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Sal DiStefano › Comments
Sorry @caterina Hunch is no Flickr. Here's why:
Hutch Carpenter, Daniel Rowley, Toni @ NavinoT and 16 other people liked this
When Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr, showed me Flickr in the hallway at O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference it immediately captivated me. Hunch? I filled out my first 20 questions and then looked over the questions. None grabbed me. I don't get why we are seeing so many sites that are trying to answer people's questions. And, anyway, Aardvark is getting me more excited.
- Robert Scoble
What is Hunch?
- Fee501st
What is Aardvark?
- Jennifer Ruggiero
Fee501st: Hunch is http://www.hunch.com/ -- a site that asks you a ton of questions and then presents what it feels are interesting questions for you. Or you can ask your own.
- Robert Scoble
Jennifer: http://vark.com/ Aardvark is similar to Hunch, but uses IM to route questions to you, or you can ask the system questions. I've found it to be very cool and much neater because it has that IM feel. When I do have a question that I need a real person's answer to, Aardvark is going to be where I go.
- Robert Scoble
Worked for me. It totally helped me choose a case for my iphone. Perhaps what excites you isn't really relevant. Not being snarky, just saying.
- Jim Oxenford
Jim: that might be true, but I'm pretty good at picking "hits." Flickr immediately had me excited. Hunch? Nope. Hunch already has well entrenched competitors and I don't see what makes this so much better than any other question service.
- Robert Scoble
I have never been into these type of answering engines/services. The only thing in this domain I have used is ChaCha - For simple questions, like "did the lakers win last night"? I am a big fan http://www.chacha.com/
- Mike Bracco
Flickr immediately answered something I needed (a way to share photos with others) and did so in a way that was clearly way ahead of the competitors.
- Robert Scoble
@Robert Cool, i just did the questions, then ask which care should i buy, It said Mini Cooper! lol that's not me!
- Fee501st
Fee501st: it bored me before I even got the answer.
- Robert Scoble
Well, it helped me decide what was important in a case. It's something I've been trying to decide for about a week. Not a life changing decision but important to me. I've not tried Aardvark but certainly will. We all have track records of picking hits and misses so we'll see what shakes out. I just think it's to early to declare it a miss.
- Jim Oxenford
Robert: the 'questions' that disappointed you are the user contributed content. Certainly this is not hunch's fault. And how much can you get excited about what 'shoes to buy' anyway?
- Nikos Anagnostou
What's really bad is that it asked me what kind of car I'd want to buy, yet it didn't even know that I can't drive.
- James
I quit before I answered the question too but then asked "what netbook should I buy" asked the right questions and gave decent recommendations. Better than many mainstream sites can state they do online today...
- Ben Hedrington
Do we really need a tool to help us make a 'better' decision? (not totally convinced by the 'better' word though)
- Constantine
A smart hunch site would ask for access to my twitter/flickr/friendfeed/facebook feeds and data mine those sites with a smart algorithm and make recommendations based upon the wealth of available data.
- Jim Posner
@Constantine I think such a tool is valuable to boil choices down to what's most meaningful for you. It can help clarify your options a bit.
- Jim Oxenford
But wouldn't that make humans act more like robots? Malcom Gladwell said something very interesting the other day: it is very hard for people to make a decision out of many options, but the process becomes a lot easier and "more controlled" when people have fewer options to chose from.
- Constantine
I have a Hunch thread too! http://friendfeed.com/dariusm...
- Matthew DeVries
@Constantine Well, I'm not sure I would go as far as to say that. It was a useful tool for me to use when making a relatively minor consumer purchase. Yes, Malcom Gladwell is 100% correct stating the obvious. That's one reason Apple found success again when Steve Jobs returned.
- Jim Oxenford
Robert I agree on the state of the current questions, kinda boring. BUT, I think if they get the user base, the questions will grow and become way more interesting. Where I really think they stand out however, is how quickly and easily they got me to answer 20-30 questions. FAST. I haven't found a site in a long while that has successfully extracted that much information from me without boring me to tears.
- Matt Sims
Matt: that's true. It too got me to fill out those questions.
- Robert Scoble
There was another site, pretty much identical to this about 6 months ago, asking questions to try to profile you, then bring you content according to your questions, this is no different. What was that other site called?
- Matthew DeVries
Plinky! That's it.
- Matthew DeVries
I liked the questions about the lounge and kitchen styles. Too bad the pics are small. Would love to answer preferred office furniture and computer specs.
- Constantine
it doesn't HAVE to be another flickr either. flickr was/is HUGE. That being said, I prefer smugmug.
- Jim Oxenford
Is Hunch even a picture hosting service at all? Cause if it is, it is certainly downplaying it.
- Matthew DeVries
I don't get these question services. Are they for people with lots of free time or just those who don't know what questions to ask themselves?
- Sal DiStefano
Nikos hit it on the money without realizing it: "the 'questions' that disappointed you are the user contributed content." --- No, this is not Hunch's fault, but it is exactly why every general-topic anything-goes answer site eventually goes to the dogs. Stranger's random questions just aren't interesting. Sites like StackOverflow thrive because they target a specific demographic that...
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- Joel Bennett
Sal: Decision making by humans is generally flawed. We succumb to the pitfalls of our own psychology too easily. We drive with either too much intuition, or too much data, and both of those methods have major traps. What we really need is a tool or service that manages both of those elements better. Haven't seen it yet. (I'll get working on it... ;)
- Matt Sims
Robert: You should try playing with http://www.fluther.com. You can ask and get questions over IM like Aardvark, but we also have a rich and active community, with a focus on real-time group discussions.
