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Flickr: The Help Forum: Deleted - http://www.flickr.com/help...

August 17, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Richard Walker, Lars Clausen, Peter Renshaw and 9 other people liked this

"My stream had pictures of vacations, boats, harbors, my wife, myself, our friends, sunsets, sunrises, and yes candids. I take pictures of what I see and nothing there was illegal. I did receive an answer back from my email inquiry and a staffer wrote back that I was terminated due to violation of TOS, then added "Voyeur content is a violation of the Flickr Community Guidelines." Well, for one thing, "voyeur content" is NOT mentioned in the community guidlines, and second WHAT IS "voyeur content" and what is not is extremely debatable. Third, the context of my stream was not that of voyeurism, but of capturing life around me. Yeah, the picture of my friend Jolie rigging her boat had 100 times the views of the next picture of one of the guys in our sailing fleet doing the same thing, and the picture of the cute lady I was next to at a concert last year was much more appealing to viewers than the shot of the guy who was on stilts walking through the crowd at the same event. Since it... more... - Thomas Hawk from Bookmarklet

15 more comments

It must be Monday as the Flickr Censors are back at HQ and hard at work this morning. Another day, another bullshit account deletion. At least I'm banned from the forum so that don't have to hear from me anymore. - Thomas Hawk

did not we see this happening before ?? - Peter Dawson

Was flickr like this before Yahoo? - joey

it's been happening every single day Peter, unfortunately. Flickr deletes some persons stream with no warning or recourse or any possiblity of getting it back. The person complains in the Flickr help forum. Flickr locks the thread of the person complaining and bans people who object to their behavior from the forum. New day but the same drill over and over and over again. Just different users. - Thomas Hawk

Flickr's Community Guidelines are *amazingly* vague allowing them to delete accounts if you're "creepy" or "that guy." See the thing is "that guy," isn't defined in any way and so especially recently flickr has been deleting lots of street photography calling it voyeuristic. If Cartier-Bresson were still alive and had a Flickr account I'm sure he'd be deleted as being "that guy" as well. Nevermind someone like Magnum photographer Bruce Gilden. - Thomas Hawk

it's too bad really and there's not a damn thing we can do about it. - Thomas Hawk

Thomas, this may sound like a silly idea but you (or someone) should do a short video/documentary. Youtube that bitch and it will spread like fire. Your blogs are reaching me but words don't spread like video. None of my friends want to read blogs (the ones that don't live on the web like me, that is). The material you have is thorough but excessive... localize the hard points of the material at one easy to spread source and you'll get the response you want. - Marco

You could always move to Google Picasa or Facebook. I don't hear about albums or streams getting removed from those sites, and many of them have the community built around them. Nor do I see a lot of companies stealing photos from those sites to use as ads content with out permission. - Wizetux

Whatever happened to a "warning", just for a heads up at least? - Spencer

Every time I think about paying for Flickr, I read something like this and think no way in hell. - Lix

Spencer, that would seem to be a polite thing to do. Or at a minimum having someone from Flickr say hey, we have a problem with this photo, do you think you could delete it for us. Rather than simply nuking someone's entire stream and wiping out 100% of their photos just like that. While I'd hope that no one would keep unbacked up copies of their photos on Flickr, people still do. At least mark their account private for a week and let them take down any unbacked up photos before nuking it. - Thomas Hawk

I agree completely. I do like Flickr, and am a Pro user, but sometimes I have to wonder. - Spencer

Wizetux, unfortunately Google Picasa doesn't match flickr for community and Facebook is a *horrible* place to do photo sharing. The way that Facebook shares photos as these super tiny little micro thumbnails is aesthetically unpleasing and they also have file size limits etc that are lower than Flickr's. It would be super cool if Facebook wanted to create a "Pro" version to really rival Flickr. If people paid for it, they could support the cost and it would be an incredibly sticky thing for their members. - Thomas Hawk

Zooomr? - Stephen Mack

Thomas, I responded to your Flickr message to me. Thank you. - BeeYourself

heather (staff) says: beeyourself2, someone from the team responded to you a couple of days ago. It is appalling that some people are such good Germans. I think that's a close enough Godwin* reference for me to bring this topic to a close. Posted 3 hours ago. This thread has been closed by Flickr Staff. - Thomas Hawk

Mike Lewis

Friendfeeders, I can only feel so sorry for you. See why here: #pw

August 10, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Bastien Labelle, Lindsay, polou/indigo_bow and 3 other people liked this

We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new pro accounts. To help with your transition, we have built an export tool so you can save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export. Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not be accessible after this date. - Mike Lewis

5 more comments

That's coming... - Alejandro

ya... I can see facebook shutting this thing down and just rolling it into their status update things... I hope it doesn't happen, but I fear it will. - Wolfman-K

I have a feeling it'll merge into one big wall/feed/thing. - Mike Lewis

Well at least it dosen't become Vox - Mike Lewis

$ - polou/indigo_bow

Eh, the dollar is useless, what's the symbol for the Euro or Yuan (Chinese I think)? You're right though, indigo_bow, it's about the money money. - Mike Lewis

Mike Bracco to Mike's feed, TheNextWeb Forum

Always use protection. Use Firefox...LOL - http://9gag.com/gag/341/

July 28, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Krishnakanth Chimalamarri, Victor Ryden 美久太阿, (jeff)isageek and 7 other people liked this

Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

Physics WIN - http://twitpic.com/508qo

May 11, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Ibrahim Ozturkcan, Vezquex, Michael Markman and 302 other people liked this

awesome - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

55 more comments

I want to do that on my exercise balls. - Anika

How many tries (and broken bones) did that take? - Johnny

Homygorsh - Martha

I just don't know how you figure out you can do that. - caj needs a haircut

I'm sure if I tried it I would be in traction right now. - The original Kevin

Really Awsome! - Pierotaglia

süper :) - Göksel Şirin

O_o - Bluesun 2600

THAT IS CRAZY AWESOME! - Chieze Okoye

wow. gotta reshare that! - Nicķ

very cool...perfect landing too - Jeffrey Marsh

Are you serious? No way! - Andrew Trinh

I seriously just bought one of these today. but I'm with pea♥ fierce as a woozle. no attempts for me. - Nathalie

wow that is sweet - (jeff)isageek

Dude! - BEX

Usually stomping on balls makes me uncomfortable, but this is pretty awesome. - Phronk

I expect this move to be all the rage in Rhythmic Gymnastics in the next Olympics. - Jeanine W.

Very impressive :0 - Adval

boy, if you messed that up it could really put a damper on your day. Some doof needs to try it and put up their fail-flip on youtube. Absolutely amazing, though. - Rick Cogley

totally awesome!!! wow! how fun! - Susan Beebe

Was waiting for the neck snapping moment....was pleasantly surprised - Toby Graham

If I taught Physics, I'd show this to my students for open discussion - Bwana ☠

wow - Gökmen Karasu

wtf :)) - Batu

Thought he was going to munch it, clearly, he's not human. - Will Higgins™

How many times did he try that until he got it right? - Louis Gray

Not sure how many - but my guess would be that this guy is a competitive gymnast (based on the body and the setting) - things like this often come easy (when you have trained for a dozen years to develop muscle, balance and body awareness), - Brian Sullivan

holy wow - Mattb4rd

easy? If you're Jesus maybe. - Mattb4rd

I would love to see the out takes on this - Josh Haley

I really would like to try it - delbo

Otherwise known as the orthopedist's full employment act. - Tom Landini

win - Jeremiah Owyang

ZZZOMG! That is such a PHYSICS WIN. A new way to use an exercise ball! - Sean

It was amazing when he did it once, but how does he do it non-stop over and over? I lost count already. - Josh Haley

yeah and how does he teleport back to where he started? - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

bah to science, +many for physical fitness, :O - chaz2b

hogeeee! fugeee! fugaaa! - Ken Okabe

WOW! Even I am impressed. - Shawn Whitmire

I can't get enough of this. Of course it should carry the "don't try this at home disclaimer". I'm sure they could run a whole episode of Amerca's Funniest Home Videos of people trying to do this. - Mark Krynsky

Awesome ! - DAL

wow - orionstarr

Is it possible that there are some hidden cables here? His form seems too perfect as his feet swing around at the end. - Brian Sloane

nope. no cables - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

Youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Andrew C (✓)

nice. - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

I'd like to see the blooper reel - Abbas Haider Ali

i wanna try, it's awesome! - tibetsong

I am going to try this next time I go to the gym wish me luck heha. - Jason

Next time I 'm at the gym, I'm gonna give this a try! :) - burdr

burdr, did you try it out?? 8^) - Chieze Okoye

The sequel: http://friendfeed.com/nathanc... - Nathan Chase

This thread was discussed on the FFundercats (http://www.ffundercats.com/2009...) - Josh Haley

#awesomesauce - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

BTW no longer on YouTube. Bummer. - Jill Hurst-Wahl

Bump. - Kol Tregaskes

Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

Old FF UI vs New FF UI

April 6, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

demir, DarknessFalls, Tanath and 214 other people liked this

ROFLMAO! - vijay

37 more comments

EXACTLY! - AJ Batac :)

LMAO!!! - BEX

++++ - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

Posterized. Awesome - Bwana ☠

that was fast! - Rahul Das

LOL! Pegged it! - Lindsay

this is so funny yet so true! - Gerald Neo

BRILLIANT. - Zee.

fast :))))) fast and furious :)))) - Viva Vida

too much vavavooooom :) - Myriam

MEGA LOL - Olivier

Thanks for making me laugh so hard that people at work now know I use FF at work! LOL! - Dean "Karnatos" Michaud

LOL! - Dee @ Holycool.net

hhahahaha! - Susan Beebe

HAHAHAH - mjc

ROFLMAO - Dobromir Hadzhiev

I still have the old UI. - Richard A.

@Richard just go to beta.friendfeed.com - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

LMAO! - Altuğ `αℓƒσ¢υѕ´ Orgun

It is posts like this that require a favorite function. - Rob Diana

Rob - so true! - Susan Beebe

This is so funnyyY! - Jorge Escobar

that was great :) - Alp

sweet - mike "glemak" dunn

LMAO. Awesome illustration!! - Praveen Vasudev

PMSL - Tatty Gibson

LOL! - JazJaz

rofl. - Alp

lmao! :) - Mathew A. Koeneker

LOL - Moses Kpetigo

Is FriendFeed Beta Too Fast? - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

This made our office laugh out loud :) - Bret Taylor

hahaha - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

Wear it proudly :) The future will be going at Wall-E pace... - Christopher Galtenberg

the picture might be construed as being somewhat ambiguous ... I mean, where is the pleasure of it all ? - pb:

is friendfeed still fast for you? i want it to keep up with me :) - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

#awesomesauce - Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど

yup..that's how it's been.... :) - Rohit

Suicide Girls

MySpace - http://blogs.myspace.com/index...

June 4, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Hamid, ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift, Wolfman-K and 3 other people liked this

Today's Preview Pics - http://SuicideGirls.com/... - Suicide Girls from Bookmarklet

the tattoo is so cool - DiDi TaTa

Thomas Hawk

Flickr User Posts Comments Critical of Obama on the Official White House Photostream and Has His Comments Along With His Entire Flickrstream Deleted Without Warning - http://thomashawk.com/2009...

June 9, 2009 from Thomas Hawk Digital Connection - Comment - Like - Share

James Tindall, Mitchell Tsai, Jason and 144 other people liked this

I was dismayed today to read about the latest alleged case of Flickr Censorship. Censorship (or as they like to call it “moderation”) continues to be a problem on Flickr. The most recent case is that of Flickr User Shepherd Johnson. According to Johnson on the evening of Wednesday June 3rd, he posted comments critical of President Obama on “8 or so” photos on the White House’s official Flickrstream. He said that he posted these comments because he was upset with the language that Obama chose to use in his recent Cairo speech regarding terrorism. Johnson said that two days later his comments had been scrubbed and deleted from the Flickr photos. Johnson shared with me the type of comment that he made and what he shared with me seemed appropriate and polite. On Friday, June 5th, once again Johnson posted more comments on photos in the official White House Flickrstream. This time comments that were critical of the President’s recent decision to try and withhold photographs of detainee... more... - Thomas Hawk

75 more comments

wtf? - Prolific Programmer from IM

Wait, wha....? - Stephen Mack

I won't comment on the acceptability of Flickr's exercising of their right to entirely delete users accounts for any reason they deem sufficient, but I will note that they claim that right pretty clearly in their ToS, even for paid accounts (the pro-rated paid value of the account is forfeited to Flicker as well, by the way). I would recommend anyone who uses Flickr to protect their... more... - Kevin Fox

As owner of my photos, I have the right to delete any untoward or off-topic comments which I do often on my Flickr photos. Always with an explanation of why I deleted the comment. I'm sure the WH or whoever did the same thing. Now with users who come back and repost a similar comment, I block them. My point: I don't care if his comments were deleted. That's a non-issue. But to have Flickr delete his account is overkill. I've complained about a lot of Flickr users and they still have their accounts. - Anika

I think this falls under the category of "Don't like their community? Start your own damn photo sharing site." - Brian Johns

Or defect to Smugmug??? - Roberto Bonini

If you don't feel that Flickr should delete accounts without warning or censor political speech dig this here: http://digg.com/politic... - Thomas Hawk

Doesn't Flickr ever listen to this negative press that they get over and over when these things happen? Any "normal" company would be out of business if they treated their customers like this. - Nils Sandin

