Funny - I recently had to explain the problem with this concept to our 4 year old after she hit her sister in the head with a stick and thought "sorry" made everything okay. - Jonathan Beckett
wake up... it will pass and it should. these men have not allowed one terrorist attack since 9/11. waterboard em I don't give a damn. out the nipple clips on Osama's henchmen. - Noah David Simon
Wow... just wow. Clicking 'Like' just doesn't seem to be fitting. FF needs another option methinks... Anyway, this is disgraceful. - Jamie Clark
now let's see WHO in the Senate actually votes for this. Who's for change ? - Andrew MacNeill via twhirl
The bill passed, like 9 months ago, something like 406-6. It's law. Weren't you all calling your Senators when this was up for the vote last fall? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H... - Adam Turetzky
Ah... Well both my Senators voted against (Mikulski and Sarbanes). DSo that's good. We still got rid of Sarbanes though (he didn't run for re-election). Ben Cardin is the new Junior Senator from the People's Republic of Maryland. - Aaron Brazell
It seems USA is truly heading towards being a totalitarian state - Brian Sullivan
Technically, it is Congress giving Bush a pardon he wrote and inserted in a bill. But he won't escape international prosecution because of this. - Mitch Ratcliffe via twhirl
So is this like asking for forgiveness for something he may or may not do now, or in the future or may have done in the p... oh, damn! I've gone crossed eyed! - zoblue
caffertyfile@cnn.com <- Don't let someone go away just like that. - AJ Batac
Where does responsibility end? Congress voted for the things he's being potentially accused of, as well. Do they get punished for war-crimes? What about the faulty intelligence gatherers? What about folks like Gore and the Clintons, who also supported the Iraqi war? What about the folks who voted for the folks who voted for this war? It's easy to pick on the President because he's a retard, but that doesn't make it sporting. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
I can tell that there are people on both sides and a lot of people are probably laying low on this. It's going to be a very divisive story. - Shawn Farner
I'm fist pumping over this. The guy is a hack. I'm not surprised he got dropped over controversial material as opposed to the reason he should have never been picked up in the first place: talentless material. - Michael Beck
Anyone else finding it interesting that most of the people on the other side are white men? I predict this is going to get bigger before it goes away. - Cyndy
Smart people don't comment or get involved in any way. - Aaron Brazell
its easy to run around and comment on tech stuff, but it takes a real heart and intelligence to understand and comment on this issue...i sent this to one of top dogs and he was quiet....probably too afraid of them making a puppet of him. - Pokai
Unfortunately, I'm not surprised at all so many came/will come to his defense. Let's see how many show their true colors as this debate continues. - Bwana McCall
And they defend him no matter what and whenever. I made a spoof video of Feldman on YouTube and one of his "friends" was quick to jump on it in the comments. http://youtube.com/watch?v=vi3... - Michael Beck
Pokai: It has nothing to do with puppets. It has to do with the fact that this is a legal issue and commenting on a problem none of us created or can solve only inserts you into the middle of a legal issue. Smart people don't comment. - Aaron Brazell
The part that surprises me is that Verizon cut a deal with him in the first place. Corporations are notoriously risk-averse, and would probably think twice even before agreeing to a video series with Jerry Seinfeld. For the record, I haven't seen "Tech Nigga," but I saw some of the Shel Israel stuff and the video in which images of Robert Scoble's face obscured a woman's nipples. Wonder if Verizon was planning to air that one. - Ontario Emperor
Ontario; at least in television and radio, programming is always done by middle managers, not executives or lawyers. It's very likely that the people who could've clued Verizon into the issues relating to Feldman's work weren't involved, at all, in any programming decisions until after it was raised by third parties. It's very much driven by "I need x amount of programming by y date:" very rarely are things background checked. - Mark Trapp
<sarcasm>Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy... </sarcasm> I think I'll buy a couple more services from Verizon to celebrate their decision. - Sprague D
SHEL: "Mike, for you to imply I somehow, in the back channel, incited a black Muslim organization to persuade a telephony carrier to take down Loren’s material shows a very weird assumption of what I can or would do." [sock puppet turns to camera] SOCK PUPPET: "FASCINATING! Maybe Loren can replace the Verizon sponsorship with one from... (wait for it...) S... A... P! Bringing you "comedy" that beats you over the head with a 2x4, since 1938!" - Karim
See, according to Loren, the problem isn't that white people are racist, it's that black people are self-hating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... "It has *nothing* to do with the white guy." - Karim
Aaron, can you please explain to me how "smart people don't comment" on this because it's some kind of "legal issue?" Why are you encouraging people to stick their heads in the sand on this issue? - Karim
That's a fantastic blog post. And the best thing I've read so far on this. I love the coercive apologists and transparent attempts to trivialize the matter. Intelligent people have *already* weighed in - and will continue to do so, regardless of lickspittle internet bullies and their bigot pals. I was bullied as the poor kid in school. I can smell them a million miles away. They're cowards and they're all about silencing those who defy them. Let's call them for what they are. Go back to stealing lunch money - melmcbride
