"Neil Turok - Cambridge University
The evidence that the universe emerged 14 billion years ago from an event called 'the big bang' is overwhelming. Yet the cause of this event remains deeply mysterious. In the conventional picture, the 'initial singularity' is unexplained. It is simply assumed that the universe somehow sprang into existence full of 'inflationary' energy, blowing up the universe into the large, smooth state we observe today. While this picture is in excellent agreement with current observations, it is both contrived and incomplete, leading us to suspect that it is not the final word." - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
"In his studies of entropy and the irreversibility of time, Caltech physicist Sean Carroll is exploring the idea that our universe is part of a larger structure." - Alejandro S. via Bookmarklet
Like this idea. I've never really understood by physicists believe that everything started with the Big Bang. "What was before that?" seems to get answered: "Nothing". That's hard to get your mind around. This idea of the multiverse answers that question somewhat ("what was before the multiverse?"...) - Hutch Carpenter
"His latest movie, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” which opens Friday, gave him plenty of new monsters to play with. In the follow-up to his 2004 comic-book adaptation, he imagines a collision of the natural world and a world of magic hidden in the fringes of urban life. “What if tooth fairies were illegally imported in containers to work menial jobs in garbage collection?” Mr. del Toro said. “What would happen if trolls were just bag ladies collecting stray cats for eating?”" - edythe via Bookmarklet
Oh man, "what would happen if I raided the stash another time before writing this script?" Interesting, though. - Mark Trapp
"At this point in my life I don’t need to make money with my photography" , I wish I was loaded with $$$ so I can pursue my hobby fulltime :)- - Peter Dawson
Haha, Peter, I'm far from "loaded," but photography certainly couldn't pay for the mortgage and four kids that I'm supporting right now. If I could quit my day job and focus on photography full time I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's going to be many years before that happens though. - Thomas Hawk
that self portrait pic is one of my favorites - every time I see it I am impressed by the depth and complexity represented by such a simple picture - been meaning to tell you that for a while. - Marco
Bill Wadman is an amazing portrait photographer. One of the best. That photo he took of me is my favorite of all of the photos I've ever seen of myself. I love how he juxtaposed my camera and the security camera. His 365 project is definitely worth checking out. http://www.365portraits.com/in... - Thomas Hawk
good gosh he is talented - those pics are amazing - Marco
Enjoy your posts Robert, especially the science things you post here. - Hutch Carpenter
Thanks, Hutch. I didn't write a post about my *own* sharing strategy. Maybe I should -- it's mostly to share stuff I'm interested in that I don't think many other people will share. - Robert Seidman
I think the reason why we see less of this thoughtful sort of writing from folks and more extremist stuff is because the former is harder to frame, harder to communicate, harder to headline. But it's worth it. - Adam Lasnik
Thanks directuer, and Adam. Sometimes it seems people seemingly want to aggregate around the extremes. Do we like being polarized? I dunno, but sometimes it seems that way. My own experimentation indicates extremism is much better for trafic than a balanced approach. In a system of capitalism that leads me to believe extremism will thrive. - Robert Seidman
@Adam and it also isn't a popular as the quickie newsie type of stuff. I know I try hard to writing more thoughtful posts but that definitely isn't the road to *popularity* - Steven Hodson
Robert, I generally call this sensationalism. I don't know if it's the right word in English too but it's all about catching attention. There's so much noise all arround that it becomes harder day after day to get attention. - directeur via NoiseRiver
I've been wondering about the extremist headlines/declarations angle of blogging. Over time, if you do too much of that, don't you risk undercutting your integrity with readers? - Hutch Carpenter
That's a great question, Hutch. But one of the unfortunate aspects of, say, TechMeme, IMHO, is that sensationalist bloggers / headlines will still get featured again and again, and given the traffic on Techmeme, that traffic is gonna result in major clickage. - Adam Lasnik
Adam: The avalanche effect. Once you're at it it keeps on rolling. Current systems of notoriety are so simplist that they are silly sometimes. - directeur via NoiseRiver
Thing is, I'm not sure if it's laziness, stupidity, craven pandering, or all of the above. Personally, my vote is on craven pandering. Selling to the extremes, well, sells. - Adam Lasnik
Extreme headlines get read. Headlines that state the truth do not. - Robert Scoble
Would you prefer P send a shot over O's bow? - Erica Baker