- Ben
Ben - Friendfeed already exists, but without the pesky questions.
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew: Touche. Though Fluther's real-time is more like Google Wave than FF. And you'll find the feel of the community is quite different (in part because of the question focus). But we're happy to be in such good company. :)
- Ben
ideas like vark.com have been tried before. Most died for lack of community. Same for IM based services. I dont recall any service getting significant traction just cause they had IM connectivity.
- Vivek Puri
I'm going to be contrarian here and like both Hunch, Vark and Y! Answers but don't think any of them are really independent businesses appropriate for venture capital, but could be all fine small businesses.
- Sam Pullara
I absolutely hated hunch. I had to sit through a tirade of questions that had little or no application to my actual life. They progressively made me feel like an outsider - on my own computer! My own computer in my own house - I live here! Those questions really grated and as the experience wore on became increasingly discomforting. They mostly assumed that I must live in some foreign country, and that that was the only country that could possibly apply to the entire world-wide-web. How utterly infuriating.
- Ian Tindale
@Robert, Aardvark is slick.
- Jim Oxenford
Just looking at their general information page is quite interesting. That's a clever idea - a completely different angle than machine indexing and processing.
- Justin Long
What's your #1 favorite Twitter client/app?
Tweetie (iPhone)
- Sal DiStefano
Twitterfox
- Helen Sventitsky
FriendFeed.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Friendfeed - IF they would allow an easy way to import all your non-Friendfeed twitter friends as imaginaries automatically. I'd never log into Twitter again.
- Sparky
PockeTwit
- David Cook
Tweetdeck
- Zax Stevens
Ditto on that one!
- Kryptic
Only twitter app I use is ubertwitter on my bb
- jamar78
friendfeed customized with scripts
- Micah Wittman
Tweed (Pre)
- Nation Hahn
I'm really liking Tweed too, simple, full of functionality, and I understand next release will support TwitPic.
- jcunwired
Twhirl
- Admiral Anika
Twhirl. it makes noise @ every @ reply.
- Caroline
iTweet
- Far
UberTwitter on my BB. DestroyTwitter on my PC.
- Dennis O'Neil
friendfeed or splitweet
- James Stratford
friendfeed and custom groups. also i use www.friendorfollow.com to manually unfollow those who unfollow me.
- Mike Nencetti
I just started using friendfeed for most of my twitter stuff - really like the friends lists. I agree with Sparky about the ability to bring in non-ff folks from twitter auomatically.
- Alex Hellstrom
David Letterman teaches us all how to do an apology. Good show Dave! - http://www.tvweek.com/blogs...
Daniel Rowley, Dave Martin, Jason Pollock and 28 other people liked this
Between the insanity and outrage that is Letterman/Palin and DePass/Michelle Obama, it is amazing that our government is actually working to progress our country forward in any meaningful way. Oh wait, maybe our government isn't doing that so much. Bill Maher definitely said it best this week.
- Joel Marcey
David didn't teach anyone how to do an apology. If he really did then he would have made an apology right away. Not 1 week after the fact under intense pressure.
- Gavin
You're kidding right Robert?
- Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct
Gavin: if you are forced to do an apology, this is how to do it. Ed, no, I'm not. It was a good apology. Why wasn't it, other than it took a week?
- Robert Scoble
Robert: He obviously isn't sorry because then he wouldn't have made a mock apology the next night and then a week later made a "sincere" apology.
- Gavin
He didn't need to apologize, but of course, that's politics.
- Dean Clark
I agree, the apology was good and sincere. However, people took it the wrong way from the start and should have trusted his description of it not being about the 14 y/o. It's weak to attack him about it - shows a lack of imagination from those attacking him... Many better things to go after :)
- Sol Young
Dean: Of course he needed to apologize. His comments were distasteful and rude. If this was a show on FOX News everyone would be freaking out. But since its Letterman anything goes. His joke was disgusting!
- Gavin
Gavin: most people who apologize are doing it because they are forced to. I remember saying "fuck" in class when I was in kindergarten. I was forced to apologize. I wasn't sorry. What did I do? I said "I'm sorry for saying fuck the other day." The teacher learned a lesson about that and so did I. There's a good way to apologize and a bad way.
- Robert Scoble
Love her or HATE her, this was a lude, tired old insult at one's children. She's long out of the race. This personal. He hedged. And the writer of the article hedged even more. Can you imagine someone with 2,000,000 twitter followers ripping your [lovely, classy] wife?
- Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct
People say things, they think about what they said sometimes, some laugh, say it louder, some say I was wrong...good for him. It takes strength to apologize no matter who you are!
- Myrna
Robert: I wouldn't called an insincere apology a good apology. And definitely not after giving a mock apology first and then a "sincere" apology.
- Gavin
And I don't care about Palin other than that she's human. In fact she rubs me the very wrong way.
- Myrna
Ed: people make mistakes and if I were in front of TV cameras every evening I would make many many more mistakes.
- Robert Scoble
Myrna: Would you want someone making sexually explicit jokes about your 14-year old daughter?
- Gavin
I agree, Robert. He should've done it earlier. And, whether or not you (not you, personally, Robert) like Sarah Palin isn't the issue. Remember when NBC Correspondent David Shuster joked about the Clinton's "Pimping Out" Chelsea? Hillary responded aggressively and Shuster was forced to apologize. So there is precedent on something like this.
