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Simone › Likes
Merrill Lynch sale, Lehman brothers bust might mean rough day on Wall Street Monday. Everybody get ready.
Simone and Robert Scoble liked this
As an ex Merrill Lynch employee, I'm glad I'm an EX Merrill Lynch employee
- Kevin Brew
I'm scared for what tomorrow will bring, and sad for Lehman and Merrill employees
Veetrag, Simone, R. Ferguson and Robert Scoble liked this
wonder how long Harold Ford Jr will get to keep his cushy job.
- R. Ferguson
Google released news of Chrome on Labor Day. Remember they released news of GMail on April Fool's. They sure know how to fill a news hole.
TiTi, Atul Arora, Steve Chou and 16 other people liked this
I'm guessing Google meant to release this tomorrow. I'd never heard of a modern tech company announcing a significant product via snail mail, but my guess is that if Phillip was in the USA instead of Germany he wouldn't have gotten the scoop on the rest of the tech world, as his copy of McCloud's comic would be waiting until after Labor Day like everyone else.
- Kevin Fox
Kevin, that's an interesting, and likely take. On the flip side, wouldn't we have heard from other tech news sources who said they knew but were waiting until Tuesday? Given I haven't heard that, I have to assume the leak/scoop to Google Blogoscoped was intentional.
- Louis Gray
Looks like you were right Kevin: http://smccloud.livejournal.com/15488...
- Benjamin Golub
And read this from Google: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008...
- Dion Almaer
Another embargo broken anyone?
- Roger Kondrat
"We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too"
- Benjamin Golub
Roger, no embargo was broken by Philipp. He just got a comic book through the post and posted about it.
- Tony Ruscoe
Yay! "We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.", "So check in again tomorrow to try Google Chrome for yourself. We'll post an update here as soon as it's ready."
- Majento
Sigh. Mac and Linux go last again. Quasi-fail.
- Louis Gray
i wonder if it will rival the awesomeness i have in flock.
- Admiral Anika
Quasi-fail, Louis? Try COMPLETE fail. Consider that they're using WebKit as the base - and there are plenty of Mac engineers at Google. Nothing would have pushed Safari 4.0 out the door (in beta or final stages) quicker than a Mac version of Chrome (interesting choice of brand, considering how heavily it's associated with Mozilla's XUL).
- l0ckergn0me
I don't think its a complete fail to be Windows-only at launch: their main target is presumably IE, by (eventually) bundling Chrome into the Google Pack that is pre-installed on lots of PCs. IEs 70% browser market share is still large enough to be very threatening to Google, as the Microsoft anti-trust prohibitions expire over the next few years.
- DGentry
25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Strips. - http://progressiveboink.com/archive...
Hayk H., Marcel Weiß, Simone and 2 other people liked this
"You've taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system."
- Nicole Simon
from Bookmarklet
True, as is everything.
- Yuvi
"I was born intelligent, education, education made me stupid" - I saw that on a t-shirt :)-
- Peter Dawson
I am getting so many more comments on Friendfeed than my blog I want them back on my blog. @danielha is cooking this in Disqus, great news!
Kate Foy, Svartling, Fred Neil and 12 other people liked this
just add the wordpress friendfeed plugin...
- Luca Filigheddu
you're one of my favorite people to follow, if only because you're so active in so many different communities.
- Pat Hawks
thanks Pat. Luca, my blog is actually on TypePad and I use Disqus comments on it.
- Loic Le Meur
Yes, a big tradeoff here: better conversation and interaction but less traffic and convo ownership.
- Soso Sazesh
I hear you! Read this blogpost about it http://peckpack.com/2008...
- Dave Peck
right same need for me on blogger. when is Disqus coming out with FF comments?
- Simone
For something that didn't look much in the beginning FF sure is becoming quite disruptive.
- Jon Dillon
Hey, this IS good news :)
- jjprojects
Disqus automatically integrating FF comments would be great.
- Kevin Bondelli
I don’t believe it is ethical to claim comments back from people who write them on FriendFeed. This means imposing power on your readers. If people want to comment on your blog, they can do it but that is not their preference. And you are not asking people if they want their comments to be seen on your blog.
- Kerem Ozkan
I don't care where it takes place. I', just happy to have a good conversation.
- shelisrael1
Though, if it weren't for friendfeed, many folks like me probably wouldn't see it to start with.
- adam christensen
but to comment on FF is so much more easier and faster...it's Twhirl fault !!
- Jean-François Amadei
from twhirl
Yeah, the same for me. I've installed the WP plugin, but it keeps telling me there aren't comments on FriendFeed.
- Gianluca Neri
from twhirl
Guess it might be too late to capitalize on my Disqus-friendfeed comment combiner, huh?
- Kevin L
+1 shel
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
Cereal Killer - http://thighswideshut.org/2008...
americanm, سینه سرخ, imabonehead and 23 other people liked this
They're not just for kids.
- l0ckergn0me
edited: WTF dude, now I have to change my comment!!
- Mona Nomura
He beat you to it. It was kind of funny to have those two comments together.
- Corie
edited: WTF dude, now I have to change my comment!!
- l0ckergn0me
Corie sandwich FTW! ...that sounded a lot sexier than it really is. Pixel porn ftl
- Mona Nomura
Sounds slightly scandalous...
- Corie
Testing: "Google Insights", I like it. http://digg.com/softwar...
Simone, Dean "Karnatos" Michaud and Derek Coatney liked this
this one looks veeeeery cool...
- Simone
great thoughts on economy from Mark: http://blogmaverick.com/2008...
Gavin, chartreuse, Zach Underwood and Simone liked this
Great post, and great idea. Today's tax system is a burden on our economy, and this is certainly a great fix for this particular problem.
- Zach Underwood
Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes - http://www.last.fm/music...
MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS, Roger Benningfield, Jason Toney and 11 other people liked this
Check out the live Jeffrey Gaines version. Amazing cover. ;)
- Kevin Hessel
I will always, always, always, think of John Cusack's perfect Lloyd Dobler when I hear this song.
- felicious
I do to felicia. I saw that movie with a group of a dozen friends and associates from high school.
- RAPatton
Americans are such opportunists. If offered more of something, we'll take more even if we don't want more or don't need more.
Parth Awasthi, imabonehead, Mona Nomura and 17 other people liked this
I ran through my cafe punch card and was eligible for free coffee this morning. Normally, I always get the smallest size because it's all I need. She offered me a larger size and, without hesitation, I shrugged and said, 'Sure, why not?' This is far more coffee than I needed or even wanted but here I am with it.
- Akiva Moskovitz
One of our biggest enemies is greed (but I'll be more than happy to absorb the coffee :)
- Charlie Anzman
And even now nearly just upended it onto a 1,700-page programming reference.
- Akiva Moskovitz
/fistpump USA! USA! USA!
- Kirk Kittell
Americans? How about humans?
- Hutch Carpenter
And that is why we have the 7-11 Double Gulp. :)
- ha3rvey (Ho)^3
Reminds me of a blurb from a GTA SA Radio Ad - "What?! You mean this isn't the greatest country in the World?"
- Yuvi
Motto: Bigger is better. :)
- Hao Chen
Underlying motivation - if you turn down something for free, even if you don't need or want it, you are perceived as stupid. By the way, I'm selling a printed collection of all of my 2008 blog posts for US$1,000,000 - but I'll throw in printed copies of my 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, and 2003 blog posts ***AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE!*** How can you turn that down?
- Ontario Emperor
Who this "we," kemosabe? ;-)
- Brent Newhall
I SPEAK FOR ALL OF AMERICA.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Upsize it is our motto. If I type in all caps, does this mean I get to speak for the whole world?
