Friday, March 31, 2006
Happy Birthday, Randy!
Have a wonderful day...
Quote of the Day: What is identity?
"the tendency of the walled-gardeners is to force these keys to behave as if they were physical. And we need to move into the 21st century and push back. Hard. Like we had to push back on being able to choose our PINs and change them. Like we had to push back on being able to keep our phone numbers regardless of carrier or provider. Can you imagine a mail provider telling you that you couldn?t redirect mail either from or to the mail account they provide to you?"
--JP Rangaswami, writing about the four pillars of virtual identity(the 'keys') and how users need to be able to control their own identity tags in Confused of Calcutta.
(Note, this whole post is worth a good read).
--JP Rangaswami, writing about the four pillars of virtual identity(the 'keys') and how users need to be able to control their own identity tags in Confused of Calcutta.
(Note, this whole post is worth a good read).
Noted
- techcrunch reviews feedreaders: Rojo and Bloglines(my personal faves) get the raves.
- emily chang's StyleHive goes live--this is what you get when geeks & fashion mate.
- Six Apart opens up its developer platform for widgets (Via dan farber). "So far, 33 TypePad widgets are available, ranging from commerce and games to content and search?and they are free." (Dan and Anil ask--how about widget standards?)
- Niall Kennedy starts an events business--congrats,! Mike A, move over.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Events: What I (might) do this month
Mobile Monday: Flash and SVG with Fuchsia Design , Beatware--April 3rd, 7 PM
2nd Annual WTC Venture Capital Awards, hosted by the Women's Technology Cluster --April 4th, 6 PM
Via Podtech: The Third Conference on Innovation Journalism, Stanford--April 5-7, 2006
BayChi: Beyond Search: Social and Personal Ways of Finding Information-April 11, 7 PM
2nd Annual WTC Venture Capital Awards, hosted by the Women's Technology Cluster --April 4th, 6 PM
Via Podtech: The Third Conference on Innovation Journalism, Stanford--April 5-7, 2006
BayChi: Beyond Search: Social and Personal Ways of Finding Information-April 11, 7 PM
Termites and (not) blogging
So I just got into my place after three nights staying with friends--everyone in the complex had to move out so they could tent and fumigate for termites.
Puts a crimp in my blogging frequency not to have that 6-7 am time zone to read, sip coffee, and blog before I walk the dog and head to work.
Well, now I'm back.
yea.
Puts a crimp in my blogging frequency not to have that 6-7 am time zone to read, sip coffee, and blog before I walk the dog and head to work.
Well, now I'm back.
yea.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Burning Man 2006?
I am thinking about going to Burning Man this year for the first time ever--I'd welcome advice from friends/readers/burners about where to camp, what to expect--you can leave comments here or email me.
Quote of the Day
"You have a lot of great bloggers out there, and a lot of time they blog about a subject you may not be as strong on on your own site. We just thought we'd get on the front lines and see if it's something that would work long term for us."
--Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, explaining his site's interest in Pluck's new BlogBurst service, a syndicated blog platform, via an Online News story.
(Note: Pluck is a former client; I worked with Brady at one point.)
--Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, explaining his site's interest in Pluck's new BlogBurst service, a syndicated blog platform, via an Online News story.
(Note: Pluck is a former client; I worked with Brady at one point.)
Monday, March 27, 2006
What I am not getting from Big Love
So Big Love, the drama about Mormon polygamy (and polyamory) running on HBO, has a great cast and a nice pace, but there are a couple of central questions that just haven't been answered, and the lack of context is undercutting the impact of the show for me.
I get the circle of wives and understand their small social network, but I want to know:
- Why does the main character have 3 wives?
- Is it a religious conviction?
- Does he love them all, or is it that he wanted to have more sexual variety?
- Or prove he could afford more families?
- How does he get emotional fulfillment from three relationships? (Seems like all he does is rush and worry, cept when he is having sex with the wife it's his turn to be with)
- Does he see women as chattel? Surrendered wives?
- How important is his faith in his life--and does it make him feel entitled? If so, how?
- And finally, is this guy having any fun?
I am enjoying the show, but more because of the interplay between the actresses and the Gee Whiz treatment of the (beyond the pale) sect the hero was raised in--but there could be much more depth if the writers addressed these questions.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Quote of the Day
"The basic web unit is no longer a site, or even a page. It's a piece of data. And that piece of data can appear anywhere."
--Peter De Vanzo, searchengineblog., writing on why he thinks Google is the (new) web.
(Via chewshop and seobook)
--Peter De Vanzo, searchengineblog., writing on why he thinks Google is the (new) web.
(Via chewshop and seobook)
Happy blog B days
Richard MacManus hits the big blogging 4.0, as does Paolo, and Phil Pearson. The guys say Dave Winer inspired them--me, too!
Newsweek: Hyping the Living Web
Newsweek's got a cover story that takes Bay area joy around Web 2.0 and social media tools and turns it into a national web kiss, conplete with some of the best and the brightest beaming from cute photos. Stuart Butterfield, Caterina Fake and Flickr make the cover of Newsweek via got a story that begins, The New Wisdom of the Web: Why is everyone so happy in Silicon Valley again? A new wave of start-ups are cashing in on the next stage of the Internet. And this time, it's all about ... you.
