You can now get a daily or weekly email digest for anybody's feed on FriendFeed. You'll get a daily or weekly email with the most popular posts from that person's feed. To get the email, click the "Email/IM" link at the top of anyone's feed, and select the "Best of day" or "Best of week" email option.
Thanks to Kevin for doing a great design for what turned out to be a more complex set of UI options than we had originally anticipated, and thanks to Tudor for implementing the email backend.
- Bret Taylor
I now get the FriendFeed Feedback posts as a Best of Day email so it doesn't fill up my feed, but I don't miss feedback. I also set up a "Best of Day" email for my "Technology people" friend list so I get a pretty good overview of tech news every day via email.
- Bret Taylor
This is a really cool idea Bret, I wish you can make that an RSS feed option as well. I'd be much more likely to read summaries in RSS than in email.
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
Casey: Thanks for the tip. What's the 7 before the "?" mean in the URL? The number of likes or replies needed to be included?
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
this is killer, the random influx of email during the day was kinda getting fail-ish. I love the daily digest.
- Drew Lucas
Very cool! Any way to get archives of previous months? (especially helpful for those of us who leave the internet for weeks at a time...)
- Mitchell Tsai
Just curious - at what time of the day will we get these emails ? Midnight US-Time, or will it respect our timezones ?
- Ahsan Ali
Ahsan: it is somewhat random right now when the emails are sent, but we built in the backend capability to control what time they are sent, and we plan on exposing that control to users in the future. Right now, it is kind of random - sorry!
- Bret Taylor
But what exactly is "Best"? Is it anything that has a certain number of likes/comments?
- Laura Norvig
@Bret LOL THAT WAS MY PROJECT! I will release it tomorrow. But you've also did it and killed my friendfeed application **sigh** But mine has multi-reporting weekly-daily-monthly at the same time and adjustable entry count!
- Alp
@Bret please consolidate me or I won't code new apps with you api! :-)
- Alp
Alp: we were not trying to withhold data. Later today the documentation will be updated to reflect the ability to obtain "Best of" for users. The feed id will be USERNAME/summary/N (similar to "Best of" for lists)
- Benjamin Golub
Hi Ben, that is pretty funny, I tried that URL earlier today to see if it has been secretly released :)
- Paul Kinlan
Bret: While Twitter struggle to keep their fail whale under control, you guys are developing stuff like this. Amazing - Thanks!
- Jim Connolly
awesome feature, this will be highly useful for my corporate group ideas / content sharing; projects, etc.... THANK YOU :)
- Susan Beebe
Great work. I especially like that it works on lists too.
- Meryn Stol
my inbox might say different, but I like that :-)
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
Wow, this is really neat! And it links into the idea I expressed earlier, re: reducing signup friction / enabling limited guest privileges. Imagine if I could embed one of my FF rooms on my personal web site, and enable people to subscribe to that feed by e-mail with just a couple of clicks... rather than saying "you can get e-mail notifications but you have to sign up for Friendfeed first." "sign up" -- though admirably lightweight on FF -- is still a huge barrier.
- Adam Lasnik
is there a love button cause I dont like this option I LOVE this option..great work guys
- (jeff)isageek
Three options I would like (1) Can I select "top 100" instead of "top 30"? (2) Could I select both "best of day" and "best of week"? (3) How about older timeperiods? I'd love to get an e-mail with stuff from last week or Mar 2009? Start & end dates? Anything to help me read FriendFeed off-line would be great since I spend long periods off-line at festivals (especially during summer time) or overseas. - Awesome job guys!
- Mitchell Tsai
So this works on groups too, cool! But we still cannot see Best of for groups on the site on friends lists. :-( I have several friends lists that include just groups and when I select to view the best of the page it's empty (even though if I got to the individual best of for those groups there are entries there).
- Kol Tregaskes
does anyone know of a web service that can do this? (I'm thinking weekly email updates of my favorite feeds/people) I don't think there's anything like friendfeed ..
- Friendfeed's Francisco
"Today we are launching version 2 of the FriendFeed API for beta testing. We focused on making the API simpler to use, and we added number of compelling new features." Documentation: http://friendfeed.com/api...
- Bret Taylor
from Bookmarklet
nice, good to see OAuth support, this will enable a larger 3rd party ecosphere around FriendFeed, I hope
- Jeroen De Miranda
After going through the documentation and playing around with some feeds, I love the fact that you can now see the subscriber lists of people who have their feeds set to private as long as you are subscribed to them and authenticate (mimicking the main site functionality). One thing that's absent is a discussion of Direct Messages. Do they show up in feeds if you authenticate? How do we find just direct messages?
