Month: June 2005

Heading back to Edmonton tonight

Just sitting in Barnes & Noble on the corner of Pine Street and 7th Avenue here in downtown Seattle, killing some time until we catch our flight later. I’ll have a proper post tonight when we get back to Edmonton (where I hear it is raining, boo). We just did the tourist thing today, which was kinda fun, though the weather could have been a little nicer. All in all, it was fun!

Also been reading some news, and two things stuck out. Oil went over $60 USD a barrel and at almost the same time, Google stock passed the $300 USD per share mark. Coincidence? Probably, but it makes for a good “what if” thought session!

Podbot in MAKE!

Post ImageWe were really fortunate to meet Phillip Torrone at Gnomedex, and to have the opportunity to chat with him about the Podbot. He’s got a new entry up in the MAKE: Blog on our beloved podcasting robot, so check it out. And watch future issues of Make Magazine because you never know, we might publish instructions on how to build your own!

The entry includes a number of pretty cool photos of the Podbot too. I especially like the one of me holding up my tablet with the control software open, looks pretty intense. If this is the first you’ve heard of the Podbot, be sure to check out our official site.

Read: Make Blog

Seattle Trip Day 5

Post ImageToday was just one of those days. We slept in a little. We didn’t do a whole heck of a lot. And we got some much needed rest and relaxation time. After we did finally get up and check messages, we went to the Pike Place Bagels shop for lunch. Next we decided to just wander around downtown. We went all through the famer’s market, to the original Starbucks, and to a few different local stores.

We ended up walking for quite a while, which killed a good part of the afternoon. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up a coule magazines. Once back at the hotel, we did a little reading, and eventually watched Secret Window on HBO. You can totally tell that the movie was written by Stephen King – it was pretty intense! Probably would have been a good one to see on the big screen now that I think of it.

We stopped at Subway for dinner tonight because it was close, and it had gotten quite cold and actually rained a little. Since coming back to the hotel, I’ve just been sitting here reading and listening to music, basically. I don’t remember the last time I sat and watched TV or the last time I just sat and read stuff for a few hours, so it has been nice and comfortable.

Tomorrow we’re heading on a three-hour city tour, so that should be fun. Then in the evening, it’s off to the airport to head home. Check out some photos I took of our Seattle adventures, and from Gnomedex.

Read: My Photos

The News is NowPublic

Post ImageToday has been a pretty restful day, which I think is good to have once in a while. Tonight I did some reading, and as a result, I found NowPublic via Scoble:

It’s open source news, and even in its infancy it’s richer, faster, more powerful than the infotainment it replaces.

We invite you to join this revolution. Take control of the news. Make it deliver information about your community, your interests, your life. It’s time. The news is nowPublic.

One of the big topics of Gnomedex was that we’re taking back our media. Adam Curry very proudly proclaimed this in his closing keynote address. So while the idea of “open source news” isn’t completely new to me, this was the first time I had ever seen it really implemented. I gave NowPublic a shot tonight, and I must say, it’s kind of neat!

Take a look at the footage I posted about Gnomedex to see how it works. Once you’re a member of NowPublic, you can add news stories, footage, and blog posts. I can’t see how the blog is useful, as I suspect that almost everyone who contributes to the site will already have their own blog somewhere else. Other than that however, I think the site has pretty good potential.

I suppose I can already be considered a “reporter” simply by posting on my own blog, but there’s something uniquely intriguing about being part of a bigger, community run news site.

Read: NowPublic

Seattle Trip Day 4

Today was the end of Gnomedex 5. It was probably one of the best conferences I have ever been to, if not the best. There was quite the lineup of speakers today too, including Julie Leung, Steve Rubel, and of course, Adam Curry. I really enjoyed Adam’s session – not so much because I learned something, but because I got to be a part of something pretty historical in the world of podcasting. Our robot did very well at the conference, and I am really pleased with the way it turned out. Definitely a great idea, kudos Dickson, Andrew, and Ashish.