Some of us are just worried about Mike Arrington's health. Anyone proposing that a guy named Shel *Israel* is the Secret (sock) Puppet Master to a black *Muslim* organization can't be too connected to reality. - Karim
Karim: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA holy crap i just pissed myself. - Eric Rice
I'm biting my tongue for the rest of this scandal, until the next time someone picks on Christians or Conservatives. Then I'll yell BIGOT! as loud as I can, and start a protest. Hypocrisy. Nothing different between the PIH and Jack Thompson, in my opinion. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
A few weeks back I predicted that FF would overtake Twitter in users in less than one year. Compete's new June numbers are out now. Last month FF grew 33.7% while Twitter grew 5.4%. Assuming a static month over month growth rate, based on June's numbers, FF would have more users than Twitter in a little over 6 months. - Thomas Hawk via Bookmarklet
Interesting - For me, Twitter and FriendFeed still serve different purposes and that seems to be the case for a lot. So while many Twitter-ers may adopt FriendFeed - I don't see it completely surpassing it in 6 months.... - George Smith
I'm guessing the overlap in the user bases should be pretty high. So even though the rate of growth of Twitter may be much lower, i have a feeling most of the people who joined FF recently are already on Twitter. Till we have a comparable number, it may not be a completely true analysis to say people are preferring FF *over* twitter, would it? I too believe they serve different purposes and should co-exist. - Parth Awasthi
They may have different purposes but they are definitely competing for the same attention width. - Brian Sullivan
George, I agree, I have them both open right now, is that weird? - Cody Heitschmidt
Certainly FF is siphoning off some of Twitter's growth. I think though that FF is much more addictive and multifaceted than Twitter and is the stronger momentum play right now. If I were running a hedge fund (I'm not) and these were both publicly traded companies (they're not of course) I'd be tempted to short Twitter and use the money to buy long shares in FF. - Thomas Hawk
This chart also likely corresponds with the amount of Scoble's Friend Feed sticker giveaways :) - Brian Ries
Thomas - Thanks for your thoughts. When twitter has negative growth three consecutive months we will have another facet to discuss. - Russellreno
I'm with George Smith on this one. This is not an either or. These are 2 good tools and I'm sticking with both for now. BUT, with every Fail Whale I see, my doubts grow. - shelisrael1
The initial growth of FriendFeed, but if you look at the total volume of users of both services, FF has a ways to go before it's going to overtake Twitter. - Brandon Wood
when either gets to 10m users they we will have a story - David Henderson via twhirl
i see the need for both but would like to see friends collapsed as 1 set - Lee Kent
we'll know these companies have made in when all the good people have left, the comments are full of pr0n spam and your mum asks you for your username... - Barry de la Rosa
I think one of the main reasons for more adoptiong is the ability to have a tru conversation, without having to hunt for messages every few seconds. I think it would be great if they do some more features to make it easier - Shivanand Velmurugan via twhirl
comparing month on month growth rates isn't really that helpful here. obviously the doubling time for FF is going to be less than Twitter because it is starting from a smaller base. In terms of users/month Twitter has been growing faster than FF, something I expect Twitter are pretty happy with given their recent problems. - Samuel Bostock
Samuel, that's what people said last month. Since then FF's growth has only gotten stronger though while Twitter's has gotten weaker. month on month growth rates certainly are anything but accurate forecasting tools. Still, perhaps FF will eclipse Twitter's growth even *more* next month. - Thomas Hawk
I never imagined this would have this fast - Akshay
any idea on total user #'s? Twitter's surely saturated - John Cozen
The big question in my mind is when will the FF graph flatten out? Trees don't grow to the sky and every site / service will start to plateau at some point. Either way, this will be fun to watch. - Mike Doeff
Just imagine how fast they would grow if they incorporated Facebook status and Myspace content. Right now they are siphoning from a small pond, Twitter and the microblogging networks. There is a lot more opportunity for growth if those two are brought into the fold. - Andrew Burd
I don't think it's a shock that FF growth rate is high. Twitter broke new ground. Most FFers are Twitters also -- and Twitter was probably the first mircoblog we've all used. Making the switch is easier. - Rob Williams
Everyone I know is Switching to FF from Twitter - this is real buzz I think it will overtake Twitter. - Luke
uuhh.. is *no one* here discussing how compete.com gets it's data? vitally important.. - Barbara K. Baker
I'm seeing much less response on Twitter, and I hope it's not because I've gotten boring- I think the conversations are on FF. - Brian Carter
I definitely spend more time on FriendFeed these days than I do on Twitter, even though I have orders of magnitude more friends on Twitter. I would say there's not much competition there! - Scott Jarkoff
Doesn't really mean much as FF's growth will still be playing catchup to Twitters current capacity. - Stuart Forsyth
Its interesting to watch. But there is still the simplicity of Twitter that keeps many who have grown accustomed to a society that offers crap service as the universal standard. - Curtis Cross via twhirl
