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

Breathing? Check! Water? Check! Food? Check! Gunfire on my street? Nope! Right...things aren't that bad. - Stephen Pierzchala

Yeah, she lived in Tehran and her house was bombed. People are losing their homes, but not like that. - Robert Scoble

Well, back then too, things were 'not that bad' until a certain point -- and are we maybe a bit numbed, after the disasters of this decade? - Christopher Galtenberg

she's right - Milad.p

Worst I have seen. But I only have a quarter century of bad things to compare it to. - Not Not Geoff Schultz

Geoff: it's the worst I've seen too, although the gas lines and malaise and corruption (Nixon/Carter) of the 1970s were pretty damn bad too. - Robert Scoble

That comment from her is awesomesauce! - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

I believe, deep in my heart, that the cause of the problems in the 1970's was Disco. - Not Not Geoff Schultz

Yes, Disco is the root of all things that are evil...which is why it's banned from our wedding. - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

This isn't the worst I've seen...does no one remember the economic situation post 9/11? - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

Alex: this is far worse than post 9/11. That was a temporary shock to the system. The fears I'm hearing are that this will be long and deep. The dominoes that make up the economy haven't stopped falling yet. On 9/11 it was very fast and came back pretty nicely pretty quickly. We don't yet know how deep or long this one will be, but it's looking damn nasty. - Robert Scoble

Good point Robert. Do you know anyone who has done some scenarios, projected possible outcomes? Any critical thinkers who have drawn a picture of what the next likely 'dominoes' might be? - Leif Hansen

Yep, my brother is seriously smoking some good stuff out of the fear pipe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

I agree with Maryam. It's frightening, intimidating, scary, fear-inducing - but that's because we're all used to the 7 years of feast and not the 7 years of famine. We'll be fine when cooler heads prevail which is in the near future. - Aaron Brazell

Alex: you are just being a jerk now. Since you told me to "be positive" the market has dropped nearly 2,000 points. Well, someday it'll start going up and you'll probably say "see, I called it." Well, here's my stake: the plane is pulling out of its death spiral slightly. So, Monday I wouldn't be surprised to see an up market. - Robert Scoble

Leif: Auto industry is the domino that's falling now. So, draw lines out from there to who sells stuff to auto industry. That's where the domino falling will go next. - Robert Scoble

Jerk now? I think you used an unnecessary word in there Robert...But seriously, what have you gained by not being wrong? What have you gained by shouting from the rooftops that the sky is falling? Yeah, yeah, you are Mr. Brutally Honest Scoble...It's your shtick, we get it. Actually, no it isn't...your shtick is telling us what's cool out there...showing the light at the end of the tunnel. All of this fear mongering, doesn't become you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

On the positive side, isn't this a great time to buy some good shares here and there 'on the cheap'? - Charlie Ramirez

I have to agree with Robert, I think this is worse than 9/11(regarding the economy of course). This is a meltdown of the markets fundamentals(which werent strong John) - Not Not Geoff Schultz

I think we're all working and living like we're almost through the tunnel, but there's nothing wrong in thinking about the downside and getting prepared, in whatever way we can. Talking preparation would be more constructive than beating our heads against the wall. - Christopher Galtenberg

@Robert: Isn't it okay to be positive in the face of negative news? I don't think Alex is saying things are great, he's seeing opportunity and he sees the mid-to-long-term future still being bright. When you're faced with something awful it generally pays to be positive. - AJ Kohn

"Dollar cost averaging has been widely criticized by economists and academic finance researchers as more of a marketing gimmick than a sound investment strategy" - Chris White

If it works for Bob Brinker...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

Alex, do you own stock in some dollar-cost averaging related company? There's a lot of links for it. The problem with a lot of these bull market stock guys is they make money for people when the market is going up, but then they just whine and complain about the government, other countries, etc. when it goes into a bear market. If you did dollar-cost averaging starting in 2003 and sold it all in 2007, you did well. Now, not so much. - Chris White

Most market experts would not have told you to do dollar cost averaging in 2003 when the market was recovering. It's a tool to limit risk when investing in bear markets, not necessarily bull markets. And the S&P being at 850 is just utter crap. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

Christopher Penn's with ya Robert http://www.christopherspenn.co... "...What we face in the months and years ahead is nearly unprecedented in terms of economic turmoil. Our society at large will be different when we emerge on the other side. Some won’t make it. The goods news? You’re not alone, as my friends remind me often..." - Leif Hansen

People say the same thing in any bear market, but you have to go in at some point and it's better to go in when the market is going down vs going up. But you don't want to go in all at once and be horribly wrong on where the bottom was, so you divide the amount you are going to invest into 10 or 12 blocks and put it into the market in whatever time span you are comfortable with (days, weeks, months) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... That's Dollar Cost Averaging. - Alex "Chameleon" Scoble

it's all fine, don't worry - Gregory Lent

the worst ain't over. i went to get some take-out from a popular pizza place in the Wall St area last night that has several restaurant/bars and outdoor seating. The weather was nice and since it was Thursday a lot of people were there, mainly wall st types, mainly VP and below younger people. Talked to a few, not too many are worried too much, but that might be bravado (and alcohol) speaking for them. What the resounding consensus was, though, was that there is more pain to come. I've heard (cont.) - grant

...the same from more credible sources too. At least the dollar is revaluing! - grant

Chris, I'm saying that we won't know where the bottom was until we are already past it. If I had additional money to invest in the market right now, I'd probably spread it out over the next 6 to 8 months. I think we should have seen the bottom by then and then those investments would be in good shape to payoff down the road. - Alex "Chameleon" 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 "Snake" Perez

What Steve Spalding said. - Mavericks of A-sauce!

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 hussein sessum

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 hussein sessum

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 hussein sessum

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 hussein sessum

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

Steve, even if we accept they have limitations on shows, there's ZERO excuse here with political content. It's bollocks, complete and utter bollocks. - Duncan Riley

I've been thinking of subscribing for some time; your excellent use of the word 'bollocks' sealed the deal for me. - Aaron Krug

Aaron, nice to have you on board, and reciprocate as well. Bollocks is actually a word I need to use less of...particularly in posts :-) - Duncan Riley

If you're interested in watching Hulu from outside the US there has been much success from something called the "HotSpot Shield" http://www.google.com/search?h... - Brandon

Brandon, we use it on abc.com at times when the Silicon Valley funded Chinese hosting sites have issues :-) - Duncan Riley

Oh how I understand that - Glen Awesomesauce

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 Awesomesauce

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

"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

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