Disqus - Latest Comments for Steven Hodson

Re: When the "A-List" stops being "The A-List"

Steven Hodson — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:48:49 -0000

For sometime I have had a My A-List of Bloggers as a part of my sidebar area. Like you this is a ever changing list of bloggers; regardless of the Technorati ranking, that I consider to be the bloggers who influence me the most and provide me with some great reading on a regular basis.

It would be interesating if like Google Shared Feed that there was some way to amagamate that type of information - much like ReadBurner has done for Google Reader Shared Feeds. This way we could se across a broad spectrum who the real influencial bloggers are.

Re: Deep in the doldrums of winter

Steven Hodson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:21:00 -0000

Welcome to the February Blahs :) or if you believe the doom and gloom posts about the decline in social network usage this could be a good thing :)

Re: Define your personal brand

Steven Hodson — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:51:29 -0000

just out of curiousity would you consider being a "cranky old fart" a brand?

Re: Define your personal brand

Steven Hodson — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:32:21 -0000

@David
I like to think I'm consistent in my crankyness - I share it with everyone :) Whether or not the reader "feels" that I don't know if I can answer that one.

@Rick
It makes for interesting viewpoints :)

Re: Blogging – New Phase, New Theme

Steven Hodson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:35:41 -0000

nice look Rick - I like it

Re: Windows Vista – Ubuntu – Windows 7

Steven Hodson — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:25:17 -0000

I'll be willing to bet Rick that given a week - two at the most - and you won't be going back to vista but rather stick with Win7 :)

<abbr>Steven Hodson´s last blog post..Bravo Ed, it’s about time this was said</abbr>

Re: Deciding Who To Follow On Twitter

Steven Hodson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:10:49 -0000

I have a couple simple rules.

1. speak the same language - literally
2. check their blog to see how active it is, whether it's a marketer or not, if its subject matter even comes close to my interest areas
3. check their Twitter page for the same reasons

and the last one is totally subjective - if after doing all the background check do they still feel "right" .. if so then add away.

Re: Webomatica 2007 Summary

Steven Hodson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:09:24 -0000

I'll be here :)

Re: Some Favorite Blog Posts Of 2007… On Other Blogs

Steven Hodson — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:26:24 -0000

thanks for the hat tip Jason and glad I am able to bring a smile once in awhile :)

Re: Help Wanted: Webomatica Reader Survey For 2007

Steven Hodson — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:10:18 -0000

and yes I did checkmark Mac Tips :)

Re: Dual Monitor Action

Steven Hodson — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:58:44 -0000

I have a dual CRT setup 19" & 17" and even though I would never want to go back to a single monitor setup under any conditions I would love to be able to swap up to even 2 19" LCD monitors.

That would be heaven for me :)

Re: FriendFeed Adds Twitter Replies, Support For More Sites

Steven Hodson — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:09:00 -0000

To answer your question about Disqus spam detection - one word - excellent. That said there is one function that Disqus is still working on implementing and that is trackback support. That will still show up in your Admin- Comments section and have to be dealt with by Akismet.

When I have talked with Daniel he has said that trackback support is something that they are working hard on but want to make sure they do it right - which included being able to deal with the trackback spam.

Re: FriendFeed Adds Twitter Replies, Support For More Sites

Steven Hodson — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:16:57 -0000

when you install Disqus and go to your Comment page in the Admin you will see the Disqus settings for the blog just select the middle option in #2. This will have Disqus only handle any new post comments. All previous comments to posts will remain in their previous format and so will any new comments to those old - pre-Disqus - posts.

Re: FriendFeed Adds Twitter Replies, Support For More Sites

Steven Hodson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:10:27 -0000

@Mike .. don't quote me on this but IIRC Disqus has mentioned in the past that this is a concern they are aware of and that they are looking at alternatives. Now barring unforseen problems they do have an Export feature which will allow you to export from Disqus and then import into a Wordpress installation - I don't know about other platforms.

Re: FriendFeed Adds Twitter Replies, Support For More Sites

Steven Hodson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:12:57 -0000

@Jason

Since installing Disqus I have only had to deal with about 5 pieces of comment spam and that were ones that got by Akismet for older posts. 3 or 4 times I have had Disqus put a comment in the "Please check this" queue which I ended up removing but that is few and far between.

Re: FriendFeed Adds Twitter Replies, Support For More Sites

Steven Hodson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:35:01 -0000

glad to have been of help

Re: TWIT crew still bashing Vista

Steven Hodson — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:31:43 -0000

Actually I remember XP getting dissed pretty bad when it first came out. It wasn't until at least the first SP before it settled down and people were happy.

As one who upgraded to XP from Vista I don't think the same story will hold true for Vista this time around though. Don't know for sure .. more of a gut feeling .. but that could just be gas :)

Re: Mission Impossible

Steven Hodson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:44:34 -0000

man that brought back some memories LOL

Re: Nordquist Blog Goes All GQ

Steven Hodson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:10:14 -0000

A nice improvement Brett.

Re: One Book I’ve Never Read

Steven Hodson — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:52:17 -0000

the only book I know that even comes close to what you are looking for would be the Book of Life which just about every grandparent and older could well school all of on :)

Oh and regarding Dr. Spock I still maintain that this was the beginning of the end of parenting as it was meant to be done. It was followed up on with the sequel - Political Correctness
:)

Re: 50 Rapid Fire Tips For Power Blogging

Steven Hodson — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:57:18 -0000

thanks David for an excellent list. I've marked it in FeedDemon for my "must keep" folder.

Re: How To Strategically Comment On Other Blogs

Steven Hodson — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:52:13 -0000

I have been a big proponent of the power of comments if done right and have written more than a few posts on the subject. The latest one is here if you are interested http://www.winextra.com/index.php/2009/02/26/th...

In this day of Twitter and blah blah quick thoughts blasted out to friends and followers I still think that for bloggers the comments they make on other blogs and the comments readers make on our home blogs are much more long lasting.

Re: 2008/03/24/twitter-spam/

Steven Hodson — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:36:08 -0000

I've been hit by the same request Adam and like you have noticed a growing number of these types of questionable requests. It is things like this that make me believe even more in what I wrote about recently in The Economy of Friending - http://www.winextra.com/2008/03/04/the-economy-...