- Curt Mercadante
Gavin: sometimes it takes a week for people to see the real harm they did. It was clear he wasn't talking about the 14-year-old, or at least he didn't think he was. The fact that he took a week to understand just how bad the perception of that was, is fine with me. It takes me a while for things to sink in too and for me to get the perspective I need to figure out I was wrong when I am.
- Robert Scoble
Robert: I don't believe it took a week for it to sink in, he made fun of it the next day. When I first heard the jokes it wasn't clear to me that the jokes were aimed at Bristol.
- Gavin
Letterman's apology was an apology, which is more than you get from most public persons these days, "i am sorry if i offended anyone" is not an apology, it is a pretend apology. Letterman said, " Well, my responsibility - I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke.....So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor...
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- Nathan Eckenrode
Nathan: That's just smart PR.
- Gavin
Gavin, of course I wouldn't like it and not about my son either.
- Myrna
Myrna: So why are supporting Dave then?
- Gavin
Gavin. doing the right thing is smart PR, but it is also doing the right thing.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Gavin: because Dave apologized for being a jerk. The fact that you can't accept his apology says more about you than it says about Letterman.
- Robert Scoble
This whole situation is incredibly stupid and the mere fact that it has stirred up so much attention/controversy demonstrates how easily distracted our society can get. There are much bigger issues to tackle here, folks. This is DUMB.
- Andy
Letterman was stupid. Palin's response was somewhat of a PR blunder. But the way some people have criticized Palin over this has a bit of a double-standard given the history of how people reacted to the Shuster-Chelsea Clinton remark. Imagine if Letterman had made the same joke about one of the Obama daughters while they were in NYC. All hell would've broken loose. Just a stupid situation. Made for the tabloids and, in the end, probably boosted Letterman's ratings. That being said, I agree with Robert.
- Curt Mercadante
Nathan: bing!
- Robert Scoble
The bigger issue here is the media and how they have an extreme anti-right bias!
- Gavin
Andy: double bing! Personally I didn't know about the whole Letterman/Palin thing before I read the apology. I just liked the apology. It was perfectly done. If you are ever in the place where you need to give an apology for whatever reason you should come back here and study this piece by Letterman.
- Robert Scoble
Agreed Robert. I make mistakes all the time. But I heartily subscribe to @BlairWarren's thesis: "An apology that is not made with the same level of enthusiasm as was the transgression is not an apology at all; it's an insult."
- Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct
Remember, people, that David Letterman is a comedian. It is his job to work on the edge of culture and society and press our buttons with social commentary. He's an artist. Do we ask playwrights to apologize for plays? Novelists to apologize for their books? Musicians to apologize for their scores? This doesn't mean we can't give comedians a rough time for things they say (it's a way society makes boundaries), but we need to remember that it's that its their job to make us uncomfortable.
- Jason Miller
Gavin, I'm supporting the fact that he apologized especially if he can't stand her. Those are the times that apologies are the hardest. Try apologizing to someone who rubs you the wrong way. Lol, that's real growth imo.
- Myrna
It's astounding to me how many of you insist on blaming Palin for this.
- Mistletoe Glen
Ed: well, the audience applauded three times, so I'm pretty sure this played pretty well when he gave it. Jason: plus Letterman doesn't write his own jokes. That said, he screwed up by not knowing how this one would play to the audience. He knew he was playing with fire because he researched the age of the kid. Myrna: exactly.
- Robert Scoble
Hmph- go figure - I emailed Dave & CBS last week and suggested he apologize . Was right thing to do. Unusual to applaud CBS but I do today
- Crystal Clear
Glen: who is blaming Palin here? She isn't even part of the post here. I was focusing specifically on Letterman's apology which was ALL ABOUT HIM.
- Robert Scoble
Jason - yes, but Imus was a comedian, too. Fired. I don't think Imus should've been fired. I don't think Letterman should be fired. I've heard worse jokes. Palin was right to be pissed. People are correct to note a double standard here. Case closed. If we called for everyone to be fired who made a lude remarks, none of us would have jobs. I certainly wouldn't. I'm not particularly a Letterman fan (Conan is way better), but I can just choose not to watch him and move on with my day.
- Curt Mercadante
Glen: Oh, I see a couple of people talking about Palin and how she's using this for political gain. Yeah, so that probably is true too.
- Robert Scoble
Sarah Palin will ALWAYS look like a deer staring into the headlights to me. She was in over head. What a slap in the face to intelligent women from either party. Were the republicans trying to win? I don't think that Ms.Palin would even know that she was being apologized to
- Chris White
Heh, what's funny about this whole thread is I had no idea it would cause such a conversation and go into whether Palin was a good choice or not. We covered that enough last November and here I just wanted to talk about the fact that this was a good apology and it's one that, if I'm ever in need of an apology, I will look back on.
- Robert Scoble
Chris: are you the Chris White who used to hang out here and who deleted his friendfeed account?
- Robert Scoble
Chris - whether or not you like or dislike Sarah Palin has little to do with this post. I'm not particularly a fan of Obama, but would ABSOLUTELY think a similar remark about his daughters was stupid and lude. I thought David Shuster's remark about Chelsea was stupid and lude. I thought Letterman's remark was stupid and lude. That's consistency.
