Disqus - Latest Comments for toddmck

Re: Could You Help Me With a Project

toddmck — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:56:53 -0000

I have just watched the poetry reading. Very well done, and entertaining. I particularly liked the ending :)

Re: Should a writer put content behind the RSS wall? | Broadcasting Brain

MarkDykeman — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:41:03 -0000

Actually, you can leave comments by going outside of your feed reader and clicking on the comment link. However, it would be awkward to reference what's in the blog unless you have two windows open.

I certainly wish him well, but I do wonder how it's going to go for him (the blogger).

Re: Should a writer put content behind the RSS wall? | Broadcasting Brain

toddmck — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:39:00 -0000

Yes, I just did my part to foil this little scheme by subscribing as well. At this rate he's bound to fail.

It seems like a couple of things are happening here. The blog is about creativity, and exploring different ways of making something remarkable. Anybody can create a blog that has a html page, but how many people have one that's just RSS? Kind of along the lines of "some people won't like it if you're doing it right", but some people will. Also, the goal seems to be engagement, not numbers. By excluding the unwashed masses he's specifically creating an exclusive club limited to those who understand how to use a feed reader.

I think where this breaks down is there isn't any way I can figure out to comment on a post besides linking to it. That really raises the bar for participation, because now you're limited to just bloggers that use feed readers. If I was more interested in digging into this, I guess I'd go see if he's got many backlinks. There could be a healthy discussion going on other blogs already.

It looks like the blog was a normal one for quite a while, since he's been at it since January and just recently closed down the web interface. It should be quite discoverable via google, since the archive page is a massive bunch of excerpts from stuff that was previously published. I'm guessing that the permalink structure was left intact.

I doubt the goal is to prevent scraping, since it's easier to republish from a full text rss feed than to scrape the page.

Bottom line for me, it seems to be a unique idea. It probably won't lead to much growth, but it could very well lead to a more exclusive feeling source. The lack of interactivity seems like a very bad side effect, since there's no way to make it feel like a community. Of course, if the blogger uses friendfeed, or something like it, maybe the community can just live there...

Re: louisgray.com: Hey Bloggers, We're Discussing Your Posts At Social Median!

toddmck — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:54:56 -0000

They gave me George Clooney. Regretting the change ever since.

Re: Friends Outweighing Hatred On The Web

toddmck — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:14:52 -0000

Very well put. It has been pretty clear to me for a while now that you are a class act. This post is further proof.

Re: Identi.ca Apps & Why It Could Blow Twitter Away

downlode — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:37:12 -0000

I think getting away from the Twitter name entirely is only a good thing. Playing on someone else's trademark makes your service seem like a derivative of theirs, which Laconi.ca/Identi.ca aren't.

Re: louisgray.com: TweetDeck: New Twitter AIR App With Summize Integration, Groups

toddmck — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:56:43 -0000

I really like getting something that's delightful in some way when it first turns on. For me, "Twitter Status: Pretty much ok" seems like a nice human touch and made me smile.

Re: Identi.ca Apps & Why It Could Blow Twitter Away

toddmck — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:42:00 -0000

On the verb, how about playing off the .ca domain AND the bird theme. Tweet -> Caw (you know, like the sound a crow makes)

Re: Sponsorships and Blogger Hypocrisy

toddmck — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:58:37 -0000

Steven, As I was reading your poll questions, I found that there wasn't one that exactly summarized my feelings. Something like "I think it's fine, but every time you write about the sponsor or their industry segment I have a new filter to think through" or something like that. In Scoble's case it works for me and I don't think too much about it. That's because he's not writing about Seagate every other post, or even the storage industry. For example, if FriendFeed sponsored Scoble's blog (or Twitter last year), I'd consider most of his writing questionable. Since he's not sponsored by FF, and Seagate has no obvious connection to them, I trust that it's all just pure Scoble enthusiasm. Bottom line for me, it complicates things, but it's not unworkable.

Re: louisgray.com: The Gray Family Doubles Overnight. Welcome Matthew and Sarah!

drewolanoff — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:57:31 -0000

Congrats Louis! From myself and everyone at ReadBurner :)

Didya get our package?

Re: louisgray.com: The Gray Family Doubles Overnight. Welcome Matthew and Sarah!

toddmck — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:53:46 -0000

That's terrific news - congratulations Louis!

