DISQUS

I'm not sure what part of "Tweetube for MacOSX" the poster above didn't understand, but just to clarify…this is Tweetube for _MacOSX_. So when Jennifer says you don't need a YouTube account to use Tweetube for MacOSX, she's correct.

The biggest advantage I've seen with this app so far (haven't posted a video yet) is that it is not Flash. Why should Tweetube for MacOSX be web based just like the already existing services? That doesn't make any sense. This is a dedicated app for OSX that doesn't require Flash. That means no Flash overhead. No Flash slowdown. My fan didn't kick in on my MacBook immediately while I was testing it. It didn't kick in at all, which means no fan noise. Seesmic may have improved their website, but it still is CPU intensive. Video Flash apps always tax the CPU. Now the CPU can be used to just record video. Very nice.

Another benefit is that the conversations started using Seesmic, etc. often carry on at those other services, whereas this app let's the conversation stay at Twitter. Very nice upside indeed for Twitter users.

25 seconds is also a nicer cap for me to work with than 12 seconds. I think I'll definitely find a use for this app, assuming people want to see my ugly mug. ;)


Douglas Cootey
@SplinteredMind on Twitter

There's a lot of panic out there. A lot of anger. Stepping outside of the storm for a bit, what's a creative to do? I've still been thinking about this as I start my day.

You want to build a brand using socnets. You want to spread the word about your books. You need to write about your content in order to get people interested. FB doesn't own your content; they just maintain a license to use it as they see fit. Putting aside their ham-fisted and discourteous implementation, does anything really change here?

The debate seems to boil down to two sides: those that trust FB and those that don't. The ones that trust, see this as business as usual and the price one pays to get larger exposure for their blog, service, IP, etc. The ones that don't trust FB generally see this as a creepily ominous powergrab to lay claim on their content without their consent. They are troubled by a TOS that can change on a whim. What if FB decides to own your content over another weekend in the future? What if they assume you agree to this by the fact you logged in to see what yours peers were up to? Paranoid delusions? Are you sure?

Personally, I have decided to continue using FB for the moment, but to severely reconsider the amount of information I post there. I release my blog content under a Creative Commons license anyway, preventing only altering and monetization of my content, so giving FB a license to use my content is fine as long as they give attribution. I probably will keep pictures I post only of public events going forward, however. FB can do what they like with my status reports. I'm thinking of a spicy one to post for them right now.

Andrew,
While I agree with almost all of your points, and truly stand on your side of this issue, I need to correct you on one aspect. Facebook is claiming a global license over your content, not ownership. In real life, this will not amount to much of a distinction, but it is an important one. You still own your content, but by using FB you give them the rights to use your content cart blanche forever.

I believe this makes the TOS more insidious. By granting themselves such a wide license they can enjoy the benefits of ownership of your content without the messy legal ramifications of claiming ownership of your content. They can have the best of both worlds: using your IP when it suits them and disowning it when it does not.

Mirco,

Then why the new TOS if it's the same? No, they're staking out new rights by taking away some of ours. The question is if this is OK with you. For some, it is not.

Douglas
@SplinteredMInd

Matt wrote: "People keep saying they’re going to stop posting their feeds and writing to Facebook, but that doesn’t stop someone else from posting your content on Facebook, does it? If you’re interpreting this as, “Facebook owns all content posted to Facebook,” then someone could post your feed or writing on his/her profile and then Facebook would still theoretically own it. The point is, any time you post something online, you inherently lose some control of it."

I was trying so hard not to be paranoid, but yes, this occurred to me too. In such a case you'd obviously have the courts on your side, though you'd have the expensive prospect of proving it. Facebook would be pulling out this TOS to give them protection from such cases.

In fact, this Facebook stance isn't legally defensible, IMO. I can't, for instance, claim that I hereby own all content on this site if Chris Brogan agrees to these terms by simply reading them. Whoops! Too late.

The problem is 1) we have to wait for a copyright infringement and 2) we have to prove it was an infringement. Facebook is obviously trying to cover their legal fannies with a very broad hat. The question is if you want to count on them playing nice in the future. We have no control over what others do with our content once we share it.

Douglas
@SplinteredMind

FB changed their TOS over a year or two ago to own all our content, but we continued using it even though the new TOS had a lot of people upset. It was the price to pay for connectivity. This time seems different, though. Now they changed the TOS on the sly and opted us all in, even if we removed our content.

Since we have already made a deal with the devil before, now we have to rethink our dealings going forward.