It depends which way you look at this data. I'd rather have Twitter's curve. - John McCrea
It sure is funny to watch the these bloggers push FriendFeed, like they are getting paid or something! - Thomas Capote via twhirl
JMc - Plaxo is growing faster than FF, and I have not seen any hype around Plaxo. - Russellreno
but still, i can't help but think FF is rising BECAUSE of twitter. people come here to check it out. if they stay, great. if not, they've still got the numbers. right now it's like a few months ago when everyone was talking/blogging about @twubble and other "twitter-pack" type apps and bots. i had a HUGE follower surge. same shit, different month. - Hillary Hartley
Russellreno: It's because we chose private sharing and conversations for mainstream users around circles of family, friends, etc. - John McCrea
Clearly, though, I use both services (and really like them both). As the British would say "horses for courses." (Different horses are better for different courses. - John McCrea
John - Agreed. My Plaxo invites come from friends that would not find FF useful. Just the same, when the Twitter v FF conversation comes up Plaxo isn't mentioned although it is tracking with FF. - Russellreno
I've been watching Compete's 'Velocity' tracking between FriendFeed and Twitter. It has grown exponentially. I am definitely convinced at this point that Twitter is to Friendster like FriendFeed is to Facebook. I only wish I could buy stock... - Philip Ryan Johnson
Do prototypes count? Other than that I concur with Oliver, manufacturing is overrated - Cains
*raises hand*...works at a manufacturing company. ;-) - cmiper
I don't even have 4000 of my own business cards. - Rick Wolff
I took all my business cards yesterday and put them into batchbook. I had quite the stack. No where close to 4K like Scoble. But, a good decent amount for me. - Jason Shultz via twhirl
Goto alibaba.com and you'll find someone to manufacturer pretty much anything...even business card readers, holders, etc. Perhaps you should take a trip to China soon. - Andrew Leyden
I work as a software engineer at a manufacturing company. :) - imabonehead
you know, there is this funny thing called the internetz with sites like xing and linkedin which allow you to search for industries ... ;) - Nicole Simon
I can put you in touch with a very skilled luthier. - Brian Norwood
Brian (he works for Seagate): good point! :-) - Robert Scoble
I manufacture (sometimes) coherent sentences. - Shawn Farner
Gotcha covered, Robert. You name the type of manufacturing and I've got your people ;) - Spinn
My son can manufacture just about anything -- with Legos. - Joe Chiappetta
I work for Griffin Technology (largest manufacturer of iPod & iPhone accessories). I deal with product development from ideation to design to manufacturing. What's up? - Dave Gilbert
And that is because we are no longer a manufacturing economy. - Francine Hardaway
or did you actually mean like old fashioned production outside the geek gadgets and computer hardware? ;) - Nicole Simon
Want to talk to manufacturers? Let me know, I know too many :) - Tac Anderson
I know lots of people who manufacture LIES! .... (just kidding) - Brian Carter
In the US that may be because we are now a 90% service economy?! - Charlie Anzman
I used to be the IT manager for a manufacturing company. I used more trigonometry in the software I wrote than I ever dreamed I might when I left college. - Jonathan Beckett
I've worked at mfr. companies. Had much less cool business cards. ;) - Cyndy
Hehehe. Good ol' bobbies on the beat, eh? I think I'm buying a megaphone soon, can't trust them bobbies you see. Thanks for passing it on Thomas. - Roberto Bonini
Agree with the message but hate the transmission over bullhorn. I was sort of hoping they were gonna give him a beat-down. - Andrew Smith
Stand up for your rights, fellow photographers! - Daniel
I'm glad the photographer did this. We need these "rebels" to keep society regulated. I strongly believe that. - jonn
That's great! That needs to happen more often, in more places. As it becomes more and more common for the police/security to harass photographers, I am seriously considering adding a cheap video recorder to my bag. - Jeremy Brooks
I demand a photographers' rights flashmob.. right next to a secured area with lots of police. Imagine... hundreds of photographers jumping a secured area shooting thousands of pictures and then disbanding quickly... - Daniel
Awesome. I guess the policemen didn't see this one coming. Good job! - Holger Eilhard
Very Berkeley-like way to express oneself. Was pleased at first, then after the first 30 seconds, started to feel uncomfortable that the "bullhorn bloke" was still going. - Randy Hall
In times like these you need to be brave or a nutter to stand up like that. It's a shame that it's even necessary. - Victor
Keep a Megaphone in the Gear bag now ,,, protect your rights . - fotographic
people thought they were normal, but were insane, in 1930's germany, any similarity to here and now? - gregory lent
Fantastic! We need more people like him to stand up to these goon squads. - Stuart Forsyth
These dramas play out in the press and the blogosphere and surely all the criticisms eventually get taken personally. Lashing out (and seeking a pound of flesh) is sort of a natural reaction, no more forgiveable, but understandable. - David Muir
From what I understand, Yahoo's offers will be lower $26-28 range or a search pact, but I can't see MS guaranteeing $2.5B in revenue. The board handled the initial offer terribly and I think Yahoo shareholders want to see them out the door, but we'll find out soon enough. - Cains
Am I hearing you correctly, do you mean to suggest that Microsoft in general, or Ballmer in specific, are arrogant? - Steve Follmer via twhirl
