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You’ve done a pretty good job here. There are many seeds and likenesses to what we’ve got in mind. And I really like where you’ve run with the ball, too. I’m grateful for this post and all the thought you put into it.
Thanks for taking the time to comment on the post Chris. I’m really glad that you and Julien are taking the time to wite a book about this, because I think it is a relly interesting and important thing for people who use the web to think / talk about.
I all ready have a second post in the works that continues to address the concept of “trust agents” and I hope to have it up somtime early next week.
I very much like the idea of altruistic trust agents and I see/hear examples every day thru the medium of podcasting. Many, myself included, really have no desire to be ‘hired’, although all of us seek rewards of some kind – peer recognition is often enuf. It takes me back to those bygone days when it was easy and natural to trust anyone with long hair or who spoke the same lingo. Alas, it wasn’t long before paid (hired) informants infiltrated the scene, and trust as lost. I like to believe it’s coming back – the evidence is right here…
Wow. This made my day. Not because of the ego boost, but a) because it’s coming from someone I admire, and b) because you nailed it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m full of myself; I say you nail it because my favorite part of the job is indeed dealing with people and being social.
Sometimes it’s a struggle though. For example, right now I have a lot on my plate so I’m taking more than usual to finish projects, and the communication with clients can suffer a bit too. And it kills me. My goal is to take less jobs but dedicate more time to them, and thus produce more quality work. I’m getting there, slowly but steady.
Anyway, thank you. This really does mean a lot coming from you.
Great post Neil! I think another reason people don’t leave comments is that there is no proper attribution. Unlike a blog where my thoughts have a home, my comments are scattered all over and quickly forgotten. That was one of the first things that made us want to build BackType; to give our comments a home.
“Some people are able to expose flaws in a way that is constructive, they are often easy to engage in a debate, and will admit (and perhaps even apologize) when they are wrong. ”
This made me think of an interesting comparison. Developers have always thrived on the instant feedback the web has provided. You can make changes to your site and in a very short amount of time find out what people think. You can tweak your design (in real time) until you get it right.
But, now, as you allude to, ideas, thoughts, and discussions can go through the same process online. I think this is really powerful. Blogs (and other social media) have become a great place to work through ideas with others. More and more I find myself wanting to leave comments that I hope will spark a conversation – a feeling not all that dissimilar to what a troll must feel. But instead of trying to start an argument, I want to start a discusssion.
Actually there is one point in your post that I don’t agree with 100%. I would argue that the best commenters aren’t always the best bloggers. You’re right to point out that good bloggers (whether you determine that by quality or status is irrelevant) are good because they engage in discussion with their community and others, but there are other great comment authors that don’t write blogs at all. I have discovered several of these “comment stars” in my daily reading and on BackType.
Writing a blog can take a lot of time, and for most people nobody will ever read your writings. That’s another reason why comments are amazing. Anyone can participate.
Thank you so much for the well though out & well written comments. (I’ve started to follow you on Back Type).
Your first comment made the thought that all thoughts on blogs where people can comment are sort of “open source”. I say this because I see open dialogues as one of the ways that ideas are developed and strengthened.
i.e. Blogging an idea and letting people challenge said ideas in comments, is very similar to allowing people to find the holes / bugs / flaws in something by releasing the source code.
(Disclaimer: I’m not a programmer so this comparison might be off… feel free to challenge it in further comments.
Your second comment makes sense to me. I should have said that all the good bloggers that I currently read are also leave lots of comments on other blogs. But, granted taht does not mean that all good bloggers do that.
Again, thanks so much for the great service and the great comments.
You’re so right about the value of comments – I frequently get more out of reading peoples’ comments on my posts and others than I do from reading other full blog posts.
Great chatting with you over the last few days, too!
I think as independent bloggers, Merlin is really someone that we can look up to.
After reading his “better” post on KungfuGrippe, I immediately removed the ads from my personal tumblelog. Just for integrity’s sake.
And yeah, I edit as much as I can now.
One thing I do is type any article I need to do, edit, save & close. Then I go back and proofread it after 15 to 30 minutes, edit it again, then finally I post it.
