Erin Kotecki Vest

Now see, when you have great football out there, then whatcha got is great football! - Mark VandenBerg

See this line right here? (draws on screen) That needs to go up up up... then we'll have something! - Aaron Brazell

Aaron, wishful thinking! I'll drink to that! - Robert Scoble

Robert, "Buy low, sell high!" - Pete Delucchi

Pete: my motto? Buy lowest sell highest! :-) I like my chances this week a lot better than on Monday last week. I'm 18% ahead already and I haven't even bought yet! :-) - Robert Scoble

The goal is... you have to have more points than before... then you win. - Aaron Brazell

Aaron: actually, in the end, you don't win at all, you die. So, have fun while you're here! - Robert Scoble

I'm just trying to do Madden impressions. Ignore me. - Aaron Brazell

Brett Favre shops for Tenactin at Ace hardware - Mark VandenBerg

John Madden would say "Boom!" - Robert Scoble

Oh please someone get him a markup board and Robert, boom is the word "right here". - Adam Turetzky

Adam: I actually did a search for John Madden's best moments and stole the "Boom!" quote right out of USA Today. - Robert Scoble

How would turducken fit into the economic Madden Scoble analogy, Aaron? Something like, "Well, first you buy some stocks of Dell, stuff them into stocks of Microsoft, and then take the whole thing and shove it into Google. Let's call it a Googellsoft" - Pete Delucchi

Oh my mind is spinning with the viral ideas that a Scoble version of Madden on YouTube could virally spread. Damn I wish I had access to Scoble and a video camera! "see, over here we have the AIG meltdown, and on the backside of that is Ben Bernake, but he's old school, leather helmet, ben gay on the knee, and here comes Paulson with a nickel offense and BOOM! Great depression up the middle" - Adam Turetzky

Also known as the Google OS? :) - Aaron Brazell

This is funny shit. Thanks! - Robert Scoble

Ha, Adam. That's exactly the Mojo I was looking for. - Aaron Brazell

Ok, but if Scoble starts putting pictures of economists on the side of a bus...I'm out of here. - Erin Kotecki Vest

Erin: you mean like this guy I met at Davos? http://www.flickr.com/photos/s... - Robert Scoble

Same reason why adults are, but kids are just a bit more crass. - Steve Spalding

Two reasons: learned behavior from home and kids have no filters. - Steven "Ming" Perez

What Steve Spalding said. - Mavericky Awesomesausages

that's tough. some kids are more vivid incantations of their parents - Cee Bee

hard to imagine this little girl is...http://friendfeed.com/e/7bf474... - Live4Soccer

that's cause her dad's a cool dude. some parents are a-holes therefore their kids are even bigger a-holes. i love referring to some kids as a-holes - Cee Bee

you want I call a guy? - Erin Kotecki Vest

I'm going to let him know that if anyone actually touches him with the food, he's free to use his karate on them until they are down. - Jason Carreira

Jason - I'm from that school too. I've been telling my 4 y.o. to push back when this one kid at school gets too rough. My son says he's done that, and that the other 4 y.o. has stopped pushing him. Good lesson to instill early. - Hutch Carpenter

Jason and Hutch: my parents raised me with the statement "You always have the right to defend yourself" in tandem with "Don't be the one to start a fight". Worked rather well for me... - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

The kids don't realize it, but that food is as dangerous as a knife to him. Most times I'd go with what his sensei's say, to walk, talk, and tell, because you usually get in just as much trouble for throwing the 2nd punch, but in this case I don't care. A good reverse punch to the solar plexus will make them think twice about it. - Jason Carreira

I am all for deterrence. In school I never once saw the intervention of a teacher or admin do any real good to dissuade a bully. All it does is convince them you are an victim they just have to wait till you are alone. Hit back, take the punishment and solve the problem. - Soulhuntre

My kid had to deal with a particularly annoying type of bullyism last year... during assemblies this group of kids would make sure to sit behind him... Then they'd poke him in the ribs to make him jerk or make noise. He'd get in trouble and they'd enjoy it. Since he couldn't see them he couldn't say exactly who did it, and since they were behind him and seated he couldn't really grab their hands and do any wristlocks or anything. Kids are cruel. - Lindsay Donaghe

