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Dan Walters › Comments
Gmail is down.
RAPatton, andy brudtkuhl, Roberto Bonini and 3 other people liked this
...suddenly realizing my dependency. Wow.
- τorƍue
:(
- Paul Buchheit
...so, how am I supposed to get the address of my next meeting? :)
- τorƍue
It's back for me! Edit: Gone again.
- Burcu Dogan
I want my money back!
- τorƍue
"Yahoo -- the email you use when gmail is down"
- Chuck Kahn
I just recognized that my life totally depends on Gmail. I'm not using it as email, also as a backup.
- Burcu Dogan
;(
- thequark
Looks like even Google Apps for your Domain is down, too. Lame.
- Mark Trapp
At least it doesn't happen much...
- Dan Walters
"We're aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 1:53:00 PM UTC-7 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change."
- Mark Trapp
Calendar is working. Yay!! (also works "for your Domain")
- τorƍue
#yesgmailisdown *sobs quietly in her corner*
- Ladybug Heather
Looks like IMAP for Gmail accounts is working just fine.
- Mark Trapp
Notice that the update in a half-hour is to tell us when we can expect a resolution, and not for the resolution itself.
- Ladybug Heather
Fix it Paul!
- andy brudtkuhl
Andy, have you considered using Facebook mail?
- τorƍue
τorƍue - I've not - i try to stay away from facebook as much as possible
- andy brudtkuhl
I'm just kidding. ;)
- τorƍue
My Gmail is down, getting "Server Error: The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request." Anybody else?
Everybody else.
- Dan Walters
Is your #Gmail down? Mine is...
Gmail seems to be down for everyone...
- Dan Walters
Suprised: many not familiar with Apostles Creed have more problem with "Catholic Church" than "Descended into hell" after informal poll.
Glenn Slaven liked this
The word catholic has changed meanings to most people today. I don't think many people can separate the word from the Roman Catholic denomination.
- Dan Walters
I notice most Lutherans say "Christian" instead. Many Hungarian Reformed (English speaking ones) say the same or say "Universal"
- Chuck Huckaby
from email
I've said "Christian" for my whole life. "Universal" might be closer to the original intended meaning, though.
- Dan Walters
Most Lutherans say "Christian" ... Hungarian Reformed say that or "universal" ...
- Chuck Huckaby
from email
So, do people celebrate Canada Day in Canada like we celebrate the 4th of July in the U.S? If any Canadians read this, let me know! Thanks!
Scott of Two Countries liked this
Don't know -- how do you celebrate the 4th of July?
- Brian Sullivan
Apparently we like to watch stuff blow up...
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Fireworks you mean? --yeah fireworks are the game here as well -- many border communities (Buffalo/ Fort Erie come to mind but I am sure there are others) run joint multiple day fireworks displays to cover July 1 to July 4.
- Brian Sullivan
Yeah, Canada Day is really the *one* non-religious holiday I can think of that I can think of where people actually are likely to do something to commemorate it. (I exclude Remembrance Day, Nov. 11th, because most people don't get that day off from work.) Fireworks was the big thing. In the small town where I used to live, there was usually a car show that day and some music in the town...
more...
- Scott of Two Countries
Thanks for the info! I'm still getting used to living close to Canada. I really had no idea how things work up there!
- Dan Walters
@savatskid I desperately need an easy way to record my sermons digitally to post them! I would love your suggestions!!
I use Edirol r-09 (not sure of spelling). It's on amazon.com I edit it with Audacity software at sourceforge.net
- Chuck Huckaby
Thanks for the tip!
- Dan Walters
2 of my 3 daughters have strep. Will the 3rd be next? We may find out today!
Yep got it here too Me and wife both! cough cough
- Allan Bunt
Too bad! I'm the only one holding out here. Everyone else in the house is on antibiotics!
- Dan Walters
I really wonder what are the occupations of FriendFeeders :) What is your job? Are we only from IT-marketing-advertising-blogging world? Don't hesitate to answer, we should know each other :)
Ahmet Kutay, Hanna Wiszniewska, Brent - Loving Life and 106 other people liked this
Depends on what you mean by IT. I'm not a programmer.
- Richard A.
I work as a fraud analyst in the debit card services department at JP Morgan Chase/WaMu.
- Christian (Simply X)
lol at the pic.
- Alfredo
I'm from IT world since I am a Computer Engineering student
- Alp
Network Engineering student here
- Alfredo
Alfredo, are you network engineering student?
- Ahmet Alp Balkan
I'm a Mechanical Engineer who's been whacked by the crappy economy in Michigan.
- Amy H.
yes. you too?
- Alfredo
Archivist at a private university.
- Laura - not edifying
Software Engineer
- Jeanine W.
Alfredo, I'm studying CS :)
- Alp
I do stuff for people on the Internet :)
- Mona Nomura
I am a librarian. :)
- holly
Oh Holly, I'm not good at researching at library, I'll request help from you next time :P
- Alp
which job do you mean?
- Jim Is Not Smart
Student :)
- Tunahan E. Bilgin
Embedded Software Engineer
- DGentry
Oh Denton, it sounds really cool.
- Alp
Marketing. At an IT company. :-)
- Herb Hernandez
i am blogger :)
- Müjdat Korkmaz
pimp
- DO ANYBODY NO MONIQUE
LOL Monique ... I am a Director of Sales & Marketing at a hotel ... and I have a cool side gig I am working on plus I am going to be a resident DJ at a lounge soon as well ... **Cue 'In Living Colors' and the skit entitled "Hey Mon ..."
- Amani
OMFG Monique, really :D
- Alp
at the mo i'm a contract 1st line support in a bank although i've done 2nd and 3rd line support, helpdesk ad servicedesk, web design and i'm interviewing for a development job next week
- Jamie Vidamour
I'm an exaggerated Customer Service Rep. Because I work for a software firm, this means I do tech support and issue escalation, just like at a real-live Support desk. :) I'm also a software trainer, and I do all of my training via webconferencing. But all I've ever really wanted to do was sing.
- Helen Sventitsky
Alp, anytime! I'm helpful like that ;)
- holly
Program Manager aerospace, until my exotic dancing career takes off.
- Steve C
Social worker but currently a stay at home mom.
- Rochelle
Retired with lots of time on my hands. FF takes a lot of it
- Jack DeWitt Smith
I manage a business channel at an IT consultancy. That is when not scouring the internets for cool apps & gadgets. And lolcats.
- embee
Oh Helen, I need some webconferencing help for sure. I will have to pick your brain real soon if you are ok with it.
- Amani
Well, I am a Person In a Management Position, so that qualifies as pimp, right? Seriously, I work for a federal grant at a private college.
- DO ANYBODY NO MONIQUE
Amani, feel free to do so. :)
- Helen Sventitsky
Dental assistant/office manager.
- Penguin It's Cold Outside
from fftogo
I architect/manage online advertising technology platforms (ad servers, back-office workflow tools, site integration, etc.) for a publisher with many sites globally (Expedia). I write on the side. My pipe-dream is to work in film or television.
- joey
Physics teacher
- Rich
Software Architect/Project Manager/Developer...
- Jemm
I used to be a network/systems admin.. I'm trying to forge a new career making an online show :)
- alphaxion
Rich, I <3 physics. What level do you teach?
- Jeanine W.
I'm a translator/interpreter Alp :)
- Selma
Selma, what languages?
- Rochelle
Unix and networking sysadmin
- Andy Bold
Retail Mgr. for local shop, on the IT team for our Nat'l parent, tutor seniors on PCs, build sites on WP (those are all paying gigs).
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
Persian(Farsi) and English Rochelle :)... I don't know all that much about IT world but I love friendfeed
- Selma
I'm a professional Stay home dad.
- Gunny doesn't side-hug™
Sales Customer Service manager for an ISP :)
- Kim
italian professor
- enza (aka iVenus)
Camera operator and video editor normally.
- Richard A.
I do communications and development work for a non-profit organization
- howard shippin
i am a stock controller in a massive warehouse
- eric
In the Air Force trained as a computer programmer. I don't actually program though, I run a help desk. I'm Nick Burns in a uniform.
- Rob Haas
I am a librarian. I work in both a public library and a library in a county jail
- Alan Simpson
Alan, that's cool! I have a pile of books to mail to the Prison Book Program.
- Rochelle
@Alan, there are many librarians here, why don't you create a group with people commented on this post?
- Alp
Alp, there are already several librarian rooms.
- Rochelle
I am an Enterprise Architect running amok on the Internet.
- Kevin Johnson
Professional Luddite. OK, really: scientist, science blogger, working in Open Access science publishing. Trying to think like a Luddite, in order to be able to attract other Luddites to our stuff.
- Bora Zivkovic
Rochelle, ok I told something without researching :) Forgive me :)
- Alp
On Lindsey I did not use to kow that :)
- Alp
I'm an automotive parts consultant by day and amateur computer expert by night.
- Chris Heath
NSA assigned to read everything you post. :-)
- John D Reasor
OMG John, please don't peach me :-/
- Alp
LOL sorry could not resist.
- John D Reasor
Writer
- Shevonne
Radio DJ/Presenter, voiceover artist and Musician.
- Iain Baker
John, hehe I am not in US. You can't find me. I'm on a cave which is in Afghanistan.
- Alp
nISV
- April Russo (app103)
I've two jobs, I'm a university teacher's assistant for Political Theory (have an MA) & I work in property management
- sofarsoShawn
I work in beer. I sell beer in a beerstore in Amsterdam & am a bartender in a microbrewery in the same city.
- Ton Zijp
@Ton: You work in beer? How cool. I wish I could be a brewing engineer or something.
- Amy H.
CS student, web developer
- Vezquex: God of FF
Economist/senior advisor in the utilities business. Working 20% and parenting 80% right now while on 12.5 week paid "father´s leave", and find it more of a job than usual.
- Thomas Bøhm
videogame designer. FF is like any social network - maybe the first and early adopters are social media junkies, but even they have non-social-networking friends and so it always osmoses outwards from them. (See also how fast Orkut's average IQ dropped.)
- Andrew C
I somehow meant that to be a little less snobby than that sounded.
- Andrew C
I am software engineer. Great career choice if you have the aptitude.
- Internet's Tad
@Amy H.: Well, it's nothing special. Except for the fact that a few hours ago I got a little bit pissed on a few very special beers with a brewer from Brooklyn. That's what's making it worth it. :-)
- Ton Zijp
Programmer
- Rodfather
Student and blogger. Planning to study psychology, but also very interested in webdesign and quite a few other creative areas :)
- Juno Jones
IT Operations Manager, recently Project Manager.
- CAJ, somewhere else
Student, blogger, do WP sites on occasion.
- Amber, Random Time Lord
Sr. Mechanical Engineer, Photographer, Program Manager depending on what day you ask.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Plant operator at Richmond Refinrey. I make high quality lube oil.
- Beau Liening
ComSci by education, but in retail by lack of experience.
- Rui Pereira
Accounting specialist, ordained minister, mentat assassin, and Babylonian god of winter.
- Steven Perez
I'm the one that persuades children to get on with their work in the absence of their teacher.
- Vicky
Telecomm engineer.
- jcunwired
Unemployed atm. :-(
- Kol Tregaskes
Journalist
- Mycaptain
2parts - 1)Real Estate Process Analyst 2)Gaming Website Editor-in-Chief.
- Elizabeth Parmeter
Librarian (corporate and public) - though I'm currently a stay-at-home-mom.
- Jen (SquirrelGirl)
software engineer/IT monkey/root cause analysis grunt/last-resort bug fixer
- imabonehead
online research assistant. Owner/operator of infolode.com Assist a small network of musicians/bands learn to manage and promote themselves until recently. I'm converting the blog dedicated to my network of bands to a gigs link site soon.
- Molly
Own my own company, guess that makes me a ceo
- Russ Jackson
I'm starting my first job as an Assistant Professor of Lifespan developmental psychology - I'll be teaching and running a lab doing research with older adults.
- adf
Student of C.S.I.T. - Computer Science Information Technology!
- Mohammad Abdurraafay
I work as a coordinator at an art college with graduate film students, and I also do some freelance writing.
- Derrick
Lots, yet none...
- Anthony Citrano
NYT - R&D
- Ted Roden
i'm a serials & electronic resources librarian. [i love my job]
- Marie is monkeying around
It appears like there are quite a few disciplines here. I work in IT project management and business analysis, sales, and run my blog on the side.
- Ken Stewart | ChangeForge
I've been a network engineer / IT Consultant for many years - last couple though I've struggled with some health issues - so spend more time blogging (about the iPhone) and working at home, only doing very occasional / limited consulting work ...
- Patrick Jordan
Jack of all trades. (I actually design stuff on various media, web included)
- dario
Risk Management
- Alex Scoble
I carry a video camera looking for geeks improving the world.
- Robert Scoble
I write fiction.
- Nine
I take pictures.
- Admiral Anika
RobertScoble: Love your job description.
- Ted Roden
Domestic Engineer.
- Bec Rowe @d0tski
religious studies professor at a small college
- Nathan Rein
I'm a software architect.
- Joey Gibson
Taking a break from PR to sell broadband. Brutal.
- Sue Radd
Full time RubyOnRails developer working for a coffee roasting company - go figure!
- Jordan Brock
Underpaid Bureaucrat at Dept of Social Services
- m9m, Crone of FriendFeed
Supply chain consultant.
- elroy
Student in international marketing (and management - dual degree in France and UK)
- Jérôme Flipo
Marketing management
- Robert
non-profit, social services, doing contract management/quality assurance work
- ♥patricia♥
Program Manager
- Eric
ne'er-do-well and sometime recruiter
- Melanie Jagolino
product management
- Lu Tao
I'm a manager for a major performing arts organization.
- TVTechGrl
Haha Robert Scoble, I LIKED IT a lot :) There is really good people over here :)
- Alp
.Net developer now working as Project Manager
- J.D. Deutschendorf
Bookseller
- Joseph Zitt
I'm a doctoral student.
- Dawn M. Armfield
from Nambu
Programmer/Developer/Geek, whatchawannacallme.
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
I am a Java Developer. According to my job position.
- Mike Nayyar
Mom-was an Instructional Designer before I took up this position full time....
- Kelly W.
Librarian in an IT department
- JSNFLMNG
Personal Trainer
- BEX
IT Manager for Web Services at North Carolina Central University
- Damond Nollan
R.N.
- Anne Bouey
Accounting for the last 12 years but seriously considering a change after the last job went bye-bye.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
Software engineer
- Morton Fox
I work as a Business Analyst.
- Parth Awasthi
Technical Recruiter
- Steve Sill
IT Consultant focusing on Network Infrastructure, Wireless Technologies, & Security
- Keith - @tsudo
Software engineer. Enterprise-level applications, back-end, front-end, user experience, optimization, and research.
- xero
IT project implementation stuff
- Jeff (the メガマクダジ of FF)
Marketing here
- Ryan Dadey
I'm a writer.
- Vijayendra (V-Mo) Mohanty
I'm a 1337 h4x0r; s/w engineer and currently engineering manager for a team of superb engineers at Yahoo! News.
- Glen Mistletoe
Currently I'm a nanny but I plan on getting my teaching certificate (maybe?).
- Lis Miller
Internet business consultant
- Daniel Falcón
engineering manager.
- Amund Tveit
I'm sailing a small boat around the world. This month I'm in San Francisco.
- Nick Jaffe
I am a teacher
- Morten Breivik
from twhirl
For money I'm a Rental Agent, for fun I'm a Web Developer, and for a lot of people I'm their Personal Consultant.
- Jimminy
Software developer, social media evangelist/strategist, startup guy
- Devlin Dunsmore
Oh Devlin, what are your startups?
- Alp
I work the FF nite crew, I watch pots boil, develop software (I'm partial to web apps - I run a few online services) and I'm "database coordinator" for a college's development/alumni/campaign departments.
- Micah Wittman
Geek trying to improve the world by launching a Belgian startup (yep it exists)
- Zack Brandit
Amund - What does an Engineering Manager do? Are you an engineer that also happens to be a manager? If so, what kind of engineer?
- Mitch
Micah - Do you work at the RDC? Awesome, I took a course there about 2 years ago.
- Mitch
Scientist / management consultant / small biz owner
- Sally Church
musician / producer / video maker / social networker / media student / father / dreamer / coffee grinder / poet / available / this week lots of coffee-grinding expertise
- Chris Loft
servant to a kitteh! thats my job now lol
- Tatty Gibson
Undergraduate CompSci student, and developer of Twitterfall.com
- Jalada
current is Realtor; past is in education & running a cafe in Africa; & hopefully something new by next year! I do love observing all these LEARNING curves and canoeing these streams of info.
- Mara Hawks
serial entrepreneur on second startup, consultant, TV producer
- Patricia
I do IT stuff :) social media stuff and stealthy product innovation goodies too!
- Susan Beebe
Computer Science student at UC Irvine
- Zian Choy
Im a professional firefighter for 28yrs in Hamilton Ontario Canada ,, and I dont do cats in Trees .. I help people for a living ...
- johnpiercy
all part time: Pastor, freelance writer, mailman.
- Jim Is Not Smart
Internet Marketing Analyst. Yeah, I know.
- Mark Traphagen
graphic designer
- Batu
Student / Social Networker
- Larry Hudson
27 years as registered diagnostic medical sonographer, the princess thing never panned out for me.
- Janet
I'm a freelance web designer/developer. work from home most of the time. I get to see my young boy a lot more than if I worked in an office, which is great.
- David McDonald
Student in Management and entrepreneurship (France) plus a semester in Finland to study digital business.
- Stanislas Jourdan
Graphic Designer.
- kilbuda
librarian
- bob
Copy editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Journal of Oncology Practice, both published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Love working in the sciences. Feels like what I do really means something.
- Heather
Fundraising.
- Nation Hahn
owner of a small consulting company, specialized in marketing for SME
- bonuck (e gli associati?)
MBA in Management - Currently Running my Web compnay. I learnt the basics of web programming a few years ago with my first solo project. From then on - web addict :)
- atanas
I am actually a program director, head of the technology school at CityU of Seattle. Used to be a Security Engineer, and Project Manager.
- Dan Morrill AKA Techwag
Software engineer, project manager, aspiring luthier (guitar and mandolin builder)
- Greg Guitarbuster
A student in China . and a blogger
- ybs
I program computers and they drive me crazy, its symbiotic
- Mot Faerin
I'm an architecture student :)
- Shandiz
Long Haul Truck Driver by day, geek by night ;)
- Robert Couture
doctor.
- Snipergirl
I was an Analytical Chemist for many years, now I work on the inter-webs :)
- Ken Morley
Musical Janitor.
- Aron Michalski
from fftogo
Alex: advertiser
- Alex Badalic
I am a System Administrators at a University in The Netherlands.
- Peter Kruit
System admin in healthcare.
- Brian Bufalo
electrical engineer
- netvista
it manager
- david coxon
from twhirl
Economics student.
- Daniel Rowley
Business Development expert in alternative distribution channels
- Ali Haydar
Officially, Site Director. Just means I run a website.
- Kate
Mitch: manages engineers, yes, software
- Amund Tveit
physiologist, fitness & adventure advocate
- Tracy Benham
E-commerce Analyst. Background is market research and data analysis.
- Sally: gift wrapper
Currently looking for work, and working on improving my skills in the mean time.
- Crystal Tillman
im a fine arts major and a cashier, i just so happen to really like the internet.
- Wesley Robin Guerrero
I expect to see some statistical analysis, with pie charts and bar graphs, of all the responses in this thread. What does it all mean? ;-)
- Bora Zivkovic
I'm a loss prevention manager
- Bill Majkowski
Swim Instructor, Massage Therapist, Nanny who loves the internet & other toys...
