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	<title>Bwana.org &#187; Software</title>
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<link rel="http://api.friendfeed.com/2008/03#sup" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" type="application/json" href="http://friendfeed.com/api/public-sup.json#3ffaf93dae"/>		<item>
		<title>Google Sidewiki Shakes Up The Web</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2009/09/24/google-sidewiki-shakes-up-the-web/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2009/09/24/google-sidewiki-shakes-up-the-web/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:59:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aggregation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[annotate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backtype]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[diigo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sidewiki]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[utilities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=1285</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No one likes losing control. Hence the backlash to Google&#8217;s new Sidewiki product. Sidewiki is described as follows: Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar that lets you contribute and read information alongside any web page. Sounds familiar? Well there are several sites out there which allow you to &#8220;annotate the web&#8221; such as Diigo. You [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader Shared Notes Feature'>Google Reader Shared Notes Feature</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2011/07/10/google-revitalizes-online-discussions/' rel='bookmark' title='Google+ Revitalizes Online Discussions'>Google+ Revitalizes Online Discussions</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2010/05/20/google-comes-out-swinging-at-io-10/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Comes Out Swinging At IO &#8217;10'>Google Comes Out Swinging At IO &#8217;10</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2009/09/24/google-sidewiki-shakes-up-the-web/"></a></div><p>No one likes losing control.</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/learnmore.html"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20090924-pw2qaxx7djuxhwnu8jmcfgmhyc.preview.jpg" alt="Google Sidewiki" hspace="2"  vspace="2" align="left" style="padding: 5px;" /></a></div>
<p>Hence the backlash to Google&#8217;s new <a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/learnmore.html">Sidewiki</a> product.  Sidewiki is described as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar that lets you contribute and read information alongside any web page.
</p></blockquote>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/learnmore.html"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20090924-j8qhdc46j4agde366h2rpnjw5w.jpg" alt="Use Google Sidewiki without the Google Toolbar - Read Sidewiki Comments for any Site" /></a><Br/><br/></div>
<p>Sounds familiar?  Well there are several sites out there which allow you to &#8220;annotate the web&#8221; such as <a href="http://www.diigo.com/">Diigo</a>.  You may recall 10 years ago <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/11/five_years_ago/">the nasty backlash over ThirdVoice</a> due to spamming problems with their service.  This, and other concerns have the web&#8217;s experts up in arms.<br />
<span id="more-1285"></span><br />
Here are some choice reactions from folks on the web:</p>
<p><a href="http://scripting.com">Dave Winer</a> <a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2009/09/claiming_my_right_to_a_purposecentric_web_sidewiki.shtml#comment-17294578">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Anyway, the web is all an illusion created out of 1s and 0s traveling over wires and air waves. You can reduce it down to any level you like, and at some level anything will seem unobjectionable. Yet we do have rules that allow us to get along with each other.</p>
<p>Phil, how would you feel if my router, through which your words pass, changed your words to something I liked better? Or added a message for one of your competitors? Or pictures of horrible things being done to innocent people? It&#8217;s my router. Don&#8217;t tread on me.</p>
<p>You might say &#8212; well then I won&#8217;t pass my words through your router. And then you would understand how I feel about what Google is doing. <strong>I wouldn&#8217;t mind it at all if it were opt-in for the author.</strong>
</p></blockquote>
<p>Robert Scoble posts <a href="http://twitter.com/Scobleizer/statuses/4323682076">on Twitter</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>@ChrisSaad you don&#8217;t get the problem with Google&#8217;s Sidewiki: it&#8217;s not that I can&#8217;t see the content. <strong>It&#8217;s that I don&#8217;t control it.</strong></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.leoville.com">Leo Laporte</a> seems bit more optimistic <a href="http://friendfeed.com/davew/64267841/thirdvoice-comes-back-from-google-guess-we-ll">on FriendFeed</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>At least there&#8217;s an API so services like Disqus and Echo can &#8211; in theory &#8211; fold the sidewiki back into the comments. I&#8217;ve been very happy with Echo&#8217;s ability to gather all the activity about a blog post back into the comments. The Third Voice is going to happen thanks to sites like this and Twitter whether we like it or not. <strong>We just need to be able to capture and save the content.</strong> </p></blockquote>
<p>Jeremiah Owyang believes it&#8217;s time to <a href="http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2009/09/24/googles-sidewiki-shifts-power-to-consumers-away-from-corporate-web-teams/">rethink our mindsets.</a>  He believes corporate websites now belong to the customer and companies should adapt:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Shift your thinking: recognize that you don’t own your corporate website –your customers do</strong>. Accept the mindshift that your job is to not only serve up product and corporate content but to also be a platform and enabler for customers to discuss, share, and make suggestions to how you should improve what you offer.</p></blockquote>
<p>All are interesting perspectives on this topic, and it shows how big of a deal this new product is.  What does Bwana think?</p>
<p>Well, I believe there are two basic perspectives:</p>
<ul>
<li>From a user perspective, it&#8217;s an easy way to leave feedback on <em>any</em> website. </li>
<li>From a content provider&#8217;s perspective, it&#8217;s yet another feedback loop that needs to be maintained.</li>
</ul>
<p>As Robert Scoble stated, he wants more control over the comments left in Sidewiki.  Google does provide a &#8220;Report abuse&#8221; link for every comment, but who knows how efficient it is?  It&#8217;s a valid concern.  Many of us are content providers and tend to see it from this angle first and foremost.  </p>
<p>We think:  <strong>SPAM</strong>.</p>
<p>If Google&#8217;s Gmail spam magic is ported to this somehow, then maybe we&#8217;ll be able to maintain our feedback loops effectively.  If things get out of control, Google will likely be forced to shut the whole thing down.  As Leo Laporte stated, <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/sidewiki/">the API</a> provided may make things manageable and easy to utilize as developers create plugins and widgets.  If companies like <a href="http://www.backtype.com">Backtype</a> utilize the API and aggregate comments, then I think it&#8217;ll make content providers a little happier. Time will tell.</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/bmccall?hl=en#sidewiki"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20090924-msqe6y1xaigmf3418pki4mswc7.preview.jpg" alt="Profile" hspace="2"  vspace="2" align="right" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>End users, however, have an effective way of leaving feedback globally.  No need to worry about commenting engines, accounts and the like.  If you&#8217;re a part of the Google universe (i.e. utilizing Google profiles) then it fits right in since your SideWiki comments are aggregated there complete with an RSS feed. (<a href="http://bit.ly/38lTC4">See mine here</a>)  I&#8217;ve played with it for a few hours and I can already see the convenience (other than the Google Toolbar requirement, but a <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5366923/read-google-sidewiki-comments-without-installing-google-toolbar">workaround is here</a>)  </p>
<p>I&#8217;m going to keep using Google Sidewiki for a few more days and see how things go.  As for the content on my site, maybe I&#8217;ll get a sense of how well Google&#8217;s abuse features work if someone were to abuse it.  Leave your comments in Sidewiki for this post if you like, or go old school and comment below.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader Shared Notes Feature'>Google Reader Shared Notes Feature</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2011/07/10/google-revitalizes-online-discussions/' rel='bookmark' title='Google+ Revitalizes Online Discussions'>Google+ Revitalizes Online Discussions</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2010/05/20/google-comes-out-swinging-at-io-10/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Comes Out Swinging At IO &#8217;10'>Google Comes Out Swinging At IO &#8217;10</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2009/09/24/google-sidewiki-shakes-up-the-web/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Google Sidewiki</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20090924-j8qhdc46j4agde366h2rpnjw5w.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Use Google Sidewiki without the Google Toolbar - Read Sidewiki Comments for any Site</media:title>
		</media:content>