One ofd my favorite quotes in the story is from Caterina Fake, who says: ""We were very small and very poor," says Fake, "so we built a lot of features that were deliberately viral." A big boost came from bloggers, who appreciated that Flickr had a one-button command to "blog this," and a photo would instantly appear on their site, hot-linked to the shot's real home on Flickr. They also made sure that their site worked well with other Living Web applications ? Flickr photos are one of the prime ingredients in Web mash-ups."
As Paid Content says: "All the usual suspects get mentions -- MySpace, del.icio.us, Craigslist, Facebook, YouTube -- and some would-bes -- Imeem, even Mary Hodder's stealthy video-sharing Dabble."
The story is worth a read--it's very well done and right on target if you want to know what kinds of things us tech heads inside the Bubble salivate over----but I wonder what people outslide the bell jar will think about the bright, shiny joy Brad Stone describes.
More on this from Doc, Paul Kedrosky, and others.
One ofd my favorite quotes in the story is from Caterina Fake, who says: ""We were very small and very poor," says Fake, "so we built a lot of features that were deliberately viral." A big boost came from bloggers, who appreciated that Flickr had a one-button command to "blog this," and a photo would instantly appear on their site, hot-linked to the shot's real home on Flickr. They also made sure that their site worked well with other Living Web applications ? Flickr photos are one of the prime ingredients in Web mash-ups."
As Paid Content says: "All the usual suspects get mentions -- MySpace, del.icio.us, Craigslist, Facebook, YouTube -- and some would-bes -- Imeem, even Mary Hodder's stealthy video-sharing Dabble."
The story is worth a read--it's very well done and right on target if you want to know what kinds of things us tech heads inside the Bubble salivate over----but I wonder what people outslide the bell jar will think about the bright, shiny joy Brad Stone describes.
More on this from Doc, Paul Kedrosky, and others.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Life at the office
Observations 2 months in:
As I sat in a meeting with a recent hire, I realized how well I was going to get to know this person over time--and that one of the pleasures of working in a team was getting to know everyone and building ties to them.
--And how, in fact, those connections often became the rewards for some of the hassles of a job. (When I count how many of my friends and I worked together at some earlier date, I can see the truth in that for me...)
Also, I notice how, as I learn more about the new aspects of the business, my ability to work at a quick pace steps up. The past couple of days I've been really turning it out and feel that old adrenaline high of working hard and productively and on a roll.
And finally, there's the fun. There have been some tremendous conversations with smart people across the company and discussions on working together, plans to collaborate creatively with the product team, and even some moments involving, yes, glasses of wine.
As I sat in a meeting with a recent hire, I realized how well I was going to get to know this person over time--and that one of the pleasures of working in a team was getting to know everyone and building ties to them.
--And how, in fact, those connections often became the rewards for some of the hassles of a job. (When I count how many of my friends and I worked together at some earlier date, I can see the truth in that for me...)
Also, I notice how, as I learn more about the new aspects of the business, my ability to work at a quick pace steps up. The past couple of days I've been really turning it out and feel that old adrenaline high of working hard and productively and on a roll.
And finally, there's the fun. There have been some tremendous conversations with smart people across the company and discussions on working together, plans to collaborate creatively with the product team, and even some moments involving, yes, glasses of wine.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Congrats: New West Gets Funded
As publisher/founder Jon Weber knows, I'm a huge fan of NewWest, the web newsmagazine/blog/community site for the high mountains states, so it was great to hear they just got a round of financing, known in the trade as a series A (first official round).
Paid Content reports that New Jersey boy (and Montana landowner) Maury Povich (remember him?) is one of the investors, along with "Brad Feld, managing director at Mobius Venture Capital in Boulder; John Connors, former MSFT CFO now with Ignition Partners; Brett DeBruycker, a Montana farmer and rancher; Gary Loveman, CEO. Harrah's Entertainment; Gary Rieschel, a founder of Qiming Venture Partners; Lance Trebesch, president, New Water LLC in Bozeman; Flywheel Ventures of Santa Fe."
New West recieved several awards from the Online News Association in 2005 (yes, I was a judge), and is doing tremendous work so this is exciting--wonder if now they will go to a print edition, as Webber said he might when they started last year.
Paid Content reports that New Jersey boy (and Montana landowner) Maury Povich (remember him?) is one of the investors, along with "Brad Feld, managing director at Mobius Venture Capital in Boulder; John Connors, former MSFT CFO now with Ignition Partners; Brett DeBruycker, a Montana farmer and rancher; Gary Loveman, CEO. Harrah's Entertainment; Gary Rieschel, a founder of Qiming Venture Partners; Lance Trebesch, president, New Water LLC in Bozeman; Flywheel Ventures of Santa Fe."
New West recieved several awards from the Online News Association in 2005 (yes, I was a judge), and is doing tremendous work so this is exciting--wonder if now they will go to a print edition, as Webber said he might when they started last year.
Noted: Beats
Evelyn Rodriguez: Blogging, marketing and the Beat poets, a marvelous yawp.
Tom Formeski: Blogs and the Beat Generation--"... there is a kinship and a natural lineage that runs from the Beat writers of fifty years ago, to the blogosphere of today."
Chad: Beat it--It's Hack Day at Yahoo this Friday!
Bonus link: Ethan Zuckerman: Protesting the detention of Chinese blogger Hao Wu via tags and bookmarks.
freeehaowu
Tom Formeski: Blogs and the Beat Generation--"... there is a kinship and a natural lineage that runs from the Beat writers of fifty years ago, to the blogosphere of today."
