: Internet people tend to be a little hypocritical when it comes to "fairness". Generally, it is "fair" if it doesn't hurt them. - David Muir

Nice, mature post. - Mohamed J

Great post. Very provocative. I just posted a comment at your blog (Friendfeed comments are too short). - Nathan Rein

The other part of this is that Friendfeed continues to be an equalizer, unlike any other platform that I'm aware of, which is exciting and important - Charlie Anzman

Charlie, I think the great equalizer aspect of Friendfeed is its value, too. I almost think in order for FriendFeed to not become a Reddit or Digg clone with a few insignificant other features, it's got to drop the popularity metric of "Likes." It was a cool idea, but I think it's become a poor-man's "Digg it!" Then again, that's armchair architecting; maybe FriendFeed has some killer feature they've been working on for the past 2 months to solve FriendFeed's ails. - Mark Trapp

I think there's a significant difference, though, in the fact that nothing gets ranked in terms of number of likes. You can't "like up" a post the way you can on Digg. Yes, you can bump it to the top of the feed, but it will immediately be replaced by the next thing to get liked or commented, so the effect is less pronounced, I think. - Nathan Rein

Cyndy, thanks for forcibly turning my head so that I consider the other side of this campaign. I agree that the original article, much less the community response, has gone too far. - Phil G

That's not true, nathan. Likes have a significant effect, much more so than comments, on what stories reach the top of the list on the best-of pages. They also have a big effect on the rankings on your personal statistics pages. - Mark Trapp

Also, even though the effect may be eventually diluted, the mob here is just a better class of mob overall. :-) - David Muir

hmm ... Okay, I take it back. I never use either of those Friendfeed features. Never mind. - Nathan Rein

Museums are not public property, and they have the right to set whatever rules they see fit. Did they handle it incorrectly? Yes, probably, but usually if you are polite and ask them to review their rules that allow photography, everything can be resolved. From the fact that Hawk had to be escorted out, it doesn't sound like he responded well to the security guard's concerns. - Jason Carreira

I "dugg" the story and would do it again. I had no idea people were staking the guy and do not agree with that. Now in what I have read about Thomas online in a relatively short time I will grant you, I do not believe that is the type of behavior he would encourage. My take away from his post is that he was pissed off, and was utilizing the platform available to him to share that... more... - R. Ferguson

Jason, did you read the original article that Thomas wrote detailing the event? - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

Yes there are 2 sides to every story and we only heard one, but I don't accept that it was group think - as much as it was a degree of trust based on what we feel we "know" about Thomas. I basically assumed that publicity if enough attn was gained via SM would cause SFMOMA to issue a response and their side of the story. It is a lot easier to encourage that with a click of a button vs calling their offices. Finally, how is everyone cheering and "liking" your post any less "groupthink?" - R. Ferguson

I don't like the "mob rule" aspects one little bit. I like Thomas a lot from my experiences here, but although I am inclined to side with him, I only have his side. Sure, I did my own research and the guy is certainly suspect, what with sending goofy letters to the editor at Entertainment Weekly magazine, but that doesn't necessarily mean the guy should be lynched. Ruth, to your point, I think Cyndy's post doesn't make me question whether she's "abusing her power". Thomas', and the ensuing reaction... - Robert Seidman

...do lead me to believe that power *can* be abused in this way. I'm not really sure whether it was or wasn't, but something about the way it went down didn't feel right to me. - Robert Seidman

I agree, this whole thing has become insane, especially considering that only one side of the story has become known at this point. I didn't complain when it took over FriendFeed (highly annoying as that was), but finding his Facebok profile and calling for people to harass him/his bosses isn't something I like seeing. If I wanted to see the 4chan mentality, I would go to 4chan. - Stellina

I think Cyndy is way off in her interpretation of this event. The harassment that Mark mentioned came from the digg community and it amounts to cyber-bullying not group-think. It is also a completely separate incident from what Thomas experienced at the SFMOMA. The backstory for Thomas' complaint is a growing public distrust of photographers not some bullshit about taking candy from babies. Its about companies and governments manipulating what gets into the news and public discourse. - Rafael Robayna

Its also about privacy and people wanting more of it in a world where they get their picture taken discreetly by hundreds of cctv cameras, camera phones and other devices every day. Finally its about uneducated (can't tell the difference between a wide-angle and a telephoto lens) jackasses that are supposed to be protecting the interests of the the governments and private companies they work for and do so badly. - Rafael Robayna