- Mark Trapp
Mark: direct messages are accessed using the feed ID "filter/direct". Read more about feed IDs at http://friendfeed.com/api.... Also direct messages appear in the "home" feed.
- Benjamin Golub
Benjamin: ahhh, I see it now. I missed it when skimming that list over. Thanks!
- Mark Trapp
Can you post the wget version of the command line?
- Gabe
Gabe: wget --user=bgolub --password=passwd --post-file=MyPhoto.jpg http://friendfeed-api.com/v2... should work. In theory. Edit: nope. I'm not sure it's possible to do with wget.
- Mark Trapp
Gabe: wget doesn't support multipart forms as a design decision. If you post a file, FriendFeed returns a 404, and if you post data, the query is too long for wget to handle.
- Mark Trapp
Woowoo, bgolub's password is “passwd” ;-)
- Amit Patel
Amit: I wonder how many people tested that :)
- Benjamin Golub
Thanks to bgolub posting his password, I now have all of FriendFeed's secret documents about notorious users, useless metrics, Justin Timberlake's promoting FF on Oprah's show, hiring Colbert as a spokesperson, Ev Williams being just a “distraction”. TechCrunch is going to love this! ;)
- Amit Patel
Yes big big thanks to the whole team for all their hard work!!
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
from iPhone
And frankly, I like adding friends with whom I have a low compatibility. It helps me hear music I never would have found in the first place. I never would have listened to a lot of my favorite music if someone hadn't said, "just try it."
- Ciaoenrico
Heh, "Music you have in common includes ABBA and Depeche Mode"...
- Tyson Key
Your musical compatibility with koltregaskes is Very Low. Music you have in common includes Sneaker Pimps, Hybrid, Snake River Conspiracy, VAST and The Boxer Rebellion. (that's because I listen to a lot of obscure stuff) http://www.last.fm/user/app103
- April
http://www.last.fm/listen... BTW, I send my Blip.FM feed to Last.FM. I fell asleep several times while listening to Blip, so there's some music in there that I don't necessarily like. But, for the most part, it's mine.
- Michael Fidler
If I played my 'best of the best' playlist one day would anyone be interested? It's 45 songs and iTunes tells me it's 4 hours. I can post a FF message when I start and finish and you can check the tunes out.
- Kol Tregaskes
Welp. Ya'll have been friended and oddly enough I only had 4 with high compatibility. Lucky for me that means there is a lot more music our there that I need to be turned on to. Thanks, Kol! :-)
- Mathew A. Koeneker
"It's a tautology to say that normal people are the most suggestible, since it's because they're the most suggestible that they're the most normal!" - Impro
Hi Paul. I'm sorry to bother you but i have serious issue related with friendfeed. Someone is impersonating me at this profile; http://friendfeed.com/alikeri... and he/she is using my real life information, phone number and my own pictures to insult me. Unfortunately, this fake profile already listed in Google search under my name and i'm having a hard time in these days. I already reported this issue with using ff contact form but it's not resolved. Could you help me?
- nothingelse11
this suggests that the difference between suggestible and normal is more connotation than denotation.
- Clare Dibble
I think it's tautology to suggest that normal people even exist. Have you ever met a normal person? I haven't.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Some people are more normal than others.
- Paul Buchheit
Alex, how would you know? Do you have a known standard for normalcy that none have yet attained? I think 'normal' is like 'opposite' in that the term only makes sense if you look at a limited number of axes at a time. Blue is the opposite of red but they're both colors and thus the same. A person normal in every regard would probably be quite unusual for that feat alone.
- Kevin Fox
I'm the most normal, suggestible Mark Trapp living in Portland, Oregon I'm aware of.
- Mark Trapp
Kevin, I base my opinion on aggregated statistics among other things. After all, how many people do you know who have 2.7 kids?
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
from YouFeed
Normal applies to samples and populations, average applies to individual data points?
- Victor Ganata
If you find someone who fits in to the normal distribution for all characteristics and interests, let me know. I consider someone to not be normal (and this is a good thing, I think normal sucks and doesn't exist) if even one characteristic or interest is outside the norm.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
If you're inside the Bell curve, even if you're in one of the tails, you're still technically normal. You can be normal and be nowhere near average. Like, you might be 6 foot 11 inches, and that's technically normal, although that's almost half a foot taller than average. Whereas, if you were 15 foot 11 inches, that's not normal.
