Rob Kramer - Likes - FriendFeed

Mona N. posted a link

Bacon Wrapped Maple Bar Hot Dog. YUCK.

Sunday at 1:39 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Morton Fox, Zee from WeDoCreative, Nicholas Kreidberg and 32 other people liked this

You would so eat this. - Louis Gray

23 more comments

YOU would SO eat it. - Mona N. via IM

:| - Anna Haro

Actually... - Mona N.

That looks so good right now - Jesse Stay

Jesse? You don't even eat bacon!! - Mona N. via IM

Mona, I eat bacon - just can't eat too much or I'll get sick. I still think it's delicious, and often I'll eat it until I get sick. It's worth it some times. - Jesse Stay via twhirl

AND I LOVE YOU FOR THAT!! <3 - Mona N. via IM

That would be a double-whammy, too - pork hot dogs also make me sick if I eat too much. I'm asking for it but it looks so good! - Jesse Stay via twhirl

Drunk food ftw, Jesse! - Mona N. via IM

STILL not battered and deep fried. What's wrong with the world? - Slippy Lane

I'd give it a try. What's the worst that can happen? - flammable

Would be better if it were drowned in ketchup instead of maple syrup. - Mike Reynolds

For Slippy Lane: http://friendfeed.com/e/8c07fc... - Jason Huebel

They are great. - Jeremy Kunz

How do you know its a "he", Joe? :P - Mona N. via IM

It just needs a bit of cheddar cheese... mmmmm yummt - Wolfman-K

wOOow - PeYm@N

reminds me of the krispy kreme hamburgers ,, heart does not NEED - johnpiercy

Bacon makes everything better! - Imabug

wrap it in cheese and deep fry it and then I'll consider it. The smiles will offset the artery cloggage - Bwana

The tags on this photo are all wrong. "yuck" + "heart attack"? I think what you meant was "WANT" and "looks very yummy." - Pete Delucchi

Hmmm...that's just a little too much "pork", y'know... - Helen Sventitsky

You guys are missing the BEST component here: BACON WRAPPED HOT-DOGS. - Mona N.

Mona, I just read that as YUMMY YUM YUM-YUM. - Pete Delucchi

Pete - THAT is why we get along. ;) - Mona N. via IM

Mona N. posted a message

“You guys, I'm writing a cover letter, and am stuck. (for the past two days) I suck at this. Help...?”

November 11 at 8:49 pm - Link

Jauder Ho, Sima Bagheri, Dobromir Hadzhiev and 29 other people liked this

I'm serious, Matt!! I need to write about myself but I don't know what to say!! - Mona N.

53 more comments

M: what is the letter for? - सत्याग्रह [Bren]

http://www.csuchico.edu/plc/co... ? Some examples, there, anyway. - Phil Glockner

Dear God, Please accept my reservation for one spot with a view... - Pokai

I've heard somewhere that Cover Letters are meant to be 2-4 paragraphs about yourself and what makes you interested in/right for a job. That being said noone's ever hired me from a Cover Letter. - Will Higgins

To whom it may concern, My name is Mona, and I am full of WIN. kthxbai. - Josh Haley

What kind of a gig is this, Mona? Is it social media or something related? - Chris Baskind

I remember hearing somewhere that you write in your cover letter the stuff about you that's not illustrated in your resume. But that doesn't feel like sufficient advice :( - Marko Bon

Here's a couple of links to sample cover letters http://jobsearch.about.com/od/... and http://www.csuchico.edu/plc/co... Hopefully this will get your creative juices flowing. - Jeff P. Henderson

Kinda sorta Social Media related and I don't know what to say... - Mona N.

writers block usually comes from editing while writing. Just write down what you want to convey...all of it. quickie highlights on what makes you good candidate, then edit into paragraphs afterwards. - Pokai

OK: I'm going to submit this thread about why you're right for a social media job. You're living it. I bet some other folks can think of more reasons ... ;-) - Chris Baskind

It's Social Media related and I don't know how to express myself. @Chris: That I'm whoring myself? lol... I reallllly need help you guys! - Mona N.