I too disagree about the comparison to Digg. This community is a LONG way from being anything close to Digg. I voted up the story because people who are entrusted with brand reputation (as this guy was) should be far smarter about how they deal with the press (and everyone, today, is the press) than they are. Personally the guy should be forced to take customer service classes to understand his role in dealing with the public. If I were running the museum he wouldn't have his job any longer after today. - Robert Scoble

Let's turn this around. Would this guy keep his job if he kicked a journalist from the New York Times out of the museum? No he wouldn't. Thomas Hawk is just as powerful as any journalist from the New York Times (and has, even, been in the New York Times). The guy who kicked him out should be fired, or at minimum, retrained for how to deal with the new press (ie, everyone). - Robert Scoble

And Cyndy, sometimes a mob is needed to make a point that this kind of stuff is totally unacceptable. This organization had a rule that photography was allowed. It should be enforced consistently with all patrons. Also, don't allow your employees to make it up on the spot and cause yourself and your brand embarrassment. Finally, if someone is a paying member of your organization they deserve better treatment than getting walked to the front door. - Robert Scoble

Well written Cyndy, but I respectfully disagree. There is a bigger problem here than just this one incident. There have been at least three stories in recent weeks about photographers being harassed by police and other "public servant" types. We are starting to walk that fine line between freedom and oppression and it's time that the "mob" or community (wherever it may be) starts to speak up about this. When someone is following the rules or is in a public space, no one has the right to harass him. -

Perhaps Thomas Hawk could have dealt with this in a more mature manner, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because I often say things in anger that later I would have expressed differently. I realize we only have one side of the story, but Simon Blint and SF MOMA have not responded with their side of the story. Again, I'm more concerned about the deeper issue of individual rights and am glad that Thomas brought this to light. -

JMS: there's no excuse for the other side of the story. Think about what would happen if the New York Times was walked to the front door. Both this guy and the PR director would be looking for jobs right now. It wouldn't even matter if the NYT photographer was rude, or difficult to deal with. That's just how things work. People with power don't get shown the front door in our society. The mob now has power and is demanding their heads and rightfully so. - Robert Scoble

True Robert, As someone who works with the public every day, I completely agree. But I'm still interested in whatever excuse they might make. If only to hear how they are going to rectify the situation. -

i read the story. yes calling names such as Thomas did is perhaps over the board but behaviour exhibited by security guy was totally uncalled for as well. As said, dealing with new media is smth all those who have to deal at one or another point of time must learn. There was this year a similar scandal where a guy, whose mother was cheated, called on LiveJournal on mob to "bring down" the producer of the drug sold to his mother for big money. That company never recovered since. - Hayk H.

Being apologetic and polite would not have cut it. Winning the mob, like in old times is what will bring about the change, although it might seem painful for some. Now this sec. guy will think again before behaving similarly. - Hayk H.

Cyndy points out that 'the SF MOMA employee’s name is all over the tubes this weekend with no chance to defend himself'. While we have not heard the other side of the story yet, Simon and the SF MOMA have now had 2 days to respond and they have not. If they really cared about this issue it seems like they should have responded quickly to diffuse the viral spread of TH's side of the... more... - Jeff P. Henderson

I hear the objections to TH's use of the expletive and frankly they just aren't doing it for me. Yes, he's a CEO but so was Ted Turner and he wouldn't have hesitated to throw on a half-dozen more colorful qualifiers if this incident happened to him. I'm also hearing a lot about Blint's side of the story. If he has one he should have had it ready the day he chose to interpret SFMoMA's... more... - Christopher Harley

Cyndy, I appreciate your take on the controversy, and I also respectively disagree. Allegedly, TH was wronged by the MOMA, and he took to the interwebs to bitch about it. All his "mob" did was spread the word, like passing out leaflets at a concert asking passers-by to support anti-deforestation. I do agree that kind of in-your-face sensationalism can be annoying, but distribution methods don't have to please everyone. - Pete Delucchi

At the point at which the employee's name was posted, it was over the line. If SFMOMA had done the reverse and called out Hawk as a belligerent nuisance, would the reaction be the same? Also, why is SFMOMA required to respond online? The personal info angle is what is completely inappropriate. - Cyndy

I've been on Flickr for several years, and I've seen Thomas Hawk's crusades before. He truly enjoys tilting at windmills and bringing along as big a torchweilding mob as he can gather. There've been issues a lot smaller than this that he's spent weeks ranting in multi-page diatribes about. Now that he has this new forum for mob-gathering, expect to be rounded up on a semi-regular basis to rally to his defense after he's pushed someone into a confrontation. - Jason Carreira

I think the real issue stems from trumped up "security" meant to keep us "safe." All sorts of power-tripping security guards and police have become accustomed to people immediately accepting restricted rights with the magic words "post 9/11." The reason it is such a hot-button issue is that most people have not pushed back against the Patriot act and all it (theoretically) allows law... more... - Richard pancakhaus Walker