- Victor Ganata
Everything's inside the bell curve, some are just more standard deviations away from the mean.
- Tinfoil 2.0
True, but with real sample sets in nature, you don't usually get way out there. There are no 15 footers playing in the NBA today.
- Victor Ganata
I'm highly suggestible and have never been normal.
- Ruchira S. Datta
'Average' has tighter bounds than 'normal' in common usage. Everyone who is 'average looking' is 'normal looking' but not everyone who looks normal is average. You can be a normal person without being an average person. Being above or below average doesn't make you abnormal. You'd have to be further along the curve than that.
- Kevin Fox
You look like you're having a wonderful time posing. There is no harm in that! And what's wrong with your hair? Now I know that you are a real blond.
- Ellie K
Was this pic taken right before Mark agreed to sign the contract to buy the FriendFeed? ;)
- Jemm
"Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds." - http://greenroom.fromthetop.org/2009...
I wouldn't say survival. That lessens what you have just described. Say rather it is a higher gift because it elevates, it cries, it praises, it mourns and it rejoices. And it expresses these things when our hearts our too full for just words.
- Melanie Reed
maybe it would stay and grow like android did ipad is nowhere near chrome OS notebooks
- testbeta
Why? Couldn't ChromeOS and Android become the equivalents to Apple's Mac OS and iOS?
- Pablo Melchor
ChromeOS feels structurally cleaner, more futuristic. I mean, it's so... thin!
- Toph Tucker
Because ChromeOS has no purpose that isn't better served by Android (perhaps with a few mods to support a non-touch display).
- Paul Buchheit
also predicted: bear sh!ts in woods. even eric schmidt has said publicly that chromeOS was a side-bet against its own android. as for Mac OS and iOS, eventually we'll see a unified iOS on those, too.
- Patrick Keys
Yeah, I was thinking, "is this too obvious to even state?", but then I see people taking ChromeOS seriously, and Google is even shipping devices for some reason.
- Paul Buchheit
If Google were to take the "activity model" of Android and add it to Chrome as a way for different apps to interact/share data than from a developer perpective, there is not much value in using a proprietary Android dev model versus using HTML5++ (unless may be for games). So from a developer/programming model, Google would be better off killing Android - Chrome/ChromeOS is a better WebOS.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
ChromeOS = 1 Laptop Per Child / dumb terminals. If that works, then yes. If it sucks, then your OP is correct
- Johnny
That or like the dream of a lot of Apple users (iOS sitting on OSX so you can select either), ChromeOS could be the browser-based corporate solution for road warriors on the Android system.
- Johnny
If it has no purpose, then why does it have competition? It's true competition is from MeeGo/ JoliCloud/ Win-7 Basic/ Ubuntu. Its undoing could be Intel Atom vs. Dual Core ARM Cortex A9. So currently the purpose is to be the the Android equivalent for x86 machines.
- Umang Saini
I think that a lot of people are seeing the browser as the one and only future app platform, and given that, I think that Google is hoping the need for native apps will simply go away. They're in the position to influence that through Chrome (the browser). Chrome has been built to speed up overall market innovation. On the app side, they make sure that all "basics" can be done on the...
more...
- Meryn Stol
In the end, Google might not even care that much whether people use Chrome OS or not. Just like Amazon doesn't care if you use the Kindle (the hardware). Google just wants to be the full-service middle-man in your overall "computing" experience, just like Amazon wants to be the middle-man for books (or reading). But like Amazon ensures there's a superior end-user experience for their...
more...
- Meryn Stol
That the "simplified" user experience is qualitatively different than the "regular" or "traditional" user experience is a common mistake developer-in-a-bubble organizations make. It really is a matter of degree, not quality: there's no reason why, with minor modifications to the interface, certain devices couldn't just boot up Android's browser by default and give the same benefits...
more...
- Mark Trapp
To be honest, Chrome OS sounds more like the product Google wants rather than the product that's actually successful (Android), and that alone is its raison d'être.
- Mark Trapp
Whether they are merged or not, I am happy, as a consumer, that Google has taken the pains to put out two champion products - Android rocks (on the phone) and Chrome the browser rocks (can't talk about the OS since I don't have access to it yet). From the UX perspective, if they could make the COS work on tablets, it would be a bigger win than Android running on tablets.