- Mathew A. Koeneker
When my girlfriend was new to living in China, she asked a friend to teach her how to say "I'm an American, and I don't speak Chinese" but she got the pronunciation wrong. She found out later that she'd been saying "I am America and you are a camel" to people for several weeks.
- Jason Wehmhoener
Are you saying it's a bad thing?
- Tad
No wonder all the good .me domain names are already taken.
- Morton Fox
You have to be careful of these folks when they give you restaurant recommendations. I've sent some to great restaurants only to have them say 'the portions were too small' Response: *eyeroll*
- AJ Kohn
uhhh, did you say I could have seconds of that cherry pie?
- Thomas Hawk
i agree
- Cee Bee
definAtely HA
- Mona Nomura
40 Movie References From The Simpsons - http://www.neenja.com/article...
Dennis Jackson, Aleksandar Cocek, embee and 4 other people liked this
ever open a bottled water, you don't hear the seal break, then you think "did I already open this? or am I about to be poisoned?"
Mike, Colette, Erik Persson and 19 other people liked this
haha... oh yeah, happens all the time to me... but I think I have a little bit of OCD.
- Adrian Nadeau
Drink tap water -- fear of poisoning much reduced.
- Brian Sullivan
Yessss
- Corie
glug glug
- Andrew Smith
lol all the time!
- Emmanuel Pozo
Yes. And I agree with @briansullivan but also because it's less wasteful. There is generally no benefit to bottled water, only plastic waste and money spent.
- ·[▪_▪]·
I do not agree with Brian Sullivan(?) There has been poisin reports of nuts throwing it into the water. But thats just some of the cleanest water in the U.S.
- Sweyn Venderbush
from fftogo
Penn and Teller did a whole show about this on Showtime. Tap water is regulated by thousands of EPA agents. Bottled, FDA one guy.
- Bob Hires
Just got back from camping in Italy - they have taps all over the place in towns to get water. Why don't more countries do this?
- Rich
Bottled water costs more than gasoline. That's a bit screwed up...
- Andrew Leyden
yes.. yes I do.. don't drink it man!
- JADonnelly
for sure, and drink it only if you are in the desert with no other water source to choose from. Drinker beware!
- Jeremy Campbell
from twhirl
Yes. I do. But I go ahead and drink it. Beat back the dark gremlins in your head Kevin!
- AJ Kohn
yes in india, my face turned white and the host noticed. He then shouted something to the "boy" standing in the corner and the water bottles in the room were replaced with ones that went 'click'
- Colin Britton
from twhirl
Do what The Queen does, use a British Berkefeld water filter. It can filter out just about anything evil. http://www.jamesfilter.com/
- klaatu
That happens to me all the time.
- Chris
Mind Maps: Boost Your Brainstorming Session with MindMeister - http://lifehacker.com/398476...
Czar, Simone, Matt Wood and mike "glemak" dunn liked this
If Microsoft and Yahoo and friends keep it up, who'd want to touch either their products OR their stock with a ten-foot pole? Microsoft will probably muck up Yahoo stuff and well, the chaos for years just means Google will probably get stronger anyway. So yeah, you kids just keep on keepin' on.
Dread Pirate PJ and Simone liked this
It will all end in pain.
- Jason Wehmhoener
iPhone: The New Personal Computer - ReadWriteWeb - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archive...
The iPhone didn't pioneer visual voicemail, multitouch or location-based anything, however, it did bring it to the mainstream in the sexy packaging. We need so many more copycats now to move the whole space of computing and interfaces forward. Mobile computing isn't dead, computing is and should be mobile.
- Eric Rice
from Bookmarklet
Agreed. Computing has to be mobile and have the network to support it! I guess we should throw in the battery technology to support it as well. Needs to make it through the day without charging or have ways to recharge on the fly. My next computer is going to be an iPhone 3G.
- Eric_T
Drunk Referee video... - http://www.mahalo.com/Drunk_R...
acedanger, Paul W. Swansen and Simone liked this
classic
- Jason Calacanis
from Bookmarklet
Halftime went a bit long did it?
- Paul W. Swansen
Men's Restroom Etiquette - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Brandon Wood, saskia, Handy Lukman and 13 other people liked this
SIMS (!)
- Mona Nomura
Hey, this offers me an opportunity to ask a question. What's the deal with dudes spitting in the urinal before starting? I never understood this.
- Mark Krynsky
Mark: Marking their territory..? Like an Alpha Male caveman thing
- Mona Nomura
Also I can share my favorite euphemism. "Taking the Browns to the Superbowl".
- Mark Krynsky
5:15 - 6:00 LOL
- Hao Chen
@Mark K: Setting up some target practice?
- sergiooo
This should be required viewing for all those who use or may use a men's room.
- Alan
A M A Z I N G. That is all. :-P
- Matthew Horton
Beats spitting on the floor.
- Ontario Emperor
from fftogo
YouTube - Google's Advice On How Brands Can Leverage Social Media - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Melvin Ram, sirishkumar, Yaron Samid and 17 other people liked this
"We call it «advertising» when we don't intersted in it. When we are interested in it, its «information»." — brilliant! :)
- фыр
I always thought this was the advertising model Facebook had to follow
- Simone
I'm interested!
- Paul Roberts
That's a great find. Thanks for sharing. Agreed with Ilya.
- Justin Gardner
It seems as soon as it says social and media in the title, Scoble is here to like it and/or comment on it!
- Gavin
This is great! The best selling IS education. So once they see it as information, let's make sure that we deliver on information that is usable and has value!
- Barb Gonzalez
The number one way I find people to add on FF? Nope, not FFs recommendations, finding little white bubbles next to people making interseting comments in conversations. These are the people that I want more of. Folks that participate intelligently are far more valuable than A listers who don't.
Peter Reavy, Joe, Mitchell Tsai and 141 other people liked this
Agreed, when I find a thread I really like, I tend to add a bunch of commentors from it.
- Phil G
I'm only just now starting to use FF, even though I signed up months ago...and I agree, this tool is far more useful than even twitter.
- Jeremy Botter
I agree 100% Tom. That is how I have been finding a lot of people. I am relatively new to FF so that and friend of a friend posts are the only ways I am finding people.
- Matt Donders
Personally - that's why FriendFeed is differentiating itself from a lot of other sites. It caters to those active people that want to discuss, learn, inform - which makes it a resource that I come back to over and over again...
- George Smith
I'm in absolute agreement but have to admit that I've added some of the A listers just to see who's talking to them intelligently. Granted, the ROI's a little low, but sometimes watching the fawning is reward in and of itself. <insert sarcasticon here>
- Linda Mills
You get what you give
- Dave Martin
Good point, this is one of the reasons why I'm spending more time on FF now - great way to discover and interact with new people that have relevant information/comments to share
- Gabriel Biguria
So very true. My page of "recommended" friends is nothing but a bunch of A-listers that would fill my FF pages with mostly junk, and not a lot of substance.
- Brandon Wood
ditto ditto and ditto - just added Gabriel and Jeremy in fact
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
When I am looking for people that share my interests, I search for a headline I really liked on the everyone tab and check out others who shared it and see what they are all about. It is kind of time consuming but fun.
- Geoff Schultz
we use the same technique
- Fred Grott
I'd also add that you don't have to add a whole lot of people to get quality content thrown into your FF stream. I'm slowly adding people and the value of FF went up 10 fold.
- Otto R. Radke
The goal of adding friends here is to have intersting stuff in your Friendfeed. And you do that by carefully watching the dicussion not just in terms of comments and likes ( as mentioned above multiple times), but what items are posted by people. Thats whats I look for.