It should be pointed out that Thomas Hawk is a pseudonym. - Jason Carreira

Jason has a point, and until we were discussing it, I'd forgotten that was a pseudonym. Now I'm sure it was over the line. He won't use his real name yet had no trouble publicizing someone else's. - Cyndy

Cyndy, I appreciate your post and criticism. A DSLR is most certainly a handheld camera. In the case regarding Jill Greenberg, yes, I feel it is abhorrent for someone to strip 30+ children naked and purposely use lollipops to get them *extremely* worked up and provoke them into anguish as an art project. Look at the photos. It's more than just a few tears. I doubt you'd subject your child to that sort of activity, I doubt most rational human beings would either, but that's a different story. - Thomas Hawk

Cyndy... "If SFMOMA had done the reverse and called out Hawk as a belligerent nuisance" Lets be clear on something, SFMOMA had nothing to do with this. The employee in question acted outside the rules set by MOMA and took it apon himself to have a person ejected DESPITE other people in the gallery performing the same actions. And as "Director of Visitor Relations", you are not some type of low level employee, you are a person who is the public face of an organisation. - Johnny Worthington

Jason... Crusades? How about issues that need dealing with. How about the right to attend a public space without hassel? How about the right to enter a property and while following the guidelines of that organisation not be ejected. As a person who got questioned more than 6 times on Saturday at our state fair here in Australia when I was taking photos of MY daughter. Grab me a torch - Johnny Worthington

Cyndy, Jason, you are just figuring out that TH is a pseudonym? This is common knowledge and has been for about 7 years. What does that have to do with this issue or anything else for that matter? - Jeff P. Henderson

We all must occasionally vent steam. Social networks enable our venting to more efficiently affect a large group of people, giving them the chance to also vent steam where previously they may not have had reason or opportunity to do so. I'll leave my pitchfork aside for now. - Slappy Line

The new 'likey' is for the dialog.... which (while perhaps a little out of control) has been the most important part of the story. Food for thought for everyone. Mark T - Agree Friendfeed needs a few new features, especially for those of us that keep it open to a lot of people, but think about how many people right now are sitting back and considering their own stuff ... possible including my own Facebook rant earlier this week, which was very much off the top and could have been much better. - Charlie Anzman

To those who would say behaviour like that stated in the article isn't group think I have to disagree. We voice our opinions here on popular entries because we think it will be the right thing to say. We want to affirm the sentiments of the post (for the most part). I have yet to see a social network that can combat against this phenomenon. When we reward opinions with popularity or... more... - Derick Valadao

ka3drr

The Changing Blogosphere and Blogging 2.0 - http://www.inquisitr.com/1964...

August 10, 2008 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Wilson liked this

Blogging 1.0 is all about maximizing the opportunities for the blog owner while ignoring community, where as blogging 2.0 maximizes the experience for the end user (reader). - ka3drr

Andrew Baron

Super 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony Photo Collection - http://www.boston.com/bigpict...

August 10, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Wilson, Mike Wills and (jeff)isageek liked this

Steve Rubel

Twitter added 100k users in July http://tinyurl.com/6xomv7

August 4, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Mary, Amanda Mooney, Daniel Schildt and 15 other people liked this

just about to hit critical mass methinks. We saw it with youtube, with myspace, then facebook. Time for Twitter to enter the global vocabulary. - linkman77

8 more comments

Twitter isn't a global phenom yet? Twitter's practically all I ever hear about...anymore.. - Patrick

wow. 100k. that is bloody insane. - Zee.

I wonder if they are real, useful, contributing members, or just spam accounts? Not to be Debbie Downer or anything. - Zach Underwood

I still very much dislike the concept of Twitter. To me, it's a feature not a product in and of itself. - trextor

Do regular people just not hear about Twitter's problems? I don't get how so many people can sign up for a service that's down so much... - Mohit

maybe that's WHY it's down so much. still, lots of dead bot users. - evonne

i had about 50 people follow me named hanh123x that were following thousands but no one was following them - seemed like spam to me. - Morgan

Thanks for the fact Steve. Good game twitter and I hope it's 200k in August. - Czar

any statistics on churn or number of users / total messages? :-) - Karim

Steve Rubel

Friendfeed's growth stars to slow - http://trends.google.com/website...

