Disqus - Latest Comments for Andrew

Re: Zynga Game Network

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:57:36 -0000

I wonder if the term VC should be renamed to "Friends and Family Funds"

If so, it's yet more evidence of the power of social networking... and hence in support of deals like this one.

Re: Zynga Game Network

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:57:36 -0000

I wonder if the term VC should be renamed to "Friends and Family Funds"

If so, it's yet more evidence of the power of social networking... and hence in support of deals like this one.

Re: Rhapsody Hooks Up With MTV

Andrew — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:59:10 -0000

How about making the service available in more than one of the many countries in the world?

Re: Rhapsody Hooks Up With MTV

Andrew — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:15:45 -0000

It would help if embedding music from Rhapsody in a post wasn't so cumbersome.

Re: The Internet Is As Dead And Boring As You Want It To Be

Andrew — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:42:05 -0000

The music analogy is very apt. Or perhaps it just worked for me, considering how much more music I'm able to listen to on the web.

Re: Social Media Requires Real People

Andrew — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:42:18 -0000

Fred, I recently made the point that conversation involves both content and connection. While Om and others have recruited teams in the interests of content, you place relatively more emphasis on connection. I think that the emphasis on connection is behind the shift toward microblogging, social networks, etc.
http://changingway.org/2007/11/19/conversation-...

Re: Gotham Gal's Top Records of 2007

Andrew — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:34:35 -0000

Jens L doesn't quite work for me, but I've got to admire lyrics like:
"I picked up a seashell
To illustrate my homelessness
But a crab crawled out of it
Making it useless"

My own album of the year is Iron & Wine's "The Shepherd's Dog."

Re: Zynga Game Network

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:43:36 -0000

Fred, you started my thoughts on a twisting trail that ended up in Springfield for the classic Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail."
http://changingway.org/2008/01/15/a-network-tha...

Re: Why I Don't Like The iPod Touch

Andrew — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:47:50 -0000

"I've been in meetings when my iPod Touch started playing through the earbuds because I leaned on it through my jacket." Now here's the starting point for a "bug or feature?" debate...

Re: Obama's Tribal Garb Photo

Andrew — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:02:15 -0000

Maybe this is how HC can best help the democrats now. She's a sparring partner, throwing low blows. As an opponent in the elimination bout to see who goes up for the title (President), she's taking a lot of punishment - much of it self-inflicted.

Re: Making The Web Smarter

Andrew — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:30:08 -0000

To address your starting point... if listing “six words to live by on the Internet,” I think I'd have to include "free." Fred, I think that you would have done so at one point. Have things changed? I don't think so, but I'd be interested to hear the opposing view as of mid-2009.

Re: [bijansabet.com] the personal tumblelog of Bijan Sabet

Andrew — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:31:32 -0000

Bijan: thanks for passing on the sad news. It makes Rhapsody seem as dumb as... a major record label. More at:
http://changingway.org/2008/01/02/yottamusic-go...

Re: Nearly a million users, and no spam or trolls - RussellBeattie.com

Andrew — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:33:16 -0000

Reminds me of the Onion article about terrorists shunning airlines because of delays:
http://changingway.org/2008/03/02/twitter-airli...

Re: New Study on Digital Music is Outdated Before Released

Andrew — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:25:20 -0000

Thanks for clarifying. When I saw the Ars article, my first thought was that I'd fallen in to some alternative webiverse in which there was no Amazon. It's comforting to see the more mundane explanation that the data are simply old.

Re: Hello, orange world!

Andrew — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 21:30:50 -0000

Owen, thanks for stopping by. Habari is on the list of things I intend to try. I expect it to move to another list "sometime soon."

Re: Tarski Theme

Andrew — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:33:09 -0000

Thanks, Ben. I might give that a try. Or I might learn to love the navbar. Either way, it's good to know that there's an easy way of disabling it.

Re: 2007/07/02/5-new-online-advertising-tactics-we-fear/

Andrew — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:07:39 -0000

Interesting that a few posts away, we learned that Mashable now carries FMP ads. Any good reasons to believe that FMP won't engage in "tactics we fear"?

Re: 2007/09/05/pixie/

Andrew — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:19:54 -0000

I don't see any compelling reason to actually use the site itself, but pix.ie may well be the best uri evr.