Anything social media related should be perfect, just let everyone write how you're the Queen of Friendfeed! - Trish R

Maybe get the juices flowing by just writing out why you'd like to work there... - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

It's Social Media related, how do I express myself? I don't know what to say so I turned to you guys for help... - Mona N.

paragraphs 1-intro (hi, my name is mona) 2-experience (best of) 3- education 4- summary (next steps) 5 ending (sincerely mona) also, people like bullet points in cover letters - Pokai

Mona, some quick ego-boosting tips: Your ranking on FFholic, the articles you have written for your site, Louis Gray and your TechMeme highlights, And how you got everyone to move "en masse" to geeks.pirillo. Reflect on these worthy things. Let them please you. These things are telling you, you have Social Media chops. Now write. - Phil Glockner

Pokai: Thanks for the feedback, but you're not reading what I'm saying lol. It's Social Media related, I don't know how to express myself, so I'm turning to FF for help on what to say. :) - Mona N.

Feel free to e-mail me drafts or call... Echoing Pokai: Start with your raw thoughts & feelings. Echoing Will: Do you have a personal connection with anyone yet? (Are you cover lettering to an HR-person, a CEO, etc...) The old resume-cover-letter numbers game has lower payoffs than the personal-introduction method... - Mitchell Tsai

Your such a good writer, it's hard to believe your stuck! - Michael Fidler via twhirl

Yes you rock FF, and Louis Gray and Techmeme, plus weren't you on Reuters the other day? :) - Mo Kargas

If you need more, consider this: You currently do IT work (sysadmin?) and yet I have never read anything you write and thought, "wow, this is confusing!" You bridge the gap. Also, you are a walking community in a can.. err.. girl. - Phil Glockner

Mo: but that doesn't mean anything! I don't care about all that, I like the community and love Social Media - I just don't know how to express why it's my niche. :\ J.Phil - thanks for the tips. noted! - Mona N.

Also echoing pokai's recommendations, if you have alot of experience, you should skip #3. In #4, summarize how your experience (and education) will bring value to the position you're applying. Btw, Mona, I thought you already have a job! - imabonehead

imabonehead: It's Social Media related and I'm having trouble expressing why I would be good at it. - Mona N.

Hmm, now I get you. You want to explain why it's your niche, I can see why that is difficult. - Mo Kargas

You could say you're good at creating talking points and discussions and engaging participation online around a variety of content, on a variety of topics (which you totally are). Basically saying, I can engage users and make them subscribers. - Mo Kargas

Mona, a cover letter isn't a job interview. It's a glossy bit of promotional material. Don't focus on justifying yourself.. think "You (hiring company) need this product that I am selling, called Mona. Here are the reasons. ..." - Phil Glockner

Mona, the point of a cover letter is to intrigue someone enough for them to read your resume, and also to personalize your experience to the company to which you're interested. Spend a paragraph telling about yourself and why you're fabulous (see all the other info above); then spend another paragraph about how your specific skills would work well for that company. Let me know if that helps at all. - Pete Delucchi

Thanks you guys, the problem I'm having is expressing why I would be good for a Social Media position... I think it's because I hate talking about myself... - Mona N.

My cover letters always suck. - RefD

hit www.unbloq.me for writer's block... even with a cover letter, it'll help :) - Enrique Gutierrez via twhirl

Ralphy messaged you on FB - Marko Bon

Pete, I'm getting that she knows how to write it, she just doesn't know what to put in there to sell herself. Mona, are you looking for examples of what to add? - Trish R

You have a good eye for what's cool and popular, and you manage community very well. - Chris Baskind

I would tailor the cover letters to each company and position you apply to. Tell them why you are interested in the company and the position. Impress them with how much you know about them. - scott anderson

Mona -- tell them you have lightning quick reflexes when it comes to social media. You can post quickly like Mighty Mouse on steroids, and keep up with a million different threads, communities, and interests all at once. In short -- you are an insanely awesome multi-tasker. - Pete Delucchi

Mona, just put all your followers down as references. All of them. - Ⓒⓗⓡⓘⓢ ᴷᴵᴹ ᴬ

Also, you have an incredibly electric personality that thrives well online. You connect instantly with your audiences, personalize your messages, and have such a wide variety of interests that virtually anyone can and does interact with you. - Pete Delucchi

Engineers often have the opposite problem of marketing people (who can talk so much that they can seem fake). There was a meeting at Microsoft for a friends company. The engineers (and CEO, an engineer) thought they made a great presentation (very interactive Q&A), but the marketing guy thought it was lousy (key people didn't come). --- Who is reading the cover letter? ...would be my first question. - Mitchell Tsai