maybe they are just interested in what you have to say in terms of technology and stuff and social media. i follow some old dudes. and old dudes follow me back. but i'm like 23 so i'm kinda legal. - Caroline
i wouldn't know half the stuff i know if some old dude like say leo laporte wouldn't of givin me his take on certain things. - Caroline
I wrote in the comments on this post some of my experiences with smart youngsters. It's something I worry about perception wise, yes, but on the other hand, many of the most brilliant ideas in our industry come from people under 21. - Robert Scoble
Throughout history many young aged mathematicians and computer scientists have made breakthroughs. My opinion is that it may be caused by the information that they were able to build upon. Similarly, with the social sciences, I see that "friending" for young people is a form of building upon others experiences and thoughts. - Franklin Naval
I feel like an antique, using social networks and the like. I do not feel old, but my birth year says enough for some people. I am starting to tick the 'do not show age' box more often. Not because I do not like being, ehm, 40. But I do not want people to think I am some kind of peeping Tom. I am just here for the fun, conversation and information. But when age becomes a subject, I'd rather cover it up when it is not important at all. - Ruud van Wijngaarden
There are two IT groups that I regularly interact with in Singapore. SiTF is a trade association of mostly elder geeks. TDM is a fairly loose affiliation of technopreneurs, many still in University. Frankly I like TDM the best, and am most inspired by their ideas and passion. - Bill Claxton
On the other side, I enjoy talking with Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the mouse, and he's 82. - Robert Scoble
Louis, on FriendFeed I don't discriminate based on age, only based on what content is shared. On Facebook, I don't think I would friend any youngsters that I did not know in real life. - Robert Seidman
Depending upon what is being discussed, I don't give it a second thought, either in online friending or in business. - Ontario Emperor via fftogo
Argh...hate this part of FriendFeed so far. Two discussions going on for two FF posts about the same meta post. I know if you sub LG you see them all, but just in case the other one is here: http://friendfeed.com/e/417a79... - Jim Stanger
@Jim Stanger I think it would be a nice feature if we could somehow "merge" the same topic discussions. - Roland Hesz
I decided a while ago that with twitter and friendfeed I don't care who follows me, but I'll only follow back if they are saying something insightful about my areas of interest (tech/arts/politics). With Facebook I only add people I have met in real life, and think I am likely to meet again. - David Owens
efna, i am old as f, but if anyone cares that is their problem - gregory lent
It's an interesting discussion and is linked to something I was going to post about over the next day or so. It shouldn't be a problem but these are tough times we live in and we have to be seen to be making the right impressions. You've got me thinkning now. - Colin Walker via fftogo
Twittermarkerters and Friendfeed spammers are crashing every party - paul mooney
It's only creepy if you think it's creepy. For the rest of us, some of whom are older than you and grew up in the proto-digital millieu, it's just people with ideas. Stunningly bad ideas, sometimes, but ideas nonetheless. I'd add, for the true cynics, "Because segregating the wise from the foolish has worked SO well for so long." - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
Quote "At my old age of 31, were I to be a "real world" friend of any 20 year old girl, people should be asking questions" - Hey! Do you mind? There's nothing wrong with an 11 year age gap. I'm 35, my better half is 24. No impropriety there, and we've been together for several years. I also have friends ranging in age from early twenties to late fifties. - Slippy Lane
All conversation of age aside, it does raise up the issue of the term "friend" in social media: is a social media friend really a friend or a contact? What is the nature of the relationship, if there really is any? As a father of two I'm thinking about this more and more... But, you know, on the flip side, I always had older friends and acquaintances when I was a teen, but mainly through postal mail and amateur press associations. No Web. - Mark Dykeman
Mark, this is a bigger issue that can't get tackled in one post. MyBlogLog and others try to differentiate between "friend", "contact" and "fan", but it all ends up getting muddled. - Louis Gray
This is like mental age - your 'web age' is around 18-23. ; ) - Erhan Erdogan
I agree with your concern and understand your reasoning, but from a mother's perspective, I would much rather my 15-year-old son be reading technology news online and friending people like you and others than doing less favorable things like have been on the news recently. - Trish Robinson
Louis - I think the age mix is GREAT (and as you know, I'm just 'a few years' older than you :) Example: The relationship you developed with Pat Hawks (that I was just going to blog about??). It spanned TONS of websites with a positive result. When Seidman is younger than you, you're old. - Charlie Anzman
I'm mostly just thinking out loud and hoping to engage some conversation around the issue. It's clearly working, even if I have a few people thinking I doth protest too much (which I don't). - Louis Gray
I think, ultimately, it's a matter of intent. If you scour the internet for youngin's to Friend or Follow - well, that is creepy. If you're looking for like-minded individuals whose blogs, tweets, etc are interesting and provocative - who cares how young/old the subject is. In the end, we choose to follow people for the information or access to information that they provide - not if they are of legal age of consent. Or at least, I hope we do.... - George Smith
