Disqus - Latest Comments for Rick Wolff

Re: Wacko Wednesdays: Habitual Lateness

Rick Wolff — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:07:17 -0000

I'm actually replying to the post. Passive-aggression certainly explains my almost daily lateness to my work, since I frequently will go somewhere in NYC in the evening -- Meetups and such -- and be scrupulously on time. I would never think of standing up a client, when and if I ever get back to freelancing. I could fill a blog with my dissatisfactions with my job, but they'd probably find them and call me onto the carpet.

Re: It’s a Small (Social Media) World

Rick Wolff — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:19:00 -0000

You know what's missing? The de facto sales force of this social media movement, with all its many services and more on the way, would penetrate the hinterlands as readily as we're used to in other industries, if they were paid on commission. Problem is, with all the startups on zero-income during their shakedowns, they have to depend on word of mouth, which necessarily has a perimeter -- what we've come to call the fish bowl.

Re: (un) Police State of Social Media

Rick Wolff — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:14:09 -0000

I assume you saw that video I pointed you at, of Clay Shirky's address to the Web 2.0 conference. He described the utopian hands-off attitude on a particular "alt" discussion group in the pre-Web days of the Internet. And how indelible was the negative example among those who experienced it, that at least, they all said to each other, nobody will ever let anything like this happen ever again. Goes to show you.

Re: Wacko Wednesdays: Narcissism

Rick Wolff — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:38:57 -0000

My wife works as an LPN in the neurology department of a central Westchester medical center. She gets patients from all around, from a variety of socio-economic levels. Your narcissist describes the folks from Chappaqua (yes, Clinton Country). Appointments mean nearly nothing to these (usually) bored housewives. And if their controlled substance won't get them through a three-day weekend, an exception in state law must be made for them and my wife must call in the prescription. With their position goes an assumption of some kind of personal power; if they make enough noise, they think they'll be served -- even though nothing in their experience with the center has borne that out. This is what my wife tells me about when I ask, "So, how was your day?"

Re: Rant on Twitter before breakfast

Rick Wolff — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:24:38 -0000

Thank you! Or should I say, THANK YOU! The temptation is strong to recall for all these whippersnappers the days before all this social media stuff.

Re: Why Keynote Speakers Violate PodCamp Rules

Rick Wolff — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:30:56 -0000

I plan to attend Podcamp NYC in April. I am comfortable with the fact that knowledge will be irregularly (some might say unfairly) distributed among attendees. We may all be treated equal, but we're not equal, or else we wouldn't bother to go. Those who know will talk, and those who don't know (like me) will shut up and listen. Those who have the reputation for knowing will have the greater turnout, and will likely have my ear, too. Those who get up and speak only because nothing's stopping them will get the two-feet treatment. Among those who know, someone has to go first. If you don't want me to call it a keynote, then I won't.

Re: Andrew Baron Selling Twitter Account, Database For Sale?

Rick Wolff — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:21:07 -0000

When I'm asked for my zip code at a retail checkout counter, I quote my rate, which is a meager 2% discount from my purchase. I'm never taken up on it. I know the retailer gets much more value from it than that.
Chris, if you get value from my following you on Twitter, and you're keen on what's happening with this auction, I must ask you what you're willing to pay to keep me from disconnecting you.
There's your Trust Economy.

Re: How to Not Hire Someone

Rick Wolff — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:59:16 -0000

Good god! All that money spent to hire lawyers to advise you how to save a couple of bucks hiring Mexicans. Maybe we should just legalize an employer's ability to let the wage rise and fall out in the open, and subject it to market forces — which is what's happening anyway, apparently. You save all that scratch on lawyers. But lawyers won't have any of that, no doubt.

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Rick Wolff — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:04:43 -0000

As a planned attendee to PodCamp NYC (at which I hope to meet you), I am going to look up who in that operation will take a little contribution to defray costs (probably Whitney Hoffman). I can't picture going to Boston, so I'll pass on them. I'm a big believer in "s|he who benefits pays."