You're the Hobo of Social Media. :-) Maybe gypsy sounds better? LOL - Trish R

Social media might be your niche for reasons X, Y, Z (lots of passion, great sense of humor, balanced with good technical skills, hands-on knowledge of most major social media with the in-crowd, diverse interests, many people listen to you & like your offerings, know what's cool, good multitasker) but how well does the reader know social media? - Mitchell Tsai

Trish: HOBO! (and thanks everyone... i hate reading / talking about myself. it's kinda mortifying.) - Mona N.

way to crowdsource your cover letter Mona! - Jesse Stay

If writing a cover letter to ABC company, I would hunt on LinkedIn, Facebook, Pipl, Google for any people in ABC company. Talk to any lower-level people you have contacts with. Eventually, go direct to the CEO or other management team if possible (but also send something to the HR dept so they don't feel left out). With your blog and FriendFeed prescence, your resume doesn't need to be your sales point, especially with social media. A 20-something, 30-something CEO, CXO can see personality in your blog. - Mitchell Tsai

Agree with Mitchell - find out who knows who in the company and get a personal introduction. Many companies will let someone your caliber bypass HR - Jesse Stay via twhirl

Before all that, I need to punch out a Cover Letter LOL!! - Mona N.

P.S. If you have 1-3 specific companies in mind, I'm happy to do a little detective work in my networks for you... - Mitchell Tsai

My suggestion is the REVERSE of the normal methods. Usually I write a cover letter (and revise a resume) AFTER I talk to the critical people. Then I can include anything cool we talk about in the letter (e.g. having a fascination about gummy bears) and I can gear the formality/informality to the person. The cover letter and resume are just to keep the HR people happy. If you want to practice blabbing-about-me text, just start a LinkedIn profile. - Mitchell Tsai

Mona, in that case I agree with Phil - he's got some great ideas. - Jesse Stay via twhirl

In your LinkedIn profile, you can practice writing various versions of your about-me stuff (e.g. a 1-paragragh, a 3-paragraph, a few funny versions, a serious version, a technical HR list-all-the-keywords version, a drop-all-the-names-of-people-you-know, list all your blog-news citations, etc...) and post it all. Then after you speak to people, you have ready-made boiler plate for various versions of stuff. LinkedIn is cool because people have so many different ways of using it...fewer faux pas. - Mitchell Tsai

Thanks Jesse! Then again, if I was in Mona's shows I'd have the exact same issue! - Phil Glockner

I can write the whole letter over a bottle of wine and nice dinner in SF this weekend. :) - Pokai

Phil: Some view a "cover letter" as a way to remind people what you talked about together (rather than as a promo piece). Although perhaps this thinking is similar to the new-internet marketing techniques touted in Buzzmarketing & Meatball Sundae (e.g. today's people have been saturated with "marketing techniques"/fluff since the 1950s and want personal/community connections with real "content/value"). - Mitchell Tsai

Mitchell, I can see that. But how can a cover letter be a reminder of a discussion if you haven't actually had a discussion with the interviewer/hiring manager yet? Also, what is a Meatball Sundae? - Phil Glockner

lonnie b hodge posted a message on Twitter

“Great China referenced social media post by @deswalsh http://tinyurl.com/6dzhq3”

November 11 at 9:43 pm - Link

Rob Kramer and Robert Scoble liked this

johnpiercy posted a link

paperboxes on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

November 11 at 9:41 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Morton Fox and Rob Kramer liked this

Not looking forward to this stuff .... - johnpiercy via Bookmarklet

Louis Gray posted an entry on louisgray.com

Be a Real Friend to Your Social Networking "Friends"

November 7 at 6:34 pm - Link

Nikpay, Anne Bouey, Chris and 71 other people liked this

What a great post, Louis. :) - Far

19 more comments

You're gonna let Drew babysit? Did you do a background check ?? :) - Charlie Anzman

This is a really terrific blog post! Love the advise and comparison between RLF and OLF...very true; plus the transparency online forces accountability as we all now have reputations to protect. In fact, I'll go on step further...this whole online community thing will eventually force lots of people to sharpen up and behave themselves!!! LOL - Susan Beebe