Long gone are the days when people we knew were easily categorised as family, friend, acquaintance, colleague and nemesis. Nowadays, we all sit in so many categories that social relationships benefit more from multiple "tags" than single categories. - Slippy Lane
@Louis I think we need a new definition for 'Friend', or perhaps a true alternative relationship identification. I agree with the normal social concerns around befriending a younger person, but there are clearly differences between online-only (somewhat impersonal), telephone (a bit more personal) and in-person (potentially creepy!) - Jim McCusker
Does knowing that you have minors following you make you post differently? - Yolanda
Social media is disruptive on many levels, including (not surprisingly) the real-life social level. Few social mores exist, and "creepy" can be entirely in the eye of the beholder. For example, we might all think it's great for middle-aged guys to exchange ideas with 20 year old co-eds online. If that turned into a get-together at a bar, it starts to look pretty different. - Tom Cunniff
@Yolanda, it does not. I don't cuss or link inappropriately as it is. I was once guided to assume my mom read my blog, and since she does, I should keep things nice and clean, for her, or minors, or anyone. - Louis Gray
It can be creepy. I've had to monitor the friending process. @Robert does have a good point about the "smart youngsters". It would be unfortunate if they couldn't learn from the good stuff that happens here. Common sense is what helps determine our approach. Good point/questions on your post. - phil baumann
Excellent advice on assuming your mom reads. Of course, I know my mom wouldn't. She keeps referring to Google as goggle. Sometimes I feel like I can just post whatever amuses me at the moment. Then, sometimes I remember what if a future employer, etc were to find something I've said... Is there no place to be yourself anymore? :) - Yolanda
Funny, but it's not creepy. I've been a friend of people with the triple of my age since I was 15 and it only helped develop me into a better person. Indeed, it was being friends with people my age that has got me bad habits and troubles. If those kids want to have a _real_ conversation, by all means allow them to have it, Louis. Receiving real attention by really smart and interesting people is what our youth needs to get back on track. - Rodrigo Jaroszewski
totally agree, in general the internet has brought us many gifts and alot of screwed up scary baggage, an friending for as harmless as it seems does get kinda creepy - Dan Rockwell via twhirl
Good post, covering a topic which deserves more attenction. I fully agree with you: in my situation, being 44 and father of four children (or should I say "boys") the situation imay be even worse. Years ago was different, since internet was only for few people, mainly adult and working in research or industry. Besides this, people who were young when internet began, are now getting old (including myself)... attenction and responsability is needed, I think. - Marco Castellani
@Louis - yes, the issue does get much more complex when the definition of "friend" is brought into it. Having said that, I must admit that if I'm approached by a young person in social media who I know nothing about, I'm very cautious (not always sure I'd want my mom reading my social media stuff... :) because I'm so conscious of the age difference. Which really sucks, in a way, because I remember what it's like at that age. - Mark Dykeman
What would you prefer? The in-depth "acquantince?" "Friend?" "Lover?" "Dude I drank with once?" It comes down to trying to *make* friends or deciding you only want to deal with a certain group of people. I suppose it depends on the account they're trying to friend you on... i.e. Facebook (personal information) and FriendFeed (generic feed of stuff). - keif via twhirl
Louis, in some way it's like subscribing to authors of books, essays, fiction or magazine articles. I don't often think of the ages of the writers of what I read -- many are long gone. In any case, we're all on a time-based conveyer belt sliding us closer to not-being every year. In the blink of an eye, the young people who subscribe to you will be older (and probably wiser) than we older people are. On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog, or that you are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or even 90-years-old. - David Newman
Its the people that don't ever ask themselves this question or think of it and push it from their mind that worry me. - Marco
i think its very valid to consider intent when adding anyone to your social grid (no matter the tool) but age should be secondary, i dealt w/ this awhile ago when a number of young college kids from the west coast started following me on twitter & facebook, i did the research and asked "why?" turns out i surfaced in one of their comp-sci classes so it became a mentoring situation, np - btw my 19 y/o son is on ff all the time - i like that he interacts w/ me & others here - age should really be irrelevant - mike "glemak" dunn
I don't get Louis's hesitation. I volunteer with tweens, and I've kept up with several of them as they've grown up through their teen years. I email them, and send them messages on Facebook, and talk to them on Skype, and their parents don't bat an eye. As long the conversations are 1) in a public place, or 2) on everyday topics in an easily accessible private place, like email, I think I'm fine. But then, that's me. - Brent Newhall
@Brent - but in the examples that you have provided, you meet the young people in person first, correct? That can give you a recognition and trust factor that you don't get when it's all virtual. - Mark Dykeman