Re: 2007/09/06/widgets-2/

Andrew — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:10:21 -0000

It would be useful to know which of these widgets use javscript, or otherwise will be blocked by sites such as livejournal and wordpresss.com. Or maybe that's an idea for a future post/list: java-free widgets.

Re: 2007/09/16/blogrush-2/

Andrew — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 08:21:10 -0000

Brian: "The head guy over at BlogRush is pretty talented at generating hype." He certainly is: he somehow induced two Mashable posts about his pyramid-shaped widget.

Re: 2007/09/21/wordpress-23-out-on-monday-now-with-tags/

Andrew — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:48:16 -0000

Tagging went in to WordPress.com today.

Re: 2007/10/31/free-and-legal-music/

Andrew — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:28:03 -0000

I also like seeqpod, which I recently compared with Hype Machine:
http://changingway.org/2007/10/17/hype-machine-...

Re: 2007/11/03/10-events-for-bloggers/

Andrew — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:05:48 -0000

You might mention the (approx) price of each event.

Re: 2007/11/05/in-case-you-missed-it-web-20-is-bad-now/

Andrew — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:42:57 -0000

OK, "a new set of industry buzzwords."

How about "mashable" or "read/write web"? Wait, those are the names of blogs, which are so web 2.0...

Re: 2007/11/05/radiohead-music-industry-machine/

Andrew — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:11:53 -0000

I have the same question. What specific charge could be brought against Radiohead? Under which country's laws? Which labels would have standing in the suit?

Re: 2007/12/11/there-is-nothing-new-under-the-sun/

Andrew — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:22:56 -0000

Nicely put: web 2.0 is old wine in new bottles (wine 2.0?) and that's a good thing.
The same thing happens on a smaller scale (fractally?) within web 2.0. The "social blogging" stuff has been in LiveJournal since last millennium, but is hot right now:
http://changingway.org/2007/12/11/from-livejour...

Re: 2007/12/19/pligg-fraxi/

Andrew — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:57:33 -0000

The post title is almost as great as it is hideous.

Re: 2008/01/04/clean-profile-facebook-application/

Andrew — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:57:36 -0000

Ed, yes it sounded to me like a job for Greasemonkey. I didn't look it up, because I have a better solution for Facebook App fatigue... and I'm not missing FB at all.

Re: 2008/01/07/daily-poll-will-yahoo-life-revolutionize-the-way-we-use-e-mail/

Andrew — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:42:24 -0000

Before I'm comfortable with Y mail as the hub of anything, I want it to have an effective spam filter.

Re: 2008/02/08/us-house-approves-anti-piracy-legislation/

Andrew — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:05:22 -0000

Is there such a thing as "a neutral bias"? I'm not sure which words to trust any more...

Re: 2008/02/10/microsoft-popfly-confidential/

Andrew — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:00:05 -0000

I don't think that it's a poorly-written article. It does seem to make a big jump from hiding one statistic (number of Popfly users) to the state of Microsoft.
But we shouldn't be surprised to see Mashable writing about Microsoft's mashup editor.
Paul's implication that the bid for Yahoo doesn't indicate "confidence and bravery on the public stage" is interesting...

Re: 2008/02/20/youtube-spain-zapatero/

Andrew — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:40:39 -0000

Without a soapbox for transvestites, there is no true political democracy.

Re: 2008/02/22/joost-downtime/

Andrew — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:00:43 -0000

Did you get pinged about the WordPress.com DOS earlier this week?
http://changingway.org/2008/02/22/wordpresscom-...

Re: Automattic Assimilates BuddyPress, Moves Towards Social Networking

Andrew — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:18:12 -0000

Kristen,
Interesting that you mention Prologue. There's a big contrast between Automattic's handling of Prologue and of BuddyPress.
P was developed in house, then released into the wild. Automattic didn't want to devote a lot of its own resources to it.
BuddyPress is getting a bigger commitment of resources, having been brought in via the hire of Andy P, and having been added to the list of ongoing projects.

Re: 2008/03/05/mashable-rocks/

Andrew — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:56:11 -0000

Thanks for the link to your drop.io box. It gives me an exciting opportunity to help out the widow of a Zimbabwean oil executive.
Mashable Rocks, whatever they are.