Great Read! - Anna Haro

Drew will be a great babysitter. I just have to get him out of the Web 2 Summit. - Louis Gray

Love the post, Louis! And I'm only *slightly* offended that you are taking Drew up on his babysitting offer first. After all, I AM a professional... ;-) Seriously. I'm willing. Any time. Well, almost. :-) - Lisa L. Seifert

Great post I loved the Wii Fit example, had the same trouble finding Wii Fit myself so can relate(wish I'd known Jesse Stay), by the way have you tried Mario Kart for the Wii it's great fun......just call me Walawigi! - Groobers

@Lisa, if you're serious and up for it, and geography isn't an issue, contact me at louisgray@mac.com. - Louis Gray

@scales gave me keys to his Shanghai house. I barely know him. Now I'm drinking his expensive whisky. :-) I have the coolest social media friends. - Robert Scoble

excellent post, Mr. Gray. - Pete Delucchi

Heh. Reminds me of Robert saying I could crash at his place a few weeks ago. - Mark VandenBerg

pay them or indicate what it takes to lay out the moola? why not? nice piece - Wes Schadenfreud

Great post. As a relative newbie its sometimes hard to know how much to divulge online. I like the sense of cautious optimism for society online as well as off. - Alistair

You've been emailed, Mr. Gray. :-) - Lisa L. Seifert

@Lisa: my younger brothers are twins, I've got tons of 'em. Call me when you're twin sitting ;-) - Far

I have RL friends who let me babysit their twin boys. We play Box before they leave for the night. Their dad puts them in a box and sends them flying up and down their bamboo floored hallway. I cannot promise that I won't try this with Matthew & Sarah. I totally want twins. Just sayin'. - Lisa L. Seifert

Very nice entry. I am going to pay a little closer attention and offer a helping hand if I can moving forward. - Amani

Man, I am so naturally introverted that I think it would be hard for me to just fling the doors wide to all the folks I know online. No offense intended, of course.. I guess I need to work on this part. - Phil Glockner

This highlights the need to be selective in your choice of Web 2.0 friends and why you should use the same criteria in selecting them as you would "in-person" friends. I now wish that I could persuade more of my "in-person" friends to become my Web 2.0 friends because I think it would only enhance our relationship. It'll happen one day as Web 2.0 becomes pervasive. - Ian Marr

Nice post, Louis and very timely too. This morning I had breakfast with a Belgian Twitter buddy whom I've never met before. He was over here visiting friends and we all ended up brainstorming how we could use soc nets to promote his friends photography website... such is the power of Twitter. - Sally Church

I disagree with this. There's a difference between comparing favors done to / for A-List "blogstars" and the rank and file. I think if you filtered to the common person using social media (if there is such a thing) there would be a lot less of the types of interactions. I'm sure not bringing my kids to play dates or having anyone who I meet online babysit them until I know those people in real life. - Wayne Schulz

Very well written post Louis. I tend to be more cautious. Web 2.0 is a medium with which I can reconnect with old friends, enhancing our relationship even though we may be miles, or thousands of miles apart. In fact, I was able to reconnect with my friend who lives in France. We just had a beer last Wednesday while he was in town. Btw, thanks for getting me started! - john

abacab posted a link

Caption?

November 6 at 2:12 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Rob Kramer liked this

The Goodie Room: Mona N. posted a link

[FIREFOX] Turn FireFox 3 Into A Blogging Toolbox

November 4 at 4:54 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Pamela Austin, Chris Luckhardt, Daniel J. Pritchett and 8 other people liked this

Mona N. posted a message on Twitter

“Currently browsing: http://montrealpoutine.com/rev... Poutine au Bacon ftw!!”

November 4 at 4:51 pm - Link

Ladybug Heather, Yolanda ♥s Nuttycakes, Rob Kramer and 5 other people liked this

Oh, Canada... :: choke :: - Mark Dykeman

5 more comments

http://www.vagabondish.com/wp-... - Mona N.

Mona, that last pic is true poutine. Je me souviens. - Mark Wilson

mmm poutine! Love it, not really allowed to eat it anymore. - Capn' One-Eye ☠

French is all kinds of sexy -- but that picture, Mark, is STILL cracking me up!! - Mona N.

