" } } }, "5": { "text": "Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having conferences like the Dealbook conference. But there's also nothing wrong with saying the truth about it, that the system it exposes yields inbred journalism. People who are close friends with the people they cover aren't really covering them. If that's all there is, then we aren't getting news. And that leads to huge problems. Open technologies are ignored because there's no marketing budget for them. Housing markets are turned into gambling casinos by people who already have more money than they could ever spend. Ordinary middle class people are turned out of their own homes. There are real consequences to this system. And global problems going unaddressed because the reporter didn't want to piss off some guy they use as a source.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:27:33 GMT", "pgfnum": "15914" }, "6": { "text": "We need dozens of people working at the Times doing what Margaret Sullivan does. I think Andrew Ross Sorkin needs to feel the heat, he needs to feel pressure to stab his friends in the back when they do something awful, and we need to get Felix Salmon to use his intellect to expose their mediocrity, not defend their parties.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:30:14 GMT", "pgfnum": "15915" }, "7": { "text": "Sullivan's piece marked a beginning, perhaps. I hope.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:37:01 GMT", "pgfnum": "15917" }, "8": { "text": "A couple of postscripts.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:43:18 GMT", "pgfnum": "15918", "subs": { "0": { "text": "1. My mother, a NYT daily reader for a long time, wrote on her blog that she might stop reading the Times because they weren't covering the Bradley Manning trial. She read about this in the Times itself in a Sullivan column. I said this is the reason to stay subscribed. That they now have the guts to criticize themselves so openly is a very positive thing for the Times, and a first. They are bending just a little to the advent of the blog. There's hope. In the past we wouldn't have known they were doing this. Now we do.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:43:22 GMT", "pgfnum": "15919" }, "1": { "text": "2. I remember a column in PC Mag written in 1983 by Peter Norton, who was fast becoming the go-to guy for technical information about the IBM PC which was booming. I had used his book to guide my implementation of ThinkTank for the PC. And I read every word in every one of his columns. In the previous column he had said that the new version of IBM PC DOS was awful. It didn't work. Crashed. Lost data. He was right. It was awful. But he had gotten reprimanded by someone -- he didn't say who -- and he would never again question the wisdom of IBM. I thought it was remarkably honest of him to write this one last column. And true to his word, he never again challenged IBM. That was a very lonely moment. Up till then I felt like we were all in this together. Even IBM could benefit from honest criticism. That was the end of something important.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:45:22 GMT", "pgfnum": "15920" } } } } }, "33": { "text": "The Internet as ecosystem", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:26:43 GMT", "name": "theInternetEcosystem", "pgfnum": "15897", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "There are huge parallels betw the Internet and our planet.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:26:48 GMT", "pgfnum": "15898" }, "1": { "text": "Open formats and protocols are like the DNA of endangered species.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:27:04 GMT", "pgfnum": "15899" }, "2": { "text": "\"AThe proliferation of corporate networks is like the spreading of corporate everything from coffee to big box stores to airports. Sameness, lack of diversity, individuality withers. What makes life interesting fades away, conformity reigns.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:27:17 GMT", "pgfnum": "15900" }, "3": { "text": "But there still is art, even if most people don't live artisitc lives. And you can still use the open Internet even if most people don't.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:28:16 GMT", "pgfnum": "15901" }, "4": { "text": "Google owning Reader is bad for open stuff the same way it was bad that GM owned the public transit system of Los Angeles. It's like the fox guarding the hen house. Read the story in Buzzfeed and see if the analogy holds.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:28:49 GMT", "pgfnum": "15902" }, "5": { "text": "It was strange reading Gruber's account of the evolution of system scripting on the Mac, because all the diversity that was present as it was evolving is gone from his story. As if it never happened.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:29:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15903" }, "6": { "text": "So the thing that matters on the net is choice. If you choose something other than what everyone else is using, you're helping the net. You can still use the stuff everyone is using. But find a way to express yourself that's unique and that you know has value. And when you do that you're helping our intellectual and informational planet. And that probably can help the real planet too because if we're communicating and sharing ideas and information, we're better able to see problems, and perhaps find ways to solve them.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:30:41 GMT", "pgfnum": "15904" }, "7": { "text": "Freaking out isn't going to help anything. Instead do the the opposite. Think, and act, and do something full of thought, for the Internet. Roll up your sleeves and do some good work.", "created": "Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:32:34 GMT", "pgfnum": "15905" } } }, "34": { "text": "AppleScript was not alone", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:34:33 GMT", "name": "applescriptWasNotAlone", "pgfnum": "15861", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "John Gruber has a piece in MacWorld about AppleScript in which he says that Open Scripting Architecture was supported only by Apple. That's not correct.