This is, frankly, the only way I can make sure that my posts are 75% error free, considering my limited knowledge in grammar and spelling.
On the premise of being better, well, I’m now reading the Strunk & White book – Elements of Style.
As always, you’re dense with ideas here, and I’m thinking it all through. In ways, I think we’re doing this a bit with brand leverage. If you guest blog on a more authoritative blog, you get an official nod from that author that transfers some level of credit to you. If you work for a big brand company, you get to use that brand to stretch authority.
You forgot to mention how being first can really boost your trust rating a lot. You were also a pioneer comics podcaster, that’s how I found this site, and Julien’s site, as well as Chris’s.
When I think about the people I trust on the web the people that come to mind are the people that are providing something that I find valuable or enjoyable.
In very few words, Seth Godin consistently provides me with great ideas or insights. And he often does it through story. As a matter of fact, I really think of him as a storyteller.
Chris Brogan has become a trusted voice because of (a) his generosity of spirit and (b) his ideas.
I guess what I’m saying is this.
1) You’re already a Trust Agent to those that have met you or heard you speak. You’ve earned that.
2) But to become someone that people want to have as a speaker I think your journey may be just beginning, right here, on this blog. The ideas/thoughts that you blog about have to become trusted and valuable. I totally believe you can make this happen but it’s going to require hard work, dedication, and creativity. You’ve got all three.
I never thought about Twitter in this way because it would never occur to me to not fact check. I use Twitter to follow my favorite podcaster’s, other comic book fans, artists and authors. I have added a couple of political Tweeters in the last few weeks because of the wild political season. HuffPost, baratunde, DaveWiner are three examples but I still fact check because folks make mistakes sometimes. I rarely believe wild claims even if they come from my political favorites.
I’m with Martha. If there isn’t a link that can substantiate the claim, I look for more info. Even if there is a link and it looks legit, I’m usually compelled to look a little deeper. But that’s me and maybe a (relative) handful of other content followers.
It’s the nature of humanity to make mistakes. It never hurts to check, even if it comes from a reputable source.
I was linked here by a tweet, oddly enough. Eons ago I realized I couldn’t keep up with my reader. Otherwise, I’d have seen this entry firsthand, as I used to, and still do, subscribe. Andrea, comment above, tweets cool tweets, and so I follow her, and thus,her links.That’s one of the cool things about Twitter. There are many uncool things, like the Iran incident you describe and what it represents, people who get around the 140 char rule and just post repeatedly, all the time, and a strange poularity contest I don’t have a name for yet.
For me, the intrigue of Twitter is the first thing I mentioned. Reading a blog post because it was pointed out to me. I never thought Twits would become so big in terms of *news* when it first started out. Considered it more of a way of sharing info, whether about a friend’s newest work stresses, or a webfriend’s fave links. Good grief, I am so glad I didn’t get the Iran messg, anywhere in my Twittosphere. Yes, I’d have had to fact check, and I’d have found out the truth. But the moments during which could have been blood pressure raising and headache causing and hair raising. A mislead like that is likely (has in the past) to lead me to defriend. Or in this space, stop following. That’s a big one.
With great power (followship) comes great responsibility. While I am not all behind a set of rules for posting on the Webs, I do hope for info honor here, partially because there are so many detractors. Why give them more fodder?
We are starting to get into a more of a trust based economy. Check out Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom for an example where trust/reputation replaces money.
As things continue to progress our individual trust/reputation levels will need to be closely guarded and nurtured. A bad reputation on the net is already affect peoples ability to get jobs (take down those embarrassing pictures from Facebook) and ability to sell things (don’t screw anyone on eBay).
Calacanis has a very high trust rating but now because of this mistake hopefully people will learn that they need to do some fact checking for themselves. Luckily this mistake is not as disastrous to Calacanis as it was to Dan Rather.
Trust but verify – even if the person you’re placing trust in is inherently an authority on a subject.
Twitter and microblogging is a great platform for impulsive but lively near-real time conversation. But it may also encourage or allow for not so well thought out statements. Keeping things short and sweet also means keeping things urgent and iterative.