Chad: Beat it--It's Hack Day at Yahoo this Friday!
Bonus link: Ethan Zuckerman: Protesting the detention of Chinese blogger Hao Wu via tags and bookmarks.
freeehaowu
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Quote of the Day: What other characteristics do social software websites, like digg, have in common with online, passive games like travian?
"The real poster child of web 2.0 is tagging. Every website supports it and tags now present a real alternative to traditional search. Tags and the keyword dictionarys that they create provide a domain-specific grammar that can be applied on a hyper-local level, to a specific website. For passive games, tagging doesn?t really apply. However, if we think of tagging as a way for users to express themselves online, then passive games have their own popular form of self expression, that of avatar customisation. Where tags give every user a way of personalising a website (which, in terms of growing up, proves that we?re at The Age of Point at Things), avatars give players a way of differentiating themselves from every other player in the game."
--Duncan Gough, writing on Suttree on about "Casual Games and Social Software"--and there's lots of great thinking here.
Quote of the day
"Digital architectures alter the structure of social life and information flow. Persistence, searchability, the collapse of distance and time, copyability... These are not factors that most everyday people consider when living unmediated lives. Yet, they are increasingly becoming normative in society. Throughout the 20th century, mass media forced journalists and "public" figures to come to terms with this, but digital structures force everyone to do so. People's notion of public radically changes when they have to account for the Kenyan farmer, their lurking boss, and the person who will access their speech months from now. People's idea of a public is traditionally bounded by space, time and audience - the park is a public that people understand. And, yet, this is all being disrupted."
--danah boyd, apophenia, writing in an essay on "super publics"
--danah boyd, apophenia, writing in an essay on "super publics"
Strong ties, blogrolls, aggregators
Jeneane at Allied has a great post about how aggregators are packagers for lazy people that Shelly at Burning Bird picks up.
Short version: Blogs--along with blogrolls and comments--are a community ecosystem and we need them.
J: "We have to get out and WALK the blog neighborhood. Everyone reading this post, please make sure that you have a blogroll. Sure, I can't tell you what to do, but Blogrolls are the antidote to RSS and aggregators."
S: "Communities, friendships, a sense of companionship and sharing cant be made or broken through the use of tools. If anything, when we become friends through our online associations, we have done something extraordinarywe have reached beyond the limits of technology and created something human, and real."
Shelly then says that these online communities are fragile--and she's right--but they are also amazingly powerful--and can move into the real world and become strong ties.
For many bloggers, blogs become connectors for real-world relationship and on-going discourse--something that is in a different bucket than a hunger for news--and more connection-focused than content focused.
Short version: Blogs--along with blogrolls and comments--are a community ecosystem and we need them.
J: "We have to get out and WALK the blog neighborhood. Everyone reading this post, please make sure that you have a blogroll. Sure, I can't tell you what to do, but Blogrolls are the antidote to RSS and aggregators."
S: "Communities, friendships, a sense of companionship and sharing cant be made or broken through the use of tools. If anything, when we become friends through our online associations, we have done something extraordinarywe have reached beyond the limits of technology and created something human, and real."
Shelly then says that these online communities are fragile--and she's right--but they are also amazingly powerful--and can move into the real world and become strong ties.
For many bloggers, blogs become connectors for real-world relationship and on-going discourse--something that is in a different bucket than a hunger for news--and more connection-focused than content focused.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Noted: Lovosphere & more
David Evans on background checks and doing a deal with the personals sites: "The company that wins must have a rock-solid web-based service, intimate knowledge of the online dating industry and a business model that works, including pricing, marketing and customer service. No one single company has been able to deliver on all three counts."
Podcasting News: It's Poddater--Meet dates via MP3.
Hearst Magazine Group forms Digital Media unit: Cosmo gets one step closer to a vibrant online presence, along with scores of other great magazines.
Podcasting News: It's Poddater--Meet dates via MP3.
Hearst Magazine Group forms Digital Media unit: Cosmo gets one step closer to a vibrant online presence, along with scores of other great magazines.
Lisa Stone on Big media and Little Media
I liked Lisa Stone's analogies on big media and little media dueling it out for attention as the mainstream press and the participatory journalists as Daddy and Mommy.
Lisa writes:
"Here's what I mean when I say that I feel feel as though mommy and daddy are fighting. What I have learned is that Daddy (or big media) is predisposed to value hierarchy and status, or elitism in the negative sense, whereas Mommy (or self-published media) is predisposed to value meritocracy or elitism in the positive sense. Daddy's in trouble because being a member of the club has, over time, become more important than being the top expert at his job--indeed has changed his job. As a result, Daddy's product is no longer always the best-- the most elite by definition (b). Mommy's given him some competition because, thanks to her search tool, she's a smart shopper and can find the best, most detailed expert information on any topic because she can look world-wide, rather than being limited by the club...It's essential for bloggers to keep the reader in mind too and to avoid clubby elitism."
Lisa's points--clever as they are--remind me that all writintg is ultimately about voice, accuracy and perspective--and that self-publishing tools make it easier and easier for the long tail of participatory journalism to compete for attention--especially as search tools drive the most-linked to posts to the fore.