- Suresh R Iyer
well, numbers will decide ;-) => millions of smartphones +tablets
- JacopoGio
Possible Google Strategy:- Own-up Java with Android, Own-up Linux further with Chrome OS.
- Vinod
If this is the Sun terminal revistited, then there is no reason to keep it around. I want my free laptop before it's all over though.
- Eric
Having used the closest (refined) product out there to it, Jolicloud, I have to say it's (VERY) fast, highly addictive...and actually a time saver for me. Agree the 'merger' is likely but Linux still has a huge base of developers that don't cost Google a dime. Think a better question (any predictions?) might be ... What's going to happen to Firefox? (and the huge Google infusion that goes along with it).
- Charlie Anzman
Mark - Yes, probably because it's Schmidt's long running wet dream, the network computer.
- PXLated
Chrome OS greatest achievement is bringing full web browser to ARM Processors, so we can have $99 ARM Powered laptops soon. Sure it would probably be possible to add Android functionality to Chrome OS (an extra icon in the task bar) and vice-versa add a Chrome browser icon in Android as well. The main thing is the web browser needs to be optimized for embedded Linux devices that are ARM Powered.
- Charbax
mind sharing a prediction as to when they kill friendfeed?
- солнышок
I think it'll kickstart HTML5 if anything. I don't think it'll outright die though. There will be a use for secure terminals and kiosks. For normal consumers, a cheaper netbook that only browses the web without really worrying about the OS is appealing.
- Rodfather
If I'm hearing Meryn correctly, I like the idea that Chrome could push things away from app-happy land and back into browser land. I think apps are kind of a novelty that needs to eventually go away or, at least, be reined in. I hate apps that don't do anything different than what a browser can do.
- Laura Norvig
hi paul, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about your opinion for wired.it, may I have your contact by private message?
- Silvio Gulizia
ChromeOS to Android - Yes. Browser based OS in the mainstream long past overdue and really a reality today with Windows - just track my wife's usage. I could though plop a well configured ChromeOS notebook or tablet down in front of her and she wouldn't lose a beat and nor would probably about 75% of her world(friends, family, etc) and we geeks would love not to have to deal with more...
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- Brad Nickel
Laura, I think ChromeOS apps will push sites to go toward 'app-happy land' in the beginning. The current site will be the standard website where everything will work. Then an app-like site using HTML5 to prep for the mobile app. A UI that would work well with the common denominator of mobile devices, the browser.
- Rodfather
Charbax - Go to Walgreens(if in US) and you can buy a $99 ARM based Windows CE device by Sylvania today. It probably sucks, but they have em.
- Brad Nickel
What about Linux? Any predictions there? Figured I'd ask while everyone is feeling "predictive". Was an Ubuntu mention, but it seems like the Linux conversation has been muted lately.
- Liza + = ?
I would prefer Android to merged with ChromeOS, not the other way round
- Ian
@Paul Buchheit (TeamFrank), what you're failing to see is that Web 3.0 is the world trend now, is not something google suddenly invented. Also, the Chrome Web app store will be the one who defines if cOS is successful or not, just like in android. I think google has learned lots in this area, thanks to androids app marketplace. and remember even if you like it or not, web apps will...
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- manny
@Liza hollers, actually chromeOS is based on linux (i think ubuntu). So all progress made either way the other one will benefit from. Specially on the Kernel and web technologies.
- manny
Manny - didn't know that it was based on ubuntu. I love being called @liza hollers:)
- Liza + = ?
And I predict: You would have stayed at Google if you got it ;)
- HateBadDesign
I predict: you're just bitter about anything Google does at this point because Friendfeed has been such a colossal failure.
- xxdesmus
Wow, slashdot is still around? Is that where the crazy haters are coming from?
- Paul Buchheit
I am not really sure why there are two operating systems from Google in the first place. Has anybody supplied a rational explanation for the duplication of effort? Is this likely to be a costly mistake for Google?
- Brian Sullivan
the best combo would be for the android browser to continue to import features from chrome, including the ability to install a web app on an android device, have its icon show up in the apps list, etc.
- Karl Rosaen
any predictions on Yahoo? After their announcement about delicious I'm in the mood to hear a hideous and nasty prognosis.
- JSLeFanu
So everything in android runs on a java virtual machine, which in turn runs on linux. Chrome has a blazing fast conscript engine and it to runs on a modified linux. Chrome must also have a basic jvm to support java applets in the web. So realistically all we need is google to as the android jvm backbone into chrome os! Then we get super efficient chrome is baseline that can launch any...