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:23:54 -0000

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people would in fact sighn up for something like this - if it would reach the 50% mark I'm not sure.

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:26:35 -0000

I agree with you Beau under normal circumstances but in the case of Twitter I think we could very well be surprised at the number of folks that would sign up either as a single shot donation or a monthly subscription.

Twitter has already broken the mold of what a successful web service should be maybe it could do the same here.

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:28:04 -0000

why is it uninspired? .. can it really be any less inspired that slapping ads all over the place and hoping that'll bring in enough money to make everyone happy?

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:29:46 -0000

Yes 50% probably is too high for most Web 2.0 businesses after all they are all pretty well knock-offs of other ideas.

Twitter has broken the mold in so many ways that while 50% might be a stretch the loyalty and depth of the community around Twitter might surprise us all.

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:33:24 -0000

What is comparable to Twitter? The fact is that there really isn't anything that has been able to attract a community around it like Twitter has. We have put up with downtime and crashed databases and the best we can do is sit on FriendFed and poke fun at the Twitter downtime message screens.

If your network of friends and their network of friends (or even a fraction of them) are willing to accept the downtime and other problems around Twitter and possible through some actual money its way are you still going to leave?

Especially since no-one is forcing you to pay a single red cent?

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:38:32 -0000

I have found the same thing Felicia with the WinExtra Community Forums which is supported by donations - both single shot and subscription based.

Sure the amount of money isn't gang busters but it "helps" defray some of the costs.

As well like I pointed out to Jackie Peters - where is there anything xomparable to Twitter. You can point to Pownce or Jaiku but then why hasn't there been a mass exodus to them especially during the recent hard times at Twitter.

The very tenacity of the Twitter community to stick with the service regardless of all this could very well bely the fact that something like donation subscriptions could be viable.

Re: 2008/06/05/donations/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:22:34 -0000

I totally agree with you that the ethos of the whole Web 2.0 everything should be free has created a really big problem for those looking to bring something of value to market and get something back from it.

But this isn't anything new ... just ask all the hshareware developers out there - if there are any left. The moment ad supported software or free downloads of this or that came in vogue in Web 1.0 you say a radical drop of peoples income. This was only made worse by the following Web 2.0 everything must be free.

I have never liked the philosophy of everything must be free and don't mind me while I block any and all ads because we don't think you should make any money.

It would be interesting to see what the result of a donation model on the size of Twitter would be. However I am for some reason a little more optimistic over it than it seems other folks are.

Re: 2008/06/06/1938media-doesnt-acquire-cnet/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:48:19 -0000

next up the cranky old fart :)

Re: 2008/06/10/child-porn-usenet/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:14:19 -0000

They might be going after the service providers now but with success how long will it be as I pointed out in a post today (http://www.winextra.com/2008/06/10/strong-armin...) before they go after the 3rd party USENET providers.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:55:23 -0000

you can't honestly be serious

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:56:49 -0000

so it informs them - then what? where is the groundswell for change. As for old media taking their cue from internet chatter that doesn't mean that social media is effecting any change. Old media is well known for hijacking anything that will increase viewership and then ditching it when it is no longer hot.

Indirect credit doesn't mean squat to the society that this new movement is suppose to be changing. Direct action does - so far social media flits among causes like a hummingbird in a patch of flowers.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:58:36 -0000

Thank you Jim but don't get me wrong I do believe that social media does hold some promise but right now it is being used more to advance the causes and careers of those advocating it.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:04:06 -0000

we are still in the era of the social media hype and with most hype the attention is constantly shifting between each new attention getting event comes along.

Does it hold promise? I think it does but not the way it is right now.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:08:45 -0000

That might be what you call social but that is not what is being marketed about what social media is about. It is all about bringing transparency and the power of the crowd to bear on social issues and misguidedly against companies.

I am glad that you have found a version of social media that works for you in your life - I really am but that isn't what the advocates of the movment what the rest of the world to think of when they hear the words "social media". They want people to think of social change and I'm sorry but I don't see that happening - yet.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:17:33 -0000

Okay so it doesn't happen overnight. but lets take the Katrina disaster as a small example. In the aftermath much was made of the involvement of the web whether it was through things like social networking - or as it is called this week social media (who knows what it will be called next week).

For about six months we were inundated with how the people on the web were getting all involved in trying to help the people and to pressure the government to live up to their promises.

We are now how many years later? and we still have people living in motel rooms, we still have families seperated by great distances, we still have people living in areas of New Orleans that are disaster zones.

What happened to the flood of goodie two shoes - where are they now? .. where is the social pressure on the government to live up to its promises.

I typically use events and social situation with in the US where this whole social media is suppose to have started and I get slammed for picking on to narrow of a focus. Well I tell you want .. until you can effect change on the society on your own city block, within your own state, within your own countries bourders using this so called wonderful social media there is absolutely no point in trying to export it to the rest of the world because you have now "shining" example of how it can work.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:20:30 -0000

I'm not saying it isn't a good step - I don't believe I ever said it wasn't a good idea. What I disagree with is all the chest thumping on how it's going to change our society when we can't even use it to fix our own problems within our own towns, cities, states and country.

It might be young but this is the perfect time to make sure it can work by doing it on a smaller scale within areas that will make a direct difference to those around us .. not half a world away.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:22:30 -0000

and what are you basing the fact that you are older then myself .. do I know you?

Of course change doesn't happen overnight especially when we are constantly hopping on the hottest bandwagon of the moment and leaving the previous bandwagons going around in circles now that their direction has been taken from them.

Re: 2008/06/13/freemium/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:02:36 -0000

ummm .. care to explain how Twitter is monetizing itself in any fashion whatsoever? Who's paying the bills?

At least Wikipedia is supporting itself in part (or in whole) by the donation model and free labor

Re: 2008/06/13/freemium/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:11:22 -0000

Let me guess - yer a frustrated English professor

Re: 2008/06/13/freemium/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:12:22 -0000

I see the micro-payments have been a rip roaring success in the market place.

Re: 2008/06/13/freemium/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:12:54 -0000

thank you.

