Morgan Warstler - Comments

Two Georgians Say They Have Bigfoot’s Body - NYTimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2008...

August 15, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Mike Boudreaux, Al Stevens, Jas Sandhu and 5 other people liked this

OK, I now know what my Halloween costume is... "on Friday at a hotel in Palo Alto, Calif., a pair of Bigfoot hunters say they will present what they contend is the most definitive proof yet of an animal that science says does not exist: DNA evidence and photographs of a dead specimen they say they found in a remote swath of woods in northern Georgia." - Steve Rubel from Bookmarklet

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1) I can't believe this is in the New York Times and 2) I *so* want it to be true. - Sprague D

@Sprague it's always been true! The Toot Fairy told me when I was a kid. - Steve Rubel

What time is the Press Conference? If this is a viral marketing scam I hope someone cockpunches those guys. - Chrimmus Tad

The press conference is at noon, and I'll be there! - John McCrea

"This is 'Eureka!' man...I touched it!" I'm not holding my breath on this one. - cmiper

@John you must Twitter it. - Steve Rubel

“I’m not asking anyone to believe us,” Mr. Dyer said. “I’m just asking them to sit and watch, because you’re going to eat your words.” - WOW. I'd like to eat my words. Nom! - AJ Batac

#bigfoot? - Hutch Carpenter

Is Geraldo going to be there? - Dave Pelland

@John you HAVE to live blog or twitter - hey i've been working on this story for days since my daughter got on a bigfoot craze BEFORE the people up the road actually found him. Or a costume resemblance thereof. "RickMat" as they call him. http://searchingforbigfoot.com/ - jeneane sessum

I beeeeeeeelieeeeeevvvvveeee! - Steve Rubel

Their advertising and PR firm looks a little... uh... hmmm - http://www.barrows.com/ - jeneane sessum

Apparently the dude does some hip hop in his spare time -- YEAH that guy barrows: http://www.barrows.com/RunforO... - oh it's worth the click. - jeneane sessum

Imagine if it is human. I would be thinking murder. This could backfire on these guys. - Admiral70

their ad agency guy also developed the ahead-of-its-time cemetary of lies video gravestone. GAH! http://www.barrows.com/inventi... - jeneane sessum

@Jeff all you have to do in Georgia is drag him inside, and it's self-defense. Word. - jeneane sessum

Damn those Russians! ;-) - Brent Logan

Did the Russians shoot him? - Morgan Warstler

I guess if you suffer from hypertrichosis, you shouldn't visit Georgia. - Ken Morley

Bump an old post meme - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

Tim O'Reilly

RT @newtgingrich: Learning IS the most important civil right in the 21st century; it should apply to every american of all ages to compete..

May 16 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Amiroo ™, Mark Goddard, Jason Miller and 11 other people liked this

That is pure Newt Gingrich manipulation of facts into a politically useful LIE. Learning is not a RIGHT, it is a NEED (like food and clean air) and RESPONSIBILITY (like parenting). Treating Learning as a RIGHT means that IGNORANCE is supported by Freedom of Choice. WRONG. - The Web's Wendell Wittler

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The last comment is silly. Gingrich is simply and forcefully supporting education. Even the left wing should support him on this - Jeff

Wendell that's an incorrect statement. Education (i.e. formal learning) is a fundamental right any way you dice it, independent of what any politician thinks about it. It's perhaps one of the most important rights out there. - Deepak Singh

You have a RIGHT to be ignorant. you have a RESPONSIBILITY to learn. - The Web's Wendell Wittler

You have a responsibility to make the most of that right to learn. The world goes beyond one country and political opinions on everything. - Deepak Singh

Who decides what Americans should learn? Who sets the curriculum and who determines if someone meets the level of competency required to "pass" someone to another level? - LPH™ and his dog P™

Or is Newt calling Education an ENTITLEMENT? And when he says "it should apply to every american of all ages to compete.." he's saying we NEED it to compete... we can't opt out. That sounds nothing like a Right. - The Web's Wendell Wittler

Reflexively reminds me of John Adams (in McCullough's book) and makes me think more highly of Gingrich, but a bit more reflection (thanks to my liberal arts education) leads me to conclude that Gingrich is saying a politically safe and popular thing as a means to his political end. He's right, in a way (even nodding to Wittler's comments). It should be regarded as a civil right and the civic obligation of all Americans. - Jason Miller

Learning is a civil right?? Perhaps "access to education" would be consider a "right", but learning? More political fodder, I'd say. Spin and agenda ... spin and agenda ... - Allan Besselink

Now pretend Obama had written that instead of Gingrich. Would any of you, even the most anal parsers of language, have had even the mildest criticism for the comment??? - Jeff

I'm still gaining my composure after learning that The Newt is tweeting. - coldbrew

Wendell is a fucking idiot. learn that. - Morgan Warstler

Regardless of past sins, Newt has had the guts to suggest some "outside the box" ideas to improve education - like paying inner city students who get good grades. Probably not popular with the base but interesting. - Ryan Underdown from fftogo

Robert Scoble

I don't care if you fake follow me. I don't define myself by who follows me, but I define myself by who +I+ follow! I follow smart people who teach me things and put interesting stuff in my view. If you stop, or prove to be a jerk or a troll, then I'll just unsubscribe.

August 26, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Melle Gloerich, Thomas Power, Saurabh Arora and 99 other people liked this

All I can say to that is, you better enjoy a lot of good German brews while you're there. It's non-sequitor, and that is what you should expect from me. - Pete Delucchi

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Wait. Isn't Robert Scoble just Alex Scoble's older brother? - Akiva Moskovitz

Pete, the correct spelling is "Mississippi." And Robert, "The Metro" and "Take My Breath Away" are really good songs. And I think you'd agree that the content that you obtain from your subscribees is more important than your subscribee count. It's a content game, not a numbers game. - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

Akiva: yup, Alex is my younger brother. You can't really blame him for how he is. I used to beat him up. Of course, he gave me my issues with authority. He told mom. :-) - Robert Scoble

Pete: Rocky already found a bar that has hundreds of beers. I have a feeling we'll be seen there once or twice between now and Sunday. - Robert Scoble

Robert, he seems to be doing all right so far! - Akiva Moskovitz

Great example of being quality-centered instead of market-centered... do what you love and a market will find you... - Justin Long

@Akiva, yeah, robert scoble uses his last name to get by on alex's gig. - Morgan Warstler

Akiva- You are the man...that's the funniest stuff I've seen since the whole Korn of the Blog thing. - Alex Scoble

[courtsies] - Akiva Moskovitz

@Pete - I just want you to know that your non sequitur above ended up inspiring dozens of non sequiturs on FriendFeed this evening. I hope you're Melvin about that. - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

LOL@Akiva!!!! - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

That's one of the many things I like about FriendFeed: how many people follow you isn't displayed at the top level. I hope that doesn't change. I think a lot of people on Twitter (and other social networks) only obsess over their followers/friends just because everyone else can see it. I also think that's why a lot of people don't like FriendFeed... you've got to give substance to get substance. - Paul Reynolds

@Ontario I've stopped shaking my fist, just so you know. - Pete Delucchi

Agreed - I don't think I'll ever "fake follow". I'd rather just unsubscribe - those I follow I try to pay attention to. - Jesse Stay

How does one 'fake follow' a person? Is it hard? Is it fun? Can I do it? - Michael Moran

I agree with you Robert as I don't see any valid reason for me as an individual to fake follow anyone! - Joe Dawson

Yeah @robert, how or whats "fake follow" ? - Arjun

Agree on this, though I think from a feature perspective it's a smart one! - Vinodh Nandakumar

That's my take on it 100% - JP Holecka - Jaypiddy

NEW (February 25): Of course two weeks ago I started auto following again. Why? Cause Direct Messaging on Twitter is broken. But here on friendfeed I have a different philosophy. I am using lists to follow specific people and segregate those out from other people. So I can keep the geeks who talk tech separate from my brother, for instance. - Robert Scoble

That said, I assume everyone is smart until they prove otherwise. :-) - Robert Scoble

i just wish people would stop talking about following in general :P - Terry O'Fee

This would have more credibility now Robert if you protested the capping of manual follows at 2000 until you get followers of that number and can move on now. You got to autofollow with abandon; today normal people are capped on manual follows. Unfair. - Prokofy Neva

Holy hell, this thread is 6 months old! - coldbrew

Who's this Goon posing as you? http://friendfeed.com/e... imitation is the finest form of flattery? - sofarsoShawn

I would agree with Garin, followers/following is not important, but discussion is. BTW, Loic is very good a starting this type of arguments (must be his French side). - Jeremy Chone

This level of necrophilia is just gross dude. Internet threads are not fine cheeses. - Matthew DeVries

dont worry, matt. there's about five or six conversations of the same discussion now. - Terry O'Fee

I feel like I should invite friends over and serve wines with threads like this "tonight, we'll be sampling a 2003 SA thread about iPods, a 2007 flickr thread about EXIF data, and something really special a 1994 ISCA BBS thread about where the clitoris is" - Matthew DeVries

lol - I really enjoy your posts and convo - I learn many things - and thanks for the laughs too : ) - Mark Harai

I'd respond to this thread but necro-posting creates zombie threads and zombie threads eat Brrraaaiiinnnnsss! :P - MarkCarras

Robert you have alot to teach and you seem teachable also-sign of a good journalist. - earlewallace

LOL - Terry O'Fee

*rolls eyes* This thread was a whole president and 2 inaugurations old, quit using it. - Matthew DeVries

lol - Arjun

Appetite: Seth Greenblatt

Your iPhone is Better than You at Solving a Rubik’s Cube #iphone - http://cultofmac.com/your-ip...