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:34:41 GMT", "pgfnum": "15862", "subs": { "0": { "text": "AppleScript was not originally intended to be the only OSA scripting language, but it was. The idea was that OSA was language-agnostic, and the plan was for there to be several of them eventually. AppleScript was the friendly language, derived from HyperCard's HyperTalk (therein another story entirely) and intended for use by non-programmers. The theory being that a programming language that looked like prose rather than code might enable a broad swath of 'non-programmers' to, well, program.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:41:06 GMT", "pgfnum": "15866" } } }, "1": { "text": "UserLand's Frontier scripting environment supported OSA, both as a client and a server. The syntax of our language, known as UserTalk, is most like Python -- though it is a contemporary of Python, development started in 1988.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:40:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15865" }, "2": { "text": "The OSA compatibility and the struggle with Apple to allow us to co-exist with AppleScript is well documented in the archive of Scripting News.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:43:29 GMT", "pgfnum": "15867", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Working With AppleScript: Shows how to run AppleScript code inside the Frontier environment.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:45:08 GMT", "pgfnum": "15869" }, "1": { "text": "UserTalk Everywhere: Frontier implements the Open Scripting Architecture, making it easy for scripting clients to hook up to the Frontier system.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:44:43 GMT", "pgfnum": "15868" }, "2": { "text": "A Google search for \"AppleScript\" on scripting.com.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:46:44 GMT", "pgfnum": "15870" } } }, "3": { "text": "Update: There's a JavaScript OSA component too.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:15:25 GMT", "pgfnum": "15872" } } }, "35": { "text": "The API makes Flickr great", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:49:00 GMT", "name": "tryingTheNewFlickr", "pgfnum": "15851", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"AJust read the review of the new Flickr mobile app from Nick Bilton at the NYT.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:49:05 GMT", "pgfnum": "15852" }, "1": { "text": "I'm a Flickr user from the beginning, and I've stuck with it.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:58:22 GMT", "pgfnum": "15859" }, "2": { "text": "I like Flickr for the API. It enables me to mirror everything I put up there on S3 which is really important to me.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:12:39 GMT", "pgfnum": "15858" }, "3": { "text": "Hope they don't break the API. It's another of their big advantages, a huge base of compatible software. Lots of it hasn't been updated in a long time, all the more reason to leave it alone. (They've been talking about deprecating stuff for a long time, but my stuff still runs, which is good.)", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:58:43 GMT", "pgfnum": "15860" }, "4": { "text": "Installed it on my iPod Touch . That's where I take most of my pictures.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:55:50 GMT", "pgfnum": "15853" }, "5": { "text": "It took me a few tries to remember the combination of username and password. Eventually got in.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:04:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15854" }, "6": { "text": "Was able to browse my photos. Took a new photo of a couple of soda cans on my desk. Used a filter to reduce the glare and give it an oldtime look. Not trying to demo the camera -- just want to see how the software works.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:05:08 GMT", "pgfnum": "15855" }, "7": { "text": "I'm glad they updated Flickr. It works. If more people use Flickr I'm happy. It's a mature photo service with tons of users and lots of photos, and a full API that I've built on. If it has a more assured future, I'm happy.", "created": "Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:06:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15857" }, "8": { "text": "But don't break my apps. Please. :-)", "created": "Sat, 15 Dec 2012 20:05:33 GMT", "pgfnum": "15955" } } }, "36": { "text": "An idea for a product", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:05:25 GMT", "name": "anIdeaForAProduct", "pgfnum": "15839", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"AThis is not a simple or obvious idea, so if you're skimming and expect to get it -- you probably won't. Just a caveat from someone who's accustomed to comments from people who aren't paying much attention. :-)", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:37:44 GMT", "pgfnum": "15840" }, "1": { "text": "Anyway, here's a little background for motivation.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:38:03 GMT", "pgfnum": "15841" }, "2": { "text": "The last week I've been helping my very good friend NakedJen get started in the world of smartphones. Until now she had a Blackberry that could do SMS, but had email disabled. I don't really understand why, but it's not important to the story. She was hard to reach via email, and she couldn't use any of the apps we all like to use. She didn't have maps or any of the other cool stuff we're all playing with these days.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:38:42 GMT", "pgfnum": "15842" }, "3": { "text": "Once I understood where she was, I gave her a phone I wasn't using, one of the first Google Nexus phones. It was a gift from Google. So it was totally appropriate that I pass it on to NakedJen.