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I think I'm in love. The Olympus EP-1 is almost erotically beautiful. I can't stop handling it. Can't wait to get the 50/1.4 on it. Too bad nothing reads the raw files yet.

August 6 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, Amy, Jason Griffey and 26 other people liked this

time to sell the 5D on ebay.... - John Hillestad

31 more comments

Why does each new camera need a new RAW format requiring a 'driver update' ? - Don Strickland

Geez. Kind of a problem if nothing reads RAW. Can't imagine shooting any other way. - Karoli

No bundled app that can handle the RAW files? So you can at least have them for storage and go from there until ACR, etc. handle Olympus' RAW format... - Holger Eilhard

It is a very good-looking camera. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

Here's the thread in the LR forums about EP-1 support: http://forums.adobe.com/message... - Holger Eilhard

The bundled app handles the ORF files, of course, but I really need Lightroom. - Leo Laporte

I understand that, using LR myself! :-) I'm just suggesting that you could still shoot RAW and let the bundled app take care of the conversion to JPEG until Adobe/Apple are ready. Then you still have the RAW files to play with, not just JPEGs that came from the camera. - Holger Eilhard

Okay but can I have the Canon 5D Mark II then :-) - Richard Bitting

Exactly what I'm doing - and shooting RAW+JPEG. Still an awesome camera. (Keeping the 5D though!) - Leo Laporte

Hope other manufacturers get a clue that we little rangefinder like cameras with interchangeable lenses. - Jon Winters

I won't give up my Nikon any time soon but that surely is a beautiful- and traditional-looking camera. - Akiva Moskovitz

I want this camera sooo bad. How are the HD videos on it? - tomit

The 720p video is excellent. You can see an example at http://leolaporte.smugmug.com/gallery... - Leo Laporte

Sorry, Leo. Yes, it looks very cool, but I am not aroused by looking at a camera. - Fleagle

Incidentally - NO rangefinder. You have to use the LCD. One real negative. - Leo Laporte

Fleagle - you have to hold it to be aroused. - Leo Laporte

Here is the direct link to Leo's video http://leolaporte.smugmug.com/gallery... - Bryan Lee

Leo: thats a cute Papillon BTW. - Bryan Lee

Papillon's are such great little dogs. We have 2. - tomit

I'll shoot some more dynamic video later. Saves as a Motion JPEG AVI file. - Leo Laporte

How long can the videos be? - tomit

2GB (that's an AVI limitation) so HD: 7min, SD: 14min - Leo Laporte

Ouch thats short! - Bryan Lee

Hmmm... Guess you can do multi shots with a large card and put them together. I think most videos I've done were made up of clips shorter than that. - tomit

Leo, there is an accessory VIEWfinder that attaches to the hotshoe. Not the same as a rangefinder but I wouldn't trade the EP-1's physical size for the optics necessary for a rangefinder. Very lustworthy bit of kit! - Antonio Yon

It's definitely pretty sweet hardware. Rumor going around that 2nd version will be out end of year with a VF. Seems rather quick to me but possibly something to wait for. The current VF that attaches to the hotshoe is only accurate with their 17mm f/2.8 lens btw. - ronin

I may pull the trigger on an EP-1, but I am hearing horror stories about the slow auto focus. Are you finding this a problem? Should I wait till version 2? - tomit

Is this the one Dvorak sings about? - Michael Foey

The specs for the E-P2 are out. What do you think? Are the improvements worth the extra $300? Luckily, the announcement came out the day was going to purchase the E-P1. Close call. - Robert Eden

The E-P2 at least has a viewfinder - I think that alone would make it much superior. - Brian Sullivan

I want to use one next to a Panasonic GF1 to see which I like better. - tomit

Curious if Leo thinks the upgrade to the E-P2 is worth the extra cash! - Robert Eden

Fee501st

Parallel Universe

September 18 - Comment - Like - Share

motownmutt, Mark "Mr Bolivious" J, demir and 20 other people liked this

This is awesome. LMAO! - Dave Friedel

6 more comments

haha! nice! - Veronica

Friendfeed: The shiny, happy version of 4chan - Fleagle

Great Scott! who is the gal? - earl wallace from twhirl

Earl: Veronica Belmont, she posted this earlier today http://ff.im/8laSE and some of us FF users photoshoped the image - Fee501st

That's funny. - Lon Cohen

Excellent! - George Brickner

she went gray skaly and there cut out what happened a calligrapher got to them - Gratten

Jay Rosen

Jay's controversy sorter: Loud, not legitimate (give it less coverage) Loud and legitimate (maintain coverage) Quiet but legitimate (increase coverage) Quiet, illegitimate (ignore entirely.) Use whenever you're having trouble deciding what a story is worth.

September 4 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Josette Torres, Lon Cohen, Meryn Stol and Miriam Gordon liked this

If only... - Lon Cohen

natasha

Twitter is the collective conciousness. The pulse of the web world. Our social playground. When it's disconnected, we feel deep loss.

August 6 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen liked this

Dave Winer

@markosm -- "breaking democracy" should be a crime, almost like treason.

August 6 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Andrew, Andrew Terry, Panayotis Vryonis and Lon Cohen liked this

Jay Rosen

Dan Rather calls on the White House to establish a blue ribbon commission to save journalism http://www.aspendailynews.com/section... Breaks into tears, as well.

July 31 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen, TodaSalud, Greg Guitarbuster and 10 other people liked this

An important thing to note here is his reasoning...it's NOT that "the Internet did it": 'Corporate and political influence on newsrooms, along with the conflation of news and entertainment, has created what Rather called “the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news.” ' - Ken Kennedy

23 more comments

A blue ribbon commission will fix everything, no doubt. - Leo Laporte

so sad.... shedding tears....words can't describe the..... feelings inside... not - Garmon Estes

+1 Ken - Darrell Bell from twhirl

Isn't press supposed to ensure a clean and orderly Gov't? Seems odd for press to ask Gov't to help clean themselves...but agree with Mr Rather that something is needed. - chipmason

I've got some bad news for Dan. CBS is a corporation. There's obviously going to be corporate influence. Maybe Dan's ideal news organization is one that doesn't have to worry about bottom line profitability. - Garmon Estes

Blue ribbon commission will help the unemployment problem a little. :) I'm not sure I want the fairness doctrine back but I wish that programs that purport to be news have their facts straight. Editorials and commentaries a clearly cited as such. No one company should own more than 25% of any media type (ie. radio, television) in a market that supports enough outlets. I do want a return... more... - Darryl Baker

all the boys from the times get together and leave...(shock). Start a blog network focused on their talents and BOOM. Problem not fixed over night but it will work itself out as it goes. - Braden Douglass

The obvious bias that todays press is showing toward Obama makes me sick to my stomach, that is why the press has lost credibility – and by extension customers. There is a VERY good reason why our founders did not include the press as a branch of government. Something like Rather is suggesting would completely undermine the whole idea of a free press. If the press wants to be saved they will start reporting unbiased news instead of partisan propaganda. - David C. Cooper

Imagine how many stories Rather could fake with government resources. - Rob Sterling

"The obvious bias that todays press is showing toward [ insert name of prominent political figure or entertainer here ] makes me sick to my stomach..." -- with that tweak of non-focus on the latest example, it sounds pretty similar to what Rather actually said: 'Corporate and political influence on newsrooms, along with the conflation of news and entertainment, has created what Rather called “the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news.” - Ken Kennedy

Ken, are you saying that the press was also biased toward Bush? Regardless, trusting a government commission to encourage a free press is like trusting a pedophile to babysit your kids. >.> - David C. Cooper

Please. Corporate influence has dumbed down and sleazed up the news? Trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator has dumbed down the news. What he should be saying is: television, radio and newspapers are run by corporations, and their desire to increase not just their audience size, but the percentage of their audience that is part of the young, "profitable" demographic, has resulted in the dumbing down and sleazing up the media in general, including the news. - Joel Bennett

Incidentally, that accounts for the "obvious bias ... toward <young politicians>" also :-/ - Joel Bennett

@Joel - it's not even that. People who want in-depth coverage are a small group, and that group itself is very fragmented by area of interest, ideology, etc. What Rather wants is for his worldview and interests to be shoved down people's throats due to lack of alternatives, just like in the old days. He wants the restoration of a mono-media culture. - Rob Sterling

@Dave: Yep, I'm saying that portions of the press were also biased towards Bush. For that matter, portions of the press were also biased AGAINST Bush, and portions of the press are also biased against Obama. WRT the encouragement of a free press by the government: I actually RELY on the government to encourage that sort of thing: http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_... *wink* - Ken Kennedy

@Joel...your point is good, but how exactly is it different (other than unpacking the points) from Rather's? In it's expansion of the assertion to media in general? I'd suspect that Rather agrees with that in general, but I think his reply might be that dumbed down blockbuster movies is not quite the same issue as dumbed-down journalism. - Ken Kennedy

Note: I'm not suggesting, btw, that I think some government blue-ribbon panel can (or should) solve this issue. (In case that's not clear from here, or other things that I comment on/curate/write.) It's just worth reflecting on (to me) when the bias against (or for) the person (be it Rather, or Obama, or Bush...or Rush Limbaugh or Jon Stewart for that matter) becomes such a part of the story. - Ken Kennedy

media organizations aren't run by corporations, they are corporations. It's ironic that Rather is saying that outside influences are responsible for the downfall of traditional news, when he himself was involved in the Killian documents controversy. - Garmon Estes

@Ken He's concerned about "saving journalism jobs" and "creating new business models to keep news organizations alive" and the possibility we might "loose" our "independent media." I don't understand what independence he thinks is being lost. The "free press" has always been people digging up facts to write/report about them to other people who want to know the facts and are willing to pay for them. Isn't this freedom about letting people write whatever people will (pay to) read? - Joel Bennett

@Ken If you think the motivation to report the facts is LESS now, is that an indictment of corporate influence (news agencies have always had to make ends meet) or of the national apathy (people are less willing to pay for "real" news)? - Joel Bennett

Dan Rather needs to get his head out of himself and start following the lead of all the new media that is kicking his rear. See Mike Arrington - http://www.techcrunch.com/2009... - Sunny Molini

I do not see a blue ribbon White House commission as a good way to save journalism, no. - Jay Rosen

@Joel I do not think the motivation to report the facts is less now; that was not my point. The business models are certainly in flux, however. - Ken Kennedy

I also don't agree with all of Rather's statements, or his proposed solution. I did find the reasoning powerful regarding corporate and political influence on newsrooms, however. (also the conflation of news and entertainment). The dance of money, business, and politics is certainly not new, but that doesn't mean it isn't real, and it hasn't (historically as well as now) had an impact on journalism (and vice versa). - Ken Kennedy

Bret Taylor

FriendFeed has been almost completely blocked in Iran as far as we can tell. We have a large number of very active Iranian users, and we noticed a steep decline in activity yesterday. Graph below.

June 15 - Comment - Like - Share

ILLA, egza, Ozer Wrzl (EN) and 789 other people liked this

:( - Paul Buchheit

205 more comments

:( :( - Rachel Lea Fox

:-( - Kol Tregaskes

Related to the election? - τorƍue

:( - Ross Miller

that's so bad... - Eren Emre Kanal

:-( - Kevin Fox

τorƍue: Yes, as far as we know - Bret Taylor

این نمودار نشاندهنده افت فرندفید به دلیل بسته شدن آن در ایران است - Mycaptain

Bret: Is this based on IP numbers located in Iran, or actual activity from those users? If it's IP based, it'd be interesting to see the activity on a user basis and see if they've been able to route around the blocking. - Ken Sheppardson

:( - Marina Remi

Could it be related to Twitter being blocked (and therefore the twitter traffic import being blocked)? - Stephan Osmont

): - Jim Norris

Some users are definitely going through proxies. This is total # of unique visits from IPs originating in Iran - Bret Taylor

That tells it's own, sad, story. - WorldofHiglet

:((( - Oğuz Serdar

Wow. - Rochelle

If Twitter were blocked and FriendFeed weren't, I'd expect an uptick in FriendFeed activity, not a 92% drop. - Kevin Fox

I.e. given all the users who've previously accessed the site from an Iran IP number, how many have been active from different numbers in the past 2 days. - Ken Sheppardson

Sad. - Jen (SquirrelGirl)

Instead of "liking" this, shouldn't we have an "unlike" button? - Steven Melfi

:( Bret: According to Stephen fry, these are the iran proxies: 218.128.112.18:8080 218.206.94.132:808 218.253.65.99:808 219.50.16.70:8080 . Can you track these IPs? - Roberto Bonini

I knew this day was coming. Too bad. - Robert Scoble

Steven - same feeling here. I always feel weird "liking" bad stories on FF - Mike Bracco

How does traffic from China look? Or North Korea? - τorƍue

:( - Helen Sventitsky

do not like :( - Tamara

@τorƍue Twitter has been restored in China - Stephan Osmont

Hey... we saw issues with blogfa.com as well: http://blog.spinn3r.com/2009... - Kevin A. Burton

like for spread but not like for the situation - Imprenditore

I wonder what the international community can do about stuff like this. Eventually the "bad guys" will lose. - Michiel Sikkes