January 25 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, vijay, TheHenry and 5 other people liked this

CubeCheater is an amazing app for iPhone and iPod Touch that, given the current state of your Rubik’s Cube, will tell you how to solve the puzzle in just a few moves. - Seth Greenblatt

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this is pure worthless genius... - Morgan Warstler

I may have to dig up a cube or two. I've gotten close, but I just fail. - MiniMage TKDteacher of FF

http://lar5.com/cube/ learn it, no need to pony up $ :) - Greg Schueler

Robert Scoble

@MattLitke I listed to Rush Limbaugh every Saturday night when he was on one radio station in Sacramento. What do you think about that?

January 20, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

MicahBear78 and MedicalQuack liked this

I have not listened to more than an hour of Rush & FoxNews combined in my life, but I'm going to start now. Always good to hear media on the attack rather than the defense - Andrew Leyden

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The guy is a pure entertainer. You can't take him seriously, but if you have time to waste he can make you laugh (both with and at him). - coldbrew

I don't think Robert understood what he was hearing. - Morgan Warstler

I used to be an adolescent. I was, indeed, doing it wrong. - Mitch

Has Rush completely recovered from his drug problems? - MedicalQuack

loren feldman

Hey world, how you like us now?

January 20, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

they bedda. - Morgan Warstler

loren feldman

I could not find a video service that really rocked, so I will be building my own solution.

January 19, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

kaltura - Morgan Warstler

@Morgan -- thanks for the reminder to get in touch with that team :) - Jay Cuthrell

Robert Scoble

Louis Gray missed the real story around affliliate links on Amazon. I'll discuss here:

January 17, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Donald Forth, martin english, Soulhuntre and 72 other people liked this

(UPDATE: I was wrong, read the rest of the thread to see why, don't buy stuff off of your own affiliate links) The real story is everyone should go and make their own affiliate link. Then everytime you buy something off of Amazon you should use that link. You'll get some cash back. This could save you hundreds of dollars every year. The fact that very few people do that is lame. - Robert Scoble

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Louis's post is here: http://friendfeed.com/e... - Robert Scoble

Also, Louis missed that the link itself is disclosure. You all should learn to recognize an affiliate code that's inside the URL itself (which is how Louis noticed my use of it last night). - Robert Scoble

good point. i did that in the past. works like a charm. keep forgetting to do it recently. thanks for the reminder. - ~C4Chaos

The guy who keeps @god account on Twitter told me he's saved thousands of dollars every year by using his affiliate link to buy stuff. - Robert Scoble

You HAVE to do this. It's so easy to set up & so nice to get some cash back. I set up my own search page & buy everthing through it. I set my default to search for blu-ray since that's my #1 purchase lately. - Bryan Duke

I thought it was against the terms of the affiliate scheme to buy from your own link. - Paul Kinlan from Friend Deck

that's a great point-we all read. - Jim Gray

And Amazon hasn't figure this out yet? - V Mary Abraham

Nope, it's legal to buy through your own links - Bryan Duke

That's not permitted by Amazon: "You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through the links on your site for your own use, for resale or commercial use of any kind." - Scott Loftesness

That would be "a story", not necessarily the "real story". For me the real story is that you have an opportunity to convert the network to revenue. That 90% of the discussion is around disclosure is fine. Truth is, I would rather buy off your affiliate link than give 100% to Amazon, but I doubt most of your readers knew that was going on. - Louis Gray

The discussion was interesting, though. We rarely disclose affiliate payments in society. If my lawyer refers me to another lawyer he gets a kickback. Same for many doctors and dentists. I've never had one disclose those relationships and kickbacks. - Robert Scoble

scoble - you do realize what you just said IS ABSOLUTELY AGAINST THE AMAZON AFFILIATE TOS - people DO NOT do that - you will be banned on amazon. - Allen Stern

This is a big deal to me. I've posted affiliate links approx, 1/10 of 1% of posts on ff and twitter. It's all about trust. If Robert posts a link, and gets credit, I just don't care, in fact I'm glad. If Joe schmo shows up and 1st post, or many, are just hocking shit, I'm reporting him. In fact I hold the record for turning in spammers on twitter. - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

@Robert: True! But you can save more by signing up with better affiliate programs. And you can still use coupon codes (which people still don't do as often as they could.) Amazon isn't the only game in town. - AJ Kohn

Louis: good point. But this wasn't about getting other people to buy. It was not a review. It was not me telling you to go buy now. That's why I didn't feel a compelling reason to disclose. That said, it did cause me to figure out my affiliate code again (I hadn't used it in quite a while). Scott: I didn't realize that. - Robert Scoble

Scoble you remain a God with a chiseled body - sofarsoShawn

Not only is at against the TOS they police it heavily -- you will get caught. - Brian Sullivan

Section 4 of the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement: "You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through the links on your site for your own use, for resale or commercial use of any kind." (from paragraph 4) Amazon DO check this and even if you are initially credited, they will strip it out before you are paid. - Gordon Saunders

Scott: this is easy to get around, though. All I'd need to do is call Louis up, tell him I was going to buy a bunch of stuff, and then use his code to buy and get my money back from Louis. - Robert Scoble

Robert -- maybe easy to get around but still fraud. - Brian Sullivan

I was one of the first amazon affiliates many, many years ago and have watched tons of affiliates be banned because of the behavior scoble says is "lame" - as I noted above and others have as well - do not buy stuff using your own affiliate code! - Allen Stern

@Louis Can you make me understand why there is a rabid interest in revenue/monetization for things in which people have no investment? I have never been able to grasp this concept. - EricaJoy

Allen: I didn't realize this. Interesting! - Robert Scoble

Josh: truth be told I missed that. Do you read every TOS in depth? I don't. - Robert Scoble

Hmmm. - Bryan Duke

OK, who wants my affiliate purchase? :-) - Robert Scoble

Amazon prohibits buying from yourself. In fact, using your own link doesn't get you anything (but it would probably work if you opened up a separate account with a different CC & address). But I agree that it is total wasted opportunity to NOT use your affiliate id when sharing an amazon link. (Even though after ~300 clicks the only affiliate sale I ever got was from my mom) - Daniel Sims

The trick is to convince your friends to buy stuff using your affiliate code, and you return the favour by buying stuff with theirs. It's like gifting money all year long, and not just at Christmas or birthdays. That's not against the TOS and I'd argue it's not fraud, either -- not directly profiting from purchases against your affiliate code. - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

Josh - I can't answer for how smart Scoble is or is not - I am merely trying to help properly educate the millions and millions of people who follow his postings so that they don't get screwed when they buy stuff and then get no affiliate earnings. I am not yet ready to comment on the usage of affiliate links in his postings as of yet. But I will, you can rest assured of that :) - Allen Stern

The funny part is Amazon is a dreadful affiliate program. Plenty of other programs with FAR better terms. - AJ Kohn

That's pretty stupid that the TOS can't be linked without being logged in. - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

@AJ True, but can you think of a program with a better selection of goods? Amazon isn't just books any more. - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

I agree w/ Allen/Louis it's the DISCLOSURE issue, and whether or not you while testing a product will be unduly lenient so as to make sales to increase your revenue stream - sofarsoShawn

I think it all should go to charity At least, that would be my style. Then, if you'd buy through me, you're giving a gift to people who need it more than I do. - Meryn Stol

all of us are not as fortunate to not need the cash. - Shaun Haney

Josh: when I started this thread I never expected to learn something myself. That's what's interesting about two-way media. You put one thing out there and it turns out you're wrong and everyone else teaches you what's up. Imagine this were 30 years ago. I would have put an article into a newspaper, been wrong, then we would have run a "correction" on the bottom of page three. Damage would have been done and everyone wouldn't have learned something. Here we learn in real time. This is EXACTLY why I love ff. - Robert Scoble

@Chris: The yield from Amazon is *SO* low because the cookie for revenue is only set for that *session* Other programs have 30-90 *day* cookies! So, you go through one of my links and two weeks later buy and I get a cut. Both LinkShare and CJ have a decent selection of merchants with better terms. Why drive traffic and help Amazon sell when they're being so stingy. It's inertia in my opinion, plain and simple. - AJ Kohn

AJ: that's a good point. What are some other good affiliate networks you've dealt with? - Robert Scoble

Josh: if I weren't willing to be seen an idiot none of us would ever learn. That said, I gotta start reading TOS's a lot closer. If I did anything wrong, it was going too fast. - Robert Scoble