Apparently, no. They don't. - Roberto Bonini

I totally don't agree with that, not cool at all on Flickr's part. The White House is subject to criticism wherever they put their name and it should not be censored. Probably not the best forum for the criticism but that doesn't mean they should delete his account. - Jim Graham

Please don't be in a hurry to indict Flickr, where there any other reasons that led to the their decision? - Shakeel Mahate

Maybe multiple users got mad about his comments and blocked/flagged his account, which automatically deactivated it? - Roshan Vyas

I certainly gave flickr an opportunity to respond. I emailed both Yahoo PR and Flickr Community Manager Heather Champ on it. The response in my blog post is what their PR firm sent back to me. They had every opportunity to try and explain their position. These comments as well as comments on my blog post are open as well and they are also perfectly welcome to respond there as well. I sent an email back to their PR agency saying that I'd be happy to publish any additional comment from Flickr on this matter. - Thomas Hawk

Kevin's point is a good one. Certainly Flickr is well within their right to delete an account for anything that they'd like. And I think it is too bad that Shepard lost photos here that he did not have backed up. It's a good reminder not to rely on anyone but yourself to back up your photos. It's still not right though and as the most significant and relevant social photo sharing site in the world I think that they owe their users better than this. - Thomas Hawk

Cecily, I feel strongly that free speech should be allowed on Flickr. I also feel strongly that Flickr needs to revisit their policies and procedures and not make account deletions *permanent*. I think we are owed an opportunity to appeal a censorship decision and even Flickr has admitted in the past that they've made mistakes and apologized of other cases of censorship. I'm not going... more... - Thomas Hawk

Flickr has a system in place to mark accounts and users as 18+ adult. Even if they find things that they feel are offensive I think that they can simply mark the account as such and then all default accounts can no longer see that content. It is not right for them to censor users this way. I'd object to the same thing anywhere. Hell, I was bitching at MSFT this weekend for censoring the... more... - Thomas Hawk

Shepherd Johnson just posted in another forum that he spoke with Heather Champ about the matter and says that she told him that his account was deleted for posting a prison detainee photo as well what Flickr perceived as his "spamming" Flickr. Johnson left a voicemail on the matter on Carol Bartz's cell phone. - Thomas Hawk

From Johnson: "She said that was part of the reason and the other part was that she claimed that I was spamming the forum, to which I asked her if she also gave warnings to the people who posted on twenty photographs the same "That's my President Go bama!" type drivel over and over and over again. I also had her define the word "spam", to which she could not. She seemed very careful to... more... - Thomas Hawk

more in this thread here: http://www.flickr.com/groups... - Thomas Hawk

ahhh By LORETTA CHAO BEIJING -- Some Chinese Internet users criticized a government plan to require personal computer makers to ship Internet-filtering software with all new pcs, after state-run media publicized details of the initiative. - Chad Spacey

Johnson is also saying that Heather said she didn't know anything about the deleted comments which may mean that it was actually the white house that deleted those, not Flickr. - Thomas Hawk

What Anika said; deleting the comments is not big deal. Deleting the photo stream is infuriating. - RAPatton

How friggin' difficult would it be for Flickr to make banned accounts private for 7 days so banned users at least have the opportunity to retrieve their files first? Hell, if Flickr wants to ban accounts, maybe they should offer a DVD of the banned user's pics (for $5 for free accounts, free for pro accounts). That'd go a long way in making them seem a little less horrible toward their users. - Chris Charabaruk

As I've always maintained, it's the web site owner's right to do what they want with the bits they store, but one has to wonder whether the millions of Flickr photo comments made in the name of Bush-bashing would ever illicit such a response? Flickr obviously has the right to choose sides, but they should be upfront with their reasoning in this case. In other words something like "we... more... - Craig Eddy

did Yahoo not jail those Chinese photographers? - Prolific Programmer from IM

Re Chad Spacey: http://shanghaiist.com/2009... Flickr is not the worse thing - Ivy Jiang

Craig, I think that that is an interesting point to consider. If you do a search for Obama on the flickr blog you come up with 30 different posts (many of them quite flattering including extensive coverage of his innaguration). By contrast a search for Bush only pulls up 2 posts. I'm not saying that Flickr staff shouldn't be able to promote Obama over Bush on the official Flickr blog,... more... - Thomas Hawk

Wait, so they CLEAR all photos after your account is deleted?!? - Prolific Programmer from IM

obviously Flickr feels bad about this at least a little bit, otherwise they wouldn't be offering him a monetary credit back. Still, that doesn't make up for the fact that they permanently deleted his photos along with likely thousands of comments and commentary on his photos. @Prolific Programmer. Yes, they do clear all your photos when they delete your account, permanently and irreversibly. Also all your comments, group postings, other's comments on your photos, etc. - Thomas Hawk

so I wasn't being daft by uploading identical photos to smugmug, zooomr and flickr? - Prolific Programmer from IM

I survived political censorship and all I got was this $25 gift card. - Dave

I wonder if there was something else that could have caused Mr. Johnson to be banned, but isn't being mentioned. Maybe he has previous infractions that pushed his account just far enough over the line? Personally, I want to hear both sides before I make any judgements. - TeraDyne Azurepaw

NO DAMNIT FLICKR IS EVIL! - Prolific Programmer from IM

<j/k> - Prolific Programmer from IM

I think what is starting to trouble me more is that according to Johnson, Flickr was not aware that his comments critical of Obama had been deleted before they deleted his account. This leads me to believe that there is a good possibility that the comments were actually deleted by the White House itself. If the White House is going to engage social media, they need to do it honestly and... more... - Thomas Hawk

TeraDyne, Johnson is now saying that Flickr Community Manager Heather Champ called him on the phone and talked to him for about two hours after he left a voicemail on Carol Bartz's cell phone. He is saying that she told him that the reason why his account was deleted was because he posted a prisoner detainee abuse photo and for "spamming" flickr, without defining what "spamming" flickr... more... - Thomas Hawk

Yes Thomas, the WH involvement would be most disturbing. - Craig Eddy

Thomas: Here is my speculation WRT the White House engaging in social media. You've probably got some hyper-liberal new grad or still in school intern running these accounts. Those types don't like people speaking against anything that has to do with what they believe to be right and haven't learned that its better to just accept or engage those with opposing thoughts, rather than just trying to force them to go away. Thus, the comments get deleted unless they are "on message." - EricaJoy

Thomas, the problem is that Johnson is the one telling both sides, therefore, we aren't really getting both sides. While he might be trustworthy, it's never a good thing to hear both sides from one party. I agree, though, that Flickr should come out with their side, but I'll leave my judgement and opinion up in the air until both parties have given their viewpoints. - TeraDyne Azurepaw

Erica, that would be really sad if it were indeed the case. I'm personally interested in authentic real conversations with regards to social media and always had assumed that the various social media sites maintained by Obama's team were in fact uncensored. I don't know how to get comment on this officially from the white house, but I'm going to try and call them and see if I can at least get a no comment as to whether or not they censor their comments on their flickrstream. - Thomas Hawk

TeraDyne. I totally agree and think it would be good for Flickr to be more forthcoming in this case. Unfortunately for us at this point, it's up to them whether or not they are going to explain any more on this than they already have. - Thomas Hawk

In previous generations/administrations Shepherd Johnson would likely have been deleted, not just his account. Seriously though, Flickr needs to implement a ban rather than delete. - Andrew Smith

@Pat: totally agree, but the moderator (whether Flickr or the WH) needs to be TRANSPARENT about *WHY* there doesn't seem to be any "negative" comments. The reason isn't that no one disagrees, the reason is that we scrubbed them. - Craig Eddy

@AndrewSmith: that's a totally ridiculous assertion, unless you believe in Arkanacide - Craig Eddy

Pat, I'm not saying that Flickr is not allowed to censor. It is their soapbox after all. But flickr is a large public square, even while owned by Yahoo. People invest thousands of hours there and it is a *huge* space for public discourse, similar to our own FF here. Certainly neither FF or Flickr "owe" us a soapbox. But I think that it's respectful given the time and energy that we... more... - Thomas Hawk

I disagree with what flickr has done to Johnson. But if the WH rules the States and flickr rules flickr, we'd better backup our photos in a safe place - "in the end all these sites really are are their communities". This is a fact. - Ivy Jiang

Deletion shouldn't be irreversible if Heather's promises 17 months ago, when another account-scrubbing caused some outcry, have any value. See: http://www.flickr.com/help... and http://www.flickr.com/help... - Edward Coffey

Another update from Johnson: "Update #2: More from Johnson: "Heather only mentioned that she deleted the comments concerning the Abu Ghraib photo, when I asked her about the original comment on the Obama Cairo Speech she had no idea what I was talking about. I crafted my dialogue with her to find out exactly what she knew and when she knew it. That means that somebody connected with the Whitehouse, one of Peter Souza's staff or an intern, deleted my comments originally." - Thomas Hawk

Well, if the comments were removed by the owner of the stream, it sucks but I think all flickr account owners are entitled to removed comments on their photos. It's a bit silly, since the Obama administration pledged openness, so it does against that. I still can't understand why his account was deleted, though. That seems very extreme for what this man did. Shame on you flickr. - Jason Hill

Truly some great photos and history being recorded by them on the White House Stream. As for as the comments go, everyone has the right to say anything they want...on they're own stream. - John D Reasor

Alleged. Sounds like spin. - John Blossom

interesting. I'm glad I didn't do that trick yet. - NoahDavidSimon

There are a couple of questions that come too mind, were his comments the only ones that were deleted from the comment stream. Why can't flickr simply make the offending person flickr account private, then notify them that they are up for account will be deleted and give them 10 days to retrieve their pictures. It can't be that hard, to do some like that. - Kim Landwehr

I have always believed that Flickr needs a 'safe harbour' where an account can be parked while the issue is worked through. - Mel Buckpitt

Just sent the following flickrmail to the official Whitehouse Flickr photostream account. Hopefully they respond: Hi, My name is Thomas Hawk. I am a blogger and Flickr photographer. I'm writing to officially inquire as to whether or not The Official White House photostream censors or removes comments from the images in this stream. Recently a flickr user, Shepherd Johnson, had his... more... - Thomas Hawk

We used to be able to make fun of Bush all we wanted and not have our accounts deleted. Well, this is "change". - Morton Fox

It's horrible that this would happen without ample warning and yet, I pay flickr $25/ year... - Jeremy Kunz

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF? is wrong with Flickr? Don't they have any sense?? wow - Susan Beebe

I've said it before. it is legal. I would be a hypocrite to say otherwise. my arguments with twitter isn't an argument for free speech, but merely that they take the interests of it's users seriously. I may not like Obama as a leader, but that is irrelevant. private property is private property and this is why we have to make sure no private company can monopolize API standards or... more... - NoahDavidSimon

I know that I am showing the wackiness that is I but I really don't care. It isn't censorship by the definition of the word. TOS. The guy was attempting to make a point by threadjacking. Folks on the interwebs used to call that sort of thing out. I might not agree with flickr deleting his stuff but once again the onus was on him to back up his own content. It is not as if there are not plenty of other places that he can post hist material. My 2 cents. - Mathew A. Koeneker

thanks for pointing this out Thomas - NoahDavidSimon

This has nothing to deal with the first amendment. It's their site. It's a customer service issue. Just start a boycott. Post a message: "I am moving to <your favorite gallery site> because Flickr deleted Johnson's account". Once you reach a million people threatening a boycott, they will do something or maybe they don't need users anymore. - Antonio Piccolboni

Antonio, I couldn't imagine living without Flickr. It's such an amazing and unique place. I'd rather try to stay and change it than boycott it. I think they made a bad censorship call here and would like to see them publicly apologize for it to Shepherd. More significantly though I think that they owe us as users not to make account deletions immediately permanent and to provide warning... more... - Mrsth

While I agree that Flickr should never delete a photostream (banning or locking would be better), it is still the photographer's, or Flickr's, prerogative to delete comments, as it plainly states in the ToS. Does it go against the transparency Obama is championing? Yes, it does, and that is unfortunate. But, seeing how Shepherd is now trolling the White House Photostream, throwing temper tantrums like a 5 year old, he is overstepping boundaries. - Rene, Pro Button Pusher

sorry that last comment was from me, I was accidentally logged into mrsth's account. - Thomas Hawk

Certainly Flickr made a bad call by completely deleting his account, but its their right. But why make critical comments about Obama's speech or policies or whatever on his FLICKR site? Unless his comments were about what he didnt like about the photos, it seems like the wrong forum to me. - Manny

Manny, I can think of few other forums more relevant for talking about releasing the prison detainee abuse photos than on an actual official Govt. photostream. To me it seems like one of the most appropriate places of all. The fact of the matter is that Obama did in fact flip flop on this issue and this was a way that an American could offer his criticism of that fact in a public forum.... more... - Thomas Hawk

And I certainly recognize that Flickr is owned by a private company Yahoo and Yahoo is well within their legal rights to delete this account. As I am within my legal rights to criticize their decision as loudly as I'd like. I just think that as a private company that they owe us more than that. Flickr is a jewel, an incredibly important piece of the cultural landscape. I'd like to see them handle their stewardship of it more responsibly. - Thomas Hawk

Sure, Flickr is privately-owned, but so are airlines. Flickr should not be allowed to get rid of your account any more than an airline is allowed to get rid of your luggage. If some stewardess decides you're being a jerk and kicks you off the plane, the airline isn't allowed to throw away your bags! - Gabe

Amazing to see all the Obama apologists endorse positions they condemned in Bush. I remember people jumping all over me when I noted back during the primary that Obama's super-cool social media campaign apparatus would very soon be a *government* apparatus with formidable censorship power. Looks like that day has arrived. - joneilortiz

wish i could read the actual article, but firefox 3 on the mac crashes every time i try to load the page. - dannysullivan

The details that I've seen on the reproduced image of this post seem to indicate that it was not just comments but reproduction of the controversial photos. Is it censorship? Yes. Is it what the White House wants? Yes. You take it from there. - John Blossom

danny, I'm not sure why that is. I'm able to open the page in firefox 3 on a mac no problem. - Thomas Hawk

John, yes it is my understanding that this user posted an image that is widely available via Google Image Search and other channels of detainee prisoner abuse along with comments objecting to the recent passage of legislation blocking release of additional prison abuse photos. It's my understanding that the image posted was not from his photostream but actually from another user's... more... - Thomas Hawk

Yet everyone still continues to use Flickr for some reason. - Dave Roth

Dave, because it's an amazing community, perhaps the single greatest community, of photographers on the internet today. There is so much that is so good about Flickr and there really is nothing else quite like it anywhere else on the web. That said, Yahoo Management has largely allowed flickr to abuse their users and repeatedly engage in censorship and refuses to allow safeguards to be... more... - Thomas Hawk

Dan Hsiao

Pixar Confirms Monsters Inc Sequel | /Film - http://www.slashfilm.com/2009...