Lisa writes:
"Here's what I mean when I say that I feel feel as though mommy and daddy are fighting. What I have learned is that Daddy (or big media) is predisposed to value hierarchy and status, or elitism in the negative sense, whereas Mommy (or self-published media) is predisposed to value meritocracy or elitism in the positive sense. Daddy's in trouble because being a member of the club has, over time, become more important than being the top expert at his job--indeed has changed his job. As a result, Daddy's product is no longer always the best-- the most elite by definition (b). Mommy's given him some competition because, thanks to her search tool, she's a smart shopper and can find the best, most detailed expert information on any topic because she can look world-wide, rather than being limited by the club...It's essential for bloggers to keep the reader in mind too and to avoid clubby elitism."
Lisa's points--clever as they are--remind me that all writintg is ultimately about voice, accuracy and perspective--and that self-publishing tools make it easier and easier for the long tail of participatory journalism to compete for attention--especially as search tools drive the most-linked to posts to the fore.
Quote of the Day
"Do you know how long it took me to start a blog, even? How many of my friends I made fun of becauase of it? Only to find out a month later, a month after a started up a blog of my own, that the cool people no longer blogged, they Facebook-ed? First my friends, then my family, then my friends. Even my bored-by-computers best friend is on, and Bek and Mike... You guys blow. All you all can suck it. Psh, facebookers."
--Misty, a 23 yr old blogger from Oklahoma, writing "Dammnit, I will not join Facebook!" at To Interpellate
--Misty, a 23 yr old blogger from Oklahoma, writing "Dammnit, I will not join Facebook!" at To Interpellate
Netscape.com: 5 years, 5 AOL strategies
I couldn't help smiling (okay, laughing out loud) when I read the ValleyWag and Paid Content reports that Weblogs Inc founder and new AOL exec Jason Calacanis would run Netscape.com and turn it into a digg like service.
You see, I'm a former Netscape/AOL exec, and so I keep track of these things and it seems like Netscape has had 5 strategies--and almost as many GMs--in 5 years, so perhaps the Calacanis thing is either AOL's latest flavor of the moment frenzy, or a profound conviction that since Netscape is their orphan child, what do they have to lose?
There was a new strategy every year for five years--why not one now?
You see, I'm a former Netscape/AOL exec, and so I keep track of these things and it seems like Netscape has had 5 strategies--and almost as many GMs--in 5 years, so perhaps the Calacanis thing is either AOL's latest flavor of the moment frenzy, or a profound conviction that since Netscape is their orphan child, what do they have to lose?
There was a new strategy every year for five years--why not one now?
March 19: My blog birthday
I was out of town this weekend and trying to stay off the machine, but Sunday was my third blog anniversary.
Three years of blogging!
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, has commented, reached out.
And thank you to so many great friends and thinkers whose own blogs--and ideas--have taught me.
Three years of blogging!
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, has commented, reached out.
And thank you to so many great friends and thinkers whose own blogs--and ideas--have taught me.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The NY Times gets blogs, like really
Eric Asimov's got a new NYTimes wine blog called, appropriately, The Pour. and it looks damn good. And then there's Frank Bruni's Diner's Journal. And they both have real links, and content and hey--they're world-class blogs.
Nice work guys--
Nice work guys--
Noted
Tracking Jack on 24: A mash up of all the show's locations (thanks, Jay!)
NYTimes: Study links Ambien to unconscious food forays--but ypu probably knew that, right?
(Susan sez: I knew someone who gained 20 lbs from night eating post-Ambien, and had no clue for several months her sleep drug was the cause...)
Jeremy Z: What's the right amount of time to spend reading 800 blogs?
Lisa Williams: Notes on the love/blogging couples panel at SXSW--a must read.
NYTimes: Study links Ambien to unconscious food forays--but ypu probably knew that, right?
(Susan sez: I knew someone who gained 20 lbs from night eating post-Ambien, and had no clue for several months her sleep drug was the cause...)
Jeremy Z: What's the right amount of time to spend reading 800 blogs?
Lisa Williams: Notes on the love/blogging couples panel at SXSW--a must read.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Mobile blogging makes a move: Six Apart purchases small co.
Just saw that blog software publisher Six Apart has bought SplashBlog, a mobile photo blogging application and service that allows users to publish photos from a camera phone to a blog. Mobile Jones has a good post on this (one of several).
(Via Depraved Librarian)
(Via Depraved Librarian)
Meaningless mash up of the moment(MMOM): Gawker Stalker Maps
Ready for the latest MMOM? It has to be the just announced Gawker Stalker maps, a mash-up of Google Maps and Wists that gives high irony to low culture.
Yep, now celebrity stalkings over at the G can be viewed on cute little Ajaxian maps, proving that New Yorkers have their own view of Bubble technologies.
(Via WeSmirch)
Yep, now celebrity stalkings over at the G can be viewed on cute little Ajaxian maps, proving that New Yorkers have their own view of Bubble technologies.
(Via WeSmirch)
Quote of the Day
"We are now reaching our first level of critical mass where individuals are becoming overwhelmed because there is a fantastic breakthrough of thought happening. (snip)....This is an exciting, grassroots explosion of thoughts and applications. Individuals, not necessarily companies, are leading the way with innovative technologies and ideas."