@Robert: Join Linkshare (http://www.linkshare.com) and Commission Junction (http://www.cj.com) They are the two biggest US affiliate programs and have a wide selection of merchants to choose from - from Macy's to Home Depot to NewEgg to iTunes to Apple to Buy.com etc. etc. *Far* better terms than Amazon. - AJ Kohn

Erica, you asked if I could explain "a rabid interest in revenue/monetization for things in which people have no investment?" Depends on what "no investment" means. I would argue, as Robert likely would, that we both have invested time and effort into building a community and sharing across networks. If these services are replacing blogs, that were previously used for revenue, you can see the push to find ways to monetize. - Louis Gray

Continuing to Erica: Commerce and finance and business in a new world or platform is very compelling. Robert is seen as an early adopter and thought leader. He is trusted and genuine to the vast majority of people. What he does is very interesting because of him as an individual, and because he could be a trend-setter. - Louis Gray

glad to read this - i have earned some money with amazon and others and i wouldn't risk losing that income stream by using my own affiliate codes to buy. I sure as heck will help others buy thru them tho :) and yes, i wish Amazon's cookies would last as long as the others at cj.com etc. http://planet5d.com - the best canon 5D2 site on the planet :) - planetMitch

UPDATE: Robert, we are ALL consumers. Why not go through each others links? I seek out bloggers, someone I know could use it, any time I'm buying online as a thank you for their efforts. - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, so here goes. RS in my book doesn't have to be unbiased about a product on Amazon he affiliate links to, because there are usually plenty of other reviews to read about the product in question. Read them and then make up your own mind. And Robert, keep the money - you took the time and trouble to write the article, review, whatever. - Richard Williams

Here's another idea: Why don't we set up a master thread for Amazon affiliate links, and you can buy from your favorite FriendFeeder? :-) - Louis Gray

Richard: I didn't even write a review. I just noted that Amazon is sold out. So, I haven't made a single dollar off of this yet (Amazon only pays out when they ship a product). That said, who wants my money? I'll cancel my order and buy again with someone else's code. Louis? Now that I know I can't use my own code I'd rather SOMEONE get the money from my purchase. - Robert Scoble

Louis: that would be fun! - Robert Scoble

@AJ: Either of those services good for Canadians? Otherwise, I'm stuck with Amazon anyway. - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

Louis: absolutely there will be a push to make money with these things. If I'm laid off saving a few bucks when buying things will be a big deal. I can see an "affiliate club" could be a big deal. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, kind of thing. - Robert Scoble

@Chris: Yes they have Canadian programs but check out the sites and look at the terms. - AJ Kohn

@Louis: Fantastic idea! - AJ Kohn

Just use your wife's code Robert. - Tom Mancino

Robert, if you get laid off... let me know. I have some ideas. :-) - Louis Gray

FWIW - it's pretty tough to catch people who purchase through their own affiliate links. I'm not advocating that you do so, but the reality is it's often more expensive to find this activity rather than let it occur. In my experience (running and managing affiliate programs) only a few high abusers are caught. [edit] Perhaps it's gotten easier to detect of late, I'm a few years away from it now. - AJ Kohn

Man, I'm being pulled in 9 directions at home. I want to have this discussion very much though. Kids come first, hope your interest remains. Thanks for round 6,000 of cool discussions here. Appreciated. {| :~) - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

[edit339est]Gray, your proposal for affiliate links for FFers was similar to what I was thinking in the shower: a page from one's blog where all their affiliate links are posted alongside any relevant reviews and thumbnails. - coldbrew

Well, I need money for my 168 Project :) Go here: http://whoisthewatchmaker.blogspot.com/ and you can find my link on that page.... I think :) - Mike Shields

ha ha... you are unbelievable.. so you get caught red handed in your words.start this thread saying louis "missed" the real point..(deflect) then tell others to break TOS... wow.. you have the arrogance to say if you weren;t willing to be seen as some idiot "we" wouldn't learn...now you are trying to look smart and deflect the bad side, by saying... loook who wants my order... unreal! you just went down in my estimation.. but who gives a shit what I think. Im just some stupid person who cant read urls. - Rob Sellen :o)

easy, this isn't personal - coldbrew

Scoobie, this has been around a long time, go to fatwallet, sign up, use the links, get fatcash. - Morgan Warstler

Changing the subject - what if an affiliate link in a tweet or a FriendFeed item is disguised via tinyurl or some such link shortening service? Yes, once the link's resolved, you'll see the "disclosure" that this is an affiliate link, but such disclosure will not be visible on the original tweet. Would that be considered misleading? For example: http://tinyurl.com/whatevi... - Ontario Emperor

If I had 50,000 followers generating affiliate revenue, I wouldn’t have to order through my own links for any other discount. ;-p - mtlb

this is much more direct Yeah hindsight is 20/20, and I’m sure @scobelizer would have given full disclosure if he had been aware of what the situation was to turn into. But in the grand scheme of it all Robert Scoble is still a super genuine guy, who I believe doesn’t harbour a corrupt bone in his body. He made a teensy mistake, but then who hasn’t and who can say they wouldn’t have overlooked the same thing in those circumstance. Would Robert Scoble really give up being King of the internet for a Kindle? - sofarsoShawn

Has anybody mentioned that Wil Shipley has made gobs of money from Amazon affiliate royalties via his Delicious Library cataloging software? It doesn't cost you any more/less to buy something from an affiliate link, so what's the big deal? Why does there need to be disclosure? The real story is nobody could figure out how Scoble could capitalize on his huge audience. Geez. The guy consumes and produces more information in a day than most do in a month. Let him make a buck off his investment. - Paul Reynolds

Robert: Set up an Afiliate Store (ala Gruber http://astore.amazon.com/daringf...) and link to it then there's nobody accusing you of being sneaky... I heard you encoded subliminal tweets that make us want to buy stuff. No wait, that was the plot of the Josie & The Pussycats movie. My bad. - Paul Reynolds

lol paul +1 for dropping in a josie & pussycats reference - mike "glemak" dunn

Set one up for him.(without him asking).To support the Scoble Family (maybe put Milan through College one day) http://www.familyaffiliatestore.com/Scoble... Thanks Louis for the idea. Hope to create them for everyone who wants one and put all their links in one spot. Any help and suggestions are appreciated. - Jonathan

Do we have a consensus yet on the rights/wrongs of affiliate linkage? I need to know how to proceed here :) - MiniMage TKDteacher of FF

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/things-... - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

Mini .. have you read my post? - Tyler (Chacha)

I disagree with this post, I'll discuss here: http://friendfeed.com/e... - Bwana ☠

Bwana that's so awesome! - MVB (Grinch of FF)

Go for it Robert. I don't have a problem with it - Michael McGimpsey from twhirl

I can't let this post go without pointing to Merlin's amazon store http://www.merlinmann.com/amazon... and _his_ style of full disclosure: http://bit.ly/htuafc ~If you've already seen this, raise your hand~ - Micah Wittman

Micah, I thought about posting that one instead of Gruber's store. :o) - Paul Reynolds

Also for outright, the title of Louis' Blog post was itself incendiary and borderline libel, how now that all the ducks were in a row you could plan to take advantage of a "FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy" as though it was some grand plot you'd been anxiously waiting, rubbing your greedy hands for. So what's the big scheme Robert I want in? ~ this is old news - sofarsoShawn

i would not even know how to 'sign out' of my own affialiate like as I visit amazon very often as well as for my items on amazon. I expect amazon just to strip out what was bought with the same email address as the affiliate code I am using - I think we can expect that much simple logic from them :) - Nicole Simon

Shawn, you said, "the title of Louis' Blog post was itself incendiary and borderline libel", and I would have to disagree. The title consisted of who (Scoble) the verb (starts) where (FriendFeed Twitter) and what (monetization). If I had wanted to be incendiary, I would have used adjectives, or focused on the lack of disclosure and made noise about it. I didn't. I would tend to believe your conclusion is in the minority. - Louis Gray

Robert Scoble

People should lay off Jim Goldman a little bit. Senior execs at Apple didn't even know the truth about Jobs' health.