June 7, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Iphigenie, Philip Lei, Peter and 70 other people liked this

"Mike Wazowski!" - Dan Hsiao from Bookmarklet

14 more comments

That'll make a lot of kids and adults happy. :) - James Stratford

Hooray! My mom just asked me last week why they hadn't done a Monsters Inc sequel. She'll be happy! - Felicia Yue

I <3 Boo! ^_^ What a cutie! By the way, will she be in the sequel? Curious to know what the story will be and which characters will return. - April Buchheit

Jess - they did Toy Story 2 before being acquired. They've always said they weren't averse to sequels if they had a really great story to tell. And finally, Disney may have purchased Pixar but it seemed to me that it was so that Pixar could "take over" Disney animation and not the other way around. So in other words, maybe/maybe not :-). - invariant

YESSSSS!!!!!! - Jeannie Choi

YAY! I LOVE THIS! - joey

Cool! :-) - Kol Tregaskes

w00t! - David Cook

:D - WoH: Minding her Steves

Great movie for all ages. :-) - Mathew A. Koeneker

Gonna be hard to top the original :) - Bwana ☠

invariant - I sort of vaguely thought that they did Toy Story 2 because it was Disney's IP and Disney was going to do a sequel (straight to video) with or without Pixar. - Andrew C (✓)

@Andrew C - That's how I read it in the book "The Pixar Touch". It was sort of a threat that Disney was going to do it by themselves and Lasseter came back and took over. - Andrew Smith

I really hope this is done in Pixar's soon-to-be Vancouver studio and I have *anything* to do with it. - Andrew Smith

But Pixar said the Vancouver studio would be for shorts. Ain't nothing wrong with that, "Partly Cloudy" was terrific. - Andrew C (✓)

Anthony Citrano

Benefit spending soars to new high | USA TODAY - http://www.usatoday.com/news...

June 4, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, Scoble, Alex Scoble, Wolfman-K and 5 other people liked this

"...one of every six dollars of Americans' income is now coming in the form of a federal or state check or voucher. Benefits, such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and health care, accounted for 16.2% of personal income in the first quarter of 2009, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That's the highest percentage since the government began compiling records in 1929." - Anthony Citrano from Bookmarklet

2 more comments

they should cut social security and medicare benefits by 10% off the top right now. - Thomas Hawk

"Benefits, such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and health care, accounted for 16.2% of personal income in the first quarter of 2009" !!!!!!!!!! Holy crap who pays for that? Hmmm, I wonder. - Craig Eddy

"In all, government spending on benefits will top $2 trillion in 2009 — an average of $17,000 provided to each U.S. household, federal data show. " Great. Where's my check? Seems like all they do is take from my sweat. - Craig Eddy

Leo Laporte

Question for you all. I have a trademark for TWiT® - first used in May 2005, trademark applied for May 2006 and registered March 2007. The trademark is in "Entertainment in the nature of visual and audio performances, and musical, variety, news and comedy shows." http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin...

May 25, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Dobromir Hadzhiev, Richard Thomson, Dakota O'Neill and 168 other people liked this

Up until now there's been no conflict with Twitter itself because the brands were in different arenas. (We have, however, sent out cease and desist letters to companies using "twit" in their name and doing audio or video). But now Twitter is doing a TV show. The confusion between TWiT and Twitter is mounting. What do I do? Defend my mark? Or let my brand be swallowed by the big guy (even though we were first by several years)? I need your advice. What does the community think? - Leo Laporte

245 more comments

Defend your trademark, 99% of people will totally understand, you have to do it, or you'll loose it! - Chris Lloyd

Defend it. People that watch Twit Tv will also defend it. - Jason Rundell

Can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Does TWIT still stand up as an accurate brand for all the new stuff you are doing with TWIT Live? Might be time to find a new visual/brand identity. - BryanSchuetz

At the SF MusicTech conference a lawyer called "tweets" "twits" repeatedly. Let's just say I think you should defend your mark and let TV chew up and spit out twitter. - Richard Walker

Bryan: The TWiT name carries alot of weight in tech circles, it will take alot of money/time/effort to make a completely new name for something that will probably outlast twitter anyway - Chris Lloyd

Incidentally, Twitter just got their trademark approved May 11, 2009 in the following "Telecommunication services, namely, providing online and telecommunication facilities for real-time interaction between and among users of computers, mobile and handheld computers, and wired and wireless communication devices; enabling individuals to send and receive messages via email, instant... more... - Leo Laporte

There is nothing ideal about any aspect of IP law. - Richard Walker

Chris: I think Leo's name carries more weight than TWIT and (for me at least) he IS TWIT so I don't see it as quite such a big deal. - BryanSchuetz

Of course, there's a larger long-term problem because of the way that Twitter has weakened _your_ brand. It might be less expensive (and a better use of your time) to rebrand TWiT into something that strengthens your brand and moves it away from Twitter; avoiding any future problems (and there will be future problems). You can't fight Oprah. - Professor Messer

Leo - your brand, as most evidenced by your show and content is awesome - for a small group of peeps who have had a chance to discover it and enjoy. I'd use the overlap in marques to leverage Twitter in some type of promotional / service partnership, whilst still retaining your brand and the equity you've built. Don't fight em, join em, at least tactically. - Thom Kennon

Never give in to the big guy! - Brian Harper

I'm with the majority, defend your trademark and your legacy. - JCunwired

Defend it Leo. You built the brand and they need to honor that. - Robert

I always thought calling the network the same name as a show on the network was wierd. But it's a recognized brand, and I wouldn't give in. Send some mails to all the twitvid.io's out there. - Anton

Is the BIG guy really that Big? Plus, with the way busines is changing one thing seems to remain the same...protectionism, let's sue someone it's easier. I'm suggesting your desicion is easy here Leo but in light of the landscape changing do you really have a chance? The other question to ponder is this, Twitter is the hot thing now but will it be 5 years from now and will it be true... more... - Owen Greaves

speaking from a british point of view a twit is someone who is a little silly or stupid. I think your podcast can stand up against the everising onslaught of twitter. Why not rise above all this discussion and say what you are This week in technology, a fantastic poscast full of wit and essential information for gadget freaks such as myself. Let the owners of twitter gabble on, in my book baby creatures twitter and you are certainly no TWIT. - Chris Jennings

@ Professor Messer 'You can't fight Oprah' is not totally correct. You can FIGHT her, can you win? Maybe. I think, offline, Leo VS Oprah would go several rounds. Tweetfight says otherwise. - Jason Rundell

Defend it Leo. What's the use in having a trademark if others can infringe upon it. - TechListReport

Sorry to say, my girlfriend recently yelled at my for watching 'Twitter' when I was really watching TWiT live. Confusion does exist for people who don't fully understand what each service is. - Wo

The good thing about trademark law is that it's well established and legally documented. The problem with trademark law is that it's well established and legally documented. You need a brand to create awareness, and you need the trademark to protect your established brand. This one is sticky because TWiT is well established but it's going to be an expensive brand to protect. Twitter's... more... - Professor Messer

@Jason Rundell, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a cage match between Leo and Oprah (who wouldn't?). But it'll cost a lot of time and money. Sometimes it's better to be smarter than the legal system. - Professor Messer

Oh, and I think this is just the opportunity we need to resubscribe our iTunes and take over the top 10 lists. :) - Professor Messer

Can I ask - did TWiT exist before Twitter? Or did Twitter exist first? And - is your name TWiT based on Twitter, at all? - Chris Loft

Chris Loft: TWiT predates Twitter and comes from This week in tech... - Chris Lloyd

I think it's only right to defend your trademark Leo. You were there way before Twitter and just because they have gained significantly increased attention and media coverage, doesn't mean you have to lay down and submit to Twitter. I would defend your mark vigorously if I were you. You've worked hard to build your brand. - Marty McPadden

Chris Loft proves that there is confusion between the two. - Anton

Leo - TWit is an incredible brand and network of invaluable podcasts - you simply have to defend it - Robert Davies

Fight for it. When they try to get additional financing make your move. Asserting your trademark will cause them to settle or buy you out when they go public. - Alan Morris

I think that once you see the Twitter television show, you'll probably want to distance yourself as far away as possible. - Professor Messer

Defend your trademark. I get more intellectual engagement from the TWiT network of shows than I do from most of my Twitter community. - Eric Geller

Use whatever legal tools you have available to defend your brand, especially if Twitter is talking about crossing into audio/video. You have a strong product, and Twitter is creating brand confusion in the market. A hard line needs to be drawn between your product and theirs, and it's clear that they are not going to keep a respectful distance with TWiT. - Jason Miller

You have to rise above the emotion and make a business decision. How much will it cost you to defend versus how much will you gain? Simple cost/benefit. My guess is that this fight will cause you to lose focus on your work, be a financial hardship as you go up against a company with VC backing, and all for the "possibility" that you will win and maybe get some compensation from Twitter.... more... - Tom Sheppard

I thought twitvid.com was the new video netcasts Leo has been talking about, boy was I surprised! - Daniel Rinaman

It has to be defended.Giving up and letting another company take your brand, no matter how big the company or personal feelings toward the owner, can not be an option. You built your brand and should defend it. - David Z

Defend it Leo! - G Dub of the Carolinas

Don't think you have much choice do you. You either protect it or lose it. If you don't at some point they will try the other way. - nef 919 from Nambu

You need to defend it Leo. You had the trademark first. - imperator3733

How about a name like LeoCast... No confusion there. - Rustic Thoughts

It's YOUR mark Leo and you have worked hard to make it as well-known as it is. Defend what's yours!! - Jim Connolly

Twitter will be virtually gone like Classmates and MySpace in a few years... Keep the name! - Rick Harvey

yes defend your trademark - Alfonso alatorre

Twit came before Twitter I think you should defend it. it is dumb anyways Twit and Twitter is not even the same word, it would be like CocaCola suing Coconut because of COC - URLREVIEWS

Twitter is going to be a realty show based on stalking celebrities. It wont last more than one season. - Rustic Thoughts

I say let it roll. Your a 'big guy' in your own field, but Twitter is bigger. Play off of them. You could be bigger. Look at all the petty stuff that Microsoft did..and where did it get them? Bad Press. - Gene

To keep your trademark you must defend it if it's being violated. - CT Raider

I think Twitter has the brand and you don't right now. Maybe Twitter should buy it from you or you should collaborate with twitter to monetize and add your TWiT to twitter - Amit 'zyaada' Mittal

I certainly think you should defend your trademark, isn't that why you registered? - dcale1965

I checked Twitter's own site and it looks like Twitter launched March 1, 2006. TWiT was around well before then. Being in tech, I find it hard to believe they hadn't heard of him. It was a big podcast even then. I knew of TWiT well before Twitter. This may seem like a dumb issue to some, but a lot of people I recommended the podcast to now ask me if "it's a Twitter thing." - JeffreyVC

Ev told me that when they were considering names for Twitter they knew about TWiT and decided it didn't matter. In their defense, they had no idea what or how big Twitter was to become. We talked about trademark early on and both agreed there was no conflict _as long as we were in different spaces_. And therein lies the rub. - Leo Laporte

Apple Computer and Apple records recently went through this -- what was the outcome there? - Brian Sullivan

I thought it wasn't clear infringement when Twitter came out but now that there is Twit video the infringement is very clear. I would defend. - Robert Scoble

Lawyers are expensive. Legal fights are draining. You could spend the rest of your professional life fighting this battle. I don't know what's been going on in the back channel, and you probably shouldn't say publicly, but if you haven't tried approaching the Twitter board members privately, you might want to. Lay out the facts carefully, and if you're open to a settlement, say roughly... more... - Dave Winer

"Clear Infringement". How exactly? It's a lose/lose for Twitter if they choose to encroach or even litigate. - Arawak

Yeah but Leo added video later. And now Twitter is adding video. The real issue is that there is no clear separation between a radio/video network and a social microblogging site these days. And our trademarking system is so ridiculous that these kinds of conflicts go completely unnoticed all the time. - JeffreyVC

I'd say it's time to either re-brand TWiT or defend it. Deferring the decision and just living with the confusion and ambiguity is no longer an option. - Ken Sheppardson