- Curt Mercadante
there is a really salient point in Letterman's apology about the perception being greater than the intent, and perhaps Sarah Palin herself suffers from being on the wrong end of the perceptions of the American people, but she hasn't really taken any actions that will change that perception.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Curt: exactly. I actually resent Chris' attempt to take this back into political bickering. Let's focus on the apology and whether or not it was good. I think it was good, and I can see the point of several people here that it was late. Anything else? Onward...
- Robert Scoble
Letterman lost me a long time ago. Politics aside. Entirely over-rated ... NOT funny?
- Charlie Anzman
But Robert, I liked what Chris said because I'm always wondering every time I hear her speak, what do they find intelligent, interesting or anything about that woman especially as a role model in any way.
- Myrna
Myrna: yeah, but that should be discussed in a separate thread. This one is all about Dave's apology and whether or not it was good.
- Robert Scoble
Good has certain criteria for me, this one doesn't cut it because it was forced, he "had" to apologize. It was good if you look at the content. I think it was borderline tongue in cheek. Many suggested, the way it was worded, he thought the remarks, if made about the older daughter, would have been appropriate.
- Sal DiStefano
i think that the timing of the apology came at the point where Letterman realized the actual harm he had committed, and then he sought to make immediate amends, not only with his sponsors but with the very people his comments hurt.
- Nathan Eckenrode
You're right Robert. .I'm finished..said my piece..on to Iran..
- Myrna
Sal: name one apology that wasn't "forced." People don't apologize unless they are caught at something.
- Robert Scoble
It is good that he FINALLY gave an appropriate apology. This is something he should have done at his first attempt of an apology. It's too bad though that he only realized what effects his jokes can have after he saw it being discussed on a nationwide news show and after a sponsor allegedly threatened to pull ads on his show.
- Mark Powell
Oh Robert, I apologize if I offend someone and don't usually wait for someone to 'catch' me. But I'm a female lol
- Myrna
Hey, I hear a lot of judgment on this thread. Do you?
- Myrna
Myrna: if you offended someone you got caught. Otherwise how would you know you offended them?
- Robert Scoble
I know if sometimes I go over the line before I close my mouth. Sometimes I think things and speak to fast.
- Myrna
Intuition
- Myrna
Myrna: yeah, that's one kind of getting caught. The voices in our own heads sometimes are our strongest critics, huh?
- Robert Scoble
is not intuition developed through practice and studying the mistakes of the past? :-)
- Nathan Eckenrode
Hmmm Nathan yes through practice but it comes from inside me not from studying anything.
- Myrna
Robert: I disagree with the idea that everyone is forced to apologize. When someone realizes they have gone too far or crossed a line, they can choose to apologize. I just don't think he thought it was over the line. I do think he was referring to the older daughter. I think he thought she was fair game. I think there was some network pressure on him to do the apology.
- Sal DiStefano
Robert, remember I told you a certain time and I was late? I felt 'not good' to say the least. I kind of apologized didn't I, if you remember.
- Myrna
Here's the beauty of America - as opposed to what our brethren in Iran are experiencing right now. If you don't like Palin, change the channel. If you don't like Letterman, watch Conan. If you don't like Fox News, watch CNN. And on and on and on.
- Curt Mercadante
Hey, don't we ever feel guilty? So that's part of intuition talking.
- Myrna
right that is what i mean from inside of you, you can study memories of the past and how you felt when others did this that or the other thing and if you find yourself modeling one of the behaviors which made you feel in a bad way, your intuition reminds you that there is a line that you are about to cross or have crossed and even if another person does not catch you, you have caught your own actions and you are forced to apologize. am i off base here, have i over analyzed or am i close?
- Nathan Eckenrode
Ok let me get this straight this whole conversation is about whether a apology was sincere and whether the timing was also sincere, am I right.
- Kim Landwehr
I think Robert brought up a good point which is, if you don't get caught, is there an apology. I think there can be. I have apologized to someone for something I said, which I thought might have offended them and they actually had no problem with it. So was the apology for them or myself?
- Sal DiStefano
Kim perhaps it can be limited to those grounds, but it seems that there is sufficient area for this conversation to dig deeper into a greater realm than just the pop culture reference which initiated it.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Mostly for yourself and a little for them Sal. When you apologize to some one you are disarming yourself and people feel closer.to you or they accept you or what you said, They love you! Unless you are an over apologizer.
- Myrna
Just thinking that this entire discussion threat is the reason FriendFeed is so much better than Twitter.
- Curt Mercadante
Sal: it was for the voices in your head that told you you were being a jerk. Kim: I'm just shocked that a stupid tweet kicked off such a conversation. Heheh.
- Robert Scoble
Nathan, its a feeling inside. I don't know where it comes from. I'm not linear. I don't study.
- Myrna
ah yes the Over Apologizer, drops "I'm sorry" into every open hat but never changes behavior.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Nathan, how about conscience..that sounds good.
- Myrna
It's those damn voices in my head!!! ;-)
- Sal DiStefano
Myrna: i do not think that the development of intuition is something which occurs with a great deal of forethought and linear planning.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Haha they're discussing this on Keith Olbermann right now.
- Myrna
That was kind of my point, Robert, although I probably said it badly, it is just weird what can start a long thread, you never know
- Kim Landwehr
We should start talking to twitter people about coming to FF about Iran in case twitter crashes. They get so scared. They're so addicted. They don't know they have a choice. I know Robert, this is off subject but I know you love this topic.