--Shannon Whitley, writing 'The Blogosphere Evolves', on stresses of bloggy fame and fortune, in Diary of a Madman
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
WeSmirch whips the covers off gossip memetracker
WeSmirch launched last night, mememaster Gabe Rivera's homage to gossip rags (and blogs) everywhere. For anyone who's every wished high-class algorithms could be applied to their low-class hunger for celebrity gossip, snark and baseless rumors, this is it.
Gabe's tech memeorandum like treatment of the celebosphere is pure candy.
Valleywag, step aside, time-wastings got a new home.
Gabe's tech memeorandum like treatment of the celebosphere is pure candy.
Valleywag, step aside, time-wastings got a new home.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Quote of the Day
"Blogging doesn't need me anymore. It'll go on just as well, maybe even better, with some new space opened up for some new things. But more important to me, there will be new space for me. Blogging not only takes a lot of time (which I don't begrudge it, I love writing) but it also limits what I can do, because it's made me a public figure. I want some privacy, I want to matter less, so I can retool, and matter more, in different ways. What those ways are, however, are things I won't be talking about here. That's the point. That's the big reason why."
--Dave Winer, writing on one of his multiple blogs
(Susan sez: Somehow, I can't imagine Dave not using some forum to share his views with the world.)
--Dave Winer, writing on one of his multiple blogs
(Susan sez: Somehow, I can't imagine Dave not using some forum to share his views with the world.)
Will there be a MySpace Messenger?
IM wars never end and now the newest wrinkle is that Peter Cashmore--and some others--think a MySpace Messenger client is coming down the pike. Evidence? A pretty real looking IM start page right here.
Can you say ka-ching as MySpace takes ad revenuefor the 18-25 set away from AOL's AIM and everyone else in the space?
(Question: Is the app up to all that? Only release will tell.)
Can you say ka-ching as MySpace takes ad revenuefor the 18-25 set away from AOL's AIM and everyone else in the space?
(Question: Is the app up to all that? Only release will tell.)
McClatchy Co. is buying Knight Ridder ; will they sell Topix?
The AP reports that The McClatchy Co. has reached a deal to buy Knight Ridder Inc for about $4.5 billion in cash and stock, the companies announced Monday. McClatchy will also assume about $2 billion in Knight Ridder's debt and plans to sell 12 of Knight Ridder's 32 newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News and the San Jose Mercury News.
I'm wondering what will happen to the digital assets--ShopLocal, Topix and KRD corporate development--will they remain intact, be moved to Sacramento, or be broken apart?
I'm wondering what will happen to the digital assets--ShopLocal, Topix and KRD corporate development--will they remain intact, be moved to Sacramento, or be broken apart?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Bettie Page is 82 and signing autographs
Did you know the LA Times has a story today about 50's sex kitten and pin-up icon Bettie Page and her enduring fame?
If you have any interest in Page, 50's pin-ups, burlesque, etc., this piece is a must-read about the kitten with a whip and her past 20 years.
Some BP quotes:
"I have no idea why I'm the only model who has had so much fame so long after quitting work."
and
"I want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times?. I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."
Pictures here.
If you have any interest in Page, 50's pin-ups, burlesque, etc., this piece is a must-read about the kitten with a whip and her past 20 years.
Some BP quotes:
"I have no idea why I'm the only model who has had so much fame so long after quitting work."
and
"I want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times?. I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."
Pictures here.
Quote of the Day
"Inventions themselves are not revolutions; neither are they the cause of revolutions. Their powers for change lie in the hands of those who have the imagination and insight to see that the new invention has offered them new liberties of action, that old constraints have been removed, that their political will, or their sheer greed, are no longer frustrated, and that they can act in new ways. New social behavior patterns and new social institutions are created which in turn become the commonplace experience of future generations."
--Colin Cherry, "The Telephone System: Creator ofMobility and Social Change", quoted in Ithiel de Sola Pool, TheSocial Impact of the Telephone (Cambridge MA, 1977) via the SDForums' March 13th program on Internal Marketing: Fostering Technology Adoption.
--Colin Cherry, "The Telephone System: Creator ofMobility and Social Change", quoted in Ithiel de Sola Pool, TheSocial Impact of the Telephone (Cambridge MA, 1977) via the SDForums' March 13th program on Internal Marketing: Fostering Technology Adoption.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Quote of the Day
"Innovation and change agents have little to do with money. Creators of products (in any industry) , just like artists, end up creating great cool stuff when they are focused on there respective art instead of revenue.
The era of forcing hits and products down people's throats are over.
We ain't going for it.
Create it and we'll see if we like it.
The revenue will follow. "
--Chartreuse, explaining that Web 2.0 tools are about usefulness first, business models second.
The era of forcing hits and products down people's throats are over.
We ain't going for it.
Create it and we'll see if we like it.
The revenue will follow. "
--Chartreuse, explaining that Web 2.0 tools are about usefulness first, business models second.
Doing, not talking
One of things I am seeing in the emerging tech space that makes me smile is the developing split between those who talk and those who do. For some of my colleagues, blogging and being pundits--not news breakers and columnists, but pundits, mind you--has taken the place of really being very productive. Then there are other folks, who at one point perhaps were blogging more, who are now so busy doing cool, amazing things, they are blogging less.
