Shannon › Likes

Too funny :D - Mohamed J

This is one of favorite video's that I've seen in a long time.!!! - Michael Fidler from twhirl

OMG that's hilarious. "Twitter is down. Robert Scoble overloaded the servers." ROFL! - B.L. Ochman

Honestly the funniest thing I've seen in ages. Thanks for sharing! - Shannon

I like to see a parody video about Twitter with Robert Scoble playing the part of Hitler! LMAO Can we get the little mustache on Scoblee? ;-) - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Any Hitler parody: under 27 yo will say, "who is funny man in mustache?". - Alan Wilensky from twhirl

I'm only a participant in 2. Friendfeed and Twitter. I've yet to discover a need for anything else. - Keith - @tsudo

I pretty much just participate in FF, with a li'l Twitter and SocialMedian on the side. Shiny shiny doesn't cut it if I don't feel the urge to interact. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I wouldn't say that. I keep joining to them, but of course I'm using just few of them. - Bibi

I had high hopes for Rejaw, but once Mona stopped using it, it became way less interesting - Kevin L

Well, you don't have to start using Yammer. :) - Morton Fox

I just have FF. Life is busy enough. - Roberto Bonini

Ah just link them all up to FF - James Tenniswood

Does that mean you don't want my super private alpha invite to an innovative new network I'm starting?? :) - Amanda Mooney

Alright Steve. You stay put and you will get lapped by the rest. :-) - Louis Gray

C'mon Steve... you must make room for Plaxo. ;-) - Jennifer Leggio

I'm so there. It's Louis' fault - Charlie Anzman

Social saturation.:) - Igor Poltavskiy

Frank Zappa, oh sorry you meant country, I'll get me coat - Toby Graham

I love that it is Bambi peeing. - Kevin Bondelli

With her leg up LOL!!!!! - Mona Nomura

Isn't Bambi a boy? - Kevin Bondelli

Um, do deer really pee backwards? I find that image ... disturbing. :) - felix

What about these chocolate pretzels I found? - Johnny Worthington

Bambi's a boy?! I thought it was a girl! :O - Mona Nomura

LOL - Selma

imagine advice's value in Nordic country... ;) - A.T.

Deer gender FAIL. - Kevin Bondelli

Its ironic that the warning is incased in what appears to be a Yield Sign. I guess they want you to consider what you're doing before you chow down on some yellow foam cake. Classic - Terence

Damn, Bambi has some pressure built up. - Stephan Miller from fftogo

first snowboarders rule - bifurcafe

:O!! Is that an owl?! - Mona Nomura

+1 Stephen miller - Gautam Guliani

One New Year's Day, a guy knocks on his neighbour's door. "Your son has *ahem* written his name in the snow on my lawn." Neighbour replies "So? It's just youthful high spirits. It is New Years after all?." Comes the response, "Well, yeah, but it's in MY daughter's handwriting." - Slappy Line

Change, read the types of terms uses, they are pretty obvious they are marketing spin and hype words "best in class, top tier, superduper bestest ever" - Jeremiah Owyang

change - yes analyst can be off base too - it's a human thang ;) - mike "glemak" dunn

Gotcha... in reading the article I was pretty impressed with what the analyst is really tasked in doing. That seems like a wonderful thing to have a supposed independent party helping to sort through the "fluff" to find out if the offering is the real deal or not. I suppose I was wondering if you all felt there was a lot of "greasing of palms" or if it is like all else where a few bad apples give the entire group a bad rap... Thanks for the clarification gang. Good write up, and thanks for sharing. - Ken Stewart | ChangeForge

Greasing the palms? I think that's what my teacher warned us about in sex ed right? Seriously though. I've some very angry clients who are not happy how I positioned them in reports. It matters not if they're a client or not. Without being unbiased, I have no credibility, and then no job. - Jeremiah Owyang

agreed, some analyst firms are paid to write product review reports and some tend to be unbiased - individual analysts do also have their own bias as well as limits to their levels of expertise - gathering multiple sources is the way I deal with those issues - mike "glemak" dunn

Yeah, juxtapose this with the fact that there was only one video feed for the opening ceremonies. - Alex Scoble

Which is how China was able to inject the computer generated images of the "firework" footprints. - Alex Scoble

Wow. Corral is definitely the right word. I wonder if it's first come, first seated? - Lisa L. Seifert

At least they have paying work. - tom sparks

Also think of it as commiditising the images - one camera, one source, one expensive picture! - Simon Bisson from twhirl

If they actually were spread around and had different points of view it might make sense but my guess is that 5 or 10 total would guarantee complete coverage. Of course Nikon and Canon are happy - Brian Sullivan