- Roberto Bonini
I've been getting annoyed at the amount of junk, repetition, and endless Twitter vs. FriendFeed talk from the so-called "A-listers". It's high time to start unsubscribing and find some new "friends".
- Matt
the ancient toad style of social networking
- Anthony
Actually if you do that you soon realize that there's more content by interesting people here than time you have to read that. Then, the question stops being how to find interesting people (that you'll keep finding and following) but how to reduce the noise...
- Marcos Marado
from fftogo
So Marcos the task at hand is to become Jedi of the Hide button and learn how to fine tune everything.
- Mark Forman
Hide is awsome, but I'm feeling it is not enough. I hope noiseriver ends up being the solution, but... it still hasn't the hide feature implemented :-)
- Marcos Marado
from fftogo
Hah! I just added everyone in this post who I wasn't already subscribed to.
- Thomas Hawk
Ha! Prepare to be inundated with my brand of minutia!
- Geoff Schultz
If the same friend of X comes up often, and I find them interesting, I will subscribe to them.
- Hao Chen
No white bubbles here for me.
- Robert Scoble
Thomas: I do the same thing too
- Sally Church
I get zero comments on FF to my posts. I'm not A-list of course. I'm more like a lesser known Baldwin brother.
- Jason Shultz
from twhirl
LOL @ Scoble's comment!! ha, ha!
- Susan Beebe
@Jason Participation is a two way street.
- Hao Chen
amen brutha!
- Scott Jarkoff
I, too, am just getting more involved in this social networking thing ...
- Robert Couture
This taps into what for me is the stand-out experience FF. 'Common Interest' is _one_ facet, but there's more going on in deciding to Subscribe or not. It's like a first impression in person - the brain takes a bunch of behavioral cues builds a profile in seconds upon which decisions (sometimes lasting) are made. To balance the split decision weakness of not enough information, just cruise through the person's feed for 'background check'. All common sense I suppose.
- Micah Wittman
Yeah but I frikin HATE the moment I add 1 person from a thread i like, I get bumped out of the thread & have to go back & search for it again to see if I want to add anyone else.
- Mrsth
@mrsth, I agree 110% w/ that. It's easier to open a new tab then scroll down and locate the topic again...
- Czar
Nah...I add completely based on superficiality and looks. :-P
- Live4Emma (L4S)
@Czar- ah I didn't realize you could do that. I'll give it a whirl. Thx!!!
- Mrsth
@Carlos Perez- Ahh. that explains alot. You can only see my legs:-)
- Mrsth
i guess just a 'me too' here would be totally wrong.
- MLx
I think the only way to find those interesting people you don't know is to subscribe to the popular people. I've been finding some interesting folks that way. Otherwise, no one posts comments to your own stuff. Oh, to be unpopular. Sigh.
- Eric @ CSTechcast.com
That's exactly correct. I don't auto-follow. I add people who comment and like and share things I'm interested in.
- Louis Gray
wow, that's a super-excellent observation. i'm taking the hint with a few 'white-bubble' folks here too. altho i wonder if the FF folks shouldn't cue that behavior up with mouse-over info on the bubble icons... i had no clue why the color was showing up at first. (then again, i'm often an idiot)
- dave mcclure
awesome. this reaffirms why i like ff better than twitter. the failwhale is kind of endearing, though.
- Marissa "malouie"
Couldn't agree more! The Fancy Pants people are too fancy, I just want interesting conversation(s)!
- Cheryl
Totally agree!! Wish I could get some of those people as my friends too!!
- ChaCha Fance
I can't stand FF posts with more than 10 comments. I want to filter them out but there is no option for that.
- Sam Pullara
What client are you using? twirhl makes comments on FF OK, but just OK. It's a shame that we're all this way and still don't have clients that support threaded conversations as good as tin or slrn on usenet...
- David Molnar
from twhirl
Good tip:)
- Igor Poltavskiy
david let's agree on 'as good as on usenet' - i never could stand neither tin nor slrn *g* but yes. it is now 10 years ago that most decent usenet clients had a feature set still not rediscovered for everything feedish ...
- Nicole Simon
Agreed as well I look out for the white speech bubbles as well to see what value they add to the FriendFeed community!
- Joe Dawson
and little like icons ;)
- Tyler Gillies
Occasionally I'll wander over to everyone and 'browse'. it's really eye opening as FF grows
- Charlie Anzman
Charlie, I like doing that too, but we need a language filter badly!
- Hao Chen
The number one trick A-listers use and I never liked? " hey I'm here now on friendfeed, comment on this if you want me to follow you". I don't want them to follow me because they are important. I want them to follow me because they feel I'm important to them!
- Alexander van Elsas
Agreed- when I see opinions I like from someone several times, I check to see if I've subscribed to them yet.
- Brian Carter
My first time on FF and I like the interaction I'm seeing. The "white bubbles" are a great way to find new and interesting people.
- Tom Newman
That's a great way to find friends with whom you can actually talk and count as friends. And the comments are a great feature of FF. I'm just getting to know how to make FF useful for me...
- Dan V
I haven't found FF list of recommendations terribly useful either. Although this is a bad example, because it brought me to this entry.
- TDavid
The criteria of "participate intelligently" is a relative word. What is "intelligent" to you may sound "stupid" to others? I guess the more appropriate term would be "value-adding to the conversation".. But I agree 100% on how "comments" can really uncover hidden gems!
- Winston Teo
I do this too. I consider the comments a kind of signaling (a concept I learned from economics). Too bad there are so little interesting people in FF (to me at least, my interests are a little "off" from the median).
- Meryn Stol
I am using the like feature as a form of bookmarking - almost in lieu of stars in Google Reader.
Voyagerfan5761, Frank Meeuwsen, Mitchell Tsai and 32 other people liked this
I use it to indicate "hey world, this is worth reading!" and for bookmarking, too!
- Susan Beebe
Yes, it's a Gesture model.
- Jeremiah Owyang
I use it as both as "hey read this!" and as a bookmarking type feature.
- Aaron Myers
from Alert Thingy
Me too. I am using this feature to save interesting link with mobile phone for future browsing with a computer
- Marco Castellani
from fftogo
i use it to say that I liked it.
- Rob Williams
It's a vague bookmark/like type action for me as well. BTW, I misuse "Hide" and it's become my "mark as read" button. I try to follow a "FriendFeed Zero" philosophy. :-) I wish that "Like" flagged items would pop back up for me whenever anyone commented on them, even after I've read/hidden them.
- Ken Sheppardson
Ken, I don't think you're misuing "hide". I often use it as a pseudo-"mark as read" too.
- ha3rvey (Ho)^3
Ken & Harvey: there's a greasemonkey script for hiding items upon read automatically: http://userscripts.org/scripts...
- Susan Beebe
steve did you see my post yesterday regarding ff and delicious? http://www.centernetworks.com/delicio...
- Allen Stern
@Allen I did. Stats back you up http://trends.google.com/website...
- Steve Rubel
@ Steve Rubel - bookmarking on the web means tagging... that cannot be done with "like" - what am i missing ?
- Kishore Balakrishnan
@kishore your right there are no tags here. I do use likes to find stuff I want to go back and review later.
- Steve Rubel
I echo the sentiments of the mobile user.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
from fftogo
Steve , if FF has a feature that permits users to define tags and use them. IT will be very powerful. I am think along the lines of Labels /Tags similar to Gmail ..
- Peter Dawson
I use it to say I like it, but sometimes I use it to bookmark something I want to have easy access to later on.
- David Cook
Bjorn, you can click on "likes" on the right side of your FF home page and see the list.