Re: 2008/06/13/freemium/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:09:55 -0000

I agree that there are probably places where micro payments would work but everytime you see this method mentioned it usually in conjunction with how it isn't working. In relation to other forms of income production this is one that has had the hardest time taking root.

Re: 2008/06/12/social-media-delusions-of-grandeur/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:30:05 -0000

You are more than welcome Jill and I am glad that this has provoke thoughts and conversation about the whole thing. That is always my intent as we can'tove forward and really achieve anything with midless beating of the drums. We can though when we articulate the reasons, the why's and the wherefor's.

Re: 2008/06/20/sponsorship/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:58:12 -0000

Some of your categories were interesting choices. It would be interesting since that was written like you said two years ago if you were to update that listing and see if it has changed and how.

Re: 2008/06/20/sponsorship/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:03:45 -0000

REgardless of whether you have a strong niche or not it is a matter of getting that attention which typically will come via an ad network who typically will make the lion share of the money.

Sponsorships aren't limited to strictly one company. There is no reason that a blog or a start-up couldn't have multiple sponsors that were in line with what the blog owner - or start-up owner - wanted associated with their brand.

Plus not all bloggers are looking for immense riches - many are more then willing to have the bills paid and be able to have a few toys. Others may want to replace a 9 to 5 job which consistant sponsorships could fulfil.

Re: 2008/06/20/sponsorship/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:05:48 -0000

So you are suggestiong that bloggers are not of interest to ad networks then like yourself and that we are best left to the mercy of things like AdSense.

Re: 2008/06/20/sponsorship/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:41:36 -0000

Some excellent suggestions Eric - thanks for adding them to the conversation. These are definitely some points that I will be adding to my personal list of things to look at during the road forward.

Re: 2008/06/20/sponsorship/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:38:24 -0000

So if you feel a high burden for disclosure why wouldn't I (or any other blogger) not have that same feeling if they were being sponsored by say ... AMD .. Linksys ... etc etc.

By trying to equate the idea of sponsorship with oh .. PayPerPost you are doing bloggers a disservice. There is no reason why we wouldn't be able to maintain the wall of seperation between content and sponsorship. Sure that wall has to be understood by both parties from day one of any agreements. If the company doing the sponsorship does something wrong or ships a bad product the person they should be hearing it from first is the blogger that they are sponsoring. If they can't live with that agreement then they aren't worth having as a sponsor.

Re: 2008/06/20/mainstream-online-video/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:22:27 -0000

Whoop-di-doo .. Netflix ... Hulu ... now how about the rest of the world?

Hulu - in the words of Cuban - might be kicking YouTube's ass in the US but at least in the rest of the world we get to watch those 1 to 3 minute moronic clips without some banner coming up say that the content is US only.

Re: 2008/06/24/alerting-all-stalkers-you-can-find-me-here/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:55:18 -0000

Thanks Mark. I'm really looking forward to working with the Mashable crew.

As for ad supported cell phones courtesy of Google - not for me.

Re: 2008/06/24/alerting-all-stalkers-you-can-find-me-here/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:01:52 -0000

as one from that generation I think I've done pretty good going from keeping as much as possible from being revealed about myself on the web to one who is pretty open but there are limits.

Re: 2008/06/24/alerting-all-stalkers-you-can-find-me-here/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:03:22 -0000

thanks Rick.

I still don't like the idea of things like GPS being added to phone especially from a personal security perspective

Re: 2008/06/24/alerting-all-stalkers-you-can-find-me-here/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:48:25 -0000

It is provent that cell phones can be turned on to the point that another person can use your cell phone as a microphone to listen in on conversations around that cell phone.

Your current movements can be tracked already by cell tower movement. How hard is it going to really be for anyone with the right equipment to fine tune that tracking via the cell phone's GPS feature.

This doesn't even take into account the increased privacy risk of your personal data as these become more of a computing platform. What happens when you lose that phone or it is stolen or cloned.

We are placing too much faith in the so-called goodness of society that nothing bad will be done to us as a result of our increasing reliance of these things to hold more and more personal data.

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:32:36 -0000

I agree that we will see newspapers adapt but just because ad dollars are increasing on internet advertising doesn't mean that newspapers are going to be dead in 10 years like the tech crowd would like us to believe. We are talking about a $45 billion - that's the big 'B' - industry with more market forces it is addressing than just the small section of the tecnology crowd. Whether it be environmental to delivery methods the industry is facing many challenges but it has time and most importantly money on its side.

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:33:07 -0000

yes .. you are correct on that.

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:42:34 -0000

Chris,

But one has to look at the reasons that one cannot afford the access. I know myself I am typically one bill away from losing access on an almost continuous basis. I have seen my monthly bill go up twice since I first signed up with Bell. How many more increases can be dealt with before it become financially impossible to stay connected.

I understand the need for companies to make a profit but with the whole idea behind things like continuous information flow is that we have 24/7/365 access to the Internet. That access though is being controlled by companies that want to exert more and more control over the access and charge increasing amounts of money to gain that access.

That I would take as being disenfranchised. The arguement that lack of money is keeping you from a million dollar home or owning a Rolls Royce doesn't fly because neither of those are being billed as a neccessity of life - a utility - like the Internet is.

With the increasing reliance of access to the Internet to manage even the most mundane tasks of our daily lives being on the wrong side of the technological divide puts a growing segment of our society at a disadvantage - there is no escaping that fact.

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:43:02 -0000

controversy or conversation :)

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:44:45 -0000

Excuse me Marion but if anyone is living in an ivory tower it must be yourself. I think it is time that you put down the kool-aid and take a walk around in the real world for a little while.

Re: 2008/06/25/death-of-newspapers/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:48:12 -0000

correct I never said anything in my post about the news - or the providers of it - being fair and balanced. That is a whole other topic of discussion.

Re: 2008/06/25/facebook-copies-friendfeed/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:38:52 -0000

noted and with my apologies but that also shows how much I use Facebook and the fact that the Mini-feed (which took me a while to find) doesn't support any of the services I use on a regular basis.

Again my apologies and I'll fix up the post shortly but the basic premise of the post that this is a *YAWN* feature still holds now that I've found the right thing.