- Myrna
Myrna: friendfeed is a lot closer to a talk show than most people realize. Kim, yeah, it is weird, huh? A piece of software running on my machine just posted a Word doc icon to my friendfeed. It got some comments too. Wacky! Myrna: I've been trying for 16 months to get people over here, it's not easy.
- Robert Scoble
I was proposing a conjecture(ooh ooh special word of the day!!!) about what happens on atomic/spiritual/brain chemistry level to create the mechanism of intuition
- Nathan Eckenrode
Myrna - I agree. It's taken me a long time to "see the light" ... mostly because most of my network is only on Twitter but only uses FF as a Twitterfeed. But the key point is that FF allows you to have these discussions in real-time right on the same screen without having to use a third-party app. or client. Don't need hashtags here....
- Curt Mercadante
Nathan, let's say intuition is beyond our 5 senses.
- Myrna
Yes Curt..if they only knew...
- Myrna
i agree with you completely Myrna
- Nathan Eckenrode
Well, I remember when a friend kept telling me to stop with fb and use FF. It was beyond me. That was then, this is now. It takes time for people to change/understand/grow.
- Myrna
Myrna: our brains are awesome pattern recognizers. How those patterns get put in our head we are not able to explain. Think about everything you see and how quickly you are able to recognize it. The glass on your table. Your monitor. Your printer. These are very difficult things for a computer, even the world's biggest ones, to do. Yet you can't explain how you learned all that. I see it with my baby son and how he learns. It's amazing and humbling.
- Robert Scoble
Yup
- Myrna
Robert is it is exactly because of my children that I have been able to see how the brain works on the everyday things that we take for granted at this stage.
- Nathan Eckenrode
Letterman apology - great example! [edited: deleted silly inside joke]
- Jannifer @wordsforliving
I agree with this post, "This whole situation is incredibly stupid and the mere fact that it has stirred up so much attention/controversy demonstrates how easily distracted our society can get. There are much bigger issues to tackle here, folks. This is DUMB. - Andy"
- BEX
What do you mean Jannifer?
- Myrna
His first 'apology' was a backhanded addition to the joke's originally unintentional error. I don't care whose daughter it was, he stated "Did I suggest that it was OK for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No." Seriously? This was the reaction to screwing up with a Palin joke about a kid getting knocked up in the midst of a ball game, like the slap-happiest slut of...
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- Jon Osterholm
Per Myrna's post, I'd still like to know what Jennifer meant.
- Curt Mercadante
Oh Myma / Curt - nothing - it was an inside joke - disregard!
- Jannifer @wordsforliving
Oh Sheesh.. no wonder this country is so fucked up with comments like this.... When someone says the words "knocked up" and "sarah Palin's Daughter" in the same sentence NO ONE but right wing nut jobs thinks the daughter in question is the 14 year old. The joke was about Bristol, Palin knows it, EVERYONE knows it. Palin just needed some outrage to continue her persecution complex world tour.
- Jeff Jones
What, being forced into making an apology more comprehensive than the initial 'apology', more than is genuinely felt, because of advertisers and sponsors? That's a model for us all? Good show?
- David Jones
Robert, here's why it wasn't a good apology. He still claims his intent has been misunderstood and the issue is an audience perception problem; that's not true. He still thinks it ok to have intended it to be about Bristol and yet he apologises to Bristol. On the one hand, joke would've been ok if about Bristol; on the other hand say sorry to Bristol - in the same breath. Pathetic.
- David Jones
I just wonder why Letterman apologized.to begin with. But for what it's worth the apology was pretty good.
- Rene Wirtz
In a few years if he had made this joke about an 18 year old Obama daughter he would have been fired immediately. The double standard is crystal clear. It's ok to make obscene jokes about Republicans, especially female Republicans.
- Sean OBrien
@loiclemeur "there's no such thing as competition - when you find someone is is doing something similar, work WITH them, not against them"
Graham Garland, Dennis Jackson, Ashraf Mansoor and Robert Scoble liked this
hmmm are we talking about the same "real life"? :)
- Naor Mark
wasn't there someone, i think he was called von hayek, who said competition was the most efficient way of exploration and innovation?
- Martin Spindler
corporations don't work that way.
- mjc
from Alert Thingy
I couldn't agree more... we can all be gentlemen and let the best app win without being douchebags about it
- Scott Lockhart
Shouldn't this be the approach to everything? It's when greed and ego get in the way that we have a problem.
- Sal DiStefano
Here Here! What do you do?
- Barb Gonzalez
You could say let the best app win... Unless you have the second rate app in which case what is the incentive?
- Bill Powell
call me naive (i'm not) but if you have the 2nd rate app the incentive is to improve to the point that you are 1st. Obviously there are factors that are in your control and some that are out of your control. But at the end of the day, there is no point in being a sore loser or bad winner. You never know where you'll be in a year or 5 years whether you win this round or not. Working with people and having a cordial relationship (doesn't mean you are BFFs) just makes more business sense short and long term.
- Scott Lockhart
Lord knows there is not enough cooperation in this world, so I don't want to discourage it. And viewing everything as a zero-sum game (even when it is NOT) is how we end up with all those "A will kill B," "X vs. Y," "Z needs to die" bitchmemes polluting the Interwebs. But to say "there's no such thing as competition" might be to make the OPPOSITE mistake. I think the cooperation strategy only wins (from a game-theoretic point of view) if EVERYONE ELSE does the same thing (adopts same strategy).