- Trish R
actually for some reason i never noticed the hide or more buttons. I also use like as an indication that I liked something, or sometimes as a bookmark. Ken when others comment on things I have commented on they do pop back up on my list. or else I am dreaming...
- R. Ferguson
yup
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
There's also a greasemonkey script that allows you to mark something as "later". It's really useful, if you don't have time to read something now. You get a later tab to go back and check it out. Plus it adds a "like" to the post as well.
- Jason Toney
I use Twitter to show what I think is interesting and it shows up here. yes FF has the following activities: creator, critic, collector, joiner, spectator.
- Jeremiah Owyang
I'd just like to point out that you can't see past your last 300 likes. Make sure that that bug doesn't bite you :)
- Yuvi
in persian FF we are using the like as a form of "link recommandation".
- mhmazidi
I use "FriendFeed Read Later" (greasemonkey script) for that
- Sarah Perez
@Sarah I haven't seen that one, linkage?
- Aaron Myers
@ Steve Rubel: I did this too and later found another way: First I opened a private room. Now if I want to "save" something, I click on "More" (on the same line with "Like" and "Hide") and "Reshare this entry" to put the content into my private room. I write a small comment with tags.
- Yves Oesch
I created my own private room to which I save links, either from inside FriendFeed or from the web at large. Generally links that I want to return to for blogging purposes.
- Hutch Carpenter
FriendFeed Follower Patterns Exposed: How Jason, Mike, Loic & Robert Get So Many Followers So Quickly (video) - http://www.centernetworks.com/friendf...
Mark Douglass, Jon Dillon, Sasha Kovaliov(.com) and 63 other people liked this
heh, I noticed this problem too when I was trying to find folks not in this main circle of users.
- felix
Your right... They are default.
- Czar
Come on Allen, you already posted this story. http://www.centernetworks.com/robert-... This is just linkbaiting.
- Mark Trapp
Mark - this is completely different. The one you linked to discusses the right panel that's not a default so-to-speak. This analysis today is based on the defaults that FF is providing to 9 people. It's not the same and I don't believe in linkbaiting.
- Allen Stern
This is important and should be fixed. The decision was probably made to help entice A-listers to the service, but that's no longer necessary. Thanks, Allen.
- Sprague D
The real problem is these services are really lame if you have no friends. This was an attempt to fix that problem. I agree though that FF should only recommend participants on the first few screens. If you aren't participating why would FF want to feature you?
- Robert Scoble
Great video -- and yea definitely not the same post. I would see this an expansion into the topic and showing the results of tracking the patterns of a new user signup experience...
- Gary Bacon II
i´m just subscribed to robert - for me the other 8 people have no value in their content and i wondered all the time why they are there... but robert should be default ;)
- Dieter Schwarz
Robert's point is fair. The defaults shouldn't be a random selection of users, but a few of the most dedicated participants. I look forward to seeing edythe replace Arrington. ;-)
- Sprague D
Great post Allen, FF is also VERY susceptible to bots doing mass adding. I haven't really seen any one take advantage of this yet. Then again, its not easy to see a users followers/following stats.
- sean percival
i only saw this as a problem if you tend to be a sheep and just subscribe because a service recommends someone vs default which to me implies they auto subscribed you when you start which they did not, i'm only subscribed to a few of these 9 folks, very similar to who i've sub'd to in other services - this seem a bit of a mountain out of a mole hill to me folks
- mike "glemak" dunn
Great job on researching. I definitely realized that FF was not nearly doing the job Facebook does when looking for friends you may know or recommendations.
- Adam Helweh
This isn't cool. In my book, this is kissing up to the big guys so they'll talk about you and get you exposure. Whether they know it or not still doesn't make it okay.
- Raoul Pop
@mike, if you want to know why what is presented to the "sheep" is important, check out Chris's reference to "herding". Chris, if they want to become mainstream they need to change the target of their marketing from "fast followers" to common users, who would also like the chance at building an audience. A good way to do that would be by randomly presenting dedicated users.
- Sprague D
I thought this might be the way for FriendFeed to gain popularity as well. Get some of the most active internet peeps on Friend Feed, make them feel that their subscribers are coming in droves, and the rest will follow. Yes, no?
- Adam Helweh
Paul: I actually agree. Who is following you is not important. Who you are following is VERY important. I'm following about 3,000 people right now on FriendFeed, all hand added (I just added you for making a good point).
- Robert Scoble
Raoul: when I joined FriendFeed I wasn't on the list. I moved up the list because I brought a lot of people into FriendFeed from my popular Twitter and blog. Live isn't fair sometimes. You might notice that FriendFeed is at the top of TechMeme right now and that FriendFeed is growing very rapidly. But I'm writing a blot post about the "Participation Premium." If life is unfair, why are 5,000 more people following me than Mike Arrington? After all, his blog is more popular than mine is...
- Robert Scoble
paul: excellent comment
- mike "glemak" dunn
But Robert, why are that many people following him at all when until recently he didn't even participate here other than posting his feeds?
- Cyndy
Robert: people follow you because you follow them and pass along the conversations so others can enjoy too. Mike A. doesn't include everyone..
- LPH™ and his dog P™
It's not the same 9 people everytime. It depends on who you subscribe to. There is a short list of prominent people on FF that get recommended, but in order for them to be recommended they have to be a contact of one of your existing contacts. The list is in alphabetical order by first name. If you don't have any contacts FF won't recommend anyone to you.
- Thomas Hawk
Thomas: not true. I just signed up a new account and it recommended users to me.
- Robert Scoble
cyndy: ff primarily is a very valid presence aggregater - whether someone then chooses to interact in ff via comment/like is secondary to me
- mike "glemak" dunn
Thomas is referring to the "Recommended" link on the friend settings tab; Allen's video is about the sign up process.
- Sprague D
The Participation Premium: http://tinyurl.com/6elnjf
- Robert Scoble
You may be interested in a little personal research I've done to find out the social weight of FF users and the number of followers: http://user21.com/2008...
- Yuval Atzmon
I'd call these defaults an excellent marketing campaign from FF's standpoint. Those default FF users pretty much represent the same echo-chamber 'attractors' in the technology/web space. I think it's a little disingenuous when you ask how those people became popular FF users. It's obviously a well calculated way to market to the major technology attractors; or was that comment meant to be tongue in cheek?
- Jim McCusker
hmmm Robert, I signed up a new account as well and found that under the "Recommended" link it wouldn't recommend anyone to me unless I first added at least one person as a contact.
- Thomas Hawk
Thomas - what I am discussing is the people you are presented with when you create a brand new account - not on the right side
- Allen Stern
Thomas, check out Allen's video, it's cool.
- Sprague D
@atzmon, your list ranking users by #subscribers shows (for the top 10) almost perfect correlation with the "defaults" presented to new users. If Allen needed any more proof of his thesis, there it is.
- Sprague D
fail bird http://www.seanpercival.com/blog...
- sean percival
So........ why is it a big deal to have so many followers on FF? Is it worth it? Is it beneficial? Why is everyone trying to have so many followers?
- ChaCha Fance
from Alert Thingy
Why do all the interesting posts seem to happen on Sunday when I've got family things to do?! I appreciate the recommend list because I'm relatively new to all of this. Scoble and Lois Gray are a good "in" to all of the noise (good human filters).
- James Hull
@James, I think Allen's original motive for posting was that there are *many* excellent "human filters" available here, but because of a marketing decision by FF, only a certain few are provided as default recommendations when new users sign up.
- Sprague D
My main complaint with your video is that you printed out the pages from FriendFeed. Who uses printers anymore? Couldn't you have taken screen grabs?
- Ben Kessler
I wonder if they will make the suggested changes - and if that would help people find new folks to follow.