Poutine - yummiest heart attack on a plate ever. - Abby Martin

as a vegetarian canadian from bc, i've never had poutine...i might have to create a veggie approximation... - Trent Olson

Why, in the name of all that is holy, would anyone want to create a veggie approximation of poutine? - Ladybug Heather

l0ckergn0me posted an entry on Discussion Forum - Geeks!

What Is Your Favourite Firefox Add-on ?

October 10 at 9:10 am - Link

Alessandro, Rob Kramer, Nikpay and 15 other people liked this

RSS Ticker and FireFTP -- can't forget WebDeveloper's bar - Lindsey

32 more comments

Noscript - Aaron Krug

Zotero - Bora Zivkovic

AdBlock Plus - Stephen Pierzchala

Adblock Plus. I'm using K-Meleon but that's the best Firefox extension that has been ported so far. - Morton Fox

Tab Mix Plus - edythe

Adblock Plus without a doubt. NoScript is a very close second. - Kevin D. White

FireFTP. Can't live without it. - Rashunda Tramble

Adblock Plus. - Steven Perez

Nodobe and Feedly - robert sørensen via twhirl

Ubiquity and Cooliris. - Nir Ben Yona via twhirl

Fireftp and Web Developer's toolbar - Harun Pekşen

firebug cooliris feedly - Edwin Khodabakchian

greasemonkey - clarke thomas

Noscript, Stop Autoplay, Adblock Plus, Permit Cookies, CustomizeGoogle, MR Tech Toolkit, CLEO/FEBE, Tab Mix Plus, Print/Print Preview, ShowIP, QuickJava, Image Zoom, and a whole lot more. - Dr. Apps via twhirl

AdBlock Plus - Atul Arora

Gmail Manager, Twitterfox, & Fire.fm (an add-on for Last.fm) - Mark Wilson

color tabs and fox marks. My only two, actually. - Brian Norwood

Adblock Plus and Deepest Sender - K Welch

Firebug, hands down. - Evan Sims

Tab Mix Plus & Twitterfox - Greg Lowe via twhirl

Firebug, liveHttpHeaders, YSlow need 'em all - MikeAmundsen

Google bar. - Igor Poltavskiy via twhirl

Foxmarks - Rodfather

it's tough to pick between adblock plus and GM, can I haz two - Dobromir Hadzhiev

AdBlock Plus - Sally Church

NoScript - David Price

Pingfire, Shareaholic and FireFTP - Helen Sventitsky

easy: Shareaholic. It's excellent. - john conroy

FlickrFox - Billy Warhol

Firebug is my fave. But without Colorzilla, Measureit, Smushit, Delicious, Greasemonkey, Stylish and Shareaholic I'm gonna be lonely. ;) - AJ Batac

Can't live without Tab Mix Plus. Also love Delicious Bookmarks, Firebug, Shareholic, Text Link, AdBlock Plus, and Picnik. - Jandy Stone

Delicious, AdBlock Plus, FireFTP, Firebug...and of course, LittleFox. - wyclif

vi.sualize.us, Fire.fm and Shareaholic - Kol Tregaskes

Delicious Bookmarks and Color Tabs - Alexandre Micaelo

Atul Arora posted a link

State of the Art - A Look at Google’s First Phone - NYTimes.com

October 16 at 1:07 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

bhavesh, TheThirdEye, Mike Reynolds and 10 other people liked this

"The Android software looks, feels and works a lot like the iPhone’s. Not as consistent or as attractive, but smartly designed and, for version 1.0, surprisingly complete. In any case, it’s polished enough to give Windows Mobile an inferiority complex the size of Australia; let’s hope Microsoft has a good therapist." - Atul Arora via Bookmarklet

one more week---I can't wait for the mail on 10/22~! - Jonathan Keller

Thomas Hawk posted an entry on Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection

50 Ways to Save Money for the Cash Strapped Consumer

October 14 at 7:43 am - Link

Chris, Rob Kramer, Jen Kuiper and 3 other people liked this

RAPatton posted a link

A giant knitted rabbit in Italy can be seen from space by visitors to Google Earth. - Telegraph

October 14 at 12:03 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Hadiseh, Stefano, Mahdi Ebrahimi and 44 other people liked this