I just had to re-lecture him after Mr. Testosterone got home. - Cyndy via fftogo

Some kids think everything is a game until someone gets hurt. I doubt the kid realized what an allergic reaction would do. That said, I'm all for kicking a bully in the stomach right away before anything escalates. - Rodfather

We're trying to install that if someone shoves our daughter, she should ask them to stop. If they shove her again, shove them back and play to win. - Denton Gentry

I wouldn't take this lightly with the administration. http://blogs.wsj.com/health/20... -- e.g. - Kentucky law considers a person guilty of wanton endangerment “when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person.” Kid who knew and threatened needs to be suspended. at least. - jeneane troopergate

mean little asswipe kids are generally spawn of mean little asswipe adults and/or parents who treat their kids like luggage and figure 'those teachers' will get them to act right. As for bullying - at that age words work best IMO. But I don't mean a mousy 'stop' I mean a loud hollering 'STOP IT!' Save the physical stuff for when they're older and you can actually make a real impact on a kid. - AJ Kohn

And beyond that: When in doubt, teach him to kick ass. There's always anger management later. - jeneane troopergate

These comments are why the high school I teach in is filled with angry kids. Come on. Don't teach hate. - LPH™

Dealing with ATTEMPTED MURDER (within so-called zero-tolerance schools) IS SOMETHING TO BE PISSED OFF ABOUT. Teachers and administrators who can't -- or are too lazy to -- juggle multiple priorities and therefore let incidents like these go unanswered are something TO BE PISSED OFF ABOUT. The abject failure of the public school system in which you teach (assumption) is part of the reason why the high school you in which you teach is filled with angry kids. I'm just saying. - jeneane troopergate

lol@jeneane +1 - Shey

LOL Jeneane. On that point I agree. To a child with food allergies, foods can be weapons every bit as deadly as a knife or a gun. However, Sassa did the right thing today, which was to get away from the little girl and let a grown-up handle it. And as I pointed out to Mr. Testosterone, telling the food allergic child to touch the child with the unsafe food in ANY WAY is just plain stupid. I also contacted a friend who runs a food allergy group about going in and talking to his grade about how serious food.. - Cyndy

... allergies are. @LPH, I consider many of these folks my friends and they are filled with righteous indignation over an incident involving a six-year-old who could have been seriously hurt or killed. I grew up with food allergies in my family, and I do not get some of the nonchalance that some parents seem to have instilled in their children about them. - Cyndy

You are that kind of joanne six-pack mother who knows what is right for her child also, and in this great nation, as you work to teach these elementary children not only not to hurt one another, but also, to in fact, help another as we shore up our economy. - jeneane troopergate

Fine then... that's what shoes and roundhouse kicks are for. - Jason Carreira

Oh how I understand that - Glen C

Brandon: that has an even better keyboard. I think I'll stay with Nokia devices that have regular phone keyboards that are hard to text into. - Robert Scoble

We've become a society of people who walk the earth incessantly looking down at the river of noise flowing through our mobile geekery. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

Productivity is overrated, Robert. - Pete Delucchi

I don't do the smart phone thing for the reason you mentioned Robert, but FriendFeed really destroyed my ability to focus on anything for more than 30 seconds. I've been ignoring FriendFeed for larger and larger chunks of time and find myself not missing it at all after about a week. - Mark Trapp

Hold on one sec while I twitter this.... - Glen C

Mark: I can see myself joining you. - Robert Scoble

Mark - I too have been taking longer and longer breaks from my dips into the river of noise here. Things seem to be evolving. Can't quite put my finger on it though. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

Brian - Had to rework my lists a couple of times but readily admit I spend a too much time here. On the other hand, a lot of it has been productive in a lot of ways. - Charlie Anzman

Agree. I left FF for about two weeks, and when I returned, something felt different. I spend a lot of time here but, as Mark said, I find myself not missing it as earlier. - Mladen Srdić