- Lisa L. Seifert
I work in interlibrary loan at a university medical library.
- Mary DeSive
from twhirl
I bend copper, drill steel and stick lots of pretty coloured wires in big metal cabinets for these people: http://www.mertech.co.uk
- Slappy Line
Outreach Volunteer and Technical Assistant for University
- Melanie Reed
Family business: steel.
- Nurse Katie
I am an Administrative Assistant, 10 years ago I was cab driver for 8 years and Computer Operator before that..
- David Gross
Meddler (Semi-Pro)
- zeroinfluencer
Freelance writer of the caffeinated kind.
- Andrea Nicosia
from fftogo
Crap Student
- Yuvi
Software Developer
- Eric Florenzano
Published Sci-fi author, https://www.createspace.com/3352706. IT background(2nd - 3rd tier, client/server programming, sr. tech analyst, c++ instructor) currently have unfinished projects to finish, http://www.worldlifesite.com/Project..., not employed by a company
- Monique
freelance computer support
- Grant Bierman
visualist/photographer/blogger
- Nia
Me is alpine ski racer (this season got 1st in greek nationals), mountain biker, traceur, high school student and tech geek blogger. These are my "occupations" for the time beeing.
- Apostolos Papadopoulos
physician
- Brian Appleby
Landscape Architect
- JA Castillo
Internal control at a very large bank.
- Kamilah Gill
freelance writer / personal trainer / integral coach
- William Harryman
website project manager, freelance web developer, and sometimes tech consultant
- Daniel Morgan
Marketing director for a large environmental engineering firm
- Victor Panlilio
Lutheran pastor.
- Dan Walters
An Art Director until May 15. On May 16...well, I'm open for ideas (as long as they don't involve grey cubicles ,-)
- Jess
Dir of product management for an online business
- Ryan Miller
from Nambu
I'm an outlier :-). Biotechnology business development.
- Jack H. Pincus
I'm a Social Media Expert :-)
- sofarsoShawn
At least you aren't a mlm. ;-P
- Mathew A. Koeneker
I've been building and running websites since the early 1990s. We founded a subscription content business called Arts Hub (sites in Australia, UK and US, 20k subscribers), sold it in 1996 to private investors. Same with a film/tv subscription site; a collaborative document site (launched at the same time as Writely but didn't get acquired by Google!). About to launch book NicheContentMillionaire.com. Oh, and run a coffeeshop on the site!
- David Eedle
Web developer/UI specialist is my primary job atm. Can code in a swath of languages as well as design software, 3D modelling etc
- Mo Kargas
Let's all brag about our careers who gives a crap
- orionstarr
orionstar - I think that you have missed the point. I am pretty sure that no one is bragging. The idea is to learn about other friendfeed folk. Just my take and perhaps I am wrong.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
Marketing Expert@ Turkcell Telecommunications
- figen
Business analyst/MIS in Corp. America plus Co-founder/Advisor of a niche specialty advertsing business
- Jim Espinoza
Technology marketing.
- John E. Bredehoft
I like the picture! Can I be the one in red? ;) I work in interactive marketing.
- Violet Mae Lim
IT student (Technology Management, Greece) for now... :)
- Chris Zlatis
Graphic designer is my trade
- orionstarr
Social media "experts". :)
- Dimitar Vesselinov
Webmaster for TV station
- Jeremy Gordinier
During the day part time design/code for data analysis, but my passion is reading, reading, and writing in hopes of being a thought dealer. Am I the only one that dreams of having a crew of super enthusiastic folks that want to bring my more exotic ideas into reality?
- Mark Essel
C++ Developer
- Arvind
I have an IT background, did many years of training as well as IT architecture and project management. I currently run a consultancy in Tokyo, which helps multinationals with their various projects here by bridging the gap between the overseas understanding and the Japanese understanding of how things should be. I'm bilingual, which helps that.
- Rick Cogley
I'm a PR guy, frustrated photographer and aspiring woodworker.
- Kevin Pedraja
Are you older or younger?
Jeff P. Henderson, @CrystalinaB, Alfredo and 20 other people liked this
I'm older than this. Are you? July 1977 (12th printing, $1.95)
- Kevin C. Tofel
from email
I am older than July 1977.
- Sean Brady
Older
- Davis Freeberg
Hmm.... I'll have to dig up something else iconic or cool and see if you two are STILL older than the item. Stay tuned. ;)
- Kevin C. Tofel
older by 2 months
- Alan Le
Younger by one month.
- Haggis (Sean Loyless)
Older.
- Derrick
older
- MikeAmundsen
Ah, finally a "younger" response! Thx! Next item coming up in 2 minutes.... yes, I'm doing goofy stuff on FF today. :)
- Kevin C. Tofel
A bit younger
- Amber, Random Time Lord
Older. I had that one.
- Nine
Older, by about 1 and 1/2 years.
- Jennifer Dittrich
Older
- Rodfather
Older
- AJ Batac
Younger.
- Rochelle
younger
- chrisofspades
Younger, but only by 3 years
- Nurse Katie
old like yoda's balls
- Morgan Haley
older, I remember seeing it in the theater....
- Kelly W.
Younger.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
older
- bob
Younger
- Dan Walters
Older. Bought one at our local book fair at our elementary school, too!
- Great Scott!
Older. I still have my copy.
- Kevin Shaum
Older, saw it on opening day. The bought the 45 of the Theme Song on the way home.
- Robert Kenney
Younger by a couple of months.
- Christian (Simply X)
Younger
- Johnny Worthington
i'm the prime age for the evolution of star wars (6yrs old when 1st came out)
- chaz2b
Way younger. I'm about a year younger to The Return of The Jedi. :)
- Parth Awasthi
younger
- Joe Pierce
younger
- mjc
younger
- Aaron Hood
younger by 5 months...December, 5th 1977 :P That's scary
- Ⓐ ☠ slayerboy ☠ Ⓐ
Older than the film, younger than the director.
- Micah Wittman
Older
- M F
Younger by 18 months.
- Martin Bryant
younger
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
Older, Nov 1976.
- Kol Tregaskes
Older!
- Business Blogger【ツ】™
younger :-)
- Richard A.
younger, but only bye a few months
- Matthew
I am 10 years younger. But as big a fan as anyone :)
- Rahul Das
older
- Antoine Bertier
older and in fact I used to own it.
- Derek Coward
Older.
- Alex Scoble
Older
- Vicky
older
- Capn' One Eye - adrift
Older by a few months.
- Arlan Koizumi
I *am* Yoda.
- LogEx
Younger. LOL @ Logical Extremes
- Sarah Peterman
Much older.
- Greg Guitarbuster
I'm barely younger, my wife is barely older.
- midnightgolfer
I forgot how old I am so I can't tell you.
- @CrystalinaB
Superman still called upon on occasion
Helen Sventitsky, John Flynn and Alex Scoble liked this
For the record, that's a Homer Simpson quote.
- Dan Walters
thanks Dan..did not know that
- George Dearing
Tipping in US restaurants is simple: If the restaurant is a sit down place with wait staff that serve you, you tip 15% at least. Any less and you are, in effect, stealing from the waiter/waitress that served you. You wouldn't like it if your customers at your place of business stole 5% or more of your wages would you? Didn't think so.
Jesse Newhart, xero, Jeff P. Henderson and 55 other people liked this
Tip 15% or more. If you got crappy service, tip 15% and don't come back. You vote with your feet not your tip. Don't like our tipping system? Move to France.
- Alex Scoble
the other thing I don't understand is people who plead broke when it comes time to tip, if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out.
- Richard Lawler
Mona, can you repost your No comment so I can have the top comment? Please?
- Alex Scoble
To make it even easier, check out the sales tax on your bill. If the tax rate where you are is 7-10% (as it is in many areas of US), just double that and BAM, that's your tip amount.
- Rochelle
I'm with you to an extent. I tip based on service. A few weeks ago, we went to Lala's. Our waitress first didn't want to take our table, then only showed up twice. It was the busboy who took our order, brought out our food, and packaged up our stuff. The busboy got our tip.
- Admiral Anika
Hmm, where does Lindsey work so I can have her boss dock her pay by 5% just because.
- Alex Scoble
Tip with Zimbabwean dollars.
- Michael McKean
In the UK 10% is standard. That said, if restaurants paid staff properly it wouldn't be necessary.
- Martin Bryant
++Lindsey. Sure, you might be "stealing" from them, but they're "stealing" from me with less than expected service. Why should I pay for something I didn't get?
- Jared B. Luther
The problem is, Jared, that NO OTHER line of work is like this. So it's completely ridiculous for ANYONE to pay less than 15% tip. Otherwise you might as well go steal a part off their car, or take a pillow off of their couch at home. When you have a bad day at work your boss doesn't dock 5% of your pay for the day. Don't do the same to wait staff in a restaurant. Pay 15% or higher. If you aren't happy, complain and/or don't come back, but don't stiff the tip. It's just wrong.
- Alex Scoble
Alex - I just saw your earlier comment. Reposted: "No. To expand, if servers expect 15% at all times, they are the ones feeling a sense of entitlement, which does not solve the tipping problem. Both parties need to understand and respect each other, in order to be happy."
- Mona Nomura
I find the stealing analogy to be somewhat ludicrous.
- Jamie
What is wrong is an industry that doesn't pay its workers for the value they deliver.
- Brian Sullivan
It's not an analogy, Jamie. You are ACTUALLY stealing from them when you tip less than 15%.
- Alex Scoble
I don't expect customers to pay for what they don't receive. If you don't get service, then tipping less is called for. Not tipping because you don't think the server didn't kiss your ass enough, is really crappy. You're hiring a server to service your table, if they do the job they should be paid.
- Robert Hafer
Except that people paid on commission also get a decent salary to go along with it. Most wait staff get paid below minimum wage to begin with. If you don't tip them 15% or higher, they aren't making a decent wage.
- Alex Scoble
No; the restaurant is stealing from them by assuming that they can pay less than minimum wage and have tips make up for it. It's the business's responsibility to pay commissions, not the consumer. The government is complicit in this, too. AFAIK Canadians must be paid at least minimum wage in addition to whatever they get from tips, but the restaurant is not required to pay out the tips.
- Karl Knechtel
There's that, too, Joelle. I would argue that restaurants should do that, but also use tip-earning history as an indicator (not a rule!) as to who to fire when necessary.
- Karl Knechtel
The restaurant, eh? I wonder what would happen to a restaurant owner in the US who tried to do things differently. Anyhow, you can't argue that the system should be changed in order to avoid paying tips. If you are paying less than 15% you are a thief, plain and simple. I've said it. I'm not going to unsay it. If it offends those who pay less than 10% good, you should be ashamed. You are messing with the livelihoods of people when you tip poorly.
- Alex Scoble
I'm not stealing anything Alex. I go in, pay the price asked for the meal and then leave. If the staff are not getting paid properly then it's their responsibility to take it up with the owner, not mine.
- Jamie
That's not true. That's not usual at all. That's usually happens at places where the management also takes a cut of tips, like most national chain restaurants. I don't go to those places, I make sure of that.. What is normal, is that the waitstaff tips out the busboys and dishwashers. I cut out the middle man.
- Admiral Anika
It's not a matter of offense; it's a matter of remaining unconvinced
- Karl Knechtel
Actually, Jamie, you are somewhat cheating the servers since the the fed charges waitstaff income tax on a supposed amount of tips based on their gross receipts. They do this because tipping is custom in the US, so much so that waitstaff are paid 1/2 to 1/3 the minimum wage (as per the law). EDIT - Karl, the restaurants don't 'assume' they can pay less than minimum wage: they are allowed to do so by law, because the fed assumes waitstaff will be compensated with tips.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Last night my waitress made about $40/hr. from tips waiting on a tour bus. We don't have any tip sharing plan, also known as skimming.
- Robert Hafer
I'm not certain Lindsey. Off to check...
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
They're seriously taxed on a presumed income rather than actual income? Why does anyone stand for that?
- Karl Knechtel
A restaurant that pays below minimum wage and relies on tips to make it up is breaking the law surely. I feel strongly that a tip should be optional if the customer really likes the service. I almost always pay one (in the UK) but there's no way I should feel forced to. A business model based on tips is wrong.
- Martin Bryant
At least here in Oregon, Alex, wait staff are making minimum wage in addition to their tips. It's not like other places, where they might get $1.50 an hour.
- Dawn
Martin, it would be breaking the law there and here. Only in America...
- Karl Knechtel
It's not against the law in the US, Martin (except apparently in Oregon), which is the problem. It's just a way for restaurants to make it seem like their prices are less than they are.
- Alex Scoble
I believe in Florida the law is that you can pay them nothing if they get the equivalent of minimum wage from tips.
- Brian Sullivan
I am a generous tipper who votes with my tip *and* my feet. If the food sucks, that's not the server's fault, and it doesn't impact my tipping. But if server sucks, server is not entitled to a good tip.
- Anthony Citrano
Most folks I know who make commission get paid commission only. No salary at all beyond what they can make off sales. I can tell you if 15% was the base tip in the parts of Florida I lived in, most of the the mom and pops would go under. The same older folks go to the same restaurants every day and give the same 10% tip.
- Alix Whitmire
Lindsey (and Karl): see here for details http://www.irs.gov/publica... In a nutshell you're supposed to report your tips every day so they can withhold appropriate taxes. Otherwise you're supposed to report your tips on your tax filing and pay std taxes in lump. The 8% is towards the bottom of the page "How were your allocated tips figured? The tips allocated to you are...
more...
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Sorry, Alix, I'd never heard of a commission based position that didn't have a fixed salary component to it before today. And also, sales guys are usually paid as soon as a product is purchased (or in some cases installed). So if the product doesn't work as it's supposed to they don't pay for that. In other words a salesperson doesn't typically lose pay based on the service of the product.
- Alex Scoble
Most salespeople I know work solely on commission with their state's min. wage as a "salary".
- Admiral Anika
When I was a waitress a few years ago, the restaurants that I worked at paid under $2.50 an hour. Pay check day was usually a joke. So yeah, the wait staff does depend on your tips in order to make a decent living.
- Sarah Peterman
Alex, you are just stirring the pot now... you know that tipping threads are ripe for flame wars on the internet! :)
- Jason
Yeah, but I'm being honest here. :) I really do think what I wrote.
- Alex Scoble
Oh me too, being in the restaurant field for many years through high school and college. Just saying...
- Jason
I tip well (and on takeaway, too) because I am lucky and I can. That said, tips cannot be counted towards minimum wage in my state. I was appalled when I first learned that this was a common practice in other states. I also know a several people in sales who earn on commission only and while they aren't responsible for the quality of the product, they are responsible for the level of service they give during the sales process. They can't just sell junk, ignore their clients, and expect commission.
- joey
Yeah, my point with the sales stuff is that it's not directly analogous to waiting tables as the workflows and customer requirements are quite different.
- Alex Scoble
It's not directly analogous, agreed. I was just bringing that up because I draw a distinction between tipping less (or not at all) because of the quality of food/product or some other requirement and tipping less (or not at all) because of horrible service.
- joey
Maybe it's not stealing, in the sense that you take something without paying for it at all, but it is the same as seeing the price listed and opting not to pay the full price. Imagine going to a store, picking up something that costs $12, and only paying the cashier $10, and then going out the door. That's basically what it is. The amazing thing is that it's totally legal when it comes to restaurants.
- Victor Ganata
Sorry Alex, but you can argue that the system should be changed. If they are paid too little (and they are) they should be paid more by their employer (as in any other industry), not directly by customers. Tipping should be a voluntary way of showing your appreciation for a job well done, not an obligation because someone isn't paid enough.
- John Kitchen
Yeah, you can argue that and discuss it, but if you tip based on the fact you think the system sucks then you are a complete loser (and a thief...did I mention how tipping poorly is theft?).
- Alex Scoble
When did it change to 15% minimum?
- Glen Mistletoe
1980, Glen, while you were sleeping one night.
- Alex Scoble
Are you honestly suggesting that someone could be charged with a felony for tipping less than 15%? If so, I'm not sure what you mean by "stealing."
- Glen Mistletoe
good rule of thumb is double the tax...at least that's my damn rule! :-p ...in WA, 8.8% leads to right in between 15% and 20%.... :-)
- Live4Emma (L4S)
It's there in plain English, Glen. Saying it isn't a crime doesn't make it any more right.
- Alex Scoble
I didn't say that you should tip less because the system is as it is, only that the system is insane and should be changed.
- John Kitchen
Glen! Tipping's been 15% since I was a kid, which means since you were a kid, too.
- Admiral Anika
Well then that's change I can agree on, John, because as we see in these threads, the current system only benefits those who think they are above tipping the expected amount and restaurant owners who don't have to deal with paying out a decent salary.
- Alex Scoble
I've usually do what Live4Soccer does. Double the tax. I'm generally a good tipper though.. just because I don't like to think about it.
- Rodfather
I think west coast and east coast is different in this case. Or maybe just the SE. Or maybe just Florida, land of the early bird specials.
- Alix Whitmire
Am I bad for often skipping the Starbucks tip whenever I use a debit card? I tip at all other times, but they just don't make it easy for you there....
- Kamilah Gill
In that case, Sean, you shouldn't EVER eat at fancy restaurants, because you clearly cannot afford to eat there if you cannot pay 15% tip.
- Alex Scoble
I usually tip the change or an extra dollar for a drink as well.. which is usually much more than 15%.
- Rodfather
Sorry, Anika, a good tip for excellent service was 10% when I was growing up (60's-70's); 15% for really outstanding service. I've recently been told by a younger niece that 20% is the mandatory minimum. To the IRS, a "tip" is distinct from a gratuity in that it is discretionary; i.e., entirely optional. Personally, I tend to tip 15-20% but I'm really curious about the fairly rapid cultural changes that make some people thing XX amount is now "mandatory" with no rationale other than their own opinion.
- Glen Mistletoe
Tipping is part of what the server earns, so I have no problem tipping 20% when they do their job. However, if they don't do their job, I'm not going to pay them. Outstandingly slow/rude/crappy service earns the server a 0% tip, and earns the establishment customer--.
- Jeremy Brooks
I'd guess closer to 20% is standard these days
- Rodfather
Ahh, it was bound to happen, Kamilah. You brought up a gray area...when is tipping customary? Then again I specifically mentioned in the thread post at the top that this is for places where wait staff serve you...Starbucks does not meet this requirement.
- Alex Scoble
Alex, have you been watching Reservoir Dogs?
- Kevin Pedraja
I don't tip Starbucks. They don't bring the coffee to my table or clean my mess.
- Rodfather
I hope that the "no rationale other than their own opinion" isn't pointed at me, Glen, because I have given multitudinous rationale for why you need to tip 15% or more.
- Alex Scoble
US Department of Labor FAQ on tips: http://www.dol.gov/wb...
- Glen Mistletoe
You just double posted the same thing, Glen.
- Alex Scoble
it told me it failed :(
- Glen Mistletoe
Okee dokee.
- Alex Scoble
Oh hell no, they put the info about tipping in the "Women's Bureau"?!? *sigh* Nice to know the fed doesn't think men deal with tips </sarcasm>
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
What about Shabu Shabu? They bring the stuff to you, but you gotta cook all the stuff yourself.
- Rodfather
IRS distinction between tips and gratuities http://www.tipcompliance.com/polLear...
- Glen Mistletoe
Dude. Waiting tables is hard. The hardest part? Providing a level of customer service that warrants you getting your tip. Never mind all the time on your feet and busting your ass. You still have to provide excellent service or you are not going to get a full 15% from me. You knew what you were getting into when you took the job. If you don't like it, get a job with set hours.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Rahsheen just gave another perfect example of why the current system sucks.