"The 200-foot-long toy rabbit lies on the side of the 5,000 foot high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy's Piedmont region. The pink rabbit was knitted by Gelitin, the Viennese art collective, as an outdoor sculpture for people to climb on, sleep on, and generally play with. It is made of soft, waterproof, materials and is stuffed with straw." - RAPatton via Bookmarklet

13 more comments

A giant, pink, furry rabbit. - RAPatton

that sounds dirty and i dunno why....PINK, GIANT, FURRY LMAO - Caroline

OH NO!!! It's the KILLER RABBIT!!!! "Run away!!!!! Run away!!!!" Where is the Holy Hand Grenade? - Thankful Molly

This is so brilliant. - anna awesomesauce

I love the fact that it was knit. - Jill, Superhero Librarian

http://friendfeed.com/e/24a10a... - MikeAmundsen

wow that would be crazy to see from the sky - (jeff)isageek

it actually looks more like a giant "dead" rabbit. - Joshua Schnell

This is the Google Maps link: http://bit.ly/38oaQH - Mark Trapp

it looks like the bunny from life in hell - Terry O'Fee

Mark, thanks for the link! - RAPatton

a fake story? /:) - D/\\/IIID

So that's where my stuffed bunny went. - Kevin Bondelli

'preciate the chuckles this brought me this morning, bruh! - Do You KNOW Clarence?

David: here they are http://www.gelitin.net/mambo/i... 5th down on the right. I remember these people... They're the ones who did the pissing fountain performance a while back somewhere in NYC. They built this structure above an audience in a room, drank lots of water, climbed up onto it and urinated into buckets on top of each others' heads. (I think they were all male.) Lots of criticism about how low art is stooping these days... but the bunny is kind of cool... - Kamilah Gill

Atul Arora posted a link

Shining A Light On The NSA's 'Shadow Factory' : NPR

October 14 at 1:06 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Rob Kramer, Mike Reynolds and David Vasileff liked this

"In his new book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA From 9/11 To The Eavesdropping On America, journalist James Bamford reveals that the ultra-secret agency has half a million people on its watch lists." - Atul Arora via Bookmarklet

Glen Campbell posted a link

License Plate Fail « FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments

October 13 at 2:11 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Mihalcea Razvan, Alan Le, Sheryl and 43 other people liked this

*snicker* - Lindsay Donaghe

9 more comments

omg I want this! - Lindsey

Fail? How? I think that "eat the kids first" sounds great. ;) - Bibi

awesome!!! - Corie "Viper" Jones

Brilliant! - Helen Sventitsky

OMG that's sooo bad and good all at the same time! Where's Cyndy and Jason?!! they'll "eat" this up!! ha, ha!! - Susan Beebe

Ours would say "KICKTEH" though. - Cyndy

I gave up eating kids for lent. - Jill, Superhero Librarian

Kids first, parents later. - Andrew Trinh

wtf LOL - Mona N.

The young ones are tastier. ;-0 - Mathew A. Koeneker

Reminds me of a book title: How To Raise Your IQ By Eating Gifted Children - J.D. Deutschendorf

Russellreno posted a link

The #1 Reason Social Networking Metrics Don't Work

October 11 at 6:11 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Rob Kramer and Daniel J. Pritchett liked this

"You can't estimate its ROI. So don't worry about it. Do your social networking and see what happens." - Russellreno via Bookmarklet

The Goodie Room: Mona N. posted a link

[PHOTO] Raw Therapee RAW Conversation Tool (The OpenSource answer to Adobe's Camera Raw)

October 8 at 4:33 pm - via Reshare - Link

Alessandro, Michael Fidler, lisa-k and 12 other people liked this

Thanks Mathias!! - Mona N.

3 more comments

NP... - Mathias Pastwa

Awesome find! I'm going to try this one as soon as I get a chance. - Foomandoonian

Thank Mathias! - Mona N.