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- Sean
from Android
Serendipity is what makes life much more interesting and memorable than if you lived your life exactly what you planned. Because of this, my original plan was to go to med school but ironically I'm working in the software field.
- imabonehead
my receipt is that every day we should do something that is frightening to us. whether it is fear of height , speed or approaching to pretty girls :) it increases serendipity and sets you free on daily basis.
- Bojan Babic
The previous due date was the 8th of December. The doctor today told us that he puts her as due on the 27th of November and it's going to be a girl! I'm so excited!!! =D
- David Cook
Can i ask, the Dr told you it was a girl from the above scan? In the UK, they arent allowed to tell you the sex anymore unless you ask for the 4D scan which costs!
- Alan (Giraffes)
The doc was very confident in the scan. He showed us the lack of boy parts and moved on. He said no one has ever come back and told him he was wrong.
- David Cook
from fftogo
Congratulations David!!!!!!! that is great news!! :)
- Susan Beebe
Thank you everyone! =D Debbie is already planning the girly clothes and we're going through our name book tomorrow. We both agree that we want something pretty short. Nothing more than 2 syllables.
- David Cook
Guy walks into a bar, sits down and orders a drink. Shortly afterwards he hears a tiny voice saying "You're very handsome"... A few seconds later "He's very well dressed"... Then "He appears very smart". He calls the bartender over and says "Excuse me, I keep hearing tiny voices saying nice things". The bartender said "Dont worry...
Its a very dad joke... here's another: A termite walks into a bar, climbs up on a bar stool. He brushes his hand on the bar and says - "Excuse me, where is the bar-tender?"
- Sajida Hina Khan
And another: A horse walks into a bar. The bartender looks at him and says "Why the long face?"
- Sajida Hina Khan
yok arkadaş dünyanın her yerinde aynı olay.. gerçi ömer kadar sakin karşılamamış olayı bu çocuk ama reddediliş süreci hemen hemen aynı sayılır :)
- sszskngcnnylcs
The effort Adobe has put into mobile magazine experiences (like this Wired prototype) indicates how important flash on iPad is to them. - http://www.wired.com/video...
I think Jobs meant they're lazy about fixing the things that are important to him, like making Flash and Air solid and resource-sipping.
- Kevin Fox
Ah they are lazy because they didn't bend to his will?
- Brian Sullivan
No, he thinks they're lazy because they do the 'easy thing' and add features instead of the 'hard thing' of refactoring their product to make it more stable and efficient.
- Kevin Fox
The first guy in this video totally reminds me of Agent Smith in Matrix.
- Michael Leggett
I agree, but those three well-executed features need to be done in the context of marketing/sales magic, otherwise the product won't take off. GMail by all rights should be the dominant email client today, or at least every other surviving email client should have copied the conversation view from GMail. FriendFeed should be bigger than Twitter. I'll admit that twitter got the "few things" part, but I don't think they won based on doing those few things well.
- Bruce Lewis
Gmail is getting there. It has already passed all of the other webmail systems -- they just don't realize it yet. iPhone is similar in that it hasn't won in absolute numbers yet, but it's the winner nevertheless. FriendFeed is a topic for another day.
- Paul Buchheit
"At the office, maybe we'll finally have an easy way of chatting with remote people while discussing a presentation or document (e.g. audio iChat with a shared display)." Wouldn't that be nice?
- Benjamin Golub
Gmail is getting there, and will eventually get there, but it has Google associated with it. Smaller products with weaker brands have a lot more trouble. There's already a tablet out that uses multi-touch to enable multi-player games, for example. Do you know what it's called? I don't; I just happened to see it.
- Bruce Lewis
There's no question that brand matters, and it would be difficult for anyone other than Apple and maybe G or M to successfully launch the iPad. You have to pick a strategy that works given the resources you have. Also, I bet that other tablet isn't actually good (clunky to use).
- Paul Buchheit
Paul, it helps me to hear you say there's no question that brand matters. Your essays really resonate with me, and when I read this one my first inclination is to run off and refine my core features. But refined features only bring new users if you've got the sales/marketing thing figured out.
- Bruce Lewis
Not every game is winnable Bruce. I wouldn't try taking on Apple and Google for the cell phone market, for example. Google succeeded in large part because nobody else realized that search was important.
