Rob Safuto

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  • Rob Safuto  I'm not a fan of the term myself. But then I'm not a fan of any term that lumps people together in a generic way. It seems that some are very proud of their mommyblogger status. Perhaps because it helps them land lucrative perks from companies desperate to put their products in front of women with kids. It's a huge market. I hear that BlogHer is going on in New York next week. Sounds like the perfect forum for this question.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   I hate the term mommybloggers
    •   WinExtra Comments
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  • Rob Safuto  This has been done many times before via Audioblog.com (now Hipcast), AudioBlogger, Odeo, Evoca, Openpodcast.org and more. Utterz is currently doing this and with international support. As a result I really don't see how the Cinch service from BlogTalkRadio can be called an innovation. If not having to create an account is considered an innovation then the bar is being set really low. People don't mind setting up accounts for services they use. In fact, having an account gives you a measure of control that almost everyone wants in these types of services.
  • • 5 months ago
    •   The simplest podcast API ever (Scripting News)
    •   Scripting News
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  • Rob Safuto  You don't get it Matthew. The web is now social all because of Seesmic. Just kidding ;) I think that services that allow more flexibility make more sense. I've been trying out Utterz which allows you to post audio, video, photos and text either via the computer or cell phone. To me the mix of different types of media in commenting is much more interesting than I do a video, you do a video, and on and on. Most people aren't webcam types. There's also a service/wordpress plugin called Riffly that adds the ability for people to leave audio and video comments directly on a blog. Much more relevant I think because it fits right in with the blog's comments instead of taking you off site. Loic's company has more competition than they want to admit at this point. If Seesmic wants to be successful they need to expand beyond video and integrate well with blogs and mobile devices.
  • • 5 months ago
    •   Seesmic: Still don’t really get it
    •   Mathew's comments
  •   mathewi  Thanks, Rob. I definitely see the appeal of video in some cases -- I just don't think there's a lot of those cases, or as many as Loic and Scoble and others seem to think there are. On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 10:18 AM, Disqus
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  • Rob Safuto  Not all health situations are based on luck Dave. Some people are smokers. Some people consume a lot of fatty, sugary foods and exercise little. Some people drink alcohol and take drugs regularly. These are chosen activities that degrade a person's health over time. So my big concern is that when I'm paying for someone else's health care costs out of my paycheck that I'm also paying for people who aren't taking care of themselves. Do I owe these people a percentage of my paycheck to cover their health problems? Strange that you mention that, "The Republicans have never been responslble about this issue." Who was the governor of Mass. that set up that "liberalized health insurance" plan you mentioned? What was his party affiliation? Just a question. Some Democrats have already acknowledged that so called 'universal health plans' will destroy working people more than anyone. Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco called the proposed California program, "...a knife to the throat of the working poor." So this is not a cut and dry, evil republicans vs. angelic democrats issue as portrayed in your post. The most frustrating thing is that I'm already paying plenty for other people to have access to free medical care via medicare and medicaid taxes deducted from my paycheck. This is in addition to monthly premiums and co-pays when myself, my wife or my daughter need care. So how much more should a working person have to pay? What percentage of my paycheck given to the government proves that I "have a heart" as you say?
  • • 5 months ago
    •   Debating health care in 2008 (Scripting News)
    •   Scripting News
  •   BAM  I couldn't have said it better. Thank you for putting a voice to why (and how) it is 'ok' to say 'universal health care' just doesn't make sense....
  •   PaulDing  Tell you what, Rob. Make some phone calls to dentists' offices, and try to find one who accepts medicare or medicaid patients. In most of the country, there are none. But you're right. We shouldn't be using government money for health care. We shouldn't require doctors report cases of VD to a government agency so that epidemics can be stopped. We shouldn't require kids have innoculations before they attend public schools. We shouldn't give TB tests to people who work in restaurants, nor should we inspect restaurants to make sure they aren't making people sick. We shouldn't quarantine people who have typhoid fever. We shouldn't arrest people who drive drunk. We shouldn't lock up people who are a threat to themselves or others, due to their mental health. We shouldn't do anything to addicts who trade their 4-year-old's sexual favors for a hit of crack. We should repeal OSHA, and eliminate all air and water quality standards. If you lose the insurance that is keeping your wife alive by quitting your job and starting a new company that provides employment for 3000 people, well, your wedding vows said through sickness and health, until death do you part, and after all, she's only going to be sick a little longer before she dies, if you don't have good insurance. Oh, and let's get rid of all the laws against assault. After all, it's no business of government whether you are healthy or not.
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  • Rob Safuto  You're going against the New York Times Dave. The Times made Hillary their pick yesterday in spite of all the anti-Bill backlash. At this point I think everyone should agree that Edwards should drop out. He doesn't have a chance. The litmus test for the rest of the candidates in both parties is going to be in Florida.
  • • 5 months ago
    •   Barack Obama for President (Scripting News)
    •   Scripting News
  •   dave  The Times made a mistake.
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  • Rob Safuto  You're leaving something out Dave. This screen scraper wasn't merely downloading to Scoble's local machine. They were parsing the data into the Plaxo database, then giving Scoble access to download from there. Once Plaxo has control of that data I'd like to know what else they do with it. Given Plaxo's track record I don't want to think of the possibilities. I don't see this as an issue of Facebook having to open up because Scoble really needs that contact info. This is about Scoble helping a corporate entity test a data mining tool. I wonder if his 'friends' on Facebook would want to know that he accumulated them so he could help Plaxo test a tool that mines personal information into 3rd party databases without their knowledge. Also strange that this occurs at the same time Plaxo is hoping to sell.
  • • 6 months ago
    •   Scoble and his Facebook data (Scripting News)
    •   Scripting News
  •   whitneymcn  I was wondering the same thing with regards to Plaxo's access to the data. I suppose that any matches who now have their "Facebook user" and "Friend of Scoble" flags set in the Plaxo database agreed to Plaxo's terms when they clicked "yes" on that "Scoble is using Plaxo to keep track of his contacts" email, so they may be fine with Plaxo appending this data to their records. That's the part that concerns me a little, though: Scoble pulled all of his Facebook friends' names, emails, and birthdates for himself? Sure, why not. That Scoble provided that information to a third party, without those friends' knowing what that third party can and can't do with the information? A little more worrying. Depending on Plaxo's policies and behavior regarding data they get this way I might feel a bit better about it, but it feels very much in the grey area to me. Would be very interested in seeing the policy that governs Plaxo's use of "friend" data...anybody have access to it, or do I need to bug Plaxo's (probably overwhelmed) PR people?
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