I understand. not sure if that's good or bad. lol - Erin Kotecki Vest

Totally agree Mladen. 6 months ago, it was like crack for me. Not so much anymore. Still a BIG fan, but not missing it as much these days. Interesting. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

Mladen and Brian and Mark: is it because there's less and less tech news in between cute videos and pictures and funny news stories? - Robert Scoble

I'm starting to lose interest in FriendFeed now that the general public has found it. Much like Facebook its no longer interesting. - Bored Lebowski

"with Nokia devices that have regular phone keyboards that are hard to text into" -- thanks Robert, I will inform my colleagues that ITU keyboard has this kind of reputation :) - silpol

Christopher - I get concerned when I hear comments like that. It takes 'a little' time but the controls are here to see and respond to what you like. Just create your own channels. Still one of the best networking and discovery games in town. - Charlie Anzman

Christopher: I've noticed this behavior about early adopters. It happens in every online community I've been a part of since the mid 1980s (yes, that's how long I've been doing online community stuff). I thought FriendFeed would be different because you could join rooms that have smaller groups of people in them and also make a list of only your closest friends and avoid the noise. Why aren't these working for you? - Robert Scoble

Robert, maybe: I still make sure to go through Google reader just as regularly as I always have, and I feel informed. With FriendFeed, I'm reading things I already read in reader or saw on TV. The only things it keeps me informed on is specific people, and those updates, for most people, are few and far between. You said Google reader makes you smarter: I think that's the same thing. With GReader, I can spend an hour or less, get informed about the topics that interest me, and actually have an end point. - Mark Trapp

Not really sure Robert. I've got about 15 lists that are pretty well tuned so I get reasonably filtered buckets of noise. UPDATE: I also agree with Mark that an effectively tuned GReader is a highly effective firehose. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

It isn't the devices we use, it is us. That said, I would rather have the functionality and the negative side effects than another thing take its place and not have the functionality. - David A. Levine

I'm absorbing so much information from the interactions and activities of others on FriendFeed that I view any loss to productivity today to fall into the category of "pay it forward". - JodyUnwired

David: I don't agree with that. An iPhone is akin to living above a bar for an alcoholic. Nokia's web browsers are a LOT harder to use so I don't even attempt to use them, most of the time, where when I have an iPhone in my hands it's hard to get me to do anything else. - Robert Scoble

I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't we exhibit self control at some point. I love the tech news, discussions, and Twitter, but I can focus on other things when needed. - jeremy franklin

I haven't really used FF and don't miss it. Twitter -- now there's another story. I got an iPhone so that I could Twitter any time/place/thing (to be fair, my PDA died 2 weeks before and I missed an important meeting as a result). I paid for Twittelator instead of using the free apps. On my desktop I have TweetDeck with one Twitter identity and Twhirl (LOVE them both) with the other. Twitter is my number 1 news source and I am finding out a lot more about my world because of the tweeters I follow. - A.J.

Agree with Mark again. My main news sources are Google reader and rss crunchers, like Feedheads and Feedly (i don't use it anymore, but I'll give it another shot). I once started a thread for sharing via Google reader and got a fine response of about 20 people. Interesting way to get some interesting content, beside tech news. - Mladen Srdić

These things are not bad, we are using things in a bad way. - YAAK

I think the need to know new information before others is an addictive thing now a days. To be able to talk to others about a subject that is new is impressive. With technology, information is coming in faster and faster. We also add to this tsunami of information with our own lil nuggets. Also being able to be on the "in" faster allows you to make decisions in business and personal life before others which is beneficial at times. Just look at stock traders and how they deal with new information. - Bored Lebowski

There's some stupid stuff on FF that I could do with out, and then there's the issue that some people rather post tech stuff to rooms rather then their main feed. - Colide81 (James)

It's all about self discipline. Switch it off when it's too distracting. If needed turn off wifi. - Peter van Teeseling via twhirl