If copyright law wasn't so screwed up, then yes, it might make sense to have one or a few photographers, and then distribute their photos. But that would never work in our screwed up world... - Josh Bancroft

Why? If you've ever seen the crying accordion player at FDR's funeral you would know why. Everyone was taking pics of the funeral, and one photog turned around to take this classic shot (which I think won several awards) http://www.mishalov.com/images... - Andrew Leyden

and maybe some of them are simply doing it for their photoblog :) - Midori

Not all photogs are created equal. not all are looking for the same shot. Some might be better at shooting one sport than another. I know I can shoot rowing better than I can shoot baseball. - Andrew Feinberg

Andrew: You mention rowing. Did you mean sculling? Have you done much shooting of kayaking? - Mathew A. Koeneker

I'd shoot sweep rowing (one oar per athlete) differently from sculling (two oars per athlete). I haven't shot kayaking at all. but I'd probably be shooting sprint, not whitewater. - Andrew Feinberg

If only we could have access to all of those pictures, and digitally combine them into a single explorable gigapixel image... - Chris Hollander

i wonder if they realize that they could take a high quality video and capture like a trillion stills from it ;) - Steven Livingstone-Pérez from twhirl

seriously ridiculous amount of photogs in attendance in the "corral" - Susan Beebe

Probably not... but who decides who actually gets to shot that? Who are the best photographers, do they have a 'club'? If I'm not the best photographer, how am I ever gonna get the chance to try or indeed learn if I'm never accepted into the club. Not every lens is always aimed at the one thing. If we didn't have a variety of pictures then complaints would be raised about the lack of coverage. Or maybe the government could pick them. I'd take oversaturation to maintain freedom of the press than say... China - Johnny Worthington

Can you see Thomas Hawk in there? - Adam Helweh

you can say the same about blogs - Antonio Altamirano

The better question is : Do we need THAT much RebelXT's lol ;) - Martin Gommel from feedalizr

Do we need THAT many newspapers? Do we need THAT many news websites? Do we need THAT many magazines? Do we need THAT many news TV stations? Why won't we all be hooked up to our big brother central news feed and live like drones???? - Amit Morson

Do we need this many blogs? :-) - Colby Olson

If you were paid to go by FastCompany to cover the tech angle would you have gone and my other question (like colby) is do we need so many bloggers at each conference covering the same thing. 1. Its bad for your carbon footprint and 2. The noise is the same with a slight twist. - sam sethi

For a great behind-the-scenes insight into the work of photographers at the Olympics I highly recommend this Newsweek blog, co-authored by their 3 photographers in Beijing: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs.... - Ole Begemann

Sam: seriously? I am the one who makes the resource decisions for Fast Company TV and I could never justify taking so much time off to cover an event that so many others are covering. I try not to do that anymore even when the event is in my backyard, much less in China. No, we don't need so many bloggers covering the same thing at events. That's why I don't try to go to things anymore with lots of other bloggers. - Robert Scoble

do we need this many tech bloggers ? - Dave Ploch from fftogo

Dave: probably not. But one thing, we aren't using up lots of resources and we're not complaining that we're getting laid off from our jobs (hundreds of journalists in San Francisco area alone have lost their jobs recently thanks to the business model of newspapers changing radically). So, the comparison does not stand up. - Robert Scoble

I blame copyright laws. They're all taking essentially the same photo, but IP laws prevent them from sharing it. - Gabe

agreed, but I would argue the point about resources. Bloggers are extremely green. Also, how many blogger have this as their sole income or even as their only responsibilty in a business? - Dave Ploch

not green I meant - Dave Ploch

Gabe: that's not true. The Associated Press exists for sharing photos and saving journalistic resources. My photo of John Edwards was given to the Associated Press and dozens of newspapers and TV stations used it. - Robert Scoble

Robert. Really - I don't understand the schadenfreude? It's actually starting to sound chippy. Andrew was actually spot on. Out of the thousands of photos taken, only a very few are actually goint to be sufficiently interesting to warrant sticking on the page. One of the things I miss about newspapers and like when I do still pick them up, is a great page composition with a fabulous photo. - mattpovey

you're right. One guy with a flickr Account would have been enough. - Bertrand Duperrin

I really don't see the semi-obsession with this. Who is supposed to now decide how many is enough? Who is supposed to tell us how we can make a living, or what is worth taking a picture of. I know I wouldn't;t be thrilled with only one or two photographers being allowed to shoot there. What is this supposed to be saying about us? That all around the world humans are interested int he performance of the most gifted athletes on earth? Why am I supposed to feel bad about that again? - Soulhuntre