- Karim
The problem is, of course, not everybody *does* adopt the cooperation strategy. Some guy figures out he can get richer than everyone else by NOT cooperating. The "defector" kills the cooperators. So the cooperators end up inventing laws and policemen and ways to "punish" the non-cooperators. So you usually end up with a system in which "good" people cooperate *as much as possible.* Which is a different strategy from pretending there is no such thing as competition and always cooperating.
- Karim
This evolution of strategy has been played out millions of times in human history, from the first laws ("Thou shalt not commit murder"), to the development of antitrust legislation, to the addition of "Block" to FriendFeed. They are all aimed allowing the strategy -- the human game, if you will -- to be "cooperate as much as possible, and punish those who don't."
- Karim
Homemade Flame Thrower - http://mirror.linnwood.org/flameth...
Pete Delucchi, John Lam, macro and 80 other people liked this
That's awesome, and I think it will speed up darwinism
- Blackopsmanners
Hum... The purpose? the use? :)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
Next: car mounted version
- Ken Sheppardson
Awesome flamethrower!
- Mitchell Tsai
Somebody is gonna put an eye out with that thing.
- Chris Baskind
Got to love diy flame throwers
- Czar
Directuer, this is part of urban warfare and survival tactics training. Maybe this kid got his hands /idea from the some army guy or he just did it for kicks :)-
- Peter Dawson
Somehow, I'm reminded of this joke: What does a redneck say before he dies? "Hey y'all watch this!"
- Hutch Carpenter
That's hot!
- Adam Lasnik
Hutch, you had me chuckling out loud there. ;)
- Mathew A. Koeneker
the words homemade and flamethrower don't fare well in my prognosticating abilities
- Cee Bee
me and the ground hog would get along great w/ that.
- clarke thomas
Need one of these for weeds.
- Larry Huffman
Great addition to one's zombie defense arsenal, that's for sure.
- Ken Sheppardson
w o w
- JA Castillo
please be careful man
- Jason Calacanis
that's like a... real life rocketeer. RAD
- Mona Nomura
s'mores?
- Frankie Warren
@Blackopsmanners have to totally awesome and speed up darwinism just a bit
- Justin Yost
OMG.. what's the opposite of a Fireman? heh
- Daynah
I love it!
- mjc
OMG.... Will come in handy for when those flesh-eating zombies try to take over...
- Yule Heibel
My brother used to use hairspray and a lighter ...don't show him this!! hehehe! (LOL @ Hutch's comment above - awesome!!)
- Susan Beebe
Oh boy!
- Nicholas Kreidberg
OMG I must have that.
- Jason Runyan
Perfect gift for the troll who has everything.
- Dave Winer
And if this guy blows himself up, we can all pay for his lifelong medical rehabilitation via insurance premiums.
- Sal DiStefano
My sister's boyfriend would LOVE this. He's just the type of guy who likes to build crazy, stupid things
- David Adam
I know I'd let *my* kid play with a flamethrower in the backyard. Sureyoubet.
- Chris Baskind
amazon, sell this now. haha.
- mjc
from Alert Thingy
You can take my flamethrower when you pry it from my hot, dead hands.
- Jim Norris
I live in Northern Cal, we have enough fire thank you very much!
- Barb Gonzalez
There is a much simpler and cheaper way of making a flamethrower: http://youtube.com/watch...
- Thai Tran
Cool toy! But be careful man.
- Jeff P. Henderson
exactly who needs a homemade flamethrower?
- Paul Moss
from Alert Thingy
Whoa. Judging from the aim on the second pic, those tree's probably are toast by now.
- Franklin Naval
nice work idiot
- ben rogers
from twhirl
The hotness, literally.
- David Cancel
this is fantastic - long live This Guy so my pyro bend can continue vicariously through his efforts (realizing, of course, that he may already be dead)
- Nate
diy + do-not-try-this-at-home = hero
- Pete Delucchi
The “Participation Premium” - http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r...
Tapio Liller, oliver gassner, Sarah Perez and 93 other people liked this
Nice post, in total ageement
- Patphelan
Wow. Great post Robert. Hope you & family had a fun 4th. I sure did!
- Brian Daniel Eisenberg
Brian, thanks. we had a great time. Nice and relaxing.
- Robert Scoble
Good point. That's driving good-quality participation instead of spamming attitudes. That could really improve the conversations.
- Marcello Del Bono
Robert, I agree with this, but regarding your comment on Allen's thread, the fact of the matter is that there are still 9 default people that get recommended when someone signs up. It's true, there is a "participation premium", and for good reason, but the big names still get rewarded simply because they're big names. I just wish I could see active FF users get highlighted now and then....
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- Raoul Pop
It's not a conversation if there's no participation. Good points, Robert.
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
Raoul: active FriendFeed members get featured all the time. You should learn how "Friend of a Friend" works. Anytime I like or comment on someone all 15,000 followers of me get to see that person's post and they can easily subscribe to them by hovering. The recommended list is totally useless for me, by the way. So I do wish they'd make it a lot better.
- Robert Scoble
What's amazing to me Robert is how much influence your *Likes* have. After you like something of mine, I usually see a rush of Friend adds. It's a very interesting dynamic to watch unfold.
- Brian Daniel Eisenberg
This is a great post!
- George Smith
@Raoul I definitely agree with you on the idea of changing who gets displayed in the first Recommended list. @Robert regardless of whether you pay attention to the Recommended list isn't really relevant IMO. The fact is that I would bet the majority of new arrivals to FriendFeed do indeed pay attention to it.