- Alex Scoble
ok Alex. I admit I didn't open and read all the comments. I figured that might be the case. Thanks for clarifying. I feel a bit less guilty now
- Kamilah Gill
At some point in time, a tip was an extra something you gave to reward someone for excellent service. And it's still true in some industries. Now, in the food service industry, a tip is an expected part of someone's wage (i.e., you can pay employees $2.13 per hour if tips make up the difference). Why is it now 15%, apart from a pronouncement from Alex? Why not 16%? Why not 78%? Why not 14%? I've still seen no rationale for that.
- Glen Mistletoe
I remember when it was 10%, then I remember hearing 15% more recently. Servers I was friends with seemed to agree, but I don't know that there is some official tip amount.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Because I say it is, isn't good enough for you, Glen? Sheesh...you are finicky.
- Alex Scoble
It's nice that Alex can make such a pronouncement, but it doesn't change the FACT that, to a large part of the population, a tip is a reward for service. You calling it "stealing" has no effect on them at all, because they're not around to hear it. To them, nothing's changed. If they were a waiter/waitress, they wouldn't expected to be tipped if they gave bad service. I'm really fascinated by how these cultural memes change and become so-called "rules."
- Glen Mistletoe
I actually agree with you, Alex, but I still wonder how we got here. Though I have tipped $0.02 before for exceptionally bad/rude/obscene service (when the waiter asked my wife, "what the f--k did you expect?").
- Glen Mistletoe
The mentality of tipping has moved on to how strippers are tipped. The more you tip, the better service you get. If you don't tip at all, you'll get screamed at.
- Rodfather
Actually, I tip 20-25%. If the bill is $50, I usually tip $10, and $15 if it's really good service. If the service was really bad, I'd tip $5, or 10%. That's just my own personal policy.
- Trish R
Yeah, Glen...I do that sort of thing only for severe cases where I know I'm never coming back to the restaurant in question. As to how we got here? That's like asking how any of our current customs came in to place the way they are done today? It's a good question, but even historians probably couldn't give you a simple complete answer in less than a chapter of a large book.
- Alex Scoble
I'll typically tip 20%. For lower quality, I give 15%. For bad service, I'll give just under 15%. For great service, I'll give 30%. At an expensive meal with expensive bottles of wine, I'll still give 20% and it hurts, but it's worth it. The right waiter at the right restaurant makes all the difference, no wonder how some of them can pull in $100,000 incomes.
- Mike Reynolds
I tip a min of $5 or 20% whichever is more if service is at least decent. However if the service sucks you get no tip from me. I'm not obligated to tip you. You have to make some amount of effort to do your job I can't fire you for sucking but I can "stiff" you
- Bill Rawlinson
From the DOL link: "However, if an employee's tips combined with the employer's wage of $2.13 per hour do not equal the hourly minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference."
- Karl Knechtel
The market won't tolerate a 15% increase in the price, though. You do that, and you're employees will be even worse off, because you'll soon be out of business.
- Victor Ganata
For those of you mentioning sales taxes: In Canada, sales tax is charged both federally and provincially. The combined burden in Ontario is 13%, and it used to be 15%. Some things are exempt; but on the other hand, some of these taxes also get charged to suppliers and other intermediaries, with the results reflected in the final cost to the consumer. But the value meal items at McDonalds are still $1.39 + tax CAD.
- Karl Knechtel
Karl, actually, there's no PST on food products under $4.00.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
That's one of the exemptions I was thinking of, although I didn't really remember exactly how it worked anyway, so I was deliberately vague. :)
- Karl Knechtel
oh i like the australian way. tipping?? i've never seen it. whats funny is that our EFTPOS machines when set up for restaurants etc actually have tipping as part of the machine, so when you swipe your debit card, you have amount, then tip. but it's never used.
- Terry O'Fee
On my first business trip to Europe (The Hague), I left 15% on the table. The waitress came running down the street after me: "Sir, sir, you forgot your change!" The rule there is that you round it up to the next guilder/euro.
- Glen Mistletoe
yeah you see that with taxis. unless its a big note, dont stress about the change. say 18 dollar fare, give them the 20 and head off. maybe thats just me. anyways you dont see much of that anymore with cards taking over these days...
- Terry O'Fee
Ari, that folk etymology has been pretty thoroughly debunked. http://www.snopes.com/languag...
- Karl Knechtel
It seems that tipping is not the norm in Europe nor on the Pacific Rim. I remember reading that it isn't in Russia, either. How did North America get to be so different? And what are the rules in South America and Africa?
- Karl Knechtel
Too tired to read every response, but I sincerely hope someone made a reference to Reservoir Dogs.
- Maggie
I tip an average of 20%. I've given tips as high as 50% and as low as 0%. It's very rare for me to tip less than 15% but there have been instances. At one restaurant I had to ask for water 5 times before it was brought to me. Another time I had to ask for the check 3 times after being done with my meal for over 45 minutes (finally getting up to talk to the manager about how I could get a bill to pay).
- Thomas Hawk
You are paying a premium to eat at a restaurant. If the service is so horrendous that it ruins that experience then I don't really see the point in rewarding that horrible service. The restaurant and 90% of it's staff may be perfectly adequate. To pay them anyways and not come back for one bad apple might be more like punishing a good business while rewarding the bad apple.
- Thomas Hawk
I typically just double the tax. If it was really good service then I add more.
- CW™
In the case where I had to ask the manager for the bill when I asked him where my waiter was he said he didn't know, that he might be out on a smoke break. He apologized profusely and seemed to really feel bad about it, but there was no way I was going to leave that waiter a 15% tip for some of the worst service of my life.
- Thomas Hawk
I haven't read the whole thread here, but I almost always tip 15%. If the service is GREAT (or the waitress is really flirty) I'll tip 20% or more. On very rare occasions I'll leave a few coins as a tip - usually when we've been completely ignored the entire meal, which happens. No way will I leave a decent tip for crappy service. Though I heard a good idea the other day - give the tip to the manager and ask it to be given to the kitchen/cleaning staff.
- Internet's Tad
I start at 20%. I'll only go down to 15% if it's really bad. I've gone as high as 30% once or twice.
- Jim Is Not Smart
Usually triple the tax because in Connecticut, tax is 6%
- Ethan
On our honeymoon, Lindsay and I ate at a famous seafood restaurant in New Orleans. We saw our waiter ONE time - when we ordered. He never came back for anything. We finally flagged down another waitress who agreed, relunctantly, to bring us drink refills. We gave her a small tip and left nothing for the first guy.
- Internet's Tad
Tad I've never had service that was as bad as you described above. If I had, I would probably have done exactly as you did.
- Jim Is Not Smart
When we left we saw that he was serving a huge table in the back. We've been neglected similarly since then a few times - always by a waiter serving a huge table. We've left restaurants before because of this.
- Internet's Tad
I customarily tip 20%, sometimes more in small places. If the services is poor I tip 10% and leave a note with an explanation. I also speak to the manager if possible before leaving the restaurant. (Quietly and without making a scene.) I spent ten years in the industry and don't want a lower than normal tip to be misconstrued as simply being cheap. However, I won't steal from a server who has to payout a bartender / busboy.
- Heather Solos
Alex and I see eye to eye on this. Is the old thread from last summer on this topic still around, I wonder?
- Michael W. May
@Tad I think it's funny you tip extra if your 'waitress' is flirty! What if it was a male server flirting with your wife? Just curious if the same model applies. When servers flirt with my husband right in front of me(!) I grab the bill, give them a measured look, and tip much less than he would have!
- Jess
Considering the fact that this class period is almost over I will not be able to continue this conversation until after school, but I have to comment. You statement is completely insane. STEALING?!? It is not stealing if you tip below 15%. I work at a coffee shop where waiting on people is the norm, and I must say that if I know I have given crappy service (Generally accidental of course) I am happy to get 5%. Therefore it is not "in effect" stealing. Anyway, waiters/waitresses DO get payed anyway. In today
- Andew
I don't understand the reasoning behind giving a bad server's tip to the kitchen staff. A tip is for good service. When you get bad service, you leave less or no tip. Why would you tip someone who did not serve you to punish the person who did a poor job? That makes no sense to me. If you want to complain or make an issue out of the poor service, speak to the manager, don't make a production out of taking 10-20 bucks to the kitchen staff to all split among themselves.
- Trish R
's world, your employer simply subtracts your tips from your paycheck. Good Day.
- Andew
@Andrew 8% of a server's sales is added to their gross income then taxed accordingly. So, tipping less than 8 *is* a loss to the server, and not to the establishment.
- Kevykev
If you don't understand why this is theft, then you are another example of why the current system sucks and needs to be changed.
- Alex Scoble
Karl: I don't know about South America as a whole, but I know there was no tipping when I was in Argentina.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
This is especially important in states where the waitstaff does not even get minimum wage. The tip is part of their income - the biggest part of their income! Tip them!
- Dan Walters
Tad, most servers prefer to take smaller tables and hate serving large parties for just that reason. They can make more money(better service) on several small tables than one large table.
- Kevykev
Sorry, Alex, buy claiming not tipping 15% is "theft" is just silly. I generally tip 20%, but if the service sucks, I will tip less than 15% AND complain to the management.
- Joey Gibson
It always depends on the service. If it really sucks, they get 10%, if it is really good 20%. Usually when I tip, it tends to be a bit more than 15% just because I round up. A tip is a reward for service, I'm not going to give someone a good tip for really bad service, it just doesn't make sense.
- Aram Zucker-Scharff
And Joey is another example of why the current system sucks and needs to be changed.
- Alex Scoble
Oh and I agree with Tad. If I had bad service like that, I would leave a sub par tip and never go back to that restaurant.
- Alex Scoble
Alex - if the tip is their salary and they are receiving a tip when they did not provide service would it not be the waitstaff stealing from me? I can't remember a time I have not tipped, but I won't say I would never not tip. I did recently walk out of a restaurant in Niagara Falls due to lack of service.
- Alan Simpson
It wouldn't be stealing from you anymore than you buying a product that didn't work as it should.
- Alex Scoble
Tipping policy is not gonna change here, no matter how much people bitch about it's fairness-it's an established custom. You can justify all you want, but if you are not tipping at least 15% for "decent" service--then not only are you robbing your servers of their expected income, but you are being rude. If you have obvious problems with your service, then you should be taking it up with the management.
- Kelly W.
Alex is right, the restaurant can/should provide compensation for poor service.
- Kevykev
Yes Alex, it would be the same type of stealing as me paying a contractor to do work at my house and them not doing it.
- Alan Simpson
Also - I can return a defective product and get my money back. Can I return a defective waiter? I am more likely to talk to the manager and ask for a discount on the meal than not tip so I guess I am asking for a refund on the "product".
- Alan Simpson
You can't always return poor product.
- Alex Scoble
At Wal-mart you can, Alex. "These diapers already got **** in 'em!" - Rodney Carrington
- Kevykev
If a waiter/waitress sucks but everyone still gives the full tip amt. (because they don't want to steal) the waiter or waitress has no incentive to do a good job. Or may even think they are doing a swell job. I shouldn't have to grin and bare it and ruin my night by having to seek out the manager.
- BEX
It's a perverse incentive anyway. If they know you're a crappy tipper, do you think you're really going to get good service? The customer is *not* always right, and I think it's within a businesses' rights to choose whom they serve.
- Victor Ganata
YIKES! Every time I get on FF, this thread is the first thing I see! I think Alex has a secret "stick" feature the rest of us don't. :)
- Dawn
LOL, Dawn. I knew this one would take on a life of its own. Almost didn't do it, but I feel it's important that people not screw wait staff because they think that 10% tip is acceptable.
- Alex Scoble
Tell you what, Alex, net Tuesday night, I'll let YOU get the tip! ;)
- Dawn
:p hehe
- Alex Scoble
Level of tip to me is based on level of service, pure and simple. If it were a mandatory rate, it would be on the bill, just like the tax is. If you want to think I'm a thief for having that view, ok. I won't lose any sleep over it. Just like you won't lose any sleep for me thinking you're an ass for trying to verbally dictate how people spend their own money and interpret customs.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
And Tony is another example of why the current system is broken and needs to be changed. By the way, Tony, thanks for that ad hominem moment. Every day should start with one.
- Alex Scoble
You're welcome. And yeah, maybe it should be changed. Or at least codified one way or the other. But then it wouldn't be just a custom. I'm ok with that too. Customs tend to irritate me on one level or another.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
Yes, well this custom irritates a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. I certainly wouldn't want to be a waiter because of it and make sure that I tip well because I understand how hard the job is and how crappy it would pay if I didn't.
- Alex Scoble
I won't tip someone if they don't know how to do how to do their job - sorry.
- Marcos Marado
I would not want to be one either. I always tip well for good service, since that's what it's designed for. A waiter or waitress though accepts that job knowing how the current system works and how hard it is. Just like someone who accepts a job maintaining sewer pipes knows they're going to get crapped on. If a waitstaff is not upto giving good service, they should not expect the tip to reflect it. Or they should work in a job where their level of pay isn't partially determined by those they are serving.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
I didn't see any direct response to Thomas Hawks comments, maybe missed it. I think calling it outright theft is comment baiting, sorry. I agree the system sucks and I do typically tip 15% or more if the waitstaff does a decent to great job. That said, I do not view it as theft to pay less if their service was unacceptable. It is paying appropriate to the service rendered. That is the point of the tipping system. There may be expected amounts but there is also the expectation of paying requisite to quality.
- Jeremy Hall
always 20% at least.
- edythe
OK, the only problem with that is that what you deem to be normal service is not going to be the same as what i deem to be normal service. The fact that subjectivity is involved in the process at all is what makes it suck. So I get rid of that and make it objective. 20%. Period. I don't like the place? I don't go back.
- Alex Scoble
I didn't see it as comment baiting, but rather as math ;) In the current system, as things stand, if you don't tip, you are shorting them pay, period.
- Michael W. May
from twhirl
Fine, 20% period. Then put it on the bill. I can decide if the 20% is worth it next time, but at least its on paper.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
Just to say though at that point its not really a tip. I'ts just a way for making the food prices seem lower than they really are.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
I don't worry, for every poor server that I might only give 10% (very rare) there seems to be someone who will give 20% no matter what. ;-)
- Jared B. Luther
How can it be called theft when their is no specified rule defining 20% as the requirement. The closest you see to this is when a large group (8 or more) requires a defined percentage gratuity. Then it is on paper. Waitstaff know their tips are just that, a gratuity & therefore will be variable based on the bill, the people & their level of service. I simply cannot agree it is theft if that variability is inherent to the system. Change the system yes, but don't call people thieves for using the current one
- Jeremy Hall
I've worked as wait staff in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Italy and Austria. My policy in the U.S. is to tip 15% minimum for basic service. Anything above that gets 20%. If the service is bad, I might leave 10% and I tell the waiter and/or management. Sometimes that's tough because you don't want to ruin your guest's experience. A couple of times I've told my date "just a minute" and gone back and explained the poor tip to the waiter or to the maître d'. How else do they know they've screwed up?
- Rod Bauer
Sorry Alex, but I'm completely fine with tipping less than 15% if they screw up with their service. It's basically a commission-like service payment, so if they don't perform basic service, they don't get basic tip. Simple. Not theft at all. I know some cheapskates that try to screw wait staff out of tips for basic or good service, but that's a different issue.
- Chieze Okoye
I think it also depends on the venue. If it is a buffet with someone clearing your plates but not serving, less than 15% seems appropriate. Also, if the server knows that the better job they do the more money they will make, doesn't that encourage the server to do a better job?
- MVB (Grinch of FF)
Since tipping is a subjective action, I get to determine what I think it should be. If servers want a set amount, add it to the bill or include it in the cost of the food. I will tip way above %15 percent for someone who is on the ball and makes my experience joyful. If not, I don't hesitate to give less.
- Thom Allen
More and more restaurants and services are including gratuity in the bill, which should indicate the requirement of tipping. Tipping less than the recommended amount (15-20%) is like only paying part of a bill or invoice because you didn't like the customer service representative you talked to. Edit: Rod indirectly makes a good point: short tipping just tells the waiter you're cheap; it doesn't convey that they gave bad service.
- Mark Trapp
"Gratuity: something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service." So put an extra 15-20% on the bill and call it a waitstaff service fee, but a mandatory gratuity is in fact a contradiction in terms.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
Heh, Tony, the IRS would disagree. They consider it a gratuity if it's added to the bill as something that you have to pay. In practice, it's a gratuity if it's on the bill, it's a tip if it's something extra beyond what's on the check.
- Alex Scoble
Ok, the IRS disagrees with the dictionary. Wouldn't be the first time.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
Tony, did you know that dictionary defines "twitter" as a trembling agitation? Clearly we've all been using Twitter really, really incorrectly. Dictionaries describe usages of words based on the editor's judgement. They are not normative declarations about matters of fact.
- Mark Trapp
I dunno. Twitter often makes me tremble with agititation...
- Kevin Pedraja
I don't know about you, Mark, but I've been using Twitter correctly.
- joey
I didn't say that either the IRS or the dictionary were the absolute authority on the matter. Just that I'm not surprised that the two may have different definitions of something.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
@Alex: If the government taxes against an assumed 15% tip, then tipping 16% is abetting tax fraud just as surely as tipping 14% is theft.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
... or maybe the government expects it to average out and both possibilities are completely reasonable tips.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
That's an interesting way to look at it, Daniel, hehe.
- Alex Scoble
I get what you're saying about server's wage + tips needing to add up to at least minimum wage though. When I was a waiter I made $2.13 plus tips and minwage was $5 something, so I needed at least $3/hr. to make it worth my time.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Actually Daniel, if you look at the link I posted above: the government taxes waitstaff on 8% of sales receipts when they participate in a recognized tip sharing program. In all other situations they are required to maintain a tip log and either turn it into their employer for taxes to be deducted from their paycheck OR they have to have that log and file for the tips when they file their taxes (and pay a lump sum, along with any penalties)
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
In other words: tipping more than X is not abetting tax fraud. The waiter/tress can just as easily not report their 10% in tips as they can not report 25% in tips.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
I did see your explanation above Tina but it didn't really fit into my zinger. I think high and low tips are supposed to average out at 15%, not that everyone must tip at least 15% to not be a thief. As a former waiter I usually tip 20+ but I still reserve the right to get closer to 10% if the service is bad.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Tina, that depends..in Canada.. TIPS are tax free unless it is collected by the establishment as a share program and then redistrubted evenly /prorated etc.. so If I were tipped , this would go straight to my pocket, without taxation.
- Peter Dawson
Voting with one's feet can also get hairy in a situation where you get a bad waiter show up at a restaurant you visit semi-regularly. I should probably talk to the manager in that situation but I really hate to do that. Can't I just leave a small tip? Never returning to a restaurant I like due to one bad waiter isn't a happy ending.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
I doubt that small tips really do much, Daniel, other than aggravate the waiter, particularly if it's a place you frequent.
- Alex Scoble
Having managed and waited tables, talk to the manager. The manager can decide if someone is a poor fit for the establishment or just needs some polishing.
- Heather Solos
I agree with you, but I hate confrontation so that's where it ends up. FWIW when I was a waiter I generally knew when I'd underserved a table and was not surprised by *those* bad tips. There were still plenty of inexplicably low tips that I had to chalk up to cultural differences or a bad day on the part of the customer.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
I currently spend as much working on tip reports for the IRS as the rest of payroll combined. The 8% rule is going out. With TRAP the IRS is going after 100% of tips and even the indirect tips of bussers and food carriers.