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			<media:title type="html">Profile</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>FFHolic Provides The Best Of FriendFeed</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:16:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ffholic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[filter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[noise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toolbar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[widget]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=779</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The popular online discussion/aggregation service FriendFeed has a great deal of fans who swear by the service. Most of these fans have found the secret sauce in the sea of updates, duplicates, and as some would say, &#8220;noise&#8221;. This is great and everything, but it&#8217;s not an easy process to learn how to utilize the [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/06/14/friendfeed-still-reigns-as-conversation-king/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Still Reigns As Conversation King'>FriendFeed Still Reigns As Conversation King</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/04/07/friendfeed-filters-are-the-star-of-the-beta/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Filters Are The Star Of The Beta'>FriendFeed Filters Are The Star Of The Beta</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/01/22/embed-your-real-time-friendfeed-activity-on-your-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Embed Your Real-time FriendFeed Activity On Your Blog'>Embed Your Real-time FriendFeed Activity On Your Blog</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/"></a></div><p>The popular online discussion/aggregation service <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> has a great deal of fans who swear by the service.  Most of these fans have found the secret sauce in the sea of updates, duplicates, and as some would say, &#8220;noise&#8221;.  This is great and everything, but <strong>it&#8217;s not an easy process to learn how to utilize the tools FriendFeed provides to see the things you want</strong>.  <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-d1391rhkii99hf1c5e7wrbtt78.preview.jpg" alt="FriendFeed - 1-day Summary" hspace="2"  vspace="2" align="right" style="padding: 5px;" border="0"/></a>I&#8217;ve posted a <a href="http://www.bwana.org/tag/friendfeed/">couple of articles</a> on how to best filter the massive fire hose of information, but it&#8217;s definitely not for everyone.  <strong>What about those who just want to peruse FriendFeed to see what the most popular entries are?</strong>  FriendFeed added a feature a few months ago which shows the &#8220;best of&#8221; FriendFeed by day, week and month.  This is great if you want to be limited to your social circle, but what about the rest of FriendFeed?  </p>
<p>This is where a great service called <a href="http://www.ffholic.com/">FFHolic</a> comes in and saves the day.  FFHolic groks all of FriendFeed and displays the most popular stories grouped in many ways.  FFHolic shows you:</p>
<ul>
<li>Most discussed entries</li>
<li>Most liked entries</li>
<li>Most commented entries</li>
<li>Most popular users and rooms</li>
<li>Most active users and rooms</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.ffholic.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-kfn7jcufydgc8abbie5bp7cn7j.preview.jpg" alt="FFholic" border="0" /></a><br /><br/></p>
<p>These are just some of the ones to start with.  You can also show some of these entries by type such as videos, photos, and music.  It doesn&#8217;t stop there.  FFHolic provides a rich set of tools to get the best from FriendFeed.  There&#8217;s the <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8929">FFHolic toolbar</a> which puts all of the site right in your Firefox browser:</p>
<p><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8929"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-ntmscbrah7y3a91gf9genmng8c.preview.jpg" border="0" alt="Firefox" /></a><br /><br/></p>
<p>FFHolic also provides widgets to embed on your own website.  These widgets give you the option of showing your &#8220;best of&#8221; information or all of FriendFeed.  </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ffholic.com/Widgets.aspx"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-r6jgbjybeyeu23jn8mamegrd2p.preview.jpg" alt="FFholic"  border="0" /></a><br /><br/></p>
<p>Finally, FFHolic has RSS feeds for all of its data so you can subscribe to your favorite criteria.  If you use tools like Google Reader, Bloglines, Netvibes, iGoogle, or My Yahoo, then this may be a good option for you.</p>
<p>For new users of FriendFeed, FFHolic provides a fantastic springboard to see the best that FriendFeed has to offer.  It encourages those who are squeamish about filtering the massive amount of information FriendFeed provides, to continue to use FriendFeed to fit their needs.  If you&#8217;re on FriendFeed and enjoy FFHolic, join the <a href="http://friendfeed.com/rooms/friendfeedholic">FFHolic FriendFeed room</a> to discuss it and provide feedback.  </p>
<p>See you on FriendFeed.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/06/14/friendfeed-still-reigns-as-conversation-king/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Still Reigns As Conversation King'>FriendFeed Still Reigns As Conversation King</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/04/07/friendfeed-filters-are-the-star-of-the-beta/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Filters Are The Star Of The Beta'>FriendFeed Filters Are The Star Of The Beta</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/01/22/embed-your-real-time-friendfeed-activity-on-your-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Embed Your Real-time FriendFeed Activity On Your Blog'>Embed Your Real-time FriendFeed Activity On Your Blog</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-d1391rhkii99hf1c5e7wrbtt78.preview.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-d1391rhkii99hf1c5e7wrbtt78.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">FriendFeed - 1-day Summary</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-kfn7jcufydgc8abbie5bp7cn7j.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">FFholic</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-ntmscbrah7y3a91gf9genmng8c.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Firefox</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20081113-r6jgbjybeyeu23jn8mamegrd2p.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">FFholic</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>After 4 Months, Has Twitter Improved?</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/10/after-4-months-has-twitter-improved/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/10/after-4-months-has-twitter-improved/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:56:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Identi.ca]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[im]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microblogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[track]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=639</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s still not common knowledge among my online friends that I left Twitter on June 06, 2008. It&#8217;s been about 4 months since I did, and it seems like a lot has changed. Twitter is receiving praise for their improved &#8220;uptime&#8221; over the past months. Some have gone on record to state this could be [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/12/twitter-2008-get-used-to-it-goodbye-imtrack/' rel='bookmark' title='Twitter 2008: Get Used To It (Goodbye IM/Track)'>Twitter 2008: Get Used To It (Goodbye IM/Track)</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/16/the-reason-why-i-returned-to-twitter-track-is-dead/' rel='bookmark' title='The Reason Why I Returned to Twitter: Track is Dead'>The Reason Why I Returned to Twitter: Track is Dead</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/' rel='bookmark' title='My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours'>My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/10/after-4-months-has-twitter-improved/"></a></div><div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.twitter.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080427-8n4rxx4812qw1rnps9fcb7m72d.preview.jpg" alt="twitter_logo.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x295 pixels)" hspace="2"  vspace="2" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>  It&#8217;s still not common knowledge among my online friends that I left Twitter on June 06, 2008. It&#8217;s been about 4 months since I did, and it <em>seems</em> like a lot has changed.  Twitter is <a href="http://royal.pingdom.com/?p=346">receiving</a> <a href="http://status.twitter.com/post/41933950/continued-progress">praise</a> for their improved &#8220;uptime&#8221; over the past months.  Some have gone on record to state this could be the end of the &#8220;fail whale&#8221;.  I have a problem with this conclusion.  <strong>When a service is not working, it&#8217;s not <em>up</em></strong>.  </p>
<p>Period.  </p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://royal.pingdom.com/?p=346"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080910-thbstr1c4jeiy5n6nagnrgq4r8.preview.jpg" alt="Pixelmator" /></a><br /><br/></div>
<p>Twitter has had issues with their XMPP Instant Messaging (IM) feature and their Track feature.  <a href="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/">I went on record</a> to state that these features were my primary way to use Twitter.  Guess what?  <strong>Twitter IM and Track are still not working, and it seems like nobody cares</strong>.  These were two features which made Twitter great in my mind.  People seem content with &#8220;hacks&#8221; such as Summize search (now acquired and called <a href="http://search.twitter.com">Twitter search</a>) and <a href="http://www.techlifeweb.com/2008/07/07/how-to-set-up-twitterspy-in-google-talk/">Twitterspy</a>, which relies on the former.  This is not track.  This is a hack.  I&#8217;m not knocking the authors of Twitterspy because I think it&#8217;s a great way to get around the lack of track on Twitter.  It&#8217;s still a hack though.</p>