- Eric
this is the top story on Techmeme right now.
- Thomas Hawk
Want a Twitter app with Summize integration, replies, Tweets, and groups in one desktop window? Check out http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/
Chris Harris, Mathew A. Koeneker, Lizunlong and 49 other people liked this
I would like a twitter app that would make twitter work :)
- (jeff)isageek
I want a twitter that works :)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
Tweetdeck is very nice. Breaking tweets out into @ replies and groups makes sense. Pretty, too.
- Leo Laporte
Excellent! I'm just not that into all the dark gray.
- kennbell
'scuse me while i wipe up this drool, but that looks hot!
- Sarah Perez
This is very nice. Love the grouping feature. Makes it a lot easier to follow tweets.
- Dave Rutter
ok, see that got all screwed up just now, had to delete & start over.
- TheMacMommy
from twhirl
so what I meant to say was, I like tweetdeck for trying to improve on apps like twirl or twitterific for that matter, but I'd still love to see some über combination of tweetdeck & twirl that lets you group, customize color in UI, post using ping.fm and receive more than just tweets like FF does - not so much a firehose but more like a spiffy detachable shower head w/the different dial settings. Come to Mamma!
- TheMacMommy
from twhirl
Checking it out now, thanks Louis!
- Daniel Smith
from twhirl
I like it Louis - thanks for the tip .. even though there are acouple of things I would probably like as options it is very workable in the short time I have been using it
- Steven Hodson
I really like this so far, it'll be interesting to see what future plans holds. I'd like to see a tad more customization of the client itself. Nice so far though.
- Nick
Nice that you can keep twittering even when Twitter is down. Categories/groups/tags is clearly a direction Twitter user needs are heading. Also need an app, though, that can handle multiple Twitter accounts. I tried Twhirl but after a while kept getting timeouts on the 2nd open account. Maybe that's Twitter's fault, not Twhirl's.
- Gordon Vaughan
I still wonder why all of these apps default with a dark background.
- Caleb Elston
Just saw it with my 9-y-o daughter. Animation was amazing and it was visually attractive. Story was cute, but not great. I think that Monsters Inc., the Incredibles and even Toy Story had better writing. Most interesting thing to me was that more than half the people in the theater were adults with no children. Definitely a bit of a geeky crowd, different than you might expect for a Disney/Pixar flick. All that said, Nice. Now all I need is a blackberry version (that also handles friendfeed) :)
- Barry Graubart
from twhirl
Using it .. nice. Try clicking on the photo. Looks like most of us need to go higher rez!
- Charlie Anzman
pretty slick...just not picking up all my twitter friends though for some reason.
- Zee.
Very nice and still very-very buggy (Air Linux)
- Czar
Ok, another ugly black twitter client. I want an Air app with some brushed metal feel to it. Having something on my desktop that doesnt match the rest of the windows makes me feel like Im on windows.
- Colby Olson
I would rather pay for Flickr than put my photos on Facebook to be fodder for advertisers.
- Andrew Feinberg
Are there any other Twitter services/apps with the Grouping functionality? Really loving that.
- Bryan Landers
looks excellent. love the "maximized view" for real twitter addicts. though I can't imagine there are many left that are addicted, since, well, you know. can't really be addicted to twitter when it's down all the time
- Mark Bao
Thanks! I'll check it out over the next few days!
- Soulhuntre
from twhirl
This is lovely. Funny how some really nice apps sneak up on you. Thanks for linking!
- mark.kemperman
from feedalizr
nice but I doubt it fits the workflow now that twitter is a tiny bit of it
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
thanks Louis, very cool app, what do you think of the group service?
- John Cass
from Alert Thingy
I like the group service, but I love the Summize integration more. I've watched my search for TweetDeck just blow up today, and the app hasn't crashed once or locked up - which is saying something despite the fact it's been open all day.
- Louis Gray
You can’t help yourself, you will get an iPhone - http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r...
Jim Kukral, Saad Kamal, Mitchell Tsai and 25 other people liked this
I will buy a 3G iPhone. Most definitely. The #1 thing I do on my iPhone is participate in the Web, and having a faster one will be worth the expense.
- Robert Scoble
Sorry, I won't be getting an iPhone now either. I didn't get one when they first came out and still not getting one. Maybe if someone wants to send me one to demo/test and write about I might be more inclined to consider the phone.
- Paul W. Swansen
Yes unfortunately I will! But I actually might be saving $$, my AT&T plan is really high right now AND I get a 12% discount. Not sure if I'll get that when I get a new contract...I'll be going to an Apple store, not AT&T so I'm not sure they can make the same deals.
- Kat
I currently have Verizon and a AT&T account. I have a Blackberry Curve as my phone right now with AT&T but I only use it for texting and email. Web surfing on the BB is not very good. I am getting the iPhone 3G to try and replace my BB for those needs as well as web surfing. The one thing I am pissed about is the text messaging is not included with the unlimited data plan so that's an extra $20 for that. Good thing I get 15% discount on my rate plan.
- Andy Breeding
I took a wait and see attitude with the first release: I patiently waited a whole two days! Probably do the same this time. The link Scoble posted was about the Canadian iPhone release, though. I'd probably think about it a while if I was there.
- Tom Landini
Like hell it will. ;-)
- Tris Hussey
from twhirl
Nope not getting an iPhone. The author underestimates the power of an affordable, unlimited data plan that comes with the Instinct. Time will tell
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
Yes, count me in too!
- Larry Kless
from twhirl
I'll be hanging on to what I have. The iPhone didn't impress me the first time around. After what I went through with AT&T the last time, I'll never use them again.
- Candace
The bad thing is that I just broke my iPhone 2G bought in California (and jailbreaked) so I'll have to do something, but I don't know if I'll buy a new iPhone 3G; it's ridiculously expensive in Canada.
- fbrunel
I'm getting this - not sure what the reason for getting the new iPhone will be if I have this: http://www.rfwel.com/shop...
- Jesse Stay
I dropped my 2g iphone a couple times and had to do the HW unlock the first time, so scratched the case a bit. I will probably end up getting the new one as I am really annoyed with the speed as well while on edge. Anyone interested in buying Ireland's 1st unlocked iPhone :)
- simonpure
er, that was supposed to be, "I'm getting the cell phone hotspot (in the link)". Not to mention I get to stay on T-Mobile if I do!
- Jesse Stay
from twhirl
Wanna bet? ;-)
- jcunwired
I'm considering getting an iPhone... I was 100% on-board, but Rogers' plans for it are dreadful, so I'm just a "maybe" now. Very disappointing.
- Dave Fleet
from twhirl
Italian plans aren't much better. Vodafone is giving 500mb x month and 900 minutes / txt messages for 99 EUROs. Don't know yet about the other carrier (TIM). :(
- Simone
IPod Touch, yes. iPhone, no. I'll keep my BlackBerry for now. I had AT&T as a wireless provider once before, and I don't want to go through that again.
- ha3rvey (Ho)^3
best thing that ever happened to my combs was my iPhone. the faster the better :0
- Tim Aldiss
cone to think of it it's the best thing that ever happened to my 4 yr olds comms ;)
- Tim Aldiss
Me? Apple? NO
- A.T.
nope... my N95 8GB still beats it in more ways than one. And, I'm lucky enough to have an "Old Blue" plan with inexpensive unlimited data on ATTWS.
- thecolor
I won't even consider replacing my 1st gen iPhone until 3G is available in my area. By that time, the iPhone might be available through other vendors -- which would be a good thing for consumers.
- Chris Baskind
from feedalizr
Robert, you know my feelings about this one...keyboard, keyboard, keyboard. show the accessory, make it work WELL, and I'll show at&t the money.