Age should not be a factor. Being discriminated against for being young can be one of the worst things that can happen to young people. - Yuvi
I agree that we should not shut out the young, but I, er, had a friend who had experiences in real life and online where teen boys said they developed crushes on her. This very nearly made this FRIEND hide under the bed for the rest of her life. How does one avoid that? - MiniMage
I think the same thing about friending older people. I tend to think they usually don't know how to use the site (ie Facebook).. Sometimes I add, sometimes I don't. Facebook definitely creeps me out when it comes to this. - Liz Burr
It can also be awkward especially when you have different groups of friends who know you from different stages of your life... they all collide in Facebook and I am not sure I really want that! Facebook is older friends and college folks who i had lost touch with over the past 10 years and i use MySpace for my friends who live right around me. - Scott Lockhart
I'm old and I'm not happy. Everything today is improved and I don't like it. I hate it! In my day we didn't have hair dryers. If you wanted to blow dry your hair you stood outside during a hurricane. Your hair was dry but you had a sharp piece of wood driven clear through your skull and that's the way it was and you liked it! You loved it. Whoopee, I'm a human head-kabob. - Thomas Hawk
As a woman in her late 50s, I'm holding a couple of tech-minority cards, and I applaud all who agree that age doesn't matter when it comes to intellectual discourse. Neither does gender or race or economic status or anything else except maybe the ability to type... I'm also a firm believer in being responsible for yourself and your own actions. That's part of being in a society. Teach your kids to speak up if something's inappropriate, and defend your privacy if you have to. Just don't hide from fear. - Linda Mills
Robert Scoble had an article on Alana Taylor.. basically (Intern/Girl Geek looking for employment in Tech), her networking is an open resume done on line in public, I think that’s kind of up front, the same for Corvida and how she got her place at RWW. - Mike Reardon
In some contexts, friending/subscribing/following is enabling self destruction and self harm - particularly in relation to young girls and young people who engage in at risk behaviours online (and their numbers are increasing). I know, I see this behaviour every day. And I see the kinds of guys who are subscribing and engaging it. Young people look up to some of us and assume we'll let them know if they're going too far. We are NOT their peers - we are guides to help or harm them depending on our ethics. - melmcbride
Wow. I never think about people's ages, but I guess if you are a guy talking to younger women or even men, that could look funny. Many young people follow me and I feel like I'm teaching. - Francine Hardaway
Anonymous proxies and other countersurveillance... great topic to (re)visit on LH! - Logical Extremes
At this point, I really wish I could log some hours of watching grotesque stuff on my account. Perhaps then they'll say it's just "too much information". - Rodrigo Jaroszewski
looks like i'll be doing hard time in some outdoor tent-ed prison in texas soon - Cee Bee
Oh cool more digital shit hitting the fan... be interesting to see if they go after persons from overseas as well - if not I am safe for the time being at any rate. Still - crapola dude... - Dave Gray
Another entertainment giant seeks to destroy its own customers! - Christopher Harley
Great... What will Viacom do? Pull those guys' eyeballs from their sockets? I think we should sue the company that will be hired to do the data-mining, for working with privacy-threatening douches. - Rodrigo Jaroszewski
I'm assuming Americans will make a lot of noise about this? That's the only logical response? - melmcbride
Maybe Viacom plans to emulate Jay and Silent Bob and will visit each offending user to point out the error of their piracy ways? - KerryG
Why is Google even keeping that sort of data longer than say 90 days? - John Frost
It's a worry how far behind the legal profession is. - Craig Thomler
This whole YouTube Viacom debacle is going to be very interesting to watch as Google produces documents to lawyers. And people thought the internet was "private" ha! - Susan Beebe
Upon further reflection, I agree with Danny S. We need an Internet Privacy law now - http://is.gd/L7f - John Frost
I wonder what Viacom will do with international IP addresses? e.g. EU one's? what about Iranian or North Korean one's? how about to go to court for suing Americans and not suing others, meaning that current management isn't effective enough executing company strategy? - silpol
@Susan Beebe - The intenet has never been private. Every piece of content we produce, every comment we write ends up in googles cache and search index. So there is a huge amount of information avaliable about our online precence that goes back years. - Roberto Bonini
This initiative will amend the Constitution of California to defend and safeguard the inalienable rights of the People against infringement by governments and corporations, providing for the lawful growth, sale, and possession of marijuana. Marijuana will be taxed through a system of stamps and licenses--a $5 stamp will be required for the sale of an eighth ounce of marijuana and a $50 annual license will be required for the growth of one marijuana plant. To protect participants and encourage participation in the system, such licenses and stamps will be available anonymously in stores where marijuana is sold. - Thomas Hawk via Bookmarklet