<p>Know what&#8217;s even worse?  <strong>Twitter is not even acknowledging the return of IM or Track</strong> in their latest status blog entries.  The last mention of the IM feature was <a href="http://status.twitter.com/post/41394529/maintenance-window-tonight">July 7th, 2008</a>, and the last mention of Track was <a href="http://status.twitter.com/post/38329626/end-of-week-update">June 13th, 2008</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Track: this service is disabled and will remain offline until it can be reworked</p></blockquote>
<p>I hope I&#8217;m missing something obvious, but I don&#8217;t think I am.  People like Steve Gillmor believe IM/Track conflicts with the business goals of Twitter and he believes this is why it&#8217;s possibly gone forever.  </p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://identi.ca/notice/337512"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080910-83r4n1xgw1pm6qgx8yq6htu927.preview.jpg" alt="stevegillmor's status on Wednesday, 20-Aug-08 01:46:06 UTC - Identi.ca" /></a><br /><br/></div>
<p>I don&#8217;t know the details behind this, but at this point, I don&#8217;t care.   Either remove the services from your offering or acknowledge your service is not up until IM and Track are working.</p>
<p>When Twitter brings these services back, then I can acknowledge such statements &#8220;99.3% uptime&#8221;.  Until then, I get a bad taste in my mouth when a company says their service is &#8220;up&#8221; and several features are disabled.  Disagree with me?  Well, ask Twitter who did they negotiate  their Service Level Agreement (SLA) with?  How can you boast about uptime with no SLA?</p>
<p>On the flip side, I&#8217;m glad to see Twitter getting mainstream coverage, <a href="http://mashable.com/2008/09/04/cnn-twitter/">like with CNN</a>.  I&#8217;m just saddened I can&#8217;t use it for anything other than a spamming platform, which I refuse to do.  <strong>So after 4 months, has Twitter improved?  No.  Why? Because it&#8217;s still down</strong>.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/12/twitter-2008-get-used-to-it-goodbye-imtrack/' rel='bookmark' title='Twitter 2008: Get Used To It (Goodbye IM/Track)'>Twitter 2008: Get Used To It (Goodbye IM/Track)</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/16/the-reason-why-i-returned-to-twitter-track-is-dead/' rel='bookmark' title='The Reason Why I Returned to Twitter: Track is Dead'>The Reason Why I Returned to Twitter: Track is Dead</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/' rel='bookmark' title='My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours'>My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">Pixelmator</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">stevegillmor's status on Wednesday, 20-Aug-08 01:46:06 UTC - Identi.ca</media:title>
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		<title>FriendFeed Enhances Podcasting Interactivity With Audio Sharing</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/02/friendfeed-enhances-podcasting-interactivity-with-audio-sharing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/02/friendfeed-enhances-podcasting-interactivity-with-audio-sharing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:14:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[podcast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=571</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a podcaster, I&#8217;m always looking for ways to enhance the experience for my listeners. The community not only wants to consume the content I produce, but many feel the need to contribute their thoughts and feedback. With the evolution of FriendFeed as the one stop shop for discussion surrounding the social web, it only [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/23/7-ways-to-utilize-friendfeed-rooms/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms'>7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/05/a-call-to-use-friendfeed-rooms-for-wwdc-keynote/' rel='bookmark' title='A Call to Use FriendFeed Rooms for WWDC Keynote'>A Call to Use FriendFeed Rooms for WWDC Keynote</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='FFHolic Provides The Best Of FriendFeed'>FFHolic Provides The Best Of FriendFeed</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/02/friendfeed-enhances-podcasting-interactivity-with-audio-sharing/"></a></div><p><a href="http://www.friendfeed.com"><img src="http://www.bwana.org/images/logo-b.png" border="0" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a>As a <a href="http://radio.bwana.org">podcaster</a>, I&#8217;m always looking for ways to enhance the experience for my listeners.  The community not only wants to consume the content I produce, but many feel the need to contribute their thoughts and feedback.  With the evolution of <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed </a>as the one stop shop for discussion surrounding the social web, it only makes sense to try to utilize it for podcasting.  With the addition of <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com/rooms">FriendFeed rooms</a>, we were given a mechanism to capture feedback surrounding our shows, giving us a convenient and powerful way to create a usable forum.  </p>
<p>Now, things have gotten better.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.friendfeed.com/2008/06/more-media-amongst-messages.html" title="FriendFeed audio sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2631032989_dc9a6a8afa_o.png" width="523" height="129" alt="FriendFeed audio sharing" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.friendfeed.com/2008/06/more-media-amongst-messages.html">FriendFeed has launched audio sharing</a>.  What is audio sharing?  As with <a href="http://www.pownce.com">Pownce</a>, you can share an audio file on FriendFeed, and the file is playable right on FriendFeed&#8217;s website using a flash embed.  What&#8217;s also very nice, is that this feature honors RSS enclosures.  <strong>So, if you are feeding your podcast RSS feed to FriendFeed, your podcasts are automatically playable right within FriendFeed!</strong> Combine this with rooms, and you instantly have an interactive forum with multimedia capabilities.  Starting today, I&#8217;m going to use my <a href="http://friendfeed.com/rooms/bwana-org-radio">Bwana.org Radio FriendFeed room</a> as my official forum for the podcast.</p>
<p><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AcCuCAA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="298" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></p>
<p>The next step is <a href="http://www.bwana.tv">video</a>.  FriendFeed, are you listening? <img src='http://www.bwana.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/23/7-ways-to-utilize-friendfeed-rooms/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms'>7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/05/a-call-to-use-friendfeed-rooms-for-wwdc-keynote/' rel='bookmark' title='A Call to Use FriendFeed Rooms for WWDC Keynote'>A Call to Use FriendFeed Rooms for WWDC Keynote</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/11/13/ffholic-provides-the-best-of-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='FFHolic Provides The Best Of FriendFeed'>FFHolic Provides The Best Of FriendFeed</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Intense Debate Is the Easy Choice</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/12/intense-debate-is-the-easy-choice/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/12/intense-debate-is-the-easy-choice/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[comments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disqus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intense debate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intensedebate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=568</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while ago, I wrote about my difficult decision between choosing from the commenting systems, Disqus and Intense Debate. Much has changed since that post, including Disqus&#8217;s support of video comments and now, Intense Debate&#8217;s support of FriendFeed. At this moment, the only benefit I see of using Disqus over Intense Debate is its support [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/14/intense-debate-or-disqus-im-torn/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.'>Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/07/why-i-like-intense-debate/' rel='bookmark' title='Why I Like Intense Debate'>Why I Like Intense Debate</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/23/intense-debate-now-a-part-of-automattic/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate Now a Part of Automattic'>Intense Debate Now a Part of Automattic</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/12/intense-debate-is-the-easy-choice/"></a></div><p><a href="http://www.intensedebate.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080507-fqi9wcb8t4ms8eymhkpbum3cqy.preview.jpg" border="0" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a> A while ago, <a href="http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/14/intense-debate-or-disqus-im-torn/">I wrote about</a> my difficult decision between choosing from the commenting systems, <a href="http://www.disqus.com">Disqus</a> and <a href="http://www.intensedebate.com">Intense Debate</a>. Much has changed since that post, including <a href="http://blog.disqus.net/2008/05/14/disqus-now-with-100-more-video/">Disqus&#8217;s support of video comments</a> and now, <a href="http://www.intensedebate.com/blog/2008/06/11/intensedebate-friendfeed/">Intense Debate&#8217;s support of FriendFeed</a>.  <strong>At this moment, the only benefit I see of using Disqus over Intense Debate is its support of video comments</strong>.  This makes the decision a lot easier for me.  Now that Intense Debate supports <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a>, it becomes a no-brainer:</p>
<p><strong>The ability to import and export existing comments with ease propels Intense Debate as the clear winner.</strong></p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://friendfeed.com/e/5cff40a5-e47d-9903-ed21-7196fa879841/Intense-Debate-New-IntenseDebate-Features-Reply/"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080612-rg1u3n99n78dpungpthjkbx9cm.preview.jpg" alt="Intense Debate : New IntenseDebate Features: Reply By Email, FreindFeed, Me.dium, &#038; Orkut Integration - FriendFeed" /></a><br /><br/></div>