January 16, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Louis Gray, Greg Birch, Jeff P. Henderson and 7 other people liked this

How do you know that? - Dustin Curtis

9 more comments

I've been doing some digging and people who worked directly with Jobs didn't even know the truth about his health until they got an email. So, I could see getting mislead by sources. That said, Goldman's mistake was going after Gizmodo in a personal way. I learned an important lesson there: you can never be sure of the real story. - Robert Scoble

Remember when I was on John Edwards' plane and he was sitting with his mistress right in front of me? I had no clue. The story you are presented and the story that's the truth are often two separate things. - Robert Scoble

Robert that is so true. And, folks will dynamically mod a story, if there's wiggle room, as they see how it's going. - Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct

That said, getting access to Apple is HUGE for a media business. Oh, and there's something else behind CNBC's attacks on Gizmodo too. Can you guess what it is? - Robert Scoble

As much of a Neg Hype magpie that I am, I'll accept your request. I will totally give Goldman the benefit of a doubt, since he's been kind -- yet OBJECTIVE -- about my clients. - Sue Radd

Sue: Goldman does deserve some ire for his attacks. He thought his sources were unbeatable. They were not. He shouldn't have gotten so arrogant. It's easy to get arrogant in this business, especially if you have insider access the way Goldman does. - Robert Scoble

probably because of the overhype people have been giving steve jobs in the first place. poor guy needs his peace. - Terry O'Fee

Hey Robert: I'm just trying to make sense of this Dan Lyons v. Goldman thing. And how much is truth versus media one-upsmans-ship. I really enjoyed Lyons' analysis of the whole sitch, and his "Emperor (read: 'SV Media') Has No Clothes" post. Thought it was gutsy. But..I always have to ask.. How much of this is reportage artifact? (And I use the term artifact very distictly.) - Sue Radd

Sue: everyone loves taking down someone with a satellite truck. Fake Steve Jobs (er, Dan Lyons) loves taking down people. It's how he gets well known. Dan Lyons starts with facts, but stretches them to the utmost to make a point and to create a media storm. Just like he has here. So, there's a bit of both truth and one-upsmanship. - Robert Scoble

@Scoobie, Dan Lyons is a great writer. The other guy is a dime a dozen. - Morgan Warstler

Robert Scoble

@HighTechDad my cell phone number is always on my blog but it is +1-425-205-1921

January 11, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

WorldofHiglet, David Feng and bcultral liked this

Scoobie, I KNEW it was you, stop calling! - Morgan Warstler

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Remember, when you call Scoble, none of this "Hi, how are you?" stuff. Get right to the point. - Ken Sheppardson

+1 Ken Sheppardson - Ken Stewart | ChangeForge

801-853-8339 here - Jesse Stay

very cool Robert making yourself accessible..very cool dude.... - bcultral

Ken: you got it! There's only one thing worse than fake chit chat on IM: fake chit chat on the phone. - Robert Scoble

So, how are you... - WorldofHiglet

I survived Costco. Settling in for an email of playing with Milan interspersed with friendfeed and windows 7. Avoiding looking at my email because I have so many unanswered it makes me ill. - Robert Scoble

..you realise that 1) you answered me when I asked how you were 2) you made a Freudian slip and said 'Settling in for an *email* of playing..." instead of *evening* 3) leaving your email is therefore sensible and necessary 4) I wanted to have a list because apparently it's all the rage on FF at the moment 5) you survived Costco on a Sunday (amazing!) 6) let's never fight again. - WorldofHiglet

Hugh MacLeod

Young, white and super skinny? We don't buy it, women tell advertisers http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeand... cc: @rickmurray

January 10, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

MiniMage TKDteacher of FF liked this

Hugh, that is not quite right, what they say is they respond to someone just like them in all 3 categories. What that means logically is that if you can't do dynamic advertising, use young white and super skinny, because that's women's second favorite after themselves. - Morgan Warstler

Rafe Needleman

Thanks to iPhone autocorrect, I just sms'd my wife that I had a nice flute. Flite, you dope!

January 7, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Darren Heydon liked this

is it not spelt flight or is flite another americanism that being a brit i am not aware of - Iain

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maybe u did mean to say you had a nice flute? - Stephanie_Thankful

Flite is one character shorter than flight. I do what I can to conserve - Rafe Needleman from twhirl

Rafe, the question is: does she agree? - Morgan Warstler

John Furrier

i need a life coach since @1938media has one

January 7, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

I thought I was your life coach - Morgan Warstler

John Furrier

Loic Lemur doesn't live in silicon valley - just read his post.. i don't think loic understands silicon valley

December 14, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Noah Kent, Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah, Morton Fox and Morgan Warstler liked this

+1 - Morgan Warstler

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Loic lives in San Francisco, technically 45 miles from Silicon Valley. - Robert Scoble

i thought his post was funny especially the part the generalization of silicon valley people and how they work.. pretty funny - how's your family doing? - John Furrier

here is his comment: "Don't even think about starting a conversation in Silicon Valley by "how was your week-end" or "how are your kids", they all want you to go straight to the point and no time to lose.." - John Furrier

You think maybe he was generalizing to try to make the point, and didn't mean it literally? - Ken Sheppardson

John: yeah, he got that part wrong, although maybe he's talking to over busy bloggers. Arrington does do that kind of stuff cause he is always paranoid about missing the next story. Family is doing great. Milan woke me up at 6 a.m. and we played all morning. It is great to be home. - Robert Scoble

Ken: of course that's the case. How did Loic launch Seesmic? He came over my house. We took him to dinner. Then we drank a bottle of my best wine. Then he showed us Seesmic. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Yeah, it was a rhetorical question. ;-) - Ken Sheppardson

Also, I think you really can't possibly appreciate that Silicon Valley isn't the insider's club that everybody thinks it is unless you live here. - Ken Sheppardson

there are many people in silicon valley who have families and family values...I've been in technology for over 20 years yeah people are busy but many value family and having a good weekend... - John Furrier

Ken: I lived there all but eight of my 43 years on earth. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Sorry, I was making another joke. Need to start using <irony></irony> or something :-) Are you counting Half Moon Bay? I'd say there's a hard western border to Silicon Valley at Skyline...Or maybe the San Andreas fault...and a northern border at 92, so now that I'm in SF I don't consider myself an Valleyer. Then again, it's really just sort of a state of mind. - Ken Sheppardson

Ken: Alan Cooper told me 10 years ago that Silicon Valley is not a place, but is a state of mind. But, yeah, I should have made it 10 cause technically I'm a few miles outside the valley now. :-) - Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble

@loiclemeur is laughing all the way to the bank. Every year he has controversy. And attendance grows the next year.

December 13, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Franz, Marcel Weiß, Timo Heuer and 23 other people liked this

How many controversies have there been at LeWeb? Let's see, there's the Ben Metcalf/Mena Trott incident. Then there's the Sarkozy/Sam Sethi/Arrington incident. I seem to forget some of the others. I remember I caused an incident one year by sucking on stage. Any others? - Robert Scoble

32 more comments

The bad thing about these controversies is no one remembers the other good speakers. - Robert Scoble

This is all over http://www.techmeme.com - Robert Scoble

I forgot all about your horrible performance back then, thanks for reminding me. And yes, it feels like an old friend to have that scandal again, though with twitter it is much more fun to watch from the outside. ;) - Nicole Simon

Just be grateful something good came out of the LeWeb. - Morgan Warstler

Publicity, publicity...my friend! Loic is a master of it! :o) - Susan Beebe

my thoughts - http://www.nickhalstead.com/2008... - Nick Halstead

Nicole: yeah, it's one of the things I learned. When you get invited to Paris to go to a conference you can't go see the city and expect to do a decent job on stage. This time I didn't see one sight, which bummed me out. But I did play Solitaire for 10 minutes, which got into the Guardian. Sigh. - Robert Scoble

however there is only so many times he can act like this before people just see through the act and stop bothering - Anthony Feint

Agree with Susan, I think we are being manipulated ;)... Similar to the old Arrington vs Winer posts on TC, just smart marketing. The sad part, is that we all know it but we are actually the one helping it. - Jeremy Chone

@Robert: Just read Loics post http://www.loiclemeur.com/english... What do you think of his point that Meetic is european and not worthy of an american? Just wondering. - Roberto Bonini

BTW, Robert, you do not have lot of controversies around you? I am watching your videos on fastcompanyTV and your all nice, smiling, and asking good questions. Do something, be condescending, insult someone, get sued, sue, ... do anything before you become the BetaMax of the new media generation. - Jeremy Chone

Jeremy: you are not the only one who suggests that I become an asshole to take my work to another level. I just can't do it. - Robert Scoble

Don't think he quite meant that, Robert. - Roberto Bonini

Yeah, Robert. Drunk tweet, get caught on film in the shower by Valleywag, do something to get yourself noticed! Oh, wait... - MVB (Grinch of FF)

Roberto: causing fights to happen means being an asshole, generally. Pissing people off, etc. Note how this all happened. Arrington impuned an entire continent. That's why we are talking about him. That means he probably won't get invited back to France anytime soon. Me? I don't have the skills to play that game. If it means the game isn't for me, oh well. I'd rather play it my way than some other way. - Robert Scoble

I would much rather say what I feel and for people to stomp working about pissing off other people and just move on with life - Justin Yost

Mark, I think I know the guy ;P - vijay

Mark: good point! - Robert Scoble

But don't these controversies turn people off? LeWeb is a fairly local conference for me but I just couldn't be bothered going. It has nothing to do with Loic's organisation, it just seems few really interesting & useful items come out of these conferences. - Steven Cains

Roberto: Meetic is a long way from being a global brand. I think we're all missing where the real global brands will come from: China. - Robert Scoble

Robert - you really are impressed with China... that's interesting. I think that's great as the Chinese are really hard workers and have excellent values as a culture. Also, makes me sad as I watch our country decline everyday to new low levels... - Susan Beebe

Susan: China is the new global superpower. Over the next 20 years that will be apparent to everyone. - Robert Scoble

ok, Robert, assuming you're right (which I do) and two good chums are having a fake fight to impress the girls, why would you call everyone over to quad to take a look? - David Semeria