Similarly I don't "blame" IP laws - though obviously they are a factor here. But that's a good thing. It is a GOOD thing that humans are allowed to own what they produce... anything else is slavery. The right to decide what I produce, and who benefits from it, is to me a core human right. Besides, many of those photos will be resold time and again. - Soulhuntre

I agree with Soulhuntre -- let the market decide. Those photog are there meeting someone's demand, right or wrong. - Charles Barthold from Alert Thingy

I think it would be easier if all these outlets just told common people , send us your pics, we'll pay if its used in our publication. However, I dont think the common man has faith with the MSM.. as MSM are perecived as crooks .. take the pic, pub it and dont let any1 know who sent it in. - Peter Dawson

YES PLEASE! - Mona Nomura

Christian the Lion's cousin? - Morgan

it's like an iPhone for animal lovers? - Pascal

Mona, you think he is cute now? Wait till he grows up! He will have you for breakfast! LMAO - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Awww. Too cute. - Roberto Bonini

cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeee - saeedeh

Look at that there... THAT is a prince. Wow. The great cats have SO much poise! They LOOK like the kings of the jungle. - Parth Awasthi

Once over the cute overdose, I must say, I understand how animals this powerful need to be this adorable when they are young. It's the only way to survive. What a gorgeous picture. - Juan Carlo Rodríguez

Super cute! :D - BeeLing

These two are gorgeous!! Reminds of that film "Two Brothers" (at least I think that was the name) :) - Melanie Reed

That's really interesting. It is crazy what we have locked inside of us. - Frankie Warren

I've also heard that great excitement produces the urge to yell really loud. Amazing, science is. - Bwana ☠

@Bwana , source please :) - Mattb4rd

What no card? - James Tenniswood

Last year on 07-07-07 we had a great weddings day here but for some reason 8 is less popular. - Svetlana Gladkova from twhirl

For those who are religious: Sorry, a reminder that nothing happened two years ago on the same d/m/y. - Josh Jenkins

Steve are you Chinese or taking care of all followers? ;-) - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Yeah Steve if you are a Buddhist, please give me 800 usd in a red envelope! lol - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

Here in Denmark it's the big wedding day - Martin Liechti

@Svetlana: I can only assume it's because of the superstition that 7 is a lucky number, thus 07-07-07 would be a lucky day to begin something. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

@Stupid Blogger: Yes, that's what was what they hoped for last year. But in China 8 is deemed as a better number so maybe not a bad way to start something in Chinese style as well - like learn to cook something of Chinese cuisine. - Svetlana Gladkova from twhirl

In Japan 4 is unlucky number! - Igor The Troll יִצְחָק

@Svetlana @Stupid Blogger - 07-07-07 was impossible to get as a wedding date..coincided with my birthday, but was booked full for weddings YEARS before I knew I'd be looking for a wedding date. - Sally: baby flier

Dammit, someone beat me to it. - Helen Sventitsky

lol, I always chuckle thinking about a proximity sensor that would alert me if I'm about to walk into a pole. - Frankie Warren

praying hands...wasn't that a devo song? - sean808080

Do you really get to a point that you can type on the thing with your thumbs? After 10 days with mine, I don't see that day coming any time soon. I am still a strictly one pointer finger gal. I can't even select a recent call in the list with my thumb without accidentally calling 3 people I didn't mean. - Judi Sohn

Judi yes I can type with my thumbs very quickly. - Steve Rubel

Judi you will do. I can do about 50 words per minute quite comfortable using two thumbs (and my thumbs are big). In fact, using my index fingers feels plain weird now. - Jamie

damn - Allen Stern

delicious :) - Timo Heuer

not yet here in Italy :) - Federico [Kurai] from twhirl

@Jay you can download them but there's no firmware yet. - Steve Rubel

Federico: I can see it. But I don't have an iPod Touch or an Iphone, alas! - Zio Bonino

...odd. iTunes update tells me that I have the current verison (7.6.2.9) - JA Castillo from twhirl

Zio bonino: WTF? it keeps me saying the store is unavailable... - Federico [Kurai] from twhirl

@Federico hai aggiornato iTunes alla 7.7? Entra nello store e cerca "App" - Stefano Mainardi

now it's working. Ebook reader only with ebooks sold through the store? Crazy. - Federico [Kurai] from twhirl

Current eReader titles / libraries will work with the eReader app. I have five years worth of titles that I've used on Windows / Windows Mobile. They will ALL work with the iPhone app. ;) - Kevin C. Tofel