Hopefully, we'll never see a graph like this for Turkey... - Onur Şentüre

that's because the government has blocked access to friendfeed,twitter,facebook,youtube and ... after election and after protests in Iran cities ! - Farshad

Man... :( That's really a corrupt government. Hope it gets better soon. - Peter

That's horrible. - Barış (beyn.org)

Kheyzaran mentioned over the weekend that both Twitter and FF were blocked for Iran starting I believe on Friday. He is using a proxy when possible to keep us updated - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Bret, any analysis about how many people unable to access FF directly are still able to access it via proxy? - Daniel Dulitz

:-( - bookmeister

:( Let the voices be heard! - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

So sad... - Luka

Sigh :( - Havang

can you suggest a way in friendfeed to show the situation in iran to the world ? its very important - Farshad

I doubt any regular North Koreans have computers τorƍue - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

Daniel: Well, we are still getting a bunch of Farsi comments and posts. They may be Persians from outside Iran or from Iranians using proxies. We don't have a detailed analysis breaking those down at this point. - Bret Taylor

The stigmata of evil. - Tim Tyler

all cominucation devices are blocked .even phone & cell phones ! - MohammadReza

see this for example : http://abcnews.go.com/Interna... - Farshad

Watching the "guerrilla cyberwarfare" aspect of the elections and reactions has been fascinating. Iran's universities are obviously full of resourceful, passionate geeks. - John Craft

not good in terms of freedom - Sheri Fresonke Harper

this is really bad. i hope there's some resolution to this. the people or iran have shown a lot of strength and courage to protest the illegitimacy of recent events. i don't think this will stop things - Cee Bee

Is it possible that the same folks from Iran that are active on Friendfeed are the ones out protesting? - MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)

please help us , we are under attack ,change friendfeed logo if you can - فرزاد

we need a new way - Semiramis

@MVB we all are Protests - MohammadReza

That's sad. - EricaJoy

:( Dislike. - Ruchira S. Datta

:( - © D/\\/IIID ℠ ®

P.S. Kevin should turn the logo green in support of the Iranian's being disenfranchised. - EricaJoy

:(( - ramin

For those that are in Iran: Have you tried http://fftogo.com as a workaround? - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

make a room for us, invite your friends we will fill it with latest news - Farshad

I'm completely for having a fair vote, but I'm not sure that I'd want to try and align FriendFeed with a particular candidate, which is what a green logo would imply. - Kevin Fox

Many iranians using proxies to access FF. and therefore their IPs changes to fake IP . - آدمیرال

MohammadReza: Maryam's mom is still able to call her relatives and friends in Tehran, so they are keeping some voice traffic open, if not all. - Robert Scoble

Farshad, I'm trying to post news here: http://friendfeed.com/world-n... - Kol Tregaskes

No words for that... - Frank

thanks kol :) - Farshad

@Kevin, totally understandable. - EricaJoy from IM

If Iran thinks they have nothing to fear, then why block Friendfeed? - Frode Stenstrøm

Frode: because the government is like China: they believe that by retarding the flow of information they will reduce the threat of protests and governmental overthrow. - Robert Scoble

Very reminiscent of the prelude to the fall of the Shah - Alan Morris

I don't speak Persian, so I don't know all the searches, but there are still (luckily) a lot of Persian users posting: http://friendfeed.com/search.... If you are Persian and looking for updates, try our search engine to find the few users who still have access. - Bret Taylor

Frode: and in Iran's case, they are run by conservative religious authorities and they don't like the fact that they are not in control of information flow like they used to be. They like to think they can still control information sources and, since they can't, they try to block places where their citizens can go to share information. - Robert Scoble

is it a joke? iranian users seems the %90 of friend feed. it could not be real! - Fırat DEMİREL

Firat: There are no units on the vertical axis of the chart. - Ken Sheppardson

Firat: This is a chart of traffic from Iran, not of FF's total traffic. - Kevin Fox

Firat, i doubt that this graph is a percentage graph... probably more likely that it's measuring hits, sessions, or total data transfered (mb, kb, etc) - Chris Heath

Kevin: what impact did this have on FF's overall traffic? - Robert Scoble

Robert: Iran is the #6 country for FriendFeed in terms of page views per day. - Bret Taylor

something is cooking out there... - mehdi

Thanks all for answers. i told that it could not be real.. :) excuse me, i ve just read Bret's notice and looked at breaking point. i saw what i've missed before.. bad news for ff and iran.. :( - Fırat DEMİREL

These statistics are incredible, especially the normally heavy useage of FF in Iran. - Curt Mercadante

Bret Taylor, we can tag our pix and vids about iran election by an english keyword such as 'iran' or 'iranelection'. I think it will help to ff non-persian users to find out more about unrests in iran. - آدمیرال

Iran restored cell phone service Sunday that had been down in the capital since Saturday. But Iranians still could not send text messages from their mobile phones, and the government increased its Internet filtering in an apparent attempt to undercut opposition voices. Social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter were also not working. - Üstün Üzüm

Do *not* like. :( - Pete Delucchi

:( - Russ Jackson

:( - Mitch

http://www.boston.com/bigpict... - فرزاد

آقا یکی توضیح بده اینکه من(ما) لایک میزنیم! عملا دیسلایک ه ! :( - younes

Younes says that our likes to this graph mean dislike to tehran's regime censorship - آدمیرال

I can't find any evidence of Twitter being blocked in Iran. Anyone? - Martin Bryant

TechCrunch just picked this up: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009... - Robert Scoble

Thanks for the translation آدمیرال ! - Ross Miller

ممنونم آدمیرال عزیز - younes

خواهش دوست من. - آدمیرال

martin: those words are not mine actually from a news article from washinton post. - Üstün Üzüm

On twitter people are retweeting the IPs and ports of unblocked proxies, can we do something like that here? - Canageek

martin, i'm from iran. twitter is blocked. what evidence you wanna? screenshot!? - آدمیرال

yes Canageek. we use proxies for tweeting - آدمیرال

Authorities blocking the internet are just reinforcing solidarity between people, can't they understand ? - Stanislas Jourdan

Stanislas: not to mention they encourage their smartest and richest people to leave (the ones who have technical skills). There's a reason why Silicon Valley has 10,000 or more Iranians living here. Their government sucks and the people are getting tired of it. Of course if their government was great I would never have met my wife (who grew up in Tehran). So, there is good to come out of a crappy government! :-) - Robert Scoble

it has always seemed to me that the iranian user base is ENORMOUS here. wow. unbelievable. - edythe

It is interesting how much civil unrest that is brewing across the globe towards their governments. The knee jerk reactions in attempting to block certain websites shows how much they didn't expect the net to become such a widespread conduit for cutting through the bs and informing those that wish to know. I wish those who take a stand all the best. - alphaxion

:( - Roberto

Another way for those that are in Iran is to access through Netvibes (but I don't know if it works or if it's blocked too), adding Friendfeed, Gmail and so on such as modules - Roberto

Thanks for sharing this, Bret. It's valuable evidence of what's going on, evidence which wouldn't have been available even a few years ago. - Michael Nielsen

sad - Pedro Beltrao

Very interesting...so much for democracy and voting rights in Iran... - freedom fighter mom

If anybody in Iran feels up to it, can you temporarily disable your proxy and run a traceroute to friendfeed.com and twitter.com then post the results here? - EricaJoy

Bret and Paul, can you let us know if the traffic comes back, which would tell us they've unblocked FriendFeed? - Robert Scoble

Robert: absolutely, we will let everyone know when it comes back up - Bret Taylor from email

Steven: You Like that it was posted, not the content of the post. - Tanath

Bret, thanks for sharing the info about the dive. Shame, but what could we have expected from the Iranian status quo? - Jon Osterholm

البته یه چیز هم هست اونکه بعد از فیلترینگ همه با آی پی غیر ایرانی می ان فرندفید و برای همنی آمارشون اینجا ثبت نمیشه ... وگرنه فکر نمی کنم از لحاظ تعداد نفراتی که میومدن کم شده باشه ... بلکه هم بیشتر - HΛMΣD ƧΛFΛ

Yes, it happend and we have to use proxy to access friendfeed. Look at democracy in Iran... - Zahra (raoros)

The coversations and comments here are educational. - Seek Ground

@بی بی, you might try https://friendfeed.com/ - Jim Norris

:( - imabonehead

Damn. - Steven Perez

http://mojipage.com register in this website and add ff widget! twitter is blocked in iran so I am posting twitts by a script or choqok(http://choqok.gnufolks.org/) - ★amin.m★ from MojiPage

Good luck to all of you trying to get around the censorship. I hope the big sites are doing what they can to help out. - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

Looking at the potential of this event in the future for numerous causes is mind-boggling. Really amazing. - Charlie Anzman

Come to think of it, does FF have a presence in China? I'd imagine it's blocked there. I've seen Chinese on here, but never sure if that's from China or speakers outside. - anna sauce

Tnx Bret - Conformist / Unforgiven

Thnaks :) - Exir

این چی میگه؟ - Lord hozeh

ببین شب انتخاباتی چکار کردیم با این فرفر. wow! - ali

چه همه لااااااااااااااااایک! - ali

:(( - AJ Batac

Damn. - Derrick

Expected. - Michael W. May

Yes, Friendfeed is blocked in Iran. Right now the papers and TV channels here are ‎controlled by the government and our access to satellite channels is blocked too. ‎Friendfeed and Twitter are quite vital for us now. Our main source of exchanging ‎information and news is Friendfeed. Via Friendfeed we let everyone know that where ‎people need help and where to go and how to help them and... more... - Selma

Selma: does https://friendfeed.com/ work for you? - Bret Taylor

Nope, they have blocked all https addresses, we have had to sign in to Friendfeed via anti-filters for the past few months. - Selma

its a shame. it was one the main media we used to inform ppl. thats why they filtered it. now many users cant sign in - Myri∂m

Can't we "help" in some way? Providing proxies, I don't know, the kind of stuff pirates do. Pirates, and people trying to make a Revolution happen.... - Zackatoustra

It may not be long before Turkey joins the party. - Sarp Tüzün

It's very sad to see this happen - Michael Fidler

tnx all of you... - emin

internet was our last hope ...but it block...and we cant use it easily... - Opium

:( - Caroline

I just spoke with my friend Andres, the main BBC correspondent for the Middle East/Afghanistan, and he mentioned the web is being fire walled in Iran much the same as the the "Great Firewall" during last year's Olympics in China. - sofarsoShawn

The Iranian websites that people used to exchange information about the election protests ‎in Iran are under cyber-attacks by the government forces and from anonymous sources. ‎Many of them are down right now. These Iranian websites were our few last remaining ‎channels to inform people. What can we do about that? Is there anyone out there who can help us with this?‎ - emin

i was 53rd active user in friendfeed until this filtering. now i can open FF with proxies and if i can fine. a Vpn but many Vpn here come from companies that have relations with security services, i thunk they allow us to bypass filternig and then, they will arrest who has wrote against their goals - خیزران kheyzaran

Can't we transfer the data/databases of the sites you, iranian guys, use to any new domain we could buy? I want to help. Not by throwing rocks to "security service" forces, but, at least, by making possible for what YOU have to say to go public, worldwide. - Zackatoustra

FF is a useful website for Iranian People to get reliable information about demonstration against presidential election. - پارسـا

so so sorry for iran people... I hope they will win... - Tanaydin Sirin

and Now Yahoo messenger and google talk blocked in iran :(((( - پارسـا

Some amazing images from Iran - http://ff.im/42pgD - Brent - Loving Life

http://i.friendfeed.com/376e729... - Lord hozeh

Does http://fftogo.com work still? - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Selma: 1- I don't use a proxy but clearing all but one (deleting them all logs me out) instance of each friendfeed.com cookie name and refreshing the page always solves this for me in Firefox. Has never happened on Lunascape or IE. Good luck. - Alexandros Georgiadis

google block fftogo for iranian users!!! - ★amin.m★

Friendfeedがイランでblockされているというコトらしい。いったいどういう理由でだか分からないけれど……もし、国内のゴタゴタの影響であればいずれtwitterも、ということになりかねないのかも。／でも、fftogoを使えば迂回できるのかな？ - Sakurai.Catshop

What about email, amin.m? Are you able to post to FF by emailing share@friendfeed? - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I don't know about email. now I am using freegate or another site like http://mojipage.com - ★amin.m★

Could http://dev.ctor.org/f2p, http://frienddeck.com or http://peoplebrwsr.com work for friendfeed? - Alexandros Georgiadis

Very sad. - Parth Awasthi

The reason I ask is because if you can email a post, then try sending it to share@friendfeed and also to YourUserName@friendfeed. Then when someone comments you'll receive an email about it and you can comment back to the thread via email as well. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

:(( - Nimaa from MojiPage

No wonder why ! - Pelin

@Alexandros Georgiadis:for frienddeck.com I see this:You are accessing this page from a forbidden country! but dev.ctor.org/f2p worked! thank you :) - ★amin.m★ from MojiPage