There is a similar ebook reader app for Java phones called Readmaniac. Not as elegant as the iPhone, but it can read large txt files. You have to convert ePub files to txt, though.
I like it. You tend to be really concise with really good ideas (even when you meander ever so slightly), and your passion for books in all their forms is obvious. The Awesome.
I’m guessing it’ll be a few eps before you decide whether or not it needs it’s own space… I think if you just tag all the posts the same way, then provide an RSS feed specifically for that tag, you can see how much subscription traffic it gets, then decide if you want to take the time to set up a separate blog for it. But that’s just what I’d do.
Also, you could consider some sort of partnership on this with the nice folks at Book Oven, given that you already guest blog with them from time to time, and it’s a good relevant space for what you’re talking about.
Thanks for DMing me the link, I look forward to the next ep!
I’ve always thought that was a depressing movie for the same reasons the NY Times article mentions. I’ve never understood the appeal of that movie as a sentimental holiday favorite.
Great idea for a podcast. Lately I’ve really found myself preferring smaller podcasts to longer ones. Probably it’s just because my commute time on the bus has dropped and many days I don’t even go out.
As for my opinions on e-readers vs. books. I vastly prefer paper books to ebooks. But 99% of those opinions are based purely in sentiment and my love for the full sensory experience that a book offers.
That said, I hope never to see e-books do to books what DVDs have done to videos or CDs have done to cassettes and vinyl. The reason for this is that we have a very good infrastructure (at least here in North America) for enabling people of all socioeconomic classes to access books. Anyone who wants to read a book can just walk into a library and grab one. If you can prove you live in the town you’re in, you can even take it home with you. No additional, costly hardware is needed. In a (dystopic IMO) if it costs money for some people to read books, we are likely to backslide in literacy levels.
Realistically speaking, though, I’ll be very surprised, though, if e-readers ever get to this point.
All that aside, I did download Stanza for just the same reasons you have it. Being able to have a stack of books in your hip pocket is a great thing as is being able to read a book on a crush-loaded bus with one hand holding on to the bar.
I agree with you, Neil. I have worked in the children/youth mental health field for over 18 years. I’ve worked mostly with programs that serve severely emotionally and behaviorally disturbed kids. Often professionals keep using the same techniques and treatment approaches again and again regardless of whether or not they work. Why? Because everyone else does it. “If your friends jumped off a bridge….?” Boring and often ineffective in the long run. But innovation means personal change and effort. A new learning curve can be humbling and challenging, but the payoffs for clients and self are sometimes immense. When I began using neurofeedback with clients at a treatment center, there were many nay-sayers. Even after clients were moved from special-ed to regular ed, people were quick to attribute the quick progress to something else. Like what they had always been doing, even though the status quo had never produced such lasting results previously. I don’t get it. Innovating and helping clients achieve better outcomes is so gratifying. I’m not saying throw out all the “old” stuff. (Yalom’s work is some of the best in the field when it comes to groups) But I would like to see increased curiosity and decreased defensiveness. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Neil, I always enjoy your writing and podcasts.
I have a book published with Kindle digital text format. List price is $2.99, sale price is $2.39. Of that $2.39 I recieve $1.05 per copy sold.
I have to agree that many books are over priced. I would never pay $9.99 or more for a digital text. I don’t think I would even pay $4.99 so I can understand why readers are so upset.
But I also know there are many good books listed that have a fair price.
I prefer Starbucks over pretty much everyone else’s brand (I grind and brew Sumatra at home and I go out of my way to avoid Dunkin’ Donuts), but I don’t think I would drink that.
Granted, I (thanks to my wife) almost always order a grande cafe mocha with soy, sometimes with an extra shot, but I never order iced coffee (can’t stand it, really), so I don’t know what that is at the bottom of the cup. Is it soy? If you empty the contents, can the white stuff be removed by washing out the cup? Is it part of the cup?
Regardless, sorry you had to deal with this, especially before work, and early in the day.