Adam - we'll never get rid of these types of stories. Sometimes arguing the extremes crystallizes thinking in people. I personally like the nuances, because that's where future trends emerge. - Hutch Carpenter
Adam I think probably craven pandering plus high frustration level with Twitter. But Scoble is right. Jason's post will get wayyyy more views than my own honestly headlined one: http://tinyurl.com/honestheadl... - Robert Seidman
I think most of us thoughtful folks would really appreciate more nuanced reporting. But what's to be done about it? We're clearly in the minority. Fox News rakes in the dough, far more than, say, NPR. When people want to be pandered to rather than challenged, what's the solution for us (dare I say it) elite? :D How do we improve the discourse online, at least? How do we start? - Adam Lasnik
Fox News rakes in the dough even more than CNN. Interestingly though when there is "real huge news" (which doesn't happen often) people tune (en masse) to CNN, not Fox News. You ask good questions Adam. Hopefully FriendFeed is a good start to improving the discourse? - Robert Seidman
Thanks, Robert! And I do think Friendfeed is off to a great start. Lots of collegial give and take, lots of thoughtfulness. I have only blocked two people (for being extreme jerks), and that's not much given how much time I've spent on here and how many threads I've read :). And btw, excellent commentary on FriendFeed/Twitter! - Adam Lasnik
I vote for greed. Friction creates drama which creates viewers which creates advertising revenue. Manufactured partisanship sells more new and improved Clorox 2. - AJ Kohn
I recomment really to everyone the book by Gene Schwartz: "Breakthrough Advertising". The whole first chapter is about this kind of headlines. BUT, a sensational headline is generally not enough to catch attention. You need a promise - directeur via NoiseRiver
Okay, directeur: "10 Ways Friendfeed Gets You Better Sex Than Twitter, Guaranteed!" It's got everything. A number, a comparison, sex, and a promise/guarantee. Damn, I shoulda been a journalist :D. - Adam Lasnik
Adam: I would have liked that story. :-) - Robert Scoble
Adam: A copywriter you meant ;-) And yes, this is the type of headlines :) - directeur via NoiseRiver
Allen and Steven, two smart guys but neither think to just go to Cyndy's FriendFeed page and see: Tech Royalty: When Is Our Independence Day? - Robert Seidman
I stand corrected. Steve, your right. Safari does NOT sync History. - Shane Robinson via twhirl
I use LaterLoop. I added the LaterLoop bookmarklet to Safari. When you sync the iPhone that bookmarklet still works for your LaterLoop account. When following gReader links to source sites, I LaterLoop them for easier reading on my desktop or even offline on my MBAir via FF and Gears. - Shane Robinson via twhirl
I use opera mini on my W610i in sync with my opera account. Shame i cant use the bookmarklet, sometimes i wonder why there is so much hype about this 3G Iphone,when most other phone at least in europe are all 3G,i'll wait for some cute android phone to move somewhere else ;-) - Ben Borges via fftogo
I use opera mini on my W610i in sync with my opera account. Shame i cant use the bookmarklet, sometimes i wonder why there is so much hype about this 3G Iphone,when most other phone at least in europe are all 3G,i'll wait for some cute android phone to move somewhere else ;-) - Ben Borges via fftogo
@SteveRubel, can you share the link? I can't find one that works... - David Weiner
One of the best things about using Safari. Everything syncs across multiples Macs & iPhone. - Tom Wentworth
Thanks, Steve. Try searching for it and see how much junk pops up! - David Weiner
Steve, is your iPhone jailbroken? If not, I failed the bookmarklet on the iPhone IQ test. How do I drag it to the iPhone safari browser's toolbar? And once I pass that test, how do I highlight text to share? - Robert Seidman
I can't get it to work on the iphone yet ... trying to do it manually. - David Weiner
Hopefully one day Mozilla will make this possible with Weave. - Aaron Myers
Add it to the non-iPhone Safari (my pc version) then sync. The toolbar shortcuts show up in a bookmark folder - mcwflint
@Robert @David My iPhone is not jailbroken, I bookmarked it first on my Mac then sync'ed it to my iPhone. Can't select text to include however images work fine. - Steve Rubel
Steve, do you use Google History? If you are logged into Google on both iphone safari and your desktop (or any browser), it tracks both. - Rex Hammock
That makes sense ... trying it now ... I was baffled for a second... - David Weiner
Testing that functionality now on my BB curve with Opera Mini 4.1 and the full browser - Christian Anderson
Thanks for the tips, but alas they did not work. My primary desktop is windows. I only use the bookmarklet via Firefox, but iTunes will only let me sync with IE and not Firefox. I added the bookmarklet to IE and synced and it shows up in my bookmarks on the iPhone but when I select it nothing happens. I downloaded Safari and installed the bookmarklet for it, and iTunes does let me synch Safari and it too shows up in the iPhone’s bookmarks, but nothing happens when I select it. One more reason to go Mac I suppose! - Robert Seidman
"Single Malt Scotch Ganache & Chewy Caramel topped with Maldon Sea Salt.