- Steven Hodson
Well, there probably has to be a combination of both - you can participate all you like, but if you don't do it in a meaningful and public way, it won't really matter. Still, a heartening thought that participation can be more important than name recognition alone. Gives some power to us little people (popularity wise, anyway).
- Erin
FF offers a remarkable way to participate. In fact, it's downright unique. Which is probably why FF will be HUGE. It has a pliancy of participation that's just unmatched, and it keeps getting better. Encouraging post.
- phil baumann
Yep. But, isn't "Participation" your full time job description? If it isn't, what is?
- Yuvi
Nice post. You're spot on with the analysis. The two of you use FF differently. Both of you are highly valuable to me as information sources, but in very different ways. Mike is a conversation starter. You carry and share conversations and link people that wouldn't otherwise connect. FF is smart to have both of you as recommended follows.
- Christian Anderson
Yuvi i spend everyday trying to figure out what my job is. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert: you're doing for free what no "community manager" could ever do. I'd like to know how much engagement on FF, Twitter is directly related to the Scoble effect.
- Christian Anderson
So Robert, is there a certain point where you loose interest in a site simply because of the onslaught of new users? Does the signal-to-noise ratio go down as more users discover and start to use a site from your perspective?
- Jim McCusker
@Robert: Figured it out yet? ;) You are the only *classical A-Lister* whom I know as being really "approachable", as in I can tweet at you and expect to get a response (or leave a comment here and there's a reasonable chance that you'll respond).
- Yuvi
It's so true, it all boils down to interaction.
- Fredrik Nordmoen
Participation is key.
- Thomas Hawk
Robert Scoble: I just want to let you know how much I appreciate seeing your feedback and constant participation on FF. Because of this sole factor, I would much rather meet up with you than Mr. Arrington (I follow and respect you both) over a cup of coffee or during a photowalk. To be honest, I don't know how you keep up with it all, but keep it up!
- Justin Korn
Link to related conversation: http://friendfeed.com/e...
- Sprague D
what makes Robert and his posts become more viral and engaging is that he does not post and run. He engages in conversations, and unlike Arrington, he is rarely confrontational and doesn’t have the same arrogance. I have followed him for a while, but became a real advocate after his trip to DC. I thought his coverage was engaging, informative and it was awesome that he included your son.
- Fred Neil
Jim: that is a question that needs its own blog post. I generally find that early adopters do tend to get bored but what gets us to leave are jerks and spammers. I think FF might be more resistant to all of these negative effects but we'll have to see.
- Robert Scoble
What Justin said.
- Yuvi
Great points Robert, thanks for not stealing ALL the points I wanted to make in my next post :)
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
fail bird http://www.seanpercival.com/blog...
- sean percival
Robert: trying to inspire new blog posts? not me! ;-)
- Jim McCusker
I liike that Mike Arrington just liked this. :-)
- Robert Scoble
@Robert and he left a comment on the blog post itself :)
- Steven Hodson
I agree about the participation factor. But I do think that this post and the "Off of the tech entertainment train" post should both be encapsulated in <ego></ego> tags.
- Tom Quinn
Robert, the thing is, you ARE a 'popular kid' in this niche, whether it's on your blog or on FriendFeed. 10x your blog readers puts you BOTH in the top fraction of blog rankings. You call it the "Participation Premium," I call it "people keep you on their friend lists if you're not dead weight."
- Andy DeSoto
Robert, great read the only thing I disagree with, is the comparison to Twitter after four months and FriendFeed after four months. As the logic goes, if hundreds (maybe thousands) of Twitter users are jumping the ship, (or, as I imagine, there is quite a bit of overlap), then the logic follows that many of them would land on FriendFeed (and hence follow you). Even though I consider...
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- David Adewumi
Scobleizer theorem of social media = participate indefinitely
- Kerem Ozkan
David: I don't think many Twitter users are jumping ship. I think a lot of them are finally seeing the utility of using both twitter and friendfeed together. But I do agree that it is easier for newer services to get quick adoption because of Twitter. The next big thing will happen even faster than FriendFeed did.
- Robert Scoble
I think the difference from Twitter to FriendFeed is that the casual Twitter followers never made it to FriendFeed. I don't know many casual Twitter users who continue to use Twitter with all it's issues.
- Sal DiStefano
Exactly right. Investment of yourself pays dividends in many ways.
- John Federico
I do see the utility of using Twitter and FF together. I'm sure both will help break the hot apps of the near-future. Just goes to show that discussion is not exclusive to how many people you know, but that the internet, in many ways, is leveling the playing field in discussion and influence.
- David Adewumi
Robert: BINGO BABY! you nailed it with this post... thank you for writing it! Not only is participation key for conversation, but also evangelism of the service; plus, community management. I would expect those as a bare minimum...not, "Oh gee, hey these guys are popular in the blogosphere; on some other service elsewhere so let's tell everyone to follow them here" (doesn't make sense, especially since *some* of them don't even really use FF yet except to aggregate a couple of feeds (cross-post / backup).
- Susan Beebe
This was a great post! As a natural worrier, I held my breath for a while after you said that this community is friendlier than any other. Surely the taint of the general way the Internet seems to operate will eventually ruin this place too? (I really hope not!)
- David Muir
The Seesmic short term roadmap - http://www.seesmic.com/video...