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:40:42 GMT", "pgfnum": "15843" }, "4": { "text": "I think she stayed up all night playing with the phone. When I checked in with her, she had done all kinds of customizations. The next day she was installing apps. She was giggling with glee at every revelation. I think she saw that this mode of computer use is actually pretty simple. And she's taking it back with her to Salt Lake City, where her family there will be very happy I'm sure that Jen will be part of the 21st Century (something I like to kid her about).", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:41:42 GMT", "pgfnum": "15844" }, "5": { "text": "Next part of the story. This morning I got a Fedex from a longtime friend at Microsoft. In the package there were two new smartphones, a Nokia 920 and 810. Since I am a T-Mobile guy, I started with the 810. It's a lovely piece of tech. The performance and color are amazing. It's also very easy to guess where everything is. I had it set up to work over wifi with my GMail account in about five minutes. A few minutes later I was taking pictures and had installed the Twitter app. I sent a text message. Then we went out for a walk. I took my iPod Touch, iPad LTE and Nexus 4 with me, in addition to the 810, and of course NakedJen and her Android phone. It all worked just fine. Everything that didn't have its own service plan connected to the net via Bluetooth through the iPad.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:43:38 GMT", "pgfnum": "15845" }, "6": { "text": "When we came back it was time for Jen to go home to Utah. She tried to get Glympse going but for some reason it didn't work, so I fell back to using text messages to follow her progress to La Guardia and her flight to Milwaukee.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:48:02 GMT", "pgfnum": "15847" }, "7": { "text": "Now finally I'm able to explain the idea.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:48:59 GMT", "pgfnum": "15848" }, "8": { "text": "\"AWhen I tried to send text messages from my desktop Mac, all of a sudden I was dropped into a horribly complex maze of things that make no sense. I can't even figure out how to send an SMS without someone sending me one first. I tried reading all of Google's docs, installed all the software they told me to install, and in the end I went back to the Nexus 4 to communicate with Jen. Later I realized I could do what I needed to with the Voice website. But there were problems there too. I ended up having to enter the number manually, my contacts list was useless in that context.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:49:07 GMT", "pgfnum": "15849" }, "9": { "text": "The idea is this -- Google or Microsoft or Apple -- create a new app that runs on the desktop that's designed with the parameters of a smartphone. Leverage the skills I already have. I was able to set up the Windows Phone in a few minutes, on an OS that I had never used. I am a relatively expert Mac user, but failed after a half hour. The lesson is pretty clear. At the very least the desktop has to do what the mobile device does, with the same care of design and simplicity. What I'm left with is a hodgepodge of stuff that wasn't designed to do this. Time for a fresh look.", "created": "Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:50:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15850" } } }, "37": { "text": "More than a tweet, less than a post", "created": "Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:33:19 GMT", "name": "aNewKindOfBlogPost", "pgfnum": "15852", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "There's a place for something between a tweet and a blog post.", "created": "Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:33:23 GMT", "pgfnum": "15853" }, "1": { "text": "That's what I've been trying to explore here on the threads site.", "created": "Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:33:34 GMT", "pgfnum": "15854" }, "2": { "text": "Quick little bits that wouldn't fit into 140 chars, and can benefit from having a place to comment with more than 140.", "created": "Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:33:43 GMT", "pgfnum": "15855" }, "3": { "text": "Maybe we need a name for this. Pweet?", "created": "Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:34:08 GMT", "pgfnum": "15856" } } }, "38": { "text": "There are a lot of assholes out there", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:43:46 GMT", "name": "thereAreALotOfAssholesOutThere", "pgfnum": "15818", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Re the Guardian profile of Julian Assange, which I wrote about earlier today.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:43:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15819" }, "1": { "text": "1. I'm sure the Guardian has profiled lots of assholes.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:42:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15814" }, "2": { "text": "2. I'm also sure they don't make most the articles about what assholes they are.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:43:03 GMT", "pgfnum": "15815" }, "3": { "text": "3. How do they decide to make the story about what an asshole the person is?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:43:18 GMT", "pgfnum": "15816" }, "4": { "text": "My theory is that they do it if and only if other publications do.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:44:58 GMT", "pgfnum": "15821" }, "5": { "text": "And of course if Barack Obama were a huge asshole they wouldn't make the story about that. Or Mitch McConnell (who surely is as abrasive as any public figure ever profiled) because to do so would show bias. It would not be balanced.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:45:15 GMT", "pgfnum": "15822" }, "6": { "text": "\"AThat's how school kids decide who to bully, for example. If everyone makes someone their bitch, then it's okay for you to. So the Times runs a magazine profile about Assange's socks and other minutia, so the Guardian can find other scabs to pick at. Even if their readers might feel more than a little empathy for the guy.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:46:09 GMT", "pgfnum": "15823" }, "7": { "text": "I wonder if their profiles of the Royal Family include this kind of stuff?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:51:40 GMT", "pgfnum": "15825" }, "8": { "text": "Would they interview the Queen the way they interview Assange?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:51:53 GMT", "pgfnum": "15826" }, "9": { "text": "In British culture is that even considered a reasonable question?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:52:01 GMT", "pgfnum": "15827" }, "10": { "text": "Assange isn't a founder of Google. Doesn't control a huge budget. Isn't a military commander. He's broke and lives in exile in a closet. He can't really do anything to you. He certainly can't pull his ads! :-)", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:58:13 GMT", "pgfnum": "15829" }, "11": { "text": "Kicking someone when they're down is considered poor style in the US. A sign of cowardice. How about in Britain?