+ don't use your ISP's DNS server, verify your Firewall, search for rootkits.. + If you really wanna use Tor, be 'mobile', check the onion's status, don't be too confident, continue to use encrypted protocols & 'mobile' ports. At least, read Tor's docs and articles about Tor & privacy/security.. - Thierry R. Andriamirado

now chat like gmail or yahoo messenger are blocked too - egza

I don't know if these can help but I put them here anyway http://www.noiseriver.com/ http://moopz.com/ - M F

for me,yahoo messenger is not blocked yet! - ★amin.m★ from f2p

Alexandros: Frienddeck could work for certain parts - posts and queries against user accounts are proxied through the App Engine, searches are direct against Friendfeed so they could probably not work. - Paul Kinlan

Thanks :(( - مـهدی معتمد

:( booooooo - Duncan Rawlinson

:o - FKU

DAMN! - Vicey

whoa, NOT good - Susan Beebe

We wish the people of Iran well in these difficult times - Marc

Not good at all. Best wishes to the Iranian FFers. I hope this whole mess gets cleared up quickly and with as little violence as possible - Kamilah Gill

this is terribly wrong - Francisco Costa

A government that takes away people's Friendfeed will not last long. - Goran Zec

WOW CRAZY - Matt Kaufman

I like that 667 people liked this, that's 667 people hoping it all gets resolved justly and peacefully. - Steve C

now we are 676 people who liked that =) hoping too everthing gets resolved peacefully. - Ibrahim Tarlig

Bret, is there any update on this? Is activity still low? - Kol Tregaskes

Yes, we are still being blocked - Bret Taylor

:-( - Kol Tregaskes

:-( - Arif Siddiquee

definitely DON'T LIKE this... >_< ...would love to be able do more than retweeting proxies - Daniele

Best regards from Chile to all iranian people, we know a lot about bad government and human rights. Good luck, strength and courage to all of you. - Roberto Arancibia

:( - Shey, Jamaican of FF

It's to bad there is such attempts to block free flow of information, how long will it be before there is more amazing differences happening? Such limits, hmm. - Ray Marr aka Knatchwa

They have to keep the militants in check. Thank goodness for the pipes that were broken. - tony

بیا بالا ای فید من - egza

Digg.com is block in Iran now. - Sahandram

:-( - Paolo Valzania

:(( - Mitchell Tsai

Interesting censorship- same can happen in America - I would like to talk to you abt Friendfeed and bringing over some large groups do you have time? - JanSimpson

I've seen those censorship about FriendFeed (Iran). Do you know some interesting and objective blogposts about it? - Thierry R. Andriamirado from email

:( - Rachel Lea Fox

Do you have a similar graph as ff's been blocked in China? - K.D.

#GFW - xywf

And China now has a similar blockage. You should also check on it. - Kenyth

Sometimes we forget how easy we have it than other countries. But until people revolt & I mean a HUGE revolution injustices will still go on. - Gabriella Sannino

ای بابا این فید رو شخم زدن :)) - egza

پرلایک ترین فید فرفره این - ramin

jeddi? - HΛMΣD ƧΛFΛ from IM

آره حامد آمارشو قبلا در آورده ام - egza

che jaleb , oonvaght por comment dartarin feed kodoome? bebinim mishe feed 2khtare mardom e farzad davan davan ro be oon beresoonim? - HΛMΣD ƧΛFΛ from IM

حامد اینجا رو ببین http://friendfeed.com/amirsem... - egza

ba mobile am ... to bebin bara manam tarif kon :D - HΛMΣD ƧΛFΛ from IM

بعد از این فید که هستمی این http://friendfeed.com/funny-p... در رده دوم لایکه ,اینجا شش هزار و خورده ای کامنت داره http://friendfeed.com/ideali... این فید از فارسی زبانان فرفر همین نیما خودمون http://friendfeed.com/nimaa... در لایک 204 تا این هم از آیدا http://friendfeed.com/elaheye... بیشتر از 2400 کامنت داره - egza

Evan Parker

Penguin USB drive - http://www.engadget.com/2009...

June 10 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Derek Huether, PMP, CSM, Lon Cohen, ha3rvey (wants confit) and 3 other people liked this

Adorable!! - Susan Beebe from iPhone

Neal Jansons

While Iranians suffer systematic oppression, the internet becomes obsessed with the death of a pop icon. Talk about showing your true values

June 27 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, Kostantinos Koukopoulos, chad calease and 36 other people liked this

The news cycle is totally idiotic. There's absolutely no sense of any journalistic prioritization. But at least we can do our own informational reachouts. It takes effort, but I'd rather take the time than rely on the numb nuts who run media which are supposed to do that job but don't. - phil baumann

73 more comments

I don't mean just the mainstream media, I mean social and new media. We are like little kids...anything distracts us. Gay rights, the economy, torture, none of it matters because ooohhh shiny! /disgust - Neal Jansons from IM

Oh, I completely agree. But before teh internet, we didn't have much choice in where to reach out. We at least have that ability if we're proactive. But you're so right: the attention-span in social media is worse than a fly on crack. It's a very memetic environment, with very few investments made in wanting to plumb a topic as long as it takes to advance an intelligent convo. It's getting more & more frustrating. - phil baumann

It's things like this that belie the optimistic "social technologies and the internet will make everything better" rhetoric...no, they will just make a bigger venue for self-destructive indulgent stupidity if none of us take any responsibility for changing the way we act. - Neal Jansons from IM

Nailed. I guess we can think of technologies as Enablers. They can enable the good and the bad, the remarkable or the mediocre. A hammer is only as good as the carpenter or psycho using it. - phil baumann

Right...and so long as we could say "Oh, the people are wonderful, they just get manipulated and oppressed by screwed up immoral leaders" this happy-shiny, save the world rhetoric made sense, but now that we have a couple years of seeing humanity's face and voice when no one is making it be anything but itself, I think we need to start questioning the idea, no matter how much it might... more... - Neal Jansons from IM

There is a sense of journalistic prioritization. It's on what (the news companies think) people want to learn about. And I think they are pretty much right. People in America care a lot more about Michael Jackson's death - someone who has touched their lives and been a significant and formative part of their cultural consciousness for over 20 years. It doesn't bother me in the least... more... - Zach Landes

And that's my point...the human imperative doesn't seem very defendable once we see it in action; it seems credulous, easily led, shallow, and stupid. - Neal Jansons from IM

Zach - I have no problem with people paying attention to Michael Jackson (I grew up watching him when he was part of the Jackson 5, so there's some meaning for me too), but I think the concern here is that some channels should offer more consistent focus. Switching from something like Iran's troubles to Michael Jackson within 24 hours can't be a healthy way for our society to mature. It raises the question: how sincere or serious are people when the meme-du-jour is hotly debated for a day? - phil baumann

The only problem I have with that is that most of it is meaningless waffle to fill space and air time, tragic as it might be I'm not interested in what all other celebrities have to say about it or whatever. And I do despair, I don't know if I should despair more about the drivel people seem to be interested in or about what the media thinks we should be interested in. - M F

I accept human choices as human. I don't accept the concepts of good or evil. With such a view, there is not much I think that can be done, at least without major changes in human perception brought on by even bigger changes in society, in order to change the media. - Zach Landes

Bread and circuses, baby. Nothing has changed in two thousand years. We're just going faster. - Chris Baskind

Seriously, before Iran and Twitter where did all of you people get your news? Biggie said it best: "Cuz this typea shit happens every day." ...all over the world. - Mona Nomura

@Chris mostly, yeah. And @Mona have my babies? - Zach Landes

This sounds good; but really lots of people are oppressed everyday and we don't talk about it. Part of the Iranian obsession was our own vanity that our favorite technologies were playing a part. - James Watters

Not sure what to feel about this post. Why even single out the Iranians. There is all kinda things going on all over the world some as bad Iran. What are you gonna do? The common person feels they have enough to deal with that they don't want to have to think about the plight of others half a world away. As for traditional news media well they cover what brings ratings. Its a business,... more... - nef 919 from twhirl

The internet is moreso "obsessed" with the flavor of the week/day and that will only continue. How are we measuring "stickiness" should take precedence. - dhamza

James has a great point, and so does Patricia. There is an emotional and narcissistic element to these things. And Mona is right...this typea shit does happen everyday, and I often have my boxers in a wad about it; I guess I am just an idiot...I keep expecting people to care and getting bitter when they don't or when they pretend to. - Neal Jansons

Neal - we cannot tell people how to think or feel, though their choices are telling of our failed educational system. - Mona Nomura

Thanks Neal. - James Watters

Mona - we can tell them, they just don't have to listen or obey. I am just saying that I have an ideal in my heart about humanity, and I am getting more and more disillusioned. - Neal Jansons from IM

There's truth to that, Mona. As I was watching a political nutcase the other day it occurred to me that you'd really have to be poorly educated to buy what he was selling. Keep 'em dumb, scared, and down on the farm. Our kids need *much* better history, geography, and critical thinking skills. - Chris Baskind

That's a valid point, Patricia. People's basic need for validation is getting fulfilled en masse for the first time in recorded history, and that in itself can be considered a good. - Neal Jansons from IM

Just a sobering thought: Iran, too, is flavor of the week. We dont hear from Burma anymore, cause it's not "exciting" enough. Iran is exciting... But it's a lot of it is self centered hot air... James said it well "our own vanity that our favorite technologies were playing a part" Making your icon green or changing your location to "iran" does nothing for iranians - it just makes you... more... - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Sad but true, Joelle. - Neal Jansons

Machiavelli quote. "Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed." - James Watters

So much self-entitlement these days. Why should other news stories have to trend higher than others? - Brandon

the good thing though is that we are no longer dependent on a few editors in a few media outlets to decide what is flavour of the week, and what is news and what gets ignored. The less good news is, we are doing it ourselves. Of course we are human and get caught in vanity, but there's more variety of us, so there is a chance to revisit, push an ongoing story back in the (albeit very... more... - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Ya that's true! it's like Iran was trending on Twitter... Only because there was no other more "important" news to talk about. - Malcolm Bastien

Who said they "should" do anything? My claim is that our fickle, self-serving obsessions reveal something about moral character. - Neal Jansons

@Joelle, the media has rarely decided this themselves, only the public. they are a business driven by what eyeballs are drawn to them. We alone created the media by our appetites for it. if anything, the web has broken than, not media's tight grip on information alone. - Patricia

@Neal, agreed. When will we the people ostracize this type, then? Why do we let these people take the platform, then? - Patricia

We all have our own 'important' news issues, in the same way that we all have our own important issues in life. I guess if you've nothing to worry about in life, but the demise of a celebrity (and I'm not debasing that demise or the celebrity here), then I guess you're very fortunate, or of course shallow. - Ian May

who cares if one trend is higher than another, it's comparing apples and oranges! Of course more people are talking about someone familiar dying than unknown people far away (it's the same mechanism as the "200 dead, 5 americans" storyline) - that is the difference between gossip and news. If anything it just says something about us doing what is easy and talking about things that we... more... - Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)

Patricia - I agree with your sentiment, but I hesitate to cut the world up into such a dichotomy. I think most people have both altruistic and selfish drives, but are generally discouraged from engaging in the examination and reasoning necessary to put them into their proper relations. - Neal Jansons from IM

I don't roll with any posse. I used to be involved in a lot of activism back in the late 90s in Santa Cruz, and saw that the activist community was mostly just young students and old hippies working out their authority issues. Maybe you found the mythical good guys to hang with, but I don't think there are such a thing. IMO, there are no "good guys", there are just "the other guys". - Neal Jansons from IM

Selective attention doesn't help when it is the masses and the leaders that actually make the world how it is. Besides, I don't really care about those people...they are not who my criticism is aimed at. My criticism is aimed at those who go from "OMG genocide!" to "OMG kittens!" with no sense of gravity or priority. Whoever isn't in that group may ignore my pissiness (actually, you are all free to ignore my pissiness anytime :p) - Neal Jansons from IM

Great conversation, Neal. I liked it earlier to make sure I read it. ;) A few of my thoughts after having read it are here ---> Showing solidarity with people and movements that only seem a world away is sometimes all that many are able to do. Altruism is never misguided IMHO. My personal decision to turn my icon green is partially a result of having invested the time to study the... more... - Eric Logan

Wow, Eric, nice response. It is a complex issue. My real complaint is the lack of priorities...Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid that a genocide or nuclear assault happens on the same day of an iPhone release. - Neal Jansons from IM

It's been proven many times in multiple studies that most people live in a bubble and only pay attention to what affects their daily lives. A large majority of Americans have no personal investment in anything going on in Iran, so they basically don't care. Sad, but true. I don't think it has anything at all to do with education and everything to do with narcissism and... more... - Trish R

@Trish I almost agree with you - until you state that its about "narcissism and self-gratification as a society". Do you really mean as a society? Or do you think that it could be something that goes a little bit deeper. If anything, I would imagine that human society reduces narcissism as it requires humans to live in extremely large groups in which they have to make sacrifices for people they will never meet. - Zach Landes

I read a good article about slactivism and how if you actually have to DO something, or put in any effort, then you'd have fewer social media slactavists. I think it also speaks to the attention span of the slactavist, who isn't really invested in the cause so much as jumping on the bandwagon. - Miss Elle