<p>Both Disqus and Intense Debate now support FriendFeed, both have great moderation options, both have a decent reputation system.  The huge difference here is that my existing data is safe AND my future data is easily accessible.  I realize Disqus has data portability options available, but Intense Debate&#8217;s are much simpler in my mind.  I also realize, with Disqus, you can keep your existing comments on your blog and only use Disqus for new posts.  (Intense Debate has the same option)  While this workaround may be sufficient for some, I&#8217;m not a big fan of keeping two separate commenting systems on the same blog.  Intense Debate&#8217;s solution is more elegant, seamless, and easier for the user to use and maintain.  </p>
<p>I commend the folks over at Intense Debate and FriendFeed for making this happen, and I&#8217;m glad I was patient with Intense Debate.  <strong>I&#8217;m quite confident I&#8217;ve made the right choice</strong>.  <a href="http://friendfeed.com/public?service=intensedebate">Take a look at the Intense Debate comments on FriendFeed</a>.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/14/intense-debate-or-disqus-im-torn/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.'>Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/07/why-i-like-intense-debate/' rel='bookmark' title='Why I Like Intense Debate'>Why I Like Intense Debate</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/23/intense-debate-now-a-part-of-automattic/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate Now a Part of Automattic'>Intense Debate Now a Part of Automattic</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>22</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Intense Debate : New IntenseDebate Features: Reply By Email, FreindFeed, Me.dium, &#038; Orkut Integration - FriendFeed</media:title>
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		<title>Plurk: What&#8217;s the Big Deal?</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/04/plurk-whats-the-big-deal/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/04/plurk-whats-the-big-deal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plurk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=566</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When a new Twitter clone emerges in an already crowded space, it is easy to denounce it as just another wanna-be and classify it as a failure. No one knew Twitter would take the internet by storm, competitors such as Jaiku and Pownce are still thriving today, but they are nowhere near the size Twitter [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/' rel='bookmark' title='My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours'>My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/05/kwippy-offers-stability-first/' rel='bookmark' title='Kwippy Offers Stability First'>Kwippy Offers Stability First</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/17/10-days-without-twitter/' rel='bookmark' title='10 Days Without Twitter'>10 Days Without Twitter</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/04/plurk-whats-the-big-deal/"></a></div><div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.plurk.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080604-py65ryrwwf2k53ai2mpyx2auym.preview.jpg" alt="Your life, on the line - Plurk.com" border="0" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>When a new <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a> clone emerges in an <a href="http://friendfeed.com/e/59009250-8112-44cb-b442-5676dde93dc1">already crowded space</a>, it is easy to denounce it as just another wanna-be and classify it as a failure.   No one knew Twitter would take the internet by storm, competitors such as <a href="http://www.jaiku.com">Jaiku</a> and <a href="http://www.pownce.com">Pownce</a> are still thriving today, but they are nowhere near the size Twitter is.</p>
<p>Enter <a href="http://www.plurk.com">Plurk</a>.  Plurk?  Are you kidding me?  What kind of a name is Plurk?</p>
<blockquote><p>Noun. plurk (plüer-kh) &#8211; A really snazzy site that allows you to showcase the events that make up your life in deliciously digestible chunks. Low in fat, 5 calories per serving, yet chock full of goodness.</p>
<p>Verb. plurk (plüer-kh) &#8211; To chronicle the events of your always on, action-packed, storybook, semi-charmed kinda life.</p></blockquote>
<p>Well, <em>that</em> clears things up.  </p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/c6yi/16-unread-bwana-plurk.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080604-xmpyqgumw64ntb7er2na4ry1e8.preview.jpg" alt="16 unread - bwana - Plurk.com" /></a><br /><br/></div>
<p>Anyway, Plurk is a relatively new service which emulates Twitter&#8217;s notion of short status updates.  Plurk is centered around the notion of &#8220;Karma&#8221;, which is a point-reward system for participating in discussions and using the service.  The interface on the web site mimics a river of moving information.  The bottom axis is the time of day and the updates travel along it.  There is emphasis on specific verbs such as &#8220;is, thinks, shares&#8221;.  <strong>At first glance, it&#8217;s a horrible representation of status updates</strong>.  Twitter has taught us that updates in 140 characters or less should always be displayed in a vertical, tabular format.  Just look at <a href="http://summize.com/search?q=plurk">all the bashing going on at Twitter</a>, it&#8217;s not easy to read coming from that world.  Plurk aims to thrash this mindset and present the data in a new fashion.  A daunting task, indeed.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s talk about more of the features:</p>
<li><strong>Jabber/IM functionality</strong> &#8211; The IM bot, plurkbuddy, allows you to send and receive messages from your friend list.  You can reply to certain threads by using the @ notation.  Each message is preceeded by a number, and to reply to that message, use @[number] [reply message]</li>
<li><strong>Mobile support</strong> &#8211; On your mobile device, navigate to <a href="http://www.plurk.com/m">http://www.plurk.com/m</a> to see a much more traditional interface to Plurk.  Here you can do the basic functions of plurk such as sending and receiving messages; however, you are limited to one page of messages</li>
<li><strong>Friend import</strong> &#8211; Plurk has several mechanism for finding and inviting your friends.  You can import via email address books (Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Live, MSN), via IM (MSN/Live, AIM, Yahoo),  and via email invitations.  There are basic hooks into Facebook as well. </li>
<li><strong>Friend grouping</strong> &#8211; Plurk employs a basic friend organization feature, called &#8220;cliques&#8221; where you can send messages to groups of friends you specify.  It&#8217;s not like FriendFeed groups as it is a personal means of organization.</li>
<li><strong>In-line conversations</strong> &#8211; Plurk&#8217;s unique time line includes a nifty AJAX interface which allows you to easily post replies to &#8220;Plurks&#8221;.  If you leave these miniature windows open, the conversation updates in (semi)real-time, giving it a very instant messaging type feel.</li>
<li><strong>In-line video/image support </strong>- Much like Pownce, Plurk supports embedding Youtube videos and flickr images simply by linking to them in the update.</li>
<p>I&#8217;ve provided a video walkthrough of some of Plurk&#8217;s features including the mobile interface:</p>
<p><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AbuYcwA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="277" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve used Plurk for almost a week (karma 38.07 at the time of this post), and I&#8217;ve found some of it&#8217;s initial shortcomings are not as huge as some make it out to be.  Some obvious areas of improvement include:</p>
<li><strong>API</strong> &#8211; Plurk definitely needs an API to succeed.  According their developers, it is on the list of things to do right after they deal with scaling (maybe they&#8217;re learning from Twitter?)</li>
<li><strong>Revamp of interface/optional views</strong> &#8211; While the timeline view is innovative, it&#8217;s not for everyone.  I think giving users a choice of using this interface and a traditional one will win over the hearts and minds of those on the fence.</li>
<li><strong>Extend mobile capabilities </strong>- <strike>The mobile interface is almost perfect, except it lacks history/archiving and filtering.  The API may solve some of these shortcomings, but the mobile site as it stands is limited.</strike> UPDATE:  The mobile site now has archiving</li>
<li><strong>SMS support</strong> &#8211; This is a must have.  A blog post on the <a href="http://blog.plurk.com">Plurk blog</a> hints that this may be on the horizon as it states &#8220;<a href="http://blog.plurk.com/2008/06/03/carrier-is-coming/">Carrier coming</a>&#8220;.  We need SMS.</li>
<p><strong>So what&#8217;s the big deal with Plurk?</strong></p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://plurk.ryanlim.com/graph.php?nick_name%5B%5D=bwana"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080604-xcujd2s8budcwnjex7jyr8bk15.preview.jpg" alt="plurk karma trends" /></a><br /><br/></div>
<p><strong>I believe Plurk is a strong candidate as a Twitter replacement for many people</strong>.  Hear me out.  Plurk <em>encourages</em> use of its system with Karma.  The more Karma you accumulate, the more features you obtain. (currently only emoticons and profile features, but this can easily be extended).  In an age where kids buy crappy Xbox 360 games <a href="http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/02/01/540575.aspx">simply to increase their gamerscore and unlock achievements</a>, this is a huge advantage.  Sure, it&#8217;s not for everyone, but there are a lot of potential users who would be addicted to Plurk not for the utility, but for the fun.  I mean, who doesn&#8217;t like statistics?  Think about why Jaiku and Pownce are lacking users.  (Most) People stopped using them because everyone was on Twitter.  There was little reason to go back if your friends were on Twitter.  <strong>Plurk gives the user an incentive to return and to keep Plurking</strong>.  That&#8217;s powerful.</p>