This candy bar is bold enough for Scotch lovers and smooth enough for all chocolate lovers.
The combination of Single Malt Scotch and Dark Chocolate is one of the more special sensations in the confectionery world. From the first taste to the seductive aftertaste, new and complex flavors emerge that seem to enhance both the Scotch and the chocolate in the ganache. Our Scotch Bar rounds out the experience with chewy caramel and delicate flakes of Maldon Sea Salt.
We use Talisker 1992 Distillers Edition Single Malt Scotch, from the Isle of Skye. It was transferred from traditional bourbon oak into amoroso sherry casks to finish its maturation." - edythe via Bookmarklet
Man, single malt scotch in a ganache. That's genius. - Mark Trapp
"The wife of a famous baseball star has blamed Madonna's Kabbalah beliefs for the break-down of her marriage.Cynthia Rodriguez, 34, has told friends that the singer is using "mind control" over husband Alex Rodriguez after introducing him to the Jewish religion." - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
"Cashing in on Will Smith's star status, Sony's "Hancock" debuted to an estimated $107.3 million from 2,965 runs over the extended July 4th frame to become the third-best holiday opener of all time after "Transformers" and "Spider-Man 2."" - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
From the article: “People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes... too many companies believe that hiring the best and the brightest from top-flight schools guarantees corporate success...the problem is that, having been identified as geniuses, the anointed become fearful of falling from grace." - Ginger Makela via Bookmarklet
Hire people who can get things done. Not Geniuses. - Muthu Ramadoss
"Society is obsessed with the idea of talent and genius and people who are ‘naturals’ with innate ability,” says Ms. Dweck, who is known for research that crosses the boundaries of personal, social and developmental psychology." - Hutch Carpenter
Piece is so true. Doubtful that most recruiters do it. Sad - Charlie Anzman
reminds me of this Po Bronson article about praising kids for intelligence versus effort. “When we praise children for their intelligence, we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don’t risk making mistakes.” http://nymag.com/news/features... - David Vasileff
GE, Xerox, and IBM are unconvincing examples. The iPhone example is about selecting for people excited by risk and opportunity, which doesn't confirm anything about "believing in the power of talent". We've all met prima donnas who think they're superstars and mostly spend their time avoiding challenges (look at all those people pissed off by technical interviews which ignore their years of experience) but does it take "three decades of painstaking research" to figure out those people are bogus? - ⓞnor
It's never too late to grow and learn new things. - Bjorn Tipling
I think there is natural ability, but one should try to grow and improve on themselves anyway and become the best that *they* can be, which may or may not be better than others. I feel like I want to fullfill my potential, whatever it may be. I am not discouraged by smarter or stronger people, because it is about me, and not about how I compare to others. - Bjorn Tipling
I feel like in my industry I'd much rather have an army of people who give 100% instead of just a few geniuses aiming low with a sense of entitlement about what intelligence owes them. - Jason Lowe
"Can the skateboarding English bulldog Tillman outperform the giant schnauzer Kenji and avoid expulsion from the Canine Academy?