Robert, I wouldn't doubt that for a second. I launched my business in 1996, then launched my computer hardware line in 1997 and it was all based on my Chinese partners in City of Industry (LA) & Beijing, China... awesome people!!!!! I could NOT have had the awesome success I had without them... I have HUGE respect for the Chinese They have excellent work ethic, smart, fast, savvy negotiators, and always understand the customer is #1 - Susan Beebe

I'm wondering though: how real is this tiff? It smells slightly manufactured, and although I believe Loic is acting fairly, I can't say the same for the other party - Duncan Riley

@Robert: I was actually half joking. This is the reason why I enjoy watching your TV shows and Blog. The sad truth, is that the blog industry is nothing more than the evolution of the current media industry, and consequently answer to the same rule: "emotional content" drives more audience than "quality content". Mike, Loic, and other bloggers just instinctively know how to create emotional content. - Jeremy Chone

time to take the gloves off; this is a poor excuse of a brawl - I really wonder how muck Mike sticks it to Loic behind the veil - Bob Sonin

@Robert, @Roberto: About pissing off an entire continent: I think this is just ignorance and arrogance. Airport travelers tend to think that they know a country or continent just by stopping at one of their airports. Then they feel entitled to share their "experience", which is usually nothing more than cliche they read or heard somewhere else, as the generic truth. This is how ridiculous or old cliches get perpetuated (e.g, French people work less, most American never traveled, ...). - Jeremy Chone

controversy pays - old media in the UK certainly knows that. They try to turn everything they cover into either a) a scandal b) something to be scared of. It is sometimes so odd it is almost funny, blowing sky high something that sounds like nothing more than an honest mistake. I for one almost never learn much of substance from that kind of hyperbole, and I think there is no need to needle people to get good stuff. - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Jeremy: keep in mind that Arrington lived in Europe for a while and I've been there about a dozen times now. Heck, my 15-month-old son has been to Europe three times already. So, we know a bit more about the topic than we generally can communicate in a five-minute speech or a 800-word post. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Point taken, I will try to read between the lines next time. BTW, I have been leaving in SF for 10 years and do not plan to go back to Europe anytime soon, so, I am not taking the defense of one continent over the other. Just saying that the "2 hour lunch cliche" TC argument (in the "Joie De Vivre" post) to explain why Europe is not as competitive as the US is a little bit simplistic and does not show a great understanding of the reality. This is just my opinion though, I might be wrong. - Jeremy Chone

I also think posting a poll asking people whether Arrington should be "allowed" back was very childish. Loic needs to get over his own ego. - Anthony Feint

Yep. This original comment is dead on. If you really don't like Jerry Springer, then TURN IT OFF. If you really want to vote down this tactic, UNFOLLOW both @techcrunch and @loiclemeur. I did. They won't know it and won't care, but that's not why I tune out noise. I tune it out for my own sake. - michael silverton

Robert Scoble

@zanade I no longer believe in following more people than follow you. I think that was a mistake. Being choosy is much more important.

December 8, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Fa La La La Lindsay, Paul Papadimitriou, ThrashingStick and 13 other people liked this

about time you realized this. - Phillip Stewart

36 more comments

Phillip I realized it a long time ago. I've been saying it over and over again but no one listens. - Robert Scoble

Scoobie, that's not what you have been saying. - Morgan Warstler

Yeah, see you're following only 21,112 people now. Slacker. - JD Lasica

Morgan: that is not true. For at least six months I've been telling people that it's not important how many followers you have, but that it's important to follow smart people. THAT means being choosy. - Robert Scoble

And, better yet, watch what I've been doing on FriendFeed. I have 22,100 followers but am only following about 5,000. That's been my policy since February. - Robert Scoble

ONLY 5000, well, that can't be an unmanageable amount of data being spewed at you. - Phillip Stewart

Phillip: you can watch just how unmanageable it is here: http://friendfeed.com/scoblei... - Robert Scoble

I follow those with a good "signal-to-noise" ratio. - Rob Michael (Atmos Trio)

Phillip, Scoble has clones, they all share collective consciousness. Each Scoble only needs to read about 20 connections/feeds per day. Only the 5 head clones get to attend conferences. - Enrique Gutierrez

Phillip: but what you can't see is I have a list with fewer than 200 people on it that provide a high amount of signal to noise. If you appear on this page a LOT then you'll get on this smaller list: http://friendfeed.com/scoblei... that's my page of all the things I "Like." It also proves that I manage the data being spewed at me just fine, thank you very much. - Robert Scoble

Yeah the former just doesn't scale. - Eric Florenzano

I love the idea of media snacking Robert and am now much more relaxed about missing things. If they're good someone will Like them, or comment, and they go back to the top. - Nicola Quinn

But you have to create that "likes" list. It may help you find things that you have seen before, but it doesn't change the fact that when you subscribe to 5000 people's feeds you can't keep up with what your close friends are doing. They get flooded out by all the other people you are subscribed to. - Phillip Stewart

@scoble you said some days ago: "For the past several months I've been following EVERYONE who shows up on my view. Those are participants. People who click like. People who leave comments." So is your measurement of smart people the participation degree??? - Peter Hoffmann

Phillip you are absolutely 100% TOTALLY WRONG. You really need to learn how FriendFeed works. Especially the part about lists. I always check my family and close frend's lists first. - Robert Scoble

Peter: yes. But that is far from following everyone who follows you. Look at my numbers. 5,000 followed. 22,000 following. I'm very choosy about who I add to FriendFeed. I have an algorithm. :-) - Robert Scoble

Peter: yes. I've found that smart people participate here. If they prove that they are not smart they earn a block. But notice that only 200 go into my top member's list. That's why FriendFeed is scalable. - Robert Scoble

I think 5000 is much more doable in FF than twitter or FB. Hide and rooms make it possible to slice the info in different ways. - berkay

Can I say generally, being choosy, following signal to noise, smart people...all part of the maturation of social networking is it no. Personally, I'll be culling some of people I follow too. I don't want numbers just for the look, I'm more interested in quality. - Paul Roberts

Ah, I see, you can group the people you are subscribed to on friendfeed. I just subscribe to friends and a few interesting people, so I have not had to use that. Wouldn't that mean that you mainly ignore subscriptions that aren't in favorites/personal? - Phillip Stewart

I follow just a little more than the amount of followers I have. I don't auto follow back. I choose. - Michael

"Wouldn't that mean that you mainly ignore subscriptions that aren't in favorites/personal?" - That's my take on Groups as well, though I don't use them. - Enrique Gutierrez from twhirl

FriendFeed is a good platform to share your idea to people who a care about or interest in you。So when you update some content form other webservice，they can feedback you if this content they interest in。i agree your words about“believe in ... follow you”，but don't agree just follow 5000 people。sometimes i follow people because their certain hobby or content i interest in。touch with different people may help you explore the world better，5000 is a bad number，Robert Scoble should UP the numeber，haha! - jedorstar

following smart ppl is more imp. But, there seem to be patting on the back as to number of followers one has. That's so high school IMO. - Moushumi Kabir

It's not about following the same number of people that follow you, it's about following interesting people. - Amit Morson

Interesting itself is relative. What interests me or is important to me, may not be the same to the next person. - Moushumi Kabir

Scoble: So what's your algorithm to filter your top 200. I'm still waiting for a software solution to do this based on my likes of the past. - Peter Hoffmann

Leather Donut: over on Twitter I have not followed very many people this year while more than 20,000 have followed me. This is NOT revisionism. I had a huge change in following strategies earlier this year and asked @ev to turn off the autofollower. - Robert Scoble

it's all about what you are looking for. :) - Moushumi Kabir

Yeah I agree. I think its important to choose who you follow. Or at least unfollow people who aren't adding anything to your experience - Anthony Feint

media snacking on ff is much easier than twitter. If you miss something on twitter you miss it for good (unless it is really good RT) but on ff, it keeps coming back for a second or third.... look - Alistair (alpinefolk)

That's true. Content retention is important. - Bhavishya Kanjhan

w00t - signal to noise baby, signal to noise.... not saying that all of those people dont have something worth while to add to the conversations, just saying that we need to prioritize what (and who) is important to us within different contexts - for instance, if I didnt randomly check twitter yesterday afternoon I never would have seen your tweet about dinner - I should have seen that no matter how many people I follow, but in order to do that would have to stay on twitter all day to stay up to date - Chris Heuer

S/N is important, but also that there be enough overlap in interests to be relevant yet enough difference to get new stuff. - DGentry

I am following way too many people... need to gleen my twitter, FF, FB, LI gardens sooon ...too much noise, not enough signal. Thank God for the "list" features we have on most of those sites. twitter and LinkedIn are way behind on organization... hurry up guys! - Susan Beebe

It's about who you pay attention to, not who you follow. - Jesse Stay

Jesse just said my words exactly! - Paul Papadimitriou

Robert Scoble

@hardaway over on FriendFeed said I should mention my sponsors, like Seagate, more and explain what they do. When is it over the line?

