Month: August 2009

I Blew It On Facebook

Well, I knew this day would come. I've been ignoring friend requests on Facebook for a month or so because, well, my longstanding friending policy has backfired, and I'm now at my "friend limit" of 5000 (well, 5003, to be exact). This limit has been much discussed, and I'm not…

facebook limit.pngWell, I knew this day would come. I’ve been ignoring friend requests on Facebook for a month or so because, well, my longstanding friending policy has backfired, and I’m now at my “friend limit” of 5000 (well, 5003, to be exact). This limit has been much discussed, and I’m not sure I can add anything to what has become a timeworn dialog. It is what it is, and to be honest, I think 5000, upon reflection, is way too high a number. It probably should be around 500, if not 256 or something. Because, let’s be frank. No one has more than about 100 real friends. The rest are…well…possible friends. Colleagues. Strangers and interesting looking people you might want to meet someday if you ever travel to Bangalore. And…in my case…

facebook limit 2.pngWell, my case is certainly not unique, but I’ll tell the story anyway, if only to have a record of it in the Database of Intentions so my great great grandchildren can chuckle about it someday. (OK, so my three kids can chuckle at it now).

So back in 2005 or 6, I’m not sure when, I joined Facebook. And a bunch of folks starting friending me, folks I might have met at some point or other, I wasn’t always sure. Every so often – say every 25th or so ‘friend’ – I’d see someone I recognized instantly. An elementary school buddy or a work colleague. But due to my somewhat unique profile in the web space – I have been lurking around these particular parts for nearly 25 years now – any number of people who I didn’t know asked me to be pals.

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A Preview: This Year’s Web 2 Program (Newly Added Speakers!)

I may have been "on vacation" over much of the past month, but as usual, I was working, and part of my work was framing out and filling in the program for the sixth annual Web 2 Summit. Tim O'Reilly and I had a very hard job trying to top…

web 2 09.pngI may have been “on vacation” over much of the past month, but as usual, I was working, and part of my work was framing out and filling in the program for the sixth annual Web 2 Summit. Tim O’Reilly and I had a very hard job trying to top last year’s program, given it featured Lance Armstrong, Al Gore, Edgar Bronfman, John Doerr, Jerry Yang, and so many more.  

But I think we’ve managed to top it. Pasted below is a note we sent out recently with an overview of the program. But even since then, we’ve had a couple of pretty major new additions, both from the world of government and policy:

– Aneesh Chopra –  America’s first ever appointed CTO will join us this year, in conversation with Tim O’Reilly (for Tim’s take and a video of Chopra, click here). A charasmatic figure and proven leader, Chopra is charged with developing national strategies for technology investments – overseeing the U.S. Government’s $150 billion R&D budget.

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It’s CrowdFire and Outside Lands Time!

I'm getting psyched up for Outside Lands' second year, and the return of CrowdFire, an FM/Intel/Outside Lands joint back and better than ever. CrowdFire is a service that aggregates fan photos, videos, tweets, and more, and lets anyone play with the database we all create as we experience great…

crowdfire.pngosl.png

I’m getting psyched up for Outside Lands‘ second year, and the return of CrowdFire, an FM/Intel/Outside Lands joint back and better than ever. CrowdFire is a service that aggregates fan photos, videos, tweets, and more, and lets anyone play with the database we all create as we experience great live music.   

The cool thing is, the best stuff we upload or make will end up all over the main stages and video panels all over the festival and featured on the site itself.

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Is Google Going After Mortgages? It Already Has.

The NYT asks today: "Is Google Entering the Mortgage Quote Business?" The story notes that in a lawsuit between two mortgage-lead businesses, Lending Tree and MorTech, Lending Tree claims that MorTech is providing its technology to Google, so that Google can compete with Lending Tree. Does this mean Google…

home mortgage google.png

The NYT asks today: “Is Google Entering the Mortgage Quote Business?”

The story notes that in a lawsuit between two mortgage-lead businesses, Lending Tree and MorTech, Lending Tree claims that MorTech is providing its technology to Google, so that Google can compete with Lending Tree.

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Yahoo’s New Search

It feels a bit odd to be writing that headline – "Yahoo's New Search" – given the company's deal with Bing/Microsoft. But Yahoo seems intent on declaring its independence with regard to search, even as it sells its asset and audience away to its newfound partner. Yahoo does retain, in…

It feels a bit odd to be writing that headline – “Yahoo’s New Search” – given the company’s deal with Bing/Microsoft. But Yahoo seems intent on declaring its independence with regard to search, even as it sells its asset and audience away to its newfound partner.