Ooh, interesting. - possible248

Nice, thank you! - Kol Tregaskes

Sean McBride posted a link

The War on Intellectualism

October 5 at 6:37 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Aaron Schaub, bill giltner, Aviv and 29 other people liked this

"It seems there is a new threat to our country- an insidious danger that is seeping into our homes and everyday lives that must be stopped at any cost. That threat is intellectualism. We have heard the some of the buzzwords of this political season- Folksy, Joe Six-pack, Elitist, and Arugula Eating. It seems the new "culture war" or wedge issue is intelligence. The Vice-Presidential debate only solidified the lines in this war. On one side, you had Palin- full of "folksy charm" and "you betcha" language. Then you had Biden, who had a command of the issues, but was called "boring" and (gasp!) "professorial" by the pundits." - Sean McBride via Bookmarklet

24 more comments

Except it is nothing new - it's been an undercurrent of American politics and culture for a long time now. - Bora Zivkovic

Obama One Kenobi is our only hope :) But seriously, how does the US hope to survive. Our days as a manufacturing center are long gone. Seems that the way of the knowledge worker and technology are the right way. As such, can we convince Joe Sixpack that he needs to study more? Perhaps the greatest thing about Bush is that nearly no one likes him. If it weren't for Dubya, perhaps McCain or Romney would be more popular. - Mike Reynolds

Mike, I don't think this is as much to do with Dubya as many like to think. IMO that's symptomatic of a general trend. When I first came to the states, when Clinton was still the man, one of the first things I noticed was the lack of respect for knowledge and education (and this exists even in the tech community). I remain completely baffled by this. - Deepak

Agree with Deepak, he took the words out of my mouth - Sally Church

Maybe if you berate them, call them "idiots" and "morons," they'll suddenly start agreeing with you. - Glen Campbell

I think the problem starts with the culture in our schools (which, at least publicly, are funded and "guided" by the government) which emphasizes complete submission to authority and elevates athleticism above academic performance. The whole "nerds vs jocks" thing... It's fortunate now that at least technology is changing that among the kids somewhat, if not among their teachers and school administration. It will take at least another generation before the tide really turns for intellectuals. - Lindsay Donaghe

I think it goes even deeper than that: the culture in our schools is really just the culture in our country. - j1m

Sorry to disagree about schools but they do not reflect much of our society. At best, some schools might provide a distorted view of someone's interpretation of our society. The best we can hope is that schools are freed from the trappings of society and an environment is provided so students may explore knowledge from many angles. - LPH™

I would stipulate that schools in many places are not reflections of society. Most of my respect for knowledge was fostered at home. That said, in the schools I studied in, excelling at academics was always given more importance, both in the public and private schools I went to. Since I did not grow up in the US, can't really claim to understand what the reasons are, but it's the kind of situation where it might be impossible to pinpoint one or two reasons - Deepak

Well, the culture 'which emphasizes complete submission to authority and elevates athleticism above academic performance' is a deep part American culture, and that culture also permeates American schools. The history of submission to authority is much, much older than the history of public schools, so I think schools are pretty much ruled out as the source. I don't know anything about the history of why athleticism is so widely revered, but I'd be curious to know more. - j1m

Like #1. 10/05/2008. - Robert Scoble

We see the aftermath everywhere. From the economy collapse, to Apple's stock dropping 10% from a silly rumor from an uncredible site, to politics. It's about time America woke up. THINK, people! - Mona N.

in a dumbed-down country, the majority will always be wrong - Gregory Lent

Define authority though. To me the ultimate authority is my parents, even today when I am not quite a young un. Probably true for many others from the subcontinent. Is that the problem, or part thereof? - Deepak

My pet theory: the key to making people care more about their own education is to make the rewards more apparent or immediate. If getting A's on tests earned more money than selling drugs, many people would probably behave differently ;-) (And of course there are many ways to make rewards more apparent/immediate that don't involve money.) - j1m

Deepak, I'm assuming you're probably from somewhere like India from the comments you've made (and please forgive me if that's a bad assumption)... The cultural relationship between kids and parents is somewhat different in the US and when I say authority I basically mean the government and its model in the school system, administration and teachers. Kids usually don't listen to their parents after they leave home, and sometimes they stop much earlier than that. - Lindsay Donaghe

@j1m - I agree... there needs to be some way to inspire kids by internal motivation, not just to get good grades but to actually LEARN things. The problem is they are given assignments that are much less interesting than the alternative ways they could spend their time... they finish them because they have to be done, not to actually LEARN the materials... We are missing something. I think it's because our school system is geared to produce factory workers and not knowledge workers. - Lindsay Donaghe

Schools are too focused on test results and their rankings in the districts to be concerned about whether a child is actually getting the material or is gaining an appreciation for learning. Since it's easy to look at test scores as an indicator instead of judging a child's excitement and comprehension of the materials as the criteria for advancement there's a disconnect. We need to teach them how to teach themselves and reward them for going above and beyond the baseline curriculum. - Lindsay Donaghe