December 7, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Tyson Key and Ontario Emperor liked this

The only issues I see are (a) not disclosing a sponsorship relationship, and (b) using sponsorship deals to change the nature of your conversation. When @1938media did his K Mart post, he (a) disclosed the sponsorship, and (b) talked about video cameras, which makes sense for him. I can't see him blogging about cookware... :) - Ontario Emperor from fftogo

Note to self: distrust hardaway - Morgan Warstler

Robert Scoble

PR people who send me email after I read about them on Google Reader piss me off. OneRiot I'm talking about you. Email inbox cluttered up.

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

krist80, MVB (Grinch of FF), Susan Beebe and 6 other people liked this

How do they know you read about them...? - Timo Heuer

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guess he mailed them about it :p - Pascal

Timo: they should ensure all bloggers learn about them at same time. Favoritism sucks. It pisses me off. It pisses off others when I get scoops. It's not good PR and rubbing it in by sending me email (which demonstrates they still hope I'll write about them) pisses me off even more. - Robert Scoble

And give me a break. I see everything on FriendFeed and Google Reader, often within minutes of it being posted. You should ASSUME I will see another blogger writing about your company. Not to mention but if you are really good you'll get on TechMeme within an hour and if I get the email after that you'll look really stupid and I'll stop listening to you. - Robert Scoble

@Scoobie, as a test, why not announce you wont cover a company if their PR contacts you? Just go companies->Scoobie ONLY for a month, see how it works. I have no idea of the results, but I'd like to see it. - Morgan Warstler

shame that a few bad apples make our industry look bad... - Adam Singer

Morgan: I've even gotten more drastic. I've cut way back on blogging and spent a lot more time on FriendFeeding and Twittering. It probably is a bad investment, but then it's a lot more fun for me and at the end of the day that matters a whole lot. - Robert Scoble

You guys should be sending them to http://PitchEngine.com like Brogan does. You get them via RSS feed instead of 15 different ways :) have them tag their pitches with your name u open what u want, when u want to. Lots of journalists already doing this... - Jason Kintzler

Robert - I like your twitter, FF, blog content ratio and how you're engaged on all 3 sites... I gain lots of value from all 3... thanks! :) BTW, that PR dude is lame! - Susan Beebe

Robert Scoble

They have Cold Stone Creamery in China. One difference? They juggle the ice cream in the air for you. I'm still trying to figure out the difference between China and US. Other than some web sites don't work, not much.

November 7, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Mike Reynolds, Bill Jackson, Steve Rubel and 13 other people liked this

Hmm does the ice cream have melamine in it though? - Brian Sullivan

30 more comments

Pics! - Spencer

Interesting - isn't it true that a majority of Asians (a majority of the world in fact) is lactose intolerant? - Brian Sullivan

A majority of Chinese are lactose intolerant and most don't even know it. Milk is for cows. Period. - Carolyn Chan

take your time: there's four or five thousand years more historical development there. - tom matrullo

I didn't bring my camera, but it looked pretty much like the American one. Brian, don't know. - Robert Scoble

Are you loving China? Isn't is fascinating! - Francine Hardaway

Brian: I don't know if the ice cream had melamine in it, but I doubt it. - Robert Scoble

please tell me you have video of chinese kids juggling ice cream in cold stone creamery... - Chris Hollander

wikipedia "The frequency of decreased lactase activity ranges from nearly 5% in northern Europe to more than 90% in some Asian and African countries" - Stowe Boyd

Chris, sorry, I didn't bring my camera equipment to dinner. - Robert Scoble

Are you/did you get jetlag? The Chinese love touristy things like Cold Stones as much as anyone. I had the same Melamine thought Brian did too! Also, I hear raw vegetables are pretty much out, as in some places they fertilize with human waste.Other then that though, I would love to try all the great food I'm sure you'll get to see. - Will Higgins™

Robert. I was in Shanghai in September. I had my mind blown away by the number of myths I held that were destroyed as a result. If you get a chance make sure you go to Hangzhou for a walk. - Jon-Paul Bussoli

Carolyn -- my understanding is that most of northern European descent (and descendants of a few other herding peoples around the world) are lactose tolerant as adults. Most infants everywhere are also lactose tolerant to age 4 as well. The cheese/milk related diets around the world came to prominence because of the imperialism of northern Europeans. - Brian Sullivan

The food in Shanghai is too sweet for me. - Jauder Ho

Oh, and here's a good sign of what's different in China. http://bit.ly/j64K - Jauder Ho

@Scoobie, this is a more profound comment than ANYTHING you said about politics. It also happens to be true. China rocks. Stick to your knitting. - Morgan Warstler

Will: I have had very little jet lag. Gregory: we talked at length about melamine tonight. If you eat at Western Restaurants most of their ingredients have been imported, so risk is low. Of course, if I drop dead in a week you know the truth. :-) - Robert Scoble

Morgan: hey, I predicted the political outcome quite accurately long before it happened and made $200 as a result. Politics and tech are pretty intertwined, so you'll hear more, although I'll try to keep it down to a minimum. I'm pretty tired of talking about politics. Oh, except, EVERYONE I meet here is an Obama fan, which is driving my producer batty because he supported McCain. I think it's quite funny. - Robert Scoble

Robert: don't be a wuss, eat out - the best places to eat are the local shops, especially the dirty ones'. Go eat of the street food. - clarke thomas

clarke: I will, although Rocky isn't into it. Last time I was here I got very sick at a Microsoft dinner, so there! (then I went to work for them which got back at them, I'm sure! Heheh). - Robert Scoble

genieyclo: the myth is partially correct. You need to be careful of where you eat here and avoid some foods. So far so good. - Robert Scoble

@robert, not even a cameraphone? you've changed... its like i don't even *know* you anymore!?!?! - Chris Hollander

Chris: my cameraphone has a dead battery. I forgot my other camera, sorry. - Robert Scoble

i can confirm Robert has very little jet lag. he only knocked out for a little while in the cab yesterday. heh. it's a ton of fun having him and Rocky in China. - Christine Lu

How many people have you seen that are overweight? I guess not many. That'll be a big difference between the countries. - Toby Graham

Toby: not many overweight people are here, but more than last time. The country is getting wealthier and is importing more western eating habits. The kids are overweight here, too, albeit not at same rates as US ones. - Robert Scoble

genieyclo: You do have to be careful. In places like China or Mexico, locals have built up immunities to bacteria that you may not necessarily have. So no street food unless you want to chance being very very sick. - Jauder Ho

My friend from Beijing always cautioned when eating in China, "don't eat any meat without a back bone in it." hmmm - Susan Beebe

if you tip them will they sing like in the U.S. stores? - Randy Ksar from twhirl

Randy: yes they do sing. It's just like US. - Robert Scoble

Robert: In English? - Carolyn Chan

Mathew™ one of a kind

So now what happens on Friendfeed? The entire time I've been here a large part of it has been politics. I...I...I'm going to have to get used to something new. What will I do!

November 4, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Kol Tregaskes, Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah, mjc and 4 other people liked this

[like] - Morton Fox

9 more comments

Back to geeky stuff. - Robert Scoble

see http://friendfeed.com/e... - Kevin Johnson

We follow Mona and send her bacon links. :) - Daynah

OOOO! Wait! Does this mean that people may pay more attention to me! :P - Mathew™ one of a kind

I CAN HAZ LOLCATZ NAO? - Steven Perez

There's always "Mac vs. PC"... - Sprague D

don't give up the dream! keep arguing politics, just for funsies! - Jeremy Toeman

Surely you have other interests. Share them! - Fa La La La Lindsay

Trust me I do have other interest. I've been trying to share those, but well politics took over. Now I'm ready for some new stuff. - Mathew™ one of a kind

Thank god, the IQ of discussion will go up by +20 - Morgan Warstler

Robert Scoble

For the past 30 minutes I sat holding my son, Milan, listening to Obama. More than once I wiped a tear from my cheek.

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

Cee Bee, Kol Tregaskes, Roberto Bonini and 18 other people liked this

I wish i could watch the video.. kinda curious to know what words brought those tears ! - Saravanan

4 more comments

My wife and I were trying to contain them as well. We couldn't. - Jorge Escobar

So much power and warm words spoken so clearly that resonates with those who can relate and beyond that. - Ray Marr aka Knatchwa

I got caught once or twice..... Especially seeing Jesse Jackson with tears in his eyes was a catalyst for me - Rasmus Lauridsen

@Saravanan http://www.inquisitr.com/7363... - Steven Hodson

LOL. - Morgan Warstler

Anthony Citrano

Obama and the Runaway Train - http://online.wsj.com/article...

November 1, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Darren Heydon, Mike Reynolds, Atul Arora and 6 other people liked this

[Very good piece by conservative Peggy Noonan at WSJ...] - Anthony Citrano

2 more comments

Why? Why is this good? Because she grudgingly concludes that A Change Is Gonna Come? She slathers on the fake old memes about Democrats=Taxes, blithely derides Obama for being abstract and intellectual (as in, you know, "cold"). And tries to get away with the big lie that the last 2 years of the Clinton admin produced "great things" like welfare reform (as if WIC has ever been the same). Nary a mention of Gramm-Leach-Bliley. This was a curmudgeon grumbling her way towards exile self-piety. - Cole Jolley

@Cole, thta's just wrong. Peggy has been tacking the course through-out. - Morgan Warstler

No Cole, that's not why. You completely mischaracterize Noonan's thinking - and writing - on this over the past couple years. - Anthony Citrano from fftogo

Robert Scoble

I am looking for a profession with more job security - http://techwag.com/index...