First off I would not drink that coffee. Second I don’t think you are a coffee snob for expecting good customer service. I’d expect if you run a store that does one thing, like Starbucks, they would make customer satisfaction their first priority. This reminds me of my recent experience at Blockbusters which was another epic fail in customer service.
I would approach this another way. The barista likely made it the way they were trained to, and they way they’re supposed to. Talking with the barista gets you a new drink, but also only fixes that one drink that one time. You can return another day and get the same problem from that barista or another one.
I don’t drink soy stuff, but would probably down the drink made for me, and then in the future either never ordered that drink from a starbucks again without expecting to deal with it, or when ordering would mention “can you make sure there’s no white gunk at the bottom, sometimes your iced soy stuff does that.” Say this entreatingly. If they still fail, the drink was never meant to be.
“Am I being unrealistic coffee snob?”
that’s a trick question- a coffee snob order that
I keed I keed….
no, something is wrong with the way they made that and you need to tell the barista the next time it happens, or the next time you go in. sbucks has great customer service and will re-do your drink and out here in SF will give you a refund frequently (or at least a thing for the next drink to be free)
and don’t worry about the line when you go back in- just go straight to the barista counter, they’ll be nice…
The bigger question is why would you ever think that having a Starbucks coffee would in any way change your mood – other than make things worse. You need to simplify your life if you want a crack at happiness. Go to Tim Horton’s next time. Hang on – you can’t, can you? There’s your problem, mister! Move to Canada.
Hi Neil,
I used to be a barista at a coffee shop in Elmhurst IL. called “The choc. moon” before Starbucks was making it big. I also worked at a espresso bar inside Good Sam. Hospital in Downers grove.
Starbucks owes you a cup of coffee! I have made mistakes- nothing like what you were served, but any good barista should be aware of what’s in the cup!
To me, it looks like frozen concentrate and syurp.
Hi Neil,
I think that you have a very good chance of controling your emotions, because you accept that you have them. I experience the very same thing often, mine are due to PTSD. Something will trigger a cascade of negitive emotions and my day or night will be on the verge of ruin. If it’s really intense, I have meds. Most of the time I sense that “feeling” I will focus on a empty wooden bowl (in my mind) and then imagine the bowl being filled with water. I let the sound of water calm me. You would be suprised how fast this works. A simple wooden bowl and water.
I think that if you asked someone from the New York Times if print was alive and well, he or she might not say no, but I think they will say anything but yes.
I think that companies and corporations tend to stick with the tried and true until they are forced to follow what the people have moved on to.
ON a recent episode of This Week in Tech they discussed this issue, which was really fascinating.
I have not picked up an issue of any newspaper, free or paid for, since I graduated college. I graduated in 2003.
I’ll give the print industry the label of “going through growing pains” because although they don’t have the same hold over their audience as they once had, technology also has to catch up with print, oddly enough.
The Kindle, e-ink, cell phones, etc, want to imitate the reading experience, but they can’t win over some of the people who enjoy the simple, tangible experience of holding a book or magazine.
Personally, I could care if print “goes away,” because the internet is superior in so many ways. We’ll always be printing stuff out, but my problem is not with printing, but when you compare a book with a computer, which is basically your digital brain, it’s lacking.
” Does the world change, or does the person, or do both? ”
Maybe its the person noticing that both have changed. I know that my perception on anything gets shaped by my experiences.
The only thing that is constant in life is change, and I think its important that people change. I think if you don’t change… then something is probably wrong. Think of periods in your life as almost like a shamanic death. The old things that no longer work for you get shrugged off and the new things take their place. Your mind starts to see things that you never really noticed before… and your like “hmm.. what the hell was I thinking?”. As far as relationships go, its important to find someone that can change and grow with you. Similar experiences, similar goals, and hopefully a similar end result… but even then… thats subject to change.
