Disqus - Latest Comments for OZaC

Re: Scoble’s Achilles heel is video

OZaC — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:44:55 -0000

This debate is like a fence; a fence of which I want to stand on both sides. There's something about video on the web that is powerful in a grassroots way - in a similar way to the grassroots nature of blogging. Additionally, video carries a lot more emotion with it, and even entertainment value. I always enjoy watching episodes of The Scoble Show, MacBreak, and the link.

Here's my counterpoint, though: I read a hell of a lot faster than anyone can talk to me in a video. Scoble himself is a feed machine, as he's noted on his blog many times. When considering my own pattern of consumption, I get my information from words, and then check out some videos as an after-thought.

Re: Is Facebook overtaking MySpace?

OZaC — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:36:37 -0000

I know many college students and young professionals who are big FaceBook users. When I ask them why they perfer it over MySpace, I always get the same answers. Everyone hates the same things about MySpace - the atrocious layouts that make pages unreadable, music that blares the second a profile loads (by default), too many unknown, and meaningless friend requests. Nobody seems to think MySpace has any substance whatsoever.

Ask them what they like about FaceBook, and they name all the opposite points - FaceBook is organized, attractive, legible, easy to navigate, and operates as a reasonably closed environment. Most of your friends really are your friends. FaceBook has depth.

Re: Hey Google — stop linking to us

OZaC — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:35:03 -0000

Sounds like Sam Zell is deathly afraid of Google, and not because Google is "stealing" newspaper content, but subconsciously because Google is the largest representative of the changes that are so desperately needed for the newspaper industry to attract young readers and survive. This is fear of change and inability to adapte and evolve, in the worst way.

And so what if Google News introduces Zell's readers to competition? If those readers are leaving Zell's papers for other news outlets, then that's Zell's problem. Innovate, hire better writers, produce better content, and win those readers back. That's the beauty of competition.

Re: Google uses the PageRank hammer

OZaC — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:24:02 -0000

Can't say we didn't see this coming. I have no problem with advertising, but I agree that advertisers should not be able to buy any sort of device that increases their ranking above sites that produce content of a better quality. After (subconsciously?) ignoring the issue for a while, I finally decided where I stand and withdrew my site from Text Link Ads a while ago.

Re: Off the Record: How Do You Like to Slack Off?

OZaC — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:55:25 -0000

I like to hit the slopes on my snowboard.

Also, I am an XBox 360 fiend.

Re: Do A-list bloggers have a responsibility to link to others?

OZaC — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:12:04 -0000

Is there some sort of responsibility present? Yes... I like using the word responsibility to describe the idea. I don't like telling anyone that they *have* to do something, and so responsibility implies that rather than linking out being something you must do, it's something you should do. That responsibility applies to every blogger, however. Linking is a two way street - linking gets others noticed, and it brings them right back to you. It's all part of the concept of a conversation.

Finally, here's a link to my own blog:
http://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/
Of Zen and Computing is a tech blog whose goal is to help the everyday person become more comfortable with technology.

Re: I love Flickr…

OZaC — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:19:18 -0000

I love Flickr as well. I used to casually browse it, but only recently did I really start to become involved and discover all of it's wonderful intricacies. Best of all, I've always been interested in photography but never pursued it, and lately Flickr has inspired me to work on my skills - so much so that I picked up a brand new dslr on Friday. I owe this to all of the great photographers on Flickr whose work I've been admiring, Thomas Hawk being one of them.

Re: Microsoft has a better switchboard than Google

OZaC — Fri, 11 May 2007 09:10:03 -0000

I think that much like myself, Google just doesn't want to talk on the phone. I've tried calling them a few times, and it's pretty difficult to get through to anyone at all. Unless you know exactly who you're calling, and exactly how to do it, you're not going to have much luck.

Re: Which RSS Aggregator is good ?

OZaC — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:49:11 -0000

It's web-based feed readers for me. I use Google Reader, which is excellent at handling a large number of feeds, as well as enabling the user to read very quickly. With Google Reader's keyboard shortcuts, my hands never need to leave the keyboard, which is a great feature. Actually, I'd say that kind of functionality should be norm for all feed readers.