<p>I know there are many early adopters who believe Karma is stupid and don&#8217;t understand the appeal, but how many of those same brilliant minds could grasp the appeal of Twitter during it&#8217;s inception?  Not many.  </p>
<p><strong>I can safely say that Plurk has grown on me</strong>.  While I don&#8217;t see it as an immediate Twitter killer at the moment, I do see a great deal of momentum forming with <a href="http://status.twitter.com">Twitter&#8217;s issues</a>.  A wise man said: &#8220;<em>The longer Twitter has issues and prohibits the user from using it, the more likely the user is going to forget why they fell in love with it in the first place</em>&#8220;.  The clock is definitely ticking.  Twitter&#8217;s uptime has become the exception and not the norm. I do understand that the website is generally up, but for many, Twitter&#8217;s advantage to other services come from IM/Jabber and tracking capabilities, which are currently down.  The API is also in a crippled state.</p>
<p>If you find Plurk interesting, come on by and <a href="http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_uid=8636&#038;check=726756715&#038;s=1">sign up</a>.  <a href="http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_uid=8636&#038;check=726756715&#038;s=1">Using this link</a> will increase my karma (lol), and also automatically add me to your friends list.  (Hey, at least I&#8217;m honest <img src='http://www.bwana.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> )  Once you get started, here are some resources that may interest you:</p>
<li><a href="http://plurk.ryanlim.com/help">The unofficial Plurk FAQ</a></li>
<li><a href="http://plurk.ryanlim.com/">Plurk Karma trends</a></li>
<li><a href="http://daisyolsen.com/plurktionary/">Plurktionary</a></li>
<p>Short summary:  <strong>There&#8217;s much more to Plurk that meets the eye</strong>.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/' rel='bookmark' title='My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours'>My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/05/kwippy-offers-stability-first/' rel='bookmark' title='Kwippy Offers Stability First'>Kwippy Offers Stability First</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/17/10-days-without-twitter/' rel='bookmark' title='10 Days Without Twitter'>10 Days Without Twitter</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/04/plurk-whats-the-big-deal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>20</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Your life, on the line - Plurk.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080604-xmpyqgumw64ntb7er2na4ry1e8.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">16 unread - bwana - Plurk.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080604-xcujd2s8budcwnjex7jyr8bk15.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">plurk karma trends</media:title>
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		<title>Google Reader Shared Notes Feature</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2008 04:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aggregation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shared]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=548</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, Google announced a cool new feature to Google Reader: The ability to share an item with a note. I could see this being useful for me and my podcast as Google Reader shared items is my primary source for collecting links to podcast about. Now I can do this outside of Google Reader by [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Replaces Google Reader?  Maybe'>FriendFeed Replaces Google Reader?  Maybe</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2006/10/11/google-reader-ftw/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader FTW'>Google Reader FTW</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2005/10/07/google-reader/' rel='bookmark' title='google rss reader'>google rss reader</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/"></a></div><p>Today, Google announced a cool new feature to Google Reader:  The ability to <a href="http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2008/05/share-anything-anytime-anywhere.html">share an item with a note</a>.  I could see this being useful for me and <a href="http://radio.bwana.org">my podcast</a> as Google Reader shared items is my primary source for collecting links to podcast about.  Now I can do this outside of Google Reader by using the bookmarklet and also append a note about the story to use during podcasting.  I didn&#8217;t want to use Google Shared Items for this as I do a lot of my link gathering through Google Reader, but occasionally, I&#8217;l stumble across something in Twitter or FriendFeed that I want to discuss.  This note feature will work perfectly with that.</p>
<p>Now <a href="http://friendfeed.com/e/5c2b6d96-f59c-16cb-ab20-5dde03c31b82">there are some</a> who believe this feature is lacking, and while I agree, I think it&#8217;s outside the scope of the its intent.  It sounds as if people want this to be FriendFeed and it&#8217;s not.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437" height="370" id="viddler_5eaa08c7"><param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/5eaa08c7/" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/5eaa08c7/" width="437" height="370" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" name="viddler_5eaa08c7" ></embed></object></p>
<p>At any rate, I&#8217;ll definitely get some use out of it, especially given the amount of time I use Google Reader.  Now all we need is the ability to do this from the iPhone and my workflow will be much smoother <img src='http://www.bwana.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Update:  FriendFeed <a href="http://friendfeed.com/e/a2b0c5dc-90d5-12be-f616-9d0bf50feed9">now imports</a> Google Reader Shared Item Notes.  Scary fast.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/' rel='bookmark' title='FriendFeed Replaces Google Reader?  Maybe'>FriendFeed Replaces Google Reader?  Maybe</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2006/10/11/google-reader-ftw/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader FTW'>Google Reader FTW</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2005/10/07/google-reader/' rel='bookmark' title='google rss reader'>google rss reader</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Twitter-Fu is Better Than Yours</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:49:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=546</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Twitter has become part of my daily routine here at bwana.world, and I&#8217;ve found that while there are many interesting people on it, I don&#8217;t want to know everything about them. There are plenty of people who love to use Twitter to follow everyone that follows them. While I understand some of their reasoning, I [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/10/after-4-months-has-twitter-improved/' rel='bookmark' title='After 4 Months, Has Twitter Improved?'>After 4 Months, Has Twitter Improved?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/17/10-days-without-twitter/' rel='bookmark' title='10 Days Without Twitter'>10 Days Without Twitter</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/08/05/twitter-trending-topics-are-they-useful/' rel='bookmark' title='Twitter Trending Topics: Are They Useful?'>Twitter Trending Topics: Are They Useful?</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/"></a></div><div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.twitter.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080427-8n4rxx4812qw1rnps9fcb7m72d.preview.jpg" alt="twitter_logo.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x295 pixels)" hspace="2"  vspace="2" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/bwana">Twitter</a> has become part of my daily routine here at bwana.world, and I&#8217;ve found that while there are many interesting people on it, I don&#8217;t want to know everything about them.  There are plenty of people who love to use Twitter <a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/04/23/how-do-you-choose-to-use-twitter/">to follow everyone that follows them</a>.  While I understand some of their reasoning, I don&#8217;t agree with taking in all that personal data from others as it is my belief that it can affect you.  As with most technologies I use on the web, there must be some sort of filter or sanity.  It&#8217;s <a href="http://www.bwana.tv/2008/03/23/friendfeed-filtering/">true with FriendFeed</a>, and it&#8217;s true with Twitter.</p>
<p>I want to share with you my technique for using Twitter.  I don&#8217;t expect everyone who reads this to agree with it, but I do hope you find some bit of knowledge you didn&#8217;t already know.  The technique I use is simple:  <strong>Separate personal twitter from the overall noise</strong>.  In order to do this, I use two programs:  <a href="http://www.twhirl.org">twhirl</a> and <a href="http://www.adiumx.com">Adium</a>.  One is an <a href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air/">Adobe Air</a> client, the other is a Google talk interface to Twitter.</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/kjp1/twitter"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080427-nmsgqeh56ebqwwnsej1mi2cxbs.preview.jpg" alt="Twitter" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #808080">Uploaded with <a href="http://plasq.com/">plasq</a>&#8216;s <a href="http://skitch.com">Skitch</a>!</span></div>
<li>With twhirl, I send tweets and reply to conversations.  With it&#8217;s all-in-one timeline, I can easily see who is talking to me and respond quickly.  I also have all the features of twhirl at my disposal for searching, dealing with links, posting pictures and more.</li>
<li>With Adium, I use Twitters &#8220;track&#8221; feature to track certain keywords.  This technique allows me to filter the massive amounts of data twitter has to offer, for keywords I am interested in.  This may vary from day to day, but it easily changeable within Adium.
