DISQUS

The E*Trade baby who seriously underestimates the creepiness of a clown: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1080532/etrade_su...

When I was in the Army I thought I was defending the America of the Constitution so that its freedoms could be preserved. These days I wonder. So perhaps this Vietnam vet isn't an American either, since I agree with the points you present.

Something fun for a change...I'm in. http://twitter.com/jack_carlson

Receiving a plug for doing what I do in my head whenever I read a blog anyway? What could be better. It beats being called a grammar nazi.

I'm using Apture on several blogs and appreciate the added value it brings to my readers. It saves me time by allowing me to link to outside sites and references that explain terms I would otherwise need another paragraph to explain myself. It's an easy way to provide images and videos that add depth to a post. I'm impressed with Apture.

I thought their forum was nice, not as fully featured as I'm used to as a user of SimpleMachines. But what really left me unimpressed was that setting up their forum creates a subdomain that doesn't show up in the files on the server. Once I decided Lefora was not what I needed, I had no way to uninstall the software and could not delete the subdomain. Now that forum just sits there on the web, abandoned but unable to be removed.

As a user, I find FriendFeed's UI much easier to follow than Twitter. Twitter seems like just another IRC app, with posts and replies sometimes separated by many other responses. It makes tracking a conversation a chore.

FriendFeed at least groups comments under the original post. I'm not a big fan of that "internet blue" interface, but I'm crossing my fingers that styling isn't far off.

I've switched entirely from Twitter's interface to FF's. Now I just wish my friends who only Twitter would join me.

If someone does buy it, they're not just getting his account and perhaps some of his current followers, but one heck of a well-discussed account. Surely it will draw attention no matter who is providing the content, at least for a short while. Whether it can maintain followers will be interesting to watch.

For years I only used avatars that reflected my personality. As a forum administrator at several sites, I wasn't sure I wanted people to be able to identify me by sight. (We occasionally had to deal with people of questionable character)

This year I decided I would use a picture. My reasoning was similar to some of the opinions expressed above. I wanted to put a face to my online presence. Also, I was blogging more. When I'm expressing my opinions I think it's only fair to let people see the person behind the posts.

Not to mention my current avatar (I use the same one nearly everywhere, and I seldom change it as I don't like most pics of me)gives me a chance to show off my nearly antique eMac. ;)

A good reply to those who wondered a while back, "why would anyone want to know what someone else is doing?"

"...his excellent photos are regularly ripped off without attribution by mainstream media outlets."

Because we bloggers aren't "serious media" like they are, thus we deserve no respect and no credit. Especially when MSM wants to rip off a story or lead they were too lazy or inept to generate themselves.

You ought to watermark your images, Scott, with a word or two that express your opinion of those who steal without attribution.