The Death of FriendFeed?

Facebook has released the Open Stream API enabling developers to bring your personal activity stream to the outside world. This has some very large implications, including - my prediction - that it will kill off FriendFeed, but not Twitter, and that it further establishes the groundwork for a Facebook advertising platform.

Why will FriendFeed die, but Twitter live? FriendFeed’s identity is an aggregation platform, and while can do everything that Twitter can do (and more), it’s lacking the one essential quality that will carry it into the future… personality.

I'm an R rated individual

http://www.loudthinking.com/posts/39-im-an-r-rated-individual

Or, you’re an adult. Here’s the text of the blog post:

I’m an R rated individual

by David Heinemeier Hansson

I’ve found that the fewer masks I try to wear, the better. This means less division between the personality that’s talking to my close personal friends, socializing with my colleagues, and for interacting with my hobby or business worlds.

Blending like this isn’t free. You’re bound to upset, offend, or annoy people when you’re not adding heavy layers of social sugarcoating. I choose to accept that trade because my personal upside from congruence is that I find more energy, more satisfaction, and more creativity when the bullshit is stripped away.

This means that it leaks out that I love listening to Howard Stern, that Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies, that I laugh out loud at Louis CK’s Bag of Dicks joke, that I whole-fully accept my instinctual attraction to the female body, that I think drugs should be legal, that I really like the word fuck and other gems of profanity, and on and on.

Now I get that lots of people find much of that crude and primitive. I’m okay with that. I do take offense when yet another lame stereotype is thrown out (like that porn by definition is misogynistic), but I’ve learned to deal with that.

What I’m not going to do, though, is apologize for any of these preferences and opinions. I’m happy to be an R rated individual and I’m accepting the consequences of the leakage that comes from that. If you can deal with that, I’m sure we’re going to get along just fine.

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The Path is not difficult for those who have no preferences.

Jianzhi Sengcan

Quickfire - Launch Mac apps from your Browser

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11378

The brower continues its march toward integration with the OS.

Twitter: The 140 Characters that Could

While most people have at least heard about Twitter now that Oprah has jumped on the bandwagon, I still get asked why I do it so much (less as of late, but I’m on an upswing), and how I’m able to tweet and work (Really? Really?); some folks still don’t get it. The folks that do get it - like Naked Pizza - are pushing full steam ahead, and leaving the others behind. Check this out:

“So, Naked Pizza erects a Twitter billboard; so what? What’s the big deal?” Where to start… Where else can you establish a direct, sans middle-man, one-to-one relationship with your opt-in customers, in real time, for free (at least for now)? How many other sites garner this level of ingenuity, dedication, and love from techs to stars? There must be something to this Twitter thing, right?

Have you tried Twitter? Do you not get it, but haven’t asked for help from those who do? What will you say to a client, or industry peer, or the media who asks you about it, if you use it, what its value is, and what we’re doing with it?

If you’re one of those folks that still thinks Twitter is just about people telling each other what they ate for lunch, wake up or you’re going to be left behind. I urge you to take a deeper look at it with a fresh perspective. Yes, you’ll still find disposable discussions, meaningless quips, and and pointless posts, but there are also real discussions being held 140 characters at a time; it’s where the conversation is happening. Maybe not tomorrow, but definitely today.

Does anyone else see the shape of the future in the real-time search platforms being built on top of Twitter’s real-time conversation engine? Does anyone else see URL shortening sites like bit.ly (et. al.) rising in number and popularity all of a sudden due to Twitter? Does anyone else see the sheer number of new sites and applications springing up all over the place due to Twitter’s robust and flexible API?

I talk a lot about Twitter, but really, it’s just a name… a label for a rapidly growing conversation, direct-engagement, real-time, instant search, cross-channel communication monster.

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cadler:

This is sick. you???ve gotta check out what this kid has done. amazing.

amotion:

Blown away by this, Casey and his Actionscript experiments???

caseypugh:

My recent project I???ve been working on at Vimeo. Check it out.

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Previously, I would have been satisfied with regular chocolate chip cookies. Now, all cookies must be caffeinated.

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Newsmap 2.0 Beta

Pick anything

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/pick-anythingthe-calculus-of-...

Some words of wisdom from Mr. Seth Godin

Here's to the Crazy Ones

Here???s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The trouble makers.
The round pegs in square holes.