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:53:04 GMT", "pgfnum": "15828" } } }, "39": { "text": "Twitter copying Instagram", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:56:28 GMT", "name": "shameTwitterBecomingInstagram", "pgfnum": "15809", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "It's a shame that Twitter is copying the features of Instagram instead of giving us features only Twitter can. The web is crying. :-(", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:56:39 GMT", "pgfnum": "15810" } } }, "40": { "text": "Central Park hawk", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:52:36 GMT", "name": "centralParkHawk", "pgfnum": "15806", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Came across this hawk perched in a tree in Central Park today.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:52:43 GMT", "pgfnum": "15807" }, "1": { "text": "\"A", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:52:57 GMT", "pgfnum": "15808" } } }, "41": { "text": "Twitter do something nice for users", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:28:40 GMT", "name": "twitterCouldDoSomethingNiceForUsers", "pgfnum": "15795", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Give us a way to delete a tweet from someone else in our Replies tab.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:28:47 GMT", "pgfnum": "15796" }, "1": { "text": "From time to time you get someone directing a speech at you, instead of to all their followers. They must have no idea how 20 messages from them look in someone else's Twitter equivalent of an inbox.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:29:09 GMT", "pgfnum": "15797", "subs": { "0": { "text": "It's lazy and inconsiderate.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:37:05 GMT", "pgfnum": "15803", "subs": { "0": { "text": "I went to the trouble to write my ideas in the form of a blog post. Where I could use full sentences, and not use cryptic abbreviations which are often impossible to decypher. I tried to link to my sources so you could see what I'm talking about if my prose was too dense.", "created": "Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:44:44 GMT", "pgfnum": "15831" } } }, "1": { "text": "They're rants.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:45:02 GMT", "pgfnum": "15832", "subs": { "0": { "text": "The rants you get in tweets often are not only full of vitriol, it's also impossible to tell what they're so excited about!", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:39:46 GMT", "pgfnum": "15804", "subs": { "0": { "text": "As if I wanted to know. :-)", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:40:20 GMT", "pgfnum": "15805" } } } } } } }, "2": { "text": "If it were email, you could just delete them, and that would be that. But in Twitter, they just stay there, until they scroll off. And that could take a long time.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:29:59 GMT", "pgfnum": "15798" }, "3": { "text": "Even the most interesting person gets longwinded communicating in 140-character chunk after chunk. And most of these tweets come from people who are angry, exhausted, highly opinionated, and not very respectful (or else they would realize how much of your space they're taking up).", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:30:21 GMT", "pgfnum": "15799" }, "4": { "text": "It would be nice if we got one new simple user-oriented feature in Twitter in 2012.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:31:25 GMT", "pgfnum": "15800" } } }, "42": { "text": "What is wrong with the Guardian?", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:08:10 GMT", "name": "whatIsWrongWithTheGuardian", "pgfnum": "15786", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "For some reason I started to read a long news piece on Julian Assange on The Guardian website, and it was interesting, until the reporter started trashing Assange. I've included a brief excerpt below.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:08:15 GMT", "pgfnum": "15787", "subs": { "0": { "text": "What about the fracture with close colleagues at WikiLeaks? \"No!\" he practically shouts. But Domscheit-Berg got so fed up with Assange that he quit, didn't he? \"No, no, no, no, no. Domscheit-Berg had a minor role within WikiLeaks, and he was suspended by me on 25 August 2010. Suspended.\" Well, that's my point ­ here was somebody else with whom Assange fell out. \"Be serious here! Seriously ­ my God. What we are talking about here in our work is the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people ­ hundreds of thousands ­ that we have exposed and documented. And your question is about, did we suspend someone back in 2010?\" My point was that there is a theme of his relationships turning sour. \"There is not!\" he shouts." } } }, "1": { "text": "The piece continues in this mode, mocking him, as if they were children." }, "2": { "text": "Assange stuck his neck out for all of us, and whether you agree with him or not, it doesn't matter whether you like him.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:09:39 GMT", "pgfnum": "15789" }, "3": { "text": "They need better editors at the Guardian, and more respect for their readers.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:16:36 GMT", "pgfnum": "15794" } } }, "43": { "text": "Idea for a new democracy", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:52:51 GMT", "name": "ideaForANewDemocracy", "pgfnum": "15776", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "This idea isn't for today's United States, but if we were to ever try to boot up a new democracy, I'd suggest thinking about only offering the vote to citizens who had served on a jury that reached a verdict.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:53:03 GMT", "pgfnum": "15777" }, "1": { "text": "Then at least we'd get voters who understand how the government works. And maybe we'd actually get a government that tackles the real problems.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:53:41 GMT", "pgfnum": "15778" }, "2": { "text": "For example, we need a decision on climate change, and we needed to start implementing it 20 years ago, long before the effects could be felt by voters.