I'm sympathetic to your POV on this, Neal but I'd argue that Iran's systematic oppression is not news—it is, in fact, old news to say the state of Iran mistreats its citizens. The protests against the election are the news. Michael Jackson was not much in the news before he died (I didn't even know he was planning a major tour in a month!) but his death is very big news considering his... more... - Lon Cohen

I get the sentiment, but I'd say the condemnation of priorities is too strong. Of course it's important to do what you can for the Iranians. But a lot of people have a personal memory of Michael Jackson. You've essentially dismissed that connection entirely. - Hutch Carpenter

And those are my priorities...human suffering, the fight against oppression, political freedom, etc are more important than people getting to have their nostalgia stroked. Emotions and memories are important, but there is a point where they become irrelevant. That point is where people die and suffer and that is ignored so people can get their serotonin on. IOW, anyone who would put the satisfaction of that emotional connection before the actual welfare of other human beings is a self-involved douche. - Neal Jansons from IM

Ouch Neal! First, the obsession with MJ - those are his rabid fans parked outside his house. I don't think of them as "self-involved douches". That characterization just doesn't seem to fit them. As for the ROW, there really isn't an obsession with MJ. Except to appreciate the artist. And that what he was, an artist. - Hutch Carpenter

I am not talking about the sheeple outside his house. I am talking about how the media, both new and traditional, went tits up about the umpteen billion important things...two wars, the energy bill, gay rights, Iran vote conflict, torture memos, hate crime bill, etc etc etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum and decided a washed-up, overrated, freak of the worst kind of corporate music was the... more... - Neal Jansons from IM

Well, look at it this way. If all the media ever did is cover the atrocities of the world, most people would tune it out. Think of your own days. Are you 24/7 with Iran on your mind? Of course not. Media are no different. They do mix it up. There has been plenty of Iran coverage, really there has been. So when a major cultural icon dies, one that millions, no billions, have some connection to passes away, they'll cover that too. - Hutch Carpenter

Neal: mainstream media owners promote whatever agenda best optimizes the acquisition of wealth and power for themselves and their social networks (including family, ethnic and religious networks). Much of that agenda consists of distractions (celebrity gossip, sex scandals, etc.) designed to divert public attention from the real machinery of power. The majority of people (including social media "thought leaders") are pushovers for this kind of manipulation. This is the way things really are. - Sean McBride

Also - I've never found it useful to castigate people for their natural interests. We're humans, too diverse and complex to force into a specific box of what "we should be focused on". - Hutch Carpenter

Uh-huh. I have an RSS reader and I can see the headlines since MJ's death same as anyone else. Iran stuff hasn't updated, energy bill barely mentioned, and the rest of it has been silenced. What about the "Holy Grail" torture memo being suppressed again? Obama using executive orders to detain Gitmo prisoners indefinitely without trial? It just goes on and on. - Neal Jansons from IM

Sean: I know. You know I know. The thing is that social media and new media don't have to follow suit. - Neal Jansons from IM

Looking at CNN.com right now. Lead is that the military arrests Honduras's president. There's a special section for Michael Jackson coverage. And a special section for Iranian coverage. - Hutch Carpenter

Well, then we disagree on the very notion of priority of attention. I am glad our ancestors and our genes don't agree with you, either, or we would either still be stuck in the caves (after all, who is to say early humans "should have" focussed on civilization) or we would be extinct (damn, I suppose that tiger might eat me but damn that sunset is pretty). - Neal Jansons from IM

A front page with sections is problematic for this discussion. I am talking about the volume of articles and coverage. A frontpage doesn't show that, an RSS reader does. - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: I appreciate your passion, but not so much the conclusions to which it leads. I'm definitely more interested in Iran than MJ, but that doesn't make me less douchey than anyone else. I mean, let's face it... the only reason I care more about the plight of Iranians than the plight of millions of other suffering souls is that *my* people have a significant strategic interest in the... more... - Roger Benningfield

That's where we actually agree Neal. Natural human interests. Survival is one of those. Avoiding the tiger is a "gimme" in terms of attention. For the civilization argument, again, it's natural human interests. Those who insisted on "going it alone" were at a disadvantage. It was in your interest to participate in emerging civilization. - Hutch Carpenter

Neal, I appreciate your passion, buddy, but Roger just about sums up my take on it 100%. - Derrick

And as a side note, there seems to be an amazing amount of people on the internet who feel that they must automatically take the apologists position anytime anything is criticized. A solid position pro or con is not inherently a bad thing and strong opinions don't need this pacification. I don't care about 1) The human factor, 2) The feelings of the poor privileged people who want to... more... - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: what percentage of the population anywhere in the world can think outside the box defined by mainstream media? 5%? 1%? Why would one expect to find much independent and original thinking going on in social media? Within social media, creative discussion is going on among only a few small networks and communities. Most of the discussion in social media as a whole is oriented around... more... - Sean McBride

Again, the apologist's position...people have it hard, so their amazing lack of priorities is "understandable". Well, people are also semi-evolved apes, driven by instincts more suited to the savanna than the streetcorner...so what? Shall we say it is "understandable" if they shit in their hand and throw it at people, or say that, even given our "understandable" position, we should strive for something better? - Neal Jansons from IM

Sean, I don't have the same poor estimate of people thinking "outside the box" as you do. For one, there are a lot of boxes, some of them mutually exclusive. People don't lie in one camp or another, either. Some people think "outside the box" about some things, some of the time. Again, this is just an excuse. So people are limited...can I not cry out for a higher ideal than catering to the lowest common denominator of those limits? - Neal Jansons from IM

Neal: I share your frustration -- cry away. :) But don't expect very much to change. - Sean McBride

Oh I never do. To paraphrase a bad fiction book, I am just a voice crying out in the wilderness. - Neal Jansons from IM

Quoting myself from last Friday: "John Ensign! Iranian unrest! Mark Sanford! Farrah Fawcett! Michael Jackson! A big exciting blur signifying nothing. Most consumers of mainstream media have the attention span of a guppy. Nothing connects. Nothing is sustained." - Sean McBride

Neal: What you're seeing as apologia seem to me to simply be attempts to convey to you, in the kindest way possible, that you're coming off at least as self-focused as those you decry. After all, you're the one claiming your ideals are "higher". If humans have no inherent value as you suggest, than neither does (in the general case) injustice or death or any of the other things you'd... more... - Roger Benningfield

I'm going to completely forget about Iran and focus entirely on Billy Mays. Because, you know, it's impossible to be concerned about more than one thing at a time. - Akiva Moskovitz

Neal and Sean - if you had the magic wand, what would media and human attention be focused on right now? What would it look like? - Hutch Carpenter

Roger, to claim to be evaluating things according to the correct standard and that another is mistaken is not self-elevation unless the claim is based on authority (it is better because I say so). I am saying the standard is clear and obvious: human suffering>entertainment (to humans), thus those who choose to elevate the latter over the former are incorrect. This is my claim. And... more... - Neal Jansons from IM

Interesting question, Hutch. I think I am probably going to come down with Singer on this one and make a utilitarian argument...wherever there is the most avoidable human suffering is where our attention should be focused first. When we run out of those, then social justice issues, then social progress issues (connected, but not the same thing, justice is about righting wrongs, progress... more... - Neal Jansons

Hutch: a very brief answer: Glenn Greenwald (Unclaimed Territory) usually keeps his eye on the ball: http://www.salon.com/opinion... He has been primarily focused on the widening and disturbing gap between Obama's campaign promises and his actual policies. There are a few dozen feeds out there which are relentlessly bearing down on substantive policy issues. Andrew Sullivan's... more... - Sean McBride

Greenwald and Sullivan have strongly challenged the mainstream media, especially The Washington Post in recent months. The MSM hate to be challenged. They would much prefer for Americans to be preoccupied with Mark Sanford's marital problems or the death of Michael Jackson than to be paying attention to and understanding the internal politics of the owners and controllers of the MSM. - Sean McBride

Sean has a great one there...the issue of Obama's rhetoric versus his actions since taking office is a big one that all the hero-worship people need to think about. I am personally afraid we have been bamboozled yet again and simply trade Beast Rabban for Feyd Rautha (Dune reference for the non-geeky). - Neal Jansons from IM

Thinking outside the MSM box: a few feeds: Alternet, Andrew Sullivan (Daily Dish), Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, Consortiumnews, Counterpunch, Democracy Now!, Dissident Voice, Glenn Greenwald (Unclaimed Territory), GlobalResearch, Haaretz, Information Clearing House, Jeremy Scahill (Rebel Reports), Jim Lobe (LobeLog), Juan Cole (Informed Comment), OpEdNews, Philip Weiss (Mondoweiss),... more... - Sean McBride

The social media thought leaders I respect have paid very little attention to either Mark Sanford or Michael Jackson. Among other things, they are still trying to understand the Iran situation by pulling together all the available data -- data which the MSM often don't attend to or even acknowledge. - Sean McBride

Robert Scoble

The last time people reacted this way to a famous music star dying was the day Elvis died. I was in elementary school and still remember my neighbors playing his music. Michael meant more to my life than Elvis.

June 25 - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen, Parth Awasthi, metalerik and 113 other people liked this

Hits close to home. Really close. - Mona Nomura

78 more comments

It's a very weird night for news like this. But I agree, Michael was an icon, still is.. - Mark Aitken

Especially during the Thriller days. If you weren't there, you don't understand how crazy everyone was over MJ. - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

I'm wondering when the riots will start in LA.. - Mark Aitken

Somehow I'm completely without emotion regarding MJ's death. No idea why. - Gunny doesn't side-hug™

Same here Mona - I don't remember feeling this way about any celebrity's death before. - Jesse Stay

Robert, what about John Lennon's death? That was also a huge jolt at the time. - John E. Bredehoft from fftogo

I'm sure there are watershed moments for every generation. Elvis passing was more a Baby Boomers thing (IMO) while MJ is probably more a GenX thing. No doubt these things will impact everyone differently. Still, it's odd waking up to such news this morning. - Threepwood

Is it really that big of a deal? The guy was a freak and a child molester. Sure he was huge in the Thriller days, but his star is not only not as bright, but a little tarnished as well. - MarkCarras

For me and my crew, the day Jerry Garcia died was met with a similar reaction. For me it was much more profound. - nicholas einstein

Yep. This is hitting me the way it hit me when Princess Di passed away. I was rather oblivious to Elvis, myself. - Helen Sventitsky

John: yes. I think Elvis was bigger though. - Robert Scoble

I liked his Thriller album and videos, but after that he seemed to go downhill. And the child molestation thing tainted how I felt about it. - RobinDotNet

This has more impact than Kurt Cobain - Ian Tindale

I feel sad, I love Michael's music：（（（（ - K.D.

50 is young. But Michael started his professional career at an extremely young age, so he's a true flash. - Louis Gray

I always consider Michael Jackson to be the king of the bassline - Ian Tindale

I like his music too, but I don't like his actions. - Andy

I agree completely with Mona and Jesse, this is the first time that I feel like someone really close died, even though I never got a chance to meet him. - Diego Espinoza V.

@MarkCarras ...and Elvis died on his toilet or something. So close to his passing most people are choosing to remember the GOOD things he did in his life. - Bryan Zirkel

I wonder if people will try to whitewash over his history as a child molester and just focus on his fame? - MarkCarras

The thing here is we've all seen his life through a glass window. He's been a very public figure, but with a private part to his life. I think we all recognise how much was lost tonight. - Mark Aitken

more babies were conceived during an MJ song then any other artist in my opinion, RIP KING MIKE!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Adrian Eden

I've never understood the way people worshipped him even now, years after he has done anything successful. - RobinDotNet

Very strange day, sad. MJ was incredibly talented... a true star. - Susan Beebe

it has been discussed 4 a few hrs already. RIP King of Pop - polou/indigo_bow

Same age here, and that was a strange weekend. There's nowhere near the social influence in this case. No movies to pay over and over all weekend. - Jason Nunnelley

What about his kids? - Andy

What about when John Lennon died? Was that bigger than MJ's death? - Sam Houston

I remember all too well when Elvis died, I was 9 years old, standing on Paige street in Lindsay, California, playing with my friends. Weird, how you remember things like that? - Rob Fahrni

No disrespect to MJ but I think the same reaction would be happing right now if it was Madonna. - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

I also must remind myself about where I was when John Lennon died. - Helen Sventitsky

I wonder if Madonna would get more coverage, actually... I preferred her as an artist. - Tamar Weinberg

I'm too young to really have been a part of the big days of MJ, but I still LOVED his music. I hope he's remembered fondly. lots of stuff in the media about him that's not good. I choose to ignore a lot of it - Chris Brakebill

Can't believe it really happened. Bigger for me than elvis, lennon, cobain or even diana. I hope people remember him for the brilliant musician that he was and not his other antics. - Raj Narayan

Wow, has anyone realised we can measure the coverage of these celebs now with the tools we are all using? I'll bet we see lots on the news tomorrow about the social web coverage of tonight's story. - Mark Aitken