Now that I have a staff job--and am trying to have a more balanced (and fun) life--I also struggle to find time to blog, but I'm also thrilled to have moved more firmly to the land of the do-ers. At Yahoo, we have a big team of people with superb understanding of personals, classifieds, and identity issues, and we're busy planning out what's next for our product and making it happen. Working on something so big--in such a me-too category--underscores how much ideas and intellectual capital matter to innovation, but it also underscores how talking just ain't enough--we're going to be shipping new product and it will have to well exceed its cost in both consumer value and value to the business.
I've been cautious about talking about my day job, and will continue to be so, because I don't want to give away any competitive data. At the same time, a reader would have to live under a rock to fail to realize that running a personals marketplace at a time when w're seeing the buildout of true social media tools has to create some exciting challenges--and opportunities.
How do you seperate the talkers from the doers? You don't--and you don't even need to try.
And if you've been around the block a couple of times, like many of us have, you recognize that while talk and ideas are great, what's fascinating is how they translate into real products and services that improve users lives--or change the game.
So I am moving over into the camp of the doers. I will still be blogging, because how could I not, but I confess that the words that have drummed themselves into my brain these days are "innovative, ""release date" and "ship it."
Now that I have a staff job--and am trying to have a more balanced (and fun) life--I also struggle to find time to blog, but I'm also thrilled to have moved more firmly to the land of the do-ers. At Yahoo, we have a big team of people with superb understanding of personals, classifieds, and identity issues, and we're busy planning out what's next for our product and making it happen. Working on something so big--in such a me-too category--underscores how much ideas and intellectual capital matter to innovation, but it also underscores how talking just ain't enough--we're going to be shipping new product and it will have to well exceed its cost in both consumer value and value to the business.
I've been cautious about talking about my day job, and will continue to be so, because I don't want to give away any competitive data. At the same time, a reader would have to live under a rock to fail to realize that running a personals marketplace at a time when w're seeing the buildout of true social media tools has to create some exciting challenges--and opportunities.
How do you seperate the talkers from the doers? You don't--and you don't even need to try.
And if you've been around the block a couple of times, like many of us have, you recognize that while talk and ideas are great, what's fascinating is how they translate into real products and services that improve users lives--or change the game.
So I am moving over into the camp of the doers. I will still be blogging, because how could I not, but I confess that the words that have drummed themselves into my brain these days are "innovative, ""release date" and "ship it."
Friday, March 10, 2006
Blogging from work
So I am in a meeting at Yahoo with a whole bunch of product people and we are looking at innovative apps from our groups..and it is soo cool...one of the reasons I wanted to join were the creative product folks, now I am sitting here with a bunch of them checking out apps.
Yippee!
Yippee!
Quote of the Day 2
"...On February 15, Alexis Beyer and Alexandra Dimarco disappeared and their parents went to the media to find them. They were completely and utterly convinced that they were abducted because of their use of MySpace. Beyer's mother went so far as to say, "if I'm wrong about this whole thing, I'm willing to become the laughingstock of the city." When folks at MySpace got wind of what was going on, they contacted the police to help in any way possible. Through IP logs, they found that the girls had not logged in for many days before their disappearance. Their profiles were filled with information about how they loved each other; they marked themselves as bisexual. The police were convinced that they simply ran away, angering their mothers. The mothers were scheduled to appear on numerous national TV shows when the two girls were found. They had run away. One came back voluntarily but the other was brought back forcibly. Nothing has been written in the media exclaiming that the teens are safe. Nothing has been written in the media to correct the link to MySpace."
--danah boyd, on myspace and sexual predators and media
--danah boyd, on myspace and sexual predators and media
Quote of the Day 1
"All of us on the outside have suffered the 'name-badge assessment' where you try to talk to one of the Conference All-Stars, perhaps someone you've interacted pleasantly with via email or IRC just minutes before, and they stare at your badge for a moment (you can almost hear the mental checklist preceding the shutdown: Google? Nope. Yahoo? Nope. Press? Nope. A-List blogger? Nope.) before their eyes glaze over. It doesn't happen every time, but often enough to discourage input from just the people from whom interaction should be encouraged.
(snip)
...If I were running etech, I'd make it a requirement that everyone organizing and running the event have to find and talk to at least 20 people they don't know every day. Say Hi, give them a minute or two, and use their vast network knowledge to bring them together with others that share some interest, concern, occupation, or pre-occupation. And who knows, that single minute might turn willingly into ten when they discover that these quiet folks have valuable things to contribute."
--Chris Lott, writing about etech's geek cliques
(Via Chris Carfi)
(snip)
...If I were running etech, I'd make it a requirement that everyone organizing and running the event have to find and talk to at least 20 people they don't know every day. Say Hi, give them a minute or two, and use their vast network knowledge to bring them together with others that share some interest, concern, occupation, or pre-occupation. And who knows, that single minute might turn willingly into ten when they discover that these quiet folks have valuable things to contribute."
--Chris Lott, writing about etech's geek cliques
(Via Chris Carfi)
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Noted: Lovosphere
- Nerve interview with Norman Mailer: Internet dating circa 1946. (Jackson West, via Fleshbot)
- Adam W takes a look at how to work around the online dating systems.
- Cingular adds Rabble, a social network mobile service. (via Red Herring) Dodgeball, anyone?
- The DrDating MySpace Dating Secrets ebook has arrived. Does this scare anyone else?
- LinkedIn says it's releasing a toolbar app later this month that will integrate with Outlook.