</li>
<p>This video demonstrates and explains more:</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437" height="370" id="viddler_e9eedb33"><param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/e9eedb33/" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/e9eedb33/" width="437" height="370" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" name="viddler_e9eedb33" ></embed></object></p>
<p>So why use two programs instead of one?  It&#8217;s easy.  I&#8217;d rather use twhirl&#8217;s interface for creating and responding, but Adium barely gets touched.  I only touch Adium when I click on a link or I add/remove a tracking term.  It&#8217;s not as bad as it seems, but the reward is great.  I get to sift through a LOT of noise, and have plenty of meaningful discussions, find new links, find new people, and do it all with a pleasant interface and a global filter.  That&#8217;s it in a nutshell.</p>
<p>So what do you think?  How do you use Twitter?  Please leave a text or video comment as I&#8217;m open to new ideas.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/09/10/after-4-months-has-twitter-improved/' rel='bookmark' title='After 4 Months, Has Twitter Improved?'>After 4 Months, Has Twitter Improved?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/06/17/10-days-without-twitter/' rel='bookmark' title='10 Days Without Twitter'>10 Days Without Twitter</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2009/08/05/twitter-trending-topics-are-they-useful/' rel='bookmark' title='Twitter Trending Topics: Are They Useful?'>Twitter Trending Topics: Are They Useful?</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/26/my-twitter-fu-is-better-than-yours/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">twitter_logo.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x295 pixels)</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080427-nmsgqeh56ebqwwnsej1mi2cxbs.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Twitter</media:title>
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		<title>Seesmic Enables Video Commenting</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:02:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seesmic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Video blogging has been atop of my interests lately and while I haven&#8217;t found my video micro-blogging solution yet, I am experimenting with various video commenting solutions for my WordPress blog. I installed Viddler&#8216;s wordpress plugin which allows video comments. It was easy to install and worked like a charm. Today, Seesmic has announced a [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/' rel='bookmark' title='In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution'>In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/08/feedlys-friendfeed-aggregation-do-want/' rel='bookmark' title='Feedly&#8217;s FriendFeed Aggregation [Do Want]'>Feedly&#8217;s FriendFeed Aggregation [Do Want]</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/14/intense-debate-or-disqus-im-torn/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.'>Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/"></a></div><p>Video blogging has been atop of my interests lately and while I haven&#8217;t found my <a href="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/">video micro-blogging solution</a> yet, I am experimenting with various video commenting solutions for my <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a> blog.  I installed <a href="http://www.viddler.com">Viddler</a>&#8216;s <a href="http://wiki.developers.viddler.com/index.php/WPViddlerVideoComments">wordpress plugin</a> which allows video comments.  It was easy to install and worked like a charm.</p>
<p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Floiclemeur%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F854806&#038;brandlink=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dbrandlink&#038;brandname=blip%2Etv&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" width="400" height="255" allowfullscreen="true" id="showplayer"><param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Floiclemeur%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F854806&#038;brandlink=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dbrandlink&#038;brandname=blip%2Etv&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" /><param name="quality" value="best" /><embed src="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Floiclemeur%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F854806&#038;brandlink=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dbrandlink&#038;brandname=blip%2Etv&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" quality="best" width="400" height="255" name="showplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p>
<p>Today, <a href="http://www.seesmic.com">Seesmic</a> has announced a WordPress comment plugin which allows video integration with your WordPress blog.  It allows you to:</p>
<ol>
<li>Post a video blog post on your WordPress blog</li>
<li>Allow users to post video comments on blog posts</li>
</ol>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/knmq/seesmic-enables-video-commenting-bwana.org"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080423-8g68t353tb2wuyfac2chmnxw2.preview.jpg" alt="Seesmic Enables Video Commenting | Bwana.org" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="right" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>I&#8217;ve installed this plugin on this blog for the time being and I&#8217;ve found one feature that makes it very very useful:  <strong>Anonymous video commenting</strong>.  While the plugin does allow you to use your existing Seesmic credentials to post, most users may not want to create a Seesmic account just for a comment.  I find this will encourage more users to post a video comment.  On the flip side, it&#8217;s also a little scary that anonymous users can post a video comment <img src='http://www.bwana.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />   @<a href="http://twitter.com/Critter/statuses/794812704">Critter</a> on Twitter assures me that Seesmic video comments can be moderated just like regular WordPress comments, but I&#8217;m still a little scared as to what may fall in my moderation queue <img src='http://www.bwana.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>All in all, Seesmic&#8217;s WordPress comment is a winner and now Viddler has a direct competitor in the form of video commenting on WordPress blogs.  Which is better?  I think it&#8217;s way too early to say.  Both are easy to use, both are well integrated with WordPress, but Seesmic allows anonymous video comments which may be its main advantage.  You be the judge.   Want a Seesmic account?  Check this out:</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/knma/twitter-loic-le-meur-popsonar-add-getseesmic-t"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080423-j986h5r15uh8e552bga43t5jw5.preview.jpg" alt="Twitter / Loic Le Meur: @popsonar add @getseesmic t..." /></a></div>
<p>
I don&#8217;t know if this is common knowledge, but if I were you, I&#8217;d jump on it!  Feel free to leave a video comment on this blog post to test it out for yourself and also, to tell me what you think about Seesmic new WordPress plugin.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/' rel='bookmark' title='In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution'>In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/07/08/feedlys-friendfeed-aggregation-do-want/' rel='bookmark' title='Feedly&#8217;s FriendFeed Aggregation [Do Want]'>Feedly&#8217;s FriendFeed Aggregation [Do Want]</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/14/intense-debate-or-disqus-im-torn/' rel='bookmark' title='Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.'>Intense Debate or Disqus?  I&#8217;m torn.</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Seesmic Enables Video Commenting &#124; Bwana.org</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Twitter / Loic Le Meur: @popsonar add @getseesmic t...</media:title>
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		<title>In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:46:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flickr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[micro-blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seesmic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[viddler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Youtube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=541</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey guys, what's the best solution for video micro-blogging?  I document my quest here, but I'm interested in your thoughts.