Re: I really want my readers opinion on this

toddmck — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:41:15 -0000

I strongly agree with Daniel as well. I wonder if that would make for an interesting way to design a poll - along the lines of "agree", "strongly agree", etc. It could be that the (current) minority who prefer control feel somewhat passionate about it.

Re: The Adolescence of the Blogosphere

StevenHodson — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:59:02 -0000

Ya this was one of the two features I was referring to (but funnily enough this one will be leading into another one as well - so I guess the count is still at two to come :) ).

It is nice to see that even on a limited basis - as I never expect much of what I write to gain any traction outside of a small circle - that some folks appreciated the thoughts. Even if Duncan Riley considered it more of time to "man the yawn buckets" - http://twitter.com/duncanriley/statuses/787708091 ....

I am glad the post resonated with you and even happier if it provided even one blogger such as yourself with a new way forward that is more gratifying. That in itself made the post worth writing.

Re: The Adolescence of the Blogosphere

toddmck — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:04:03 -0000

Steven, if that's one of the two feature posts you were wondering about "is it worth it?" then I can't wait to read the other one. This is a really good look at what's going on, but more importantly it points us forward. I also agree with the thesis that there's a significant "niche" to fill by people who think before they write something. This post really resonated with me and I'm glad you took the time to write it. Totally worth it :)

Re: Would you quit pickpocketing my wallet

toddmck — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:48:27 -0000

It's probably extra relevant in this market segment. Spyware and antivirus software requires great trust in the vendor. There are a lot of shady operators that will sell out that trust in schemes to turn a quick buck. So, it's a market mostly driven by fear, and one in which extreme credibility needs to be established. And, it's one of the few things that can reasonably require a subscription. A natural subscription model can be a gold mine. Take a close look at Intuit - the tax operations dwarf everything else. Not because it's more interesting or useful than quicken, but because it drives more revenue. Consistently, year after year.

All this just begs for rational pricing, and doing what's right for the customer. Especially from a player that doesn't have the instant credibility of CA or Symantec or Microsoft.

Re: LinkRiver Is My Personal Techmeme

Corvida — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:28:03 -0000

Definitely a straightforward service. Maybe you could email the developer
Adam Stiles and pitch it to him about adding services automatically through
just a username?

Re: LinkRiver Is My Personal Techmeme

toddmck — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:19:36 -0000

Yep, it came first thing this morning. I haven't had much time to check it out yet, just imported my Google Reader shared items and del.icio.us. Amazing how quickly expectations change. I had to hunt down the urls by hand and paste them in manually - felt pretty old school. The service, from what little I've played with it, is great though. Seems very straightforward.

Re: LinkRiver Is My Personal Techmeme

Corvida — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:04:41 -0000

Did you get your login?

Re: Did Anyone Miss Me?

toddmck — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:51:15 -0000

I meant to comment earlier, and just finally got back to it. I don't know if you've ever taken a look at timesnapper, but it's the first thing that came to mind when I read your post. I can't say I've never tried it - quite the opposite. It's kind of obscure, but I had a need for it some time back when I was trying to track billable hours. It just really impressed me as being a simple idea extremely well executed. Might be worth a look.

Re: LinkRiver Is My Personal Techmeme

toddmck — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:31:56 -0000

Thanks for pointing me to this - I'm now awaiting a login. Very helpful and informative post.

Re: FriendfeedWatch: Your One Stop FriendFeed Shop

toddmck — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:10:22 -0000

Yep, I'm sure I could pick a name out of there for general ridicule, but it wouldn't be polite for me to say. The badge is awesomesauce personified - great job!

Re: Your Stats Don’t Matter, But Your Conversations Do

toddmck — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:01:56 -0000

You're absolutely right. The conversation is where it's at - all the rest will sort itself out. It was kind of sad to hear what happened, but it's really cool how quickly the recovery went. Switching the feedburner source was terrific. I just got a big flurry of posts, and there you are, back in the game. Thanks for linking, by the way - you rock!

Re: Blogs and the “phone-in show” effect

mathewi — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:33:10 -0000

Thanks, Todd -- that gave me a laugh :-)

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 1:29 PM, Disqus

Re: Blogs and the “phone-in show” effect

toddmck — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:28:10 -0000

YOU ARE SO WRONG!

No, seriously - interesing post. Thanks for the break from all the self-appointed comedians.

Re: Why SheGeeks Is So Awesomesauce

Corvida — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:17:58 -0000

Thanks to you I'm going to make one tomorrow in Photoshop. I'll keep you posted on it!