- Paul Buchheit
"if the basic product isn't compelling, adding more features won't save it."
- Clare Dibble
Bruce, exactly. Especially since we're all seduced by the idea that on the web, we want to scale virally. In this conversation, we're talking about competing with Apple and Google. Do you have a particular target audience you could to go after first? Maybe dominate a given market segment - a niche or a subculture by focusing on something that's just for them, then grow into other niches...
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- Auntie Buttinsky Botts
Paul thanks for an enlightening article. How would you define winning? Can you win the game and still be a loser, for example MySpace won but could not sustain itself?
- Shakeel Mahate
Hold that thought, Mary. I'd really like to talk about it, but I don't want to hijack the discussion any more than I have already. Paul has a great post here about what does and (just as important) doesn't constitute a great product. Now that it's established that brand, etc. matters, I'm happy to stay on topic.
- Bruce Lewis
from fftogo
I'm glad you address the different strategy implicit in developing gmail within Google. An independent startup trying to design a product doesn't have the brand or the support resources that something like gmail did (to Google's credit) will likely need to look at product design in a more holistic way. This isn't a direct criticism of you, Paul, but we like to boil down the product...
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- mikepk
I agree with your premise though, having lived through the experience of building a 'good' product that wasn't 'great'. We did a lot of things wrong with the "Grazr product" from Grazr. First and foremost in my mind was not focusing on the core elements and adding hundreds of features that just made the thing a confusing mess. We needed a benevolent dictator and I wasn't in the position to be that person.
- mikepk
So by this logic trying to turn Gmail into twitter will probably fail? Something like trying to turn Greader into a social network? One you take the care to identify the essential attributes that make something great, bolting on more attributes to make it something else doesn't seem a good idea.
- Todd Hoff
If your product is a fashion accessory, it doesn't need to be good.
- Gabe
People will buy all kinds of crap for the latest fashion accessory.
- Gabe
don't you have to be good at some point before you can iterate to be great?
- David Tran
Dan: Paul's thesis is that you can start out at great and then iterate to be good.
- Gabe
More seriously, Paul is using "great" to mean something nearly orthogonal to "good", rather than being "like 'good', but better".
- Andrew C (✓)
from Android
"Great" in this essay means it has features that are novel or way better executed than the norm. "Good" means achieving the norm for feature-completeness.
- Bruce Lewis
"Great" is a discontinuity. The iPhone is a good example because there was really nothing like it before, so it didn't matter that it was lacking some obvious features like copy&paste.
- Paul Buchheit
Well, now, hold on. On paper, there were phones that did most of the things iPhones did, even maps and youtube. The app potential wasn't even a huge selling point for the first year or so if I remember right; it was more that it had a browser that really worked. (and even then, there were other smartphones out there... people just didn't really write apps for them, not nearly on the iPhone's scale.)
- Andrew C (✓)
Andrew, I tried those phones, and they were all bad. Having features isn't good enough -- they need to actually work. iPhone was the first phone with browser that worked, maps that work, etc.
- Paul Buchheit
Sigh... I wish Robert would just quit beating that dead horse. WE KNOW YOU LASH OUT AT FRIENDFEED BECAUSE YOU ARE STILL SAD THAT IT DIDN'T WIN OUT OVER FACEBOOK AND TWITTER BUT WON'T ADMIT IT. IT'S OK TO BE FRUSTRATED BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. kthxbai.
- Lindsay
Yeah, @scobleizer have to tell us by himself why he's hating FriendFeed so much now ;-)
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
Another reason why I'm glad I don't use Buzz, then.
- Akiva
Everyone is saying FF is dead. :) I sure hope not, but just in case :)
- Roberto Bonini
For Paul, I assume there is an incredible amount of self-satisfaction. Buzz has really brought the FriendFeed experience to a new audience, regardless of its name. Thanks for all your contributions, Paul.
- Louis Gray
I really like Buzz, very cool... glad to see Google release something that integrates a ton of their existing portfolio of products together! Buzz is truly a game changer... wow
- Susan Beebe
Maybe we should all agree to just go use Buzz, let them shut down FriendFeed, and Paul, Bret, et al can concentrate on Facebook... ;-)
- Ken Sheppardson
It must be bittersweet. Well put, Louis. Well put.
- Akiva
I've had a FriendFeed gadget in my Gmail left column for ages ;)
- Tinfoil 2.0
+1 Louis. Gmail, FriendFeed, Facebook.. Amazing job and ideas, Paul!