Lindsay, correct assumption. The reason this topic fascinates me so much is that most of the people I have met in the dozen or so years I've lived in the US do not fit the general "anti-intellectual" mould, which leads to the question about how they got to where they are today in a culture which seems to discourage that. - Deepak

I think it's the easy manipulation of the media. Anyone with a lot of money or tireless drive can hire a publicist/work the media garnering enough coverage/exposure to eventually create an impact or image, positive or negative. The barrier of entry to become an influencer is almost zero these days, sometimes not necessarily in a good way. We are what we consume, in a sense. If we raise the bar, we'll rise with it. - Patricia

one counter-argument .. partly the "war on intellectualism" can be supported because there is so little human heart in most applications of intellectual processes ... it ain't human sometimes, in shorthand ... thought the really smart are often very loving - Gregory Lent

This convo is evidence enough that the "intellectuals" don't get it. It's about popularity not IQ. Just look at Hollywood box office vs real art. Brad Pitt, Jolie, julia Roberts etc. bring in the big money and $$ mean power. There is nothing intellectual about it. - Alex Nesbitt

alex, good point, and why other intellectuals came up with metaphors like spiral dynamics to explain the differences in levels of consciousness .... the mainstream is the main stream, no doubt. ... intellectuals have only each other to talk to - Gregory Lent

I think this has been a part of US culture since the 1970s - Nixon was the first Republican politician to base his campaign on anger and bitterness directed against the country's intellectuals, and it's been like that ever since. - Alexander Carlill

lindsay: I'd be careful about scrapping exams. The UK has shown that the move towards coursework orientated teaching methods precipitate a collapse in the performance and engagement of males in the education process. A decline that is reversed upon entry into the competative environment of the university. Using exam results in order to rank schools is bad however. - alphaxion

It's like your whole country is subject to one giant instance of the Dunning-Kruger effect when it comes to choosing a leader. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... - Warren

Robert Scoble shared an item on Google Reader

How to Get Rich

October 6 at 12:31 am - Link

pranav, LarchOye, shahin and 25 other people liked this

Mark lives a life most of us would love to have. Of course he didn't explain how HE got rich. He sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for billions. That requires something far beyond discipline: luck. Some people DO win the lottery! But, I find that following people who always chase money is pretty damn boring. I've been on private jets. I've been in expensive cars that cost more than nearly everything I own. Yawn. What is rich? My friend Teresa Williamson inviting me to an awesome concert. My wife hanging out with me on the couch. A conversation with someone who is changing the world. Money ain't everything. I watched my mom die with a bunch of gold in her basement. She couldn't take it with her. On the other hand, money does open doors easier and gets you into wild experiences, but it's not the only way to have wild experiences. That said, I'm following much of Mark's advice because, well, it's good advice for our times. - Robert Scoble

2 more comments

That's a great way of putting it Robert! - Raymond

Yes while money isn't everything it helps. You can do all of the things you mentioned even if you are rich. With that said I do believe that personal happiness is more important than being rich. - Luka Marinko

Can money buy happiness? No, but a certain amount can make life a little less stressful and more comfortable. I agree with all you've said above Robert. That said... "getting rich" isn't that important to me. I'm perfectly happy in my middle class life. - Squirrel Girl

I've always liked something Walt Disney said about the value of money: "Money is something I understand only vaguely, and I think about it only when I don't have enough to finance my current enthusiasm, whatever it may be. All I know about money is that I have to have it to do things. I don't want to bank my dividends, I'd rather keep my money working.... Money — or, rather the lack of it to carry out my ideas — may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me." - Will King

Mona N. posted a link

Freezelight Art and Photography

October 1 at 9:39 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Ozan Kilic, JECO Photo, Mitchell Tsai and 62 other people liked this

Ooo, pretty. - Colby Olson

10 more comments

i knooooooooow! - Mona N.

sooo purty! - tsiakhyie

This is awesome! - Eric Florenzano

can anybody tell me how they are made? too complex for any physical technique i know about ... photoshop? - Gregory Lent

The artist's contact info is on the site, Gregory. If he responds, please do share with us. Thank you! :) - Mona N.