Today I'm changing my account so that my blog RSS feeds no longer dump into my FB wall. I have no idea how much content FB culls from my feed, or how much they'll lay claim to when they do. Most of my content is released under the creative commons, but FB's new TOS seems to indicate they can monetize my content. Not what I want. From now on I'll have to just manually point links to my new blog posts with summaries.

Am I over reacting or being careful? What are you going to do?

Douglas
@SplinteredMind
I crossposted this to Facebook

This is an important subject for me as well. My wife is very nervous about any mentions of her online. Even the preceding sentence would make her nervous. In contrast, I am all over the internet with photos, video, and words, words, words. This is why, when we thought of doing a podcast with my daughters, we hid their identity as well as mine. There's a really great Harry Potter podcast out there I did with my girls that nobody but my closest friends ever knew was linked to me. My 16 year old has a podcast that's been online for 3½ years and we've never shown her face or let people know who she is despite the fact that she wants to be a country music singer/songwriter and performs openly locally.

It's a dangerous world and we as parents need to be careful. Whenever I see people's blogs filled with photos of their kids, complete with town names, school names, etc. I cringe. Within a few hours of my 16 yr old (then 13) setting up a Skype account without my knowledge, she was sex chatted by a pedophile. We must constantly be on guard to protect our children.

Just because I have made the decision to be public, doesn't mean my wife or children have. When my daughter finally has some songs for sale, we'll pull the veil of privacy aside. It will be a big move that we won't take lightly, but we'll still keep the faces and names of our other children private and far from the public eye.

Great article. Thanks.

Douglas Cootey
☆ @TheLaughingImp/@DouglasCootey on Twitter
✍ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming AD/HD & Depression With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

If you are close enough to read this,
would you subscribe to my feed?

Blog Nekkid!

I can see somebody just posted that. Whoops. LOL They also posted something else I was going to submit (Caution! I Brake To Blog). How about this one.

To Blog Or Not To Blog. That Is The Question.

Plays on old themes sound stupid:

Blogger On Board

Excellent article, Shawn. Really on target. I think the middle part can be argued. Saddam (as I suspected and was later confirmed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDKTqD9_jhM) talked big. His WMDs were mostly used up, destroyed, and preserved as an illusion. He used the threat of WMDs to keep his neighbors in line, and he underestimated American resolve in the aftermath of 9/11. It was a tactical error that cost him his regime and his sons lives. Knowing what I know of his regime, and his repeated defiance of UN resolutions, I can't say that I feel sorry for him. Ignore the heraldic proclamation of the link I provided. The poster obviously failed to understand that if a leader of a nation claims he has WMDs and spreads word that he has WMDs, other nations are going to take him at his word. The liar was Hussein, not Bush or Blair.
I am for supporting this war, and am glad that the Iraqis will begin to see freedoms that have been denied them for so long. I feel that Rumsfeld & co. did our nation a disservice, and in turn so did our President, by not waging this war effectively and by arrogantly assuming "Shock and Awe" could replace boots on the ground. The surge has worked. We need to stay there and see this through to the end. The majority of men and women who serve are prepared for the sacrifice. I just wish our leaders in Washington would stop playing politics and give our military 100% of their support. Our military men and women deserve better.
I am thankful for the sacrifice of these men and women. I have two brothers who are military. One was a marine who died before being able to serve, but serving this nation was all he talked about. He was a real patriot. My other brother is training to work in the field as a med for the Airforce. He, too, is prepared to serve in battle. I'm proud of both of them.
I'm glad to hear you are proud of your Granduncle. Good on you. Great article.
Douglas Cootey
The Splintered Mind
http://TheSplinteredMind.blogspot.com

I find the widget unnecessary. You're using OSX right? Then you have PDF power at your fingertips built right into the OS. Type Command-P (or select File>Print) and click on the PDF button to reveal the PDF menu. You can print to file, email, fax, etc. It's all there. I've put some links below for you. Not sure how they'll work on your blog.

http://skitch.com/darkstream/emsi/pdf-power

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Chris, how's it compare to iChat video conferencing? It seems to support more people in the conference than iChat, but how's the user experience?

Excellent advice, Chris. Of the mixers I've been to in the past few months, having a list of URLs beforehand to get familiar with the people I was going to meet would have helped me put them in context. Instead, they were a stream of friendly faces that didn't entirely stick in my mind except for the people I already knew.