I found your blog because I googled “what is this stuff at the bottom of my soy latte cup?” I order tall, iced soy lattes all summer long and every now and then I get the same thing, like maybe 1 out of 10 will have this weird icky stuff on the bottom and I have no clue what it is. Did you ever talk to them and figure out what the deal was? It makes me think of curdled soy milk if that is even possible…
Neil, while I don’t disagree with the assessment, I think it’s absurd to think that it’s one sided. If Bush had said the sky was blue, an army of Dems would have formed to protest the obvious oppression against pink sunrises, orange sunsets, deep purple evenings, and grey winters. He’d have been ridiculed on night shows as having said that the sky can *only* be blue, and the highest trending twitter hashtag, #skyfail, would be dedicated to ridiculing Bush’s obvious ignorance and sky racism. “Bush Lied, the Sky Cried” would become a new rallying cry.
Vitriol, deserved or not, against the sitting president is nothing new. There are two problems exacerbating our political climate. The first is a news network that profits on creating conflict. Inflaming emotions captures viewers. The second is the anonymity of the web, which erodes the normal civility most of us display in person.
I just love the science fiction golden era pulp classics, a lot of which were first serialized in mags such as Amazing Science Fiction. It’s great to see how many out of print classics are now available in ebook format.
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You’ve done a pretty good job here. There are many seeds and likenesses to what we’ve got in mind. And I really like where you’ve run with the ball, too. I’m grateful for this post and all the thought you put into it.
Thanks. : )
Thanks for taking the time to comment on the post Chris. I’m really glad that you and Julien are taking the time to wite a book about this, because I think it is a relly interesting and important thing for people who use the web to think / talk about.
I all ready have a second post in the works that continues to address the concept of “trust agents” and I hope to have it up somtime early next week.
-N
I very much like the idea of altruistic trust agents and I see/hear examples every day thru the medium of podcasting. Many, myself included, really have no desire to be ‘hired’, although all of us seek rewards of some kind – peer recognition is often enuf. It takes me back to those bygone days when it was easy and natural to trust anyone with long hair or who spoke the same lingo. Alas, it wasn’t long before paid (hired) informants infiltrated the scene, and trust as lost. I like to believe it’s coming back – the evidence is right here…
Wow. This made my day. Not because of the ego boost, but a) because it’s coming from someone I admire, and b) because you nailed it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m full of myself; I say you nail it because my favorite part of the job is indeed dealing with people and being social.
Sometimes it’s a struggle though. For example, right now I have a lot on my plate so I’m taking more than usual to finish projects, and the communication with clients can suffer a bit too. And it kills me. My goal is to take less jobs but dedicate more time to them, and thus produce more quality work. I’m getting there, slowly but steady.
Anyway, thank you. This really does mean a lot coming from you.
Great post Neil! I think another reason people don’t leave comments is that there is no proper attribution. Unlike a blog where my thoughts have a home, my comments are scattered all over and quickly forgotten. That was one of the first things that made us want to build BackType; to give our comments a home.
“Some people are able to expose flaws in a way that is constructive, they are often easy to engage in a debate, and will admit (and perhaps even apologize) when they are wrong. ”
This made me think of an interesting comparison. Developers have always thrived on the instant feedback the web has provided. You can make changes to your site and in a very short amount of time find out what people think. You can tweak your design (in real time) until you get it right.
But, now, as you allude to, ideas, thoughts, and discussions can go through the same process online. I think this is really powerful. Blogs (and other social media) have become a great place to work through ideas with others. More and more I find myself wanting to leave comments that I hope will spark a conversation – a feeling not all that dissimilar to what a troll must feel. But instead of trying to start an argument, I want to start a discusssion.
Actually there is one point in your post that I don’t agree with 100%. I would argue that the best commenters aren’t always the best bloggers. You’re right to point out that good bloggers (whether you determine that by quality or status is irrelevant) are good because they engage in discussion with their community and others, but there are other great comment authors that don’t write blogs at all. I have discovered several of these “comment stars” in my daily reading and on BackType.
Writing a blog can take a lot of time, and for most people nobody will ever read your writings. That’s another reason why comments are amazing. Anyone can participate.
Hey Mike,
Thank you so much for the well though out & well written comments. (I’ve started to follow you on Back Type).