I am stoked to find eReader in there. May speed up my iPhone purchase. :) - James Kendrick

really? How you upload them? Does it read even pdf books? - Federico [Kurai] from twhirl

@Frederico: your library is stored on the Fictionwise server at all times, so you can just download titles you've already purchased. The app will likely have the eReader store so you can browse, buy and DL new titles. That's how it works on WinMo, so I suspect it should generally be the same. - Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin, how do we get (existing, purchased) ebooks on to the device though? Any idea? - John Samuelson

@John, I suspect the eReader app will let you download from your library on the Fictionwise server directly. You can do that on WinMo. I just got confirmation that we have a call with the owner of Fictionwise today so I'll have more info to share. :) - Kevin C. Tofel

@JA Castillo I saw a Twit that said software updater may not recognize the need for the new version if you're running a beta of iTunes. - RyanEs

@RyanEs - no beta...all the more confusing if what you say is true. - JA Castillo

@Kevin thanks. Totally wireless eReader would be awesome. - John Samuelson

Is the App Store only visible to those with iPhones or a Touch? I have updated to 7.7 and there is no link to the app store that I can see. - JA Castillo

I would agree that some of the same problems exist in top blogs and top newspapers, there is a check and balance in blogging that works quicker than the newspaper system, but in general, you are spot on. - Andrew Hyde

Agree ... it takes a little more than a couple years to build the empires that have already been build ... probably isn't even possible - Nick O'Neill

Didn't it turn out to be Craigslist that has really hurt mainstream media? At least the newspapers. Also Google's growing dominance in advertising. It's not the journalism that's the issue, it's the revenue. - Todd McKinney

Jeremiah, you're ignoring the fact that many MSM outlets now embrace blogging as well. No one would argue that the two have merged at the top, but it wasn't all in one direction. - Duncan Riley

Thanks Jeremiah, I've been biting my tongue on this for a week or so now (i'm in the old trad media) now it seems like new media is the trad media which is being pushed aside by the new new media. - Jon Dillon

Agree. It seems even The Long Tail is losing some of its punch - http://valleywag.com/5020400... - Justin Gibbs

Agree. Just like TV killed cinema and radio, video/DVD killed TV, music downloads killed the music industry, and the internet changes everything. Each of these provides multiple different functions and experiences to different people in a variety of moods, roles and situations. The various markets will all settle to a new, if more transient, level. There will also be a home for pro versus amateur, more generalised versus niche versions. - Ronna Porter

Jeremiah, it's true that top blogs become media properties (albeit very niche ones), while (as Duncan said) MSM has been adopting blogs and other social media tools. So there's been movement both ways. I for one never brought into the 'blogs will kill MSM' hype, that's just nonsense. As everything, media has evolved very quickly with the Internet. So I disagree with you a bit there, because *a lot* has changed. - Richard

It's like how Dave Winer said there's no such thing as a pro-blogger. As far as I can tell the only difference between journalists and bloggers is that journalists are supposed to stick to a code of conduct. - Stuart Maxwell

They do resemble, but that does mean that are alike. For a start, "commenting" has transformed media into a two way conversation. Whereas "new media" vetures like businessspectator.com.au are like the mainstream media (a comment is treated like a letter to the editor, with my comments moderated because I disagreed with arguments) are a joke, other "new media" like Techcrunch and RWW are... more... - Elias Bizannes

I've said for the past year that it's becoming hard to differentiate "blogs" from other forms of online publishing. We're in big need of a vocabulary overhaul.FWIW, commenting in MSM is rarely two-way communication. It's a way for readers to vent and interact with each other, but MSM publishers and editors rarely get dirt under their fingernails. - Chris Baskind

Totally agree when you look at blogs like Mashable and TC - sometimes it is hard to sort the advertising from the posts. No offense guys - I know you have to make money - but there are more and more "sponsored posts" and "thanks to this weeks sponsors" etc.... - Dave Gray

a few things. first, sample error. mainstream media has maybe tens of thousands of writers creating columns for newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. the blogosphere has tens of millions. the degree of variation within the blogosphere is enormous. have you seen the recipe bloggers? mommy bloggers? and the children of the blog form, the facebooks and myspaces and tumblrs, are further... more... - Phil Wolff from Alert Thingy

disagree, my buying practices have definitely changed, I was a two newspaper in the morning and one in the evening guy, I really can't remember the last time I purchased one, I think mainstream media is here to stay but newspapers are definitely on the way out - Patphelan