Re: Watch this Justin.tv video from PodCamp NYC

Rick Wolff — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:58:58 -0000

Not supporting this Smojo guy, just revealing my ignorance. He walked over to an unmanned computer and posted 1:16 of video? Is that all he did? Did he power it up? I'd hate to hear later that he used my >$1000 machine without my asking, but was anything broken? Obviously, I'm missing a point. Please elucidate.

Re: Watch this Justin.tv video from PodCamp NYC

Rick Wolff — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:14:22 -0000

Oh, I got it now. What he did was not only steal computer time but steal table time as a "sponsor". I didn't read carefully, and walking by the table, I had no idea myself. And the owner of the computer has protested. Got it. Don't mind me.

Re: The Power of Extreme Fatigue

Rick Wolff — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:39:53 -0000

Without my glasses on, I see a photo of you holding your eyeballs in place in your skull, and the title "Awaken Your Superhero." New meaning!
I love that you had the sense enough to actually illustrate such a blog post.

Re: 30+ Websites to Visit When You’re Laid Off

Rick Wolff — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:20:06 -0000

Games? Dating? Hobbies? Is this guy 14?

Re: Human Touch

Rick Wolff — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:00:14 -0000

This whole thing is astonishing to me. I don't know a single person who would fly across the country to spend a weekend at my place, to see me, not just to save money on crash space. These people don't know how lucky they are. How this is possible on Seesmic just baffles me.

Re: Gary Vaynerchuk - I had a wild day, you? Turning negatives into...

Rick Wolff — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:42:41 -0000

It's good to be Gary V., isn't it? Why should anything bother you? You're independently wealthy. You've got people eating out of the palm of your hand. People are throwing you work. Well, my day sucked. Because I'm not Gary V. I don't have a job. I'm yelling at the world as loudly as I can, and it's like I'm in a wooden box six feet underground. Turn the negative of unemployment into a positive? It's amazing how truly out-of-touch with reality you can be, yet act exactly the opposite. And they all buy it.

Re: Gary Vaynerchuk - 1 Show Doesn’t Fit All! I want to talk about the...

Rick Wolff — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:10:51 -0000

So I catch myself frequently yelling at the hordes of Vaynerheads, or whatever you call yourselves. I'm decrying your putting this guy on a pedestal, setting this guy up as some all-knowing, all-seeing guru. The actual gurus of Hinduism were little tyrants; each sought to make a mob of enslaved clones of himself, to follow around and have them do his bidding. You don't want a guru. Gary V doesn't deserve gurus. Don't mimic this guy! He doesn't know what you know!

What's that? Gary agrees with me?

That BASTARD! (hehe)

Re: Gary Vaynerchuk - Half pregnant with Scott Simon of NPR Today i...

Rick Wolff — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:44:03 -0000

That was fast. Now you're right back to pointing at the camera and telling me what I gotta do. What if my gut tells me I should get into social media gradually?

Re: How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour (Plus: A Favor)

Rick Wolff — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:32:24 -0000

Not mentioned is the number of airline passengers who change seats after you get started on them.

Re: Twitter Literati

Rick Wolff — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:55:44 -0000

Just like Soylent Green.

(a la Homer Simpson) Mmmmm. Soylent. (drool)

Re: Google Launches Social Network

Rick Wolff — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:08:00 -0000

Now you know why I (and many others) stuck with Bloglines.

Re: Google Launches Social Network

Rick Wolff — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:00:38 -0000

Chris Cree, I'm saying that when they knock on my door with a warrant for my papers and effects, I want to be able to shrug my shoulders and say, "Gosh, it's all dispersed in the cloud", not, "www.google.com". I'll sacrifice some functionality for a little less concentration of personal data. I'll socially interact here, read my blogs there. No biggie.

Re: The Power of Comments

Rick Wolff — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:17:53 -0000

1.) Thus far, and for the foreseeable future, I don't blog. I comment.
2.) I can't stand blogs about blogs, and I don't comment about comments.
3.) This comment obviously violates #2. *shrug*

Re: Problems

Rick Wolff — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:43:48 -0000

"I can fake anything, just like how I learned to play music by ear so I could be in State band."

That was YOU?