I was a toddler when Lennon RIPped - polou/indigo_bow

Folks, the real reason we react with such a deep personal response when a celeb like this dies is that it smacks us in the face with our own mortality. We identify ourselves a little with these celebs, whether we like, approve or even appreciate them as artists. I've been listening to Michael Jackson music since he was a teenager. I don't like seeing artists that were popular when I was a teen dying because it reminds me my time/era is fading just like that of my parents. - Jason Nunnelley

Jason - same feeling here. Very close to home for some reason. - Mark Aitken

@MarkCarras what happened to the presumption of innocence? He was never tried on the first case due to lack of evidence, and acquitted on all counts on the second one - Juan Tarrío

@Helen - I remember the Diana situation too, and all the hype around it. - Tyson Key

Wow, what a bold statement. Jason, do you know me? Do you know the reason why this hits so close to home for me? What if I told you the very first cassette tape given to me by my dead mom was Michael Jackson's Thriller? Think twice before yapping like a know it all. - Mona Nomura

i think of john lennon & frank sinatra in comparison to how big a legend michael was. the difference is, i grew up listening to michael jackson. sad day. - Jim Halligan @jim

Mona, I'm not sure how your statement is incongruous with my own. Sounds like you agree. - Jason Nunnelley

Juan Tarrio -- I would have felt that way too, if according to papers on the smokinggun from the first child molestation trial (the one he settled out of court) didn't reveal that the kid knew personal specific details about MJ's personal parts. Ick. I can't believe I just typed that. - RobinDotNet

For me it was the loss of Peter Sellers and John Lennon. I think because they had so much more to give us. - m9m, Crone of FriendFeed

My personal idol of the early 90s who never had a real private life now gets what he deserves - liberty for the rest of his...being - Naii

RIP MJ - Kashif Khan

Yes, this is easily worse than when Dermot Morgan died. - Ian Tindale

Elvis? Not John Lennon? - Carol Levesque

His music was the soundtrack to a large part of my life. What a difficult life. RIP. - Marlin Forbes

John Lennons death was under different circumstances, he was murdered and also coming back with a record from what I heard reported on Sky. I was too young for John Lennon so for me the closest comparison is with Princess Diana. RIP - Joe Dawson

Never an Elvis fan, but I was a huge Beatle fan, so John Lennon's death was a shock to me. I do enjoy Michael Jackson's music.....unfortunately I found the man questionable at best, but also feel sad for him dying at such an early age. At least he no longer has to suffer whatever personal demons drove him. - Bonnie Foster

People were pretty hung up when Lennon passed. Same with when Aaliyah and Lisa Lefteye Lopez passed away. I sincerely disagree with the sentiment that the last time there was a unified mourning of a musician was Elvis. - Mattie Kenny from fftogo

Aaliyah dying seemed to have a pretty big impact, even though it was soon overshadowed by 9/11. I remember seeing a lot of baby girls born after 2001 named Aaliyah. - Victor Ganata

Mona, Jessie... Hits close to home with me too. And it also hits me like when Princess Diana died. - Jannifer @wordsforliving

Michael Jackson? I can understand the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Dylan, the Grateful Dead and dozens of others. But the King of Pap? - George F. Snell III

@George - CNN pointed out that Thriller is the best selling album in history at 50 million. Love him or hate him that's a big impact. - Daniel J. Pritchett

No denying he was bigger than life - what a strange world he lived in - seems like he got lost somewhere along the way... - Mark Harai

I see several people on this thread wondering why "GenX" is so impacted by MJ's passing, here is a reason why (http://www.youtube.com/watch...). He was hands down the best performer, crowd-puller, the 80s has known. When it comes to celebrities, I like to view the artist separate from the person, and as an artist, he was up there with the very best. - Shivanand Velmurugan

definitely a noticeable generational and country gap here - Bill Kinney

i was having an early dinner at a restaurant when i saw this on the local news....couldnt believe it.....truly sad and socking - goutham

thought the same thing Robert. I was at the roller-rink when Elvis died. I will probably always remember where I was when MJ died - the gym. - BEX

My favorite reaction from this news: "Don't worry, he's still alive on YouTube" - my four-year old nephew from Perth, Australia about Michael Jackson RIP. - Iggy Pintado

I remember that reaction too and some don't seem to understand that Michael was an international superstar, who brings back incredible memories of our childhood. At 45 I literally grew up with his music and am shaken by his death. - Karen Swim

I remember when John Lennon died in 1980, and it was much bigger for me than Elvis dying. He was assassinated, and it was announced on Monday Night Football by Howard Cosell. Lots of people were devastated by it. It's ridiculous to skip over it. The Beatles were the most well known band in the world, and in that moment, we knew they could never get back together because John Lennon was the leader of the Beatles, and now he was dead. - Cristo

Like Cristo I remember the day Lennon died. Walked into the student coffee shop on campus and it was like a morgue. Yet, I grew up with Michael. I remember sock hops at lunch time. My first slow dance was with a boy to the Jackson 5 song, I'll Be There. Michael's death makes me face my own mortality. Michael's death is the end of an era. - Arleen Boyd

I was stuck on the Test Track ride at Epcot when I heard the Michael Jackson news. - Mike Reynolds

There's no doubt about Jackson's talent and if it hadn't been for his (for lack of a better word) eccentricities in the last several decades in my opinion there would be an entirely different bent to the epitaphs today. I kept thinking over the years, if he could just remain.. well.....normal...... but, would normal have produced Thriller? Billie Jean? The glove? Moonwalking? The... more... - Molly

As a musician, Elvis meant more to my life. But Michael was.. simply Great. RIP. - Thierry R. Andriamirado

RIP MJ and RIP Elvis anyway. :)) - Oğuz Serdar

Today is the day music video died. - Tyler Hurst

Tyler: MTV did that a long time ago. - manielse (Mark Nielsen)

@Daniel Oh, I don't doubt his impact on pop music - although I think his impact is more on packaging, marketing and style rather than in the music. I just don't understand the blind devotion of his fans. - George F. Snell III

I suspect there are 1000s of people who meant more to my life than any pop star you can give me a name for. And I certainly don't know their names. What's the hashtag for that? - Wade Dorrell

Of course there are 1000s of people who meant more to our lives. The reason we feel a sense of loss when celebrities like MJ pass is because his songs bring back certain memories from our lives. Brings back memories of my childhood. Less about MJ and more about his music and the memories. - Curt Mercadante

Andy: Are you okay? You don't like his actions...did you ever see the man dance? - Garin Kilpatrick

There are some people you're just glad that they are gone, not because you dislike them, but exactly because you _do_ like them. The guy was pushed into the showbiz by his dad, had no childhood, had no privacy, and the only people he cared about (i.e. children that lived crappy lives) were used against him to the demise of his career. MJ is far better away from this place we call Earth. - Rodrigo Jaroszewski

I was a 13 year old on the family trip driving trip that summer that started in connecticut, went through florida, across to arizona and then back across the center of the country. We woke up in Oklahoma city flipped on the TV and got the announcement that Elvis had died. Our next stop was supposed to be Memphis... - Armen Chakmakjian

Don't forget Kurt Cobain. I actually cried when he died. I won't cry for Michael Jackson. :-/ - Dane Deasy

Leo Laporte

In Case of Fire: DO NOT USE TWITTER! - http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesome...

June 22 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Rong Huang, Steve Walters, Lu Tao and 79 other people liked this

What about FriendFeed? - Ralph Whitbeck

7 more comments

Also do not use twitter if Wil.I.Am or his manager throws you a beat-down. - Jim Tierney

Maybe someone should send a link to Perez Hilton.... - Rasmus Lauridsen

But what if some people in the building don't realize there is a fire? You must tweet about it for their safety - FORA.tv

http://www.theonion.com/content... - Carlton Prest

Citizens of the United States may not be aware of the British journal 'Viz' s fictional character 'Fireman Fritter' - Ben Aldhouse

LOL @ Rasmus. - Roberto Bonini

@leolaporte "in case of fire do not twitter" sooo last week ;-) - lelapin

Pretty amazing, but the shapes of things to come. - Alvaro Munoz-Aycuens

Robert Scoble

Maryam's relatives In Iran tell us they hear chants of "God is great." here is why that is significant:

June 20 - Comment - Like - Share

Jannifer @wordsforliving, Farzad, Dan Schawbel and 52 other people liked this

They are yelling that because that is the same chant they would say during the revolution 30 years ago. They do that to make it clear their protests are aimed at the leaders, not at Islam. - Robert Scoble

61 more comments

tease - Erin @queenofspain

Commercial break. - Blake

Who needs CNN? I've got Scoble on my radar. - Jason A. Nunnelley

i agree, God is great - joebrooks

they've been saying God is Great all week during the night. - geoff hines

"Allaho akbar" is what the cries say throughout the city. - Robert Scoble

it also helps people let others know they are all in it together. the loader the chants, the more people feel support among their countrymen. - Shayan

This is a way of telling the Supreme Leader that god is great but you are not. - Robert Scoble

Shayan: yup. Are you in Iran? - Robert Scoble

Robert, it's a defiant chant? - Jason Nunnelley

Jason: very defiant. - Robert Scoble

btw robert thanks for making CNN realize how much their were failing us.We appreciate it very much that you brought attention to the situation when it was starting to pick up - Shayan

islamic govt certainly cant ban ppl from shouting god is great; also carrying a koran might prevent you from being beaten in the streets... - Miko Matsumura

They are saying (from their subconscious): I can call on the bogeyman (that we both know doesn't involve himself in our petty issues) just as much as you - Greg Marlin

Miko, I'm not sure about the Koran protecting you from a beating. - Jason Nunnelley

These events are quite different than those we usually hear about coming from mideast. They tend to be about sunni vs. shiite, but this is people vs. government - Blake

Shayan: my voice was one of thousands. - Robert Scoble

yes I think it's reasonable to be skeptical of it, but possibly worth a try... - Miko Matsumura

they can't ban ppl from chanting GOD IS GREAT as they are doing this on roof top so its kindda uncontrolable/ and holding Quran is not that helpful as police or guards and plain cloth forces don't care - Shandiz

Robert: no. i wish I was there now. kinda feel helpless not being able to do much from here. I was there during the last student uprising (1999) and many died in vain last time. hope it's different this time around. - Shayan

Shayan, I think it's different than 99 this time. I hope the outcome is, and hope the government avoids bloody conflict -- I should say continued bloody conflict. - Jason Nunnelley

Shayan: I remember that. That time we didn't have YouTube. - Robert Scoble

Firk God / Santa Claus if you want to know how to make mayhem, message me and I'll give you the plans we should have implemented when Kenya rigged the elections (Zimbabwe and Iran only exist because the world let Kibaki steal) - Greg Marlin

the main benefit of the chants is that folks can express their support for the cause without being identified. most families would turn the lights out and start chanting. if you are identified, it doesn't matter what your chant says. you are still in danger. so is your family. - Shayan

It is such an amazing indication of how incredibly powerful social media is now. If this doesn't open the eyes of traditional journalists, I don't know that anything will. - Erik Boles

FriendFeed needs a troll button. :) - Jason Nunnelley

Robert, Shayan: what roll do you expect international attention will play in the conclusion? - Jason Nunnelley

Jason/Robert/Erik: exactly. I was telling some writer at San Jose Mercury the other day. last time something like this happened all the government had to do was shutdown 3 newspapers to kill the news. this time they are fighting thousands of citizen journalists. This is absolutely amazing... - Shayan

Shayan -- the peoples voice cannot be oppressed any longer. You hit the nail on the head. it used to be a one way statement, it is now a two-way conversation. - Erik Boles

there was a video of a woman reciting in the dark "where is this place?" also talking about the volume of Allahu Akbar chants on different nights - Eleanor Wynn

Jason: the international community's attention helps in many ways especially by putting pressure on the regime's friends such as Russia and China. It also gives people on the ground hope that somebody is hearing their cries. Human solidarity always helps those in peril and gives them more conviction. - Shayan

Jason: Iran's leadership has lost all respect in the world. Not that it had much but this will have deep impacts for years to come. There will be more resolve on nuclear issue now. Today Neda. Tomorrow YOU. - Robert Scoble

they are risking their lives, we are just watching intently, it is all we can do - Eleanor Wynn

Technology is a huge force that tyranny has a difficult time defending against. - David Damore

because it comes from so many hidden places - Eleanor Wynn

I believe the informational freedom (note people: freedom is taken, not granted) is most powerful in its ability to spark action in Iran. If the Iranian people stand together, they may create change. It is harder to kill a very large crowd than a single person. However, until recently, my fear was that the few brave Iranians were exposing themselves as targets for the government. With the numbers growing and continuing, they appear more hopeful for real change. - Jason Nunnelley

they just don't stop or go away - Eleanor Wynn

Jason: I would suspect you are correct. Initially it was just a protest, then as govt. operatives started killing people, it brought realization to the people of Iran, and they realized they had to stand together, for as long as it takes. - Erik Boles

Have you read the Peggy Noonan article in the WSJ yet? "Whose Side Are We On? You Have to Ask? - With Twitter's help, the youth of Iran take on the ayatollahs." - David Damore