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
I was watching the announcement with my brother and I kept saying "just like Friendfeed", "just like Friendfeed", "just like Friendfeed" ...
- Alejandro
STILL not showing up in mine!!! It does show up on my iPhone. I've been playing with it for the past hour, but really wish I could see in in a real web browser on a real computer!
- Jeff P. Henderson
Jeff same problem here. Very frustrating!
- BRҰANSAҰS
its like Pauls child FF reunion with its elder brother gmail :)
- sirishkumar
Paul, one thing that I am sure to miss on Buzz is, not being able to see all the awesome Googler's and Xoogler's feeds that I see here on Friendfeed. I wish there is someway Buzz remedies this. Really bummed about this. :(
- Space Cowboy
Paul, same feeling here, but now that I see buzz map in iPhone/web app, that's pretty cool stuff.
- Orlando Pozo
Paul, we need something like buzz map for friendfeed ;).
- Orlando Pozo
Paul, Gbuzz privacy settings really suck, even blocking and reporting people as spammers don't work :S
- Orlando Pozo
from iPhone
Paul, did you know Google was working on Buzz when you sold FriendFeed?
- Richard Cunningham
I love how friendfeed, with all of the love and effort that all of us have vested in it, gets to keep on reaching new places, even if it's not *exactly* FF. Nice one.
- Iain Baker
The more I use other FriendFeed like services, the more in love I fall with FF -- I really don't have any complaints (except please hide my comment and like count since I am a TOTAL power user and it's embarrassing!!)
- Mona Nomura
And the congregation said: "Amen!" :)
- Melanie Reed
Buzz will succeed, it's Google. Better services don't count. Google is Microsoft on teh interwebs all over again.
- ˈpɛbə
I am sure it will -- heck, I am the biggest Google fan girl -- but my point is not who is going to kill what, it was just an observation about how advanced FriendFeed is. Can't begin to fathom the complexity behind the options provided to us (users.)
- Mona Nomura
I'm with you Mona. I want to take this time to thank Google for increasing my appreciation for Friendfeed. Still, this might just be a knee-jerk reaction. Maybe I'll change my mind 2 weeks from now when I'm more comfortable with these new shoes.
- Kevin Sablan
Ya -- still haven't had the chance to fully play and customize it. Does anyone know if deleting a notification email deletes / mute threads? My inbox is kinda clogged lol.
- Mona Nomura
I am not switching to gmail so I can "buzz". I hate these kinds of consumer lock-in. And google is already too dominant.
- ˈpɛbə
+1 Peter [for comment making connection to Microsoft all over again.] C.S. Lewis was right. Seen it happen too many times in my lifetime. An org starts out with a good idea but sooner or later, evil creams to the top.
- Melanie Reed
This coupled with their ISP support in the future is making this all rather undesirable.
- Melanie Reed
Sadly, convenience can be perceived as 'world domination' -- I love how conversations can be emailed, then uploaded to Google Docs via email if need be. Files can also be attached. Conversations can also be tracked via permalink, too. Pretty neat.
- Mona Nomura
So much cleaner over here, easier to manage.
- Jesse Stay
I think once I learn how to efficiently search, Buzz will be useful.
- Mona Nomura
Mona, we use the Google line for our org and have for sometime. and I like that convenience. But we are beginning to see little things that are very controlling from inside that Google is doing.
- Melanie Reed
Privacy isn't that big of a concern to me -- as long as extremely personal information is kept private. And not to defend or back the controlling things you see Google is doing, but when a company is as big and dominant as Google, there are measures needed to ensure quality control (imho.)
- Mona Nomura
It may sound irresponsible or careless, but what other service has Google quality? For example, I can go back 15...even 20 pages back on a Google search and still find relevant search results. Other than its amazing algo, super strict SEO rules, and of course all the products, Google to me, is about convenience and not "evil" as people say.
- Mona Nomura
Oh that's pretty funny -- my eyes automatically differentiate Inbox count with Buzz count. Who can miss that heinous multi-colored speech bubble? LOL.
- Mona Nomura
I'm actually using FF for the community and to hang, Buzz for knowledge. Also, I am a total Internet power user so my eyes are trained to exercise selective seeing. ;)
- Mona Nomura
Mona you have the momentum of a runaway freight train is there anything stop you!!! ANYTHING ?!!?! No way rockstar! Yours truly, cupcake <3
- The Real sofarsoShawn
FF is light years of anything out there but still too hard to learn took me over 18 months to grasp and I'm not that thick ... well some would say so
- Thomas Power
I need to take a few seconds aside later to fully learn and explore Buzz -- still having problems (probably a personal problem.)