Defend your trademark - Lars Clausen

Defend your brand Leo.The World Wide Fund for Nature took on the WWF and made them change their name to WWE. If they can do it, so can you. - BRҰANSAҰS

The big problem with defending it... beyond the unfortunate fact that it's a drain on resources that could be better spent elsewhere... is it's not clear how you'd win. They're not going to change their name. They'll forever be Twitter. Is it sufficient to somehow "ban" them from ever doing anything in video? Enforcing that in perpetuity's would only raise your blood pressure. - Ken Sheppardson

I would take the emotion out of the equation -- find out what it would cost to defend and determine what it is worth to have exclusive/non-exclusive use (maybe some subjectivity here) and make the decision using that information. - Brian Sullivan

I say defend it but only so much as to bring more media attention to your brand... once you have the media's attention you can use that to change the brand identity if you so choose. Your followers myself included will stay fans no matter what you call your brand, but I think you have an opportunity to expand and use twitter as a means of gaining media attention! - Nathan McClain

If you don't do this you wont have a leg to stand on in the future when you need to really protect it. I can piss all over your trademark if you do not defend it. - David Lloyd

Leo: in a trademark fight what is the ROI? I am sure it will be very expensive and not sure you will get much in return but if you forced Twitter to change its name I am sure they would quickly settle with you. - Robert Scoble

I still think Twitter will be as irrelevant as MySpace in 2 years, but it's your brand to protect. - Mike Lewis

Ideal Outcome: A $$$ settlement sufficient to comfortably fund the rebranding of TWiT. - Ken Sheppardson

Robert makes a very good point. This could get messy and expensive, although it seems like those guys are VERY hard to work/interact with. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

while bryan lee makes a good point, their battles took a long time to resolve. but, don't let this deter you. i would suggest you defend it. if anything, i see you have a strong case and whatever happens can be in your favour. it's possible twitter can concede in infringing in your trademark and may be even consider licensing through the course of the battle. but be very, very patient for any outcome to happen. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Dave: wrong. Leo is who got me on Twitter. His marks were more popular and predated Twitter's. - Robert Scoble

Leo got me into twitter too! - Jim Connolly

I think Leo has a good chance at wining his case since he did register the copyright first. Twitter is still not a money making business. They are living off of VC money. They will probably not have the funds to mount a case since their money will be tied up with keeping twitter afloat. Am I right? - BRҰANSAҰS

Leo also got me on Twitter shortly after they went public. - Mike Bracco

regarding AMF, Inc. v. Sleekcraft Boats, 599 F.2d 341 (9th Cir. 1979) the battle was very different. one of the things found was that the company had an 'infinity' of other brands to choose. it's a very different situation in detail, although it looks comparable at face value. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Or just have them become a premium sponsor. There used to be so much twitter talk before, I think they really should be owing you some gratitude for the traffic. - Arawak

As part of any settlement, you should demand Ev and Biz concede that individual Twitter entries are "Tweets", as embarrassed as they seem to be by that. They're net "twits" or "twitters"... they're "tweets". - Ken Sheppardson

i'm sure something can be negotiated with twitter. a lawsuit in this case would show you're just defending your trademark because they are encroaching in your territory. you're not taking them on what they are known to do, their core competency. rather, it's stepping into your own grounds. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

not doing anything on purpose may weaken your trademark. many court cases also end up not going through the entire ordeal. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Yep, I agree the day has come where it's either fight or flight. And I don't mean that quite the way it sounds. :-/ - Ken Sheppardson

Defend!!!! - Mark Williamson from BuddyFeed

I don't think you have much choice. Either you defend it or you lose it. - Pascal Sijen

dave johnson: true, there's always a degree of uncertainty; but that doesn't mean giving up in defending one's investment in a trademark. it can be argued pragmatically and it's to the point where leo must defend his territory upon which twitter is encroaching. aye. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I'm not sure you can win, are we aren't even sure what they're going to call it yet. If it ends up being Twitter.TV you have no chance to beat them. - DarknessFalls

There is even a shortening service called: http://twitpwr.com/ - The brand must be defended. - David Z

Leo: You must defend it or lose it. They need to know you also have the muscle behind you. I have the attorney that did all the trademark work for Terminator 1-4, Rambo, old timer who knows every angle. I have him on retainer and would love to join your cause. I can arrange a chat with him at no cost, then you can decide to move ahead, or if the cost seems to steep, I would be interested in partnering with you on the trademark. Fight on Leo! Let me know if you want to chat Thx Chad - Chad Harris

I'm of the opinion that twitter's initial success back in 2006 and 2007 was in part due to piggybacking on the brand name recognition that Leo had built over the years prior. - Chris Heath

I think defending it is what you must do, but perhaps take a different look at it all together and suggest some kind of mutual PR blitz leading into a partnership or new brand identity for TWiT. Just don't call it SyFy! - Aaron T. Harvey

The question here is would a "Reasonable person" confuse the two? I would like to think I am a reasonable person (even though I can't spell) and I would not be confused in the least. I love the Twit network and watch several hours a week, but I don't see the issue. - Rob

I agree that since Leo has been a twitter evangelist all these years, they should be able to strike an accord somehow. Maybe even partnering up on the whole Twitter TV Show since Leo has the video presence online. - BRҰANSAҰS

You have to defend now, or 5 years from now you'll have a weaker case against the twitty podcast network. - Robert Hafer

Rob, the question isn't whether or not you or I would confuse the two, but do the people who watch Oprah and maybe catch Leo on The Tech Guy confuse them...and they do. - Aaron T. Harvey

Aaron...Do you really think they would. Am I that out of touch with the "Normal People"? If that is the case then I guess I would have to conseed that to be an issue. But I am still not quite convenced. - Rob

Funny - I would enjoy the extra publicity - You have a loyal set of listeners - and none of us are confused. If people end up on your site -cause they are looking for twitter, maybe they will take a listen. People who are looking for podcasts on technology though i doubt will find twitter in a search. - Laurence Gold

Rob, I've seen it happen, even with people "in the know". People think that TWiT is somehow connected with Twitter because of the name. It's a mistake that, while not happening with everyone--and maybe not even the majority--can end up costing Leo and co. money. - Aaron T. Harvey

Protect what you worked hard to build - Shawn Hickman

Of course you should perfect TWIT for media and tech. You have the prior art, use. It's an obvious move for Twitter to exploit their 'brand' into media. You must pursue Leo. You have been a crusader for fair-use, but there are times (like this example) where fairness requires accountability. - michael sean wright

The commenter who noted that if you do not enforce your rights they may be weakened is generally correct. I suggest seeking an agreement that is mutually beneficial and recognizes your rights in the TWiT(R) trademark. - erik pelton

The problem with defending your trademark is the public backlash it can generate. Think O'Reilly and Web 2.0 or Apple and Profit Pod. But in this case, if you are indeed convinced that there is some infringement of TWiT by Twitter, I think you'd be doing us all a favor if you could somehow head off their plans for a celebrity-stalking TV show. - Dave

The problem is not really twitter, or a twitter video show, but all the people who says they just sent a twit. Also all the small companies with twit in their name, who are in the video/audio area. Twit radio, twitvid.io etc etc. I see no problem in protecting the brand. However it ends out you'll get a lot of publicity. - Anton

Leo, this could be an opportunity for you to come out ahead. Yes it's an awkward situation and yes you could fight this on legal grounds, but there's no win for you there. Here's a way for you to win. Today your brand is a split brand--split between "Leo LaPorte" and "TWIT." You can win by focusing more on building the Leo LaPorte part of the brand. "Leo LaPorte" doesn't equal TWIT, yr... more... - Michael Metz

man you gotta defend your name and trademark,whats next a twitter podcast network? - cliff whitefoot

I think Ken Sheppardson sums it up nicely. I don't think you even need to retain a lawyer to start with the cease and desist letters, then see if they are amenable to a settlement, partnership or other remedy. It doesn't have to, and hopefully won't ever, come to a legal battle. However, it's clear enough that unless Leo hands them his mark and re-brands on his own dime, he must defend... more... - Richard Walker

Its funny... in a way you helped make twitter the juggernaut it is today.... all the free advertisement that you have given them over the years....LOL.. Maybe they should return the favor - Nathan McClain

Hasn't Leo said he wants to add a second host to the network? Wouldn't it also confuse viewers if they were watching the Leo Laporte Network and the show was hosted by someone not named Leo? - Norm Corriveau

Leo, some other people have made good points, if you're going after Twitter your also going to have to go after the other sites with Twit in the name: Twitpic, Twitpwr and Twiteverything or your case will be thrown out. - DarknessFalls

DarknessFalls: he'd only have to do that if they all launched TV shows too. - Martin Bryant

darknessfalls, you're not getting the scope. it's about leo's twit trademark on video and what twitter plans to do that's associated with it. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

If you haven't done so already, explore the Apple case, both the legal and business issues that Apple Corps encountered. And if you DON'T defend your trademark, what's Plan B? Remember that Twitter (or its future owners) may someday sue YOU. - John E. Bredehoft from fftogo

Leo, take your mark and make them all change names. Is this Ustream show even official Twitter? it looks pretty lame, like they just used the word, visual branding like twitter.com. http://www.ustream.tv/channel... - rob friedman

Don't sue unless you can find a business case and a lawyer to take the case on contingency with enough potential gain that it all wouldn't have been a big waste of time for a couple hundred dollars. But I am not a lawyer (IANAL). In fact, the grown up thing for twitter to do would be to link to you with an explanation that they aren't you and visa versa. - Eric Standlee

Defend yourself, Leo. - Devin Baines

Defend your trademark. Why else would you have filed it in the first place? - phil baumann

The best solution would be for Leo to produce the official Twitter show as part of the TWiT network. - Martin Bryant

The brand is big because of Leo yes, but having the TWiT brand is important. There are shows on the network in which Leo is not in. - Anton

Whats the question? TWiT is yours Leo, you need to protect it, the TWiT Army is not only at your back but with 60% of new Twitter accounts not coming back, all you have to do is hold out and wait on it to fold anyways. - Bush Williams

Anton, the band is TWiT - twit.tv? - TWiT netcast network... that is the brand... - Chris Heath

It is totally unfair, but I want to see all of your focus and money going towards content, not legal actions. You will be endlessly sending out C&Ds or worse as long as Twitter is popular. That said, I do think you should squeeze some money out of Ev in order to cede the brand. - invariant

Twitter offers more value to me than TWiT ever could. Sorry Leo, but this just seems like sour grapes. - Shannon

Leo: You should do a This Week in Law on this btw. - Anton

Shannon - how much value you get from either brand is not what is at question here. - Chris Heath

I'm not sure if this was already mentioned in the nearly 150 comments here, but Leo's link doesn't work. Here's a better link that I hope stays active: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin... - Eric Geller

+1 to chris' comment. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

You have a "defend or lose" obligation under trademark law. The TWiT brand has significant value, both from a revenue perspective and and the potential cost of re-branding al your sites, moving twit.tv etc., if you lose it. Protect the mark that secures your brand. Oh yeah, on that whole "big guy" theme: Because of your stable business model vs Twitter's Twitter's evolving one, an... more... - David Lounsbury

Shannon, the post asks for advice on how to be the best caretaker of a network and its trademark - your assignment of personal value should guide your own choices, but is irrelevant to the question at hand. How can it be sour grapes if failing to act now _could_ result in losing the standing of a trademark/brand which preceded those of other players who _may_ be crossing the line to the point of infringement. - Micah

TWiT offers more value to me than Twitter ever could. Sorry Shannon, but this just seems like sour grapes. - invariant

What a conundrum. I can't speak much to any legal considerations. But, on an emotional level, I would imagine that not defending and potentially losing the name must feel like smiling politely as an immigration official pins you with a random Anglicized name because your real, "ethnic" name is confusing to the masses in the new world, and making a fuss is to gamble the welfare of your... more... - Micah

@Ken Camp: Isn't twitter also a common english word which can't be trademarked? EDIT: Or Windows, for that matter? - invariant

invariant -- you mean like Apple? - Brian Sullivan

word, err, I mean Microsoft Word - Micah

So I think we've established that common English words can be trademarked. So what's the criteria? Has to be a noun? - invariant

of related note, i realise that twitter is indirectly facilitating twit offshoots upon registration. this is how: registering anything with 'twitter' in the username is *banned*. so, for a user already having their heart set on using twitter as part of their 'brand' might think of using 'twit' instead. this opens up a new can of worms figuring out who is using the twit name and doing video. like how they are doing now with 'twiter', they can stop it at registration to avoid further confusion. - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

I say defend it. If they are doing a TV show, they're definitely stepping on your toes. Nevermind that I can't imagine their show would be any good, but that's a different story... :) - Jan Ole Peek

What about TwiTips? If that isn't entertainment then what is? But seriously I own several trademarks myself and I know if you don't take action then you could lose the Tmark. You have a conundrum because Twitter is so popular. So I would recommend seeking a compromise so that you won't lose your mark and appear like the bad guy with the public. Perhaps a clearer definition of the terms... more... - BLOGBloke

Other than I think he needs to see a surgeon to fix that lean to the left he has,... I love the guy and have been listening to him for about 15...16...dang probabaly close to 18 years about tech news I love the guy. And to top it off! He knows what he is talking about!! Leo makes am radio worth a listen on the weekends! - John Apostoli

TWiT is a network providing audio and video broadcast covering issues related to the tech field. Twitter is a social network used to connect people using the basic SMS tools. While people *may* confuse the issue by referring to Twitter messages as "twits, there is no evidence that Twitter has used or endorsed the term. Unless & until Twitter (as a company) starts using the term "Twit"... more... - David J. Garcia