David, technology is a tool that catalyzes other forms of action. Talking doesn't topple regimes. At some point people have to develop a plan of action and execute it. What they do, that is a big and scary question. This regime isn't going away any time soon without a big fight. - Jason Nunnelley

Quoting for the WSJ article: "Half the people in Iran are under 27." - David Damore

the videos are extremely compelling, more than still, you are there with the person filming and the people being filmed - Eleanor Wynn

and so many points of view, unlike news where it is the same clip over and over - Eleanor Wynn

Eleanor: I think that is the really powerful tool here. So many raw, unedited, unrehearsed video's directly from the streets. We have been at the mercy of big news post production for so long. - Erik Boles

http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Eleanor Wynn

that is the video, in the dark, the woman reflecting with the chanting in the background - Eleanor Wynn

Erik: I agree, after Twitter, going to the TV set seems lame - Eleanor Wynn

Eleanor, TV is lame. Diddo on that. - Jason Nunnelley

Funny, CNN is talking about this now. Sounds like lots in the city were chanting this last night. - Robert Scoble

Robert, what are the objectives of this revolution - Aaman (Clone of FF)

Aaman: to be heard. - Robert Scoble

To be precise, it might be too soon to call this a revolution, but in its nascent form, are there any signs of a leadership emerging, or stated principles? FWIW, I feel Mousawi cannot be the true face, unless he is seen as representing the principles of the original revolution - Aaman (Clone of FF)

The only thing that matters in Iran now is, will the military stay loyal to the govt. Everything else is irrelevant. - Bob Morris (polizeros)

Robert, Aaman: I'd assume there's some element of justice here as well. The people were granted a vote, told the election results would be respected, voted, and believe now that the government defrauded them. They have a moral standing, even under the most strict of loyalist perspective. At this point, since the government established elections in law, the government broke the law. Now... more... - Jason Nunnelley

It's one thing to be angry with your government. It's quite another to know the law of the land is on your side and your government is in violation. - Jason Nunnelley

http://su.pr/1Oufcn What is happening in Iran is not happening to just Iranians but to all of us. It is happening to the world. - Aaman (Clone of FF)

Perhaps I don't understand FriendFeed...I see "Here is why that's significant:" but I don't see any link or text after... - Tony Zito

@Tony Zito: The reason is in Robert's first comment. He posted the topic, then continued with the immediate comment to explain. - Mark H

The great thing about this whole episode is that it shows that Iran is a country of normal people - makes it very difficult for any future US government to bomb the hell out of it under the 'enemies of democracy' card. - Martin Bryant

A Prayer for Iran: Out of chaos Thou dost create divine beauty; amidst dire disorder Thou dost plant the seed of harmony that blossoms into sweet Peace. May you be Free. May you be happy. May you realize all that is good. - Meryl Steinberg

Free spirits cannot be chained - by any force of arms. The forces of tyranny may silence voices but they cannot silence the spirit. - Lorin Olsen

Well Said Lorin. - Garin Kilpatrick

Robert Scoble

Average life in Tehran? @maryamie (my wife) just talked with her aunt in Tehran. She didn't know much. She hasn't left her house since Saturday and the media in Iran isn't saying anything.

June 20 - Comment - Like - Share

Kol Tregaskes, تنهاترین انجل, Rex Hammock and 22 other people liked this

Maybe this will help change things for the "average" person in Iran? - Lon Cohen

15 more comments

:(( - Oğuz Serdar

Lon: I don't know but you can see the fear. Almost a sense of don't get involved so the government will ignore you. I hope it comes out ok for them. She has seen a lot of crap in her life. - Robert Scoble

I would not be surprised that the "noise" is actually ampified by foreign media, more than what actually really happens over there. In Israel this is exactly the same. When i see how the world covers what is happening here, i feel i don t live in the same country - Ouriel Ohayon

None of my business, but be careful ID'ing people in Iran you're talking to on Twitter. The gov is pissed that there's so much net communication going on. - Terry Locke

So the riots don't touch her? Just in certain parts of the city? Or are the media and Twitterers blowing it out of proportion? - Francine Hardaway from PeopleBrowsr

Robert: I can imagine that is the case after seeing the stuff going on over there online. A nurse who works for us at the Association just came back from 2 weeks in Iran visiting right before the election. She hasn't said anything this week about it. I haven't asked her yet fearing I may insult or upset her. - Lon Cohen

wow how incredibly strange ... what does all this mean? - Susan Beebe from BuddyFeed

Francine: Tehran is a huge city. They hear chanting at night but the protests are in the center, not near them. The chants? "Death to the dictator" - Robert Scoble

Like in the LA Riots here in the US. I suspect not everyone around LA saw or heard everything that was going on. Perhaps heard a little and saw more on the news than they actually experienced. - Lon Cohen

Lon: yup. Or the 1989 earthquake. - Robert Scoble

People manage to avoid whole raging wars while in the same city. Riots and protests happen all the time with out people even knowing (or venturing out to see if they do know) - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

LA Riots is a good case - horrific on TV - frightening if you were near by; but on Robertson Blvd? not a peep. - Matthew Stotts

RT @CNNSaeed: Any US based Farsi speakers awake at this hour w/ access to skype or AIM? Email m pl: saeed.ahmed@cnn.com #iranelection - l0ckergn0me

My wife speaks Farsi. I will try to get her to email Saeed. - Robert Scoble

Yes, I know Maryam speaks Farsi, d00d. :) Why do you think I dropped this into a hot thread? - l0ckergn0me

:(( - Vicey

Leo Laporte

Woman illegally downloads 24 songs, fined to tune of $1.9 million - CNN.com - http://www.cnn.com/2009...

June 18 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

Captain Jack, Kol Tregaskes, Michael Hansel and 64 other people liked this

(CNN) -- A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each -- a total of $1.9 million -- for 24 songs. Illegal downloads of musical files will cost a Minnesota woman $1.9 million, a jury has decided. Jammie Thomas-Rasset's case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said. Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents. She plans to appeal, he said. Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said the RIIA was "pleased that the jury agreed with the evidence and found the defendant liable." "We appreciate the jury's service and that they take this as seriously as we do," she said. Thomas-Rasset downloaded work by artists such as No Doubt, Linkin Park, Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow. Don't Miss Steven Van Zandt on - Leo Laporte

35 more comments

Dumbfounded this is still happening. - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

I cannot believe I live in the state that has idiots large enough to think that this woman has a chance to be able to pay what they are asking.... - Chris Ames

oh come on, let the poor woman off the hook, sure its illegal, but dont charge her with $1.9M, give her a slap on the wrist and tell her not to do it again. and this is for 24 songs? heck, why dont they go after the people who are downloading full length HD movies and who have thousands of songs downloaded, those are the people who should be fined or jailed, not a woman who downloaded only 24 songs. - Bryce Campbell

Really?!?! - David Cook - 2010!!!

It's publicity and the labels think it's a lesson for others. In a sense it's advertising, $1.9mil is sacrificed (I agree, Chris, she can't pay this) for negative publicity. The labels don't give a damn that in their quest to make an example of this poor woman they are financially ruining a human being unnecessarily and unreasonably. This is when justice becomes a bully. - Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)

Sadly the jury is the one that thought that $80k a song was a valid price to pay. - Chris Ames

$80k/song! Pure lunacy. How could the judge even say her fine with a straight face? - Shane

...and this will further alienate music consumers. RIAA continues to remain out of touch. - jbrotherlove

Is this women rich? So, they decided to fine her 80,808 times for one song and for all 24 a total of 1,939,393.94 times the worth of the songs. Wow, it's bigger business in making money from taking people to court. - Academic PCs

It must be the depression that we are in - Academic PCs

I'd love to see the artists of the songs she downloaded to pull together the fine for her as say 'screw you' to the label companies. Of course, that will never happen, but would be fun to read. - Jess

When it comes to stories like this, the "Like" feature of FF doesn't come across the right way. - G. Sigh

Yea add to it that at the 99cents itunes business model it would mean to lose that much that those songs would have to have been downloaded from her PC almost 2 million times. - Chris Ames

As the original 2007 verdict was judged to be "wholly disproportionate" and "oppressive" this verdict is most likely to be judge "insane". - visibleprocrastinations

That's just plain nuts! - Kevin J Hatton

did she download from various sites on the internet or just from one? - Jannifer @wordsforliving

Doh... there's no way! How did they come up with 1.9 million? - Torp

The US legalsystem never stops to amaze me, how much would the fine be for a plain robery? It just don't make any sense! - Björn Fritz from Nambu

Is it possible to do the payment the piratebayway? Via micropaymemts that end up costing more for the recepient in fees, now wouldn't that be fun ;) - Björn Fritz from Nambu

It's hardly imagined in P.R.China! - BrianQin

Unbelievable. 80K per song? Where in the hell did they come up with THAT figure? - Alex Hellstrom

There is something not quite right about the reporting of this case. On the one hand she is accused " of illegally sharing 24 songs from artists including Sheryl Crow and Green Day.". On the other she is accused "of uploading 1,700 songs to the Kazaa file-sharing site before it became a legal service." Would the honourable gentlemen of the press please find out which of these heinous crimes the obscene fine is attributed to and report back. Thank you. - Gilbert Harding

And what would the RIAA do if everyone with an Internet connection started "pirating" music? Are they going to file a class-action lawsuit against the consumers? RIAA vs. the People. That's rich. Just another bunch of hoodlums in suits, that's all. I say micropayment them into bankruptcy. - John Fox

This sort of penalty is crazy, beyond belief. - Diego Barros 

Another article about this case: http://www.computerworld.com/action... - Alex Hellstrom

Bet she wishes she had that original 220K judgement back... - Eric

[sarcasm] That'll teach people to not appeal or retry their cases![/sarcasm] - Barry Biddlecomb from twhirl

@Barry Biddlecomb Yes how dare she not tie up our court system fighting frivolous lawsuits brought on by filthy rich corporate sleaze that just can't ever get rich enough, ruled upon by high priced back pocket judges. - Nathan Mylott

I hear ya Barry. Its all about strategy with these guys (lawyers) and one has to see the truth in your sarcasm and that this became about 'the lesson'... - Eric

The RIAA are still suing people? Haven't they learned after years that it's bad for them? - Jeffrey Allan Boman

that is so ridiculous I can't even comment on this ... dang! - Susan Beebe

I read this story and was floored that a jury was dumb enough to award this. I guess suing and winning more than $1 million decision from divorced women with 4 kids is what the RIAA wants to be known for. I guess that's good PR for them? If I were the RIAA I'd want to keep stuff like this off the radar. This is only further advances the idea that the recording industry is in its death... more... - Lon Cohen

Why do I get the feeling that RIAA is kicking in agony? - andrei_c

Is the award of $80,000 per song constitutional? - Gil Francisco III

it´s crazy - marcos

It is totally crazy that they would fine her $80K per song - i can understand a fine but not destroying someone's life - it's like they are trying to punish one woman for millions of people's crime - it's not right. - Robert Freeze

Jay Rosen

In the coming wave of debunkers re: Twitter's REAL effects in Iran pay attention to which ballooning claims are singled out for popping, OK?

June 17 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen, Noah Gray, joneilortiz and 2 other people liked this

Ben Smith is first out of the gate. For some reason he thinks one-to-many, Nielsen ratings model applies to Twitter. http://www.politico.com/blogs... - gnarlytrombone

8 more comments

Also, if you were a dissident in Iran, wouldn't it be unwise to follow "official" dissidents? Sheesh. - gnarlytrombone

This is genre analysis folks. You know the pieces are coming; together they form a genre. Howard Weaver wants in on the action http://editor.blogspot.com/2009... - Jay Rosen

chuckling to myself... "Jay Rosen predicted my article before I even thought of it." http://twitter.com/joel_sc... referencing his Business Week piece, Iran's Twitter Revolution? Maybe Not Yet... most of the organizing happened the old-fashioned way. http://www.businessweek.com/technol... - Jay Rosen

Iran's Twitter Revolution is not about organizing on the ground, but pressure on world govts, media and ppl support. One beliavable Iranian twitterer would have been enough. Channel news from Iran to the world. By retweeting the Iranians madly, we kept the MSM's toes to the fire, got informed, got each other educated, and showed them support they needed to see. - Bora Zivkovic

Also, by participating in this, many of us saw firsthand what works and what doesn't, what looks believable and what fishy on Twitter, what information is important, what is not. The whole episode taught us how to be better accidental citizen journalists in the future. - Bora Zivkovic

That is the key to the genre: look at which claims are isolated for the ritual debunking, where does the journalist get those claims, how do they compare to what you're hearing, and how are they paraphrased, supported, sourced, or linked to? - Jay Rosen

Jay, Thanks for the insight. My reason for moving away from newspapers was the journalists, I could no longer trust what I was reading. Couldn't tell if it was fact or opinion. They need the 're-boot' as much as the business model. - Mel Buckpitt

This is my lonely cause, so I keep writing about it. http://twitter.com/jayrose... Adults don't believe in magic bullets. Grown-ups know there's no panacea. Debunkers infantalize. Wretched genre, hype's lazy twin. - Jay Rosen

Howard Weaver's blog post doesn't take into account that the US government was actively trying to shut down the three stations transmitting the Chicago riots to the populace so no one would see it. In America we're used to this type of media broadcasting for more than 40 years now, imagine in 40 years if Iran has the same freedom, do you think it may be said it started on Twitter? It's... more... - Lon Cohen

Dave Winer

Who do the people of the NY Times follow on Twitter? http://scripting.com/sul...