Re: 2008/06/25/facebook-copies-friendfeed/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:09:18 -0000

My apologies to the Mashable readers for an error on my part that highlighted an older feature addition instead of the new one. While that doesn't change my overall impression of this newest addition I thank the readers who pointed this out to me and for keeping me on my toes.

Re: 2008/06/25/facebook-copies-friendfeed/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:29:44 -0000

I never said if it was a good or bad thing I just said that in my opinion it was a *YAWN* feature.

Re: 2008/06/25/facebook-copies-friendfeed/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:01:23 -0000

You'll always know where I am coming from. People may not like my point of view but it will always be my honest thoughts.

Re: 2008/06/26/children-of-web-20/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:22:43 -0000

I worry greatly about the U.K. as well not only that the people are be ubjected to more and more intrusion not just by the House of Lords level of government but also right down to the Council level as well. In some case it is a prime example of the Nanny State gone mad.

The other big concern is that what is happening over there - much like the original English invasion that brought us the Beatles - is being shipped over here. It is like the U.K. has become a testing ground of how much bullshit people are capable of taking in ways of government and police intrusions into their lives.

Re: 2008/06/26/children-of-web-20/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:24:13 -0000

shhhh .. don't tell anyone but it's a part of my master plan of Crankiness - lull them into a sense of warm and mushy and then - BAM - throw the cranky at them :)

Seriously - glad you like the post.

Re: 2008/06/26/children-of-web-20/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:56:47 -0000

yes and it is the rest of the world that everyone needs to be concerned about as well not just our little corners.

Re: 2008/07/02/google-pagerank/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:16:20 -0000

I agree with you Alexander - it would be a hellva challenge to pull off successfully but if someone does it could change a few things on the web.

Re: 2008/07/02/google-pagerank/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:18:20 -0000

Bob,

I didn't really take into account things like "voting" per se. What I was thinking of was other things like the tradition link counting (that Google does) and the untraditional things like *Name* count etc. There is enough information already flowing through all the different social media pipes that being able to form some sort of ranking out of it should be possible

Re: 2008/07/02/google-pagerank/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:20:36 -0000

Gabe,

As I said to Bob I wasn't really thinking of the whole "voting" senerio when working through this idea but rather on the stuff that is already available flowing through social media. Users will indicate far better what is of interest by the fact of linking to it or talking about a person or idea or post. That for me would be more important that a "voting" scheme

Re: 2008/07/02/google-pagerank/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:21:23 -0000

thanks Brandon and most definitely this couldn't be site or service specific - it would have to take them all into account.

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:12:41 -0000

I agree that companies do indeed need to make it easier to purchase their services or products. One of my big bitch points is that not everyone in the world has a credit card - or even wants to use the one they have for online purchases.

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:15:04 -0000

There was a point where consumers could vote with their wallets. In the online world this is something that they don't have and with ad supported businesses they don't *need* to listen to us either

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:16:10 -0000

It's too bad that Eudora wasn't a better email client :)

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:16:38 -0000

Thanks Dane :)

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:30:01 -0000

I agree with you on this ... I don't think we'd see as many of these Web 2.0 style services if they had to have a business model beyond advertising

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:40:49 -0000

also these same people will go to iTunes and download a song but figure you should be pouring out all your creative juices for nothing .. yup it makes a lot of sense.

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:41:43 -0000

maybe it helps to be of an age where actually paying for creative goods meant something :)

Re: 2008/07/10/entitlement-of-free-needs-to-go-away/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:44:01 -0000

Roger I totlaly get the idea of having free and premium services and for the most part they are a great idea. However the *majority* of web users have come to expect that everything is free where they would never drream of walking into a bakery and taking a cake from the shelf while telling the owner not to worry the ads will pay for it. Yup that makes a lot of sense.

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:13:51 -0000

Thanks Jonathan. I hope things might calm down but I have a gut feeling that it won't and we will continue to find new ways to distance ourselves from real life interactions.

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:15:35 -0000

your writing can't be any worse than mine :)

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:19:33 -0000

I realize that electronic communication has its place and is extremely valuable. That still doesn't make it an intimate vehicle for that eye to eye contact where you can feel what is being said. It is this emotional part of connecting with a person on a much more basic human level that is important and something technology cannot - and should not - replace.

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:20:14 -0000

or do we even want this to happen?

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:21:18 -0000

electronic comunication allows us all to be emotional cowards. I think it in some ways also allows us to bypass any responsibility for our actions.

Re: 2008/07/11/online-interaction/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:23:44 -0000

I agree about there needing to be a balance between all forms of communication but it is human nature I think to always take the easiest way out and electronic communication allows us to do this much easier.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:25:46 -0000

please explain to me how a form of communication that is limited to 140 characters and cannot contain any form of rich media other than links to off site can be considered to be evolutionary.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:41:55 -0000

Michael - thank you for the well balanced reply and I agree with you that things like Twitter are a new category of communication tools but I still don't see it being in the same realm as blogging tools.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:58:56 -0000

Zota I have been known to use real paper to write out my real thoughts to help me write my egomaniac crap that shows up on my blogs so really what is your point?

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:59:39 -0000

yes it was humorous and I enjoyed reading the comment.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:02:42 -0000

how is using something for bouncing ideas around considered as microblogging? If that is the case then so is napkin based discussions at your local Starbucks .. oh wait they are probably using Twitter of IM do this now because face to face conversation and sharing of ideas seems to becoming a thing of the past .. yup we;ve come a long way baby.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:05:06 -0000

Actually Jeff I would really be interested in hearing what you haveto say on this in further detail. If you do email me at steven @ winextra.com with the link to the post. Thoughts like these are sometimes the best things that can come out of posts like this one and that makes taking all the flack worthwhile.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:07:29 -0000

I am taking a serious look at both tumblr and posterous in the next little while. Partly because I want to see what can be done with them and also because of your comments here -- so a big thank you for adding to the conversation (which would never have been able to happen on Twitter per se)

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:11:19 -0000

thanks for disagreeing and phrasing your points as well as you did. I don't necessarily agree with them but I can understand how you came by them.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:13:57 -0000

well it's nice to see that I am not the only one here that feels this way - Thanks Aaron :)

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:19:27 -0000

Julio you are right in that Twitter is most likely a hybrid of many different communication idea - all of which are totally different than what it was originally intended for.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:20:55 -0000

actually it's been closer to a week since I had Twhirl or TweetDeck running and I haven't missed the service one bit.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:28:04 -0000

that post actually took me the better part of an hour to write. I don't do 10 minute slap 'em together and hit publish types of posts. Neither here on Mashable nor on my own blog WinExtra.