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:55:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15780" }, "3": { "text": "Even now, when the entire NYC metropolitan area was shut down by Sandy, things are returning to normal, and we are deciding to postpone change for another year, until next year's miracle happens. Sandy, imho, is as ominous as the attacks of 9/11 were.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:55:31 GMT", "pgfnum": "15781" }, "4": { "text": "Many things changed between 1776 and today. Instantaenous mass communication. Science appears to have conquered the elements. There's a sense that no matter what you see and hear and feel, that things can't really change that much.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:56:27 GMT", "pgfnum": "15782" }, "5": { "text": "But things have changed hugely in the last couple of hundred years. And we, for the most, feel these changes were positive. But that's changing now too. We've run out of frontier. We've run out of space. And we're more efficient at creating and sustaining human life. But that may be about to change (probably is) -- and we can't react until -- when? Not clear.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:57:45 GMT", "pgfnum": "15783" }, "6": { "text": "If jurors were making the decisions, we'd suck it in, figure it out and do what needed to be done. That's what jury duty teaches you to do.", "created": "Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:59:17 GMT", "pgfnum": "15784" } } }, "44": { "text": "Twitter and Instagram break up", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:38:58 GMT", "name": "twitterAndInstagramBreakUp", "pgfnum": "15761", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"ANick Bilton at the NYT reports that Instagram removed their Twitter cards metadata from their pages. This means that to view pictures taken by users in Instagram, you'll have to visit the Instagram site.", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:39:05 GMT", "pgfnum": "15762" }, "1": { "text": "Forgotten in the drama is: 1. Users and 2. the web.", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:40:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15763" }, "2": { "text": "Having our pictures show up in Twitter isn't always the right thing. For example, when I link to a Flickr picture from a tweet, they take the picture from Flickr and show it directly in Twitter, without the reader having to visit the Flickr site. As a photographer, I would prefer this feature not be there, so people can comment on the pictures in Flickr, where there is no 140-character limit, and where the comments will have a relatively long period of visibilty. In Twitter they scroll off very quickly.", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:40:39 GMT", "pgfnum": "15764" }, "3": { "text": "I don't use Instagram, so I don't have an opinion about whether my (non-existent) Instagram pictures show up in Twitter.", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:42:04 GMT", "pgfnum": "15765" }, "4": { "text": "I also think it's good for the web if there's separation between these websites. Twitter is rapidly becoming something bigger than the web, sort of a mega-web. That's not cool. The thing I liked about Twitter re Facebook is that it was a way of pointing people to other sites. Over time, they've stopped doing that so much. That has meant that we've only got 140 characters to play with. Some ideas require more than that. Only very simple ideas can be expressed in such limited space.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:42:13 GMT", "pgfnum": "15766", "subs": { "0": { "text": "2005: \"People come back to places that send them away.\"", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:57:53 GMT", "pgfnum": "15768" } } }, "5": { "text": "So it's not black and white. Not \"Twitter Bad\" or \"Instagram Bad.\" Imho the only thing that's bad is the lack of diversity. These sites are growing too large, and we're growing too dependent on them. And as often happens in tech, the users and open standards become an afterthought to the warfare between large companies. But the good news is that this kind of fighting is a sign of an implosion coming soon, and a new period of expansion and innovation. When companies and the press become too focused on each other, and forget the users, the users seem to always break out, and invent a new layer.", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:44:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15767" }, "6": { "text": "Hugh MacLeod: \"Billionaires squabbling about who gets to own the commons.\"", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:06:07 GMT", "pgfnum": "15769" }, "7": { "text": "Rene Ritchie: \"Twitter doesn¹t want eyeballs on third-party clients. Instagram doesn't want eyeballs on Twitter. No one cares what the eyeballs want.\"", "created": "Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:26:54 GMT", "pgfnum": "15776" } } }, "45": { "text": "Why The Daily failed", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:07:37 GMT", "name": "whyTheDailyFailed", "pgfnum": "15760", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"AI don't even remember what the initial proposition was on The Daily, but I think it involved me giving them money to find out what it was. They told me it was great. They got lots of other people to say they were impressed. And that was the end of the pitch.", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:07:43 GMT", "pgfnum": "15761" }, "1": { "text": "Everyone on the net is busy. All the time. I was riding the LIRR the other day from Queens to Manhattan, and everyone around me was staring into the screen of their smartphone, tapping, typing, clicking. I watched the faces. They looked like the people sitting around in the system lab at the UW Comp Sci Dept in 1978. Same damn thing. Except now instead of a handful of misunderstood geeks, now it's everyone. ", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:08:32 GMT", "pgfnum": "15762" }, "2": { "text": "BTW, they didn't look \"engaged\" or entertained, or even aware of what they're doing. Most of the time we spend pecking and nibbling at stuff on the net we sort of wish there was something more interesting to do. But there isn't, so we keep nibbling and pecking.", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:10:12 