Disqus - Latest Comments for Bertil

Re: The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, September 2009

Bertil — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:52:52 -0000

Why are those only comedy shows? There are many good, serious shows on YouTube (Google TechTalks, Ted, Edu): I wasn't expecting them to lead, but at least one could be quite high for some time—or at least a cooking show, or Gary V., the wine guy. There isn't even a comically inclined, sexy hot geekette that talks about tech: it's just unadultered humour. There must be something to explore in there.

Re: A Gorgeous Chart: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace [Stats]

Bertil — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:26:48 -0000

Fantastic graphs — but most viewers can handle three curbs on the same plan. What would be precious (hard to estimate, but mostly needing you obvious talent for graphic design) is cost and revenu estimates for each, and maybe include website that are not that comparable, but similarly drive trafic based on daily use (I'm thinking Google, Hotmail, )

Re: Twitter’s New Rumored Business: Improving Google and Microsoft’s Search Engines

Bertil — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:45:39 -0000

I can't see how they can have data to argue the check they'll get. Microsoft might pay just to get their hands on data, but Google will demand a form of analysis to come up with a number for that kindof service. Maybe an ad deal, not unlike what happened with AP.

Re: EU and Microsoft Near Browser Agreement

Bertil — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:30:47 -0000

It's great, but what about the dozens of niche browers? Who will decide what to accept on the first page (and for instance, crowd out Firefow with random, buggy browsers, or Microsoft Resaerch experimental stuff)?

Re: Kindle Gets Price Cut, Goes International

Bertil — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:31:59 -0000

There are far more people abroad interested in the Kindle then they are US residents in need of an international connection, and I am one of them, so no: I'd rather have a 200€ device that only work in the EU. If you want a tour-guide, iPhone is a much more appropriate device.

Re: Do You Go to Google.com?

Bertil — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:24:52 -0000

I've been using the adress bar for almost ten years (typing my search words directly in the URL, separating them with pluses) and I realize how odd this was every time Google had a doodle frenzy. I love the idea that they are becoming more a service then a website, and I guess that the recent acceleration is mostly coming from some smothering from Marissa Mayer, how can't let go her amazing, ultra-lean-bare design. I love how she recently tweeted that the link led to news about the logo (and not to a relevant Google search anymore), but as you point out, that is most likely to become the last warning before those celebrations become a niche interest — unless the logo on the *result* page changes too.

Re: Photoshopping Illegal? France Set to Regulate Airbrushed Pics

Bertil — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:05:00 -0000

You shouldn't ask your geek readers who's only contact with Photoshopped cover models is http://xkcd.com/331/ but rather to psycologists at eating disorder services in hospitals. It's a significant problem in France, but I know for a fact it is far worst in some parts of the US. Artistic licence (having people flying, over-extended arms) isn't the point: she says so explicitly.

Re: The SUL as a tool to control news (Scripting News)

Bertil — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:01:54 -0000

I'm surprised that TechCrunch can't increase their viewership without being in the SUL — or maybe the graph is mistaking accounts (active or not) following @techcrunch for readers or influence. Including total trafic, # followers of RTs, excluding inactive accounts might help measure more accurately of this turns into actual influence.

The case is interesting, but it's not about a blog post that Twitter “dislike”, it was a concerning case of divulging stolen information. I'm not blaming either: it does reveal the concerningly influence impact of the SUL, but should be considered as a natural experiment.

As soon as we've reached Web Net Neutrality, we have to fight for service neutrality. . .

Re: Web Browser Faceoff: Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome

Bertil — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:17:46 -0000

Mac. Sorry.

Re: VICTORY: FCC to Mandate Net Neutrality for the Web

Bertil — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:09:53 -0000

I'm sorry, but is that net neutrality for the web or internet? Because, for instance, P2P, e-mails & data-Muds are usually considered as not web protocols.

Re: Twitter’s Trending Topics Promotes Group Think

Bertil — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:48:41 -0000

I think you are missing the decentralised innovation model that has made Twitter's success so far. I use Twitter as an academic tool, and I would value group a lot; because I have an inter-disciplinary approach, very sophisticated suggestion engine would be great to understand apparently distant discovery that might interest me. Someone using it locally would love to have distance-based filters, etc. — and the “etc.” is the important part: by encouraging any filter (other then an abvious one) Twitter would choose a use, instead of letting third parties innovate.

Re: How Will Twitter Be Governed?

Bertil — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:20:13 -0000

I'm definitely a right-hand path, but I'd love to follow more people if I could filter the irrelevant twits. The noise-to-signal ratio is already very low to me; no client would let me filter among those whom I follow by keywords, nobody uses the starring system consistently; the poster's tagging principles aren't generally the same as mine, etc. Any algorithm to filter the feed would be better then a basic list of contacts.

Re: Twitter Still Available in Chine with Seesmic Desktop

Bertil — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:18:39 -0000

In related news: Loic's Visa to visit China has been denied. ;^)

Re: twdsc.us: @arrington

Bertil — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:19:29 -0000

If it wasn't Arrington, I'd say something Apple-related—an early release of their tablet, to let people play with it, and bing! have a massive feature gallore in two weeks.

Re: I Don’t Like Wolfram Alpha Because It Makes Me Feel Stupid

Bertil — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:53:48 -0000

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/05...

Re: I Don’t Like Wolfram Alpha Because It Makes Me Feel Stupid

Bertil — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:08:22 -0000

Wolfram has been trying to extend Mathematica's market (calculus) into other structured data. Ask him about want you really need, ie. Stock tickers and color theories, awards for TV series. . . and you'll have far more interesting results. What you describe is akin to saying: Wikipedia has pages on Tatooine Social structure, therefore there is nothing of interest to me.