I try very hard to give my readers something of value in return for their time. And whether they agree with me or not isn't always the key reason for the posts - it is hopefully the conversation that comes as a result of the posts - much like we have seen happen here.

No 140 characters can even come close to equalling that experience.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:31:24 -0000

Mashable may as you put it "do better than this but there is no denying that this supposed useless post has sparked an interesting discussion with both points of view being discussion. Isn't the the whole idea of blogging in the first place??

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:33:53 -0000

thank you tyler for that valuable opinion and input.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:36:10 -0000

thanks baz for the support :)

here's a question for you though now that you breought it up - do you consider FriendFeed to be another form of this socalled microblogging in the same way that people consider Twitter to be?

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:39:51 -0000

Yes Hofa Twitter is something all together different and to a point Twitter as just another IM service may indeed have been stretching the point to a degree but I still believe that it is say we say a mix of IM and IRC.

As for blogging being hard work I still stand by that esepecially for those who day in and day out consistently produce valuable content that get people to think and converse about what has been written and the inevitable offshoots of discussions that can occur.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:40:37 -0000

well thank you Pete for that illuminating response - I am sure we have all learned something new because of it.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:58:49 -0000

nice analogy :)

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:00:15 -0000

linkbaiting .. oh come on ... give a reat ... dislike the post - fine ... but linkbaiting I sorely doubt it

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:04:30 -0000

Oh you are understood alright. You are understood that because you don't like a discussion point that it has no business being published on a blog you read.

and yes their are editors on Mashable who turn down post ideas all the time.

but thanks for illuminating the fact that it is beneath you to possibly take part in the conversation likea number of people here have and show how my assumptions are wrong - instead you don't think that opposing opinions shouldn't be published.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:06:47 -0000

blessed be the MTV generation and their blind belief that the shortest possible soundbite is the best way to inform people .. ya .. right.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:17:39 -0000

Tony I have in fact written a number of posts on WinExtra about Twitter and how I think it is a good thing that could hold a lot of promise

FriendFeed vs. Twitter & Why Twitter Isnâ€™t Going Anywhere (http://www.winextra.com/2008/06/28/friendfeed-v...)

Is there a backdoor to mainstream popularity? (http://www.winextra.com/2008/05/10/is-there-a-b...)

The Twitter Obligation (http://www.winextra.com/2008/05/22/the-twitter-...)

and please don't misconstrue my post here as a negative against Twitter because I do believe that Twitter servers both now and maybe even more so in the future a valuable resource on many levels.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:21:46 -0000

I have never suggested that the Twitter service is "inane" I just havea problem with it being equated with yet another buzzword - microblogging.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:26:39 -0000

what is this with douchey?

Is this the new swear word or a way to insult someone while appearing to be cool?

maybe I sould change my tagline now to read "your new and improved douchey cranky old fart"

kinda reminds me of grade school children wanting to swear but now get sent to the principal's office.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:31:03 -0000

really? .. wow .. first douchey and now a snob .. I'm doing pretty good so far today.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:37:08 -0000

what I find totally hunorous about this whole thing is that I write up a post that doesn't call Twitter itself a waste of time but rather how people want to classify it as something that it isn't and all hell breaks loose in the comments.

At the same time there are any number of other posts that have been posted to Mashable that are probably more important and they are lucky if they get anymore than a handful of comments.

amazing.

Re: 2008/07/18/twitter-not-a-microblogging-tool/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:39:52 -0000

thank you nafnosseb for returning and trying to clarify your position - I appreciate that. Perhaps my use of the word devalues might have been incorrent - even though I still thinkn to ta point it does - but not from the fact that people use the service is so many different ways. I have written on my home blog many times how I think that Twitter does provide a valuable service and probably some that we may not even realize at this point. That doesn't change the fact that I don't consider it to be a microblogging medium.

As for how I used Twitter in the past I first started out using it because I wrote one of the first desktop clients for (Windows only) so I had an extremely wide range of contacts. From the A-List right down to the "I just burped" crowd. Once I stopped developing I began to be far more selective about who made it to my Twitter list but I always tried to have a wide range.

At this point I haven't used Twitter or any of the services and clients built up around it for going on a week now and I don't miss it at all - I wouldn't be able to say the same about FriendFeed (which I don't consider to be microblogging tool either).

This really all boils down to personal choices of the tools we use to communicate and I have enough history in the computer and computer communication industry to say that nothing out there now is really all that new in principal. Sure the way they are being delieved - mainly by HTTP since that is harder to firewall against - has changed.

But none of this stuff is revolutionary or even evolutionary.

Again thanks for returning to expand on you comments - this is what blogging is about and could never be done with a 140 character limit.

Re: 2008/07/28/googles-knol-evil-and-doomed/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:28:38 -0000

Back after Knol was first announced I wrote that it would become the playground of spammers and marketers - http://www.winextra.com/2007/12/14/knol-a-poten... - interesting that more folks are beginning to feel the same thing

Re: 2008/07/29/could-corporations-be-the-real-push-behind-social-media/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:42:06 -0000

Chantelle,

o where did I suggest that social change had anything to do with Senegalese women. If you knew of my writing either here or on my home blog (http://www.winextra.com) or heard me on any of the Elite Tech News podcasts you would know that I continually suggest that we need to deal with our own homelessness, technological divide and ideally I would prefer that this was the society that was changed.

and how does treating anyone equally mean leaving our personal class or race at the door. The idea of social media - or so the warm and fuzzy crowd like to suggest - is that we don't have to leave anything at the digital borders as you put it and yet we can still be on an equal footing.

Until you know me better please do not assume that you know my perspective because of one article only.

Re: 2008/07/29/could-corporations-be-the-real-push-behind-social-media/

Steven Hodson — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:42:41 -0000

yes it made sense and how is it working out for your company?