"We also hold these truths to be self-evident-That, as an intoxicant, marijuana is far less harmful to the health and safety of the People than alcohol--That, as a smoking substance, marijuana is far less addictive or harmful to the health of the People than tobacco" - Julian Baldwin
exactly why I've supported any of my friends who partake in marijuana related activity..I always tell them alcohol is far worse for the mind and body and tobacco is sad because who wants to watch someone become addicted - Julian Baldwin
Dialing UHAUL right now (just kidding, I use Ryder) - Kathleen Crane
Oakland is hemorrhaging death right now from a territorial drug war that's been going on in the City for the past few years -- a tremendous amount of blood and violence. It would be nice to take pot away as one of the crops that they are dealing out on the streets and give people an alternative to fueling more gang violence. Won't make gang violence go away, but could take a major drug away from their economy. - Thomas Hawk
I'm not sure it will never happen Steven. That's what they said about gay marriage too in California and it's happening. California is a progressive state. I could see California voters getting this on the ballet and approving it. They already passed an initiative decriminalizing medicinal marijuana. This would be the next logical step. - Thomas Hawk
I read research recently that scientists are trying to extract the anti-inflammatory element of THC that interacts with the CB1 and CB2 receptors to help diseases like Alzheimer's without getting people high - Julian Baldwin
Thomas - agreed with your last comment. I saw that flash site recently (sorry for no link) that showed deaths on a map over a sliding time period. Very grim. - J. Phil
The big problem with legalizing marijuana is how other countries might perceive the legislation and point the pot smoker stigma towards the government - Julian Baldwin
@thomas marijuana is a low level drug compared to the alternatives that would be adopted for those earning an income selling drugs - Julian Baldwin
The federal govt will never allow it. This is unfortunate as there may be plenty of legitimate medical purposes. - Ryan
I would like to see more "Green" states. All kidding aside, I think Thomas raises some great points not only about the voters but about trying to reduce 1 of the forces driving street violence. Julian: I have been prescribed Marinol and it just doesn't do anything for my physiology (nausea, weight, etc). - Mathew A. Koeneker
LEGALIZE IT! for shits sake. Republicans support this too. Obama are you listening? - Noah David Simon
it wont happen due to quality controls and not any way to really tax it unless they implimplented more jobs for the farms. thou if they did they could also make cord from the stalks(hemp) and just think how the economy could rise from that!!! - Charles Rice via twhirl
This is amazing news! A good friend of mine is rotting away in federal prison right now for running a medical marijuana enterprise out of Oakland, something that is currently perfectly legal under state and local law. This helps to exert pressure on the feds to get them over the tipping point on this issue. Be nice to see the corrupt and morally reprehensible "drug war" end once and for all, in my lifetime! - Eddie Codel
Obama should be talking about this. He is the first major Presidential candidate who has admitted to active marijuana use. Instead he cowers away from it and won't touch the topic. - Thomas Hawk
I would like to add though that this will never work because it will bring the criminal element to wherever it is legal. this needs to happen on a nationalor federal level. Perhaps that is the price we pay for making this illegal in the first place... but I just thought I should warn you. Legalize it anyway on moral grounds. I'm a Republican and I am for the legalization and normalization of marijuana. I smoked it in Amsterdam and I believe in moderation it is a good thing. - Noah David Simon
Julian, legalizing pot would not get rid of street violence in Oakland. But it would take a major income source from their economy. Even though it is a low level drug, it is one of the most heavily purchased and consumed. The impact on the drug economy would be substantial. They, of course, would do everything that they could to replace the income, but it would pull substantial dollars out of their pockets for sure. - Thomas Hawk
@Thomas Hawk - That's a pretty good point. He is the only Presidential candidate that could even think about it, but I see where he's coming from. We may stand behind this, but what are our numbers? While I don't partake in smoking marijuana, I used to and I do believe it's less dangerous than tobacco and alcohol. Wouldn't it kill his Presidential run? - Damien Franco
Noah, it does need to happen on the Federal level as well, but legalization by the state of California is one step closer to normalizing the acceptance of the drug and makes legalization easier nationally. At present I don't that there is the political support for national legalization, but California could start by getting the ball rolling from a PR perspective. - Thomas Hawk
@thomas the displacement of their economics is a good point, maybe there is not as great of a market for dangerous drugs so legalizing could be beneficial on local and nation levels - Julian Baldwin
I believe that marijuana legalization will only happen through conservative channels. most Republicans I know have smoked it. It isn't like gay relationships... the average American believes it should be normalized... they are just afraid to speak out. If put to a vote... I think it would pass. I still think you should be sobered to the idea of the violence society will experience from legalization... but that will go away shortly and in the long run will stop violence. Like Iraq, it is a sacrifice. - Noah David Simon