Re: Larry Page about Twitter

Bertil — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:58:35 -0000

'I always wanted real-time search; Googlers wouldn't agree until they saw Twitter.'
59 characters: you can even include two http:// links, to both his (non-existing) early blog post saying that, and to a post by one of his employees saying how technology wouldn't allow it.

Re: Twitter sur France 2, histoire d'un naufrage

Bertil — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:37:36 -0000

Je vous propose qu'à chaque fois qu'un journaliste utilise le mot “internet” on déclenche un double chronomètre :

- un premier pour mesurer combien de temps il faut pour qu'une analyse intelligente, détaillée, polie, qui reprenne la majorité des plus grosses approximations apparaisse; (prévoir de deux à vingt-quatre heures pour les cas les plus graves)

- second qu'on arrête dès que le journaliste est venu s'excuser dans les commentaires (!) on sur son propre canal d'avoir enfile les inepsies comme ma grand'mère enfilait les perles; (ne rien prévoir du tout : j'attends encore).

Et à chaque fois qu'un journaliste se plaint de ne plus avoir de métier, lui montrer les chiffres.

Re: Status Plug: Should Facebook Page Admins Sell Their Status Updates?

Bertil — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:39:30 -0000

What's the point in filtering relevant content if you get ads back in?

Re: Retweet is stupid (Scripting News)

Bertil — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:39:16 -0000

Twitter have tried to be different by over-simplifying things. Approval needed a feature, and you are right to point out that a RT offers little benefit over a comment — but it as worth a try.

Re: The NASDAQ vs The Dow

Bertil — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:07:05 -0000

The two lines seem surprizingly ‘parallel’ (day to day correlated) to me: that’s quite unique to the period, isn’t it? I would interpret it as saying that most financial news were about the entire economy: crisis and general market — and that this is how investment decisions were made: based on global circumstances. Because innovation appears to be the only way out, that perception justifies the gap more then any other interpretation, but it’s not you, as a VC, that sees it from traders’ agreegated behaviour, but traders who trust your peers, based on their understanding of the economy.

Please note that I agree with you all — I want to — but one has to realise it doesn’t have to be this way: war has ended more crisis then state-sponsored industrial revolutions have.

Re: Do You Want Google To Have Access to Your Prescription Records?

Bertil — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:41:43 -0000

They might be a big bias against anyone with a shameful past — and those are quite typically outliers, so the database might prove to be less relevant because of that.

Re: Hey Sulzberger, there's money over here (Scripting News)

Bertil — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:05:24 -0000

Actually, I'm not sure that I do: when oil was so expensive is was only used as a bad scent to wake up middle-class women (authentic) and people used mostly public transport to move around, the structure was not what we have now, with more people packing in the cities, and even less in the country-side. I don't know if we'll have a back-to the villages movement, but it will be a fascinating take on techno-determinism vs. historical lock-in.

Of course the suburban sprawl will collapse — it already did, with interesting ecological consequences — but solar panels will need both space and proximity to cities, so mall car-park might prove to have a shiny future. However when I look at Dubai, when I try to understand what makes a city, how many times urbanists were wrong on the consequence of such f such technology. . . I can't take “obviously” for a trustworthy argument.

Re: Hey Sulzberger, there's money over here (Scripting News)

Bertil — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:46:20 -0000

That would exactly be my answer (as a horrible single, green-minded urban dweller who saves on heating by living above of an elderly couple) too: it's not cool to agree with a bearded fifty-something, but I do that a lot, it seems. However, every day, I come across (quite litterally, and with a bang) car-drivers who tend to disagree with everything that I stand for: bicycles, smiling when in public, my remaining alive, writing in extremely bold letter 'I have a MINUSCULE penis & a record erection of 4 sec so I need this war-machine to over-compensate and help me forget that my wife is a materialistic bitch who cheats on me' on every SUV (in French, naturally, it sounds better). I know: who could possibly disagree with that?

Democracy and the inherent respect for others' opinion come at the cost of surprises. You wouldn't call Sarah Palin a socialist would you? — Well, she enjoyed her share of State-subsidies and Governement sponsored project; so you, see: surprises.

The consequence for that particular polcy on having a very un-market-inspired price for Internet connexion are two-fold:

- less of your fellow citizen try to explain to me that the Web is a purely American invention and that at no point the project Eclipse in the early 70s or the Cheaper-Modem group in the early 80s had anything to do with shaping it : they heard about how Japan has better game speed and feel jaleous enough to avoid mocking Europeans (Europe is in Japan right? — or is it Korea?);

- Alaskans and Texans go more on line — which (should) prevent us for more Iraq-like situation.

See? Surprises plus happy consequences.

So, as an economist, I should ask you to refrain using references to things such as “costs” — you sound like you know what you are talking about, and the Commitee for Public Embetterment might have to assign you couple of agents from the Intellectual-Surveillance Brigade.

Re: Hey Sulzberger, there's money over here (Scripting News)

Bertil — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:42:48 -0000

Would you agree to have NYers pay 20$ for a fiber access flirting with theoretical maximums and Alaskans pay 60$ for an over-stretched DSL? Socialists don't like the unfairness, and free-market fans (i.e. liberals — what you uneducated Americans insist on calling ‘fiscal conservative,’ in spite of them being anything close to either) well — they *live* in Alaska and never let their principles in the way of their personal interest so, no, neither.