- Robert Hafer
I think the whole tipping thing in the USis ridiculous. I fell that staff should be paid a proper wage by their employee and that tips should be a way to thank people for an excellent job. I've eaten at restaraunts in the US where the wait staff haven't even deserved minimum wage yet i've been guilted into paying 15% just so they can earn a proper wage. Making the law fit the situation is even more ridiculous. AI sometimes wish there was a way to tip the kitchen staff though. I'd love to be able to thank th
- Jamie Vidamour
Jamie, just send your compliments to the chef. It get back to the manager and good chefs are well paid.
- Robert Hafer
Alex don't think you understand what stealing is. Stealling is taking something without paying for it. Not giving someone an extra 15% on top of what the price is when the service was dreadful just because they're not paid a decent wage is not stealing. I'm quite happy to tip and will in 99%of cases tip at least 15% when in the US but i have no problem with tipping less than that for bad service. tipping rewards great service which you don't get if the staff feel entitled to 15% automatically
- Jamie Vidamour
I have no issues with people tipping based on quality of service--I do it myself. 18-20% is my norm and I deduct or add to that depending on the quality of my service (no matter what the bill is BTW). If I go below 15% I write on the check why--I figure the server and management deserve to know that the reason I left such a crappy tip was based on service on not on me being cheap.
- Kelly W.
I tend to think a 15% tip is too little... so I tip $5 minimum +15% regardless. If there are 4 people at the table then it's: 20$ minimum +15%.... 10 people: $50 minimum +15% ... and so on.
- Brandon
wow, this thread is epic!
- jbrotherlove
I am writing this comment just to get this thread over 200. And because I can.
- Dawn
It's customary to tip just like it's customary to pay the price that's on the merchandise. If you were served your meal and you ate it, you may have received a minimum amount of service, but you still utilized the service.
- Victor Ganata
If you earned it, buy the T-shirt: "I Made It Through Every Comment In Alex's Thread" http://skitch.com/micahwi...
- Micah Wittman
My commentary on the above: 1) Reciprocity customs like tipping are messy (same class of problem: spending the "proper" amount and picking the right kind of holiday gift for relatives). 2) Varying Tax and Labour laws seem to further convolute matters. 3) The psychological benefit to consistently tipping generously is the enjoyment of staying above the fray in this particular type of social exchange; whereas for chronic under-tipping it is enjoying the idea of beating the system at its own game.
- Micah Wittman
Not so fast, Alex. Wait staff are in a *service* industry, which implies merit pay. I generally do tip 15%, and will always tip more if the service is excellent. That said, if I don't see my server a single time after my meal is served, and hunt for my check for thirty minutes, down to 10%. Once in my life, I've left no tip at all, and it was well justified. Overall, if the waiter is doing his job right *most* of the time, it should net out. That's by design. Diners don't *owe* anyone 15%.
- Keith McCammon
Reminds me of the opening of Reservoir Dogs :)
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
avoiding the whole rest of the thread but dude, if a server said "what the f--- do you expect?" to my date (as happened to glen), I would have moved to another section and told the manager.
- mjc
According to that logic why not bring your own waiter to serve you? If you're paying the salary directly rather than offering a little "pourboir"...
- Richard A.
I HATE HATE HATE HATE our messed up tipping system in the U.S. Why should waiters have to grovel to me, essentially, to receive a living wage? Do teachers have to put out a tip jar? (well, some would rightly argue that the answer is "possibly yes," but I digress). Does your postman expect a tip? Why, in a hotel where you may already be paying $250/night, should you feel obligated to tip the concierge just because he actually, well, did his job by helping you with dinner arrangements?
- Adam Lasnik
And furthermore, I disagree with your assertion, Alex. I often give 20%, but have once given a nickel tip and have several times given 5-10% tips for horrible and kinda bad service respectively.
- Adam Lasnik
Some of you need followers to get people to engage on your thoughts. Beg for followers here and explain WHY we should follow:
'Like' robot (frɐnc), Kathleen Capps, GeekDads.TV and 129 other people liked this
I'm @scobleizer and you should follow me if you want tons of interesting tech news. I watch thousands of friendfeeders and Twitterers and am always looking for the most interesting stuff before @techmeme gets it. (UPDATE: I AM FOLLOWING EVERYONE ON THIS THREAD)
- Robert Scoble
Isn't a better way to get followers by engaging on their thoughts and getting attention through engagement? I NEVER follow anyone who begs the way you describe.
- Ken Camp
That's an example of what I'd like you to do. I will follow anyone who answers on this thread.
- Robert Scoble
Well because we cannot compete with Scobleizer...and we are desperate for a following to launch our own blogs. :-)
- Tarun Chachra
Ken: the problem is that on friendfeed and Twitter you need some seed followers.
- Robert Scoble
I agree with Ken - I make a point of not following people who ask for followers (and ESPECIALLY not if they call themselves "social media experts" or "SEO experts"... retch)
- Chris Taylor
I'm not sure about begging but it's difficult, especially when you're overwhelmed by inspiration about what you're working, to feel like you're not connecting with enough people. Then again, I don't want a bunch of robo-followers, but people who I can engage and engage with me. Twitter is weird.
- Remote Revolution
@Chris, you should follow Mike Nayyar then: http://beta.friendfeed.com/mikenay...
- Daniel J. Pritchett
A friend of mine joined Twitter a month ago and he already has more Followers then I gathered in two years!! Please Help! thank-you very much @moon http://twitter.com/moon
- paul mooney
Hmm, I thought who you followed was more important....
- Scott Breakall
I guess getting on with some friends on Twitter is most important. They already know people. This adds to better quality content as opposed to just random following people which most of the time creates noise. I however love it that @scobleizer creates is great in creating a stage for interesting people :)
- Michiel Sikkes
I personally don't need THAT much but I desperately need FOLLOWERS for XDBE project, to spread the idea behind it! To bring the Internet to the next level together! Global Social Graphing http://xdbe.com/faq/
- Elmira Gazizova
If you don't follow me my gf will lock me in the basement without food and water.
- rob
Only follow me if you like tech AND religion . A dangerous combination!
- Dan Walters
begging is annoying. I guess you have to engage by following and slowly build an audience. A lot of my followers ( though not much ) has been by engaging on other tweets etc . Good use of hashtags doesnt hurt either
- Kashif Khan
I rarely have anything to say myself that doesn't require engaging in conversations with others, so I don't want ANY followers. I follow those who I believe I may want to engage in conversation with, or those whom I desire to know more about.
- Larry
@jpelegrin. When I do say something on Twitter, it's usually very insightful. O.K., not really, but I need some peeps. This is embarrassing!
- Jeremy Pelegrin
i ain't going to beg, but i will make a note that those interested in computers, programming, science, and humor might find FriendFeed just a little bit more enjoyable if you follow me.
- Rishabh Mishra (p248)
Breakall: It's a moving target. Whatever serves the purpose of the conversation at hand. For the real story: most ppl care, including Scoble.
- coldbrew
you should follow @unmarketing cause I sang about Scoble http://www.ReTweetMeVideo.com
- Scott Stratten
I agree you need seed followers. I just think the way to gain them is by engaging people who interest you. Be proactive. To me,this approach sounds, not disengaged, but not terribly engaging or proactive. I realize I'm an engagement fanatic, but if someone wants me to follow, a witty response to something I've said will lure me in, especially if there's an interesting interchange. Someone who follows me and has a post like you describe, I simply ignore (or block if appropriate for me).
- Ken Camp
Hmm, you should follow me if you'd like to keep a pulse on grassroots tech organizing going on locally to nationally, and because I'm looking for more #scifi fans to chat with. (@deannecuellar)
- DeAnne Cuellar
Quite simply this is all an exchange of ideas, thoughts and information. I want to follow and be followed by those whom I can learn from, as well as to receive input/advice/insight from.
- Ted Bradford II
I'm actually culling what few followers I do have to get to a conversation that makes sense for our "marketing" business. Um, yea, guess that's not a "pitch".
- Glen Group
Ken: this is my way of finding interesting new people to follow who I might otherwise not know about. Also, anyone who answers here IS engaging.
- Robert Scoble
you should only follow me if you like Star Wars, baby photos, web design, gadgets, random weirdness, memes, and music that makes you nod your head to the beat
- Nathan Chase
@coldbrew You're exactly right, they do care. Just a little reminder of advice that's come before when OTHERS were trying to ratchet up the follower numbers. /cold brew coffee rawks
- Scott Breakall
follow me, because i would get more active with more followers. :)
- Alexander Rode
I try to be interesting, but really we are starting 2 new businesses here and I could use as many followers as possible. And I follow back.
- Audrey
Nathan: if anyone ANDs that list you won't get any followers! I choose to OR it and am now following.
- Chris Taylor
@Wordful: [I'm not above begging, so please oh please follow me.] Follow me because I'm someone who can help you understand and implement an editorial strategy on your blog. I'm also a no-BS deep thinker who doesn't like to conform.
- Charles
You can follow me - @michiels on twitter - if you're interested on how a European internet startup works and what differences there are with for example SV startups. Also how Dutch schools combine entrepreneurship and studying.
- Michiel Sikkes
if the follow isn't two-way, well it's not much of a conversation is it?
- Sean O'Brien
@Alexander, sounds like chicken and egg problem. Do the followers come before the comments and content or after? :)
- Paul Wade
The problem here on FF is that the majority of potential subscribers are in the USA so the site is most active when I'm in bed here in the UK! I think the key to getting subscribers is to engage with others' content and make sure you share interesting things yourself. That way you become a 'valued' member of the community. You have to put some 'work' in though.
- Martin Bryant
I'm an average, non-techy person.
- Nurse Katie
so are we begging you? watch for awhile and see if you like :) @rveep
- reed price
Thomas Hawk follows me and since you don't you obviously are behind the times :)
- Kevin Kuphal
Nathan: I "AND" the list, and followed.
- Larry
Getting that starting mass is an absolute nightmare. I think i hace about 9 followers and all but 4 of those are spammers. I haven't been that prolific so far but i'm trying and will hopefully trigger some interesting thoughts in your head
- Jamie Vidamour
Rather than begging for followers, I'd like to tell you all how I've learned to use Twitter to engage like minded aviation related folks in a time when my industry (business aviation) is under fire from all sides. Twitter has allowed me to build meaningful relationships with those that write about and/or care about the future of our industry. Follow @BizAv if you're interested in joining the conversation or check out http://tinyurl.com/GJetTwitter for other business aviation related Twitters.
- Mike Mikolay
I've actually noticed I've had a few more followers lately than I've had before. Hopefully they're getting some interesting tidbits from me.
- Paul Wade
@Chris - right, it was a little tounge-in-cheek, but that's the majority of subject matter you'll see crawl across my feed
- Nathan Chase
audrey, i personally believe in quality over quantity. one needs numbers of course to get the message out (when you aren't giving of course. i.e., signal to noise) but I find no benefit in having 5000 followers if 4000 of them have nothing in common with me/my business/my interests etc.
- Ted Bradford II
I don't beg for followers. If you want to follow there is a 98% chance I will follow back. I like to think I bring interesting news to the table.
- John Flynn
The whole idea of "followers" plays to our inherent need of not being alone or feeling important. Gaining followers is like gaining money. You find the excitement of gaining followers and once you are loaded with "followers" so what? It doesn't make you happier, doesn't make you more successful. What's 25 thousand followers if your conversation on twitter is about how many beers you are drinking on happy hour? I find that people who are very zealous about gaining followers have EMPTY conversations.
- Bo Lora
You should follow @jeremybogdan for thoughts on the latest gaming and tech/social media news, in addition to updates on the gaming podcast I run and daily observations. I think that wraps things up in a nice package, but honestly, I enjoy the conversations most. Really more "followers" would just make it possible to carry on conversation and meet people I might have never been able to talk to/meet otherwise.
- Jack Bogdan
Beg for followers, Robert? :(
- Mona Nomura
Every so often, the world changes, sometimes quickly,sometimes very slowly but sometimes unnoticeably fast. Change is constant and constantly changing. There is no timetable and you cannot predict or trend the unknown but you can change with it as quickly as it evolves. That's what my blog is about..its located at http://newnewstory.blogspot.com
- Iggy Kin
Ok...so I'm here and I absolutely want people to follow me, but why should I have to beg to be followed? I'm doing great work, just like the interview I did with you Robert, and have other cool guests slated to join me. Begging makes me feel dirty somehow. I'd rather have followers slowly work their way into my life than to have them show up en masse one day simply because I begged here. I'm with my pard. Ken. Begging? DO NOT LIKE.
- Sheryl
Mona: I'm looking for new people to follow and there's a lot of newbies here, so figured I'd help.
- Robert Scoble
I'll do it! I provide a weekly podcast for IT pros which provides interviews, views, and tech tips. You can listen to it here even. I also post self amusing thoughts and comments that are only funny and witty to me. Follow me and have a richer life :) If you are interesting I'll find you here too.
- Eric @ CSTechcast.com
After helping @scobleizer find a bike, Google thinks I pose "a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers": http://bit.ly/177PTK #TrueStory
- Walt Ruppar
I'm John Wright and I'm building web applications under the name Wright Labs (@wrightlabs). You should follow me if you want to be the first to know about new apps I've built or updates to existing ones.
- John Wright
Read 'Beg for followers' as 'Market yourself'.
- Kiran Patchigolla
Sheryl: sometimes you have to promote yourself. I used the word "beg" to get a conversation going.
- Robert Scoble
Kiran: right.
- Robert Scoble
If I'm followed by those who follow in huge numbers(e.g. @scobleizer), I'd like to be included in one of their "special" friend list or filter. It sucks to have your voice drowned out by the masses. I guess there's always DM. But that works only if the recipient is following you. OK, just follow me already :)
- Edmund Tay
I've already tried to get my current high profile followers engaged in a conversation here: http://friendfeed.com/shaynor... with my GAME which was actually going to provide a fun way for me to gather some usage data to elaborate on a point for further discussion here.....NO COMMENTS from my FF peeps!!!!!
- shayne catrett
also this can relate to the fresh blood tech bloggers discussion a while back
- Kashif Khan
I am @harscoat and this is a test ;) on the Scoble power!! - I am on friendfeed thanks to him to be honest and thanks to friendfeed & Brett Taylor feed I discovered SANTIGOLD (Lights Out in particular) and in the end this feed/twitter thing and collaboration led to value for my ears :) so this feed thing works for me
- Harscoat
Follow me because I'm just too awesome! :P But, in all seriousness if people think I'm interesting then they should follow me. I'm not going to beg for followers. They have to decide on their own if they want to follow me or not.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
I get followers when they see me post on topics they search for; I get the most interaction that way too. So maybe if one wants more followers, one should talk about stuff people care about :-) Other than that sometimes folks I actually know comment on my tweets.
- Emil Sit
Follow me for the occasional humorous comment and pretty photo. And maybe because you got curious, looked at my profile, and figured that, yeah, I'd like to follow that guy. (And I'll do the same for you.) PS: Nice way to kickstart newbies like me into following others.
- Andy Bold
Robert - promoting and begging strike me differently. VERY differently. Promoting myself is easy. I think I'm a fabulous podcaster, fabulous interviewer. I Would LIKE to interview YOU again and want you to let me know when you have something really cool to talk to about, ie Building 43. That's self promotion. Are you buying it? :)
- Sheryl
PLEASE follow me. My mom is the only one commenting on my stuff and it's making me look like a dweeb.
- Christina Henderson
Sheryl: I was already following you! :-)
- Robert Scoble
@chrisquick LOL, that made me laugh.
- Paul Wade
lol Christina. On another note, do not follow me, I cannot handle the responsibility.
- Christian Collins
Wow this feed has just started and already produced a wide variety of comments. Desperate for followers or power of FriendFeed ;-)
- Michiel Sikkes
Me @smohkim.. why? just to get a bit more than just regular tech news
- Sardar Mohkim Khan
I'm pretty new to FF, so I'm not sure my content is worth following. But I'm trying to learn socmedia while working on video game news at gamingangels.com. So, yeah. :)
- Elizabeth Parmeter
Yes Robert didn't mean beg literally, follow his example which is his first comment. He's really asking a for a concise answer to the question "Why should we follow you?"
- John Wright
I want people who are worth following back. I really could use some interesting thought provoking input.
- Mary Wehrle
Speaking of follower numbers, what's the minimum to shoot for before decent engagement can start to happen?
- Edmund Tay
Edmund: four.
- Robert Scoble
Robert you make me LAUGH! WTG! And to all my NEW followers, thanks :-)
- Sheryl
I follow back on Twitter @nencetti - to get followers I follow people and wait. (i guess that is sorta begging) to lose followers i tweet too much. I am starting to use FriendFeed, it grows on you, like a fungus...
- Mike Nencetti
Ha, funny Christina! I just jumped into the follow-a-thon here. I want everyone here to follow me because I want to learn from you and hope I share some knowledge to enlighten you some day :-)
- Jason Cronkhite
Robert: Is that based on the assumption that all 4 followers share a common interest in what you have to say or share?
- Edmund Tay
Edmund: yeah. But all you really need is one with other followers who also like what you have to say. The second I post a comment or "like" one of your items it gets shown to thousands of people.
- Robert Scoble
Please, please, please. Why? Because I'm begging.
- Willem (@wim66) ☠
I do hope we can get you along to a #tuttle the next time your in London. In the mean time feel free to follow me @robocallaghan
- Robert O'Callaghan
Robert: I'll be in London in early July!
- Robert Scoble
Willem: you link to cool applications. You should have both begged and explained that.
- Robert Scoble
Wow, that is fast!
- Willem (@wim66) ☠
Take a look at my current FF homepage and if any of the entries engage you on an emotional or intellectual level, then follow!
- Sam Grover
i am begging for followers here for two reasons. 1) my money was wasted in trying to get 19,000 followers in five days and the free snuggie 2) If I get each of my followers to donate one dime to me, i can easily afford the big green hands like scoble has, then EVERYONE would follow me.
- Ted Bradford II
You're already following me Robert - please, only follow me if you want good content. That's the secret to gaining quality followers. I do like to follow others with good content though.
- Jesse Stay
I started with this social networking thing because I miss discussions with fellow scientist when I was one. Not all conversations here are so "eggheaded" but engaging. With more followers I could start more conversations.
- Robert Hafer
samgrover anyone who puts Upcoming.org geeky events in here is good enough for me (like you do).
- Robert Scoble
I see this as a community service thread - no problemo rs :)
- mike "glemak" dunn
i lack focus. my links lack focus. i am the hybrid vigour in your friendlist.
- dromologue
No begging. Look at my feed and subscribe if you like it. It's a mixed bag of tech, marketing, politics, business, food and humor. http://beta.friendfeed.com/ajkohn
- AJ Kohn
Jesse: actually I've gotten quite a few good quality followers by doing crappy content. It's true. The stuff I think is good quality content often doesn't get people to follow, even the smart ones. Of course I learned that by using your tool! :-)
- Robert Scoble
dromologue: you linked to treehugger.com. You can't be half bad.
- Robert Scoble
i am in the same boat. I would love to have followers but i don't have time to focus in on one topic.
- Zach Scott
You should follow me because I enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches http://preview.tinyurl.com/dxvejm
- Jon
Jon: my brother will probably enjoy talking to you then!
- Robert Scoble
I probably wont ever beat you or @techmeme. I'm a pretty nice guy though. Plus, I promise to only post a few pictures of cats a month- none of which with be tagged with Obama!
- metalerik
U will be giving us "lurkers" a voice.
- Frank Sant'Agata
You SHOULDN'T follow me (@supermoose37) because I don't want you to. Anyone currently following me, should stop right now. Follow me, and you'll regret it.
