Disqus - Friends of bloqhead

Re: Friendfeed Is Going To Kill Google Reader, Not Twitter

Chris Baskind — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:45:47 -0000

I like FF a lot. That being said, I can't process information in FF with anything like the efficiency of Google Reader. In GR, I manage hundreds of topically organized feeds. There's no conversation to speak of, but that's fine: I'm crunching data.

FF is much more social. It's for sharing and discussion. While I can see Google getting serious about GR at some point and integrating it with social networking, it's really good at what it was designed to do: process feeds. Efficiently.

Re: Have You Tried Freshbooks

Chris Baskind — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:51:00 -0000

Looks like an interesting service, Chris. But am I the only one concerned about tossing detailed financial information into the Cloud when there are plenty of solid client options? Perhaps. ;-)

Re: louisgray.com: Disqus' Partner Strategy: Is FriendFeed Integration Up Next?

Chris Baskind — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:19:41 -0000

I'm liking Disqus so far, having been testing it on a largely unused site the past few days.

I'd appreciate the FF integration. It would certainly tip me toward installing Disqus on my production sites.

Re: Did Alexa Die and No One Notice?

Chris Baskind — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:55:10 -0000

What is this "alexa" of which you speak? ;-)

Re: Introducing Enhanced Commenting and Search

Chris Baskind — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:13:00 -0000

Welcome to Disqus enhanced commenting on EcoTech Daily.

Re: Twitter: Don’t blame Ruby, blame Scoble

Chris Baskind — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:32:39 -0000

This is just silly. If Twitter can't handle Scoble, they're not ready to be anything other than a toy. How many messages do services like AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, and Skype handle simultaneously. ya think?

Re: Twitter: Don’t blame Ruby, blame Scoble

Chris Baskind — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:33:21 -0000

Yes, of course there's a difference in the architecture. But AIM has almost 40 million users. Twitter is breaking as they cross the 1 million threshold. Time for a re-think. Their database requirements must be staggering.

Re: Introducing Enhanced Commenting and Search

Chris Baskind — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:38:19 -0000

Thanks very much, Tara. I'm quite pleased with the quality of Lijit's search, and look forward to installing it on other sites.

Re: Disqus - the non-stupid version

Chris Baskind — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:13:30 -0000

The SEO points are certainly valid. They're trumped by using the API pluging -- but that version is really obsolete.

In the end, i went with the Javascript version, since it provides the best user experience. I'll consider reverting to the API plugin when it's updated. In the meantime, creating a good environment for site visitors trumps everything. For me, at least.

Re: The Daily Five: Wednesday, 4 June, 2008

Chris Baskind — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:08:26 -0000

Jeff, i completely agree. We've got to stop building where there's no water. As I've written elsewhere, I'm convinced that major cities running dry will be one of the biggest environmental disasters of the new century.

Re: Toast To The Planet: Carbon Offset Suds

Chris Baskind — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:14:20 -0000

Looks like Tasmania certainly is trying to greenwash what amounts to a century and a half of environmental plunder, I agree. But the beer itself -- which is from Australia -- is certainly greener than its conventional equivalent.

Re: Who owns your comments? (Scripting News)

Chris Baskind — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:04:57 -0000

That's an interesting way of looking at things. Comments are clearly related to their forum in a special way. Viewing them as communal property establishes respect between both the commenter and the site owner.

And I've converted all my sites to Disqus. It's good for me, as a site owner. More importantly, it provides a better experience for readers.

Re: New Climate Supercomputer Made of “iPod Chips”

Chris Baskind — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:46:30 -0000

I suppose it depends whether you think climate research is important. I do, whether it's modeling atmospheric temperatures or forecasting hurricanes. Getting to 1 km resolution is a stunning feat -- and doing it for a fraction of conventional computer costs gets my thumbs up.