June 2 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, Atul Arora, Nicholas James and 5 other people liked this

woooo hooooo Thomas Hawk. #2154!!!!! Interesting analytics Dave. You should hyper link the number of Times followers and direct it to a list of who the people from the Times are that are following you. - Thomas Hawk

You're on the list. Who do you follow from NYT? - phil baumann

0 follow me, even though you would think the "Gray" lady would be a distant relation. - Louis Gray

Robert Scoble

Seth Godin is the top social media blogger? Give me a break. He doesn't participate. Chris Brogan wins in my view. - http://www.noop.nl/2009...

May 19 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

James Williams, Mitchell Tsai, Gary Edgar and 142 other people liked this

I think that Seth is the top marketer blogger. - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

132 more comments

although as you said he doesn't participate. - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

i think its based on a number of stats Scoble, rather than participation. But of course, i'm just pleased we're in the top 20 of the list :) - Zee.

Zee: stats are lies. - Robert Scoble

well they make me feel good :) - Zee.

Zee: Seth Godin is a great guy, great author, great speaker, very well known, etc. But no way is he the top social media blogger. - Robert Scoble

Agreed. Like Godin's insight but he isnt regular enough. Also really like Jeremiah! - Richard Zeidel

I subscribe to Seth's blog and have yet to figure out why there is such a fuss about him. Chris seems to put more effort into his posts and write things of significance. - Chris Luckhardt

lol but what do u mean with the stats zee? - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

Often attributed to Mark Twain: "There are lies, damn lies and statistics." - CAJ, somewhere else

have you subscribed to us yet Scoble? Would love you to give us a chance for a couple of weeks. Think you'll be highly impressed - Zee.

Seth is good for those little sparks that get your own thinking going. But yeah, wouldn't put him in the top SM blogger category. - Virante

Richard: yeah, Jeremiah should be in top two or three yet. Zee: I'm following you here on friendfeed, is that what you mean? - Robert Scoble

sorry i mean at TheNextWeb.com - check out our recent content, i'm sure you'll be impressed. - Zee.

Zee: what's the friendfeed URL? - Robert Scoble

If you turn off comments (engagement) and blog about engagement (with comments off) then you get lots of linketylinks (Google love) in. Helps with those stats :) - Laurel Papworth

@virante agree with you. I think Seth is more intellectual from Brogan and he is not social media blogger. And I don't say that Brogan isn't great! In fact, he is! - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

Love your post. I stopped following Seth a while ago for the same reason. He does not participate in the conversation. He writes posts high above from the mountain of Social Media Gods (SMG). - John Flynn

http://friendfeed.com/thenext... and we have a group with content from all over here: http://friendfeed.com/the-nex... (nearly 6000 members) - Zee.

The # of people he follows and learns from is an indicator as to his view of his role in the conversation...I mean monologue, - Kevin Murray

In fact, thinking about it, it is hard to pick between Brogan and Owyang. I should have named both. - Robert Scoble

Agreed. Great stuff, but Seth's not interested in conversation. Since that's the case, how can he possibly rate high in the social media space? - Leo Bottary

I like the perspective Seth brings to Social Media, but I agree that he's not participating as much as others. How are we defining "top"? - Joel Zehring

I think the behaviors of many people claiming to be the "best" of something will be monitored more closely now that FF is around ... I watch the number of people "these bloggers" subscribe to and watch for their participation ... - LPH™ and his dog P™

methinks that Seth is not blogging about Social Media, but about marketing. - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

That list doesn't seem particularly focused. Bunch of great sites there that don't seem SM to me. I can't believe they didn't run them past me first. ;-) - Chris Baskind

Joel: the blog that made this list is using popularity ranking algorithms. Judging people by popularity will take you down a bad path. - Robert Scoble

Seth is like God. He disappears for a long time then pops up with the old miracle. He's a good helicopter view of what's going on whilst people like Scobles and Chris Brogran are the day to day practioneers. You need both. - Ross McMinn

Definitely Brogan is much better. I think Godin is miscategorized here. That said he's not conversing much in any space, just thinking out loud, which is great, but not so much social. - Bailey McCann

I think we need universal portable influence metric - something peer mediated - micro celebrities need community validation. - Richard Zeidel

Zee would be in the conversation. At least if I were having the conversation. - Matthew DeVries

I don't even know Chris Brogan - maybe I should.. - arnaldostream

I like it that Seth doesn't participate in everything. It makes it easier to follow him. Has anyone tried to email him or connect through his "Tribes" projects? - Joel Zehring

what apostolos said. seth is marketing, not social media. - James

Joel, that's like saying Chuck Nevitt is the best basketball player, because he's so easy to follow, cause most of the time he's on the bench, and the 3 minutes a season he got to play, he moved very slowly. - Matthew DeVries

Arnaldo M Pereira: Check out Chris here ==> http://friendfeed.com/chrisbr... He's very active. - LPH™ and his dog P™

Exactly, Social Media and Seth Godin? WTF? And how come RWW team is not in the 1st three? - SK is in fucking love.

lol +1 to Matthew - Bailey McCann

I'd say Amber Mac would be up there, but I guess she's more like the little girl who gets every freakin new toy on the planet the day it comes out, tells everyone it's a great toy, then tosses it aside, and goes back to playing with movable type. - Matthew DeVries

Good guy, but last I checked Seth doesn't even tweet! - Ryan Miller from Nambu

Ryan: we were on a radio show together and he told me he doesn't Tweet. I tried to get him on friendfeed and he didn't have any part of that. - Robert Scoble

Seth is tops in several areas....just not social media; not even close..I'm sure he would agree - Daniel Kenney

agreed scoble. - Ted Bradford II

Seth is definitely a top blogger..but because social media is about conversation, then you're right...others have a right to that honor. - Bill Reichart

Seth is a snake oil salesman, but Chris Brogan sees him as a role model. I've predicted that Chris will be the first to Tweet from the Lincoln bedroom in the White House. - paul mooney

Maybe they should call him the top social media spammer. He's broadcast-only. Woot for Chris Brogan though. - Dave Saunders

+1 with taryn930 - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

Seth Godin uses email primarily to respond to people - he doesnt believe in the other media and he has explained that in some of his interviews. Chris Brogan on the other hand uses social media channels extensively and in my opinion should rank higher as a social media exponent. - Mahesh Patwardhan

blogger or not.. moot question... is seth a good "social network" or "web2.0" (as much as i dislike that term!!!) media personality... *no* he's hardly a participant - he's more a "dictactor" - one way communication (mostly)... still worth reading i guess if you're into that sort of marketing guffy stuff (i'm only into technical stuff :) ... - simran

I like Chris Brogan and Perry Belcher too! - Vicki Z Lauter

I agree that Seth, smart as he is, is not representative of social media blogging. Having said that, what makes us so sure Chris Brogan, and I love Chris, Or Jeremiah, who I also love, are more engaged than Susie from Detroit? Because their numbers are higher hence the stats ranking. Why are their numbers higher? Because they're sort of viral. I often wonder how people become popular.... more... - Sheryl

Chris Brogan I know about and I follow on Twitter and FF, I just Googled Seth Godin, wasn't sure who he was.... - Mike Nencetti

I don't feel like I should weigh in or anything, but I wanted you to know I'm listening and I'm here. I really love what Seth does. I read him religiously. He's NOT a social media blogger. He writes about marketing. That said, he writes about the part of social media that matters to me: how humans can be more human. So, to me, he's still #1, because he's writing about humans, and that's... more... - Chris Brogan

see what I was tolding ya? 1) Seth is not a social media blogger 2) both Chris and Seth are the best on what they do ;-) - Apostolos Papadopoulos from IM

For the record, Wolverine is the best at what he does. I'm just a working schlub. - Chris Brogan

I like and respect what both Chris and Seth have to say tremendously. Not sure I care that much about who is the "top" blogger or whatever because either way I'm gonna keep reading their stuff and learning. - Miguel Rodriguez

I do appreciate that Chris is present here (hi Chris!) and feel that his participation in "the discussion" adds another dimension to his insights. I wonder sometimes why Seth limits his interaction. When he's on camera being interviewed, such as by @loic most recently, he seems quite comfortable.. why that comfort doesn't extend to places like FF and twitter I am still scratching my head over. - Miguel Rodriguez

Seth reminds me of Yoda, Chris reminds me of Obiwan. First one's cool, simple, philosophical, and ass-kicking. Second one's down to earth, practical, trained in highly useful Jedi stabs for day to day fights. Follow both, learn from both. - waraney rawung

How would you classify Gary Vaynerchuck in the Marketing/Social Media environments? - Owen Greaves

I watched a video of Seth essentially saying that much of social networking is superficial. http://blog.angelaconnor.com/2009... - Angela

waraney - I think you nailed it :-) - PXLated

I had an interesting connection w/ Seth. Back when I was doing Biznik Live interviews, Seth's answer was to ask about our listener numbers. ("10k gets my attention"...Understandable from a guy who is #5 in Google out of 3 billion hits for "blog") However, when I sent him a video of Bizniks discussing Tribes, he liked that & agreed to an interview. It was an experimental brady-bunch style video interview on the importance of Tribes in business. Edited version: http://tinyurl.com/r9f9qz - Leif Hansen

@ChrisBrogan I bet being compared to ObiWan just made your day ;) I think I'm probably more like Luke -whiny guy with father-figure issues who gradually grows into his vocation through the grace/luck of the force and of friends and some serious hard knocks with his own dark side. Though I've got plenty of Solo juice flowing through my veins as well :) - Leif Hansen

I agree with Chris, but Chris and Jeremiah are still up there IMO, especially when it comes to Social Media specifically. - Jesse Stay

Apart from the fact Chris Brogan is hardly even here lol - Rob Sellen :o)

Is Gary V. on that list? - Jesse Stay

That's my point...shouldn't he be on the list? - Owen Greaves

But seriously, oranges are so much better than apples. Come on guys... - Leif Hansen

We know Scoble doesn't like lists. He really doesn't like those where it's easy to find holes in the lists. If this were written as "200 Social Media Blogs" with stats, and without rankings, it'd be easier. I was just surprised to see I was included at all. - Louis Gray

But Louis, You are a legend here :) - Owen Greaves

Great point about Godin not participating. In my niche there are some "experts" who have huge following numbers, but follow very few themselves. If you don't interact with your followers are you really participating in the conversation? - Richard Byrne

Godin doesn't need to participate... he has sneezers. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

@Rob Sellen - Yeah, I'm not really deep into FriendFeed. I use it, and try to stay on top, and I get that lots of people say it's a big next stage. This is where Seth and I agree and are somewhat alike: we both believe you don't have to be present at EVERY conversation at every touchpoint. He picks his places; I pick mine. I just find the velocity of the social web to be more my speed. He likes email. No foul. - Chris Brogan

Nothing wrong with that... ;o) .. just thought it odd for someone to say somone is the top social media blogger and not be in the social media sites itself... after all, that's exactly what scoble has said in the title here ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

concur - chris brogan is the man - mike "glemak" dunn

Why Mike, do you think that? what is it that Chris does that's so different to anyone else? - Rob Sellen :o)

Not a chance. And Seth doesn't make it as top marketing blogger either. - AJ Kohn

@Rob - oh, I'm in tons of social media sites. I just don't spend all 14 of my working hours in each one. I don't use Utterli, Plurk, Jaiku, Hyves, Orkut, Digg, Sphinn, and 300 other folks either. - Chris Brogan

like scoble you mean? or was that 7 hours lol? I never said you weren't in any, just that scoble posted that here... and you are not here as much, nor is seth.. so scoble to me was just replacing one for another, if that makes any sense? :o/ - Rob Sellen :o)

Woot woot "Seth Godin is the top social media blogger?" - nawwwwww.. he's the world's biggest liar.. hey after all he did write "all marketers are liars" !! He connectes with people because of his views and he also disconnects to people b'coz of that too.. As for interaction and collobrative particiaption.. hes got his nose still stuck n da air.. yeah Chris wins hands down ! - Peter Dawson

One thing I will say about Seth, ha can say a lot in few words... other times he says things that are a bit broad... but if it makes you think, that is the point. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

So Scoble chose FriendFeed. I've chosen Twitter. He also really loved the hell out of Facebook and used it up. I didn't. Which tools you use doesn't make you a better or worse social media person. How you get the job done counts the most to me. - Chris Brogan

I agree... just thought it odd in the context of friendfeed you know. ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Agree Chris. Darth Maul's double-edged sabre is as useful as Yoda's tiny one. I'm a beginner at social media, and trying to keep in touch with what's new and what's useful. You, Scoble, Seth and many others have been very helpful for a rookie like me. - waraney rawung