- Marcus Beagley
I can't imagine being interesting enough to follow.
- Peter Kruit
Ooos, I forgot to beg and give a reason why I'm begging. So here goes: Follow me because I try to post and share items that I think will be of interest to some if not all of my followers. That and I will also follow you back :)
- Edmund Tay
metalerik: I liked the Google Mars images you had up.
- Robert Scoble
Probably shouldn't follow me ... [ http://bit.ly/a8eqT ]
- Craig Brownell
Peter: you are running the iPhone 3.0 beta. That makes you interesting, didn't you know?
- Robert Scoble
Usually I'll browse the other FF'ers shares and discussions to get a feel for that person's share/insights. I tend to follow people who have an equal number of interesting ORIGINAL items/posts rather than just retweets/reshares. I admit, I'm one of those people who doesn't get a lot of Likes *sad* or Comments
- Glenn Batuyong
PBJ is pretty compelling, and dromlogue's hybrid vigor comment cracked me up. This thread is making me laugh, and keeping me busy!
- Kathy Fitch
I like pictures and stylish things and these you will find in my feed. I usually follow back and I comment too (I know!), especially if I don't have to be serious about it.
- Mark H
Follow @frodeste for tweets on tech, crm, project management and life :)
- Frode Stenstrøm
FF and others have given me the opportunity to engage with people from all over the world from my quaint little town
- Steve
Follow @keithbarrett - I've been in IT for 30 yrs and am just as excited by the possibilities today. I've been involved in all aspects of applying technology to business from software coding to infrastructure design/support. Past employers include DEC, IBM, Red Hat & Disney. Living though the computer->Internet->Social Media changes helps me see a bigger picture of how we got here & where we might go. Like @scobleizer I read TONs of news regularly and share the more interesting bits when he's late :)
- Keith Barrett
Robert: Ideally I like to do at least one of those a week :)
- Sam Grover
Steve: what little town? Update: looks like it's Billings Montana, right? Love that town!
- Robert Scoble
Robert: Good point.
- Peter Kruit
Lyons CO
- Steve
And for those that don't get it - Robert is creating significant content about the people he is engaging. This makes you more than a number or a bio. I should have said follow me because I'm not an SEO or marketer :)
- Keith Barrett
Well, boo. Why isn't the pop out page working for me?
- Kathy Fitch
Ah, there it went. Better!
- Kathy Fitch
Kathy: friendfeed is behaving a little slowly for me right now. I think they might be pushing out new code.
- Robert Scoble
Must be it, Robert--I like the fast and furious view best!
- Kathy Fitch
great exercise bro! and illustrates why i am selective about who I follow and who is allowed to follow.
- Ted Bradford II
please follow me, please please please
- Adrian
Makes sense for me to comment here, so that I can get Robert's attention when I need it in future. Plus I follow him anyway.
- Ashish Rangole
Adrian: I'm already following you. :-)
- Robert Scoble
I'm @thepuck. You should follow me for a mix of tech news, stuff on coding, social media, and writing, plus whatever fun stuff catches my fancy. I sift through tons of content each day and share and publicize the best of it (IMHO). I also have lots of awesome friends who you can meet through me. Thanks for the opportunity, Robert!
- Neal Jansons
You should follow me if you want to live a truly boring life vicariously thru me. :D Serious;y, I am the worlds most boring tech enthusiast.
- Gunny doesn't side-hug™
Robert: What are you favorite filters these days? :/
- Christian Collins
OK, on a more serious note, you should follow me (@supermoose37) if you are a fan of either "Transformers" OR "Doctor Who"
- Marcus Beagley
Christian: I have a filter that shows me all items with one like. That's my most used one.
- Robert Scoble
I won't beg for followers but if you are interested in social media, security technology, networking technology, politics, or economics I'm sure we would have alot to share together. I'm on twitter as @tsudo but prefer conversations on Friendfeed.
- Keith - @tsudo
Robert: Sounds like a fire hose!
- Christian Collins
Marcus--How about VR-5? Anyone remember that one?
- Kathy Fitch
When I'm not trying to corral my 2 little boys (4 & 1) I hop on FF to keep my sanity!!
- Kevin Whalen
Christian: it's not that bad, actually. I am building more and more filters, though, on companies in tech industry and terms I see get popular here.
- Robert Scoble
You should follow me because I know where the main cable is for the whole internet and have a saw. I also adore tech, don't own an iphone but would like a Segway. Hopefully enough said :)
- tech pops
If you don't follow me, how else are you going to know which Air Force 1's I like the best? This knowledge could come in handy in the future, you never know.
- Richard Lawler
"I also have lots of awesome friends who you can meet through me." - Gee I'd like to be able to say that someday! Can I meet some? :-)
- Keith Barrett
Kathy: Sorry, the only thing I watched with VR in the title was "VR Troopers"
- Marcus Beagley
Okey doke--now following tech pops, strictly for self-preservation, dontcha know.
- Kathy Fitch
I'm kuckoo for Co-co Puffs and have a few screws loose, so sort of like that box of chocolates: you just never know what you're gonna get tweet-wise (@tweric) or ff-wise. But, man, do I spell good.
- Eric Matas
I noticed some people are actually recommending people in this thread to follow. There's a room you can do that ;) http://beta.friendfeed.com/ff-subs... Although if you want to follow me - feel free I follow 11.6k people and have a river of noise following through constantly so I can find the latest goings on ;)
- Nicholas James
Sigh, it's hell being old. I also loved that short-lived horror dealie, "The Others" I have a tendency only to watch tv that all others apparently (and oh so wrongly) hate.
- Kathy Fitch
DeAnne: I'm following, though for the #nptech, alas not for the scifi!
- Eric Johnson
Follow me because I just came back to FF from a social media vacation, and I have just had time to read some really good (dead wood) media I want to put to good use in future comments and posts:)
- Thomas Bøhm
Robert, point well taken - I guess I'm still trying to figure out why I have gotten the followers I have then. I don't think I've ever begged for followers. Maybe my content is crappy? ;-) I guess most of my audience is probably SocialToo users, which may have something to do with it.
- Jesse Stay
Now I'm wishing it wouldn't default to top of page after every follow. How spoiled am I?
- Kathy Fitch
My little brother just signed up for Twitter (http://twitter.com/aaronmatas) and I'd love for legions of people to follow him just to scare the sh*# out of him...by showing him the POWER of the social web. Bru-ha-ha-ha-haaa. Oh yeah, he's a TV sports journalist, so he kinda needs to know. Thanks -- please tell others!
- Eric Matas
Follow me for tech info related to graphics, web programming, browsers, iPhones, and natural language processing. And, maybe I'll fill you in on my next big project :-)
- Charles Ying
Charles: your page is the most interesting I've seen yet (to me).
- Robert Scoble
Follow me for site feedback ideas (and thoughts about UI in general), programing advice (to come), an introduction to the game of Go (to come, in a separate feed), (re)shares of interesting and/or depressing political blog articles (note: I brand myself "moderate socialist" policitally, though I'm assuredly not opposed to meritocracy), and random philosophical musings.
- Karl Knechtel
Well, my knee-jerk reaction to "beg" lingo notwithstanding (you'd think my knee would learn to behave after all this time), this is a fun follow party. I'll be back later to see who I missed. (Because, here, you *can* come back later, which is awfully nice.)
- Kathy Fitch
Oh yeah also, you should follow me because I'm an application developer and ultimately I want to build what YOU want and what YOU will use. (and I need your feedback to do that :) )
- John Wright
Because I just started FF when the beta came, and needs a kick to get started :)
- Erik Gulliksen
I like to express and pass on info about: Tech, Flyfishing, Architecture and remodeling construction. I am a freelance Architect Draftsman in Wisconsin.
- Frank Sant'Agata
Robert: thanks!
- Charles Ying
I'm IT hitman working in The Bahamas. I tend to follow Foreign Policy/Defense Blogs and dabble in political satire.
- Adi
Frank: What areas of Tech do you tend to talk about most? Do you photograph Architecture too? You need some feeds into your FF my friend.
- Paul Wade
Though I don't post a lot of native FF entries, I like likes and comments as a way of filtering stuff. I'll share with you; you share with me. And I love FF's real time features, particularly when combined with live video.
- Tom Landini
I have a hard time begging for anything :-)
- Dan Morrill AKA Techwag
Thanks Paul I will update, I just stated FF
- Frank Sant'Agata
weedmonk: Wait, you're a hitman?
- Paul Wade
Ah, I'm a mom, so I'm used to the wide-eyed beg. Dogs and kids--there's some real smarts there that we could all learn from. Besides, this whole thread made me laugh out loud right at my keyboard more than I have in a long while.
- Kathy Fitch
beg is an odd thing. Yes - I want followers - not for the sense of feeling oddly popular - but like @scobleizer I like being able to search through massive amounts of data that users create, and without followers, i'm limited.
- Courtney Engle
<--cracking up. This couldn't possibly have been a less subjugating experience for anyone. The "beg" term got hackles up, but also grabbed perfect gobs of attention, so there you go. It's a fun and funny thing, and my bberry, for one, is all abuzz about it! (Humming a Temptations tune and smiling, here.)
- Kathy Fitch
Wow, amazed at the semantics debate over "beg". Report just in... all net oriented sarcasm/tongue-in-cheek/parody must come with obligatory semi-colon parenthesis to indicate jest (even if to a minor degree). ;-) Would much appreciate the follow Robert, I always enjoy your posts. As a consultant I work on finding simple solutions to complex problems... my tweets are all over the place.
- SAM
I have about 280 "hand picked" followers. That might not be all that impressive, but I have a quality stream at least.
- Rutger Blom
Rutger: I find that the best quality you can get is to stick to under 200 people you're following. I do that with Friendfeed's lists.
- Robert Scoble
Back so soon :-) The London #tuttle is on a friday at the moment 10-12 at the ica in London.
- Robert O'Callaghan
Because I only joined Ff because of Scobelizer, therefore he should have to watch me flounder around trying to do something unique.
- Gregg Le Blanc
1up Scott, Begging has the well deserved connotation of supplication. Hence, the semantics. I would like to find more people that are interested in the Semantic web. Wordpress hacks and plug-in development, Designers, Coders, Innovators that need Beta testers. Companies with products that I may be interested in. My interest's are becoming more diverse as a result of my participation here. TY
- Eric Logan
I talk about library stuff, volunteer and service stuff, social media stuff, and Drupal as a versatile platform. If you're interested in any of that, you'll be interested in me. I also like food and kids.
- Laura Norvig
I am sort of feeling like Oliver asking for more gruel, May I please have more followers sir, I promise if your not educated at least you will be entertained and amused.
- Kim Landwehr
Well, sure, but I'm thinking back to the days when the listserv was a main mode of discussion. The subscribers were a kind of built in audience that posters to the lists didn't really have to fight for (though list founders had some work to do)--the challenge (and the fun) was in engaging people *despite* not having a handpicked audience. Some self-selection because of list themes, of course, but the audience was there, and anyone could join. Some of the best discussions actually flowed from difference.
- Kathy Fitch
Because I want to become more involved and participate as a connector.
- Trish Ridgway
just need followers
- Bill Majkowski
Bill: followers are overrated. But I'm following you now.
- Robert Scoble
Are you testing whether there's a limit to the number of comments in FF? ;)
- Janek Mann
I'm trying to straddle journalism, tech and sports all at once (can you straddle three things, by the way?). Looking for ideas and feedback ... @jondenunzio
- Jon DeNunzio
Forget followers, I would like just ONE comment on my FF! (BTW, your already following me Robert)
- David
I have nothing for you to read of any importance just random thoughts.LOl just wanted to throw my two cents in for what it is worth.
- stan fogo
Follow me if you like games and insights about game studies. I'm a game designer studying how to use game design to improve the experience of web applications. @kurai
- Kurai (ff)
Not sure there are any limits on number of comments in a thread. Ffundercats used Friendfeed as live chat while recording an episode and got over 1500 http://beta.friendfeed.com/ffunder...
- Tom Landini
David - you should import more things then just Twitter then ;)
- Nicholas James
Best advice to those perusing this thread who are new to FriendFeed? Follow these folks: http://ffholic.com/Users...
- Nathan Chase
I drink http://friendfeed.com/public for dinner.
- Steve "Daddy do it!" Lacy
Oh, and today's my birthday, so follow me!
- Steve "Daddy do it!" Lacy
Someone should follow because of an affinity for either the subject matter, interests, or attitude someone else shows in other comments. I don't see it as a need, so much as a desire for company, interested in similar pursuits but different viewpoints and perspectives to contribute. I have been in tech for 30 plus years, yet have published my poems & fiction for just as long. I always have an articulate opinion and love to chat. I don't have as much time as I'd like 2 come to FF to engage with others.
- Phil Boiarski
My views are different than everyone else’s, that is the only good reason to follow anyone at all.
- John D Reasor
Another good reason to follow me: I don't use Facebook. How 'bout that?
- Steve "Daddy do it!" Lacy
Hi, i'm a french student in management. I'm mostly interested in IT, media, newspaper crisis and other stuffs (sometimes in french :s). I intend to be more and more active on FF in the future, so one day to another, you might have to follow me. Why wait ? :P
- Stanislas Jourdan
Interesting. I'm not sure that I'm a high contributor. I follow to feed on information. In doing so, I find people to engage.
- Valley
OK, I'm throwing my hat in. I've started contributing by linking all my accounts, and finally having a reason to use the share feature of Google Reader. It's awesome to add my voice to the conversation. But after a while, when none of my posts get any likes or comments, it can feel like you have to be super popular to get in on this. I'm a relatively new user, but it would be nice to have a few more followers at least.
- Matthew
beg? seriously? I'd rather not engage people If it requires begging. Well I see you used "beg" to spur engagement.. But I still don't like the word even if it resulted in the desired effect. I guess I'm just not that desirous of conversation simply for the sake of it but rather to expand my thought processes and to alleviate my biases
- Bill Rawlinson
Cuz I'm the last and newest person to post a comment here. Bananers.
- Harry Wolff
I tell it as it is. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
This reminds me of back when torrents first came out and I'd post stuff to see if anyone would download it. We're throwing stuff at the wall and seeing if any sticks. Friendfeed is a useful addiction.
- Matthew
LOL! Amazing how many people take offense to the words "beg" and "need" -I "need" more people to engage my thoughts. (What a great way of putting that) It would be nice if more people would see the things I post and comment on so that I would get out more from this little (but expanding) corner of FriendFeed. I have plenty to say, but only a handful of active people to critique it. Tech, SM, Dogs, humor. #funhashtags. Please help Robert, Louis and Jesse take a break from me ;) Introduce me to your friends!
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
I am far less interesting than @scobleizer... I am an early adopter with a private-beta-testing-program addiction. I offer loads of insight to developers, designers (and users at large alike) on this new stuff. I'm the one you want testing your app, service, nifty super cool product of the now. Follow me pretty please with microchips on top, I'm @tinym
- t i n y m
I don't want more followers, I want more engagement from existing followers. More subscribers is great and all - but if they're not going to engage, it doesn't excite me at all.
- Anthony Citrano
Nice idea! I'm not one to beg, but seeing as I could do with some more engaging followers, this is a bit of an experiment. Follow @daveinthecloud for predominantly tech, Apple and science-based updates.
- Dave
I use FriendFeed more to read interesting things I wouldn't normally see. I'm not always around and I don't always participate. Does that make me a bad person? (@elroy)
- elroy
Fun post! Lots of cool people to follow. Marketing and tech geek who happens to make wine in her basement. @bsmntbootlegger
- Karrie Sullivan
An impressive list of comments already. And I have found a few interesting people to follow here already. I guess it is all about "give and take".
- Mike Hellers
Ok, I'll bite: Why should you follow me? Because I post about science, math, music, programming and geek stuff with wit, style and panache.
- Chris Taylor
lol! I was making wine in my backpack on my bike trip this summer :)
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Follow me. Help make media history by reaching the first 10 million follows. ... Well I guess that won't work anymore.
- Keith Barrett
Mike: same here
- Frank Sant'Agata
There is a lot of talk in the comments about "audience", "SEO" & the "need" for followers, this all appears very $ orientated to me, maybe someone "influential" should start a conversation along the lines of "how can I make you happy on friendfeed"?
- William
if you are a geek into getting stories related to social media, geeky stories, pics, videos, tech related stuff, like bacon or lego or star wars. you will probably like my stuff. check it out....and hope to see you soon!
- (jeff)isageek
Unless you like NSFW stuff and LOLCats stuff, really nothing to see with following me. :P
- Christian (Simply X)
I'm game for more followers. I run research boats for a living and sometimes like to blog about that, my bad ass dog Jake (Silky Terrier) and other things I find interesting...tech, cool photos, hikes, etc...on my personal Posterous blog. I've been active on twitter for quite awhile but am fairly new to Friend Feed. I get a real kick out of most members of the Gillmor Gang and like following their conversations...maybe I'll start to engage more.
- Scott Schanke
William: I think ur missing the point, it's about being new to ff and having a voice.
- Frank Sant'Agata
Praise @Scoble for once again "starting" a conversation
- William
For me, the whole tech deal has always been a love of the game issue. It's like writing, that way, and teaching, too. Interesting how perspectives differ. I just thought of this as fun, and as an opportunity to learn and connect. Also, my inner English prof always thinks of "audience" as a matter of rhetoric first. A thing like this, for instance http://tinyurl.com/cxkzpo is its own reward: great chance to meet people, and it made me *really* hungry.
- Kathy Fitch
Lindsey - surely meeting more serial killers is not the answer. ;-)
- Brian Sullivan
See, there? Lindsey not only spells her name correctly, but also likes horror! Lindsey, I spent quite a few years teaching horror film! (The *best* students in those classes, oh my gosh--such an interesting mix.)
- Kathy Fitch
Dying (editorial aside: ah, that's strictly metaphorical) laughing, here.
- Kathy Fitch
I just subscribed to everyone in this thread that I wasn't already subscribed to. Why? I love participation. People commenting here participate.
- Thomas Hawk
Good plan Thomas I think I will do the same.
- Brian Sullivan
Hi. I'm Simon, i post a mashup of stuff from all sorts or genres. Photo's, art, tech, videos, games. I'm a bit of a 'i like everything' kind of guy. I try to get in on lots on convo's, and i never really leave FF, sometimes i just sit here idle and watch the world pass me by :)
- Simon Wicks
"That's an example of what I'd like you to do. I will follow anyone who answers on this thread" is that a promise robert ? :)
- goutham
that are some interesting question to address here...will people be more likely to get into friendfeed if more people follow them? or are people more keen on just sharing their thoughts and feelings with a select few? should there be a way to algorithmically increase the visibility of a post ? is that "fair" ?
- goutham
You should follow Pax Stereo Tv (www.paxstereo.tv) because we represent something NEW and DIFFERENT! While we lack the full sophistication of a traditional network, our "NeoUrban Internet Television" network is at least original and edgy, and we are streaming live Monday through Thursday every week! All this with only 3 full time staff! We represent YOU, the new breed! We are not perfect, but we keep it coming, and we are getting better. Peace. - Mario Hemsley CEO
- Pax Stereo Tv
What's the easiest way to go through and follow everyone here? I don't really have to go down the list one by one do I? I started to but thought there must be an easier way...
- Scott Schanke
Initiatives to free the world economy in ways that benefit the poor @openworld
- Mark Frazier
Scott: I had to add each one of my 14,377 subscriptions by hand, so so do you. Sorry, there isn't a way to "follow all" here. Which is a good thing, in my view.