August 4, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Zoran, Mark Interrante, Chris Luckhardt and 42 other people liked this

Friendfeed's growth is starting to slow. I am not adding as many followers as I did in May and June. And this chart on GTrends seems to back up my hypothesis. - Steve Rubel from Bookmarklet

31 more comments

Perhaps it is because FriendFeed has a more limited audience size than a simpler app like Twitter - Mark Dykeman

I'm seeing same thing here. - Robert Scoble

GTrends shows Twitter with 10x users http://trends.google.com/website... - Steve Rubel

Except that it doubled from June to July... show me 2 - 3 units of slowing then I'll pay attention - Johnny Worthington

That trend could be no worse than April 08. When does it break out of the tech echo chamber? Get some (hollywood) celebrities in here - then watch the ascent again. - tagami

"starting to slow" - from a downward curve of 3 days? on the flipside, i've said all along that ff has no mainstream appeal while twitter does. - Allen Stern

Steve, there are at least 7 other points on this chart with a down tick. I think it's a little early to call this. Plus, summer sucks for growth. I've seen a decrease in everything from # of stories in my RSS reader and traffic for tvbythenumbers.com (blog) not only slowed since June, it dropped in the 30%-50% range. It's too early to call it a success, but it also too early to comment on growth stalling too. - Robert Seidman

The chart by the way looks like Loch Ness! - Steve Rubel

One possibility is that users are re-considering the need to directly subscribe to mega-posters / super-users. Instead, they figure the best stuff posted by them will become visible to them through the Friend of Friend feature. - Aviv

I'm still trying to get my friends to use it. - mjc

oh man you all need "correlation does not equal causation" t-shirts...but it does look like Nessie! - Robert Seidman

I was just thinking today that it would be nice to have an FF widget that you could install on your website to encourage your readers to have conversations and post their own material on FF. Something like that could expand its audience. - John Budnik

Twitter truly is a phenomenon - but all competers can't expect the same growth, I'm sure that friendfeed will do something new to bring some more growth, or perhaps a competitor will show up to knock it's socks off. Perhaps everyone is just on vacation, eh? - Patrick

Staggeringly small numbers - not surprising. To take full advantage you need to be a user of other API'd sites or know about them. That's a lot of assumed knowledge. - Sean Kelly

Sean, to that point I'm not really sure exactly what trends tracks. Its off (and lower) by a ton for my site based on numbers provided by other Google services (GA and feedburner). But FriendFeed is still a very small niche for now. - Robert Seidman

@Robert you could be right - seasonality. But does seasonality matter the way it used to now that alot of us have iPhones? - Steve Rubel

Steve, yes it matters because there may be nearing 10 million worldwide with iPhones, but that's a rounding error when it comes to total population who access the web. talk to whoever has the stats for AdAge.com and compare August 4ths stats vs. the first Monday in May... - Robert Seidman

that said, I think FriendFeed will be seriously challenged in terms of growth. As designed I think it highly likely that It's too much for most people to deal with. so they won't. - Robert Seidman

Is FF doing better than Plurk? - Dave "Freedom 35"

David, I find FF far superior to Plurk. I can't aggregate my feeds on Plurk or have conversations. Actually, I'm still trying to figure out what Plurk is good for (seriously, I have friends on there and it just seems like a more complicated version of FB). - John Budnik

Are we looking at the same graph? The chart shows traffic growing about 40-50% over the couple weeks leading up to a slight decline around 4th of July weekend. A few days isn't a trend. I don't see FF going mainstream in it's current form, but I do think you'll see that line continue to move up and to the right for a while longer. - Joe Lazarus

That's a graph of exponential growth -- adoption is *accelerating*. With just 50K dailies there's lots more upside potential. - Sprague D

It's an anomaly - Charlie Anzman

Summer vacation - jcunwired

Plurk is more of kunstkamera, still alive only because twitterati still not sure where to move its planctton masses - A.T.

Blip. Stats aren't backed up on Alexa http://www.alexa.com/data... or Quantcast - Duncan Riley

Um, the "drop" isn't even a full 1% and not even a full two weeks of data. Meaningless dip until we get all of July's data. The median shows parabolic curve. I think you need to take that remedial stats class, again. - Dread Pirate PJ

I wouldnt: use Google Trends to track site growth. Compete.com is a better source. - Mike Reynolds

I don't know... that looks like a pretty good growth curve to me. And last time I checked it was skyrocketing up Alexa (with all grains of salt thrown in there) - Eric Berlin

Please, this is a small tick after a large leap, with an overall trend of growth. Not even worth mentioning yet. - Tanath

It's had similar drops throughout it's rise so I don't think that is too significant! - Joe Dawson

Compete: FriendFeed grows as well as Twitter http://siteanalytics.compete.com/friendf... - Igor Poltavskiy

Jack Wilson › Likes