Re: 2008/03/09/vent-your-anger/

Andrew — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:59:19 -0000

God, these "dozens of sites fitting some criterion of dubious relevant to anyone with a life" posts really piss me off. So does the current "Rock the Cashmore" campaign, simultaneously stimulating the narcissism of Mashable, the greed of its pathetic readers, and the gag reflex of any right-thinking person.

Re: 2008/03/10/sxsw-keynote-poll/

Andrew — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:25:24 -0000

You mean I can only vote for one of these? Isn't the interviewer the organizers' choice?

Re: 2008/03/27/photo-editing-poll/

Andrew — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:14:41 -0000

The poll is about which will be #1. I took the #1 to refer to market share. Without an early mover advantage or a bigco behind it, aviary will have an uphill struggle - however good it is.

Re: 2008/03/29/wordcamp-and-mashmeet-la-observations/

Andrew — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:31:42 -0000

Mark,
I'm not sure that a WordCamp - an event for people keenly interested in a specific blogging tool - can be considered outside the echo chamber. Then again, perhaps there are nested echo chambers, and you've moved out a layer or two. It must still be pretty small and loud in there, though.

Re: 2008/04/10/big-four-microsoft-yahoo/

Andrew — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:14:46 -0000

Stan, thanks for the recap in the first para. But I'm not sure I believe that Google doesn't want the Microsoft-Yahoo deal to happen. I think that Google wants as many distractions as possible for its rivals. And it's getting what it wants...

Re: 2008/04/10/learn-about-music/

Andrew — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:24:28 -0000

I like the combination of FoxyTunes and Rhapsody - although it works with many other players. The FoxyTunes Firefox addon gives you a bar at the bottom of the browser, from which you can fire up the FoxyTunes Planet page on the music you're currently listening to.
By the way, FoxyTunes was acquired by Yahoo, and so it joins the list of services I fear for: flickr, delicious, foxytunes, the yahoo media player,...

Re: 2008/04/11/guy-bono-net-access-eu/

Andrew — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:43:37 -0000

Stan,
Congrats on getting through the whole post without resorting to jokes about the Edge's sidekick or about "pro Bono."

Re: 2008/04/17/livejournal-labs/

Andrew — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:33:03 -0000

Kristen, you "think SUP has done a good job of being open about its plans."
Maybe so, but it did manage to provoke a content strike:
http://changingway.org/2008/03/22/livejournal-s...

Re: 2008/05/05/yahoo-stock-falls/

Andrew — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:14:25 -0000

"Yahoo is only down 18 percent so far" because we've yet to see the shareholder lawsuits.

Re: 2008/05/11/do-desktop-images-need-a-social-network/

Andrew — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:40:26 -0000

No,desktop images do not need a social network. Very few things do, but this will not be widely recognized until 2009.
Andrew the prescient curmudgeon.

Re: 2008/06/02/microsoft-live-search-hp-deal/

Andrew — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:09:53 -0000

"He who controls the defaults controls the web."

Re: 2008/06/30/rhapsody-music-without-limit/

Andrew — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:22:29 -0000

I'm not sure whether R is "converting its entire catalog to DRM-free music." When looking for an album to download as my intro offer, the first three artists I looked for weren't at the store, despite each of the three being available via R's streaming service.
Thanks for the heads up about the 100,000 album giveaway launch. I saw it here first. I don't know why there is, so far, no post about the launch at R's own blog.

Re: 2008/07/01/google-adobe-flash-search/

Andrew — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:23:39 -0000

This is bad news. It takes away one of the disincentives to using Flash. There's too much Flash on the web already.

Re: 2008/07/14/create-mobile-web-site/

Andrew — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:52:07 -0000

It's being able to use the custom URL at mofuse that's free. You need to own the URL, which probably means that you need to pay for it.

Re: 2008/09/06/nintendo-mobile/

Andrew — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:27:57 -0000

This reminds me of commentary on how the Nintendo Wii wouldn't stand up to the power of the new Xbox and PS. History suggests that Nintendo will continue to deliver gaming systems that people enjoy, and that they are particularly successful when it comes to portable systems.