- Robert Scoble
goutham: I am following everyone who has participated with a comment in this thread. Scott: you can see if you are following someone already by looking at the little icon to the left of their comment. If you are already following them, it'll be bluish. If you aren't, it'll be white.
- Robert Scoble
always be closing mario ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
Ok thanks Robert...I'm just a bit frustrated that it keeps collapsing the conversation after each follow and therefore I have to find where the hell I left off...I'm plodding along though.
- Scott Schanke
Scott: I have this thread running in a popup Window. Here's how to do that. First, open this item up into its own Window by clicking here: http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei... Then click the time stamp (it says "5 hours ago" right now) and then it'll open up its own little Window. That makes it "live" and like a chat room. Scroll to the bottom and watch new items pop in.
- Robert Scoble
I follow smart, funny people, and I post/pass along all kinds of stuff. I never know what I'll come across next, anything from the effects of cancer treatment on IQ scores, to vintage cocktails, to news on weird fiction writers, to updates on the latest and greatest zombie games, to random questions and ideas that occur to me in the wee hours. I'm always looking for posts that have me saying, "Hmmmm, that's interesting...and here's why..."
- Heather
I'm not sure begging for followers is in our self interest, Robert. I find that the people who hawk themselves loudest aren't the people I make the best connection with. And it's that connection that matters whether it's a personal or professional.
- Susan Reynolds
Not sure if I need any followers, but I think people follow me because I'm so freakin awesome. Oh, you haven't heard of me? Find me on The Google. :)
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Oooooo.. Choose me. Choose me. Choose me. Oh wait. You already follow me. But anyone else is welcome to read my nonsense about whatever is on my mind. Lately - dissertation, teaching chemistry, thinking about some technology, and just fun family items (mainly my dog)
- LPH™ and his dog P™
i vote for LPH!
- michael sean wright
Susan: that's fair. But in friendfeed you can put people into lists. So you can subscribe to all the "beggers" and put them into "begged for follow" list. That way it won't mess up your other followers.
- Robert Scoble
LOL nicefishfilms ..
- LPH™ and his dog P™
nicefishfilms: I'm already following LPH. Weird, I've met both him and you in real life, too!
- Robert Scoble
I'd rather people follow me because I said something or posted something interesting.
- CAJ, somewhere else
Rahsheen: if you are on "the Google" then you MUST be awesome! I'm on "the Google" too. Search for "Robert." :-)
- Robert Scoble
Yep - I'm being followed - (looking behind me) - wait - why are you always in front of me then Robert?
- LPH™ and his dog P™
Alan: you must have posted something interesting, because I'm following you. Either that or I thought you were that country singer! :-)
- Robert Scoble
LPH: you actually passed chemistry on the first try. I did not. ;-)
- Robert Scoble
Any interest in visiting Alaska? Find out why you should plan a trip to Fairbanks @insidealaska
- Inside Alaska
Robert: You're the first to mention it, actually. I wondered if the same thing was happening on Twitter. ;)
- CAJ, somewhere else
Inside Alaska: that's always been one of my life-long dreams. Interesting, I'm noticing more marketers setting up shop in friendfeed. Next come the celebrities! Alan: heh, probably!
- Robert Scoble
Here's why people follow me: http://beta.friendfeed.com/glenc...
- Glen Mistletoe
this thread is officially to long to follow on an iphone
- mike "glemak" dunn
mike: it's too long to follow on a 24-inch Apple display, too! :-)
- Robert Scoble
We are always striving to be the best. @abounding
- Abounding Media
Thanks for the "Hot Tip" Robert!! Much easier.
- Scott Schanke
Follow me for posts about social media, the publishing industry, online communities, funny pictures, and my coffee addiction. Oh, and babies. I run a baby site and have a baby so...expect some babies. I also enjoy swearing so there may be some of that.
- Kate
Follow me (@abbashaiderali) if you like a mix of tech, finance, cars, random, and personal content. Variety keeps me interested & you're cut from the same cloth, we'll get along just fine :)
- Abbas Haider Ali
You can't be shy. You need to have a voice and use it.
- Russ Jackson
I promote the issues that are important to those I follow. But follow me because I took the time to read through ALL of these responses... :) @rbucich
- Rick Bucich
I dunno about begging but new followers are always nice
- Angela P.
I will have to say, I found several new people this way, so thanks Robert. I know I need to get better at finding more people myself, a la the FFundercats podcast Louis Gray discussion.
- Eric @ CSTechcast.com
you better be following me .. Im a fireman and I haz an axe ..
- johnpiercy
I don't want 'followers' - vanity is my least favourite sin. I want stimulating conversations & interesting stuff to read/watch/etc.
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
I'm @ryandadey and I love the internet and would like to be more engaged with people who feel the same. I like to share through FriendFeed and Twitter interesting tech, science and environment articles from Google Reader, as well some of my own thoughts. It would be more fun if I knew people were seeing my stream!
- Ryan Dadey
I'm just this guy whose life has been revolutionized by the social web. I'm no "guru" or "expert," but because I live here so much, many people and even companies and organizations have asked me to guide them into this landscape, a responsibility that both scares and energizes me. Because of that, I seek to share, give, and help anywhere possible. Trying to make tons of connections; if you want to be one, thanks!
- Mark Traphagen
You should follow me so you can point out where I could use some help on things, because I'm an interesting person, and because you like a bit of the crazy in the folks you follow. I'm Chris Charabaruk and I approve this beg for readers. http://beta.friendfeed.com/coldaci... http://coldacid.net http://twitter.com/coldacid
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
Beg, droool, beg :)
- Susan Beebe
Martin Bryant is right - now that the US is asleep, this thread has died down. Onward Europe, Middle-east, Asia ! :)
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
Thanks for the offer to follow us commenters Robert. I subscribe to all friendfeeders who leave comments as well. It's a great way to get to the heart of who's really participating in the trenches here on FF. BTW about me.. I started writing and acting when I was seven. I'm a musician/singer/songwriter and freelance writer/journo. I help others use the web to build an audience for their passion.
- Jesse Newhart
hmm, so it is quiet when the US are offline! Too bad, I'd love some more people to follow, be followed and have conversations with from the rest of the sphere. Widen the horizon.
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
nice idea - unfortunately friendfeed gets unreadable with so much comments. btw: i'm friendfeeding mainly about technology, consulting, personal productivity, gtd...
- Alexander Benker
You should follow me because I tend to find interesting programming articles on the topics of: Django, Python, key-value stores, and more.
- Eric Florenzano
I don't care if people follow me or not. I've been writing online (Usenet) since 1989, before the web, but Google's index only seems to go back to 1992. Most of my stuff isn't even on my blog, it's in email lists and discussion threads such as http://tinyurl.com/df5kc2 and http://tinyurl.com/3gfqzj (better than anything I've written here). A sample will give you some idea: "By what...
more...
- Victor Panlilio
I like talking to people and having conversations. It's no fun being on the social web if I'm not engaging anybody, and I need followers and people to follow to do that.
- Jon, the Chilled Beartato
No question about it, people should at least attempt to read new and different drummers daily because following the followed will always leave you in the follower camp. They laughed at Bob Dylan, they laughed at Gary Vaynerchuck, where are *they* now?
- randulo
I tend to follow the people that interact with me on my imported items, if I am not already following you I apologies. Just drop me a DM and I will happily subscribe to your feed :)
- Joe Dawson
That's a tough one, Joe -- you can only DM folks who have subscribed to you...
- Eric Johnson
I don't give a crap about the other comments here - I need to make sure I have the Scobles following me. I mean, I think they are already. But still. Gotta cover my bases. As to WHY anyone should follow me: I like to think I take a humorous outlook on things, and can make you giggle at least once per day. Snark is my tool. Also, I'm earnest and naive, and I'll treat you with the respect you expect and deserve from the Internet. Also, cats flushing toilets: http://bit.ly/2Lx2w
- Mike Nayyar
A retail designer by day (mainly customer experiences for consumer electronics shoppers) and a geek by night. If you want to brainstorm about how you'd like to shop and find cool new products, I'd love to hear from you.
- Jason Goldberg
Hi, @cantor there, i'm an It Systems Specialist and a student (Computer Engineering in Pisa). I think you can follow me because i have ideas and opinions and i want to express them, i like to find & share and I'll do the best in "extreme multitasking mode" :P.
- CantorJF
follow me because scoble told me to beg =P
- Zafarali
@robbell You should follow me because you lack the motivation to follow more inspiring individuals :)
- Rob Bell
I just started on FF and find it very interesting because of the focus on interaction arround subjects... FB is mostly talk about nothing, and I'm the only one in my friend group posting articles that interest me. Follow if u like... that will kindda help out on the interaction part!
- Kevin Nordmand
Over 280 comments. Advantage of FriendFeed. Nice. Follow me for some interesting stuff online and offline. Geeky and non-geeky
- Kannan
I am @alexisbellido and you should follow me to find more about teleworking, the Web and online businesses. I recently started using social media to support good causes and make your opinion matter. Currently supporting fight against hemophilia
- Alexis Bellido
People should follow other people because something is said that rings true. Not because someone BEGS for it. Please don't take this comment as an invitation to follow me, thanks.
- Vincent van Wylick
@Vincent: Well said. Truth is like gravity: you can pretend it doesn't exist, but you can't ultimately escape from it.
- Victor Panlilio
cool self help group here! social media anonymous! :D
- Dieter Schwarz
Great idea Robert :)
- Zee.
Nearing 300 comments, the Scoble Effect indeed. Is that FF comment raffle over by the way?
- Adi
For me at least, it's not as important that you follow me as it is that I follow you. You are very likely not to be interested in the stuff in my feed (and that's ok with me, please don't follow me unless you really find my crap, interesting), but you might like me commenting in your threads, which is where I get the most enjoyment from friendfeed..in the conversations on other people's posts. I am not that good of a conversation starter, but I am very good at jumping in when someone else does the starting.
- April Russo (app103)
Follow me because I find unique interesting content before most people, I read allot and am subscribed to allot of popular and interesting feeds not many people know about!
- Kyle Weller
Most of my feed activity revolves around various creative, social, and mobile technologies. Usually my own ideas and experiences with my own projects, and not so much link sharing. I like to think of myself as a quality over quantity kind of guy, so I won't overload your stream. I plan on hiking the Appalachian Trail next year and documenting it on the web as I go, so that should be interesting. I'm 5'9'' and I weigh... wait... what is this for again?
- Daniel Sims
I often hear I am hard to follow. Maybe it's the Dutch. Maybe my wandering spirit.
- Ruud van Wijngaarden
Ruud: That's why I don't twitter in Dutch. In fact we should just all talk English ;)
- Peter Kruit
Well I already follow the green guy (Scobelizer) on Twitter and FriendFeed and he follows me. But since I'm just an average guy, working in the Nonprofit field, I've found it a bit difficult to acquire followers on FriendFeed (not nearly as difficult on Twitter). So if anyone is interested in following someone who shares an eclectic mix of thoughts and interests, please feel free.
- John A. Taylor
It does feel good to have activity on your feed. Makes me feel like someone is listening to me.
- Christian Burns
I'm just getting started with friendfeed and already find the discussions great. I'm looking forward to being able to contribute some of my own thoughts to the conversations. After all, there are a lot of great things happening based off the idea of a person and the energy of a group.
- John Spyers
I'd love to connect with more marketers here on FriendFeed - not just social media types, but business and marketing strategy peoples... Small business owners would be great, too.
- Dennis O'Neil
I don't beg either, but since you asked...I'm good for some silliness, the occasional deep thought, encouragement of discussion of any kind (mostly political), and a good song or two. I'd like some musicians and poets to get on board as well.
- Helen Sventitsky
I like art, music, 3D, electric guitar, analgog synths, puppets, making stuff, my family, metaplace. I blog about artsy process and put up sweet flickr images.
- sergiooo
I have 9 followers, one is Robert, but virtually no discussion. I'm one of the few people on FF that works with the government, works in a non-IT startup, and will recommend great economics and sustainability items.
- Chris Stevenson
I just don't buy it yet. There is still way too much noise, and I'm not one of those guys with the time to go through posts with 300 (mostly uninteresting) comments. I have to filter extensively to get just a simdgeon of the interesting articles I pull off of GReader with Feedly and comments from the blogs themselves. Friendfeed would be great with Real Life connections, but they are all on Facebook. Friendfeed has a major uphill battle ahead of them, despite their superior interface and technology.
- Phil Ashman
FF is a good twitter client though..;)...
- Phil Ashman
Begging time. Follow me and SherylBreuker here (@kencamp & @SherylBreuker on Twitter. Please follow us and check this post Sheryl & Ken: Project Denmark (for 48 hours) #48hoursindk at http://stardustglobalventures.com/2009... We'll take you on the road to Denmark via social media. Help us win!
- Ken Camp
Great thread! Found some goodies in here (and some crazies)
- Daniel Morgan
Hey, I'm in. You go, Robert!
- John Gerstner
Because no matter who you are, it takes followers to get followers. You have to start somewhere...
- GeekDads.TV
You hungry?
- Myrna
Did you know that couples that go through some form of pre-marriage counseling/education are 50% less likely to divorce than those who don't? On a related note, we met with our pre-marriage counselor tonight. He's also going to be the guy who performs the ceremony. How's that for a value add?
Alfredo, Glenn Slaven, Mike Reynolds and 43 other people liked this
I like the fact that some religions (and/or officiants) require this. My unrealistic wish would be for it to be required for all couples who apply for a marriage license. :)
- Rochelle
My wife and I did pre-marital counseling. It's not a panacea, but I think it can head off some types of problems. I, for one, am tired of my friends getting divorced.
- ha3rvey (doesn't dance)
Yeah, ha3rvey...once you learn how to properly resolve conflicts you actually have to use it during conflicts...Which is my way of saying, I agree. It isn't a panacea, but it's really worth while.
- Alex Scoble
Our Methodist minister required pre-marital counseling (3x) before he would marry us. That was 18 years ago, so maybe it worked. ;-)
- Joey Gibson
One of the toughest questions we were asked was, "Name three things that would make you want a divorce." I kinda mumbled something about infidelity, or abuse, or something. My wife had a list.
- ha3rvey (doesn't dance)
ROFL, ha3rvey.
- Alex Scoble
does he do drywall too? ;)
- Josh Haley
We'll be required to go through pre-marital counseling before we can get married. That's a good question, Alex.
- joey
No Josh, that's a plasterer...
- Johnny Worthington
Er, oops, good question ha3rvey.
- joey
Hell, they should have counselling/education before people are allowed to get pregnant, too. Too many stupid teen couples going out and breeding these days, making the world stupider as a whole.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
My wife and I did something similiar - we got a lot value from it (and we're still married. Yes, to each other)
- Dave Hodson
Chris, I think people should have to get a license to get pregnant. With a test and everything. It should be like becoming a commercial pilot.
- ha3rvey (doesn't dance)
From what I understand, this is actually required in the Catholic church—it's several months of classes. It's kind of appalling to think the divorce rate would be even higher if they didn't do this.
- Victor Ganata
It is required by the Catholic Church, Victor. You are most correct.
- Soup
It's not several months of classes, Victor. You can do it in a weekend, but yeah it is a requirement for getting married in the Catholic church. I would have had to get my previous marriage annulled through them though, a process I find to be absolutely ridiculous, so we didn't go that route. Oh and did I mention that they charge $250 for the privilege?
- Alex Scoble
"50% less likely to divorce" -- But are they happy or just sticking to it?
- xero
Heh, Alex, I certainly don't know from first hand experience, but my friends and parents have told me it's something like a class a month for six months, but maybe that isn't a hard and fast rule. I tried Googling it and didn't find anything definitive from the first few results. I'm not surprised by the price tag. If the Church is anything, it isn't shy about begging for money.
- Victor Ganata
Yeah, Victor, I think a lot of it depends on the parish and priest doing the ceremony, but usually it can be done with a weekend retreat thing or a session a week for 6 to 8 weeks. Our counselor will be giving us six private one-hour sessions.
- Alex Scoble
I did know that. Sorry for missing this earlier if you posted it but when is your wedding?
- Jim Is Not Smart
12/12/09, Jim.
- Alex Scoble
We're beginning the process of getting our marriage validated by the Catholic church. Fun for all, but it is important to me.
- Heather Solos
Are you assuming this counselling/no split up is cause and effect?
- Brian Sullivan
What did you learn Alex? In high school we had a college style class that talked a lot about relationships and other grown up issues. It was the most useful class I remember. My take away was in a relationship love is not enough to make it work. Something that my teenage brain wouldn't really understand until much later.
- Todd Hoff
I'm not assuming anything, Brian. There have been actual studies that show this cause and effect, or so I've been told. Oh and Todd, we don't have our first session for another two weeks, so we haven't learned anything yet. Lastly, the statistic is something I heard a few years back on NPR, the counselor didn't say it.
- Alex Scoble
As a pastor, I always meet with the couple in a counseling type situation before the wedding.
- Dan Walters
I don't know what pre-marriage counseling is. Do people really need that? I've been with my fiancee for 5 years now. I think I'm good.
- James Ferguson
I've got the unpopular opinion here: I don't know I'd want to marry someone if it took a mediator to go over things first. If we didn't already agree on things like what was divorce-worthy or goals in life or whatever, it wouldn't be someone I would even consider spending the rest of my life with to begin with.
- Nine
Did you also know that the leading cause of divorce, by a wide margin, is, in fact, marriage?
- MVB (Grinch of FF)
Mark, as always, wins the internets.
- Alex Scoble
And Nine, if you are a master at conflict resolution and know the secret to keeping a marriage going for 30 years or longer, be my guest.
- Alex Scoble
We did pre-Cana and forgot what was learned, too lazy for divorce and now all is well with the world. Mark, LOL.
- Janet
The partner-in-crime and I will hit 7 years together in May, so... so far, so good. Not saying we don't fight, but it's never about big things.
- Nine
If you marry the right person there should be very little conflict. My marriage lasted 29 years and was ended by widowhood. I never understood the whole "marriage is something you must work at" idea.
- m9m, Crone of FriendFeed
It doesn't need to be about big things to ruin a relationship, Nine. Anyhow you have to decide if this sort of thing is right for you, but I would say you can never have too much knowledge where this sort of thing is concerned.
- Alex Scoble
@Nine, the counseling is to show communication skills, problem solving and such. Did you discuss wtih partner child rearing (if it comes to be) each having different ideals and ideas. Pre knowledge helps iron out rough spots.
- Janet
If the little things ruin the relationship, it's probably not a good relationship to begin with. Little things are nothing. You argue. You bitch about the other person. You get over it. It's all better.
- Nine
My husband and I met with our officiant once - we didn't want a denominational ceremony, but he was a Methodist minister and required we at least talk with him a few times - only he figured we were doing just fine, and only required the one meeting before the wedding. Then of course, he was able to throw some more personal meaning into the ceremony which made it sweeter. I'd recommend it for that part alone, it's nice with the guy doing all the talking knows who he's talking about.
- Elizabeth Parmeter
"If we didn't already agree on things" - it's more the questions that people don't ask themselves. Do you want kids? How will money be handled? Who does the bills? Is there an allowance? Policies on spending, credit, savings, etc? Where do you want to live? There's a lot of practical everyday questions that people don't realize they disagree strongly on until later and those are the burrs under that saddle that cause the horse to throw you.
- Todd Hoff
jlt and Todd: if Kitti and I hadn't agreed on things like kids, we never would've gotten together at all. I wouldn't even >date< someone who wanted kids. Seems to me that should be something that's discussed way before deciding to marry. Finding out the other person has a different idea about kids after you're engaged is too late. Same with where to live, money arrangements, etc. If you find all that out AFTER you're engaged, do you really even know the person you intend to marry?