GMT", "pgfnum": "15763" }, "3": { "text": "And if you're the rare contributor on the net, you might tweet something once in a while. I would call that grunting and snorting.", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:10:59 GMT", "pgfnum": "15764" }, "4": { "text": "That's why I like to write blog posts, btw -- it keeps my writing muscles working, for the day when they might be needed again, which I hope I live to see. It would be justice though if it didn't happen. After spending a life selling this idea that people should live on the Internet, to find out that the life wasn't worth living! :-)", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:11:21 GMT", "pgfnum": "15765" }, "5": { "text": "Anyway, back to The Daily and why it failed. You might as well ask why the Charlotte Bobcats failed. Because they can't dribble, pass, shoot, block shots, get rebounds or avoid fouls. As in Charolotte, they didn't even field a team over there in MurdochLand.", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:12:30 GMT", "pgfnum": "15766" }, "6": { "text": "Anyway this is the topic du jour. I'll write the same piece again and again, as I have been for decades, in different contexts. We have the power to do much better, but it's not a requirement. ", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:13:46 GMT", "pgfnum": "15767" } } }, "46": { "text": "What's like RSS?", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:24:05 GMT", "image": "http://static.scripting.com/larryKing/images/2012/12/03/loveRSS.gif", "name": "whatsLikeRss", "pgfnum": "15758", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"ATo be like RSS, it would have to be some open tech that is free to be used by anyone without royalty, with no individual, corporation or standards body that can make your development work obsolete. To me, as a developer, that's what open means.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:25:07 GMT", "pgfnum": "15760" }, "1": { "text": "If Apple can deprecate and then remove an API, or not approve an app because it doesn't conform to a rule that didn't even exist when I wrote it -- that's very far from the ideal.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:26:11 GMT", "pgfnum": "15761" }, "2": { "text": "Lots of APIs these days are like that. And since they have corporate sponsors, they're the ones they talk about at tech conferences. Because they can pay for sponsorships. That's how the conference promoters get paid.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:26:40 GMT", "pgfnum": "15762" }, "3": { "text": "I have a reason for asking this question -- I'm wondering if there's enough open technology out there that's not corporate-owned that we could have an interesting meetup among interested parties and get some good cross-pollinating done.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:24:09 GMT", "pgfnum": "15759" }, "4": { "text": "I think this is the core of what Stallman's free software idea is about. I really don't care that much about software, though I respect that he does. What matters to me is that I can ship something and have it keep working indefinitely, without worrying about someone outlawing my work. That kind of power always gets abused (I wonder why anyone would think it wouldn't).", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:28:39 GMT", "pgfnum": "15765" }, "5": { "text": "Anyway here's a list of some ideas, but please post comments or send me mail of any formats or protocols that you think should be on this list.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:29:44 GMT", "pgfnum": "15766", "subs": { "0": { "text": "JSON", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:30:14 GMT", "pgfnum": "15767" }, "1": { "text": "Markdown", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:30:18 GMT", "pgfnum": "15768" }, "2": { "text": "RSS (of course)", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:30:23 GMT", "pgfnum": "15769" }, "3": { "text": "OPML", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:17:48 GMT", "pgfnum": "15773" }, "4": { "text": "PNG", "created": "Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:18:05 GMT", "pgfnum": "15774" } } } } }, "47": { "text": "Should feeds require HTTPS?", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:52:03 GMT", "image": "http://static.scripting.com/larryKing/images/2012/12/03/accordionGuy.gif", "name": "shouldFeedsUseHttps", "pgfnum": "15751", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"AI said no, feeds should not require using HTTPS, and got an email from a developer friend asking me to explain, which I am happy to do.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:52:35 GMT", "pgfnum": "15753" }, "1": { "text": "If you think everyone who wants to read your feeds uses an aggregator that's being regularly updated then you won't lose any readers. But maybe you'll miss the one person who could help everyone understand your product.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:53:10 GMT", "pgfnum": "15754" }, "2": { "text": "Engineers tend to think users are fungible. One user is as good as every other user. So if you lose 1 percent or 5 percent, no big deal. But it might be a big deal. And it might be more than 5 percent.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:53:24 GMT", "pgfnum": "15755" }, "3": { "text": "However if your users are creating great stuff that a lot of people want to read, then it might not matter, because eventually everyone will get to read your feeds, no matter what they're using. Over time, all aggregators will support HTTPS if enough developers of feeds require it.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:53:56 GMT", "pgfnum": "15757" }, "4": { "text": "If it should turn out that way, it'll be a pain in the butt to get my aggregator working with HTTPS, but if you make it compelling enough I'll do it. And I'll be pissed because it's time I'd rather spend doing something creative. Not make-work, because I can't see for the life of me why you need to push RSS over a secure connection. :-)" } } }, "48": { "text": "Cloud Atlas mini-review", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:51:08 GMT", "name": "cloudAtlas", "pgfnum": "14353", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "The critics didn't like Cloud Atlas, so I almost didn't see it. That would have been a mistake, because I loved the movie. Much more than some other movies that got universally good reviews -- Lincoln, Flight and Argo, all of which I thought were yawners.