That Mr. Cutler has gone from the White House to the Dog House with his coming CBS reality show, “Greatest American Dog,” should not signal the decline of his career" - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
"Their latest project, and their first set outside of Baltimore, is “Generation Kill,” a seven-part mini-series that will have its premiere next Sunday. Based on the 2004 book of the same name by Evan Wright, a Rolling Stone reporter embedded with a Marine battalion, the series follows a group of marines as they race, crawl, shoot and wisecrack their way north through Iraq. The show’s portrayal of the marines and the invasion, as seen from Mr. Wright’s seat in a bullet-riddled Humvee, was spot-on to me, a reporter who had been embedded with a different Marine unit during the same weeks in March 2003." - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
"Felt it was our duty to give you a quick update on the struggles of the San Francisco Giants' starting pitcher Barry Zito -- he of the 3-12 record for the 2008 season and the seven-year, $126 million dollar contract.
[Wince.]" - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
UPDATE! = Holy crap, Zito recovered from his rocky start to strikeout 10 (his highest amount as a Giant), and last seven innings. Then the Giants ground out some actual run support (I know!!!), keyed by a Randy Winn 2-out 2-strike chopper that scurried through the center of the Dodger infield. In the 8th/9th, tattooed Giants closer Brian Wilson slammed the door, reaching 100 MPH on his fastball in the process. Well, hell-yeah! What do y' know! A rousing win. And to think that the game started so ickily... it feels good to be proven wrong! - Robert Seidman
“I was curious how Google ranked various sites, so very unscientifically I did a search for my Piedmont 4th of July parade photos yesterday. My blog showed up first, then FriendFeed, then Pownce, then Flickr, Twitter has yet to be indexed by Google. http://tinyurl.com/59nckt ”
If Google indexed Twitter, it would get overloaded. There's a shitload of Tweets already...that's why I have a tweet digest posted each day on my blog. - J.T Dabbagian
I think Google still gives enormous rank to blogs compared to social networks. It still amazes me how easily a blogger can simply include someone's name in a headline and unless that person is famous or has a common name, easily get that post listed on the first page Google search results for their name. That's pretty powerful. It also seems like FF content is getting very highly ranked by Google. - Thomas Hawk
but J.T. Google *does* index Twitter, at least theoretically. - Thomas Hawk
Google absolutely does index Twitter. http://www.google.com/search?s... (over 6 million pages indexed!) This is the main reason that spammers have targeted Twitter. - Mike Doeff
@Thomas Yes, but I think only in the Blogs, anyway. - J.T Dabbagian
Thomas - "seems like FF content is getting very highly ranked by Google." - why would it not ?? the whole system has been built by ex-googlers and they know the in-nerds of goog's pigeons holes and s/be knowing some of the core algo's too !! Anyhoot, back 2 da pint - the search within FF , gets better quality results then on google.. not sure the reasons, but I can get /gather/verfify content better with FF then with google. - Peter Dawson
Peter, I'd posit that FriendFeed is building the world's first true socially ranked search engine, albeit kinda stealthy and masquerading as a social content aggregation toy for the time being. FriendFeed is doing what Yahoo was never able to hobble together in social search. You just watch, the "by product" of search will be the most valuable component of FriendFeed in the end. This is why I'm totally surprised that MSFT is screwing around with $100mm on Powerset when they really should be watching FF. - Thomas Hawk
FF could build a better search engine than Google in the end. Google of course is very likely paying attention to what FF is doing. But what FF is doing flies in the face of what Google holds to be true, sacred, etc, that humans might produce better search results than algorithms and machines. Flickr's already proven proof of concept though with image search. FF's just taking the next step that Yahoo never could and that isn't politically defensible inside the walls of Google. - Thomas Hawk
Thomas - "why I'm totally surprised that MSFT is screwing around with $100mm on Powerset when they really should be watching FF." - After being part of a team of M&A in an F50 arena, I can't agree more. However, I am not privy to the MSFT Fund deployment strategies, so I can't say a yea or nay to your comments. However, MSFT with FF ./ bad karma.. will not work out. With the rest, I believe we are on same page status wrt "world's first true socially ranked search engine, " - Peter Dawson
@Thomas - Bold statements. I always find a mix works best. You need the human element and you need the objective computer element. The FF Founders have taken the lessons they've learned from Google and poured them into the FriendFeed machine. Now they're taking those lessons a few steps further. - Ben Parr