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Larry Kless, sean808080, Adam Helweh and 6 other people liked this
thanks Tom and Pat for liking this :)
- Loic Le Meur
I was going to like this, until I saw Loic's comment.
- Robert Scoble
I like the idea of flagging videos which are potentially inappropriate. It's great when the community can participate in the moderation.
- Sal DiStefano
Robert, you don't like my comment about liking? heh
- Loic Le Meur
i would love to hear roughly what your server costs are...i'm so intrigued.
- Zee.
Zee, I would rather keep this information private if you do not mind, we're already very transparent....
- Loic Le Meur
Loic, of course, completely appreciate that. I just can't imagine the load! :)
- Zee.
I feel like Seesmic is setting the bar for every consumer-facing web startup from this point on as far as establishing an open channel of communication with the community goes... company blogging is one thing, but having the founder & CEO on video is a much more personal experience. Which, in essence, illustrates the key point of Seesmic.... well done.
- Harish V
The real question is: Where's your hair?? ;-)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
+1 Brad :)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
thanks Harish. directeur and Brad, I will start a separate thread for my hair! watch out
- Loic Le Meur
Fred, YouTube Sensation - http://blogoscoped.com/archive...
Kevin Shannon, Jonathan Brown, Susan Beebe and 2 other people liked this
Now THIS is the kind of video I'm NOT trying to do. Sure is funny for the family, though. Sigh, I think I just killed a brain cell. Or 50.
- Robert Scoble
i'm never getting the time back that I spent watching that video
- Lou Paglia
omg buy a Zipit? What the hell is a zipit?
- Chris Lamping
from Alert Thingy
Argh! The video is so .......... blargh!
- Mário Pires
This is what you are going for when you say "you want traffic to your blog."
- Robert Scoble
I must be in the wrong demographic.
- brian junyor
Oy vey! Annoying is an understatement. Glad someone invented the escape button.
- Larry Kless
aaaaaaaarghhhh :(
- Iain Baker
I really like Fred. He's infectious. Nicely edited too -- quick'n'fast.
- john conroy
The guy is a total genious
- Joakim Hilj
WOW... just about 3:01 mintues to long (yes I added an extra second... cause of the inflatable toy abuse)
- Johnny Worthington
ok you guys just saved me a lot of time...thanks
- Susan Beebe
Just great! He's a genious indeed! I feel young again now I know I like kid's stuff! :-)
- Ton Zijp
I'm not sure something could be any more annoying than this. I want my 3 minutes back
- Jim Goldstein
I wonder, who would win? Chris Cocker (leave Britney alone) or Fred?
- Robert Scoble
Robert, I second that question. I'd like to know too. But I wouldn't like to watch it. Blech.
- Raoul Pop
This is EXACTLY the kind of inscrutable content my 13-year-old and all his friend adore on YouTube. The LA Times got it right. Internet video means every demographic is going to be superserved. Nothing wrong with that.
- Leo Laporte
sweet jesus that was terrible
- adolfo foronda
Is it wrong of me to wish that he can only speak like that with the help of helium... and in doing so... had to injest a lot of helium that is now replacing the oxyden in his brain, as helium is prone to do?
- Johnny Worthington
Funny for the first few seconds, then I just had to end the insanity.
- David Risley
If you were a 13 year old girl you'd think he was da bomb. I'm not and I don't.
- Sprague D
ow ow ow ow ow ow ow....ow. Even with all of the comments I didn't think it would be /bad like that/ bad yes, but not like that.... ow.
- xero
My daughters (9 & 11) have been watching Fred videos for a while now. Interesting how the topic intersects across our social spaces on the web.
- Sal DiStefano
Can some young person explain the appeal? I'm just not getting it.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Yikes. @Mark it's semi-funny... um no I give up, I can't explain it
- Brian Carter
from NoiseRiver
Is it that much different than an episode of the Ninja? Similar editing style. Jokes and content are just written to appeal to a younger demographic. I actually thought it was pretty funny. Of course when my kids were young I used to watch Pee-Wee's Playhouse and thought he was funny and inventive. I did children's magic shows for years. You have to think like a kid to get them to laugh. As my wife is fond of telling me, I never advanced past 7 mentally.
- Kevin Shannon
There's a huge difference between Fred and Ninja: I can stand Ninja's voice for more than 30 seconds. That's the hugely distracting thing about Fred I can't understand. It's just beyond me, and it's hard for me to understand other people liking it, I guess.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark Did you like Pee-Wee Herman? I can understand people getting annoyed at Fred. My 18 YO daughter just came in and I asked her if she ever saw Fred videos. She went crazy about how much she loves them. Told me to look up the valentine one. She then pointed out this video which is popular with her college friends (I promise it's not Fred and it's not as annoying.... and it's not a Rick Roll) http://www.youtube.com/watch... Just an idea of what 18 YO's think is funny.
- Kevin Shannon
This is a take on the Valley Girl ridicule gag, just mutated since today age 6 is the new 13; throw in the "ADHD: medical problem or just crappy parenting" backdrop, Alvin & the Chipmunks vocals (the 'banana peal' of sound effects), and classic cartoon telegraphing, and what you get is "Fred": Merlin Mann's nephew with whom he competes for attention at every required attendance family gathering.
- Micah Wittman
Hey if you are my friend go and vote "YES" here for video comments http://snurl.com/2q5l5 @rafe I hope that is OK ;)
Andy Sternberg and Merry Xmas FFeeders - AJ liked this
YES to video comments!
- Sal DiStefano
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