November 2, 2008 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Nicholas James, Charlie Anzman, Jeff P. Henderson and 8 other people liked this

Tech blogs are disappearing. This is why I always kept my blog on wordpress.com and always insisted I had the rights to keep it. I'd blog whether I'm getting paid or not (and I proved just that during the last downturn). - Robert Scoble

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The DMV is always hiring! (bad joke) - Mona Nomura

Robert - smart idea, preserve your own online brand, content and ideas!! Mona - lol - Susan Beebe

I had a career with job security, the public service, it was like dying slowly - Trevor Cook

Aren't we all looking for that? ;-) - Kol Tregaskes

Nursing. - Cyndy

What does job security means anyway? - fbrunel

Heh, Chris - Mistletoe Glen

secure jobs are... well, they are more likely to suck awfully than those non-secure - Kirill Bolgarov

Job security is an illusion. - Rob Sterling

I'd say work in a bakery but I hear there's a high turnover rate... - MVB (Grinch of FF)

Rob Sterling, I agree, job security is an illusion... (unless you have a government job). Security itself is an illusion. None of know what is going to happen next. We work off probability and do the best we can. But nothing is secure. It all ends. - Steve Olson

why shouldn't tech blogging be a hobby? Too many people will do it for fun, right? - Morgan Warstler

After weeks of traveling and 'real world' conversation, I took an 'out of industry' job 2 weeks ago and limited my consulting to 2-4 hours a week and strictly for small business and individuals (that need help more than ever at a reasonable price). I didn't blog about it because of disclosure ... conflict of interest, etc. One thing I can say is it's GREAT to be out of the home office more often, spending more time with people and not as much time in 'the same chair'. No regrets. - Charlie Anzman

The Pepsi Cooler: Steve Rubel

Join Us In the Pepsi Cooler on Friendfeed - http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008...

October 27, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Tyson Key, Ray, Andrew Smith and 8 other people liked this

I am working with Pepsi as part of my job with Edelman Digital. We are thrilled to be assisting with this endeavor. In the future, PR agencies will need to step from behind the scenes and openly participate in social media with clients when appropriate. How do you feel about that? - Steve Rubel from Bookmarklet

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As a community marketing person (As well as a cola addict) it's inevitable, and fine as long as there is openess and transparency. - Badger Gravling

Incidentally, how do we square away Pepsi wanting 2 way social conversation on Friendfeed with a big hyperlink in the intro to the Terms and Conditions for Pepsi's own site? Does this mean that this outpost on Friendfeed is Pepsi territory now they've invaded? - Badger Gravling

Excellent move - will be very interested to see how this excercise develops. - Jon Mulholland

Dear Pepsi, could you be more specific about your "comment moderation" policies? I would be tempted to invest my time/attention here but not sure where you place limits of the conversation. I am not talking about trolls or profanity, but rather your readiness to hand out brand definition to users. Far from being naively optimistic here, ... but surprise me if you can. - Mindaugas Dagys

I would have agree with Steh Godin's take (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_b...) on Pepsis new logo. Namely: "So, when Pepsi and BestBuy start 'testing' logos, and proclaiming that a new logo might change their market share, I get nervous. You can't test a logo any more than you can test a first name. /.../ I guess the punchline is: take the time and... more... - Margus Palu

@Mindaugas Dagys -- our comment moderation will be limited to removing profanity or personal attacks. Also, we will monitor the room for common themes and try to address them as they pop up. . - Bart Casabona

Nice to be able to have a conversation here about the new branding effort. Just got my nice Pepsi Cooler package and am posting photos up on Flickr. Really liked the retrospective look at previous brand images. I'm curious to know what you're hoping to get out of the influencer campaign, versus traditional media. Especially since I'm a devoted Diet Coke drinker! - Charlene Li

Got my Pepsi Cooler package as well. Maybe I will use the iPhone for photos ;-) Steve Rubel - we have a discussion at Conversation Agent about PR agencies participating, as you probably know. Curious as well about the goal behind new logo... - Valeria Maltoni

I'm a huge fan of FriendFeed and it community, so I'm glad it was chosen as Pepsi's first step towards engaging in Social Media. It's also nice to see Pepsi employees participating and exciting to feel like I'm part of the new branding campaign. :) - Mona Nomura

Steve, why do "PR Agencies" need to participate? The value I see is when companies designate customer service reps to actively listen on friendfeed or twitter and step in and say, "I'm sorry you are having a problem with Brand X. We'd like to rectify that by giving you a replacement/refunding your money/improving our product." When PR gets involved it feels very false to me. - Laura Norvig

they are clearly going after Obama's market. McCain supporters should stop drinking Pepsi. - Morgan Warstler

@Valeria I will check out your post, thanks! - Steve Rubel

@Laura PR works best when it's the eyes/ears of a company, not just the mouth. We have more work to do as an industry but we're coming along! - Steve Rubel

Do I get some money for "Liking" this? No? Ahh, so what is in it for me to tell my friends about commercial rooms? - Robert Scoble

@Scoble No money, but I believe that the relative speed and openness of this room is what Naked Conversations was all about, no? Consider this for a moment - you and I are conversing openly in my client's room. That's new, for PR. - Steve Rubel

@Charlene Li - Hopefully we get a great story to tell about how we turned a devote Diet C--- drinker into a Diet Pepsi fan. Seriously, this is not a outreach campaign meant to drive placements or impressions but to engage in what we hope to be a continuing dialogue with influencers on how we should participate in this space. - B. Bonin Bough

Guest blog post about the new look from 22 year old Princeton grad. http://ping.fm/TcJxn - Cheryl Smithem

I'm still wondering how applicable terms and conditions from Pepsi's own site are to a conversation/room on Friendfeed? We're not in Kansas any more! - Badger Gravling

@Cheryl Smithem Thanks to you and your son for commenting. We believe a big piece of this space is around transparency which is why we rolled this out the way we did. This is exactly the type of feedback we were hoping for. - Josh Karpf

@Badger Gravling This is our first step into this space and how we approach terms and conditions will evolve. Please continue to point out key issues and better examples that we can use as reference moving forward. - Josh Karpf

@Josh Karpf No problem - not only do I work in social media, but it's for a large company (Bauer Media), so I'm aware of the need to evolve from a sound starting point, legal or otherwise - a Terms and Conditions would be fine, assuming more is needed than any applicable to Friendfeed anyway, but perhaps one written and aimed at Friendfeed users, rather than one that appears as if Pepsi have come and claimed this corner as their own? - Badger Gravling

I think you'd gain some credibility by linking to some of the negative reviews about the new branding that you've had over the last few days. - Ben Rowe

@Ben Rowe Thanks Ben. Totally fair point. There certainly is no shortage of feedback. - Josh Karpf

I think transparency is always a good thing - it's brave, it's honest and it wins loyalty whereas "wizard behind the curtain" PR tactics always feel vaguely manipulative at best (speaking as a PR flak myself). I'm curious to see how this evolves. Thanks for stepping out into this and inviting us along! - Katie Adams

@Steve - but why do *you* need to be here? if they are engaging us directly, what exactly is your role? - Jeremy Toeman

@Jeremy As a strategist on the Pepsi account, I would be here regardless - reading, moderating, advising, etc. So rather than be clandestine about it, Pepsi thought we should be open. Now that I am here, though, what role do you think I should play? - Steve Rubel

@Jeremy I have to say Steve was very cautious at first, for good reason, but we were very clear that all of our agency partners will be identified and participatory. - B. Bonin Bough

@Steve honestly, without a clear understanding of what Pepsi actually wants to get out of this, I can't answer that.. all i can say is having "the PR guy" around and actively participating makes me feel like this is just a "we paid our way into social media" effort. pls note - while i know we've disagreed on things before, this has nothing to do with you personally.. - Jeremy Toeman

@Jeremy we want this kind of feedback (and I recognize it's not personal). I will let Pepsi speak for themselves on their goals. I am really here as an observer and to facilitate. - Steve Rubel

@Jeremy I don't think it's really function specifc; PR/Marketing/Sales. It is shared space. He is our partner on this and while it's a little different from how other companies are approaching..we are thrilled to have him front and center. - Josh Karpf

@Jeremey Our objective is to open a place where we can have dialogue around social media strategies. In addition to participating in other spaces we are dedicated to making this place have meaning to the FriendFeed community. - B. Bonin Bough

@B. Bonin Bough “...how we turned a devote Diet C--- drinker into a Diet Pepsi fan.” As someone who lives this brand, a new logo/package design won’t do that. Never has. I’ve been drinking Pepsi for nearly four decades and for one reason only—taste. Everything from that point forward starts from there. Not that it’s always a requirement, but how many people tapped ahead of time were... more... - mtlb