After the conference finished tonight, Dickson and I dropped the Podbot off back at the hotel and headed to the designated meetup point for people looking to do some post-conference stuff. We ended up going to dinner at a pretty nice Asian restaurant downtown with the guys from Bryght, Nick Bradbury of FeedDemon, the LiteFeeds guys, and a few others. It was really nice, and a great way to end the conference.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and met up with my friend Mike and his girlfriend Elisa for drinks. That was really nice, kind of relaxing and fun just to chat and to get caught up on the latest news. Good luck to you both at your new jobs next week 🙂

Not entirely sure what we’re up to tomorrow, but I think I’d kind of like to relax a little, and see some more of the city. I can’t believe the conference is over! Soon we’ll be back to working hardcore, but for now, I think we’ll enjoy the time away.

Adam Curry's Keynote at Gnomedex

Post ImageAdam Curry is on the stage, here’s my notes as the keynote progresses:

  • He’s recording episode #200 of the Daily Source Code right here at Gnomedex.
  • That’s going to be a very historical opening for the DSC, the entire auditorium loud with applause to open the show.
  • Adam just played a mashup, and Scoble started a big party with dancing and goofiness featuring his infamous red couch.
  • Woodstock was 20 years ago today, and Adam says that today we’re jamming with new instruments, and the world is listening.
  • It’s been said at Gnomedex that we’re not the early adopters, we’re the “lunatic fringe”.
  • Adam: We need fuel. From Microsoft, Apple, Audible, etc. We’ve got things we want to accomplish.
  • Adam: The magic really happened when him and Dave Winer switched places, when Adam became the developer and Dave became the user.
  • Adam: “Here’s what I learned as a developer. This shit is hard work! Its an art form, it is 100% art.”
  • Adam: “This power of subscription is really changing everything.”
  • Sounds like Adam is a big advocate of aggregators and other applications just supporting all of the feeds and moving forward. No squabbling, just do it and go, because the end users don’t care.
  • Adam announces that he fully intends to support and use BitTorrent.
  • Music today has the advantage of promotion through radio, though it started to be less of an advantage as radio has become so encumbered by marketing and packaging, etc.
  • Adam is playing a track by Rob Coslo that he thinks is really beautiful, and it is. I turned to Dickson, the piano expert, and he says “pretty good tune.” Apparently Rob has been booked in large venues and is selling his music, and has been asked to do movie scores. The revolution is that we’re sharing, and as a result, generating revenue for Rob. He didn’t need a record label.
  • Time is up for the source code, so Adam shouts out to the developers, to Dave Winer, Robert Scoble, Chris and Ponzi.
  • Now Chris says that he and Ponzi might be doing something for Podshow, that should be interesting.

If you’re going to listen to a single Daily Source Code episode, definitely treat your ears to number 200, recorded at Gnomedex 5 in Seattle, Washington on June 25th, 2005.

Read: Gnomedex

Today's Digital Legalities

Post ImageSome notes from the digital law session hosted by Denise Howell, Buzz Bruggeman, and Jason Calacanis:

  • Very cool website that lets you subscribe to new patents: PatentMojo.
  • Denise: Law firms are starting to wise up to the fact that maybe they need to look at communication differently, and blogging is leading the charge.
  • Jason: If you get a letter from a lawyer, pick up the phone and call the lawyer to find out what they are really after, because the letter generally won’t tell you that. You have to try to understand their position.
  • Jason: “I force [laywers] to file papers, because it’s a significant amount of work.” Good strategy to find out how serious they are. Also, Jason says to extend discussions, because the longer you can extend them, the more likely things will go your way.
  • Denise: “Jason is a warrior on the frontlines of participatory law.”
  • Hanging up the phone is Jason’s favorite technique for dealing with attorneys.
  • You have to be careful about how you phrase things on your blog. Unless you absolutely know something to be true, phrase it in such a way that your source is clear (using words like “alleged”, “claimed”, etc). Also, if you make a mistake, be sure to update quickly. And don’t ignore comments!
  • Incorporating your blog doesn’t reduce the chances of getting sued, because filing a complaint is relatively inexpensive.
  • Jason: If you get a letter, post it on your weblog and talk about it.
  • Buzz: Don’t throw anything away.
  • Jason: If you care about a project enough to put effort into it, document it.
  • Jason: Don’t do any business deals without having everything in writing, it’s really not worth your time.
  • If you’re a podcaster looking to use some music, whether recorded or live, pay attention to the proposal recently released by the copyright office that attempts to have a one-stop shop for purchasing production licenses. Jason’s personal advice: Follow the definition of fair use, and keep the percentage of what you use down to something reasonable.
  • Denise: The problem with fair use, is that its decided on a case by case basis.
  • Jason: If it’s good enough for Google, it’s good enough for you. Denise: And it’s good enough for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who decided thumbnails such as the ones you would find on Google Images are fine (75 pixels by 75 pixels or less?).
  • Some related links for this talk at delicious.