Re: Survey: Gas Prices Force Consumer Change

Chris Baskind — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:48:55 -0000

I'm fortunate to be ten steps away from my office, and I'm doing more and more of my errands by bicycle these days. But I'm lucky -- it fits my job and lifestyle. There are a lot of difficult choices ahead.

Re: Survey: Gas Prices Force Consumer Change

Chris Baskind — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:42:30 -0000

Economics will get a lot of people on bikes. I'm already hearing total non-cyclists talking about it, and my local shop is slammed with dusty fix-er-uppers dragged out of garages. But I agree: bikes are *not* second rate transportation. I live in a small city, but when I'm in a dense area -- downtown, for instance -- i move a lot faster than cars. It's not even close. Nor do I pay for parking. Bicycles rule.

Re: Let’s coin a new word meaning ‘cheaper, but superior’

Chris Baskind — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:27:09 -0000

You're coming at the issue as a cyclist, but I've always maintained that green is just as you say: more economical (in terms of money, resources, and energy) and BETTER.

Cheaperior, indeed.

Re: Why There Are No Good Ideas for Twitter Replacements

Chris Baskind — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:39:26 -0000

The killer feature to compete with Twitter is very simple: reliability. Most people like Twitter's feature set. What they hate is downtime and latency.

The most likely Twitter competitor is a better Twitter.

Re: Who will fill Russert's shoes? (Scripting News)

Chris Baskind — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:43:18 -0000

Olbermann is wrong for the gig, and Scarborough's show is too successful to distract him. I'd go with Andrea Mitchell, if I were NBC.

But there's no direct replacement for Russert. He was unique.

Re: Bowing to Our Twitter Robot Overlords

Chris Baskind — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:20:51 -0000

Great post! This has been an automated comment response ...

Re: AP objects to quoting-and-linking (Scripting News)

Chris Baskind — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:36:55 -0000

There's a difference between wholesale plagiarism -- which is pretty common online -- and a brief headline + summary. I hope cooler heads prevail here. But the reports we're hearing today seem to contradict the AP's own Stylebook appendix on what constitutes Fair Use.

Re: The Daily Five: Monday, 16 June, 2008

Chris Baskind — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:42:36 -0000

I'm impressed by mass heater technology. We'll dig deeper into the topic soon. Thanks for the great info.

Re: Not Surprised at All: Amy Winehouse Collapses

Chris Baskind — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:16:25 -0000

See's the finest female R&B singer in a long time. But so was Janis Joplin. Here's hoping she gets a grip.

Re: Five Suggestions for Businesses Confronted with Green Fatigue and Green Noise

Chris Baskind — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:10:51 -0000

I've long said that Greens must be careful about their rhetoric. Overblown cliams get quick attention, but are just as quickly tuned-out.

Progress in the green sector is profound enough to stand on its merits.

Glad to see JG on Disqus, by the way! I've converted all my sites in recent weeks.

Re: Dear Twitter: It’s Over. And It’s for The Best

Chris Baskind — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:37:55 -0000

Oh, I'm more optimistic than most about Twitter's future. As you point out, they have a broad and tremendously devoted user base -- plus a growing 3PD community. They also have exactly what they need to fix their scaling problems: great lumpy bags pf American cash. Far from hopeless.

But it's time for me to do other things. I'm as much a willing victim of social media fragmentation as anyone else, and there comes a point where you have to decide what to let go. For me, it's Twitter. Your mileage will vary, especially if you're using one of those fancy synthetic engine oils.

Thanks for the kind words on the spanking-new layout. I was hoping a fresh look would motivate me to post here on occasion. And now that I have a tiny portion of my day back ... ;-)

Re: Dear Twitter: It’s Over. And It’s for The Best

Chris Baskind — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:15:42 -0000

I'm leaving my Twitter account intact. But, especially for the next few months, I'm going to concentrate on content development. With the Lighter Footstep relaunch just a couple weeks off, there aren't enough hours in the day. After that, we'll see. ;-)