- Mona Nomura
Only if Facebook wants them to be, and if so, I'd publish the same thing above about Facebook
- Jesse Stay
But FriendFeed is not Facebook's main focus
- Jorge Escobar
I agree Jesse. Does anybody think there will be a "community" with Buzz? I don't see it but much more than a glorified feed reader.
- G Dub of the Carolinas
Several good tips here: http://www.labnol.org/interne... (Save to PDF, Convert partial feed item to full feed via email, AddThis/AddToAny/ShareThis, Backtweets/Technorati/GoogleBlogSearch related conversations)
- Tinfoil 2.0
Text books seem generally expensive and insipid (http://friendfeed.com/paul...). Are there any promising open-source textbook projects? (high quality content and likely to see actual use)
Obama's chief technology dude (can't remember his name) headed a project like this before taking the cabinet position. The folks at Buzz Out Loud (@acedtect @Mollywood @raygun01) would know about this as he recorded a message for their 1000th episode last week and we were reminded of the program (somewhere on the east coast).
- Kevin Arth
paul - Literacybridge.org is a great non-profit focusing on this issue. there are numerous issues here in terms of language localization, cost of print and transport of books, ability to have access to and understand content, etc. many textbook programs also assume one basic fact that is not necessarily true - literacy. although i am a fan of building schools and education, the reality...
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- Joyce
IMO, most textbooks betray a massive bias of quantity over quality, in part because quantity is confused with depth. If professors were doing their jobs (some are of course), they'd concentrate on distilling out the key points rather than partake of the laziness/spoils of the rigged textbook market... most textbooks are the equivalent of a public works program.
- Alex Schleber
I agree with Alex. Sometimes a good curriculum or at least a lesson plan is more important than a textbook. That's why I think a great project is Curriki.org. It is an online community, where educational resources can be created, shared and re-used in an open license environment. They concentrate mainly on K-12 curriculum, however it seems like it can be a great tool to share the...
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- Maciek Zielinski
Paul I agree that textbooks are way too expensive. As you may know, because of the way textbooks get adopted by some states, most of the kids in the country end up learning from books that were specifically designed to get approved in Texas and California. So how's this for an idea of how to give away your "lots of money": fund the development of a complete set of textbooks through an...
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- Peter
Consider also that if a person "open schools" all the way up through university material, there is no way to CLEP a degree. The US Department of Education should issue guidelines for the degrees where this makes sense.
- Ed Dodds
...i suspect that the textbook business is terrifically profitable for publishers, and that they'll fight any move to displace them tooth and nail.
- .LAG liked that
There's also http://ck12.org/ They make it easy for teachers to put together custom textbooks by reusing existing pieces of content (chapters and such).
- Meryn Stol
@Peter - curriki looks pretty interesting. Do you have any kind of harvesting facilities?
- Nick Lothian
@Nick. Yes. Curriki provides several ways to export materials from the site. Each of the 30,000 free and open source resources can be downloaded on to your computer, where they can be printed. You can also get the XML data for any resource. In both cases, you just have to mind the specifics of the Creative Commons license requirements. You can also embed a widget for any learning...
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- Peter
Here is a project that I have tried to contribute information to and one of my websites is actually listed there because at their request, it was easier for me to start a site of my own with the info I gave them, than for them to list all the book titles and links I provided them with. http://textbookrevolution.org
- April
Curriki is a knowledge exchange which is the 21st century textbook. EVERCHANGING, always adding, always collaborating. When I see this, I don't just see worksheets... I see customizable games- good easy to change content. I see LEARNING ACTIVITIES, best practices, I see collaboration, I see a whole curriculum FOR TEACHER INSTRUCTION- on learning how to use and implement different...
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- Sharnon Johnston-Robinett
Ditto on Flatworld, but @scott, profs are not donating their time for free -- basic web-version of text is made for free, with chapters, learning materials, etc. available for fee-based download -- don't have to use the fee-based material, but is very nice to see business model that offers a good hybrid between paper-only and web-only content. In my classes, students often print out material because they want to work on their computers and have something "hard" to refer to.
- Mickey Schafer
Check out my new blogs on Curriki, we address this issue and hope the community will make sure we are sustainable.
- Bobbi Kurshan