:-D

Re: 20 Blogging Projects for You

Rick Wolff — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:50:48 -0000

You realize, those are 20 ideas for not just blog posts, but entire blogs. Some have longer "legs" than others.

Re: Back in the Saddle

Rick Wolff — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:46:43 -0000

How do I get a community like that?

Re: What it Felt Like to Have No Blog for 8 Days

Rick Wolff — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:39:23 -0000

You saw how 99.99% of your species — the ones outside "the fishbowl" — got through those eight days. An experience you would have missed if you had been busy blogging. I'm just sayin'.

Re: Who is Secretly Pitching You

Rick Wolff — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:32:53 -0000

One thing I noticed as I followed the bunch of you (Twitter, mostly) to SxSW is the mutual exchange of plugola. These early adopters signal the end of "hey, I like to consume this product made by this big entity, and you will too" and the beginning of "hey, I'm a little guy, yet I made this product, and you will like to consume it". Media as an industry particularly lends itself to this. But don't pretend for a minute that plugola is a trait you can shed just because you're embracing new media. As a result, the casual consumer will have to wade through more plugola than ever before, and the medium will be the message for some time to come. SxSW did nothing but verify this suspicion for me.

Re: Social Media Starter Moves for Freelancers

Rick Wolff — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:22:35 -0000

I'll refer to this if I ever return to freelancing. I'll have to think of how (or whether) to repurpose a brain-emptying personal blog (name link above this paragraph) which, if all goes according to plan, will soon morph into an animation production blog. Chris, you make it sound like there's no room for morphing: either I'm in it up to my neck or I'm not. Either I'm selling myself or I'm ruminating about life. I'll have to do some serious thinking.

Re: Subscription Drive

Rick Wolff — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:24:31 -0000

Oh dear. I just realized something. I ditched all my marketing feeds from Bloglines, and replaced them with the occasional (and much more optional) visit to Alltop's Social Media page and Egos page. I realize that in so doing I become uncountable, at least by you, Chris. Or do I?

Re: We Do Different Things

Rick Wolff — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:06:09 -0000

If anyone does exactly what I do, but differentiates in an indirect factor—say, he's more personable—he wipes the floor with me. So you're darned right I'm different. I'd better be!

Re: Be Sexier in Person

Rick Wolff — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:14:35 -0000

So brief is sexy, eh? Thank you, Twitter!

Re: Five Tools I Use for Listening

Rick Wolff — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:13:21 -0000

That's funny. I went to my BlogLines account and saw I had about 7000 unread items in it. I just unsubscribed to everything. I wonder if I'll miss any of it.

Re: Five Tools I Use for Listening

Rick Wolff — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:14:18 -0000

Not as a result of reading this post, you understand. Coincidentally, earlier today.

Re: Making Money Isnt Evil

Rick Wolff — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:13:01 -0000

Chris Brogan unwittingly channeling George Carlin. Spooky.

Re: Why Are You Investigating Social Media

Rick Wolff — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:20:21 -0000

The least commercial of reasons: to make friends. Last year, from a confluence of things (not as bad as it sounds), I was in the position to want to make a new set of friends whom I wouldn't need my wife's help meeting. (Avoiding a long story here.) At first, the loudest voices in social media were the marketeers, offering an alternate use of the channels. What I first wanted, and still do primarily, is the use that marketing is the alternative to. And yet, as a graphic artist in a marketing department where I think I've overstayed my welcome, one where my strategic input is not wanted, personal branding is now a concern; fortunately I hang with a crowd that's already all over that.

Re: Am I Too Naked

Rick Wolff — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:42:03 -0000

The other day I asked the same question to Cheryl Smith: I wonder how it is you make any money, what with all this writing for the general consumption. But you must keep enough for the clientele to keep them happy, or you couldn't pay your server bill. I'd love to see a negotiation in action, as it seems like a mysterious process, though understandably confidential.

Re: Tourism Bureaus and Bloggers

Rick Wolff — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:53:52 -0000

Once my site (DutchNewYork.com) gathers some monetary steam, and/or to help that along, it will assist in a Hudson Valley tourism spike leading up to fall '09, the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's entrance into New York Harbor. Of the ideas I and a tourism-savvy brain trust will come up with, I must remember invitations to key bloggers who like to travel. Thanks for the notion!