Re: 2008/09/19/top-wordpress-themes/

Andrew — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:24:53 -0000

I agree with Brandon, though I would put it more strongly. A theme shouldn't "stun" users, it should show them the content in an unobtrusive manner. There's nothing wrong with attractive themes, but most of these themes are more distracting than useful.

Re: 2008/09/25/pleasedressme-t-shirt-giveaway/

Andrew — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:44:18 -0000

Monster:
http://pleasedress.me/?q=monster

Re: 2008/10/01/google-blog-search-new-homepage/

Andrew — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:56:36 -0000

For those perplexed by the question, "Is it possible to knock out a zombie?" Adam just provided the answer.

Re: 2008/10/10/onsugar/

Andrew — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:28:37 -0000

The reason OnSugar "might appeal more to women" is that it's from the people who run PopSugar and a bunch of other sites for women:
http://changingway.org/2008/10/10/on-onsugar/

Re: 2008/10/18/speech-bubble-design/

Andrew — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:03:17 -0000

Quotiki is about quotations, and so its use of the speech bubble in web design is appropriate. Here's a link to the Quotiki page for my favorite quote:
http://quotiki.com/quote.aspx?id=3845
BTW, I know that there is some disagreement about the attribution of this quote.

Re: 2008/10/30/suggestan/

Andrew — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:41:16 -0000

Stan, thanks for the advice. You'll hear from me tomorrow!

Re: 2008/12/28/best-blog-post-of-2008/

Andrew — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:14:05 -0000

If I have to choose just one, it would be my account of how the free service, WordPress.com, makes money.
http://changingway.org/2008/03/12/making-money-...
As well as being my choice, it was "the people's choice," in that it got more views (and I think, more comments) than anything else I posted this year.

Re: LUNCHTIME POLL: What’s Your Favorite Music Streaming Service?

Andrew — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:40:20 -0000

lala: I like the try for free, buy the right to stream (for about a buck an album), thing. I will give Spotify a try when it gets to these (US) shores, though.

Re: Internet streaming: five U.S. television networks compared

Andrew — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:20:02 -0000

Typo of the day: "Fox on Demand website... is retched." That last word is at least at effective as the one starting with a "w".

Re: Is the Zune doomed?

Andrew — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:25:42 -0000

Doesn't Zune use DRM? You know, the vile creature in the coffin that Amazon nailed down yesterday?

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Andrew — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:55:11 -0000

Sorry to cloud the issue with a remark about music, but: In Rainbows is a rather good album.
As to whether the online, DRM-free, pay-what-you-want release has been a "success," I think that the Radiohead was trying to achieve several things, including, in no particular order:
- get the completed album out to fans as fast as possible. Very definite success on this count.
- make money. Success on this count depends on profit from all sources: the download, the CD, next year's tour, merchandise,... Right now, we don't know. We don't even know whether the download will hurt or help sales of the CD.

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Andrew — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:31:12 -0000

I've seen some parts of the webcast. I particularly like the Smiths cover.
They played (as in played the record, not covered) the opening track from my favorite album of the year, The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine.
I haven't heard the second In Rainbows disc... must do that soon.

Re: Report: Sony BMG to ditch DRM, iTunes excluded once again

Andrew — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:15:49 -0000

This is good news, even though it helps Apple. The good news becomes amusing when juxtaposed with another of today's stories: the EU's intention to establish DRM standards. Yes, that does sound like a dress code for zombies:
http://changingway.org/2008/01/04/drm-another-n...

Re: Win a HP HDX Dragon 20inch notebook; name your top five digital lifestyle products and services

Andrew — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:13:52 -0000

WordPress, mainly .com these days
Rhapsody Streaming Music
Flickr
Canon PowerShot A540 6MP Digital Camera
Sandisk Sansa Clip 1GB MP3 player

I use many other products, but the above are the five I'd miss if I had to use a substitute.

Re: Clean Press WordPress theme

Andrew — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:01:21 -0000

Dave,
This looks good. As a fan of the theme it's based on, I'm wondering why you felt the need for a new theme, and what the most important differences are?
Thanks, Andrew

Re: Zynga Game Network

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:57:36 -0000

I wonder if the term VC should be renamed to "Friends and Family Funds"

If so, it's yet more evidence of the power of social networking... and hence in support of deals like this one.