@pvantees the problem is that addiction overrides discipline. - ·[▪_▪]·

My girlfriend pointed out that I wasn't able to watch a movie or tv show with her without thumbing through posts on Google Reader for the iPhone at the same time. I had to lose that habit, lest I succumb to a meta-relationship to go along with all my meta-interactions online. - Shay Frendt

I'm having a hard time making the transition from an iPhone to a Blackberry Curve-- AT&T to Sprint [even though it'll save me $60/month.] I keep asking myself "How will I access FriendFeed on the go?" "How will I manage all of media on the go?" It's sad. - Brandon McCall

Sounds like a new group of 'recognized disorders' for the Psych community ... luckily, there's now help thanks to passed legislation (that was attached to the bailout bill??!!) http://newsblogs.chicagotribun... - Charlie Anzman

I got my FF addiction under control but I think I've lost my grip again. I have to get it together again. It's causing a general lack of ability to concentrate, I just want to check for something new all the time. - xero

I've started microblogging more when I bought iPhone 3G. If thats more productive or not I don't know, but its fun. I love my iPhone! - Svartling

There is just the need to know how to control yourself... if you know how to control yourself there will be no addiction... - Edoardo Piccolotto

But isn't the new generation of mobile devices, micro sharing services and tools opening up a whole new form of organic communications enablement that has the potential to change everything. What if the mobile device is our communications hub/router/data store, freeing us from our desks & enabling a wider group of people to engage like never before -- Cheers, Christopher :) - Christopher

Brien - Watching the river is a pleasure. Productivity is another kind of activity. Do pleasure and productivity mix? Fun and work? - Jimmy Walker

Being connected is a *good* thing. However, it takes discipline. If you can't control when you use it and when you don't, it's probably best not to have an iPhone. I hope I can teach my kids this - it's a valuable skill. - Jesse Stay

I don't surf the net that much on my BB Curve since I have my laptop in front of me most of the day. If I was mobile like you are, then I'd definitely be using my phone to access http://FFtogo.com a bunch! You're in a tough situation...I'd probably cave in and buy a replacement within 3 days! ha, ha! I was highly temped to buy the iPhone just because of your love for it, as well as numerous other buddies of mine who swear by it. However, I am a cautious buyer of new technology, and opted to go with BB - Susan Beebe

Interesting thread. - Mathew A. Koeneker

Please don't think Canada's is any better because that would just be an illusion as it has its own FAIL in a very large way - Steven Hodson

lol, loving everyone changing their names to 'maverick' hahahahaha. - Erin Kotecki Vest

Erin - great post but I am a bit surprised by the entitlement position you take. So not like you. You don't strike me as the type of person who expects others to take care of you, be it John McCain or the Govt. - Michael J. Pratt

I'd be writing the Obama campaign and demanding my money back. - Cyndy

hell yes. we have a few such democrats in various offices here in ca. woefully underqualified, elected based on looks and atrocious at their jobs. - Faboo Mama

Democrats wouldn't need to because the Republicans would be busy filling that role. - LPH™

It would be a travesty, yes, but to be honest...we'd be doing the same thing that Republicans are doing...half heartedly "rah rahing" her on while thinking to ourselves "this doesn't look good." Same thing we did last election. - Wensleydale Scoble

If Sarah Palin were a democrat, she wouldn't have been chosen for office. She'd have been ripped apart by the Democrats before she even got to prime time. You've got to be shrewd to make it to the top among the Democracts. The vetoing process is more real there. (Having said that, what in the world is Nancy Pelosi doing as Speaker of the House?) - Raoul Pop

1) her lack of grammar and presentation is because she is uncomfortable in her position, and does not know this stuff cold. 2) the republican party forgiving this lack of experience makes me even more cutting - and if my party did put someone as unqualified, I'd also have a TON of problems with it. 3) I don't care about her accent - she sounds like my midwestern relatives and that makes me actually like her, and want to give her a chance. 4) I'm not making fun of her family, either. - anna awesomesauce