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:51:11 GMT", "pgfnum": "14354" }, "1": { "text": "I loved the way they wove all the stories together, and how they all reached the same places at the same time.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:52:15 GMT", "pgfnum": "14355" }, "2": { "text": "\"AMost important, it's very much a continuation of The Matrix series. Hugo Weaving even plays the Agent Smith role in a couple of the segments. And like Argo, it mixes slapstick comedy with heavy action, but unlike Argo, they make it work.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:52:50 GMT", "pgfnum": "14356", "subs": { "0": { "text": "I think the nurse in one of the segments was played by Weaving in drag?", "collapse": "true", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:58:49 GMT", "pgfnum": "14361", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Update: Yes indeed!", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:23:08 GMT", "pgfnum": "14364" } } } } }, "3": { "text": "I like movies that make simple political points, and I like the message of The Matrix, and I like that they picked it up in Cloud Atlas.", "collapse": "true", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:53:54 GMT", "pgfnum": "14357", "subs": { "0": { "text": "The simple message -- non-conformist -- be original, don't be a clone!", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:59:36 GMT", "pgfnum": "14362" } } }, "4": { "text": "Some of the reviewers said the story was confusing, but I wasn't even slightly confused. And I liked that it's also a love story, like The Matrix, but it's sweeter and grabs you at a more emotional level. Not to take anything away from The Matrix which is one of my all-time favorites.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:54:32 GMT", "pgfnum": "14358" }, "5": { "text": "NakedJen arrives tomorrow for our annual film festival, and I'm going to recommend that she see Cloud Atlas after we see the three Matrix movies. And if you've seen and loved The Matrix, I highly recommend seeing Cloud Atlas. Unfortunately it's probably too late to see it in theaters around the country. It's still playing in NYC on 42nd St and in Kew Gardens.", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:55:35 GMT", "pgfnum": "14359" }, "6": { "text": "Moral of the story -- if critics universally pan a movie that don't mean they're right! :-)", "created": "Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:57:06 GMT", "pgfnum": "14360" } } }, "49": { "text": "Sidewalker map app", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:18:29 GMT", "name": "aMapAppToMake", "pgfnum": "15727", "pubdate": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:17:22 GMT", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Here's an idea for a map-based app.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:52:11 GMT", "pgfnum": "15728" }, "1": { "text": "\"AThe other day I was walking down Columbus Ave, on the west side of the street, and passed an Italian restaurant that looked like a place I'd like. Just a neighborhood restaurant with waiter service, but nothing fancy. They have a place like this in Lexington, Mass that I like to eat at. And one in Mountain View, Calif. There used to be one of these in every neighborhood in NYC, but nowadays mostly they have are upscale places, which are nice, when you feel upscale. But sometimes you just want a plate of spaghetti with a couple of meatballs and a nice mixed salad with Italian dressing, a big glass of ice tea, for about $10 to $12 plus tip.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:52:17 GMT", "pgfnum": "15729" }, "2": { "text": "And there it was!", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:15:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15732" }, "3": { "text": "I looked back and made a mental image of the place. I didn't write down the name or address. Now I want to find it. What I'll do is slog through Google Maps street view of the neighborhood. But it would be nice to be able to take a virtual walk down the street, a little faster than I walk IRL.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:54:32 GMT", "pgfnum": "15730" }, "4": { "text": "Obviously this would have other applications. You get to play virtual tourist. Or do window shopping. Look for a nice nieghborhood to live in a town that's far away. Etc.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:55:56 GMT", "pgfnum": "15731" }, "5": { "text": "Update: The solution to the puzzle is Francesco's Pizzeria. Didn't find it via Google Maps. Instead I went by foot to the location and scoped it out. Even took a picture this time. :-)", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 21:36:32 GMT", "pgfnum": "15748", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"A", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 21:37:27 GMT", "pgfnum": "15749" } } }, "6": { "text": "Update: Had a nice plate of spaghetti and meatballs on the 7th with Ryan Tate, at Francesco's. Hit the spot perfectly.", "created": "Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:02:52 GMT", "pgfnum": "15771" } } }, "50": { "text": "Just found Talkatone", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:33:26 GMT", "name": "justFoundTalkatone", "pgfnum": "15727", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "30 minutes ago I found Talkatone. I came across it because I'm wanting to make phone calls from my LTE-equipped iPad 3. Honestly, I thought when I got around to this, I'd just use the Google Voice app the same way I make calls from my GMail account on my desktop. Apparently it's much more complicated. On my Android phone it was just a matter of asking an automatic dialog that asked if I wanted to use Google Voice instead of T-Mobile for my calls. Of course being a totall Google Voice fan I said yes. Is this because Apple doesn't want GV to work on the iPad? Hmm.