@Richard: You can't very well get high from Gold, now can you? Unless you're Scrooge McDuck, anyway. - Eric
Noah: We already have violence and crime as a direct result of the black market drug economy. A horrific one at that! I don't see how legalizing can create more violence? - Eddie Codel
@Noah - Eddie Codel is right. Legalizing marijuana and regulating it could potentially reduce crime by taking away the business model for drug dealers. Or maybe they just start pushing harder drugs even harder... - Damien Franco
While I support, it won't pass the Federal law sniff test. There's far too much money in the proverbial "war on drugs" - Aaron Brazell
This is a good step, although that just means that the state will not arrest or prosecute and the feds can still come in and do their busts. Which will be good for the common user but growers and dealers will still be targeted the same way. It should be legal with all the different uses such as 1 acre of pot can make more paper than 10 acres of trees and it grows annually! - zach chisholm
If I understand it correctly, the dutch have a weird situation where selling is legal with a license but growing is not, so the producers have to go through all sorts of weirdness and things stay somewhat shady. If California legalizes without federal legalization, I'm guessing things will turn out to be similarly weird. - Jason Wehmhoener
I do feel that we'd be better served by the legal system if the emphasis was on harm reduction and not imprisonment. Send addicts to rehab, not jail, and leave people who aren't addicts alone. - Jason Wehmhoener
Someone wake me up when they legalize GHB. - Akiva Moskovitz
It is great to get the word out on this potential ballot initiative but somebody has got to find the proponent of the issue and have him better circulate the petition (I'm talking 'bout you, Christopher Springer) -- without 600k sigs or so, this will not go on the ballot. Jack Herer already failed to get the necessary signatures on a similar initiative which expired in early June. - Andy Sternberg
Anyone know how to get a hold of Christopher Springer, the guy sponsoring this initiative? I can't figure out how to track him down through Google. - Thomas Hawk
It's impossible that no brands sought Scoble after having a baby. We still get diaper samples every couple months as "baby" should be reaching a new size. We get formula, even though my wife nurses. XX% off coupons from all the kid's stores. Etc. - Robert Peterson
Isn't Milan a/the new Johnson and Johnson baby? Seems like at least one brand made contact? - Brian Sullivan
I told my wife that if she wanted sponsors, we need triplets or better. We definitely fell short. - Louis Gray
Brian: that was a joke. But Maryam did get invited to Johnson and Johnson's "BabyCamp." The trouble is, after you have a baby you probably have already set in on a brand of diapers and formula and all that. - Robert Scoble
"I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don't drive usability issues.
Let me give you my experience from yesterday.
I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack ... so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.
The first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.
This site is so slow it is unusable.
It wasn't in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45..." - Paul Buchheit via Bookmarklet
This email nails it. So I wonder, if Bill Gates knew and experience the flaws of his own product in 2003, why no action has been taken to improve it? The Microsoft website is still a mess and Windows is still Windows. - fbrunel
Christian, I noticed that, too. But it's strange. I never reboot XP, just put it to sleep at night and it works perfectly. - Sprague D
This is real? I can't believe this is real. This is like every user experience with Windows ever: if the Chairman of the company who makes the software has the problems (and is pissed off about it), and most of the issues he's talking about haven't been fixed after five years, 1) how much power did Gates really wield, and 2) what the hell? - Mark Trapp
http://www.betterdesktop.org/ - If Bill Gates actually sent mail like that every day, there is no way Windows would work the way it does now. Want some cool insight on usability - check the link out. - Tim Hoeck
I'm sure it's real, this is classic BillG. But getting flamed by the CEO is one thing, actually making a giant complicated mess of an organization and a giant complicated mess of an operating system work in a nice simple way is hard. - ⓞnor
If he truely sends emails like this every they, then I think they are falling on deaf ears. - Ryan McCutchen via twhirl
And Gates should be praised for actually USING his products. Some executives don't. - Ontario Emperor via fftogo
I respect Bill Gates a lot more for reading this. Now all they have to do is do something about it. - Stuart Woodward
@stuart: They did fix some. Try going to microsoft.com and downloading movie maker via downloads. My main annoyance was two pop-ups, one for silverlight and another for a survey. The e-mail is from 5 years ago. - nadim
You see I wouldn't call that a 'rant' or even as Gates titles it, a 'flame'. It is simply honest, constructive criticism echoing the valid concerns of thousands of end users. More power to Gates. What concerns me is that Microsoft have senior people in place who are unable to discern that. This quote is just brilliant 'So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.' You simply could not make it up. - Andy C
I wonder what he thinks of Windows usability in general. I feel it's getting worse. - Philipp Lenssen
@Stuart Woodward I completely agree with you. I'm a Microsoft solutions architect and my respect for MS has just leapt ten-fold - Jonathan Nguyen
it is good to know that Gates has similar issues as me... to bad for him he can't ditch MS for Linux or Mac like I did. -