I've said this privately, but I guess I will say it publicly.Defend your mark. It is your livelihood. There WILL be confusion if it gets to TV, where people are not tech savvy and have no idea who you are - Francine Hardaway

Yes, it may be expensive, and yes, these fights are draining, Dave, but until the laws are changed (an entirely different question), Leo could lose part of his livelihood through the confusion, especially since he has advertisers who would probably want him to defend. Everything in the universe doesn't happen in Silicon Valley:-) - Francine Hardaway

David - until now that has been the case, but Twitter is planning on doing a TV show (which would definitely be infringement), which is why this debate is happening. - imperator3733

I would certainly want you to defend it but i don't think its gonna be possible for two reasons. First Twitter is a bigger, more powerful and certainly more loved brand with more money. and you were first to infringe the unofficial agreement by hosting Twit Army. in that perspective you might not be able to defend it legally.besides the audience you've built ain't gonna be affected by what twitter does.So consult a legal advisor & take best course of action. Best of Luck - Abhishek Sharma

I think if you approach it in good faith--initially without lawyers--you have a very good chance to work something out. Ev seems to be a very reasonable guy. Perhaps it's best to draft a strategy with counsel before any discussions though. What's really in your favor(perhaps legally, perhaps not) is that Twitter can't deny how your support and promotion for it was incendiary to the... more... - Gregg Scott

http://www.googlefight.net/... - ouch - Nate

What's the point of a googlefight here Nate? - Chris Heath

Sorry but the Google fight site is loaded with pop-ups that even show through popup blocker. - Usman Bashir

Usman, I didn't get any popups (using chrome on winxp) but still it's a hideous site - Chris Heath

Twitter has a lot of investment, but I'm not sure all of that is liquid money. You may be even in the money spent defending your Trademark. I say go for it. Do it now though if you do. - Jesse Stay

Leo must Defend! - Jim Mahon

If it was me, I'd defend it. While Twitter is still worth something! Talk to a lawyer first and see if you have a valid case. - John Frazer

You must defend. - Will Bostwick

I can't believe how long this thread has gotten! - BRҰANSAҰS

Seems like you are getting a lot of FREE promotion as a result of twitter. My bigger concern would be not having the twit.com URL to go with your brand name. That's a big issue! - Craig Shipp

@Craig, twit.com was registered in 1997, and it's parked. - rob friedman

Twit is your trademark for the company you have built up. It seems rather unfair that they would brand their idea so similar. I would defend it and all the hard work you have done. - Matthew Davis

Defend it Leo. Things may get ugly, but sometimes they just gotta. - David Chartier from BuddyFeed

Fight for you trademark! Especially since they knew of your prior use and now they are doing a TV show which they should know is stepping on your trademark. - russellcoleman

What Kyle said!! - JCunwired

Leo, FriendFeed community, let's get practical here - Twitter has more resources and probably a decent case defending against what you could file. It would be a blow to your image, to TWiT's image, and be bad press overall. You have a far greater chance of losing credibility than gaining trademark protection. You need to look into other strategies. - Ben Parr

There is no such thing as bad Press - Jesse Stay from email

I would thin kthat the thing to do is to gently but firmly convince them that they are infringing on your brand, that litigation would be damaging to both of you, losing community goodwill over the fight, and that it would be simpler, faster, and cheaper for both entities if they were to pay for your rebranding effort. Be prepared to present them with the estimated costs of litigation,... more... - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Defend your Trademark. It's the responsible thing to do as a buisness. - Donald Forth

what Kyle & guruvan said. Does anyone else think we need threaded comments for conversations like this right here? - Richard Walker

I'd defend the TWiT trademark. - Jonathan Bloom

I'm not as thunk as you drink I am - David Lloyd

Also there is this guy who has a "beef" with twitter http://twitter.co.uk/ - rob friedman

@rob friedman - That guy says Twitter doesn't require you to validate your email address. Wow, that's ripe for abuse! - invariant

Defend. - Tony Meyer

Talk to a lawyer. - Zian Choy

More than a hundred comments, the community is twitting even on friendfeed. A legal action would be very difficult. You should first define your objective in doing so. Do you really want to protect your brand or settle for a lucrative compensation? Even if you get some sort of legal protection limiting Twitter to use or endorse the word "twit" to some extent, people will still be... more... - Cem ARGUN

Prior art (and obligatory MP reference) http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Jay Cuthrell

Maybe a dead issue? At least as far as the potential fight w/ Twitter, Inc. Mashable says Twitter responds no official Twitter TV show http://mashable.com/2009... - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

And now for something completely different... watch the meetup room if interested in seeing Spamalot in SF as a group... - Richard Walker

I would say defend it. Of course, I'm just a Twit.tv fan and not a lawyer. - Joey Gibson

You lose so much credibility with all this nonsense. - PC Easy from twhirl

'all this nonsense'?? wtf is that supposed to mean? - Chris Heath

Just leave it alone until they manage to make some real money off it, then litigate. That's how it's done you know. - Will Higgins™

Yeah this is nonsense. If you think you really have a case, then don't make a big stink about it on Friendfeed. Just go take them to court. - PC Easy from twhirl

Leo, I am a long time fan and constant listener to all of you work. You are a more than fair and wholly honorable man. You have had TWIT long before I ever heard of a twitter. Go with your heart Leo. I am behind you. I understand you would impede progress of any positive kind. But a cease and desist letter. Seems harsh. I think you have a winner. Let them buy the TM. Power to the people. Go Leo, you deserve it. You do only good. You are one of a kind! RodneO - RODNEY OLIVER

PC Easy: I don't think Leo's making a big stink. The idea that twitter would get into the tv/video business would be a big thing since they have a verbal agreement with Leo not to get into that business. This may be all for nothing, since the mashable article guruvan linked above states that twitter will not be doing a show. Leo was doing the best first step (imho) in asking the community for guidance in the event that the original reporting was correct (which it does not appear to be now). So moot point - Chris Heath

I think if I was you Leo I would try to license rights to them and get some mula out of it. Remember "Leo Laporte" goes a lot farther than TWIT does and most importantly ever will. - Eric VM

there's a current backlash on twitter trending topics right now w/ hashtag #notwittertv. the examiner has an unfavorable article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-264-C... even alyssa milano is against it: http://twitter.com/Alyssa_... - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Its going to suck and bomb... guaranteed. - Rustic Thoughts

Maybe just sell it to them Leo for a gazillion dollars and retire. Keep the leaches out of it..meaning the lawyers. What the heck, Leo you are great at trend setting, you practically put twitter on the map. They owe you something.for all the pub you have given them since their inception. - John Apostoli

Defend. There's really no reasonable alternative. - Jason Clarke

You gotta defend it Leo. What's the point of trademarking in the first place. - Joel Lovato

You have to defend what is legally yours. - Michael Hansel

Twitter Responds: There is No Official Twitter TV Show- Mashable (May 25th, 2009 | by Pete Cashmore) -- http://mashable.com/2009... -- There is no official Twitter TV show—although if there were it would be fun to cast! In dealing with networks and production companies we sometimes have simple agreements. Regarding the Reveille and Brillstein project reported today,... more... - Chris Loft

Leo, suggest you go "open source co-branding" on this. Monetize your "twit" brand through creative brand licensing with emerging entertainment and multimedia microblogging companies that want to ride the "twitter" bandwagon. I can see creative corporate and individual co-brands like, TwitSounds, TwitFilms, TwitMedia, TwitCats, TwitBitch, TwitMechanic, etc... - Mike Schmidt

I don't want to over simplify this but if Twitter do branch into video and even streaming TV, surely the content would have to be substantially different to what TWiT already provides, otherwise they are at risk of spoiling their brand identity. Stay strong and true to the Tech news content and let Twitter, well do what ever they may do. Personally, I think it would be a mistake for them to go down this road. Time may be better spent further improving the existing service. - Kevin J Hatton

the mashable news is taken directly from the twitter blog: http://blog.twitter.com - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Maybe it's a good time to Re-Brand. Twit has unfortunate connotations in some areas of the English speaking world. On this side of the pond a twit is an idiot. Until I became aware of Leo I gave TWiT a very wide berth. Branded simply as This Week in Tech it would have got my positive attention a whole lot sooner. Time to move onward and upward. - Gilbert Harding

This was copied and pasted but sums it up so well : Of course, there's a larger long-term problem because of the way that Twitter has weakened _your_ brand. It might be less expensive (and a better use of your time) to rebrand TWiT into something that strengthens your brand and moves it away from Twitter; avoiding any future problems (and there will be future problems). You can't fight Oprah. - Professor Messer - Fragtastic

A very worthy point - "I think that once you see the Twitter television show, you'll probably want to distance yourself as far away as possible. - Professor Messer" - Fragtastic

I'll admit to being a little slow on the uptake to both TWiT and twitter and it took me some time to figure out that they were different things. I was listening to TWiT before I found twitter, and at first I wondered if I was mixing the names up in my head. I think there is real potential for confusion between the two names. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, Leo. - Rick Reynolds

You could ride the wave of popularity Twitter is experiencing by allowing that confusion to blossom. Perhaps more people could start listening and watching your netcasts *because* of that confusion? - David Hepworth

You need to defend your brand, however since you know the guys at Twitter maybe you can come to some sort of agreement that is the best interest of both TWiT and Twitter. - Jim Lavin

I say defend the brand. I fully believe Leo and TWiT will outlive Twitter. It would be a shame to surrender the brand only to see it disappear in 1-2 years. - Martin Johnson

I say defend it, if you don't the that opens the door to other infringements. - Hunter

since you clearly took your name from This Week in Baseball, which deputed in 1977, should MLB defend their trademark with you? - glenn simmons

Defend it! definitely, the trademark is rightfully yours and you need to hold on to it...I like twitter, but I like TWiT even more... - Raymond

Glenn, you are wrong. There are many registered trademarks that contain "this week in" - russellcoleman

See what you have started Leo? Twitter TV is not a patch on what you do. Now if it was professionally done, with great audio then maybe, - Kevin J Hatton

Dealing with a similar issue (though not as big as dealing with Twitter). I say throw out a warning shot to protect your brand. Worst case they ignore you and you have to spend gobs of money to defend it. Best case they make you a $$ offer. - Brian Niles from Nambu

russellcoleman, exactly so why is Leo crying about twitter - glenn simmons

Glenn, because "Twit" is Leo's trademark in the area of entertainment in the nature of visual and audio performances, and musical, variety, news and comedy shows. - russellcoleman

Defend it! - Kiran Patchigolla

Sorry Leo, does that mean I can't call people Twitts? Does it mean no one in a television or audio show can use the word twitt? I mean Twitter...TWIT...they have 3 more letters and their brand is based on communication not entertainment. Give up the ghost against Twitter by now dude. IF they were doing what you were doing MAYBE but what you are saying is noone can use the letters T W I or T .... don't become the next Monster. - Sidney

Defend. No retreat. No surrender. - Barry Biddlecomb from twhirl

Sidney, it means they can't use twit as part of their brand if they go into the areas Leo's trademark covers. We are talking about branding here. - russellcoleman

Again, Twitter is a communication company looking to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component...Nothing that TWIT does...so no infringement. Leo has always had the axe to grind with Twitter...if he was going to do something he should have done it immediately... - Sidney

My understanding is that Twitter is going to have a TV show and that may infringe. My point above was to the suggestion that no one could say the word twit. - russellcoleman

@Christopher Carr, I meant that twitting has become a generic expression going far beyond Twitter. Here on friendfeed we are twitting, an these lines are in fact twits... :) - Cem ARGUN

As an anecdote, until now I thought TWiT was something twitter related, and I basically ignored it for that reason. I have learned over time that I'm often not a good representative of anything, but there was certainly brand confusion in my case. - Robin Barooah

At first, yep, I thought Twit spawned Twitter. But in a few nanoseconds, I knew otherwise. But in the mind of 'ordinary' (horrible term, sorry) user coming at Twit from Twitter surely they'll get the idea. But Twitter is SO pervasive, I'm glad that you've decided to take advice. I know nothing, but I feel you should protect your brand. Don't change your name. Change the game. On another tack, you checked out http://audioboo.fm ? - John C Wesley Barker

"Again, Twitter is a communication company looking to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component." - Sidney That is exactly what Leo's doing - Anton

news of twitter tv just hit the local abc news. they mentioned there's already direct opposition by celebrities ashton & demi who (according to their tweets) will quit twitter if this reality show sees the light of day (paraphrasing). this could mean -as they say & putting it lightly- 'my enemy's enemy is my friend?' odd yet amusing opposition from the hollywood. however, no mentions of twit and leo. :-\ - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Twitter can look to capitalize on providing television content the ability to have immediate interactive component all they want. But I don't think they should do it in a way that can cause any confusion between them and Leo's network. - russellcoleman

Sorry the only confusion people have had is what Leo has brought to the table himself. He should have stepped up long ago if he felt Twitter was going to create confusion and admittably it has and TWIT and Twitter don't even cross streams. I know for one if Leo wastes his money on litigation I for will be disappointed and believe it will harm the TWIT brand. - Sidney

i know this thread is too long to read for many. re-quoting what leo said here for those who keep saying he should have stepped up long ago: "Ev told me that when they were considering names for Twitter they knew about TWiT and decided it didn't matter. In their defense, they had no idea what or how big Twitter was to become. We talked about trademark early on and both agreed there was no conflict _as long as we were in different spaces_. And therein lies the rub. - Leo Laporte" - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Very tough choice. I think these comments provide you with a fairly good sample of public opinion from people in tech, but it would be interesting to get input from the rest of the world on Twitter who have never heard of TWiT. It certainly won't cost much to send in a warning shot so they take notice and to demonstrate defense of your TM, but I would follow that up with a request to... more... - Phil Ashman