Yes. She is unqualified. Were you not paying attention to the Democratic primaries this year? The razor thin difference between Obama and Clinton was more than enough to start internet blood fueds. What do you think would have happened in the Democratic Party if either Clinton or Obama picked such a moron like Palin? - Steven "Ming" Perez

Yes. I would criticize her the same way I do now. I am not a Biden fan boy ether. But I don't make jokes on her family. But wait... Maybe I make some jokes about that too. We will see. - ※Fu※

@Alex See, I wouldn't. When Obama announced Biden, I turned to Jason and asked if Obama was kidding. Biden is a smart guy, and I agree with many of his beliefs but he's such a loose cannon I figured he'd be a huge detriment to the campaign. I just underestimated what a trainwreck choice McCain would come up with. The only way Obama could have done worse would be to have chosen Pelosi. - Cyndy

@Glen I don't think people pick on her voice, family, and choice of words because she's a Republican, I think they do it because there is simply no substance to her as a VP candidate. If she had formidable things to say, some clear thought leadership (other than her position on dinosaurs+man on earth at the same time), then the rest would get ignored. She's had ample opportunity to dazzle us with anything beyond "hockey maaaam", and has fallen flat. I'm truly horrified that she could win. - Jeremy Toeman

Yeah, Cyndy...but I don't see myself ever voting for a Republican...They just don't want to lead us in the direction that I think we should be going. - Wensleydale Scoble

I've poked fun at none of the above. Its her lack of experience, and the audacity of McCain to put campaign before country, that I oppose. I would have criticized Obama the same had he made a similar choice. - JodyUnwired

Uhm..yes. She is annoying as hell. She doesn't even appear to know what's going on. Like..*really know* what's going on. - Rah™

The focus on Palin's artifice is because she gives us nothing else to go on. I watched the debates and re-read the transcripts last night, and her points did not get across. Well, except the one about global warming not being manmade. That's what ratchets her up to hilarity for me. She is also one of the most sexist politicians I've ever seen. And, of course, her lack of knowledge about the economy and foreign affairs. - anna awesomesauce

I'd make fun of Biden but I can't really find anything, as bad, or sadly, as pitiful, as what Palin has showed us. - anna awesomesauce

Here's the thing, I make fun (kinda) of McCain and his family. I happily picked on every misstep every republican makes...bush, cheney, whomever. So...how come when we go after Palin everyone gets so touchy? Also, pointing out Palin's huge inexperience is really relevant in my eyes because there are so many QUALIFIED female GOP leaders. - Erin Kotecki Vest

Rahsheen, she doesn't even *pretend* to know what's going on well. Banana, they got across extremely well to the right, apparently. Her praises are being sung both low and lower. :-) Sexy? Uggghh I couldn't get drunk enough! - JodyUnwired

Erin, its become apparent since Bush came into office that the less qualified (i.e. stupid) Republicans' choice is, the more vehemently their choice will be defended. - JodyUnwired

@Jody SexIST (not sexiest, haha), and, I think that positing someone with an accent and education that puts them in a working class background sets them up to get criticism, and then the republicans can weigh in with "classist! classist" (kind of like this thread here...) if only they did that with someone qualified, and they'd be right :) - anna awesomesauce

Pheuff!! ::wipes brow:: Thanks for clearing that up! - JodyUnwired

Yes - Steven Hodson

lol - anna awesomesauce

Yes, absolutely. Agree with Susan 100% - Sally Church

Thought experiment: Who has an opinion without "maverick" in their name? ;) hee - Jay Tannenbaum

Bases solely on her record as Governor of Alaska Palin is more than qualified. By any and all other measurements Obama is completely unqualified. - Peter Simard

What's really funny to me is that Democrats are supposedly the ones who care about others and are oh-so-tolerant of everybody, and Republicans supposedly only care about the rich and look down their noses on "lessers." Yet the overwhelming majority of comments from Democrats about Palin are so snobbish, it's laughable. - Dawn