- Andrew Feinberg
Reminds me of the mantra of the Borg - Resistance is futile! Yep it is.
- Roberto Bonini
I'm not getting a new iPhone because if the Gen 1 that I have works I want to save the $ boost in the actual plan if I can.
- Tony
Only if you're buying
- Adrienne Van Houten
Canadians are not happy ,, no unlimited data from Rogers http://www.iphonebuzz.com/rogers-...
- johnpiercy
going to party inline at the Thousand Oaks Apple store next Fri. AM. Join us!
- Mark Sylvester
no I won't. And my blackberry is already ordered :-P
- Marcos Marado
I've an eeePC with a mobile broadband adaptor. Works brilliantly for portable web.
- David Sim
I live in Canada and I am *not* happy. Rogers is asking for a 3 yr contract and doesn't even order unilimted data for the high priced plans!!! They are taking both consumers and Apple for a royal ride eh?
- Kamath (नमः)
from twhirl
As soon as it works on Verizon. AT&T doesn't work in my parents house in Ohio.
- Mitchell Tsai
I'm in India and it will be here probably next year for like $1000.. Forget it.
- Muthu Ramadoss
I was going to until I read about Android and the barcode scanner. It may be a way off but this recession isn't going anywhere fast. And I know I can use that function everyday to search for the best deal and make whatever joint I'm in match or beat it if they want my business. Empowering. And AT&T just isn't offering a competitive plan. Plus, we have winter here and touch screens aren't charming in the winter. I can wait and will for a superior value.
- Boo
Not until they allow it to be used as a modem over bluetooth, will be looking closely at upgrading from n95 to the n96
- Chris Garrett
well yes....eventually ;)
- Saad Kamal
No, I really won't. (1) AT&T is crap (2) It still isnt capable of copy / paste (3) It is a closed platform (4) no real keyboard ... basically... it lacks everything my windows mobile device DOES have.
- Soulhuntre
from twhirl
Sometimes, instead of doing something constructive or creative, I find myself refreshing FriendFeed over and over and over and over and over...
Nathan Rein, Chris Harris, Soulhuntre and 62 other people liked this
I keep secretly wishing I hit some sort of usage limit so I have to walk away. Damn you Friendfeed and your scalability!
- Mark Trapp
It's a lot harder for me to walk away from FriendFeed than Twitter.
- Michelle Martinez
F5 = crack
- Hutch Carpenter
Welcome to da club?
- Yuvi
I find FF more interesting as well.
- J Allen
I resent the implication that ever-refreshing FriendFeed is not constructive!
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
lol@Hutch Indeed
- Shey, Jamaican of FF
It's gotten so bad that I have to regulate myself. I use a plug-in for FireFox called Leechblock that you can use to limit your time during the work day.: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US...
- Dan Kaplan
huh? F5 just blips my Mac's little sound level at me.
- Thomas Hawk
@Thomas F5 = Command + R on a PC. Refresh.
- Parth Awasthi
Yes, FF is the new internet addiction. F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5...
- Tad
The only way to solve this problem is for you people to post quicker ;)
- Tony C
Use LeechBlock, limit yourself to 5 minutes an hour, you won't be sorry. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US...
- Jason Wehmhoener
@Jason you essentially just told Amy Winehouse she should check herself into rehab - how likely do you think we are to match your show of discipline? lol ; )
- Marco(aureliusmaximus)
At some point we just need FF to auto-refresh every second and include a pause button so we can stop the action to read stuff that catches our eyes. That would be pretty freaky, huh?
- Tad
it has been eating into my reading and sleeping time
- RAPatton
What? Reading Friendfeed isn't constructive or creative?
- Tom Landini
like right now, for example
- Sarah Perez
Sometimes I interrupt what I'm doing (re-reading the manual for Twilight Struggle) just to check for new FriendFeed action. Totally addicted.
- Akiva Moskovitz
I do that too. But now we're going to see the Incredible Hulk.
- Robert Scoble
F5=Crack. Crack is Whack. Flickr = Crack. FF is the new Flickr.
- Russellreno
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... It helps if you don't notice the walls of the maze aren't very high and there are these people looking down on you.
- Karim
RusselReno, I had to double-check to make sure that you weren't Steve Gillmor
- Todd McKinney
@Todd rofl
- Michael W. May
from twhirl
+1 rofl for Todd. And good one Russell.
- Hutch Carpenter
and sometimes you just can't help a 'likey' even thought you didn't click ... right? :)
- Charlie Anzman
a bigger screen real estate could mitigate this problem
- Ramesh Ramloll
from twhirl
Yeah it's addictive :)
- JegerPhil - Phil
from NoiseRiver
Wait that's not normal???
- Mona Nomura
FrF cries for TTS ;)
- A.T.
time consumption is simply the manual behavior. Get an auto refresher and save a micro second. ;) then again, if you want to remain aware, you have to read everything!
- thecolor
use twhirl and updates come automatically to your desktop... no need of refresh, layout is awesome (discussions, etc)
- Gustavo Munoz
from twhirl
If we could get paid for using FriendFeed, wouldn't we all have our own private islands?
- Rishabh Mishra (p248)
More like one palm tree, a couple of rocks, and a sewage outflow.
- Akiva Moskovitz
FriendFeed Addiction:)
- Igor Poltavskiy
Nice discovery
- saee:Dsharif
F5 FTW!
- Susan Beebe
Micro Persuasion: Should You Rent or Buy Social Real Estate? - http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008...
Brian Ries, Simone, Allen Fuller and 8 other people liked this
Interested in your thoughts here.
- Steve Rubel
from Bookmarklet
Rental really has the lowest barrier for entry and with everyone pushing portability, you should have no problem getting your content back in case you decide to buy.
- Andrew Smith
Annotated via Feedly here: http://friendfeed.com/e... Great article Steve. I agree with your points.
- Bwana ☠
Nice point your colleague made about you building up Twitter's equity by participating there. But that makes it sound too one way, like Twitter is getting everything in the deal. You're getting a much higher social participation out of it, with ideas, conversations and reputation as your benefit.
- Hutch Carpenter
I have web hosting, but these web services already have the tech infrastructure to make cool things happen that I won't spend time learning how to code. I'm currently looking into ways to leverage the tools that are out there but host it on my own space, and have a homepage that sort of collects all the content I've scattered around the web and make my website out of it, like the Sergiooo Nexus. Another issue is that with all the fun of 'discovering content' I'm not making any new personal artwork.
- sergiooo
The equity metaphor is quite fitting when you look at the investment and return you can get from your own blog vs. microblogs or related services. I'm not familiar with co-ops, so the FriendFeed/co-op comparison doesn't work as well for me. Maybe FriendFeed is more like a hotel or a long term rental?
- Mark Dykeman
I get much higher notability and audiance on FF vs my blog. Even Google is ranking my FF feed and room higher than my blog. So guess I am a renter.
- Igor The Troll יִצְחָק
Now I understand what's cool about Friendfeed. They are the first company in history renting mirrors.
- Simone
Just commented at your blog ... but it's held for moderation. :(
- Gerrit Eicker
Is it really an either/or question? What's wrong with having your own blog and posting on Twitter/Friendfeed/etc.?
- Brent Newhall
@ Brent: Nothing's wrong with that. People like to make claims about things being dead, things being replaced, shiny new things being the best things since the last shiny new thing...
- Mike Keliher
from twhirl
@Gerrit your comment is now live.