Re: 2008/07/28/googles-knol-evil-and-doomed/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:13:50 -0000

you seriously need to cut back on the coffee or at least switch to decaf

Re: 2008/08/08/is-it-spamming-or-savvy-marketing/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:43:57 -0000

sorry but any company that pulls this kind of crap regardless of how *brilliant* you might think it is would end up on my blocked list

Re: 2008/08/10/case-of-accidental-success/

Steven Hodson — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:04:02 -0000

sorry but the two iseas are as different as night and dsy IMO

Re: 2008/08/11/russia-georgia-cyberattacks/

Steven Hodson — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:20:34 -0000

no it's not but I am sure that they would willingly add it to their bullshit list of reasons

Re: 2008/08/11/russia-georgia-cyberattacks/

Steven Hodson — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:21:07 -0000

ya .. I'll get right on that

Re: 2008/08/27/4-questions-for-every-early-adopter/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:47:28 -0000

robert 99% of what floats through early adopter land is just another copy of another copy of yet another copy. It's a case of grab the best VC dollars that you can while the going is good. As for solving someone's pain - - please give me a break there is very little about Web 2.0 that has anything to do with easing anyone's pain.

There are some that would say that the WWT is just another lame application but then scratch the surface and you'll find someone who doesn't like Microsoft. Those same people will try and tell you that the newest apps for the iPhone will change our computing world forever. - sure .. Okay...

As for scaling up how is that never a question we heard about Twitter when it was still an early adopter plaything? .. because they didn't care. It wasn't until Twitter started getting real user interest that it became a problem and that is when all the pundits came out asking that question. I'd say in that case the early adopters didn't do a very good job.

those might be the questions that you think the early adopters should be asking but you can be assured that the chances are they aren't asking any ofthose question .. they're only interested in their beta invites.

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:16:31 -0000

ya I'm terrible on the whole comma thing, but I'm trying to do better. :)

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:18:17 -0000

that culture has been around since probably the first vinyl record was sold and I don't see it going away any time soon

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:19:16 -0000

As one who use to have a record collection to be proud of yours would be really cool to see

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:22:15 -0000

Sorry about the Mr. Truffle it was found via a image search that didn't lead back to flickr

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:29:28 -0000

I'm actually the same way when I find new music I really like especially when it comes to trance, house or other similar stuff. I also eagerly await new releases from those types of artists. On the other hand when it comes to the older music of my youth I generally go for the single tracks. For example where I might want Only Women Bleed by Alice Cooper I don't necessarily want the whole album it came on. The same could be said for Angie by the rolling Stones. That said theme albums are a totally separate case as one really wouldn't want just one or two songs from Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds or to cheery pick single tracks from any of the Alan Parson's albums. The interesting thing to see will be if those kind of theme album are continued to be made as more and more music is solid by the single track.

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:43 -0000

some good points to consider - thanks

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:34:27 -0000

it always amazes me in this day of AOL h0x0r speak peoplae are given such are time over honest spelling or grammar errors. Part of it as well is sometimes there is too much of a reliance on spellcheckers rather than the english lessons we learn 40 some years ago and have been bastardize between then and now.

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:36:17 -0000

I do agree that digital media should be cheaper but then also CDs could be a lot cheaper as well because the costs of producing them is significantly less than vinyl but that doesn't happen either.

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:36:44 -0000

thank you Professor

Re: 2008/08/28/good-riddance-to-albums/

Steven Hodson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:39:23 -0000

doesn't help either when one can't go back and edit the spelling errors in the comments either :)

Re: 2008/09/01/google-chrome/

Steven Hodson — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:36:51 -0000

I use to own a comic store as well Sean - or at least until the property owner went bankrupt and they discovered there was at least 3 mortgages on the place .. didn't have enough cash reserves to get setup all over again in a new locattion.

I loved owning that store .. comic rule :) but that doesn't mean that announcing a major product that is going to have a major impact in the tech world should come to us via a comic

Re: 2008/09/10/twitter-mainstream-media/

Steven Hodson — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:07:43 -0000

gfox I would hope that the lead by example would indeed work in this case

Re: 2008/09/19/microsoft-should-never-have-listened-to-tech-bloggers/

Steven Hodson — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:23:23 -0000

Here's a suggestion Steve - why don't you go back to talking in front of the mirror because you obviously don't know how to play nice with others - especially those trying to have a conversation

Re: 2008/10/09/ad-supported-video-games/

Steven Hodson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:36:51 -0000

Will,

Actually that has been one of my biggest beefs with cable television. I've been around long enough that I can remember the time before cable and how cable was suppose to run without ads. That was the reason you were paying for access to it. It was suppose to be TV without ads and better content ... that didn't last long though.

Re: Is There a New Twitter to Blog Spam Bot?

Steven Hodson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:00:15 -0000

I wrote about this the other day on The Inquisitr (http://www.inquisitr.com/14973/is-tweetbacks-ge... ) and even though the author of Tweetbacks did get back to me and did issue a couple of updates in the following days the problem persisted to the point one day I deleted close to 700 tweetbacks.

I've since then uninstalled it on my home blog and haven't had any since. The thing that has me wonderiong though if rather than be a cause of the spam tweets Trackbacks is only showing how prevelant the problem is on Twitter - that may be the more important question to be asking.

Re: Is There a New Twitter to Blog Spam Bot?

Steven Hodson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:00:15 -0000

Re: Implications of a Google Social Network

Steven Hodson — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 19:48:55 -0000

A lot of folks got all in a lather when Google announced the Krol project saying it could well be a space changing move. Well as I pointed out the other day in a post (http://www.winextra.com/2007/12/14/the-real-goo...) on them adding Contacts/Friends to Google Reader I felt that that was more of a space changer than Knol. This addition of Profiles just continues the trend.

Re: Yahoo Should Buy Twitter- Yes or No

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:22:51 -0000

What are you trying to do Chris give Twitter the kiss of death? :)

The last thing Yahoo should be doing at this point in their aimless wandering and snacking on anything that catches their eye is be buying anything.