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/' rel='bookmark' title='Seesmic Enables Video Commenting'>Seesmic Enables Video Commenting</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2007/04/08/video-blogging-week-finished/' rel='bookmark' title='Video Blogging Week Finished'>Video Blogging Week Finished</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/' rel='bookmark' title='Flickr Video:  I like it.'>Flickr Video:  I like it.</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/"></a></div><p>As we become spread out on the internet, we find that we have less time to concentrate on one thought.  Over the years, we&#8217;ve created a new disease that I call IIADD which stands for I.nternet I.nduced A.ttention D.eficit D.isorder.  I have it and if you&#8217;re reading this, you probably have it to.   We can&#8217;t focus on one blog post, one web page, one application at a time.  We tend to jump around from post to post, thought to thought, application to application, forever trying to satisfy our lust for more knowledge.  </p>
<p><span id="more-541"></span></p>
<p>As a result, we&#8217;ve taken internet publishing to the &#8220;micro&#8221; level.  We publish snippets of audio, text, and images on what we dub &#8220;micro-blogs&#8221;.  This gives us an excuse to cherish and nurture our IIADD.  <em>&#8220;Hey, I just read this great post on <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com">TechCrunch</a>&#8230; Ooo look, this <a href="http://www.flickr.com">Flickr</a> image of a bird chasing its tail!&#8230; I need to record a podcast&#8230;Maybe I&#8217;ll eat spaghetti tonight&#8230;Ooo food network has a great recipe&#8230;Wow <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> is weird, I need to get used to it&#8230;. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y">I like turtles</a>&#8220;</em>.   You know I what I mean.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">Micro-blogging</a> is the new <em>black</em> on the internets.  </p>
<blockquote><p>Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.<br />-<em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">Wikipedia</a></em></p></blockquote>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/j2mi/untitled"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-eshkhs76jynna699djm79qbujx.preview.jpg" alt="Video Services" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>Although that&#8217;s a fairly accurate definition, Wikipedia failed to mention one medium:  Video.  As our dump trucks fill up with more and more information, we are able to push video media fairly easily these days.  <a href="http://www.youtube.com">Youtube</a>, <a href="http://www.viddler.com">Viddler</a>, and <a href="http://www.seesmic.com">Seesmic</a> (and others not mentioned) allow us to record a video directly from our web browser.  The only requirement is a webcam or camera connected to one&#8217;s computer.  </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve decided to embrace video micro-blogging here on Bwana.org.  Why?  Believe it or not, I once vowed never to do online video, which is why I jokingly made my <a href="http://www.bwana.tv">Bwana.TV</a> motto, &#8220;..And you said it couldn&#8217;t be done&#8221;.  Now I have a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iobuffa">partnered Youtube channel</a> and have produced hundreds of videos that are well received by the <em>informationsphere</em>.  I also do <a href="http://live.bwana.tv">live video streaming</a> via <a href="http://ustream.tv">Ustream.TV</a> and stream <a href="http://radio.bwana.org">my audio podcast</a> production daily for the world to enjoy.  I&#8217;ve decided to do this <strong>because video is where it&#8217;s at</strong>.  Also, I&#8217;ve decided to go in this direction because my IIADD said so.</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.theleetgeeks.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-84bfgs2qbwmdeeaxyn1b9mxwmk.preview.jpg" alt="The LeetGeeks" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="right" style="padding: 5px;" /></a></div>
<p>On Bwana.org&#8217;s <a href="http://www.bwana.org">main page</a>, you&#8217;ll find a video on the top right.  This idea was influenced by both <a href="http://chris.pirillo.com">Chris Pirillo</a>, and the guys behind <a href="http://www.theleetgeeks.com">theleetgeeks.com</a> (<a href="http://wirelesspacket.org/">wirelesspacket</a>, <a href="http://www.bluefoxonline.com">bluefox</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/4four1ones">4four1ones</a>).  Chris embeds his <a href="http://live.pirillo.com">live video stream</a> on every page of his blog, chris.pirillo.com.  As a result, his audience grows by leaps and bounds daily.  I played with this idea many times, but never streamed consistently enough to make my show grow the same.  The site, <a href="http://www.theleetgeeks.com">theleetgeeks.com</a>, has a wonderful layout which I believe was led by a great web developer, bluefox.  They have embedded a small video micro-entry on the top right of their page.  After I saw that, I was influenced and began to think:  </p>
<p>How can I do that on Bwana.org effectively?</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.seesmic.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-f9sq5fi6mgegg5sd4jxiuktfns.preview.jpg" alt="Seesmic" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>My first thought was <a href="http://www.seesmic.com">Seesmic</a>.  Seesmic&#8217;s sole purpose is video micro-blogging.  It is there for you to record short snippets of video, <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a> style.  There is one problem.  Seesmic is in &#8220;beta&#8221;, more like &#8220;alpha&#8221; if you ask me.  I do not agree with the interface and it still has work to be done.  I&#8217;m not trying to knock Seesmic, it&#8217;s just I recognize it for what it is:  A work in progress.  With <a href="http://loiclemeur.com/english/2008/04/20-reasons-why.html">their acquisition</a> of <a href="http://www.twhirl.org">Twhirl</a> already making waves on the almighty tubes, Seesmic has a bright future.  I&#8217;ll be watching them closely. [Update: Seesmic was going through a hardware migration today which explained some of my issues.  In that light, they still aren't ready for prime time, but I want to use them]</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.viddler.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-d1d3dk7x7tgwykq63km12dcs1j.jpg" alt="Viddler" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="right" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>My next thought was <a href="http://www.viddler.com">Viddler</a>.  Viddler has proved to be a very reliable and flexible platform for publishing video.  Their use of inline video commenting is nothing short of ground breaking.  I uploaded a test video there today and gave it a shot.  While it worked for the most part, I would have preferred a much more elegant solution for my <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a> blog.  Namely, I want a simple tag to put in my template which shows a static video, or the latest video in a RSS feed (namely a feed based on a particular tag).  This solution has potential, but some kinks need to be worked out to fit my workflow.</p>
<div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://www.flickr.com"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-gjbjrgh3q9yp4gn2c1awccrr9n.preview.jpg" alt="Welcome to Flickr!" hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>Finally, I moved to <a href="http://www.flickr.com">Flickr Video</a>.  Flickr does Video?  Yeah.  First, the limitations: 150MB file size and 90 seconds of video.  My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwana/2421134149/">test video</a> (after encoding/compression through <a href="http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/">VisualHub</a>) came to 4.4MB and 32 seconds.  Ok, that shouldn&#8217;t be a problem.  The next task was ease of integration.  The situation was almost identical to Viddler&#8217;s.  I&#8217;d have to manually copy and paste (or later script) the embed code into an include file on my server to show the latest/desired video.  Flickr video seems perfect for video micro-blogging as it forces you to condense your material like Twitter (140 characters or less).  This solution is what I&#8217;m currently testing, but I&#8217;m not sure it&#8217;s my final one.</p>
<p>So what say you?  What is the best video micro-blogging solution for you?  I&#8217;m definitely open to new suggestions.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/' rel='bookmark' title='Seesmic Enables Video Commenting'>Seesmic Enables Video Commenting</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2007/04/08/video-blogging-week-finished/' rel='bookmark' title='Video Blogging Week Finished'>Video Blogging Week Finished</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/' rel='bookmark' title='Flickr Video:  I like it.'>Flickr Video:  I like it.</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>11</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-eshkhs76jynna699djm79qbujx.preview.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-eshkhs76jynna699djm79qbujx.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Video Services</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-84bfgs2qbwmdeeaxyn1b9mxwmk.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">The LeetGeeks</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-f9sq5fi6mgegg5sd4jxiuktfns.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Seesmic</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-d1d3dk7x7tgwykq63km12dcs1j.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Viddler</media:title>
		</media:content>
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080418-gjbjrgh3q9yp4gn2c1awccrr9n.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Welcome to Flickr!</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>7 Ways to Improve Alert Thingy</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/13/7-ways-to-improve-alert-thingy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/13/7-ways-to-improve-alert-thingy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:21:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adobe air]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alert thingy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feedback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=540</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Adobe AIR client, Alert Thingy, for FriendFeed launched. While it shows great potential, and is very young at version 1.0, there are areas that it can definitely improve. I&#8217;ve been using it for about an hour now and while I like it, there are some frustrating points which I believe should be addressed. Here [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/23/7-ways-to-utilize-friendfeed-rooms/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms'>7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/28/4-ways-to-enhance-your-blog-with-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='4 Ways to Enhance Your Blog With FriendFeed'>4 Ways to Enhance Your Blog With FriendFeed</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/16/7-ways-to-harness-the-power-of-real-time-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways To Harness The Power Of Real-time FriendFeed'>7 Ways To Harness The Power Of Real-time FriendFeed</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/13/7-ways-to-improve-alert-thingy/"></a></div><div class="thumbnail"><a href="http://skitch.com/bwana/jpsm/alert-thingy"><img src="http://img.skitch.com/20080413-buf3k6p4r6mq52wp4dgmb3814s.preview.jpg" alt="Alert Thingy"  hspace="5"  vspace="5" align="left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></div>
<p>The <a href="http://www.adobe.com/air">Adobe AIR</a> client, <a href="http://alertthingy.com">Alert Thingy</a>, for <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> launched.  While it shows great potential, and is very young at version 1.0, there are areas that it can definitely improve.  I&#8217;ve been using it for about an hour now and while I like it, there are some frustrating points which I believe should be addressed.</p>