Re: The Rise of Microfame

Rick Wolff — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:50:46 -0000

Relating to your point 2, "Big Fish, Small Pond," you come close to using the dreaded word "fishbowl". As is evidence by things like this post and its many comments, a lot of your fellow travelers are sometime collaborators, sometime audience, sometime suppliers, sometime clientele. Depending on one's message — that "passion" one blogs — these circles of people will overlap less and less. When my DutchNewYork.com effort is running on all eight cylinders, the community (tribe?) will likely be people whom Jeff Pulver's dinner guests have never heard of, except for me. (This is a very good thing; I'm not complaining!) In a way, Chris, you have it easier, since your circles of micro-fame share many of the same people.

Re: USAToday and Microblogging Offline

Rick Wolff — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:01:41 -0000

I'm with Timothy. I think Mr. Pearson's perfection is the enemy of his good with regard to a magazine theme. And while I've been one of those waiting for the past 6 months for it, I can completely sympathize.

Re: USAToday and Microblogging Offline

Rick Wolff — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:19:18 -0000

Bob, in December Chris Pearson decided just to fold magazine functionality into Thesis 1.4, and do away with the name Cosmo (which, incidentally, is the name of an existing WordPress theme when last I checked). The problem is, a week or two ago, out comes Thesis 1.4, and according to one source, the DIYNinja blog ( http://is.gd/hB2J ), it falls short of his promise. (Disclaimer here: I have yet to really open up the package to see its progress toward "magazinehood".)

Re: The First Step To Starting a Blog: Ask Yourself If You Actually Want One

Rick Wolff — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:17:45 -0000

NOW YOU TELL ME! I was told in no uncertain terms that I'm nobody unless I blog -- that blogging is the cost of admission into the online world. This is my sole reason for blogging. I answered "no" to just about every question in your bullet points. Now I don't feel so bad about letting my blog languish. As I let two others do the same before it.

Because, you know, 99.9% of the earth's population doesn't have a blog.

Re: Patience dot net

Rick Wolff — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:07:11 -0000

To get rickwolff.com I spent about $28 with GoDaddy to stand ready as my agent and grab it the minute it expired, which it did the day it said it did, without a grace period. I can't picture how Terminal would have helped, but then, I think I've used Terminal once, and have a healthy respect (i.e., fear) for it.
Once, when I was shopping for an already-held domain name, I went to the stated site, which invited me to make a bid greater than $10. So I bid $12. Then it asked for a bid greater than, I think, $90. I declined. Is "hagglebot" a word?

Re: Did the Financial Aid Podcast alter Fed policy?

Rick Wolff — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:19:42 -0000

Computer tech. Economics. Marketing. Jeeeez! Chris, can I borrow about one-third of your brain now and then?

Re: Retail tricks to get you to spend more

Rick Wolff — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:19:07 -0000

It goes without saying (or maybe not!) that anything packaged in individual units with a group price, such as "6 for $1.29", is for sale individually, for fewer than six.

Re: Patience dot net

Rick Wolff — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:07:11 -0000

Re: The Cameraman Marketer, Metrics and Measurement in Social Media

Rick Wolff — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:07:53 -0000

Man, I am so there!

Marshall MacLuhan was referring to television when he made that first quotable truism, but it seems now more than ever, the medium is the message! People blog about Facebook. They Twitter about Seesmic (whatever that is). They podcast about their blog, and blog about their podcast. They obey the rules of cross-promotion to such an extent that it crowds out the end in favor of the means (medium).

At the end of the day, if you haven't either made some money or made a friend, there's no measurable point to your activity. And by friend, I'm not talking about a name with a ticked check box. I mean, someone whom you've physically met and manage to discuss something else besides social networking. Someone you give a damn about, and vice versa. Nobody has 4957 of those. Though, of course, the more casual the "friendship" the more countable they are. There are friends you count, and friends you count on.

In conclusion, I totally understand the befuddlement of the old TV networks about all this. Instead of explanation, I hear a lot of PRspeak. But I'm still listening.