Re: Comments and Why RSS Is Not Enough

Steven Hodson — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:56:32 -0000

one solution as well that is being developed by severl different companies is to have your comments either routed through or handled by a 3rd party - Disqus, SezWho and IntenseDebate are the three that come to mind.

Now I can only really speak of Disqus as that has become my preference in the field. The nice thing about them is that you don't need to be a blogger to have an account but getting one lets you create a common signin for all the blogs that use Disqus and that you read.

I can then either have one unified page for all the comments; and replies, you have made at hose sites. As well you can create a single RSS feed for that account.

Additionally they have the beginning of a community aspect where you can "friend" folks that have also commented and replied. You then will also see what comments they have made around the b'sphere - which is an intersting way to find new blogs.

I also have in FeedDemon a specific folder for tracking comment streams for posts on blogs that support Comment RSS - and not all do either (hint Louis :) ) but don't use Disqus. This way I can see what new comments are made as well.

The second doesn't solve the two way communication that the first does though.

Re: Ads or No

Steven Hodson — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:10:45 -0000

as usual the comments are adding exceptional quality to an oft asked question for bloggers. As I primarily read your writing via RSS feed which already carries an ad I don't see the problem with having ads on the site.

Re: Ads or No

Steven Hodson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:18:34 -0000

@Tim (#27) the only problem with the idea of using things like affilate links within a post is that Google may look upon that as paid text links which could end up with Chris being penalized and when it comes to this Google doesn't play nice at all. Just ask all the people who saw their page ranks get wiped out in one fell swoop recently when Google changed their policy.

That isn't to say it isn't a good idea except it is also one of the easiest to be abused.

Re: We Still Need Better Filters

Steven Hodson — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:33:21 -0000

Chris,

As I said in my post yesterday (http://www.winextra.com/2008/03/17/has-friendfe...) I think FriendFeed is used properly - especially now it has search - it could come closer to fitting your filter needs than you might be giving it credit for.

Re: Lijit Throws Ads Onto My Site

Steven Hodson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:32:20 -0000

When I have talked with Micah this is something that they have been experimenting with but it is suppose to be an opt-in service with revenue sharing bewteen Lijit and the blog authors.

Re: All Tomorrows Armies

Steven Hodson — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:06:21 -0000

'small news' .. an interesting concept - yup you were right more gist for my thought mill thanks Chris

Re: Review - 30 Year Old Canadian Club

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:23:08 -0000

When it comes to Canadian whiskey my vote would have to go to Alberta Springs Sipping Whiskey. It used to sell in a wooden box with a sliding top ... similiar to the old style wooden pencil cases

Re: Fake Steve Jobs hoaxes TechMeme/bloggers

Steven Hodson — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:07:12 -0000

I alluded to as much in my post (http://www.winextra.com/2007/12/22/satire-is-fi...) but given Apple's move against ThinkSecret I still left the door open to the possiblity it was tue ... but somehow I just couldn't see it being so.

Re: Is Facebook doomed?

Steven Hodson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:35:36 -0000

I am getting such a kick out of all of this fuss over a dip in pageviews that is being depicted as the plateauing of social networks like Facebook.

As anyone who has been around this internetty type thing or even the old BBS era can tell you the larger part of what is happening has happened since the days of NNTP newsgroups and web forums.

As both Frederic at The Last Podcast (http://www.lastpodcast.net/2008/02/21/social-ne...) and I (http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/22/social-netwo...) have noted that this seasonal cycle is an intregal part of our online lifestyle.

As I also said on TechCrunch .. it must be a slow newsday when this makes it as a news item.

Re: I’ve redesigned

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:42:34 -0000

I gotta admit I'm surprised - I quite like the revamp. The only thing you are missing though IMO is Disqus for your comments.

Re: Rejuvenating with Scott Bourne (and talking about whether I’m paid to pimp stuff like FriendFeed)

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:20:02 -0000

you know Robert I think it is really great that you get to talk to all of these fancinating wealthy people in whant amounts sometimes (or so it seems) to a pimping of their respective companies. Yes we can learn a lot and we get to see some cool stuff.

But knowing how you like to meet new people and help the blogosphere as a whole I think that maybe if you took some time and talked / interviewed some of those folks who slog ahead everyday trying to provide information and opinion from their blogs for no other reason than they love what they are doing.

Who knows maybe you will learn something new from them as well and in turn you are helping out the grassroots of the blogosphere.

Just a thought.

Re: Blog comments are dead: discuss

Steven Hodson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:29:48 -0000

Are you serious? You're proclaiming that comments are dead because you only got 2 comments on a stupid ass post. What were we suppose to comment on? The fact that you've got the spare 50 or 60 grand to buy the car in the first place or whether you are so super cool for being first in line for buying a super uber toy.

If you want comments anywhere Robert give us something of substance to comments on until then keep your fork to yourself.

Re: My Fourth of July Present to you: the geeky Congresswoman

Steven Hodson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:15:52 -0000

Robert,

To be fair I have in the past maybe said some negative things about your shows and really I think that I must have been more affected by your Qik videos when I was making those statements. I say that because I have just spent the evening on and off going through your archive of Scobleizer TV and I have enjoyed very much what I have watched which includes the Geeky Congresswoman.

I'll still call you out if I think you are doing something wrong but in this case I will say I was partially wrong in my comments. Keep up the good work and from this point on you have a new viewer for you videos.

Re: The “Participation Premium”

Steven Hodson — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:39:24 -0000

How you find the time to participate in all the different ways you do continually amazes me but you are right. Participation within any group will definitely impact a person's popularity within any system - Social Media is no different.

Re: Jason Calacanis hands keys to blogosphere to Louis Gray

Steven Hodson — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:21:23 -0000

I guess the rest of us might as well retire now as well eh :)

Re: “Sky isn’t falling” blogger says

Steven Hodson — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:24:23 -0000

Robert,

I never said things things are going great or that we should all be dancing around the campfire slapping ourselves on the back. I did say that there were hard times ahead. I did say that it wasn't going to be an easy time.

But I also said that the leaders like yourself aren't making things any better with constant posts about jobs being cut and lots more to come. I don't think you and others like you are making this transition period any more palatable with reports how the CEOs are loosing a few bucks on the stock market when chances are if they got to that level of busines they're pretty smart people and didn't get caught with their pants down - there were plenty of warning signs as long as you didn't have you head stuck up the tech blogosphere all the way because for them everything was just rosy.