If what you're saying is true, then does that mean the Long Tail of blogging isn't very fat? That the Short Snout still reigns? You might be right, but I'd like to know how things look like all along the curve, not just a few crowding the small head. Any numbers? - phil baumann

next, blogging is a conversational medium. some journalists get that, some don't, and many msm organizations never will. Reading other blogs, linking to them, listening to comments, leaving comments elsewhere, responding to your commenters: these are signs of 'getting it'. to the extent that you see content that looks like a blog post but lacks any connection to the conversation is a sign of damage. - Phil Wolff from Alert Thingy

agree - sam sethi

Last, I'd like to challenge you to put something that you care about but that's off topic in your blog. a poem that touched you. your cat. an opinion about something outside your stated beat. blogging should be about the blogger, otherwise it is reporting in blogging clothes. blogging is a personal and interpersonal medium, so your blog should have a bit of you within it. it's not just... more... - Phil Wolff from Alert Thingy

It is difficult to move to new modes of discourse. Making them technically feasible doesn't mean they will evolve. It's not just that blogs have replicated msm modes and mannerisms, but those that do not do so - the ones that offer some dislocation, some sense of estrangement, before yielding something special - get less visible as mirroring levels discursive difference. - tom matrullo

Blogs have given the sources a way to communicate directly without going through the media. There are far more sources of news now than there were ten years ago. "Killing" is almost always the wrong metaphor for competition, But our reliance on MSM today is much less than it was in the past. I don't see the "top blogs" as being blogs at all, they are MSM outlets that use the same CMS software as blogs do. That isn't saying much about them, imho.BTW Phil is right too. :-) - Dave Winer

media "killing" media rarely happens. We still have movies (some shot digitally), radio (sometimes streamed), television (sometimes on iPhone) , books (sometimes on Kindle). The universe gets more intricate with old and new media supporting, promoting, commenting, and competing. Movies became fodder for Lux Radio Theatre (which is currently still available by podcast). Ad budgets shift. Revenue streams divert. Physical formats become obsolete, but not the content, the audience or the conversation. - Michael Markman

I think the question misses the point. You're probably right that the "top blogs", whatever they are, resemble mainstream media, but _my_ top blogs give me much more what _I_ want to read than the mainstream media. - Michael C. Harris

They're not blogs anymore ... I counsel a lot of agencies and I'm telling many of them to view the big boys and girls as MS OnlineMedia: http://www.eyeballeconomy.com/2008... - David Weiner

Been some press lately about newspapers declining readership and predictions of the death of broadcast television. Let's look at some statistics, but IIRC the trend is DOWN. And where are people spending the time they save? blogs and youtube. You do the math. - Indio Apache from twhirl

Um. did the hubbub of blogs killing media end in 2006? As far as I can tell, blogs have never stopped proclaiming the death of traditional media by bloggers. They love to say that all the way up until some paper or magazine buys them. - felix

Is this not just mainstream media switching mediums. What is more interesting is the fringe stuff that would never have been published before. I think that a lot of people are now reading a bit wider range of content. Mainstream media always goes with the lowest common denominator to get maximum audience. - John Cooper

Mainstream media killed by blogs? No. Mainstream media fundamentally changed by blogs? Absolutely. *Every* major media outlet has a significant online presence featuring a large chunk of their content. Nearly all of them have integrated commenting/discussion, and many of them now have "Digg this"/"Share on Facebook"/etc. While it's not entirely a 2-way street w/outlets like CNN or the NYT, they are clearly being dragged toward interacting with their users, rather than simply broadcasting. - Pete Brown

Mainstream is intensifying -- cutting newsroom staff, consolidating newspaper chains, etc. -- in the scramble to keep profit margins up as mass media falls into a gazillion pieces. They are not making enough in the online world to keep the mainstream machinery running, and haven't really figured out the formula for online, social media yet. Blogs are one of the many economic challenges they face, as more and more people defect from mass media, and head for the edge, where we are doing it for ourselves. - Stowe Boyd

Thank you all, I have now collected my thoughts (much based on your comments here) and written this post and pointed back here http://www.web-strategist.com/blog... - Jeremiah Owyang

if you take the top bloggers/sites, and divide (actual) readership by staff count, it's pretty different from a newspaper... - Bill Seitz

Agree. - Robert Scoble

Agree - Francine Hardaway

Agreed and its entirely changing the business model for news outlets - Robert

Agree - Brian Sullivan

Don't underestimate the effects of regression. Over time, the MSM will exert their advantages and become more dominant in the new medium (e.g., 5 of the top 20 Techmeme Leaderboard places are held by MSM entities), and the few independent voices with broad authority will evolve to be more like the MSM (e.g., TechCrunch adapting to the Washington Post). - Sprague D