OK, I noticed on TUAW that Shrook was free. "Big deal" I thought, yet another RSS reader I never heard of giving up the shareware ghost. Out of some morbid curiosity I tried it anyway... it is awesome in so many ways (like a scrapbook and Spotlight connectivity). But there is ONE feature that blows every other RSS reader away: autodiscovery of new feed locations. I'm not talking about new to you, I mean the new location of old feeds. Every other reader I've used so far has just borked the feed, giving me nothing else to go on. Sure, people like Scoble put up the requisite "Please go here now" page, but how lame is that? At least going to Broadcast.com will redirect you to Yahoo.com (what did that cost you guys?).
Anyway, coupled with online sync and I'm sold. For free! However it's only for Macs. I know you can read it online, but I prefer an app-based approach for now...
I'll post up a full review on DLS next month. Really I want to look at living between work and home with nothing but a flash drive...
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
How to stop flaming and just enjoy a blog
Between digg and the blogs I write for, I've been seeing a lot of negativity out there. This isn't new on the internet. Remember, one of the first things Tim Berners-Lee did while making the WWW protocols was make a website condemning the "silent birth" method in Scientology. See, that was a joke folks. Maybe not obvious to everyone, but still, it's a joke.
Anyway, blogs are not magazines. Not really. They are insta-pubs. We see stuff, we write about it. OK, it's not always new new new. So what? I happened to see the iPod in the Scary movie 4 trailer for the 1st time the other night, blogged about it, people got pissed because it was old news. To whom? It was new to me, and at the least an interesting topic of discussion that hadn't been raised on the blog.
Point is, blogs are about discussion, having fun, sharing ideas, maybe doing something really cool once in a while (I'm thinking political blogs and whatnot). They are fast, furious, and held together by a group of passionate writers. Some of whom can actually write (man how I envy them).
So remember, the next time you're about to hit that Submit button to correct me on grammar that you have got wrong yourself, is it really necessary? Wouldn't it be more fun to remind yourself it's just a blog, and you should really just relax?
On Mystery Science Blog 3000... see, another inside joke. For reference, please go download and watch an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Even if you know what I'm talking about. It's fun.
Anyway, blogs are not magazines. Not really. They are insta-pubs. We see stuff, we write about it. OK, it's not always new new new. So what? I happened to see the iPod in the Scary movie 4 trailer for the 1st time the other night, blogged about it, people got pissed because it was old news. To whom? It was new to me, and at the least an interesting topic of discussion that hadn't been raised on the blog.
Point is, blogs are about discussion, having fun, sharing ideas, maybe doing something really cool once in a while (I'm thinking political blogs and whatnot). They are fast, furious, and held together by a group of passionate writers. Some of whom can actually write (man how I envy them).
So remember, the next time you're about to hit that Submit button to correct me on grammar that you have got wrong yourself, is it really necessary? Wouldn't it be more fun to remind yourself it's just a blog, and you should really just relax?
On Mystery Science Blog 3000... see, another inside joke. For reference, please go download and watch an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Even if you know what I'm talking about. It's fun.
Friday, April 07, 2006
BetaBubble
I linked to a post today from DV Guru (an excellent site that almost makes me wish I was back in the video biz). It's a comparison between 10 video sharing services. There are still more, like eyespot. Doesn't that seem a bit much? Read the article, look at the differentiation.
Or is this just another example of the long tail at work? Does Web 2.0 need the short tail?
I think the average person out there would have a short temper with everything being "beta." They wouldn't know what that is, really. That's changing, as companies like Apple release highly anticipated and used betas-- like Boot Camp. But overall, this beta overkill is getting really old. You'd think Google, with its vast minions of clever mathematicians, would be able to figure out something simple, like, say, email. Maybe not.
But the money keeps flowing. The terms keep growing too. I've already heard Web 3.0 bandied about. People are arguing the semantics of "user created content" or hell, even the word "content."
It's all content. This blog, that ad, my kids' drawings on the fridge. It's what you do with it that's important. Here's what will be interesting to watch: how all those bits and electrons are harnessed. Study places like Engadget, MAKE, the activity of the blogosphere, YouTube, interest in Google... it's all leading up to a symphony of connections, and a cacophony of distribution.
What to do? Make your own voice. Play with the toys. There's another lean time coming, as the marketing winds will soon shift a bit. But, as they say, you have to be in it to win it. Video something cool and put it on YouTube. Start a blog about kidney beans and crochet (or be lazy and create a Squidoo lens). Shoot, go start a business online. The time is right, and the water is fine.
more later...
Or is this just another example of the long tail at work? Does Web 2.0 need the short tail?
I think the average person out there would have a short temper with everything being "beta." They wouldn't know what that is, really. That's changing, as companies like Apple release highly anticipated and used betas-- like Boot Camp. But overall, this beta overkill is getting really old. You'd think Google, with its vast minions of clever mathematicians, would be able to figure out something simple, like, say, email. Maybe not.
But the money keeps flowing. The terms keep growing too. I've already heard Web 3.0 bandied about. People are arguing the semantics of "user created content" or hell, even the word "content."
It's all content. This blog, that ad, my kids' drawings on the fridge. It's what you do with it that's important. Here's what will be interesting to watch: how all those bits and electrons are harnessed. Study places like Engadget, MAKE, the activity of the blogosphere, YouTube, interest in Google... it's all leading up to a symphony of connections, and a cacophony of distribution.