LOL @ Peter Simard! The fact that the debates and other situations have to be "dumbed down" so that Palin can participate proves that she is not ready for the job. No one is dumbing down anything for Obama because of his "lack of experience". She's about to be in a position to control the most powerful country in the world... The rest of the world isn't going to dumb anything down for her. If she can't handle the pressure she doesn't need to be a candidate. - Lindsay Donaghe

Palin has had an UNBELIEVABLE amount of pressure put on her since getting this nomination just 5 WEEKS ago. If Obama had just been suddenly plucked out of nowhere but his own experience, how would he have done? Obama has literally thousands of advisors telling him what to do and say, and has had over two years to gear up for this. Their only difference in "experience" is that he's been running for high national office 25 times longer than Palin. - Dawn

Lindsey could it be that most things designed for the general public have to be "dumbed-down?" Newspapers are written at, what, 6th or 7th grade English level? Not everyone capable of understanding complex strategies on a variety of different subjects, and for the general populace to understand, say, foreign relations with an unfriendly nation, it has to be "dumbed-down" a little. - Mark VandenBerg

@Dawn - the current meme in twitch media is that anyone who objects to the insults and abuse being heaped on large portions of the electorate are just too stupid to know whats good for them. You see it in comment after comment. They repeatedly don't consider the difference between elitism and actually being elite :) - Soulhuntre

@Glen - the answer to your OP is no. If Obama had picked her it would have been an inspired, amazing choice to get a Washington outsider. A true indication of "hope and change". They would have loved the executive experience she added to the ticked and been wildly supportive of how well she connects with "the people" (who they continually invoke, but clearly despise as idiots). - note, when I say "they" i mean the majority of the anti-Palin zealots who attack her voice, family, hair etc. - Soulhuntre

Yes. It has nothing to do with her gender, voice, mannerisms, or home state. It has everything to do with her cluelessness, her inability to perform a simple one-one interview with someone, debate simple talking points in a controlled debate, call up basic facts about the world, or be straightforward with the america population. The GOP like to spin it the other way because they want everyone to feel sorry for her and ignore the blatant and glaring holes in her record of inexperience and unfitness. - Clint Ecker

Yes, I poke fun at John Kerry (who is infinitely more qualified than Palin, btw) for his dour tone, repetitiveness and lack of enthusiasm and backbone as a candidate on a regular basis. - Bren

@Glen: you've got one doozy of a list assumptions in your rhetorical question : 1) holding views that adhere to the partly line is a qualification for office; 2) a candidate's speaking skills are *not* an indicator of qualification for office; 3) a candidate's family *is* an indicator of qualification for office; and 4) poking fun is a bad thing. otherwise, good Q! - MikeAmundsen

@Dawn you make a lot of interesting assumptions; I'm a blue collar kid who happens to be fiscally conservative, my hero was Maggie Thatcher. I like US pols such as Romney, Powell and Bloomberg, but neither McCain nor Palin is in their league. Expressing an intense dislike of the GOP ticket is not snobby but rather a desire to be inspired, for something bigger and better for this country. America deserves better than McCain/Palin on the world stage. - Sally Church

Sally: Dislike over policy is one thing. The "white trash" comments and all the endless derivatives thereof -- knocking everything from her accent to her hair to her laugh to her clothing to her gestures to her family, ... the topic at hand! -- is indeed snobbery. - Dawn

to me it doesn't matter what party she represents. she is still a joke. - Paulo via twhirl

There is no conceivable way that the Democratic Party would choose someone like George W. Bush as a presidential candidate or Sarah Palin as a vice presidential candidate. The Democratic Party has higher intellectual standards -- seriously. The Republican Party these days is dominated by militantly and stridently anti-intellectual zealots who hold the life of the mind in contempt. Conservatism used to be a movement with high intellectual standards -- all that has been lost. - Sean McBride

Sarah Palin: Bush in skirts. - Sean McBride

My thanks to Scoble for reading the minds of Republicans everywhere. For my part, my support of Palin is not half hearted. I still think she was a great choice, and if McCain does not win the election, I believe you will see more of Palin down the line. No one can honestly say she is less qualified than Obama. - Community Organizer Chuck