Peter, MSFT would rather try to buy FF for $500mm when *everyone* realizes what they've got. MSFT is horrible at getting into interesting social technology early. They should have bought Flickr when Scoble told them to before Yahoo did. Flickr was one of the great steals of the decade. Nobody with any authority inside of MSFT is even watching or paying attention to FF and likely won't be until they are huge. - Thomas Hawk
Powerset can't even produce interesting wikipedia search returns, obviously insiders know more about the deal than I do, but I'm flabbergasted by it. Here very early on FF already has very powerful *real* search here and now today. Just you wait until a year of content is under the belt at FF. Search will be damn impressive here. - Thomas Hawk
Thomas if I know MSFT they might have considered it but some engineer probably killed it by saying "I could build that in a week." Or, Dare might have blogged that small acquisitions won't do anything. - Robert Scoble
Thomas, I'd submit Google is quite scientific in this. FriendFeed doesn't even need to use "insider-ish" info to do good SEO. The "title" of a page is a very high priority to Google (common knowledge). The title of your page on FriendFeed is "Thomas Hawk - FriendFeed". The title of your page on Flickr is "Flickr: Thomas Hawk's Photostream". Both FriendFeed and Flickr prioritize both user AND brand, but FriendFeed puts your name first. - Robert Seidman
Ben, yes, a mix. Social search can't be a complete solution. But where it has content it can be vastly superior and this represents a *huge* chunk of the search market still. The more obscure something is the more difficult it is for social search. And actually while FF founders know Google very very well. The lesson on social search first came from Flickr, therein lies the proof of concept and potential to go beyond images. - Thomas Hawk
Robert, you are exactly right. MSFT just doesn't get early tech. They never have. If they were smart they'd set up their own venture fund with about $500 million and hire someone like you to help them find interesting things to buy -- the problem is MSFT won't think like a VC and nobody at MSFT wants to take responsibility for the ones that don't work out in order to get the winners. Everybody's playing CYA as career corporate executives. - Thomas Hawk
helps when you worked at google and know all the secret juice , - fotographic
Thomas, "Everybody's playing CYA" , oh yeah dude, that's a part of the protocol of engagement regardless of YHOO,/ MSFT. GOOGs or another ticker symbol. The Coriporate world is fragmented within i's 4 walls itself. RIight hand know'th not what the left hand'th doe'th. syndrome. The cohesive of culture that transcends wealth in $$ value is just not there. Da business silo's are not geared towards the outside and to the customer. This is saddness within these large corporations,{.. cont'ed..] - Peter Dawson
"[cont'ed..].."This is saddness within these large corporations, they have much to offer in terms of really giving to their users. However the greed of wealth transcends that givingness.. and its rather what it for me , rather what's in it for my userland !! - Peter Dawson
Yes, socnets do get massive SEO power. Now Google your blog title, name, etc. and see all the Twitter, YouTube, Pownce, etc. links come up, whatever you have a profile on. - Steven E. Streight
"“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem,” Albert Camus wrote, “and that is suicide.” How to explain why, among the only species capable of pondering its own demise, whose desperate attempts to forestall mortality have spawned both armies and branches of medicine in a perpetual search for the Fountain of Youth, there are those who, by their own hand, would choose death over life?" - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
I just watched this great movie... "He Was a Quiet Man" with Christian Slater and William h. Macy. made me think of it. Unfortunately this article is another argument against gun ownership. What the article fails to understand is free will. Perhaps the writer should be reading Fyodor M Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor". Free Will is a burden and I'll take it - Noah David Simon
"“At the risk of stating the obvious,” Seiden said, “people who attempt suicide aren’t thinking clearly. They might have a Plan A, but there’s no Plan B. They get fixated. They don’t say, ‘Well, I can’t jump, so now I’m going to go shoot myself.’ And that fixation extends to whatever method they’ve chosen. They decide they’re going to jump off a particular spot on a particular bridge, or maybe they decide that when they get there, but if they discover the bridge is closed for renovations or the railing is higher than they thought, most of them don’t look around for another place to do it. They just retreat.” " - RAPatton
"She remembers feeling a moment of intense pain and then nothing else for a long time. Her next memory is of her husband, standing over her and screaming, “What have you done?” and the sound of an approaching ambulance. She found she could speak, but all she kept saying over and over was: “I don’t want to die. Please, I don’t want to die.”