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:33:32 GMT", "pgfnum": "15728" }, "1": { "text": "Anyway, Talkatone seems horribly complicated. But I'm sure it's the kind of thing where it makes more sense the second and third times you read the docs.", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:35:56 GMT", "pgfnum": "15729" }, "2": { "text": "PS: And then I came across this. :-)", "created": "Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:45:11 GMT", "pgfnum": "15730" } } }, "51": { "text": "iTunes is an outliner", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:16:03 GMT", "name": "itunesIsAnOutliner", "pgfnum": "15706", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "Doc Searls posted an item yesterday explaining how journalism is an outline.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:16:08 GMT", "pgfnum": "15707" }, "1": { "text": "Then also yesterday iTunes 11 came out, and it's the topic du jour. Pogue says it's great, overlooking the features they took out. He says if you complain about iTunes you're a bad person. This, in the Paper of Record. I'll remember that next time they pan a movie I like. (Seriously the Times tech reviews are pretty awful. They used to be great when Sandberg-Diment was doing them.)", "collapse": "true", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:16:23 GMT", "pgfnum": "15708", "subs": { "0": { "text": "His actual words: \"iTunes 11 is, on the whole, better than what came before it -- if only because it's faster, far less cluttered and laid out more sensibly. Yes, change always ruffles people's feathers -- you could argue that Apple's specialty is feather-ruffling -- but this time, at least, the overall direction is up.\"", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:36:51 GMT", "pgfnum": "15715" }, "1": { "text": "Bleh. This is typical Pogue. Nasty shit they should edit out, on the chance that their reviewer got it wrong.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:37:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15716" } } }, "2": { "text": "Anyway, luckily if you know what pref to turn on, you can get iTunes working again. The way it ships you can't use it to move content onto an iPad or iPod. Not exactly a minor function of iTunes.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:17:37 GMT", "pgfnum": "15709" }, "3": { "text": "Farhad Manjoo says it's time to take iTunes out back and shoot it. It's bad software he says. I'd like to offer the perspective of someone who has made his share of bad software. Go watch the great documentary, The Fog of War. Most software is like that. A big Ouija board. In one rev you try to solve a problem, but in doing so, you lose the solution to the problem three versions back. So you fix that, and undo something else.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:18:58 GMT", "pgfnum": "15710" }, "4": { "text": "It's like renting office space for a growing company. In the first office you were on the ground floor but had windows that didn't open, so the office was stifling in the summer. So the next office has windows that open. But you forgot how nice it was to be on the ground floor.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:20:35 GMT", "pgfnum": "15711" }, "5": { "text": "The only way software really flows is if you focus relentlessly on a very small set of features, and write down what the rules are, and never break them, and take lots and lots of time to Get It Right.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:21:22 GMT", "pgfnum": "15712" }, "6": { "text": "\"AThat's why it's important to study something like iTunes to figure out what it really is, and don't just tack on annexes and add-ons to suit the needs of the next \"Stevenote\" demo. When you step back and look, and think and think some more, you'll see that it's an outliner. You have devices to hook in, and apps on those devices, and songs and playlists. Every one of which is a hierarchy. And you're moving and copying things from one hierarchy to another. When I realized that everything in computers was like this, I decided to make a tool that was really excellent at editable hierarchies, so I wouldn't have to keep making shitty little outliners for every one-off problem. Because managing iPods is a lot like managing documents on a hard drive or ideas that make up a presentation or a business plan or a set of software reviews. Why have five miserable iTunes-like tools when one really great one will do? That way you keep the fog down to a minimum. (Remember to go see the movie if you haven't already.)", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:21:51 GMT", "pgfnum": "15713" }, "7": { "text": "I thought Apple would copy us and put an outliner in the Mac Toolbox. Should have happened in the late 80s. But for whatever reason they didn't do it. So they're still stuck in the fog of outliners shuffling stuff from one rev to the next. Until that major reconceive happens, it won't do any good to start over.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:24:00 GMT", "pgfnum": "15714" } } }, "52": { "text": "Don't blame the Repubs", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:22:32 GMT", "name": "dontBlameTheRepublicans", "pgfnum": "15698", "type": "thread", "subs": { "0": { "text": "\"AWho can blame the Republicans for their lies if the press is willing to carry them, verbatim, as if there were some truth to what they're saying?", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:23:13 GMT", "pgfnum": "15701" }, "1": { "text": "It's like the SUL fiasco in the Twitter world a couple of years ago.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:23:46 GMT", "pgfnum": "15702" }, "2": { "text": "Who can blame Twitter if pubs like TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm, ReadWriteWeb were willing to take bribes in the form of millions of followers, openly. If I were running Twitter and could get away with that, I'd seriously consider doing the same.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:31:01 GMT", "pgfnum": "15705" }, "3": { "text": "Business people have an obligation to follow the law, as do Congress people. But their first obligations are to their shareholders and to get re-elected. If the press is willing to sacrifice its integrity and it helps your cause -- you might want to go for it. Twitter did, and the Repubs do.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:24:53 GMT", "pgfnum": "15703" }, "4": { "text": "None of this will change until we change the way journalism works.", "created": "Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:29:04 GMT", "pgfnum": "15704" } } } } }; //7/9/15 by DW
Last update: Wed, Feb 15, 2017 at 2:50 PM.

December