What to do? Make your own voice. Play with the toys. There's another lean time coming, as the marketing winds will soon shift a bit. But, as they say, you have to be in it to win it. Video something cool and put it on YouTube. Start a blog about kidney beans and crochet (or be lazy and create a Squidoo lens). Shoot, go start a business online. The time is right, and the water is fine.
more later...
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Testing Newsvine
Calacanis tried it, and I was on vacation. Now I'm kicking the tires on Newsvine, another wacky user driven site, with a spin on news and events. Pretty cool that it works well in Safari, I must say. Otherwise, a little unintuitive.
You can check out my articles on my superpixel vine.
You can check out my articles on my superpixel vine.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Everything sucks
Oh boy, I'm on a rampage. Here's why RSS, beloved by millions, is crap.
Changes. See, the average moron out there fears change. Our brains crave sameness. Not all the time, because we do like a little variety, but we crave patterns we can understand. Especially if we're going to shatter them to bits.
Case in point: RSS feeds. What reasons are there to change a URL to a feed? I can think of only a couple:
1. Your host is no more, or you wish to change domains for some specific reason
2. You are expanding, and need more feeds to work with.
So why the hell did O'Reilly discontinue their Meerkat service? Who cares? They were decent enough to provide an OPML file with all their feeds, yes? Well, not that I can use. RSSOwl can't make sense of it, putting all the feeds in as folders. Way to go!
Another brilliant example of how these new techs can really suck wind: create something cool, kinda sorta support it, then yank the rug out every 6 months, call that a new beta, and rake in the VC. Oh yeah, who smells that bubble about to pop?
UPDATE: the webmaster for O'Reilly's site helped me out and fixed the OPML content. Thanks Justin, it works great now!
Changes. See, the average moron out there fears change. Our brains crave sameness. Not all the time, because we do like a little variety, but we crave patterns we can understand. Especially if we're going to shatter them to bits.
Case in point: RSS feeds. What reasons are there to change a URL to a feed? I can think of only a couple:
1. Your host is no more, or you wish to change domains for some specific reason
2. You are expanding, and need more feeds to work with.
So why the hell did O'Reilly discontinue their Meerkat service? Who cares? They were decent enough to provide an OPML file with all their feeds, yes? Well, not that I can use. RSSOwl can't make sense of it, putting all the feeds in as folders. Way to go!
Another brilliant example of how these new techs can really suck wind: create something cool, kinda sorta support it, then yank the rug out every 6 months, call that a new beta, and rake in the VC. Oh yeah, who smells that bubble about to pop?
UPDATE: the webmaster for O'Reilly's site helped me out and fixed the OPML content. Thanks Justin, it works great now!
My First Wikipedia experience
My thoughts? It's shit. Don't get me wrong, Wikipedia, from a consumptive standpoint, is wonderful. Particularly for the info I'm looking for (must be the demographic)-- technical more often than not, or just quick bits of data on particular subjects.
But unfortunately, when I tried to add TUAW and Download Squad's April Fool's jokes to this list they were removed. No reason why, just gone, poof. Worse, my "watch" of the article disappeared.
Maybe in a couple of years they'll have this all figured out... Now I'm trying to dig in and find out, but it honestly isn't worth the time. There's a lot of learning to do, and I'm too busy with this thing called life to bother with it...
So long Wikipedia, and thanks for all the fish.
But unfortunately, when I tried to add TUAW and Download Squad's April Fool's jokes to this list they were removed. No reason why, just gone, poof. Worse, my "watch" of the article disappeared.
Maybe in a couple of years they'll have this all figured out... Now I'm trying to dig in and find out, but it honestly isn't worth the time. There's a lot of learning to do, and I'm too busy with this thing called life to bother with it...
So long Wikipedia, and thanks for all the fish.
Counterpoint
So, while I'm a huge fan of the electronic commuter, there is something to be said for being physically proximate. Take, for instance, this quote from Meebo folk:
"All in all, the open floor plan rules! There's no better frictionless way to make sure everyone gets involved in solving problems and getting really good, creative ideas from the team. We're going to have to move in a few months. We'll definitely be looking for a few private offices and a conference room, but without doubt we're going to stick with the open floor plan. This time I think we'll take it a step further...no cubes...only open tabletops. Just gotta remember to turn my ringer down!"
That's definitely a factor. Cross-fertilization of ideas works best when you're able to toss them out in a physical space... I'm working on an electronic solution to this one!
"All in all, the open floor plan rules! There's no better frictionless way to make sure everyone gets involved in solving problems and getting really good, creative ideas from the team. We're going to have to move in a few months. We'll definitely be looking for a few private offices and a conference room, but without doubt we're going to stick with the open floor plan. This time I think we'll take it a step further...no cubes...only open tabletops. Just gotta remember to turn my ringer down!"
That's definitely a factor. Cross-fertilization of ideas works best when you're able to toss them out in a physical space... I'm working on an electronic solution to this one!
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About Me
- Victor Agreda, Jr.
- This blog is the blowhole of me, and should not represent the blowhole of any other whale, living, dead or publicly traded on the stock market. Enjoy!