- Steve Rubel
Thanks, Steve. It's always the links, isn't it. ;) - Anyway: I think one should "buy", not "rent", as no one knows what the future will bring. Will Friendfeed become a relevant player? I don't think so for the broad audience. Will Facebook stay a relevant player? I'm not sure. MySpace and national Networks might win their battles. Will there be a new player? I'm sure there will be several new ones. - Having your content at one place helps adapting to anything that might come...
- Gerrit Eicker
Sarah came home today, and is resting, after ten days in Special Care. She and Matthew are both still small, but healthy. Should be fun!
Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins, Yolanda, Josh Dilworth and 45 other people liked this
So excellent to hear!!
- AJ Kohn
Good news. Enjoy the wonder twins!
- Bwana ☠
So nice to hear that! :)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
Nice to hear Louis. Now that she's home, let's see which site she decides to endorse.
- Mark Krynsky
Great news, Louis! Woohoo!
- ha3rvey (Ho)^3
That is awesome, Louis, congratulations.
- Elisa Camahort Page
Like^100! Congratulations and good luck to you all!
- April Buchheit
Great news. Enjoy them!
- Jerry Chacon
from twhirl
God bless you and your new family. The best is coming.
- Oldengrey (Jay)
Alright! Our house is ready for the first BabyFriendFeed Meetup! :-)
- Robert Scoble
Al the best to you and family. hahahah..babyfriendfeed meetup ? has any1 created a babyfriendfeed room !!
- Peter Dawson
Yay! Now the fun begins!
- Chris Reed
Double the trouble, double the fun.
- Caleb Elston
This is the best news on FF all day. Give that girl a lot of love daddy,
- Mike Fruchter
WOO HOO! So friggin happy for you guys! I now look forward to incoherent tweets in the middle of the night. : )
- Carla Thompson
thats great news!
- Erin @queenofspain
Mazel Tov! Blessings for the babies!
- Larry Kless
from twhirl
Louis - we're expecting some updates as you go along. I've got two, but separated by 2 1/2 years. Want to hear about the twin experience.
- Hutch Carpenter
@Robert: Just created a 'Babyfeed' room. Working on inviting peeps.
- April Buchheit
YEAH!! Congratulations to you and your *entire* family... Happy Day 1!!
- Susan Beebe
Great news!
- Mark Dykeman
louis, i just wanted to provide you with an analysis of how Matthew is doing so far - he was able to grab us 3 scoops away from the other west coast blogs. His content is good, sometimes I have to look out for the drool but he's doing well and I think at this rate he will be editor before he turns one!
- Allen Stern
Fantastic! Very glad to hear the whole family is home. Good luck and let the chaos begin!
- Rob Diana
I'm glad.
- Francine Hardaway
Good to hear about Sarah! Hope she & Matthew like their new world... :-)
- Mitchell Tsai
Yay! The family is all together!
- Phil G
Great news, congrats! :)
- sergiooo
congrats. kids rock.
- Jason Massie
Great news! Twins are awesome! Mine will be three on Sept.
- Tim FitzGerald
Finally the entire family is together... congrats and very happy to hear about it.. :)
- Sudar
Great News. Welcome home Sarah!
- Charlie Anzman
Congratulations! It only gets better.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
Congratulations on the new additions to your family Louis.
- James
tip: (probably already know this tho) load up iTunes with some good baby tunes and get the visualizer going, it works wonders for fussy parents, oops, I mean babies! You might even drool as well. (or is it just me)
- TheMacMommy
from twhirl
and I notice you're up at the same time as I (I have a 3 month old). Glad to hear all are happy louis
- Jesse Stay
Er, that "happy" was supposed to be "healthy" - guess both work. I'm tired :-(
- Jesse Stay
from twhirl
Excellent news about everyone home now!
- Joe Dawson
Say goodbye to sleep.
- Colby Olson
Why I’m buying a Tesla sedan - http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r...
Sarath, Brian Newman, Mitchell Tsai and 38 other people liked this
Count me in as well. Our 2005 Hybrid is serving us well and I'm hypermiling to get about 15% higher than EPA estimates, but I'm all for alternatives like this.
- Kevin C. Tofel
Dude. If you can afford it, then I want a job working for FastCompany, too. :)
- l0ckergn0me
Robert -- Is there a pre-order site up yet for Tesla S? I sent them an RFI on how to get on the wait list, but I have not yet heard back.
- Jerry Chacon
Chris: you shouldn't talk. You and Ponzi always have the coolest cars. :-)
- Robert Scoble
I fear that by supporting Tesla we're only contributing to the West's endless dependence on electricity.
- Dan Kaplan
Awesome car. I'd buy one if I could afford $60K. Wonder how much your home electric bill will go up?
- Josh Bancroft
Are you planning to generate your own electricity with small scale wind/solar/etc? Otherwise the savings you'll make on gas prices won't be great (as oil goes, energy follows). But electric cars are a step in the right direction, Congrats
- Steven Cains
"I like keeping my money in the state" ? Come on Robert... :-)
- directeur
from NoiseRiver
Does anyone know how the Tesla cars handle heating? My dad is really interested in electric cars, but he always worries about how they will generate heat.
- Tracy Hurley
Tracy - I believe the battery pack has a giant aluminum heat sink attached to it, and luckily since the car drives around, there's lots of air cooling ;)
- Phil G
We'll be in the market for a new car in about 2 years as well. I hope these things materialize.
- Jeremy Brooks
It is a shame the price is so high. They have probably priced out the people who would most like to get one.
- Rob Diana
Josh: Elon Musk, chairman of the board of Tesla, told me you can go about 225 miles for about $3 worth of electricity in California (at today's rates). Compare to nearly $5 gas for our BMW, which goes 24 miles on just $5. Rob: if these are successful, they say there will be a $30,000 model out within four years.
- Robert Scoble
I always find Americans talking about motoring hilarious. In America, 30 MPG is some sort of impossible Holy Grail. If you're not doing that in Europe, and I mean ina big vehicle, then either you're driving a Bentley or you've got a hole in your petrol tank. Far as I'm concerned, car technology begins with the Japs and ends with the Germans. I wouldn't spend $50 on a car from any other nation.
- john conroy
For electric cars to truly take off we need to find ways to lower the prices sooner, whether by subsidies or whatever. Lower income families are the ones most affected by energy costs and are more likely the ones driving energy inefficient vehicles.
- m.0
If I were old enough to drive, I would want one. Then I wouldn't have to pay those outrageous gas prices
- Grant
John: I have a two-year-old BMW and it only gets 25 mpg average. And it's the smallest BMW they sell (with the least power possible).
- Robert Scoble
[Warning! European High-Horse alert in my comment above]
- john conroy
John: US uses a lower RON rated petrol making MPG comparisons difficult
- Steven Cains
I just came back from a short spin with a friend of mine (in Ireland). He drives a 1.4l, 2008 Honda Civic. A modest but beautiful car. His display shows the MPG, and we were talking about MPG in general. It was doing 44.5, and he reckons he gets 46 as the norm. Over here, 1.4l is the typical engine displacement for family saloon/hatchback. 1.1 - 1.3l for a small town car.
- john conroy
They also announced a 30k model coming in 4(I think) years today.
- Jason Massie
apologies-- no more noise from me -- but @Cains -- this I did not know (about the RON rating). This changes things...
- john conroy
John: also, most cars in Europe are diesels which supposedly pollute more, but get much better mileage. California, for instance, has much stricter smog laws than most places (just head to China to see how bad it can get).
- Robert Scoble
How does one sign up or the Tesla S?