I wouldn't be so quick to blow off the AppleTV. It truly has felt like a misstep for Apple, but I think licensing issues rained on Apple's party when the AppleTV was released. The movie labels have been a lot tougher to get on the Apple band wagon than the record labels (Who would have thought the RIAA labels would be considered flexible in comparison?) Adding a browser can be fixed in a software update. With Fox offering rentals through iTunes the AppleTV may finally fulfill the needs it was designed for. Still, I already have a Mac Mini so I'm very interested in what Dave has to offer.

As you point out, one can follow hundreds of tweeters then see a percentage of those tweeters follow back. That is one way I've seen people have large followings with very few actual tweets. However, what quality friendships are these? Exactly.

I have thought about this some more since I posted (and Christa, I do all those things you recommend). I wonder if the problem, if it can be called a problem, is that I have selected people to follow who I can learn from. Perhaps by being so picky about who I follow, I have created a one way flow of information, i.e. people who are great at sending out into the world fascinating info, but who are too busy to actually respond back to @ replies - or reply to other people's questions.

As for whether the info I send out is interesting, you can be the best judge of that. I have been on Twitter long enough to know that my stream of tweets is no more or less dull than the best of them. However, I don't jet set around to conferences. Maybe I should start doing that. :)

"Honey, it's a necessary expense. I need to built my Twitter base." Yeah, she'll buy that. ;)

Douglas Cootey
TheLaughingImp on twitter

I replied to this already, but must have forgotten the Captcha...

I wonder how many followers one needs to be in this enviable position, Chris. There is a critical mass that needs to be reached before what you type out into the ether comes back with replies. You have obtained that critical mass. A person like me, however, who only has only 70 followers, can type until his fingers are numb and not receive a reply. When I ask for advice I am often greeted with silence. When I discussed a serious Facebook privacy issue today I was greeted with silence. Who am I? Nobody of real consequence.

But you, @ijustine, etc. can utilize these networks to great results. Heck, I once read a blog post by Wil Wheaton describing his head cold and he received over a hundred replies, many which suggested tissue brands he could try. All people do not have that kind of feedback from the net.

I mention this not to be critical, but to point it out. I wonder if there is a ratio of followers to following that creates this critical mass? Or is the inertia brought in from other sites/networks? It's an interesting problem. Many people would love to know how to get the responsive network you have.

Douglas Cootey
TheLaughingImp on twitter

I would be very interested to know how many followers one needs to have to reach this critical mass. I currently have 69 followers (@TheLaughingImp) and I can ask questions until I'm blue in the fingers and not receive replies more often than not. You are in an enviable postion, Chris. I wonder if we could quantify how many followers it takes to generate such fruitful replies, what ratio of following to followers one needs to have to get to that position.

~Douglas

I imagine when the snow clears you might find the others. Here's a time where you can hope for Global Warming to pitch in and do its part. ;)

I'm sorry, though, that the Moleskine didn't like being seeped in snow and rain for a night. I guess I'll have to revise my "pot of cocoa" comment. ;)

Actually, you've given me cause for pause. I haven't tested the ink of the pen I'm writing my journal with. If it's as waterproof as the pen you used I could be in trouble.

~Douglas
☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

That's a terrible tragedy, Thom. I love my moleskines and hate to think what I'd do if they were lost.

As for your question, it is the nature of all information to be transient. In fact, many claim that electronic information is more ethereal and transient than old school written-with-ink-on-paper information. Your moleskine will survive a power outage unlike unsaved documents. Your moleskine will survive a pot of cocoa poured on it, though it will look worse for wear. I'd buy more Moleskines.

Good luck finding them. Hopefully you put a reward amount in the front that will entice somebody to return them. Or better yet, maybe they were picked up by a Good Samaritan.


~Douglas
☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

I tried finding the prefs to turn this off and there was nothing there. Privacy>External Websites is where I looked. Is there a different place? It seems I found the correct location but the prefs haven't been enable yet.

~Douglas
-=-
☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

Sounds like it was a great meetup. Nothing motivates you like meeting people already successfully doing what you dream of doing. I know some people can find that discouraging, and maybe in the past I did too, but of late I've come around to thinking that you need to be surrounded by successful people if you want to be successful. There's an infectious synergy to be gained by hanging with doers instead of dreamers.

~Douglas
-=-
☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

Congratulations, Chris. Well done.

Glad to hear you'll still be able to work the Podcamp scene. You've really got something going there. I'm excited to hear about your new developments.

~Douglas

☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

Chris,

This new development may jeopardize me meeting you at podcampSLC, but I'm excited to see what you pull out of the hat over the next few weeks. You're an interesting guy and it's been fascinating coming across the breadcrumbs you leave all over the web. You've really opened my mind to the potential of social media and networking. Good luck!

Douglas