- Nine
Nine, the answer to that question seems to be no, they don't really know the person. They know the love, but love isn't enough.
- Todd Hoff
@Victor, our Pre-Cana classes 26 years ago, were four weekend sessions, an evening going over questions with the priest (this is now a two hour paper test) as well as an engagement weekend couples retreat. Each Diocese may also offer a mentor couple to the engaged.
- Janet
@Todd and that's my point exactly. If you've gotten engaged and set a date and booked a hall and met with wedding planners and then started pre-wedding sessions and THEN find out you're not compatible... . It's better to learn all that before deciding on a bigger commitment.
- Nine
Yeah, Nine, these sessions aren't about finding out if you are compatible, but gaining skills to make the relationship work and also to set realistic goals for what a relationship should and shouldn't be. If you haven't had the talk about the big things before getting engaged, you are in a lot more trouble than what pre-marital counseling will be able to resolve. It isn't about that sort of thing, at least not for us.
- Alex Scoble
When I got married the first time, we had to have a few sessions with the vicar who was going to marry us.
- Ian May
But if you're already engaged to someone, shouldn't you already know what a relationship should and shouldn't be? I mean isn't that what dating and growing up is for?
- Nine
Yeah, Nine, we should all be masters at relationships by the time we are thirty...not! I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm a computer nerd and we aren't exactly known for our interpersonal skills or tact. I seriously hope you have a long fruitful relationship with your significant other, but your "I already know everything" attitude isn't giving me a lot of hope.
- Alex Scoble
I'm a writer. Also not known for social skills. And I NEVER claimed to know everything, which is why I'm asking questions. I don't understand how it could help because I always thought the point dating was to learn what does and doesn't work. I hate the idea that 'everything changes' once you marry someone, because it shouldn't. Just because someone becomes a husband or a wife doesn't change who they are or their relationship with the other person.
- Nine
Yeah, Nine, plenty of people poison their relationships in all sorts of subtle ways. Even if their partner points it out, they will find it very difficult to change. A relationship counselor knows techniques and tips to break people of these poisonous habits. It's not about marriage being this different kind of relationship, it's about giving people more tools in their interpersonal tool kits to help provide for a successful relationship.
- Alex Scoble
I have a few questions about this. How do they know the statistic would be any different if those same people hadn't taken the counseling? Counseling is typically a religious thing; could it be that the higher rate of success is related to some religious thing (like a value in the promise to God)?
- Kenton
Just to clarify... My wife and I have been married for 17 years (very happily) and we dated for 6 before that. Anything we needed to learn about our relationship we learned before we got married. We had a civil ceremony as neither of us are particular fans of organized religion. We also didn't have kids until we had been married for a few years. I think there are far too many variables in marriage to say that counseling will guarantee you greater success.
- Kenton
I admit defeat. I will never understand this. In my head, it works like this: Everyone's annoying. You roll with it.
- Nine
<3 Nine
- Admiral Anika
Oh, and my parents; one of whom has been married twice and one who is on relationship number 3 both took pre-marital counseling before each marriage.
- Kenton
Of course it's difficult for people to change. That's why you don't marry anyone who needs to be changed. You marry someone you want to live with forever based on the way they are, not some ideal future perfected spouse.
- m9m, Crone of FriendFeed
Of course people who don't go through counseling stay married and people who do get divorced; it's not an absolute. I've lived with my fiance for 6.5 years and I feel like we've discussed everything under the sun (many times). I'm still hoping to learn something from pre-Cana. If anything, it's an external viewpoint.
- joey
I suspect that this is a correlation rather than a causality. Couples who want it to work, who have realistic expectations and work on communication are the most likely to succeed and the most likely to seek out this type of counseling to begin with.
- Eric P
That said, I also can't imagine what difference "marriage" would make to my day to day life. Counseling made sense when getting married meant moving in together and having sex for the first time. But now marriage means "Hey, we've been living together for a while and it's working out pretty well - we should combine our finances and give each other power of attorney". Marriage used to be the start of something. Now it represents the successful conclusion of something.
- Eric P
LOL darnell Don't marry a Catholic then!
- MVB (Grinch of FF)
yeah, but how many of those couples don't end up getting married in the first place??
- Morgan Haley
Darnell, I've struggled with that as well but I don't think that people always need to have personal experience to see patterns and be able to give advice. That person's marriage may be completely different than mine anyway, so that personal experience may not be helpful. Being able to draw conclusions from training and talking with thousands of couples may be. I haven't done it yet, though, so we'll see.
- joey
IMHO, if you made premarital counseling compulsory for civil marriage, you'd rapidly watch as the benefits went away. For Catholics, pre-Cana is up to the individual church and diocese to regulate. My parents had a very fulfilling pre-Cana. For my wife and I, the priest who married us had to apologize on behalf of the church for the things they told us at our pre-Cana because they were both offensive and counter to a rational interpretation of the bible.
- Wirehead
Not intending to hijack, but Wirehead, would you mind sharing with me what they told you? I'm curious as to what I should expect as a best and worst case. Back to the topic, I can see how some sort of counseling in the form of understanding what rights you are conferred as a married couple and what happens with finances, etc. legally could be useful for civil marriage. I hear so many stories of people being unaware of what happens to them if their spouse goes into debt, for example.
- joey
The offensive part was telling Mrs. Wirehead and I that because she was not Catholic, we were both going to hell. They also spent a lot of time telling us about Natural Family Planning and I think if there was anything truly insightful about having a relationship, we were both too annoyed by the end to listen to much of anything.
- Wirehead
Yet another reason why I'm not a big fan of the Catholic church.
- Alex Scoble
There was also a computer form we had to fill out that required us both to individually answer our opinion on things that might be an issue in having a stable marriage and some chats with the priest.
- Wirehead
Wow, that's crazy and also not the even the correct view of the Church. I'm marrying a non-Catholic as well and I haven't heard anything of the sort. I would have walked out. But I'm feisty like that.
- joey
Pre-marriage counseling is good. Basically it makes you talk, which is nice.
- Mike Reynolds
Indeed. I've been slowly chewing my way through the various texts I can find related to the church. The problem with the Catholic church is not the unalterable axioms of faith. It's that people regard current opinions like Humanae Vitae as unalterable revelation and individuals insist upon teaching outdated and incorrect doctrine as if they were canon.
- Wirehead
If they taught people about cannons in church, I would totally go.
- Alex Scoble
We didn't go through any type of pre-counseling. That said I've learned one think that keeps us together, the act of giving a good hug when you actually feel like giving one the least. We're going on 10 years in July
- Rick Bucich
Now that I'm going on my 3rd marriage? I realize that all advice (even from professionals) is BS. Make your own rules, take nothing personally and learn to communicate about everything. Then realize that this is advice ... and treat it accordingly. Hehehe.
- ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift
McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Internet-Age Writing Syllabus and Course Overview. - http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2009...
Christina Henderson, Dan Walters and SAM liked this
One for the writers and writing teachers. http://burnurl.com/lCF9av
- Kathy Fitch
Funny stuff. I've had the chance to meet Dave Eggers... guy behind the 826 projects and the amazing books. Really neat to see him build this mini-empire of do-goodery and hilarity.
- SAM
The prerequisites are my favorites: "ENG: 102—Staring Blankly at Handheld Devices While Others Are Talking ENG: 301—Advanced Blog and Book Skimming ENG: 231WR—Facebook Wall Alliteration and Assonance"
- Dan Walters
I liked this part: "Students will acquire the tools needed to make their tweets glimmer with a complete lack of forethought . . ." Also, I'm holding out for the day when "HFACTDEWARIUCSMNUWKIASLAMB" will simply be the most perfect of responses. That seems like a one time use sort of deal, so I want to save it for the precisely right moment.
- Kathy Fitch
When you are 6'7" tall, public transport can be like a real life, flesh and blood game of Tetris.
Dan Walters liked this
I'm only 6'3", but I definitely understand this!
- Dan Walters
from fftogo
Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Suggest more recipients - http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009...
Patrik Johansson, Hutch Carpenter, metalerik and 51 other people liked this
"Have you ever realized you mistakenly left someone important out of an email, or just spent too much time trying to decide who from your long list of contacts to include? Well, some of us on the Gmail team feel your pain, so we wrote a new Gmail Labs feature called "Suggest more recipients.""
- Keith Coleman
from Bookmarklet
Wow, that was one of the more 'out there' ideas I never thought would actually make it to the head of the feature queue. Awesome!!
- Kevin Fox
This was one of the very earliest Gmail brainstorming ideas (from before there was any Gmail). It's very cool to see it live! Gmail labs is a great idea Keith.
- Paul Buchheit
It's not working on mine. :-( I turned it on in Labs and my UI has the extra line of space under the To: box but I can add several people and it makes no suggestions. Tell me who my friends are!!! :-)
- Kevin Fox
Very cool :) Happy Sneezy Sleepy LOL!!
- Susan Beebe
These labs are continually coming up with stuff that genuinely help! Keep it up!
- Dan Walters
It works for me. I would post a screenshot, but editing images (to remove email addresses) is nearly impossible on my mac due to lack of mspaint.
- Paul Buchheit
You could install VMWare to get mspaint, I suppose.
- Kevin Fox
Why overkill and install VMWare when you can just install Paintbrush for the Mac? http://paintbrush.sourceforge.net/
- Edmund Tay
Nice - I always want to peak at my contact list to see who I'm missing
- BEX
awesome. glad we got this out.
- Dustin
Great!
- Stanislas Jourdan
Very nice :) Now only if Gmail would stop asking me "Send message without a subject?"
- Ralph Harik
@Ralph Would you rather like a lab feature that replaces empty subjects with "Don't you like informative subjects so that you can organize your emails?". That's so much better for your receivers :)
- Jérôme Flipo
@Jérôme Ideally, I would like Gmail to keep track of the contacts I send email to without a subject line. Having to deal with the popup every time, slows me down. It's ok if Gmail asks me once or twice per contact, to learn my preference. However, after that it becomes frustrating to deal with. It can replace empty subjects with the first X characters of my email.
- Ralph Harik
+1 Jérôme! :)
- Stanislas Jourdan
Thanks, but I prefer the Yahoo mail Plus. www.miguellomelino.com
- My Newspaper
RT: @ev: "Tomorrow just became a very big day." (for Twitter, @oprah is doing her first Tweet).
Jay Neff, Daniel Rowley, Woodrow Jarvis Hill and 26 other people liked this
Isn't that a little jump the sharkish?
- Brian Sullivan
And the obsession with celebrity continues. Will there be Oprah approved Tweets (like Oprah's book club?)
- Kevin Pedraja
I can see the fail whales now.
- Dan Walters
Brian: it is the dream of every entrepreneur to be featured on the Oprah show. Congrats to @ev and team.
- Robert Scoble
You are joking -- I think people that dream that need a life adjustment or a whack on the side of the head.
- Brian Sullivan
Having celebrities promote the crap out of your company is a blessing, if I was ev I would be extremely grateful; I'm sure stockholders couldn't be happier, I know I would be. However, from a holistic social media perspective — I'm absolutely turned off by what has become of this. With 500k+ followers, I wish celebrities were leveraging their pre-established attention for social good, but it's mostly consisted of ego-centric tweets. Hopefully Opera sets an example, I suspect she will.
- Colin Anawaty
Indeed - if things like this go well, maybe Oprah will have her own "Tech Club" eventually.
- Christopher Galtenberg
Kutcher finall reaches a million followers LOL
- Rich White
If Oprah mentions twitter, but twitter.com doesn't load, does it matter?
- Daniel Sims
I guess we will be seeing alot of failwhales then?
- Per
Per: no failwhales here on friendfeed! You can even see this conversation happen live at http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei...
- Robert Scoble
In short we can expect multiple fail whales... hmmm
- | Balu |
So, we can always talk about @oprah somewhere on the Internet. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Did @ev mention @oprah? Or is that your insertion, Robert? His last Tweet omits that detail... unless he deleted or edited it!
- Ryan
Ryan: he didn't, but everyone knows that tomorrow is Oprah day on Twitter.
- Robert Scoble
Wow, I just saw that ashton kutcher (@aplusk) has almost a million followers. I bet that anyone @oprah follows will see similar numbers.
- Daniel Sims
Daniel: Oprah will see similar numbers within a week. She's way more powerful than CNN or Ashton. Plus, most of Ashton's followers came from Twitter's recommended follower list.
- Robert Scoble
i wonder what she'll say
- Darla Brown
I love the live friend feed beta thingy! This is my first time checking it out....Suh-weet! I can't help but believe that @oprah will have a broad and sweeping changes on twitter demographics :(
- Jonny Clean
Checked out twitter.com/Oprah just now - zero Tweets with more than 28K followers :-)
- Ashu Joshi
Interesting to see if she starts to tweet regularly. Congrats @ev!
- Rick Bucich
It is a big day. The complaint I most hear from people asking me about twitter is "what do I do with it?" The celebrity influence, news media coverage, etc shows that there is something to listen to on Twitter and not just what people are eating today
- Kevin Kuphal
I wonder if Oprah will really Tweet links and info herself - or leave it up to a "Ghost Tweeter" - either way, it will be great for her nonprofit orgs.' online exposure.
- Laurel Phelps LaFlamme
So, can Twitter really handle the onslaught of Oprahbots there will be once she mentions it? If the site becomes even more unstable than it is now over the coming weeks won't this turn people off? @Ev & @Biz may shoot themselves in the foot.
- Vaughn
It would be sooo interesting if we could accurately see how much stock is owned by precisely whom and when it was purchased. Who else notices when a particular site hits the big time? Remember when it happened to Google? All of the sudden newscasters were telling us to "google this" & "google that" & characters in movies & on television were doing the same. How many times did they ever mention Yahoo! this or Microsoft Live that? First is was MySpace, MySpace, MySpace and then Facebook. Hint: who owns media?
- Internet Strategist
Internet Strategist: sorry, but I was one of those people who always talked about Google. The others sucked and provably so. Same with MySpace vs. Facebook. Facebook is provably better than MySpace. Twitter is getting hype because brands can have a public entity far easier than on other social networks. Friendfeed will get a lot of hype over next year, just watch. Why? Because the influencers will figure out that search is where the money (and action) is.
- Robert Scoble
Have you forgotten the last scene/last shot in Forrest Gump?
- Karma Martell
sorry wrong person..
- Karma Martell
Karma: why are you trying to use a movie, a fake one at that, to make a point?
- Robert Scoble
never mind- guess it was to right comment- the scroll speed needs some getting used to . :-)
- Karma Martell
Robert, all other search engines from the beginning of the www were bad and only Google search is worth talking about in the major media?
- Internet Strategist
Whether Facebook is better or not doesn't change the fact that for a long time the major media only talked about MySpace ALL the time and no other Social Networking sites. They only started talking about Facebook later (and stopped talking about MySpace) and now they may be moving on to Twitter. Haven't seen anything on FriendFeed yet.
- Internet Strategist
My point is that that movie was a commercial for Yahoo- a big movie industry hit - to Internet Strategist's remark about entertainment media pushing the Google, etc.
- Karma Martell
How old is that movie? Perhaps they pushed Yahoo before they started pushing Google?
- Internet Strategist
yes 1994 acc'dg to imdb
- Karma Martell
When I think of the major media I mean regular television (non-cable - the free kind with more commercials than shows) and movies. I have never seen you (Robert) on television but that doesn't mean you haven't been on it since I don't watch that much. The news has very little that is newsworthy these days and a lot that would fit better on Entertainment Tonight or some other similar show.
- Internet Strategist
don't care
- John Flynn
this will ultimately be "Jump the Sharkey", but it will give Twitter a big oxygen boost (as if it needs one)
- Ron Mwangaguhunga
Do you think Oprah will then make it to the recommended list?
- Anne Bouey
Anne: no doubt
- Valley
Unless they're busy adding capacity it will also give us fail whales galore as Dan Walters predicted.
- Internet Strategist
Maybe one day people will be asking "What were you doing when Oprah sent her first tweet?"
- Johnny Makkar
Johnny: I highly doubt that haha :)
- Jay Neff
What will Oprah's first Tweet be, @dtapscott asks? "Hello world!" What else? :-)
Chris Farrugia, Ahsan Ali aka. Slick, Chris, Taskerrific Guy and Laurel Phelps LaFlamme liked this
"@YOU get a car!...@YOU get a car!...@YOU get a car!" Sorry...
- Dan Walters
Do you know about my show ?
- Vinodh Nandakumar
You all get a spot on Twitter's recommended follower list! :-)
- Robert Scoble
@Oprah's first tweet: "I don't get it. What does that whale mean?"
- Ron S. Doyle
She wont be able to do her first tweet, as Twitter will fail whale before she gets a chance with all the hype about her going to do it. Thats what i think. :)
- Simon Wicks
"LOOK AT MEEEEEE!" or something like that
- Kevin Kuphal
"Helloo World" - that's funny!
- Laurel Phelps LaFlamme
She should tweet her first message to Obama
- Cem Dalgic
"Only now at the end do you see the TRUE POWER of the Book Club!"
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
She'll say: "Just trying out this twitter thing" - or some variation of that ;)
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
Oprah Is My Imaginary Friend - http://skitch.com/leotwit...
John E. Bredehoft, Brandon Ball, guruvan (Rob Nelson) and 15 other people liked this
Just waiting for you to share, baby!
- Leo Laporte
from Bookmarklet
That is hilarious. Great idea Leo!
- Adam Martin
That picture is way too funny.
- Dan Walters
I'm just figuring this out now, but you can recreate imaginary friends as feeds on beta, make it "standard" and you can share your imaginary friends.
- John Flinchbaugh
Hmmm. Leo, what other celebrity imaginary friends do you have on friendfeed? Not Ashton Kutcher I hope.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
She is my imaginary girlfriend (read: sugar mamma).
- coldbrew
Yeah i did the same with shaq just for fun: http://beta.friendfeed.com/shaqstw... (i think i made it a room with his twitter as one of the feeds) that was because other people would have to go make their own imaginary friend, with the room you don't have to do that .. add it once and anyone can see it (if it's public)
- Chris Heath
Untitled - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2EzEBb...
Dan Walters liked this
Where did you find that one? Hilarious.
- Dan Walters
@scobleizer hate links that push you through Friendfeed in order to get to an article you like. very unfriendly to have to click 2x.
Steve Chou, James Michael Mike DuPont, Thomas Hawk and 60 other people liked this
Hah, I'm going to click like on this, which will cause the link to come to here. Here's why I do it: the conversation is important, not just the link (often). 2. clicking "like" in friendfeed is a LOT better than RT'ing for many reasons (easier to search, it spreads news to my friendfeeders, etc). 3. I want you to come to friendfeed because friendfeed is a better place to talk about the news than Twitter is.
- Robert Scoble
I provide this service for free to everyone so I will continue doing it in this way.
- Robert Scoble
Now that we have real time chat on items it's even more important to come over to friiendfeed, by the way.
- Robert Scoble
I don't mind that...what I hate is when someone posts stuff from Digg or whatever making me do extra work with no value add.
- Alex Scoble
Here's the real time chat about this item, by the way: http://beta.friendfeed.com/dsilver...
- Robert Scoble
I agree with you but I do know that Dwight is adamant about using Twitter over FF.
- Trish R
Trish: well when Dwight insists on using an inferior conversation tool he has no right to complain.
- Robert Scoble
May be we need a friendfeed bar that will frame the actual source and show the real time conversations on the top :)
- Kiran Patchigolla
We should post this link on his technology page on the Chronicle website, LOL.
- Trish R
I understand his frustration. It can be ridiculous sometimes.