This twitter thing is just a flash in the pan, you can wait them out ;-) - Wolfman-K

If he fights and loses, at least he defended it, which is required to keep it. If Leo does nothing, he could lose it. - Bwana ☠

How do people feel about Monster Cable suing companies that use the word Monster in their name? I feel the same here...except that Twitter just happens to have the same four LETTERS as Twit, as the beginning. They arent using Twit as a standalone word. C'mon. - Andru Edwards

The only justification I can see in Leo going after Twitter is so that he can at least show he is defending his TM so he doesn't lose it as Bwana said...otherwise I think it is a losing game that will be a waste of resources that TWIT could utilize in other productive pursuits. - Sidney

The Monster Cable example doesn't really work. They were suing companies that were in different spaces. Now with Twitter doing a TV show, that is in the same space as TWIT and Leo has the trademark for it. - Mike Child

Everyone should read this: http://blog.twitter.com/2009... It has been linked a few times in this discussion up above, but bears linking again based on recent comments - From what I can tell, it doesn't look like twitter will have a tv show - so this whole point is moot - leo may have to defend his trademark against these 'other' shows if they use the word twit in their name, but i don't think they will - Chris Heath

Leo -This is a battle that will be HELL. Yet, it is critical you fight it. I had a couple situations very much like it in telecommunications late '80s early '90s. I should have fought. Give them a run for their money. It will cost you $$ and resources. But, with Twitter's new direction - man - you're a journalist at heart... You already know - you've got to fight for your right! - Arleen Boyd

Man this is a tough position to be in. Honestly, I can't see TWiT or Twitter changing brands/names. However, Leo, you were first and you have the trademark to back it up. I say defend it! - Doug Jones

Biz responds to the Twitter TV show on the blog: http://blog.twitter.com/2009... - Doug Jones

not reading the thread befire i comment... but seems to me that TWITTER does not equal TWIT. what else is their to know? - sull

Leo, I think the law is very clear, if you don't defend your trademark you may lose it. - David Angel from twhirl

Leo a firestorm is brewing over twitter tv http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_gu... - dday

Make them pay you a million in cold hard cash for the TWIT name and change your name to TWIG - This Week In Goodness :-) - Richard Bitting

When you see such services as "TwitThat" (http://twitthat.com/), with that spelling of "tweet", there is an incredible amount of confusion waiting to happen ! - arnaudt

arnaudt, good point. and again... TWiT does NOT = twitter - so leo has no case. twitter themselves dont use 'twit' in any way. they barely if at all use 'tweet' in any way. they began as 'twtr' in like 2006. twitter is NOT an abbreviation for anything as TWiT is. twitter is not solely behind producing an entertainment property.. they are granting rights to others to do so and in some... more... - sull

sull, TWIT does NOT have to = twitter for Leo to have a case. People just have to be confused enough to adversely impact, or even potentially impact, Leo's business. - Chris Gardner

Chris, i think it does for him to have a 'good' case. You cannot prevent Twitter from letting media entities use twitter as part or their 'shows', even if twitter as some levell of partnership. In the end, it will cost Leo money to lose a trademark case. Proving, for example, that an MTV show tentatively named 'what you're watching' that uses twitter and facebook etc as fundemental components for audience interaction has any negative effect to the TWiT podcast. - sull

sull, there just needs to be a likelihood of confusion. The Court there announced eight specific elements to measure likelihood of confusion: Strength of the mark - Proximity of the goods - Similarity of the marks - Evidence of actual confusion - Marketing channels used - Type of goods and the degree of care likely to be exercised by the purchaser - Defendant's intent in selecting the mark - Likelihood of expansion of the product lines - Chris Gardner

Oh, and TWiT is not just a podcast. It is a live streaming net video network. There are on and off talks to take to cable also. - Chris Gardner

Chris, thanks for pointing those elements of liklihood. Still, i think that even for the case to have a leg to stand on, twitter would need to have a 'show' specifically named in a way that may cause confusion. That has not happened. Trying to prevent the word 'twitter' from being used at all in marketing and branding via "visual and audio performances" because of the TWiT trademark seems a stretch and will prob result in negative publicity for Leo. Anyway, maybe we'll see. Interesting. - sull

sull, agreed interesting. Also, this will probably not go anywhere near the courts. Ev Williams and Leo know each other and get along (not many in the industry that Leo does not get along with). They will work things out. - Chris Gardner

For those who are unaware, people have to take action to protect their brands otherwise they lose their trademark. My suggestions and observations: 1. Look for win-win 2. It all seems moot anyway http://blog.twitter.com/2009... tho this is a fascinating thread 3. If twitter did ever go ahead with this it would be a fairly simple compromise for them to... more... - Isha (Marysia)

You need to defend it. I don't know that you'll stop twitter from launching their show but you have to fight it to keep your trademark valid. You for sure need to go after twitvid.com and twitvideo.com! - The Griff

Defend the trademark. It could make the difference on winning a future trademark case with another company. - David Ebaugh

Defend it. It was your long before Twitter was even around. Like someone else said what is the point of calling your network that if as soon as a bigger fish comes along you cave. Don't give in to the man Leo! - Mr. Thomas

Leo. I am not a lawyer and don't play one on the Internet. It sounds like you have no real case against Twitter, but the producers of the rumored tv show are a different story. Even then, it depends on what they are doing with the subject matter. Is it *about* Twitter, or simply about people who use Twitter? Will they ever use the term, "twit" in the show? It certainly couldn't hurt to... more... - Jake Overton

Let's not forget that use of anything in an editorial context is considered fair use. - Ryan Brodkin

I also feel that you have an opportunity for even more publicity if you can work the TWiT shows into the TV show, joining them rather than fighting them. You will get publicity either way, but there seems to be a high road and a low road (or perception thereof). Good luck and keep up the great shows. - Jake Overton

Leo fight them. - johnny

we neec to fight for TWIT - Richard Thomson

So far I don't think there is a conflict with Twitter, unless there is a Twitter TV show. Although you should fight sites like http://twitvid.io . Plus if you win, you could have an awesome domain for video downloads when you want to offer them. - Mister IQ

Mike Lewis

My fiancee (Janine) asked last night how much easier things would have been for Frodo and Sam if there was a Cash 4 Gold. All they would need to do is use the postage paid mailer and save a trip to Mordor. Especially since the Cash 4 Gold people cut the middle man by having their own refinery!

May 21, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Kol Tregaskes, Kamilah Reed (K. Gill), Wolfman-K and 12 other people liked this

My concern would having an all powerful pawn broker. That could be problematic. - Mike Lewis

8 more comments

The Ring had to be destroyed from whence it came. (it had to be destroyed at mount doom, right?) - Chris Heath

Correct. So I guess we would need a Cash 4 Gold Mordor branch... - Mike Lewis

That statement just killed me! LOL! - Anna Lynn M.

Location, location, location - Kevin Kuphal

What if the ring is made out of low quality metals/alloys like zinc, bronze, etc. and not gold? - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Alex, no cash for you. It's cash for GOLD...not impurities... - Mike Lewis

Exactly...so what if the ring is not made of gold? - Scoble, Alex Scoble

We need a Cash for Evil exchange... as a bonus you could also get money for all your old Microsoft products ;-) - Wolfman-K

...but Alex, it's the One Ring.. - Mike Lewis

Andy Ihnatko

@pertorstensson Two musts: creators MUST have exclusive control of their work for a time, but that time must be FINITE. Life + 30?

May 19, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Wolfman-K liked this

I disagree that it must be finite for all works. I think an author should have the right to purchase unlimited extensions. What's the problem with Disney owning Mickey Mouse forever? But that should not mean that every work is automatically extended forever Extensions should be given to authors who ask, otherwise copyright expires in 30 years. This solves the problem of abandoned works and still lets Disney own Mickey Mouse. - Sean OBrien

That's an interesting thought. Copyright credits to be bought and sold in the open Market?? - Phill Price

Kevin Murray to Kevin's feed, Robert Scoble

The Circle of Life (revised)

May 14, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

HealingBrush, Yant, paniaguai and 192 other people liked this

Hah! - Robert Scoble

28 more comments

Win. - T-Bone Tsali, FF Cherokee

HEY! I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK, BUB! - John Craft

woops in my haste i dissed flickr. sorry flickr. - Kevin Murray

My wife would agree! - Brian Bufalo

Agree, John.. it hits a little too close to home ;-) - hollyrae

true - sure takes a lot of time if you let it - Mark Conrau

Man it looks like we're sliding down a social-negativity cone - Ymag

So true these days ! - Mike Schmidt

Where's the bathroom? :) - frankiecarl

And the fridge? ;) - stanjourdan

Friendfeed is the center of life! - Ashish

Revised again: Fridge & Toilet Added: ;) http://i.friendfeed.com/0680b4e... - Kevin Murray

Facebook should rather be in a different universe altogether - The Real sofarsoShawn

I agree with sofarsoshawn. take facebook out and its darn close. :) - timepilot

And Twitter would be in the lowest circle of hell ~ but yes,very close; though yes I just tweeted this - The Real sofarsoShawn

@frankiecarl & stanislas - you can tweet FROM the bathroom or standing in front of the fridge... :-) - Rick Cogley

LOL - TheHenry

You mean, my life is normal? - Michele Lorito-Chase

exactly - Val Vladescu from IM

And where is this t-shirt? - Louis Gray

Agreed...I want this shirt! - Carlton Hackett

Brilliant - Dobromir Hadzhiev

Nice.... - Danny Bonthuis

Good one! - Gianluigi Cuccureddu

Why no life? - Kristo Magno

why no arrow at least from flickr into friendfeed? - ian kennedy

Ian Kennedy, May be flickr is lazy,so it leaves that work to RSS and facebook Or one can say same about FF? - Ashish

T-Shirt Waiting To Happen! :) - The Pageman

T-Shirt & Travel Mug (in case we actually leave the house) Did it @ Cafe Press: Please note 1) I'm not an artist so I hope you like the organic nature of it. 2) I'm not looking to make any $ on this, any proceeds will be donated to my favorite charity http://guardsmen.org Here is the link: http://www.cafepress.com/kevinmu... - Kevin Murray

Kol Tregaskes to Kol's feed, Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha, the Answer Engine - http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009...

May 17, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Kenley Neufeld, Wolfman-K and Ahmed liked this

"Wolfram|Alpha launched yesterday and it's an useful complement to a general-purpose search engine like Google. Wolfram|Alpha doesn't search the web, it uses data from authoritative databases and an engine powered by Mathematica to obtain the results. "Wolfram|Alpha aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels. Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity," explains the "about" page." - Kol Tregaskes from Bookmarklet

Thomas Hawk

Building a Better FriendFeed Suggested Users List - http://thomashawk.com/2009...

May 14, 2009 from Thomas Hawk Digital Connection - Comment - Like - Share

Niklas Sjostrom, Alfredo 亜瑠布れっど, Shinya ICHINOHE and 45 other people liked this

Two days ago http://friendfeed.com/louisgr... Louis Gray pointed out on FriendFeed that when a new user signs up for FriendFeed that they receive 24 suggested FriendFeed users to follow. I'm one of those 24. There is no mystery to how these 24 users are selected for promotion on the FriendFeed platform, they are simply the 24 FriendFeed users with the most followers. Once a user subscribes to someone this list changes. it roughly becomes the most popular people followed by their friend(s). And while Friendfeed's objective and simplified method of promoting users to new sign ups is probably better than Twitter's much criticized subjective method of elite favoritism, it could be vastly improved yet. - Thomas Hawk

17 more comments

But the "most popular" under this scheme is also self perpetuating is it not? Is that a good thing? Perhaps some sort of other automated suggestion list would be more appropriate? - Brian Sullivan

Yeah Brian, read the linked article :) He covers that sufficiently, I think... - Joel Bennett

Oh, and Thomas, maybe what you need are some imaginary friends: http://friendfeed.com/setting... (no, seriously). - Joel Bennett

I think rooms/groups or whatever they're calling it now should be featured more prominently for old and new users alike. That takes care of both the geography and the interests. - Eric P

Joel, Yeah, I've got a number of imaginary friends already set up from Flickr. But these are problematic as well. You can't share their stuff with other people on FF, you only see their flickrstream (I want to see their blog, their Flickrstream, their twitter acct, etc. all together), plus having to make these one by one is a pain. It would be much better if FF could just use the Flickr... more... - Thomas Hawk

Brian, yes, the suggested user list should *definitely* encompass more than just popularity. If you read my article above you'll see that I offer up a number of suggestions on how to improve/fix this. There are ways to deal with the self-perpetuation problem with the current system. - Thomas Hawk

Thomas this is a very good suggestion. Lets new users get out of the simple popularity based recommendations, and get more into interests and areas, which I very much like. Caters to the geeks and non-geeks alike. I especially like the "take 200 and randomize 24 out of the 200" -then even longer time users can go back to the list and get a fresh view. I think that if FriendFeed won't implement something like this, someone else should, but it would be best if we culd convince the FriendFeed crew to do so. - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Ole, that would be my number one FriendFeed request. I'd love to be able to add all of my flickr contacts on FF that I'm not already following. I'd love to be able to invite all of those that are not here yet via the flickrmail system as well. - Thomas Hawk