" - RAPatton
"“What was immediately apparent,” Rosen recounted, “was that none of them had truly wanted to die. They had wanted their inner pain to stop; they wanted some measure of relief; and this was the only answer they could find. They were in spiritual agony, and they sought a physical solution.” " - RAPatton
i do believe some people truly want to die. - edythe
In a given moment I am certain many do, and all it takes is one moment and the means. I think the article showed if the mean were not there during those moments people did not seek out new means, and instead let the moment pass. - RAPatton
just to be precise I think the article illustrated that if the means were not there only a small minority sought out other means. Also the article seemed to exclude cases like Hunter S. Thompson's. - Robert Seidman
whatever your opinion is... some of us will fluctuate on issues of life and it is important that we are given as many options of freedom as possible. Finding statistical reasons to restrict freedom is a VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE! - Noah David Simon
How many people who commented or liked this article have ever contemplated suicide? - Aaron Brazell
"THE BRITISH filmmaker Christopher Nolan has the mien of a passionate literature professor (passionate, that is, in the British sense of the term) and, last December, he spoke about the young actor Heath Ledger as if he were the most fascinating manuscript to cross his desk in years. "The bold decisions that Heath has made with this performance are fascinating to watch," said Nolan, who had one hand perched on his hip and the other holding a curled finger to his chin. "I think he's done something quite exceptional."" - RAPatton via Bookmarklet
jealous of Christopher Nolan.. i'd rather be doing his job - Travis Parsons
“does anyone know where the post from fred wilson is where he discusses startups getting acquired and basically become stagnant after that? i cant find it! thx”
Thanks Robert - I think it's newer than that. - Allen Stern
Bjorn you don't think that Youtube and Flickr have become stagnant after being acquired? Esp. flickr. - Allen Stern
Nah, they (Flickr) added video, and their photo management tools are great. They have decent desktop tools, and a great API. A lot of this happened after being acquired I imagine. - Bjorn Tipling
Youtube is constantly improving their viewer, and their api is pretty awesome also. - Bjorn Tipling
Allen, I read Fred religously and that's the only one I could come up with. From the post: "Except I am also a user of these services. I see what happens when a company gets purchased. The service languishes. The team leaves. It stops getting better. And often gets worse. And so even though I am happy to take the money, I am left wondering, frankly wishing, if there is a better way." - Robert Seidman
dangit - i need that link for a post im about to post - oh well - i will add it as soon as i find it or someone shoots it over - crap :) - Allen Stern
YouTube seems to be a classic example.. suddenly it looks dead. - Muthu Ramadoss
ok robert, i will use that link but im not sure its it but maybe it is it - thanks - Allen Stern
"Feeling a little bored during this long weekend? Fireworks, barbecue and HD TV shopping trips haven’t left you satisfied? Then how about a few juicy statistics about file sharing, video streaming and one click hosters? Sounds exciting? Well, you’re definitely a geek, but a lucky one too: The German traffic management company Ipoque just made it’s Internet Study 2007, which previously cost around 300 USD, available as a free download." - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
"Everybody loves the Pirate Bay. There are few things that bring people from all around the world together, and the Pirate Bay’s BitTorrent tracker server seems to be one of them. It’s by far the most popular in all regions monitored by Ipoque." - Robert Seidman
"“One to Nine” offers a different model for teaching math — discursive rather than linear, topical rather than abstract and remote, and, above all, manically energetic rather than repetitive and plodding. The book is composed of nine chapters, each focused — very, very softly focused — on one of the first nine natural numbers." - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
from article: "I recently sat on a panel where a big topic of discussion was: Can we reach television-sized audiences using online video? The answer is, unequivocally, yes" - Robert Seidman via Bookmarklet
Alex Payne, a 24-year-old Internet engineer here, has devised a way to answer a commonly asked question of the digital age: Is my favorite Web site working today? - Kevin Cearns via Bookmarklet