- Facebook: Oklahoma student journalist says: "Our parents had malt shops; we have 'Facebook."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Noted
Paul Martino's new company whips the covers off this morning--Aggregate Knowledge--a mix of small publisher and newsreader/blug user tools.
TVGuide.com: Changes afoot: Ex-MusicNet, MTV's Paul Greenberg is the new GM; former lead Dave Bovenshculte is focusing on on product development.
Dave Evans: "When can I subscribe to my dating feed like I do my news feeds?" (When, indeed?)
YASN: Will Fox buy Dogster?--And would anyone notice?
Alt Dating: Via ZDNet and the WSJ, Neilsen reports that traffic to Adult Friendfinder rose 67% in January 2006 from January 2005. 10.1 million unique vistors a month? Wow.
Newsday: "Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro says social networking sites such as MySpace.com have become a "breeding ground for pedophiles."
TVGuide.com: Changes afoot: Ex-MusicNet, MTV's Paul Greenberg is the new GM; former lead Dave Bovenshculte is focusing on on product development.
Dave Evans: "When can I subscribe to my dating feed like I do my news feeds?" (When, indeed?)
YASN: Will Fox buy Dogster?--And would anyone notice?
Alt Dating: Via ZDNet and the WSJ, Neilsen reports that traffic to Adult Friendfinder rose 67% in January 2006 from January 2005. 10.1 million unique vistors a month? Wow.
Newsday: "Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro says social networking sites such as MySpace.com have become a "breeding ground for pedophiles."
Monday, March 06, 2006
Quote of the Day
"Last night I spent a couple of hours in Second Life and found myself getting smarter again. Why? Cause I was hanging around with smart people and discovering a new world together with them. I was discovering new music in a record store there. I was learning new things. Experiencing new things. And there wasn't any snark. And no one was begging me for a link. I'm so tired of that."
--Robert Scoble, explaining why he's going back to (RSS) basics
--Robert Scoble, explaining why he's going back to (RSS) basics
NBC buys iVillage--is this their myspace deal(LOL)?
Wow! NBC is buying iVillage for $600MM. Does this mean the game changes for big media, once again?
Watching (and being involved with) digital media strategy for some big media players, this deal seems fascinating--Does NBC think they've done the equivalent of buying MySpace, only for female adults with credit cards?
One can only wonder.
Watching (and being involved with) digital media strategy for some big media players, this deal seems fascinating--Does NBC think they've done the equivalent of buying MySpace, only for female adults with credit cards?
One can only wonder.
AOL releases AIM API; says play with me, but not with others
Wonders in the Walled Garden never cease; AOL announced this morning that it was releasing an AOL AIM API that would support open development of AIM plug-ins, AIM user interface applications and the integration of AIM presence information into other sites and applications. Open AIM has Web site at http://developer.aim.com/, with tools and documentation; can't wait to see what the first mash-up is.
Some of the quotes:
"The Open AIM program will provide online businesses, Web sites and third-party developers everywhere with direct access to one of the largest and most active online communities in the world. We are extremely excited to see the creative new ideas that developers will bring to the table. Together, we will usher in a new era in real time communications services, offering consumers increased choice and making it easier than ever to connect and communicate online."--Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL Media Networks
"By enabling external developers to create applications on top of our network, we can provide AIM users with new features we wouldn'tn't otherwise do, for whatever reason."--Justin Uberti, AIM's chief architect
Of course, there is one catch--AOL still won't allow its' code to be used to link to other IM platforms--""We do have a restriction on multi-headed clients at this point. If you're going to build an IM client that connects to our network, it can't connect to another IM network."
--Jamie Odell, AIM product manager
Some of the quotes:
"The Open AIM program will provide online businesses, Web sites and third-party developers everywhere with direct access to one of the largest and most active online communities in the world. We are extremely excited to see the creative new ideas that developers will bring to the table. Together, we will usher in a new era in real time communications services, offering consumers increased choice and making it easier than ever to connect and communicate online."--Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL Media Networks
"By enabling external developers to create applications on top of our network, we can provide AIM users with new features we wouldn'tn't otherwise do, for whatever reason."--Justin Uberti, AIM's chief architect
Of course, there is one catch--AOL still won't allow its' code to be used to link to other IM platforms--""We do have a restriction on multi-headed clients at this point. If you're going to build an IM client that connects to our network, it can't connect to another IM network."
--Jamie Odell, AIM product manager
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Las Vegas, aka having a life # 23
So I spent the weekend in Las Vegas, first time ever.
Don't know which surprised me more, the folks gambling at 10 am this morning who had clearly not yet been to bed, the middle-aged married couple on the free tram from Flathead Lake, Montana and the conversation about fishing they had with a guy from Clearwater, Florida, on the way home from the fights, or the dozen-odd brides, all shapes, ages, styles, heading out with their grooms, bridesmaids, family to get married at various wedding chapels.
Aside from the work emails floating across my Treo, I was offline till Sunday morning, when I got on and more fully checked email.
Instead, I:
Went to Vegas shows
Had a good meal
Walked the strip--and it's a trip
Visited the Bellagio--amazing hotel with lovely Chihuly glass
And a lot of other stuff I am going to skip telling you about...but it was all good.
Don't know which surprised me more, the folks gambling at 10 am this morning who had clearly not yet been to bed, the middle-aged married couple on the free tram from Flathead Lake, Montana and the conversation about fishing they had with a guy from Clearwater, Florida, on the way home from the fights, or the dozen-odd brides, all shapes, ages, styles, heading out with their grooms, bridesmaids, family to get married at various wedding chapels.