The most distinct problem with the "popularity" based recommendations (here esp) is that they're totally oriented towards one group of people. If you don't like tech-journalists, you're not going to like the recommended list here now. I ALSO really like the idea about finding the new most active/popular users (the ones with less than 60days here) Great way to discover new talent. - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

Thomas: Not much of a flickr user, aren't flickr / yahoo contacts integrated? (I guess they must not be) - guruvan (Rob Nelson)

One of the problems I see with the suggestions is they involve introducing more information requirements for the user to specify (geography, interests) which imply changes elsewhere in the system. Surely there is something simpler that can be done without that extra baggage to introduce some more randomness? - Brian Sullivan

Rob the new active/popular users tab would actually serve two purposes. it would be great for people like you and me to find new users to follow, but it would also provide valuable interaction to new active/popular users bringing them into the fold so to speak. I think some people sign up for FF and because they are new and unknown they get no interaction and get frustrated and quit. This would help them get exposure and engagement making their first impressions of the service better. - Thomas Hawk

what would be interesting is to ask the new user what they are interested in, then show the 24 people that have registered the same interests/tags in their FF stream. Like for example, Love comic books, comic book goodness, rapatton, me, and ect. That at least would be more "democratic", but then there I go thinking again :-) - Dan owns Comicsforge.com

Rob, I'm pretty sure that my Flickr contacts are not integrated with my Yahoo mail. It would be cool if they were. Yahoo owns Flickr but the Yahoo mail and Flickr systems are still distinct as far as I'm aware. - Thomas Hawk

Dan, exactly. by letting us stipulate interests, friendfeed could create a suggested users by interests tab. I think you'd get a far different initial friendfeed experience if you had a tab for 24 (or even better paged) people interested in say photography than in the current 24 being promoted. Whatever your interests, music, guitar, comic books, movies, cooking, etc. I actually think... more... - Thomas Hawk

The "suggested list" should go "both ways": to subscribe and unsubscribe. Friendfeed should give me a list of, from those I follow, the one's is "less worth" following (I have everything, don't click in their links, never like or comment...) - Marcos Marado

Tina & I pointed out this deficiency a while back in April where I cited an Allan Stern article which was perhaps the first to point out this lob-sidedness wayyyy back http://friendfeed.com/sofarso... kind of fell on death ears *shrug* I'm not a blogger - The Real sofarsoShawn

I agree with your suggestions, as well that a good chunk of the current 24 are not really engaging in the conversation here and whilst popular don't really deserve to be on the recommended list. It would definitely be better to see people who are engaging more here... As opposed to just having their tweets feeding through. - travispuk

Leo Laporte

I want - http://fit-pc2.com/wiki...

May 10, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

OnuRC, Tyler Ham, Ben and 144 other people liked this

"Introducing fit-PC2 CompuLab introduces fit-PC2 – the smallest, most power-efficient Intel Atom PC to date. fit-PC2 architecture is what sets it apart from other nettop PCs - fit-PC2 is designed around the Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz and the ultra low power Intel US15W system controller hub, rather than the Atom N270 and 945G used in other nettop-PCs, thereby reducing power consumption by more than two thirds. US15W incorporates hardware video acceleration. This allows fit-PC2 to run Windows XP or Ubuntu Linux at just 6W and to play full HD 1080p H.264 video using less than 7W." - Leo Laporte from Bookmarklet

25 more comments

some limitations of the fit2pc: no n wifi, only 1gb ram & is soldered, reader is not sdhc, no wol, hdmi still needs sep audio line. if it could remedy those, then it would be more awesome than i originally thought it was. still cool idea. (edited to add: forums say hdmi does not support hdcp. boy, lots of surprises in what it *can't* do. almost a parody of an 'efficient' device.) - sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq

Got error when clicked the link. Actually I thought I could show the screenshot, but ff can not add images to comments. - ThinkEzy

Where and when can we buy this ?? - @LarsenTweet

Very nice - Amit Morson

as sweet as a purring kitten - Willem (@wim66) ☠

awesome. when do they start production? - Chris Rutili from BuddyFeed

I hope it is a cheap as a laptop or even cheaper!! ;) that would be a great deal!! - Paul from twhirl

And here I was waiting for netbooks to get better performance and instead we see the same low performance spreading from the mobile world, where it made sense, to our desks. Crud. It's nice that it's got low power requirements, but that seems to be it. - Henrik

When do they start building the computer into the keyboard? - Brian Sieker

I need a small, very low power consumption system with two ethernet ports to replace a home server. The fit-PC2 is so tantalizingly close; I'd have to add a USB ethernet dongle, and those are teh suck. - DGentry

"Want" is a serious understatement. I could do some evil, evil things with that! - ax0n

Very sexy! I can imagine having three or four of these with SSDs around my house. - Barry Biddlecomb from twhirl

With more HDMI ports and built-in blu-ray this would be an excellent choice for HTPC. Here's a better link to the data sheet http://www.compulab.co.il/fitpc2... - JCunwired

For the right (low) price, even with it's flaws it could be a great little media server. And here I was wishing upon an eee-box-star. - thepete

sɹǝɥʇɐǝɟʞɔɐןq: Thanks for those helpful pieces of info. Please consider using punctuation and capitalization in the future. I know it's not cool, but it serves a purpose (e.g. it helps knowledge transfer, the supposed reason for commenting in the first place) :P. - coldbrew

I want this as well. - Doug Slater

Ooh, I like this! I want! Me! Pick me! - Daan Berg from twhirl

I doubt that 1080p H.264. is watchable. Need some proof. It would be a key factor for me. - Dmitriy B

I want one of these. - Robert Gregory Browne

The newer boards use a dual-core Atom and NVidia 9400M chipset. Even has CUDA support. I believe it could decode 1080p. http://mini-itx.com/2009... - Rodfather

Looks great. I want also. I'll wait for Windows 7. - Scott Kraatz

Smaller than a MacMini. I'll wait for Windows 7 too. - Randy Caldwell

I'd love to attach this to the back of a monitor and hang it on a wall - Camden

Brian Sieker: Asus already started stuffing the whole pc inside a (nice looking) keyboard, take a look at the Eee Keyboard http://gizmodo.com/5124985... - Rui Pires

I wonder how well this will run Boxee.. Is it the perfect boxee box? - raf

I'm always skeptical about the 1080P claims for nettops. - Ryan Whitwam

Håkan Dahlström

May 13, 2009 from Flickr favorites - Comment - Like - Share

Thomas Hawk, M F, Just Katie and 3 other people liked this

Jesse Stay

drew olanoff dot com. - How NOT to manage a community - Twitter Style. - http://www.drewolanoff.com/post...

May 13, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Bill Sodeman, Wolfman-K, Zach Holmquist and 4 other people liked this

Slow poke. - Louis Gray

I took too long to debate whether to share it or I would have beat you. It's a great article. - Jesse Stay

maybe we could setup a group in Facebook to talk about this - Ross Button

Mike Lewis

Twitter's Down the Old School Way. Who remembers this?

May 13, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Anne Bouey, Marcus, FFing Enigma and 5 other people liked this

I miss the lolcats, thay had more personality than the whale and owl... - Wolfman-K

2 more comments

Would someone please tell me what in the world an lolcat is?? I see this all the time but haven't bothered to ask before. - Justin Long

Justin, an lolcat is a captioned image of a cat. The caption is written in the style that teenagers use when they text message. - Rishabh Mishra (p248)

Justin, my best uneducated answer involves 4Chan and lulz. - Mike Lewis

Carmen wBabby to Carmen's feed, TattOO

World’s First Eyeball Tattoo - http://www.absoluterandom.com/worlds-...

May 13, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Fil , Paul Greer, ocde.cn and 5 other people liked this

gah! - Carmen wBabby from Bookmarklet

12 more comments

eep! - holly #ravingfangirl

WHAT - YoYo_P

eeeek - Shevonne

ack! - Jackie Peters

Ew. - Louis Gray

Fremen - You're doing it wrong - Josh Haley

way? - jeneane sessum

Why? - M F

Holy Shit! :: I wish I'd never seen that ... and also ... I must have one NOW - Salty Droid

At least he got Dune eyes! - Erica Toelle

I'm not impressed, I just wonder how soon he'll be blind in that eye. Dork.. - Mike Lewis

Going to be difficult to comply with appearance rules if he applies for a job with that or the thing on his forehead. Enjoy the stockroom at Best Buy. - Bailey McCann

...why not just get colored contacts, Eensteen? - .LAG liked that

M F to M's feed, ART ROOMََََ

Melissa Scheid Frantz http://www.artmelissa.com/

May 13, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Jonathan Kong, Brent - Yes I am, Emma and 5 other people liked this

cysko to cysko's feed, PownceExiles, MUSIC PRODUCERS FEED

Kanye West Is Mad As Hell At Twitter — And He’s Not Going To Take This Anymore! - http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...

May 13, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Wolfman-K and Lokei Atikus™® liked this

Kanye should remake that "cry baby" song! - cysko from Bookmarklet

All Caps Blogger is a Serious Blogger! - Mike Lewis

FFing Enigma

Things I Don't Understand - Most of my jeans have a touch of lycra in 'em. It's more comfy, not to mention you're hard pressed to find ladies' jeans without it. So, how is it that my pants are too tight straight from the dryer, but by lunchtime I'm sagging like teenage boy?

May 4, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Jillian Ada Burrows, Kelly, Neya and 9 other people liked this

Moreover: how do ladies who wear their pants tighter sit down for an extended period of time without doing damage to their nether bits? Perhaps I should add 'tight pants' to the list of things I failed in girl school - FFing Enigma

33 more comments

because cotton fibers contract with the heat. And then as the day wears on, the cotton stretches. (I think I just dropped some science) - G Dub of the Carolinas

But the lycra, Gunny: the lycra is supposed to combat that! - FFing Enigma

the lycra is a lie. - G Dub of the Carolinas

Let me try to make this observation without being insulting. Perhaps "the fault, my dear Enigma, is not in our stars but in ourselves." Meaning, perhaps by midday the human body no longer has the resilient springiness that it does when completely rested? - DGentry

Denton, I'm pretty sure she's talking about the pants...not herself. :P - caj needs a haircut

I know that heat from the dryer can harm the lycra that give them their stretch, and over time the lycra loses its elasticity and stretches out too much (aka saggy ass). I hang dry my good jeans now, and it keeps them from getting too tight/then saggy and they last longer. - Ginger Makela Riker

*sob* I KNOW GUNNY!!! That's what makes the ladies in their super tight pants an even bigger mystery to me! How is it they're not bruising all their lady bits? And Denton, I'm not really sure how that logic would apply. If anything it would be the reverse: tight pants in the a.m. that turn into loose pants by p.m. implies that the human body shrinks (firms up?) throughout the day. Both of those theories are probably hogwash =D - FFing Enigma

Agree with that too, Ginger, but this starts right when the pants are new, not after several washings. - FFing Enigma

No lady bits were harmed in this production.... I don't know how women deal with most of the crap they think us men want them to wear. - G Dub of the Carolinas

Amazing how squashed lady bits jump right out of the scroll. - Tony C (Unrated) from fftogo

Is that like <!DOCTYPE JEANS PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR..."> ? - Tinfoil 2.0

This particular issue is why I prefer to buy men's jeans: loose from the get go. Plus, none of that annoying "cut you in half when you sit down" bull. - FFing Enigma

They should lace in a bit of carbon fiber instead of lycra, then. - DGentry

True that, Denton. I do have a pair of jeans lined with kevlar, but that's a different story altogether. - FFing Enigma

I air dry mine (100% cotton), but still like them better after I've loosened them up a bit. - Tinfoil 2.0

It would appear I'm the only one who can't stand the feel of air dried jeans: entirely too crunchy & abrasive for my taste. And before it's suggested, I won't use liquid fabric softener in the wash. Leaves a funky film on my skin I can feel all day long *shudder* - FFing Enigma

I know you've already responded to Ginger, but I think she has the right idea here. Even fully drying jeans once in the dryer can do the damage. I don't do it, but the smart thing to do is to partially hang dry your jeans every time you wash them. From the very beginning. I can't resist fluffing them in the dryer from time to time to lose some of that stiffness. - Jen (SquirrelGirl)

Perhaps the squashed girly bits has to do with the rise of the jeans more than the tightness? I've noticed a big difference depending on the height of the waist. - Heather Solos

I don't know, Heather; I've got a rather high waist and haven't had a pair of jeans that actually hit it since the early 90s. Just about everything I find in stores is low to mid rise nowadays. - FFing Enigma

There are comments I would love to make, But they would only: A.) Get me in trouble with my wife, B.) Make me sound like a sexist Pig and I forgot what C was, so I'll just read in silence - sort of. - Brent - Yes I am

I had an incredible jean buying experience in San Francisco. The guy that was helping me was amazingly good and looked at me, turned around and brought me the pair of jeans I wound up buying. The key is (unfortunately) to buy them very tight in the hips/butt, because they loosen over time and you might need to break them in like new shoes. I too follow Ginger's sage advice. - JoEllen

Seven makes a high rise bootcut that is a) not really high as much as normal b) just boot enough. - Sarah Miller

I can't speak to the original query, but I can recommend dryer balls as an alternative to fabric softener. We've been using one set for about three years. For avoiding heat damage to the Lycra, air drying and then running them through the dryer on 'fluff' with a pair of dryer balls should do it. - Michael R. Bernstein

*sigh* Unfortunately JoEllen, jeans are always tight in the butt and typically loose in the waist. Dave has asked me to not do anything to rectify that situation, though. I'm only 'allowed' to do side bends and sit-ups ;-) - FFing Enigma

baby got back. - JoEllen

There is a BK commercial looking for you! - Tony C (Unrated) from fftogo

But, I don't have a square rear end!! =P - FFing Enigma

The kevlar could fix that ;) - Tony C (Unrated) from IM

Oh, Tina, I'm so there with you. In fact, as I put my jeans on this morning I thought to myself "these are totally going to be saggy by midday." And then I'm constantly hitching them up like a farmer. And I HATE line-dried jeans. Too scratchy! - Lis

GAH!!! Not the problem I'm having Matthew!!! Lis: glad I'm not alone on this one. I may have to save stretchy jeans for the days where I won't be sitting down at all: they seem to keep their shape better. How sad... - FFing Enigma

Matthew, I'll see you your Coin Slot, and raise you Mom Jeans: http://www.hulu.com/watch... - Michael R. Bernstein

Lightweights! http://friendfeed.com/isthiss... - FFing Enigma

http://naurunappula.com/z... - Brent - Yes I am

Sure enough, I totally had sag-ass by lunch and laughed about this thread. - Lis

David Cook

Images That Cannot Be Explained

May 4, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

shâhin, Keven, Wolfman-K and 8 other people liked this

=O - Shevonne

o.O - Dean "Karnatos" Michaud

Yup. You're Winner ! of the Holy Fucking Shit! Award - tehKenny

Thomas Hawk

Military NYC Flyover Cost $328,000 | - CBS News - http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs...