The ones who see things differently.
They???re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can???t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent.
They imagine.
They heal.
They explore.
They create.
They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that???s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Microsoft's Windows 7 Starter Is A Gift To Google

http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-windows-7-starter-is-a-gift-to-goog...

Ballmer continues to illustrate his cluelessness. Do you remember this bit of visionary wisdom?

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Best March Quarter Revenue and Earnings in Apple History

Apple Reports Second Quarter Results

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Jeff Veen, “Designing for Big Data”

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Go Tableless - Circos

Drizzle: Lightweight Cloud DB

https://launchpad.net/drizzle

Based on MySQL.

@rails_23 => 'AR Touching'

http://ryandaigle.com/articles/2009/4/20/what-s-new-in-edge-rails-touching

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Tweetie for Mac.

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I don’t like Mondays.

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We must overcome the notion that we must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.

Uta Hagen

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The web is more a social creation than a technical one. I designed it for a social effect ??? to help people work together ??? and not as a technical toy. The ultimate goal of the Web is to support and improve our weblike existence in the world. We clump into families, associations, and companies. We develop trust across the miles and distrust around the corner.

Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving The Web

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[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/AfqxMpXxcg]

Github adds an issue tracker.

:mod_rails => 'Nginx'

http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2009/4/16/phusion-announces-passenger-for-nginx

Phusion Passenger aanounces passenger for Nginx.

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davidkaneda:

Tweetie for Mac (via??mikemccarron)

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Have an old-style IT or HR department? Hide your tweet habit with SpreadTweet.

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Birdhouse: A notepad for Twitter

To SPACE or to TAB, THAT is the question!

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001254.html

Coding Horror: Death to the Space Infidels!

:os_x => 'TwitterIM: Twitter in Adium - Now'

http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=6543

Adium 1.4 will include Twitter support, but if you can’t wait until its release, download TwitterIM.

Redcar Programmer's Editor

http://redcareditor.com/

Redcar is a programmer’s editor for Gnome, with Texmate bundle compatibility. It’s a work in progress, but worth checking out.

Updated Native Google Chrome for OS X

http://www.manu-j.com/blog/download-updated-native-google-chrome-for-mac-os-x...

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Economic Recovery Dashboard

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The Beatles Rock Band.

JRuby on Rails on Google App Engine

http://olabini.com/blog/2009/04/jruby-on-rails-on-google-app-engine/

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Video recording is coming to the iPhone

via MacRumors

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Augmented Reality on the iPhone.

???Yeah, it???s a cute dog; so what????

Well, imagine it???s a magazine ad for Hilton with a 3D view of the actual hotel room you???ll be staying in once your plane lands. Or, it???s a 3D 360?? rendering of Mazda???s latest car. Or an interactive car selector for Toyota. Or a virtual Lego game. Or in-store virtual demos. Or interactive bus/cab/train commericals with location-specific content guided by the iPhone???s built-in GPS. Or 1 billion other ideas that should be flowing through your mind right about now.

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Gmail for Mobile

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[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/3972081 w=400&h=220]

People are constantly asking me about Twitter:?? What is it, what is its value, and why do I “tweet” so much? Actually, compared to some people, I hardly register on the tweet scale, and frankly, if you’re working at a company that deals with social media and you’re not on Twitter, then I should be concerned about you, but that’s another post (coming soon). Because I’m a focal point for the Twitter discussion, I’m always looking for definitive examples that bust the FUD and illustrate how this real-time platform can be leveraged.

I’ll stop a sec to say that “real time” is the key to Twitter. You’ll be hearing those two words a lot this year.

The folks at Poke have come up with an ingenious use for Twitter: BakerTweet. It’s a physical computing appliance that allows bakeries to broadcast what’s fresh out of the oven. Locals simply subscribe to the bakery’s twitter feed to stay informed.

What’s awesome about BakerTweet is that it abstracts the details of using Twitter while still taking advantage of its real-time communication platform; it’s a win-win. The bakery can connect directly with its customers, and customers know when their favorite goodie is fresh out of the oven.

With even a little imagination, it’s not hard to see where this all goes. You can see it, can’t you? And oh, btw, this is social media in action, folks.

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Biz Stone of Twitter on the Colbert Report.

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Apparently, lots of people are concerned that I use Twitter. I think I should be more concerned that they don’t.

@ByteEngine

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Musicthatmakesyoudumb by VIRGIL.GRiffith

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come gather ‘round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

— Bob Dylan

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Ruby Helper, for your iPhone.

Via DoubleShot #421