- Michael Fidler
Interesting that Dwight hasn't shown up here yet. Heheh.
- Robert Scoble
I find it annoying, but I completely understand why you do it. It makes sense to point someone towards the entire story (comments included) and not just the link, because that's what FriendFeed is all about.
- Lee Ingram
"inferior conversation tool?" maybe the value you get is different from the value he gets. that doesn't make one better than the other. It's easy for you to link a small URL to the source and another to the discussion. Maybe we don't all get paid by our sponsors to converse on the real live web. Some of us get paid to work the shoe leather and find the news that is discussed here.
- Andrew Feinberg
Yeah but how hard is it to ignore the comments and click the second link to the actual story? Takes an extra second or two? Bill it! ;)
- Lee Ingram
Here's a link to the conversation I was thinking of re: Dwight's view of FF vs Twitter: http://beta.friendfeed.com/dsilver...
- Trish R
Andrew: friendfeed does not make it easy to do that. I have one choice: either link to friendfeed or link to the source URL. I've decided that because it's me doing the work I'm going to link to friendfeed first. The conversation is more important many times than the source material.
- Robert Scoble
w/ friendfeed's send to twitter capability it's easy to "nudge" someone to come participate in a thread they initiated ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
Mike: yeah. Dwight really needs to see how much better this is for conversations than Twitter. Dwight is a professional journalist, which is why I responded to his complaint.
- Robert Scoble
Could be worse, Friendfeed could do a diggbar-esque kind of deal.
- Andrew Leahey
Gad, don't even think such things @Andrew
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
lol - yes he is robert, though not typical of traditional journalist, he is participating - and he's a co-worker of mine ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
Got to agree with Robert on this one. Have been getting lots of value by visiting friendfeed and catch the conversation around link & tweet all in one place. Brilliant tool. Going to use this more often!
- Peter du Toit (S.Africa)
I like Dwight a lot, too, and he DOES participate. He just prefers to participate through Twitter than FF.
- Trish R
Robert: I meant take the time to insert a tinyurl-type link to each in your tweetstream.
- Andrew Feinberg
Why should he take the time to do that?
- Michael McKean
I had the same discussion with a twitter follower (a couple of them actually) and so I turned off the friendfeed comments posting to twitter by default, but like Robert, I click like on the FF item so that my twitter followers will come and participate in the discussion here. So, I felt obligated to "like" this item as well. I also don't care if people don't like to look through two links. If I didn't want you to come to the discussion, I would just post the link to twitter.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
And to prove the effectiveness of the Friendfeed links, I had 2 comments on twitter before I finished typing the above comment.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: what's funny is I started the friendfeed to Twitter thing as a protest against Twitter. Since doing that I've gotten 15,000 more followers. Why? People who post good content get followed. My friendfeed likes are the best content on the web right now http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei...
- Robert Scoble
Andrew: if you pay me $1 each, I'll do that. There's no way I'm taking the time to do that otherwise. Sorry.
- Robert Scoble
It would be nice if we could choose which likes get sent to Twitter.
- Michael McKean
Michael: I'd like that too. I'd also like to customize the message that gets sent through too.
- Robert Scoble
Having to click on two links to get the article annoyed me at first, too, until I started checking out the conversation on FF. It can and often does add value. Thanks, Robert!
- Dan Walters
Dan Walters, I totally agree, and think of it this way... if you're coming from friendfeed you only need to click once to get to the article, and the conversation's right in front of you... the two clicks is only an inconvenience for those coming from twitter (and who in their right mind would be doing that anyways?)
- Chris Heath
i agree that conversation if often at least as important as the link. that's what motivated us to create amplify.com. hate to plug my own service like this, but it seemed so relevant to the conversation that i thought it would be appropriate.
- eric goldstein
Robert: That IS funny. It's certainly worked. The "Liked" & "via FriendFeed" plus the video you made on how to use FF & Tweetdeck together to watch gajillions of tweets are what got me here in the first place. It's taken a little bit to get ramped up to really use FF (still not quite there) but the more I use it, the more valuable it is to me. And the less value I see in twitter as an "end"
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Michael & Robert: There's been a couple of discussions about both the word "Liked" (I don't always actually like it, and I'm sick of the twitter people flaming me for liking horrible things) and there's also been some discussion on putting a "per Like" option on the post to twitter. Would be nice if likes and comments could go out to identi.ca too :) Would love to see both of those on the comments. I would post more comments outbound that way -Twits get upset during fast multi-comment discussions.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Chris: The twitter people think it's an inconvenience because they don't understand how to do anything but mindlessly click links. There's such a big crowd there that are trying to game their twitter stats, and game other services like digg -so they just want fast links that they can quick see if they can/want to reshare or retweet.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
guruvan, the 'liked' issue is something that i'm pretty sure friendfeed is aware of as an issue (not sure how far up in priority it is) - and all those people you mention 'gaming' and playing the system(s) ... well F-em - i could care less what they care about... there's value in sending someone here instead of directly to a link .... if they can't see that then why should i care what they have to say about it... (i realize we're in agreement here, just ranting at the end of the day) - :-)
- Chris Heath
Chris: Rant Away. I had to like this item just to piss off a few twits ;) heh. And we are in agreement. There's MORE value in sending someone here than directly. A) I like conversation better than just reading article after article, and B) FF may get another user. And that, I think, make us all happy
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Robert: I am from the make-things-as-easy-for-the-user-as-possible. When I see a link in Twitter (or anywhere, actually), I expect to click on it and get what I want, not have to go through some gateway. Yeah, there may be a conversation going on here, but guess what: That very likely is not what I'm interested in when I click that link. I want the info that was promised. And, if I want a conversation, I likely am going to find it at the source, providing the source is two-way (and most are, these days).
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: sorry I totally disagree and because I am quite consistent you will know what you are getting.
- Robert Scoble
Sorry, hit return too fast... This is a major reason why I find Friendfeed far more irritating than Twitter. It adds an unnecessary layer of complexity - sometimes multiple layers. My time and attention is valuable. Let me direct both DIRECTLY, rather than through some middleman.
- Dwight Silverman
I know you disagree, Robert. You've become quite the FFF (Friendfeed Fanboy), and that's fine. But don't presume you're doing everyone a favor by directing them through FF, because you're not. Sometimes, it just gets in folks' way.
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: if you want to go direct just read my friendfeed like feed at http://beta.friendfeed.com/scoblei... --everything there goes directly to source. I will never understand why you insist reading me on an inferior service.
- Robert Scoble
"an inferior service"? Hopefully you're yanking my chain. Either that, or you just descended into a bad parody of the Mac vs. PC ads.
- Dwight Silverman
Dwight: Furthermore, certainly someone on Twitter has posted a link to most of the same articles...you could follow them and get right to the source. Just like some of my followers don't care for the links from FF, I personally don't care for the constant noise-tweets from blip.fm. Twitter is a free place. Listen to and post what you want.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Dwight: I am NOT yanking your chain. Twitter is a totally inferior service for a whole lot of reasons. I am getting fail whales every 20 refreshes lately. Inferior. The search doesn't work nearly as well. Inferior. I can permalink to conversations here, not on Twitter. Inferior. I can search JUST your stuff you've liked, not on Twitter. Inferior. I can see your comments in live time, not on Twitter. Inferior. Your comments are threaded here, not on Twitter. Inferior.
- Robert Scoble
I can retweet here (we call that "liking") in one click here, on Twitter a retweet takes four to six clicks unless you use a tool. Inferior.
- Robert Scoble
I can click to a database of all my likes, er, retweets here, and you can see all the commentary about those likes here. You can't do that on Twitter. Twitter is INFERIOR and anyone who says it is better is just plain misinformed.
- Robert Scoble
And if that gets me marked as a "friend feed fanboy" well, then, tough. Are you a journalist or a Twitter fanboy?
- Robert Scoble
The conversation here is FAR MORE important than the original link in many cases. In many cases I click "like" to make sure that a conversation happens. If you don't like that, tough. When you pay me for my "work" here online you can complain. Until then, just unfollow or follow. Those are your two choices.
- Robert Scoble
You can like it in one click, and two whole networks of people found out about it. THAT is superior IMO
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: exactly. It's hyper efficient. Anyone who asks me to do more work without paying me is a jerk, IMO. Especially when doing that additional work results in less utility. By the way, since adding my friendfeed "likes" to Twitter I have gotten 15,000 new followers. So, the followers have spoken.
- Robert Scoble
I think you do plenty for free as it is ;) Many of us in your debt I imagine (If for no other reason that the food for thought which creates our blog articles, and potentially software dev projects and so on
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Excellent point all! Thanks for pointing all that out Robert.
- BASEnet
Ah, I see I have wandered into church. Forgive me for disturbing y'all's worship. I'll head back to the bar. Later.
- Dwight Silverman
I am debating turning the "Twitter to --> FF instead of source link" button soon. This is an interesting conversation. When I get home and on a non-IE6 computer I can check out the live convo.
- Amani
Dwight: someday you'll see the light. :-) By the way, THIS is the bar. You just left the church. I use the service that is technically superior and provably so. YOU are the one who is sticking with religion and calling ME a "fan boy." Geesh. Twitter fanboy, I guess.
- Robert Scoble
I love how people stick with inferior technology despite all the facts. Thanks afterDARK. I could keep going, too. Friendfeed has filters. Neither Facebook or Twitter do. Friendfeed has decentralized moderation of conversation and is very spam resistant. Something that no other online service has cloned yet. Friendfeed has rooms, er, feeds, that can be private. The DM features here are far superior to Twitter's too, and provably so. But, no, I guess I just got schooled by a "TwitterFanboy."
- Robert Scoble
Personally I would rather come to friendfeed through a link to get to a story because then I can talk to people about the story o Friendfeed. I think Dwight is just lazy.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
Robert: I haven't really engaged in whether one is better than the other. What I AM is a fanboy of simplicity. I believe in making things as simple for the user as possible. When I offer a link (on any service), it's directly to the source. I would consider it an imposition to send them through a gateway. All I'd like is a simple link. Anyway, I am behind on a project. Nice chatting with you folks. Later.
- Dwight Silverman
Since I represent a news magazine show on a public access station and online, I need to remain, "fair & balanced" cough-cough, in my comments. I use and like all the services, just like Robert, but since using ff most often, I have certainly come to appreciate its "pro's" over the competition.
- BASEnet
Dwight, you're missing the point. We DON'T WANT to link you directly to the site. If we did, we would share the link through another service. The Like to direct you to here is the simplest way to get the twitter users to engage in the full conversation. If you don't like the ff.im links, DON'T CLICK THEM. It's an imposition on US to listen to you bitching.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Well, I can actually see where Dwight is coming from and I like both FF and Twitter. Sometimes though, you have to go with where the convos you're most interested in are at, irrespective of the service. For tech geeks, FF wins hands down, but for others that may not be the case.
- Sally Church
Sally: here is the rub. I am most interested in talking with early adopter geeks who care about using the best tools. So, someone who thinks Twitter is better than friendfeed? Not for me, thank you. And anyway I have gained 15,000 Twitter followers since sending my like stream over there. So I will go with them.
- Robert Scoble
You can see from my feed here, and my tweetstream that I spend plenty of time on both. I have both open pretty much all day long. But honestly, I usually share things in such a way that they get the most views from my friends as possible. So, when I discover an item, I tend to "Share on Facebook" then it goes there, here, and out to twitter. If I could have FF posting outbound to FB I would share it here so that the FB people would come here too.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Liked for the comments. You know, this wouldn't be such an issue if FriendFeed had their own bar frame showing number of comments, number of likes, and the latest comment, updating in real-time. Then the ff.im link could bring someone straight to the linked content, with the bar keeping the person in-touch with the conversation.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
When you're reading thousands of pieces of information the last thing you want to do is click a link. Slows down information filtering quite a bit.
- Richard A.
Robert: I can see and appreciate that, I'm just saying that for others their definition may be different, either in terms of the types of people they interact with or the topics of conversation. I love the science and tech stuff here, for example, but my Pharma and real life friends prefer Twitter and Facebook. Drives me up the wall cos your points on ease of convo are bang on.
- Sally Church
Sally: My point still remains: It's not our "duty" to provide other people with the links they want. It's our "duty" to provide them with the links WE want. If they don't like the links, don't click on 'em. On twitter, if you follow the right people it's only going to be a few minutes until someone posts a different link to the same information. At least that's what I see.But then, Dwight has some 5000+ fans and doesn't follow but 650 people. Not a surplus of wealth of information in his timeline.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Rob: Agreed but I wasn't talking about links. I get frustrated because I can't convince more friends to use FF over Twitter or FB. They get bewildered by FF for some reason, I get ratty because they force me to engage with them in a suboptimal environment (for me). C'est la vie.
- Sally Church
Well, I think there's no question about it: Friendfeed is fairly complex, and somewhat overwhelming to the first-time users. One of the things to do is have a pile of useful example filters that look at more than just the tech-news. If/when we can have "shareable" filters (in a way other than a link) especially ones that have the realtime update, the value will become readily apparent, and help to negate some of the "first time user fear"
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
AND: If we could just have the "import the rest of my twitter friends as invisible users" tool then it would be all over. They could easily just start with FriendFeed as a really useful twitter client, and grow their usage from that point.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
liking that dwight dropped by to converse, understand his perspective even though i too am a huge ff fanboy - its not for everyone and lots of folks love the simplicity of twitter, which is also not for everyone - especially me ;)
- mike "glemak" dunn
i can see dwight's point, but i don't agree with it. and Robert, are you going to turn those posts into an "inferior" blog post? i think you should ... it would be a great post! -- remember controversy is good for ratings ;-)
- Chris Heath
Blog? What is that? Not sure I need to do anything else to get my point of view across.
- Robert Scoble
well if you don't then i just might... off to bed for now tho... c u 2moro kthxbai!
- Chris Heath
"To believe or to disbelieve is the same. In both instances we are involved in struggling against a power. When we disbelieve in something, we are fighting against believing in it; therefore we are honoring it as a power."
Jérôme Flipo, Laurent Van Winckel, Nicholas James and 31 other people liked this
Can you believe that?
- Paul Buchheit
It does assume that believing something is a starting point and disbelieving it is a battle. Sometimes it is easy not to believe and a bigger battle to believe.
- Paul Jacobson
It is the same, when you disbelieve something you do believe it not to be so, or you do believe something else to be the truth.
- Willem (@wim66) ☠
how about if you just classify everything as 'maybe'?
- bob
Mabye I'm being a little naive here but I don't see how disbelief implicitly involves fighting against believing. I don't believe in unicorns, but I'm not fighting any belief in them. I'm simply saying that there isn't any evidence to suggest that they exist and should there be any evidence to the contrary, then I'll quite happily reconsider. So, for me, there is no struggle, no fight, no conflict.
- Paul Grav
the side which introduces power as a consideration in the matters of belief is the one that struggles/fights (will [have to] struggle/fight)
- Michael Bravo
Perhaps the level of struggle is the level of honor? Ever deal with a kid who persistently believed in unicorns or elves or some such? ("But daddy, they could be somewhere, right?") Perhaps if there is not much struggle there is not much honor (=little to none)
- Justin Long
Whether to believe or not is one part. Putting up with the fact is another. With Paul.!!
- Praveen Vasudev
How does the existence of unicorns affect me? I couldn't care less. I'm not fighting any right not to believe, I'm human, I can think what I like.
- Paul Grav
Do you believe facts? Why? Most of what you call facts are the result of your mind measuring according to its beliefs. Facts are worthless unless you believe in them.
- xyz
So, the opposite of believing is not disbelieving, but ignoring?
- Lakshman Prasad
Anyway, if the rest of the population choses to believe in the existence of unicorns, 1. no skin of my nose, 2. wouldn't affect the way I think in the slightest. My life might be affected by it because I might see unicorns on TV a bit more often, but it wouldn't affect the way I *think*. I realise that there are some who do fight against belief. I'm just saying there are some who don't.
- Paul Grav
Evidence, can work in a non man-made system. We live very remote from such a situation. Take money. It doesn't exist. We just believe in it and base all of our lives on it. We invented it, we know we did, we have full proof. Yet it serves our mind well to make us do stuff. It's a belief. No evidence there.
- xyz
Disbelief is also a system of belief: Belief in the non-existence of something
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
How not, Ryo ?
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
to delve into semantics: "To believe or to disbelieve is the same;" therefore, believe = disbelieve. That logic disqualifies any struggle or fight since equilibrium has already been achieved.
- grant fox
Ryo, I see what you mean. An Agnostic friend explained it to me in this way: Agnostics say they don't know what's in the box. Atheists say its empty, Religious believers say its full.
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
Ryo and Ahsan, those were some good points. liking it.
- vijay
this discussion reminds me of a story. a friend of mine was a philosophy major in college, on the first day of one of his many philo classes the professor put a chair in the middle of the floor and said, "i want you to prove to me that this chair isn't real." most everyone concocted these complex explanations which were all incorrect until finally, somebody said, "what chair?"
- grant fox
Nice story, grant. But let's face it - if there was a solid answer, there would be one religion (or none). Atheists will die 'believing' that they won't ever know (even after death), and the religious will die 'believing' that they will know in life after death (certain religions, at least)
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
The original point is useless. It's just word games.
- xyz
It reminds me how it takes just as much "faith" to be an atheist as it does to be an every-Sunday churchgoer. The question is, faith/belief in what?
- Dan Walters
I think the line between belief and disbelief is very thin - much like love and hate. Sometimes, I find myself half-attracted to people I dislike strongly.
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
what I always scratch my head at is why what I believe in has any bearing on what you believe in, assuming of course that my beliefs don't impact yours. why does everyone get so worked up?
- grant fox
+1 grant
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
A lack of belief does not necessitate or imply a positive belief in non-existence of anything. Saying I don't believe in unicorns is *not* the same thing as saying that I believe unicorns don't exist, no matter how much some people try to distort it otherwise. To use @Ahsan's example above: I don't know what's in the box but I have no reason to believe anything is in it. This is altogether different from not knowing and believing that it is full, or not knowing and believing it's empty.
- Eric P
"Agnosticism" has got to be one of the most abused terms in the lexicon. It exists as an entirely different dimension than belief. It's not some middle ground between atheism and theism, it's a qualifier that you can apply to either term. A vanishingly small number of atheists claim *knowledge* of God's non-existence. A substantial minority (but still a minority) of theists claim to *know* God exists. That makes the majority of people on all sides of the subject agnostic, regardless of their beliefs.
- Eric P
Eric, let's restate the question in a simpler way: Is disbelief a philosophical position or not ?
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
This might be true for religious beliefs/disbeliefs, although it's quite subjective. From a scientist point of view, if you believe in something then you have a theory, and you should struggle both to prove it and to disprove it in order to transform "I believe" into "I know it's true" or "I know it's false". So, having a theory and having the opposite theory is the same.
- Francesco Balducci
David Hume ens va ensenyar que no existeixen True_Objects, només Belief_Objects. Tot passa dins la nostra imaginació, no sabem res de la realitat... del cert.
- ladislaugirona
Does this say much Paul? What is the third alternative to believing or not believing? Could you substitute "thinking" for "believing"?
- Edward Zwart
And who is Paul quoting ?
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
I agree Zehra. It sounds more like a clever attempt at justification of otherwise unjustifiable beliefs to me.
- Edward Zwart
Tempting, but no. Bacon Bible Cover. - http://cyberbrethren.com/2009...
Dan Walters liked this
I wonder how different this really is from some other "real" religious gimmicks...
- Dan Walters
Professor develops inhalable chocolate: http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2009... This is what the world has been missing. (?)
Plus, I think I'll just wait for the inhalable bacon.
- Dan Walters
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