April 29, 2009 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Mrsth, yagami, Rob H. and 18 other people liked this

"Along with scaring New Yorkers, the military flyover of lower Manhattan on Monday cost taxpayers $328,835, reports WCBS in New York. That bill includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for two F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, said Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein." - Thomas Hawk from Bookmarklet

22 more comments

Cheap :) - Roberto Bonini

Question, why are we paying $328,000 to take a photograph of an airplane and the Statue of Libery in the same frame? Have these people never heard of Photoshop? Seems like an incredible waste of money. What is this photo being used for and what could possibly justify this price tag? - Thomas Hawk

Wouldn't photoshop have been cheaper? - Eric Johnson

They need to fire the schmuck who gave this the O.K. - Ryan

Make that +1 Thomas! - Eric Johnson

Exactly. Photoshop would have been far, far, far, cheaper. Why is this photograph so important? Is this for Obama's Holiday Card or something? What are they using this for? Who was the photographer commissioned to shoot this? This photo shoot cost more than it cost to fly those three automaker CEOs to Washington DC in their private jets. Who could have possibly authorized this tremendous waste of taxpayer money? - Thomas Hawk

It would have been spent anyways. :) But I prfer real to Photoshop - Roberto Bonini

wow $328,835 could have paid for several students to go through college to learn how to use photoshop - Adrian

"It would have been spent anyways"? wow! as long as it has the Obama seal of approval its ok I guess. - Mot Faerin

I'd seriously like to know who the photographer was who was commissioned for this shot and what exactly it is being used for. - Thomas Hawk

i seriously doubt this was about a photo op at all. - MikeAmundsen

Another blunder from the 0 administration. - Spencer

From the NY Times: "The mission on Monday, officials said, was set up to create an iconic shot of Air Force One, similar to one that was taken in recent years over the Grand Canyon." - Thomas Hawk

Why do they need an "iconic" shot of Air Force One? What could possibly justify the expense of this? You could have paid 5 photographers full time fellowships for a year to capture American Life on the streets and come up with much better than this. - Thomas Hawk

I wonder how much the "Grand Canyon" shot cost? - Thomas Hawk

My friend rob wrote up a nice post over on Technology Viewer about this, umm hello, government, we have this thing called CGI now. You didn't really need to do this to get "the shot" - Wolfman-K

I guess I'm the only one who thinks that this whole 'fiasco' is laughable and should have been relegated to at best a byline below the fold.... How about we concentrate on something more useful, like what we're going to do about alternative energy to replace things like 747's... or how we're going to pay my SSI if I'm lucky enough to make it to 80 or whatever they're gonna raise the retirement age for my generation to... That'd be nice... - matthew john ernisse

Matthew, you don't care about $328k being wasted? I think everyone here would rather see that $328k put to better use, including on some of the things you mention. - Stephen Mack

Good point on GIMP. The Govt. probably needs more free open source software. - Thomas Hawk

in the grand scheme of the government, $328k is nothing. That is no where near low hanging fruit. They spend millions per soldier training nice normal people to kill other people. They spend hundreds of thousands PRINTING THE BUDGET. The federal budget for SSI, Medicare, and Defense is over $3,000,000,000/DAY... I am pragmatic enough to think that we should focus on the issues that will make a difference first. And $328k towards alternative energy probably isn't enough to switch one government agency to CF. - matthew john ernisse

Matthew, very true, but this is high profile, highly visible Govt. waste, so it's worth handing someone their ass over it. - Thomas Hawk

Actually, I'm kinda all for paying $0.00010 for some nifty photos, since they all should be public domain... - matthew john ernisse

Does anyone really think that one of the 747's can be re-directed to circle NY, be tailed by F16's all while the President has no idea it is taking place? Every movement of vital Presidential security pieces are planned and scheduled to the finest detail. The planes must be available for emergencies and the Secret Service must have plans in place in DC while that plane was "not available". If all of this can be planned and executed without BO ever being told, who exactly is in control? Really? - Robert Kenney

Mike Fruchter

FriendFeed Poll: Do you own a gun? Do you carry one? (legally of course)

April 19, 2009 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Rowley, Iván Abrego, Chris Gardner and 20 other people liked this

hell no - Dobromir Hadzhiev

79 more comments

No. - Mona Nomura

Yes, and I carry a concealed weapon pretty much everywhere I go. - Spencer

I own one and do not carry. In the process of getting my carry license. - Mike Fruchter

Yes - Robert Kenney

I would if I could, but scared to death my kids will find it. I'm very, very close to getting one anyway though. Need something to point at the kids that keep cutting through my yard ;-) - Jesse Stay

I have a feeling this thread is going to get very interesting. - Mike Fruchter

no and no (legally or otherwise). - Rob Kramer

no - BEX

I don't carry but would (and do) defend people's right to legally carry guns. - caj needs a haircut

I can get 5 shots in under the size of a dime with a .22 - Jesse Stay

Jesse, is UT an open carry state or concealed? - Mike Fruchter

Still having a hard time finding ammo since last November. - Spencer

nope - Wayne Sutton

No, but my dad has a couple back at home, and I have a friend who took me to the range a couple of times. I shot his scoped rifle as accurately as he did. :) - Jandy

Mike, it's concealed. I grew up in Texas though - I think, at least when I was growing up, that it was open back then. I had enough guns pointed at me (for going in their yards) that it may as well have been. :-) - Jesse Stay

technically yes, my husband was given a shot gun that was his father, it was made in the 1930's and hasn't been shot in about 40 years, so the chance is good that if I ever shot it I would probably kill myself - Kim Landwehr

Jesse, FL is the same, concealed. Hey at least your alive to tell those tales :) The Texans I hear are no joke when it comes to their guns. - Mike Fruchter

No. No. - Zu from AOD

I'm more of a revolver type. I owned a 357, but own a 45 auto now. I'm thinking of getting a 357 for carry. I may give the Glocks a second look over though. - Mike Fruchter

Don't own, don't carry. I've never fired a gun, unless playing Duck Hunt and other NES games count. I've always wanted to go to the Boy Scout camp and practice at the shooting range there but I'm afraid I'd end up liking it too much. I have a pretty nasty temper so I'm probably the wrong kind of person to carry a gun. - Sally - Skyrimmin' It

No...comment - Bryan R. Adams

Sally, head up to FL and I will take you to the range one day. Rent any gun you want, the best part is you wont leave with it :) - Mike Fruchter

seriously over 30 comments on this in under 10 minutes, hot subject huh - my answer "no" - mike "glemak" dunn

@Mike, I have a feeling this thread will start to fly south in no time, literally :) - Mike Fruchter

Nope. - Anika

No. - Michelle M

No and no. - ha3rvey (Hugs 50% off!)

I'm for responsible gun ownership. Not a member of the NRA, nor a gun nut. I do believe we have the rights to bear arms responsibly of course. - Mike Fruchter

Nope - never! - Ozgur Poyrazoglu

Yup and nope, respectively. - Roger Benningfield

Nope - Kiran Patchigolla

nope - MikeAmundsen

No and No. Yes I know how to use one. - Sally Church

no and no - The Amber

No, but I have no problem with law-abiding citizens carrying firearms. - iTad

Concealed carry is pretty crazy. If people have guns in public, I'd rather know about it AND see the carry permit in plain sight too. - Tinfoil 2.0

I own a shot gun but I don't ever carry it around. - Andrew

No and not anymore. - Steven Perez

No - AJ Kohn

no - Duane

Nope. - JCunwired

NO - AJ Batac :)

No, but I like the idea of concealed carry. I'd rather criminals not know whether someone near them is packing. - dpurrington

No way!! - Kol Tregaskes

No. Not even a nail gun. But I do have a glue gun. - Martha

Don't own personally (unless an air rifle bb gun counts, lol), don't carry (but I keep meaning to get my FID card, just because) — but my NRA-member father does own and I grew up with guns in the house — locked away in a gun safe. - Penguin

I personally don't but my sister owns a pistol (she works at a bank and got it after a nearby bank was robbed), my father owns a hand gun (he bought it to carry when making night cash deposits when he owned the cigar store) and my mother bought a shotgun last year for home protection (when she was living by herself). Dave has several hunting rifles and does have a conceal carry permit. I know several people that do. None of them have drawn their weapon outside of a range. - FFing Enigma

I don't but my husband does-he has a handgun and a shotgun, but he doesn't carry. - Kelly W.

only guns i have are on my arms :) - (jeff)isageek

I have one in my pants. - Derrick

Derrick wins again! - Zulema ⋅ spicy cocoa tart

Yep, several. Just got my concealed carry license! - Brian Bufalo

Guns are for chickens. - david beckwith

own: no. carry: no. terrified of?: yes. - Morgan

I grew up hunting, so I own several rifles that I haven't used in a decade, but never carry. - Bob M. Montgomery

No and no, but I'm working on it. Also my concealed carry permit has expired, so I'm in the process of obtaining that again too. - Dave Roth

No, but I have considered it, and support those who decide to do it, legally of course. - Wolfman-K

Derrick, don't you know it is dangerous to carry a gun in your pants? - Martha

Not at the moment, but I have in the past. At this point I'm considering buying another and my CWP. - Christian (Simply X)

No, and no. - Jennifer Dittrich

yea. no. - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

no, no - Aram Zucker-Scharff from twhirl

When they make one with an UNDO button I'll buy it. - Bruce Lewis from fftogo

I own two rifles, a .22 and a 30/30. And I'm a damn good shot! :) - Dawn

Law-abiding citizens are not permitted to carry firearms in the City of Los Angeles. - Anthony Citrano

I own a .22 rifle that was my grandfathers, a .22 revolver given to me by my father, a .357 mag revolver I bought myself and a .40 semi auto pistol I also bought. I do not carry but have thought about getting my permit but my workplace doesn't allow firearms, permit or not so I guess any bad guys will have to check their guns at the door too. - Paul Wade

Oh Mike, absolutely no :) - Alp

No and no. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

No and no - not that I have objections in principle, but I would probably not use the gun properly in an emergency. - John E. Bredehoft

Used to have AK 47, Ingram Micro, Short M16 and Glock 17. - Nir Ben Yona

Maybe. You'll never know now, will you? ;-) - Sue Radd

No and no, but I've shot a pistol before. - Heather

No I don't own a gun. - Just Katie

I have several machine guns and an RPG -- on my Call of Duty game... ;) Would never own a real gun myself. - Jorge Escobar

yes, no. - Evan Travers

no, no - andy brudtkuhl

yes, no. - Chris Gardner

No, no - Iván Abrego

Neither. - Parth Awasthi

So, Larry, I assume that means no one in Australia has one? ;p - Anthony Citrano

Susan Beebe

We are celebrating. Rochester should not be used as a test market since there are not enough companies offering high speed internet -Schumer

April 16, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Wolfman-K liked this

Susan Beebe

RT @Mona: "Time Warner Cable cancels Internet tier pricing plan" via @susanbeebe. Power of the Internet blows me away. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article...

April 16, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Wolfman-K and Michelle M liked this

I hope they cancel this in Texas, but I doubt they will. - Michelle M

Dave Roth

Jazz Club - http://www.flickr.com/photos...

April 13, 2009 from Flickr favorites - Comment - Like - Share

Andy Roth and Wolfman-K liked this

I'm astonished that this picture was taken with a point-and-shoot. - Dave Roth

Thanks. The LX3 is a fine little camera, plus it was a really cool place. - Andy Roth

Erin @queenofspain

$100 to check all our luggage btw. #suckit American Airlines

April 11, 2009 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Steven Perez, Jorg Jansen, Wolfman-K and John E. Bredehoft liked this

I have a new employer, and their travel policy now states that they will pay for a checked bag. It was only a few years ago that airlines bragged out the meals that they serve. Next - pay toilets. - John E. Bredehoft

Never check luggage. Ever. - Dave Roth

Wolfman-K › Likes