Some milestones
Submitted by yelvington on October 31, 2007 - 5:05pmIn some ways a milestone is just a rock. In other ways it signifies the end of one thing and the beginning of something new. A couple of milestones this week:
In some ways a milestone is just a rock. In other ways it signifies the end of one thing and the beginning of something new. A couple of milestones this week:
As Facebook slowly opens up, it's becoming possible to pull your own data for your own purposes. Dave Winer mentioned one way, so today, in just a minute, I added a block containing my Facebook status updates to my website pages (see the column on the left). I'm not entirely thrilled with the way it displays, so I may write my own module. At the moment it's just stock Drupal RSS aggregator functionality.
The other day I remarked that Facebook's idea of an open platform is a one-way street. Today Wired.com covers this issue with: "Slap in the Facebook: It's Time for Social Networks to Open Up."
Brands just aren't what they used to be. A brand used to be something that stood the test of time. Now a brand is still powerful in terms of defining what a product is all about, but when it comes to loyalty, fuggetaboutit. Brands today are volatile.
Ted Stevens, the fossil who thinks the Internet is a series of tubes, has reintroduced legislation that died in the last Congress that would force schools and libraries to block social networking websites and chat rooms on the grounds that they're full of predators and (gasp) "cyberbullies," which apparently are more dangerous than the regular kind because they're cyber.
The Arlington Heights Daily Herald may think his conservatism is "the thoughtful, common-sense brand," but his legislation suggests Illinois state Sen. Matt Murphy is a clueless demogogue playing an ignorant crowd. Why am I saying this?
I was on a panel discussion of social networking yesterday with moderator Michael Odza and the Dans: Dan Strauss from Fox Interactive (Myspace), Dan Pacheco of Bakotopia fame, and Dan Wheeler, who's about to pop a new site called Big Lick U. (It's a Roanoke in-joke.) Despite poor conditions -- the hall was eight rows deep and about a zillion chair wide -- the place was full and the audience was engaged. They had to push us out to make way for the next session. Jennifer Johnson blogged the session.