- Jerry Chacon
from twhirl
Robert: John's pretty accurate on the average engine size. While diesels are popular here I don't think they're over 30% market share. The main reason for the Us Vs Euro discrepancies is the differing octane rating and problems associated with that (larger fuel tank/etc). For example, BMW's start at 2.8L in the US Vs 1.8L in Europe
- Steven Cains
Robert: I'm not sure if modern diesels do pollute more. They are more efficient but, in the recent crisis (in the UK at least) the price of diesel has risen more than that of unleaded so the efficiency advantage has been eroded.
- Fraser Smith
John: it's not just the RON ratings that affect the mileage - the engines are dreadfully inefficient too. In Europe 45mpg is the norm, I really notice it in hire cars when I go back home. Americans should demand the fuel efficient engines too, they make a huge difference to consumption.
- Sally Church
Sally: good point. Americans have not cared about gas efficiency until now. They like their powerful engines and big SUVs. Marketing of cars is often about how fast they can go, not how fuel efficient they are (Prius and gas prices are changing that).
- Robert Scoble
If you want popularly priced electric, the EV smart is on the way: http://tinyurl.com/6yrwus
- Chris Baskind
We are definitely getting one as well. This is a no-brainer.
- Andru Edwards
Where do I sign up to get on the waiting list?
- Brian Daniel Eisenberg
ok, call me an 'old guy' (cue will smith), but the tesla is listing at more than i paid for my first house! [sheesh]. i think i'll keep riding the bus to work.
- MikeAmundsen
The whole concept of a $60k automobile being a "no brainer" purchase puts you all in a very different tax bracket than many of us. The payback on this kind of purchase will take a long time and no one can predict the maintenance costs.
- Dave Ploch
110k for a car that I don't really like that much, I don't think so. It's like buying a Prius: it makes a statement, but that's about it. Until I can drive it cross-country I really couldn't care. But someone has to buy them to get the idea started, so good for your Robert!
- xero
xero: the sedan is $60,000. Expensive for most people, but not unusual in Silicon Valley.
- Robert Scoble
How to organize the room - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_b...
A non-traditional arrangement can make people sit up and take notice. A rock concert feel is going to raise the energy level of even the skeptics. A circle with no tables makes people feel naked. These are tools, and you get to choose."
- Adewale Oshineye
Latest Newsweek poll results: Obama 51%, McCain 36%. http://x.newsjunk.com/033
viki saigal, Michael C. Harris, Rishabh Manocha and 26 other people liked this
It's not the age of the man that bothers me, it's the age of his ideas
- Sally Church
Long, long time till November, but I won't be surprised to see this rise even higher...
- Tad
Every one of these polls is different.
- Francine Hardaway
Promising but can't get overconfident. I'd rather pretend it's the other way around and continue to hustle.
- AJ Kohn
Francine, this poll was taken yesterday and the day before, if I read correctly. I haven't seen another one this new.
- Kevin Hessel
+++ to Sally! I sure wish we could have the McCain of 2000 vs Obama.
- Tad
This seems in big contrast to most other polls that have a five-percent difference... and as Tad said, it's a long way til November...
- Chris Reed
RCP graph: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls...
- AJ Kohn
Tad: I think he's time has gone - this race reminds me of Bob Dole vs Bill Clinton
- Sally Church
You're right, don't get overconfident, it's a long way to November, and it's just one poll, but I'm also a believer in enjoying big moments. This is a big moment. Wow. I have goosebumps. Exciting!! (And it totally makes sense. McC is all over the map trying to find some position that works, and none of them are working.)
- Dave Winer
Dewey defeats Truman - 1948. Lest we forget. I don't follow polls. Why should I care which way others vote. I vote my own mind.
- Michael Tefft
Michael - polls just let those who agree with them get excited. :)
- Tad
McCain is at risk every time he opens his mouth without a script -- and often when he is using a script as well. He is not getting sharper with age.
- Sean McBride
And you think Obama speaks without a script or being heavily rehearsed ahead of time? (57 States?)
- Michael Tefft
Obama is one of the most talented orators ever to come down the pike, with or without a script, and is able to think and speak on his feet with eloquence and precision. McCain is almost as scary as Bush when doing public speaking -- he could fall off the wire at any moment. Just my personal impression, of course.
- Sean McBride
Sadly back in 2000 McCain sounded much, much more intelligent than Bush. I really wish he hadn't sold his soul for the radical elements of the Republican party, especially his stances re: torture and the fringe far-right Christian groups.
- Tad
Oratory does not get the job done. My vote goes to the man whom I believe best serves the interests of our country. I don't think being able to make a great speech is the most important skill for a President.
- Michael Tefft
One man supports torture, destruction of civil rights, intolerance, and a continuation of the destruction of the country, not to mention putting us further and further into debt with China...
- Tad
Repairing our standing in the world is important for a lot of reasons. That's not going to happen with McCain (e.g. - supports torture, follow them to the gates of hell etc.)
- AJ Kohn
I really do think being a great communicator is at least 30% of the job skill requirements. A president has veto power, military command, and the bully pulpit. And that bully pulpit can be used to do pretty amazing things. The ability to give a great speech is arguably the most useful gift a potus can have.
- Andrew
from fftogo
A large majority of Americans believe that the United States is on the wrong course, and that the Iraq War (on track to cost several trillions of dollars) was a mistake (some national security experts believe that it is the worst foreign policy disaster in American history). McCain has promised to continue and even expand on these unpopular policies, which probably makes him...
more...
- Sean McBride
I think things might well change by November. As Obama is more and more called upon to show substance instead of charisma he comes up as just another of the classic Democrats - the kind that have been getting stomped in most elections (other than Clinton). Obama is basically jimmy Carter with an actual personality. However his inexperience and the trail of slime balls he has worked with in his Chicago days might well bring his run to a halt.
- Soulhuntre
Soulhuntre, I couldn't agree more. Well, except for the fact that Obama is basically Jimmy Carter. As tough as it may be to accomplish, I think Obama is far worse than Carter. But, if there's a silver lining, it lies in the fact that Carter was a one-term president. Obama promises to duplicate that.
- Gregory Pittman
from twhirl
You know, Obama's a lot of things. Jimmy Carter isn't one of them, even if the GOP would like to conjure images of gas lines and a decaying economy. That's where we are NOW, under the Bush administration.
- Chris Baskind
Chris -- the Carter analogy seems much more apropos to Bush than to Obama, if one is thinking about the price of oil and the state of the economy. McCain supporters are grasping at straws with these kinds of statements and are exposing the intellectual weakness of McCain himself.
- Sean McBride
Tad -- it's too bad that a foreign policy realist and traditional Republican centrist like Chuck Hagel didn't have a shot at the nomination. Now he's being mentioned as a possible running mate for Obama, which sounds like a good matchup to me. You're right about the religious fanatics among the Republicans -- they have mortally damaged the party.
- Sean McBride
Obama's foriegn policy is a carbon copy of Carters. Ont he bright side, a one term Obama presidency will do much good. It will stop the whining about the 200 election, show people that the Democracts really don't have a plan for leadership AND should shut up all the people who spend so much time claiming the USA is a nation of racists. I say should, but it won't. Any failure on Obamas part will be blamed on the racism of others and any criticism of him or his policies will be considered racially motivated.
- Soulhuntre
To be fair, the religious zealots in the Republican party are well balanced by the extreme leftists and anti-democracy / capitalism types in the Democratic party :)
- Soulhuntre
Sean: I'd be rather pleased if Obama picked Hagel for his VP. I'm *really* interested to see who McCain picks - if he picks someone sane, or someone who firms up his connection with the religious fanatics.
- David Worrell
Soulhuntre, why do you couple democracy with capitalism? For heaven's sake, it exists from even before capitalism and it exists in countries where capitalism is a bad word. Thankfully, world is much diverse than market <b>fundamentalism</b>.
- Krishnan Subramanian
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