Yahoo does retain, in the deal, the right to innovate on top of Bing results, and I guess that’s where this announcement is pointing – noting that Yahoo has been innovating in search UI and plans to continue to do so. I’m talking with the Yahoo folks next week and will have more on their plans then. But it strikes me as potentially conflicting to the deal for Yahoo to be innovating in UI on top of Bing, as one of Bing’s strengths is its innovation in UI….

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Give Me Your Data, Said the Spider to the Fly

(image) Very interesting news yesterday about Google Adsense and competing ad networks. From ClickZ: Google plans to open its AdSense network to other ad networks, potentially giving the already huge ad net access to display ads flowing through countless other networks. The firm yesterday said it will allow networks to…

spider-and-web.jpg(image)

Very interesting news yesterday about Google Adsense and competing ad networks. From ClickZ:

Google plans to open its AdSense network to other ad networks, potentially giving the already huge ad net access to display ads flowing through countless other networks. The firm yesterday said it will allow networks to bid via auction to have their ads appear on AdSense partner sites, like an exchange. Google is vetting several ad networks for certification, but would not name any of the networks. If accepted into the program, the networks would receive payment if their ads win the auction to appear on AdSense sites. The firm said networks will be able to target contextually or by placement. The company suggested the offering will help boost publisher revenues by increasing competition for ad placements.

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Don’t Be A Fan Platform Hater

Regarding this story in the New York Times: With Bloggers in the Bleachers, Leagues See a Threat to Profits (and related, my post on "Don't Be a Player Platform Hater"): I have such a rant in me on this topic but I simply cannot write it now, I'm way too…

Regarding this story in the New York Times:

With Bloggers in the Bleachers, Leagues See a Threat to Profits

(and related, my post on “Don’t Be a Player Platform Hater“):

I have such a rant in me on this topic but I simply cannot write it now, I’m way too Supposed to Be On Vacation. But suffice to say, you can do two things if you “own content” – like, say, football games (yep, that’s content). One, you can cut it all off and hoard it. Or two, you can be the oxygen in the ecosystem. The first allows you to profit but it kills your long-term community ecosystem and prevents, entirely, your product from growing as your supporting community wants it to grow – because in essence, you are refusing to allow your community to have a voice and point of view about your product. It’s YOURS, and you’ll LIKE IT THE WAY I WANT TO GIVE IT TO YOU!

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All Business Starts With A Community

Today I was on my way back to our house after dropping my kids off to camp, and I decided to stop by a local cafe for a quick coffee-n-chat. Now, in August, "our house" means a century-old family place on an island, an island that rather pugnaciously refuses…

small biz starts with a community.jpg

Today I was on my way back to our house after dropping my kids off to camp, and I decided to stop by a local cafe for a quick coffee-n-chat. Now, in August, “our house” means a century-old family place on an island, an island that rather pugnaciously refuses to allow large chain stores to set down roots. So it’s fair to say that this island is sort of a Galapagos of small business. There are no Mickey D’s, no Safeways, and no Starbucks. It’s all locally owned – nearly every single “year rounder” who lives here is a small business person.  

The local cafe I stopped by is a hangout – a place where the community comes to eat and drink coffee, to gossip and share information, to learn the latest, to connect. It’s a social network in its truest sense. It’s driven by content – the conversations and knowledge of the staff and customers, and it’s driven by community. Commerce is a by product of the two.

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Social Media Is Important, The Video

Hey, I really like the soundtrack. And it's f*ing true as well. My beef with this is this simple statement, about 3:42 in. "Social Media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in how we communicate." True, to a point. What it really is, is the release of how we…

Hey, I really like the soundtrack. And it’s f*ing true as well.

My beef with this is this simple statement, about 3:42 in. “Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in how we communicate.”

True, to a point. What it really is, is the release of how we already communicate, but now at scale. It’s not a shift in *how* we communicate, it’s a step function in our *ability* to communicate. There’s an important difference there. One could argue that means a fundamental shift, but such a statement can be easily misinterpreted as meaning “something totally new in how humans think/work/communicate”, and I think that’s not quite right. It’s us, squared.

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Search Trends

I'm not going to grok this tonight, I'm too sea-addled (on vacation). But it seems a worthy read: On the Predictability of Search Trends by Google Research….

I’m not going to grok this tonight, I’m too sea-addled (on vacation). But it seems a worthy read:

On the Predictability of Search Trends by Google Research.

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