Aside from the work emails floating across my Treo, I was offline till Sunday morning, when I got on and more fully checked email.
Instead, I:
Went to Vegas shows
Had a good meal
Walked the strip--and it's a trip
Visited the Bellagio--amazing hotel with lovely Chihuly glass
And a lot of other stuff I am going to skip telling you about...but it was all good.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Jeneane Sessums on tagging
Tags--and tagging--is one of those things that different people describe in different ways. Match.com thinks tags are keywords, which drives me crazy; lots of people on Amazon use them as personal finders, and many people use them as digital reference keys. I like what Jeneane says about how she uses tags:
"Most of the time, I use tags to add context to what I've written. Not to classify it. Not to organize it. Not to plug it in among the topics that others are writing about. Tags have a place beyond taxonomies and classifications and categorization. They are a beautiful, wide-open opportunity to add subtext to your writing. To sew meaning into the fabric of someone else's reading experience.
I like to tag based on emotion, inference, subtleties, in a way that make tags PART of my post, not an afterthought way to plug them into Technorati and what everyone else is talking about. I want you to get to the bottom and look at my tags and laugh, or wonder, or say Ah HA! That's what she's pissed at, or that's what happened, or, I wonder what other people have written about those "rough-edged stones" that get caught in my tires. "
Tags as personal commentary...I like that.
"Most of the time, I use tags to add context to what I've written. Not to classify it. Not to organize it. Not to plug it in among the topics that others are writing about. Tags have a place beyond taxonomies and classifications and categorization. They are a beautiful, wide-open opportunity to add subtext to your writing. To sew meaning into the fabric of someone else's reading experience.
I like to tag based on emotion, inference, subtleties, in a way that make tags PART of my post, not an afterthought way to plug them into Technorati and what everyone else is talking about. I want you to get to the bottom and look at my tags and laugh, or wonder, or say Ah HA! That's what she's pissed at, or that's what happened, or, I wonder what other people have written about those "rough-edged stones" that get caught in my tires. "
Tags as personal commentary...I like that.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Noted
Jeff Jarvis says Reuters gets it. "What's great about Glocer?' talk is not only that he gets it but he gives us respect. Standing in London, he compares bloggers to the great diarists. He says that people will turn to the Rafats of the world to interpret news."
Richard MacManus asks: "In a mash-up world, who's in control "To put it bluntly, data owners hold the balance of power in this new world of Web mashups."
YASN: MTV struggles to stay relevant.
Adam Weinroth sure is read for SXSW Interactive--check him out if you're going.
Brad Neuberg: 'In the first phase of the Hyperscope project, mapped out to be the following six months, we are going to implement Engelbart and his team's advanced hyperlink system on the web, including some of the user interface of NLS.'
Dave Pollard: If Our Job Is Work, and Marriage is Work, And Recreation is Work, When Do We Have Fun?
Richard MacManus asks: "In a mash-up world, who's in control "To put it bluntly, data owners hold the balance of power in this new world of Web mashups."
YASN: MTV struggles to stay relevant.
Adam Weinroth sure is read for SXSW Interactive--check him out if you're going.
Brad Neuberg: 'In the first phase of the Hyperscope project, mapped out to be the following six months, we are going to implement Engelbart and his team's advanced hyperlink system on the web, including some of the user interface of NLS.'
Dave Pollard: If Our Job Is Work, and Marriage is Work, And Recreation is Work, When Do We Have Fun?
Quote(s) of the Day
"I thought it would be a good time, given all the rumor and innuendo, for me to reiterate once and for all that I am not going anywhere...I didn't fully appreciate what success in this medium is really going to look like. This is not about creating one-off hits like in my old business. That is not going to create a sustainable competitive advantage over the long term." --Lloyd Braun, head of Yahoo's Media Group, quoted in the NY Times.
"We are very happy with Lloyd, and Lloyd is very happy with Yahoo." --Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's COO, quoted in the same story.
"We are very happy with Lloyd, and Lloyd is very happy with Yahoo." --Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's COO, quoted in the same story.
The Working Life: 40 days and counting
So I've been in my new job just a little more than a month. Today, working away, I suddenly felt "I've hit my stride," and it was a great feeling.
40 days in I have a much better sense of who I am working with, what the organizational issues are, and what the constrains and business opportunities are. I am starting to feel like part of a team, someone with skin in the game, and it's a good feeling, particularly since this might be one of the nicest groups of people I have ever worked with.
I am also getting used to Yahoo! culture. Many people work hard (or not) at seriously dressing down, the for sale list is filled with hard drives, DVDs and mobile phone accessories, and the free coffee and soda, subsidized cafeteria and candy everywhere almost seem normal.
But geeze, there is alot to get done.
40 days in I have a much better sense of who I am working with, what the organizational issues are, and what the constrains and business opportunities are. I am starting to feel like part of a team, someone with skin in the game, and it's a good feeling, particularly since this might be one of the nicest groups of people I have ever worked with.
I am also getting used to Yahoo! culture. Many people work hard (or not) at seriously dressing down, the for sale list is filled with hard drives, DVDs and mobile phone accessories, and the free coffee and soda, subsidized cafeteria and candy everywhere almost seem normal.
But geeze, there is alot to get done.