Read: Gnomedex

Tomorrow's Public Relations

Post ImageHere are some notes on the public relations session hosted by Steve Rubel, and Chris Sloop:

  • Steve: I’m a confessed flack.
  • WeatherBug is one of his clients, and he’s using it as an example during the talk. They used to bundle Gator (adware) and so now they have a big image problem that they are attempting to address through blogging.

What will blogs do to PR?

  • Jack Welch: He says the secret sauce of success in business is candor. “We are socialized from childhood to soften bad news or make nice about awkward subjects.”
  • Steve: “Blogging is PR with candor.”

Here are the WeatherBug announcements being made by Chris during this session:

  • WeatherBug API: http://api.weatherbug.com
  • WeatherBug RSS: Available to the public in July.
  • WeatherBug Mac OS X: A public beta will be shipping in July.

Darren Barefoot just made a good point that this session has simply been a product pitch for WeatherBug. Steve’s response was that he wanted to show what he did and what he accomplished, rather than just get up and talk about new public relations. In this case, I tend to agree with Darren. I think Steve could have delivered a successful talk without all the free marketing for WeatherBug.

Read: Gnomedex

Blogging Live8

Post ImageA little break from the Gnomedex blogging for a second. I’ve been on Technorati quite a bit the last couple days, and I couldn’t help but notice that they have a special site setup to watch what the blogosphere is saying about Live 8:

We don’t want your money, we want your voice!

Find out what people around the world are saying about Live 8 in real time with Technorati.

It’s a pretty cool site – you can see blog posts, images, and more from around the web. If you’re interested in Live 8, be sure to check it out.

Read: Live8@Technorati

Tomorrow's RSS

Post ImageHere are some notes from the session on the future of RSS hosted by Mark Fletcher (Bloglines), Scott Rafer (Feedster), and Bob Wyman (PubSub):

  • Bob Wyman says that the future of RSS is actually in Atom. Mark counters that there is so much momentum behind RSS that it seems unlikely we’ll get a single standard. Bob says that the work that has already been done on Atom ensures that there will be enough flexibility to do the things we want to in the future.
  • Almost all of the aggregators support all of the different formats of feeds, so the three panelists are saying that there is no need to publish in each of the formats, just pick one, because having all sorts of formats simply confuses users. An audience member counters that some feed formats look different in different aggregators. Bob says that the problem doesn’t belong to the publisher, but rather to the aggregator, and they need to make the aggregator show one format just as well as another.
  • The only problem I see with only using Atom, for example, is that you can’t do things like podcasting.
  • There’s lots of experimentation going on right now with RSS and advertising, and the panelists say there doesn’t seem to be a right way just yet. Bob says that we absolutely need to have advertising in RSS, the feeds need to be monetized.
  • An audience member asked the panelists if they could start their companies again, would they do anything different. Feedster says nope, they’d do the same thing. Mark says that if he could start Bloglines again, the main thing he would change is the name. He says it works for a number of reasons, but it doesn’t work for many more reasons. Bob says the only thing he’d change would be to have started it six to eight months earlier.
  • Someone asked why the companies feel that they cannot charge for their services. Bob replies that they do charge some customers very hefty fees for the same data that you can get for free – the companies pay for quality of service, access to programmers, and that sort of thing. Scott says that while the service isn’t incredibly expensive to run, they do have some relationships with big publishers from which they get paid every now and then.
  • Another audience member asked if the panelists have thought of any scenarios where the current technology is not well suited or maybe needs to be improved. Mark says that Microsoft’s announcement from yesterday will most certainly be supported, but said that you can go a long way with the technology already in place.

Read: Gnomedex