Re: “Sky isn’t falling” blogger says

Steven Hodson — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:40:48 -0000

Where do I give the impression of being confident Robert. All I am saying is that this excessive fear mongering is making things worse than maybe they are. On top of that bloggers such as yourself whose voice carries a lot of wight within the tech blogosphere should be be trying to cast more of a positive light on the situation. Just as we can affect the downward spin of a stock so we can bring it back up .. the same applies to the human spirit. You feed a human being enough crap and they begin to believe it with all their soul. Equally if you give them a reason to be hopefully change can happen and that is what we really need right - the believe in change and knowing we can effect that change.

Re: Dear Microsoft

Steven Hodson — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:59:57 -0000

Hmmm ... Microsoft bloggers attacking Michael - that's rich. How about seeing what actually transpired last night on Twitter

http://www.winextra.com/2008/10/13/arrington-he...

The above links displays the *complete* exchange between Michael and MossyBlog on Twitter

Funny it wasn't other bloggers calling someone a moron and a jerk - it was Michael.

Re: What’s the best new productivity tool you’ve adopted in past year?

Steven Hodson — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:27:36 -0000

Oh god robert .. do we really need another Pirillo type post of endles Twitter captures to write a post around. I'm on the verge from unsubscribing from him again because of this type of mind numbing verbal polution.

Please stop doing this I beg of you for all that is holy.

Re: Your Mind Are Belong To Us

Steven Hodson — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:59:33 -0000

I'm making my way through Nick's book as well .. so far it's been pretty interesting reading - hopefully it will stay that way

Re: Many of My Blog Posts are Verbose

Steven Hodson — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:43:49 -0000

don't be :)

Re: Google Adsense Now Monetizing my Feed

Steven Hodson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:18:37 -0000

Actually Douglas I've had the RSS ads for about a week now and on some days I have better income from there than I do from the blog AdSense blocks. Not sure if that will last over time but it sure is noce for now.

Re: Facebook Beacon: A Cautionary Tale About New Media Monopolies

Steven Hodson — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:36:16 -0000

I first wrote about Beacon back on November the 2nd and even then called it a bad idea

http://www.winextra.com/2007/11/02/a-pandemic-o...

Re: Brilliant: Fake Steve Jobs Fakes Apple Shutdown Drama

Steven Hodson — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:08:25 -0000

I suggested as much earlier today in my post Satire is fine until it bites you on the ass although given Apple's recent vistory in ThinkSecret shutting down one couldn't be sure. FS post since then have been a perfect play on the situation and well within the spirit of satire.

Re: Email And Cellphone Contacts Are The Real Social Graph

Steven Hodson — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:54:33 -0000

I wrote much the same thing back in November about email being the real social network (http://www.winextra.com/2007/11/14/i-already-ha... ) and that opinion hasn't changed. If anything with google's slow rollout of its impending socnet and it being based around your Contacts/ email address my feeling has only strengthened

Re: Social Networks destroying Blogging?

Steven Hodson — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:15:22 -0000

Wow .. thanks Paul I appreciate the feedback and I'm glad that you enjoy my writing style althought brilliant might be a slight exageration but hey I'll take it LOL :)

BTW This post just showed up in my feed reader even though you posted on the 4th - which is why the delay in thanking you.

Re: Starting my Christmas wish list now!

Steven Hodson — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:17:13 -0000

WEll not to worry Paul as I for one won't be slagging you off for having CRT's hanging about since that is all I have here :) .. the idea of owning a dual LCD monitor setup to replace my current dual setup is only a dream.

However I'll join you in starting that early Christmas list .. that is one sweet monitor Alienware is teasing us ewith

Re: A Bloggers Union – WTF are you smoking?

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:57:52 -0000

Well thank you very much for effectively removing any chance of me - the head cranky old fart - from being able to write on this subject now.

Where's the Shop Stewart -- I want to lodge a complaint...

:) LOL ... well written Paul :)

Re: Relying on the web – not always the best idea

Steven Hodson — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:12:48 -0000

ROFL (not at you missing the call though) - consiider yourself told :)

It isn't always the big events that should be warning signs that something isn't a good idea but the collection of ongoing little things - such as you not being able to get that phone number when you needed it. Any reliance of having your data on some-one else servers isn't a good idea at all in my mind.

Re: And I’m back :)

Steven Hodson — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:15:51 -0000

looks good so far Paul .. kinda gives me an itch to start looking for a new theme (damn you :) )

Re: IBGS forms Board. I accept position as Director of IT

Steven Hodson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:47:25 -0000

congradulations Paul - it is always nice to hear of good things happening to good people.

Re: My biggest flaw as a blogger

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:24:50 -0000

For me I think it would have to be my spelling, grammer and editing skilla. I know I don't do as well as I should post publish and end up making a number of edits to the live post.

Re: My biggest flaw as a blogger

Steven Hodson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:16:05 -0000

@Richard - that's the Canuck spelling (and I'm sticking to that story :) )

Re: Shirt in or Shirt out? What kind of a blogger are you?

Steven Hodson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:28:30 -0000

why do you have to ask such difficult questions?? :) I think I would have to go the shirt out route with the occasional tucking in for appearance sake :)

Re: Restarting my life. Literally.

Steven Hodson — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:01:43 -0000

damn man on one level I am really sorry to hear this and on another I wish you the best.

Re: Getting back to me

Steven Hodson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:56:32 -0000

Paul,

I know to a certain extent what you might have been going through asI suffer from bouts of depression as well. Some osre periods are short while others can be longer. It's nasty when it hit - especially if you don't pay ateention to the warning signs.

My thoughts are with you as you move forward dealling with this and I truly wish you all the best in maintaining a balance.

Good thought my friend.

Re: Crawled To Death – Why You NEED To Use Google Webmaster Tools

Steven Hodson — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:59:40 -0000

Thanks Paul for thisw .. It is something I'll be looking into for my own site but I ahave also passed it on to a friend of my where I also write who is experiencing unexplainded server loads. BTW this faint gray text in the comment box sucks rocks :)