<p>Here are 7 reasons that I&#8217;ve already <a href="mailto:help@alertthingy.com">sent the author</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li>Finite control of transparency and colors.  People are picky about this one.  While I like the default color scheme, others might not.  The default transparency could use a slider control as well.</li>
<li>Control of how many comments to show in the window.  Maybe there&#8217;s a way to collapse comments similar to the way FriendFeed does.  Just look at <a href="http://friendfeed.com/e/ade6fee2-fdd5-11dc-b52c-003048343a40">Bret Taylor&#8217;s post on FriendFeed</a> as an example.</li>
<li>This may go to point 1, but I think we need an option to dress up the service icons a bit.  If you introduce a theming system, maybe it could address this.</li>
<li>Please honor FriendFeed&#8217;s &#8220;hide&#8221; settings.  I&#8217;m seeing things on Alert Thingy that are hidden on Friendfeed.com.  This is a high priority one in my opinion.</li>
<li>I don&#8217;t know if this one is possible, but it would be nice to bring FriendFeed&#8217;s &#8220;hide&#8221; ability to the client.</li>
<li>The ability to show the &#8220;everyone&#8221; feed in the client</li>
<li>Search ability for the &#8220;everyone&#8221; feed</li>
</ol>
<p>So there you have it.  I&#8217;m sure these will be addressed in some form or fashion and I look forward to using Alert Thingy more and more.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/23/7-ways-to-utilize-friendfeed-rooms/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms'>7 Ways to Utilize FriendFeed Rooms</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/28/4-ways-to-enhance-your-blog-with-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='4 Ways to Enhance Your Blog With FriendFeed'>4 Ways to Enhance Your Blog With FriendFeed</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/16/7-ways-to-harness-the-power-of-real-time-friendfeed/' rel='bookmark' title='7 Ways To Harness The Power Of Real-time FriendFeed'>7 Ways To Harness The Power Of Real-time FriendFeed</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/13/7-ways-to-improve-alert-thingy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://img.skitch.com/20080413-buf3k6p4r6mq52wp4dgmb3814s.preview.jpg" />
		<media:content url="http://img.skitch.com/20080413-buf3k6p4r6mq52wp4dgmb3814s.preview.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alert Thingy</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Flickr Video:  I like it.</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:23:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flickr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/?p=538</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I really don&#8217;t have reasons not to like it. It&#8217;s in the same category as Seesmic in terms of &#8220;video microblogging&#8221; from my point of view. I don&#8217;t really care about the 90 second limit on the video to be honest. I agree with Gruber in that Twitter is limited to 140 chars, so why [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/' rel='bookmark' title='In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution'>In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/' rel='bookmark' title='Seesmic Enables Video Commenting'>Seesmic Enables Video Commenting</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/04/rip-visualhub/' rel='bookmark' title='R.I.P. VisualHub'>R.I.P. VisualHub</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/"></a></div><p>I really don&#8217;t have reasons not to like it.  It&#8217;s in the same category as Seesmic in terms of &#8220;video microblogging&#8221; from my point of view.  I don&#8217;t really care about the 90 second limit on the video to be honest.  I agree with <a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/april#tue-08-flickr_video_snake">Gruber</a> in that <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a> is limited to 140 chars, so why can&#8217;t video be limited to 90 seconds?  Time to be creative people!  Don&#8217;t even start on the 150MB limitation.  I was able to get a <a href="http://www.bwana.tv/2008/04/08/bwanatv-iphone-q-a/">12 minute video</a> under 100MB using <a href="http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/">VisualHub</a> for Mac, and I&#8217;m sure there are similar tools on the Windows and Linux platforms respectively.  I&#8217;ve already gotten started:</p>
<p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="275" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"><param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&amp;photo_secret=8f85c7afdd&amp;photo_id=2400200590&amp;show_info_box=true"></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&amp;photo_secret=8f85c7afdd&amp;photo_id=2400200590&amp;flickr_show_info_box=true" height="275" width="500"></embed></object></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve also joined the &#8220;<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/fridgets/">Fridget</a>&#8221; meme mentioned on the <a href="http://blog.flickr.net/en/2008/04/09/video-on-flickr-2/">Flickr blog post</a>.  iSobot ftw.</p>
<p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="275" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"><param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&amp;photo_secret=37a081e150&amp;photo_id=2399369703&amp;show_info_box=true"></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167"></param><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=1.167" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&amp;photo_secret=37a081e150&amp;photo_id=2399369703&amp;flickr_show_info_box=true" height="275" width="500"></embed></object></p>
<p>All videos shot with my Canon Powershot TX1 in 720p, and then converted down 640&#215;352 using Visualhub.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/17/in-search-of-a-video-micro-blogging-solution/' rel='bookmark' title='In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution'>In Search Of A Video Micro-blogging Solution</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/23/seesmic-enables-video-commenting/' rel='bookmark' title='Seesmic Enables Video Commenting'>Seesmic Enables Video Commenting</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/10/04/rip-visualhub/' rel='bookmark' title='R.I.P. VisualHub'>R.I.P. VisualHub</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bwana.org/2008/04/08/flickr-video-i-like-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>FriendFeed Replaces Google Reader?  Maybe</title>
		<link>http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:34:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bwana</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[geek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aggregators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Reader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joystiq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Utility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google Reader is green with envy. Well, at least in my house it is. Why? I&#8217;ve been using FriendFeed as my primary source of news and information for the past two weeks. Google Reader used to dominate my information consumption until I found FriendFeed. I would scour my list of RSS feeds and &#8220;share&#8221; the [...]
Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader Shared Notes Feature'>Google Reader Shared Notes Feature</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2006/10/11/google-reader-ftw/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader FTW'>Google Reader FTW</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2005/10/07/google-reader/' rel='bookmark' title='google rss reader'>google rss reader</a></li>
</ul>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="right" style="float: right; padding: 10px 0px 5px 5px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" share_url="http://www.bwana.org/2008/03/27/friendfeed-replaces-google-reader-maybe/"></a></div><p><a href="http://www.google.com/reader">Google Reader</a> is green with envy.</p>
<p>Well, at least in my house it is.  Why?  I&#8217;ve been using <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> as my primary source of news and information for the past two weeks.   Google Reader used to dominate my information consumption until I found FriendFeed.  I would scour my list of RSS feeds and &#8220;share&#8221; the ones that I found to be interesting.  Periodically, I would also &#8220;star&#8221; a story in Google Reader to come back and read later.  </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve since adapted to FriendFeed and have been using the data filtering combined with &#8220;<a href="http://friendfeed.com/bwana/likes">likes</a>&#8221; and <a href="http://friendfeed.com/bwana/comments">comments</a>.  Since I have an RSS feed for my &#8220;likes&#8221;, I still can share with friends the interesting stories I find, but now I can also include from many different types of sources and not just blogs.  I can share a funny Tweet I saw on <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a>, I can share a hilarious <a href="http://www.flickr.com">Flickr</a> photo, I can share a great comment I saw from <a href="http://www.disqus.com">Disqus</a>, and also share <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/shared/06644952483012064948">Google reader shared items</a> from others!  This is all done while maintaining a conversation within FriendFeed.</p>
<p>Now with all this, I did have a void.  None of the people I follow on FriendFeed are avid gamers (if they are, they don&#8217;t share much information about it) so I needs my gaming news.  To fill this void, I simply added &#8220;Imaginary friends&#8221; to FriendFeed for some of my favorite gaming websites.  This video shows the process:</p>
<p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbwana%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F785266&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" width="400" height="255" allowfullscreen="true" id="showplayer"><param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbwana%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F785266&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" /><param name="quality" value="best" /><embed src="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&#038;feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbwana%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&#038;file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F785266&#038;showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" quality="best" width="400" height="255" name="showplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p>
<p>Now that this is done, I can now see my favorite gaming news alongside the thousands of great links that comes across various social networks including Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, del.icio.us, Google Reader shared items, etc.  Now that FriendFeed has <a href="http://blog.friendfeed.com/2008/03/friendfeed-api-extend-and-improve.html">released an API</a> for the world to use, I don&#8217;t know if my return to Google Reader will be anytime soon, if at all.</p>
<p>We shall see.</p>
<p>Related posts:<ul>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2008/05/05/google-reader-shared-notes-feature/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader Shared Notes Feature'>Google Reader Shared Notes Feature</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2006/10/11/google-reader-ftw/' rel='bookmark' title='Google Reader FTW'>Google Reader FTW</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bwana.org/2005/10/07/google-reader/' rel='bookmark' title='google rss reader'>google rss reader</a></li>
</ul></p>]]></content:encoded>
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