What is a social media blogger, and why don't I get on this list? I've been doing this longer and better than any of you guys. Geez Louise what's a guy gotta do to get a little recognition. - Dave Winer

Which reminds me, a lot of early adopters in Indonesia are using FriendFeed, but they're not really into discussions in FF. On the contrary, geeks in Indonesia love and are very active in Twitter and Plurk (sometimes behaving differently in each site), with Facebook as their personal online central nerve. - waraney rawung

It's all subjective anyway. ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

@DaveWiner - here here. You're who *I* read, anyhow. : ) - Chris Brogan

shouldn't that be "hear hear" sorry... lol. that's coming from a deaf bloke! ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

@Rob - Beats me... what do I know? : ) - Chris Brogan

I wouldn't even call Seth a top marketing blogger, jeez - Sally Church

lol... I see that alot, and wonder if it should really be hear hear... makes more sense that would. ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

I think it probably is. Like "hear hear" me? - Chris Brogan

yeah, what I was thinking...even if I can't "hear hear"" lol... . ah well. we learn sommat new everyday... - Rob Sellen :o)

Gotta run, Rob. Thanks for the chat hidden in Robert's rant. : ) - Chris Brogan

lol.. welcome mate.... hang on.. does Robert NOT rant? ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

The 'what tools you use' debate is interesting. While I agree that, as long as you get the job done, the tools don't matter, there's also the ability to understand new paradigms. It's difficult to talk about and grok something without really immersing yourself in it. I didn't get blogging until I really did it. Ditto Twitter. Certainly FriendFeed. They *are* different ... meaningful... more... - AJ Kohn

I really like the comment on social media being about connection vs. the technology that allows it to take place. That is one reason I enjoy friendfeed so much more than twitter & even facebook. Much easier to connect and join conversations with people. I find myself looking at stats of who I am listening to much less in here than twitter. The result, better conversations, more... more... - Kevin Murray

I think Seth is great at what he does, I'm just not sure "Social Media Blogger" is the right description. Perhaps evidence that that's not his focus is that a conversation of this magnitude can go on without his commenting/participating. For anyone interested, here's a post from my blog about something recent I have disagreed with Godin about: http://tinyurl.com/po62js - Brian Broveleit

Chris Brogan rocks! - Morten Blaabjerg

thats ok Morten..as long as it's not while sat in the corner on his own ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

lol - what's so impressive about @chrisbrogan is that he responds - or at least gives the impression that he does. He works like a maniac. And he _gets_ what _it_ is. This makes his posts small gems of insights, even the less revolutionary ones. - Morten Blaabjerg

lol "gives the impression that he does" - what does that even mean morten? - mike "glemak" dunn

Agreed that Chis walks the talk and puts out great stuff. - John Blossom

Seth Godin is practical and sees through the hype - something that most social media commentators are guilty of. - BLOGBloke

Social Networking/Media Sites Staying Relevant: (humor) http://www.youtube.com/watch...& - Kevin Murray

Seth may be an expert in his own realm. Social media is certainly not it, but I have heard Seth make some valuable points about how to not use social media. Obviously Chris is doing something right, as evidenced by showing up to speak him mind, and pay Seth some respect. You gotta respect guys like Chris, Robert, Dave, and Louis (who are the ones on the tip of my tongue right now) -... more... - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Ditto Robert! What is it with the "online marketing copywriters" all wanting to act like they're the top social media bloggers now? Oh... that's right... social media is the hip thing! Thus they flock to it. I respect Seth for particular forms of copy writing, but lots of better social media bloggers... like Chris Brogan, like Leslie Poston, like you, and others. - Arleen Boyd

I agree Robert. (And thank you, Arleen *blushes*) Mahalo - Leslie Poston

Amen x heaps! Seth is a genius... but certainly doesn't spring to mind in the context of "top" in social media. Chris is for sure in my top 5!! - Mari Smith

Chris Brogan is the best example of what bloggers should try to achieve, IMO. Like any great writer, his stuff is worth reading even if you are not close tot he subject of a particular post. That means a lot. - randulo

Agreed. Seth stuff is good, but he does he even get social media? - Warren Whitlock

@glemak There are limits to one's attention span when you've got a lot around your ears (like Chris has) but it means a lot that you give the impression that you're listening and responding, even though you may not always be on your high marks. Noone can be. It's only human. But appearances still matter and are greatly appreciated. Chris is good at that too. - Morten Blaabjerg

gotcha - level of attention - mike "glemak" dunn

Thanks to those who mentioned me. Scoble is for sure one I looked up to and still do. - Jeremiah Owyang

Jeremiah isnt the best at what he does - he's just the only one who does it! ;) - let's not be exclusionary - thank you to all the top minds for sharing. - Richard Zeidel

I think Chris Brogan is THE man. Many of the social media experts are now engaging only with those who are also 'experts' and not with the new comers or followers. Brogan, on the other hand, very rarely to missed a conversation. As for marketing bloggers, I still stand behind Kyle Lacy as the best one. - Gambit Fauri

Seth "gets" social media tools but he is not the top participant--where Chris is. I am dubious, however, of claims that Seth is not a conversationalist. Have you ever sent him an email? He personally takes time to respond to every email thoughtfully and quickly, which is more than I can say for a number of social media stars (or even myself). - Jeremy Floyd

Lately I have been reading more of Chris has to say, that said does it really matter who is the top? - Chet Woodside

SCOBLEIZER - Do you grant variance from the "No deleting your comments and altering the thread mother fuckers" rule if you're doing it simply to kill a thread from your "My Discussions" filter so it stops popping like popcorn on your notifier? - Matthew DeVries

Matthew: that is an interesting problem. I wish clicking "hide" were good enough for that. - Robert Scoble

As do I. - Matthew DeVries

Godin doesn't allow 2-way participation, thus negating the openness principle of social media (no replies on his blog, not on twitter). He's just repurposed the blog to act as a writing platform for material for his books. He's very tactic based and without a huge depth of substance, but that's what people like; though it's not necessarily good for them. - Aaron Shields

as a technologist, focused on emerging media yet appreciating the fine art of marketing - i learn little from seth (noise) and tons from chris (signal) - that's my experience of course, your mileage may vary ;) - mike "glemak" dunn

Our flying Dutchman makes the Reich Museum look like a tourist trap. Should be on the top 5 things to do when you are in Amsterdam. Very bright, clear thinker. If you ever get fired for being "too open with your ideas" Chris you can work for me! - Chad Harris

Agreed, Brogan all the way. - Jim Gaudet

Brogan is amazing - Peter Efland

Chris Brogan is an active interlocutor in ways Godin isn't. Still, who is #1 isn't as important as who is providing content that you need. I respect Godin. Have read lot of his books. But still, Brogan is my fav. - Prof. Pamela Hood

Seth is a pure-play Social Media thought leader. Chris participates in the SM stream so he gets my respect for walking the walk and talking the talk. - Michael McDermott

I'll give props to Chris Brogan in this so-called "social media" space, insightful, valuable, interesting. And I will give a lifetime achievement award to Dave Winer, I was reading Scripting News BEFORE the word "blog" was coined by EvHead and MegNut. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Winer "teach" you how to blog Scoble? One thing that continues to exist that I wish would go away, but probably never will is this whole "leaderboard" mentality... is there some contest? <sigh> - .LAG liked that

I agree with Scoble, Chris is here in the trenches and impressively dedicated. - anthonycospito

Methinks Brogan is sending his cousins over here. :-) - BLOGBloke

In my view the better a Blogger is the more comments they will receive. Seth Godin does not even have comments enabled on his blog. - Garin Kilpatrick

Shows how "social" he is at the very least. I don't completely agree that a blogger needs to receive comments to be "better" - but you can't really be a "social" media blogger without being "social". - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Dave Winer

"A check-the-boxes approach to creativity is more likely to result in blandness and failure." http://www.davosnewbies.com/2009...

April 6 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Ted Gilchrist, SnakeDoc and Lon Cohen liked this

Pixar has always been a cut above the rest of the Disney empire and I applaud their apprpach to movie making, as opposed to the "check the box" approach of many Dreamworks' CG animated movies. Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda all being exceptions of that approach that worked. - Lon Cohen

Shey, Jamaican of FF

Man Builds Noah's Ark (exact scale given in Bible) - http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum...

November 18, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Tanath, Jan Dawson, David Th and 61 other people liked this

The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. - Shey, Jamaican of FF from Bookmarklet

19 more comments

wow! Impressive!! - Susan Beebe

i love how Biblical Scholars debate the wood that Noah would have used, instead of debating how two of every animal on earth would have fit inside. - Trent Olson

It's all Evan Almighty. - Admiral Anika

Very impressive endeavor. - John-David Lusan

re: animals fitting in the ark: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden... of course biblical scholars have asked these questions and more. you "enlightened" ones are embarrassing me a little with your prejudices. - jon madison

wait till it hits an iceberg; then it becomes the titanic :} But seriously, awesome job Johan. The faith is strong with you. - vijay

This is very cool. Whether you are religious or not. It's pretty freaking impressive. - Lon Cohen from twhirl

Totally agree - this is awesome. - Tad

I love this quote from the Christian Answers link from Jon: "It is evident, when all the facts are examined that there is no scientific evidence that the biblical account of Noah's ark is a myth or fable." Of course, it's also evident that there is no scientific evidence that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a myth or fable. So, both must be true! - Tad

jon, where did anyone display any prejudices? besides grant's snarky comment, i have no idea why you would accuse everyone here of prejudices. - Admiral Anika

This guy is rubbish, I wonder if he can build it when he's a spritely 600 years old - Toby Graham

jon, my point was really more about the merits of debating what kind of wood was used...why does that really matter? i would rather that Biblical Scholars spent their time debating more weighty topics. - Trent Olson

To enter you need to bring two tens. - Todd Hoff

We learn from the Ark: 1. Don't miss the boat. 2. Remember that we are all in the same boat. 3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. 4. Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. 5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. 6. Build your future on high ground. 7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.... more... - John Foss from twhirl

very cool. - Jasmin Smith

definitely pretty awesome - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

That's ALOT of wood - Gordon Swaby

Holy cow! and animals! - Susan Beebe

What an achievement :) Next he should build a Trojan Horse! - Joe Dawson

Sorry for asking a possibly stupid question, but if there were 2 of each species, does that mean the progeny of those 2 had incestuous intercourse? How else would the species propagate? - Nikhil Dandekar

Dave Winer

Fox News: Palin didn't know Africa was a continent - http://www.youtube.com/watch...

November 5, 2008 from YouTube favorites - Comment - Like - Share

Joel Webber, Tim Ostler, Andy K. Cheng and 16 other people liked this

no surprise there. she's a beauty queen who happens to hold a town office. - sean808080

6 more comments

"Knowledgeability"? - Stephen Foskett

I'm watching the clip right now. WTF! - Adam Jackson from twhirl

I wonder how Palin would do on that 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader' show. - Mike Doeff

Imagine the nightmare we'd be living in if McCain had won. - Jasmin Patry

Its great to know McCain put country first, huh? Jeez, did we dodge a bullet! - jcunwired

Mike - Don't think she would get past 2nd grade questions - Justin Korn

Wow, I wonder how much of that is true. - Tom Stocky

newsjunk.com

[NYT]: A Closer Look at Nevada - http://x.techwheat.com/351

November 3, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen, CW™ and Dave Winer liked this

"A little state with five Electoral College votes has everyone whipped into frenzy. " - newsjunk.com

newsjunk.com

[Political Wire]: Rove Predicts Obama Victory - http://x.techwheat.com/352

November 3, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen, CW™ and Dave Winer liked this

"Karl Rove's final electoral map of the 2008 election cycle points to a 338 to 200 electoral vote victory for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain tomorrow, the largest electoral margin since 1996. " - newsjunk.com

Chris Hambly

@jobucks you think? I prefer this: http://blogs.zdnet.com/feeds...

October 22, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen liked this

Jason Goldberg

FF real-time made me dizzy so i called joe the plumber -- and he tell me he's getting a gay marriage to joe six-pack who is getting divorced from his hockey mom wife, who by the way was previously married to a swift boat vet who invented the internet and served time with willie horton.

October 16, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

nilo ayson, Lon Cohen, Kol Tregaskes and 14 other people liked this

Ha, ha!! good one Jason!! man that's complex! - Susan Beebe

3 more comments

I know joe the plumber. Joe the plumber was a good friend of mine. You sir, are no joe the plumber. - Louis Gray

My head has just stopped spinning 15 minutes after reading this post. - ha3rvey (wants confit)

LOVE. - tehKenny, Dork

Joe the plumber makes >$250k? WTF. I need to quit this internet thing and get into toilets. - Jason Goldberg

Susan Beebe

somebody watch the fools at the big nasty banks and corps. while i sleep so they don't mess up the economy any worse than it already is

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

Colide81 (James), Lon Cohen, Ayşe E. and 4 other people liked this

funny - Lon Cohen

Eric Rice

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet? - http://hasthelargehadroncollid...

September 11, 2008 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Lon Cohen and Nick liked this

lol @ View Source - Eric Rice from Bookmarklet

Lon Cohen › Likes