(FriendFeed character limits doesn’t really facilitate conversation that well.) Anyway, Google “Pepsi’ and ‘social media’ or ‘new logo’ and gauge the responses. (While it’s easy to be mislead by the number of mentions, really listen to what’s being said. The classic PR mantra “Well, at least people are talking about it” only flies if you’re Paris Hilton.) - mtlb

If you haven't seen it, Shannon Paul has a nice writeup/video on this topic: http://veryofficialblog.com/2008... - Craig

Surprised this isn't tied into a Twitter account. The ability to see and push shorter comments to Twitter would bring more people into this room. Friendfeed conversations don't get noticed too easily from outside. - Brian Carter

I would love to see this on Twitter! I love the new look and I would love to see one up close and personal and to share this with my readers - I am the Editor in Chief of Kitten Lounge http://kittenlounge.onsugar.com and although this is a great site to post this, I agree with others that you're really going to have to use various Social Networks to get the word out as many people don't know about this and don't use FriendFeed. This should be on Twitter without a doubt! - Kimmie

newsjunk.com

[CNN]: Bush and Cheney cast ballots for McCain - http://x.techwheat.com/2Y6

October 24, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

"President Bush has cast his ballot in the 2008 election, spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday. He voted for John McCain, "of course," she said. Laura Bush, who also cast her ballot Friday, also voted for McCain, her spokeswoman suggested." - newsjunk.com

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Generallismo Francisco Franco is still dead. - teh Dork Knight aka Kenny

I didn't think felons could vote. - Chris Baskind

By the way, tomorrow I will offset Darth Cheney's vote with a flick of my early voting pen. Sit back, America. I've got this. - Chris Baskind

+1 Chris - Cyndy

@Chris, your polling place has changed. Actually the rules have changed, now for you to vote, you just need to lean outside your door sometime tomorrow and shout, "I'm soft as hell, and I'm going to just keep taking it!" - and your Obama vote will be recorded. - Morgan Warstler

Eric Rice

In a couple days, I'll have an Obama magnet on my car. I live in a McCain neighborhood. Let's see what happens!

October 23, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Mo Kargas, Aykut Karaalioğlu, Sofia and 8 other people liked this

CAR magnet btw, not like fridge one. - Eric Rice

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Hopefully...nothing? - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

park it in the garage! - Susan Beebe

Susan: And when driving... ? ;) - Eric Rice

There are McCain neighborhoods in California? ;-) - Josh Bancroft

Ha Josh, yes indeedy, in Silicon Valley no less. Obama's tax plan affects a LOT of highly paid people in CA. It's not unreasonable to see a family with a 250K income, esp since I recall 50K a year was the poverty line or some retarded thing like that. And also, Governator (R-CA). ;) - Eric Rice

50K a year was the poverty line? I...uh...wow. - EricaJoy

Someone tried to peel my Obama sticker off my car. - Robert Scoble

@Robert: The question is, was it because they didn't like Obama, or that they wanted the sticker for their own car ;) - AJ Kohn

I heard 100K was SilVal's poverty line? People here in NV are leaving each other's signs alone, although some punks wrote some graffiti on a neighbor's Obama/Biden sign yesterday morning. :( - Helen Sventitsky

there has been a lot of lawn sign vandalism in my Austin neighborhood-- on the left and right. people are really angry this election. sometimes i worry about that post-election. - Susan Scrupski

@AJ: they were just telling Scoobie to stick to shit he knows. - Morgan Warstler

I want one! As an Aussie I even tried to doante $50 to Obama. Something about.. election rules... outside dollars etc shame as the World wants Obama! - thomasrdotorg from twhirl

I hope your car doesn't get keyed, Eric. I've heard of that happening to a couple people. - Chris Taylor

which magnet did you choose? - deeje from twhirl

It's the limited edition round one that they've been pimpin the last week or so. - Eric Rice

The entire city where I live in CA is McCain Territory(sigh). I'd be more worried about what happens to your car and not whether or not the sticker will go missing. - Brandon

Here's what's going to happen: You're going to be 100% more awesomer than all of them. Boo-ya! - ::Kristen::

Brandon, no shit, you really ARE in McCain land. ::Kristen:: well duh :) - Eric Rice

The risk I won't take (although a HUGE FREAKING STATEMENT) would be driving the 08 Mercedes instead of the 05 truck. /smirk - Eric Rice

I've seen one, yes ONE, McCain/Palin sticker this election year. In the East Bay near San Francisco. The car was from Walnut Creek according the the license plate rim. In Oakland we say `The Midwest starts at the Caldecott Tunnel.' I don't think a McCain car would be keyed here...but definitely gawked at. - John Murray

Agreed, John, I used to live in Clayton/Walnut Creek area and that's dead on. - Eric Rice

Disclaimer for those local: I'm in Morgan Hill - Eric Rice

At the party store in El Cerrito, a bit North of Berkeley there are life-sized cutouts of McCain and Palin at the entrance to frighten the customers buying Halloween costumes. I wonder if the stores in Orange County, CA have Obama and Biden figures to frighten their local customers? - John Murray

John Furrier

i am reading all the blog networks sites with Adblocker up..techcrunch looks like swiss cheese.. ad blockers downloads millions a day

October 23, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Morgan Warstler liked this

i think they juke those stats - Morgan Warstler

Robert Scoble

Companies Got Funding Last Week? - http://regulargeek.com/2008...

October 19, 2008 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Nicholas James, Erhan Erdogan, Charlie Anzman and 7 other people liked this

You are surprised? No please really, take the time to chicken little the economy some more. You-can-do-eeeet! - Morgan Warstler

4 more comments

Morgan: go read the Wall Street Journal or watch CNBC. They are far more negative than I am. - Robert Scoble

Morgan, if you read the post you will see that it is not meant as surprise, just that very few people are reporting it. - Rob Diana

i know of two more companies with recent funding as well... will get announced in next few weeks - Jeremy Toeman

Jeremy: there were five funded last week. This week there'll be some acquisitions of some very profitable companies. - Robert Scoble

hey, that's fantastic news! - Zee.

Robert Scoble

@jonathanjoseph at our tweetup the other night we were drinking $2 wine and it's actually pretty good. So why go to a bar and drink $10wine?

October 16, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Vincent van Wylick and Mitchell Tsai liked this

Lots of good 1.25-2.00 Euro wine in Europe. God knows why it's so expensive in the US. Trader Joes used to have some not-bad $2 wine (forget whether the red or white was good, one sucked & the other was ok, probably the white was ok) - Mitchell Tsai

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hot chicks - Morgan Warstler

The cheap stuff is often the best - Michael McGimpsey from twhirl

In the end, it's always the company that matters. - Vincent van Wylick

you should drink water or live in a box (both free) according to this logic. - Jon Price

Two Buck Chuck!! aka Charles Shaw - Paul Reynolds

The cheap stuff is rarely the "best" It can be, however, perfectly drinkable wine. - Jeff Jones

ditto.. - krist80 from twhirl

How was your head the next morning? That's one reason for me at least. - Todd Hoff

Robert Scoble

Is adult industry recession proof? I met member of web team of adamandeve.com last night and she said "no" and told us that sales are down.

October 16, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Jeff (the マクダジ of FF), Ben Watson, mjc and 7 other people liked this

the adult biz has been getting the shaft by free internet pr0n for quite some time. pun intended. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

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retweet @drylight: @Scobleizer they are scaling back all over the place. orgy scenes now are single masturbation ones. they've hit hard times :D - Chris, Taskerrific Guy

no, but for the same reason Rizzn notes. The adult industry is taking 2.0 very hard (sorry for the pun...it's not intentional), and their revenues are crashing at rates bigger than the mainstream movie industry, at least from what I've been reading the last year. The use case/ swap argument is weaker: we'll always go and see movies on the big screen to some degree, but porn is usually consumed in the home, where the internet now rules - Duncan Riley

@Scoobie: porn approaches free as people are willing to both share and perform. - Morgan Warstler

sounds like they need distribution through Apple TV or NetFlix on demand. and more reasonable prices. - Jon Price

Adamandeve.com is a bad representation of the adult industry as well... you need to look at the amateur and webmodel market as well. - Soulhuntre

What, this is a shame. Not even porn goes untouched from the rumble in the industry *S* - ivanandersson

Adamandeve.com are way overpriced anyways. - Spencer

No. Take a look at the three month stock price for RICK. http://finance.yahoo.com/q... - Tom Wentworth

The adult industry weathered the shift to VHS in the 80s, and they'll weather this. - Mark Trapp

I heard on the news last night that Playboy was having a hard time with a drop in sales. - Fa La La La Lindsay

Morgan, right, I was gonna say, what's the discount version of porn? We can all use our imaginations... it's not *too* hard to replace.... - Kamilah Gill

Kamilah: +1 Nice :) - Brian Roy

Porn companies are having major piracy issues as well as UGP (user generated porn), including instant webcam services, popular in Japan and based out of the US. - Gigi

Does Zivity count as adult? If so, the amount of people the company just laid off doesn't bode too well. - Justin Davey

Gigi is on the right path - there is some recession drop expected in paid services across the board, but UGC and the RedTubes are driving sales down way faster, I bet...nothing is free media proof. - Ben Watson from twhirl

Morgan Warstler › Comments