Your first comment made the thought that all thoughts on blogs where people can comment are sort of “open source”. I say this because I see open dialogues as one of the ways that ideas are developed and strengthened.
i.e. Blogging an idea and letting people challenge said ideas in comments, is very similar to allowing people to find the holes / bugs / flaws in something by releasing the source code.
(Disclaimer: I’m not a programmer so this comparison might be off… feel free to challenge it in further comments.
Your second comment makes sense to me. I should have said that all the good bloggers that I currently read are also leave lots of comments on other blogs. But, granted taht does not mean that all good bloggers do that.
Again, thanks so much for the great service and the great comments.
-N
Great post, Neil!
You’re so right about the value of comments – I frequently get more out of reading peoples’ comments on my posts and others than I do from reading other full blog posts.
Great chatting with you over the last few days, too!
Passion and commerce aren’t necessarily in opposition. One can be passionate about their content AND make money creating it.
Wouldn’t we all love to make a living off of the thing we love doing?
Hello, Neil! Just want to let you know that you somehow botched up some of the links in this post.
Oh, glad to see you very active again. Hope you revive Comicology as well. Not that I’m forcing you to do anything you don’t want to.
Just read it, thanks for the link Neil, and Steve and Merlin. A great post.
I think as independent bloggers, Merlin is really someone that we can look up to.
After reading his “better” post on KungfuGrippe, I immediately removed the ads from my personal tumblelog. Just for integrity’s sake.
And yeah, I edit as much as I can now.
One thing I do is type any article I need to do, edit, save & close. Then I go back and proofread it after 15 to 30 minutes, edit it again, then finally I post it.
This is, frankly, the only way I can make sure that my posts are 75% error free, considering my limited knowledge in grammar and spelling.
On the premise of being better, well, I’m now reading the Strunk & White book – Elements of Style.
As always, you’re dense with ideas here, and I’m thinking it all through. In ways, I think we’re doing this a bit with brand leverage. If you guest blog on a more authoritative blog, you get an official nod from that author that transfers some level of credit to you. If you work for a big brand company, you get to use that brand to stretch authority.
Make sense?
You forgot to mention how being first can really boost your trust rating a lot. You were also a pioneer comics podcaster, that’s how I found this site, and Julien’s site, as well as Chris’s.
When I think about the people I trust on the web the people that come to mind are the people that are providing something that I find valuable or enjoyable.
In very few words, Seth Godin consistently provides me with great ideas or insights. And he often does it through story. As a matter of fact, I really think of him as a storyteller.
Chris Brogan has become a trusted voice because of (a) his generosity of spirit and (b) his ideas.
I guess what I’m saying is this.
1) You’re already a Trust Agent to those that have met you or heard you speak. You’ve earned that.
2) But to become someone that people want to have as a speaker I think your journey may be just beginning, right here, on this blog. The ideas/thoughts that you blog about have to become trusted and valuable. I totally believe you can make this happen but it’s going to require hard work, dedication, and creativity. You’ve got all three.
Here’s a great Brogan post.
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ways-to-take-your-blog-to-the-next-level/
I never thought about Twitter in this way because it would never occur to me to not fact check. I use Twitter to follow my favorite podcaster’s, other comic book fans, artists and authors. I have added a couple of political Tweeters in the last few weeks because of the wild political season. HuffPost, baratunde, DaveWiner are three examples but I still fact check because folks make mistakes sometimes. I rarely believe wild claims even if they come from my political favorites.
I’m with Martha. If there isn’t a link that can substantiate the claim, I look for more info. Even if there is a link and it looks legit, I’m usually compelled to look a little deeper. But that’s me and maybe a (relative) handful of other content followers.
It’s the nature of humanity to make mistakes. It never hurts to check, even if it comes from a reputable source.
I was linked here by a tweet, oddly enough. Eons ago I realized I couldn’t keep up with my reader. Otherwise, I’d have seen this entry firsthand, as I used to, and still do, subscribe. Andrea, comment above, tweets cool tweets, and so I follow her, and thus,her links.That’s one of the cool things about Twitter. There are many uncool things, like the Iran incident you describe and what it represents, people who get around the 140 char rule and just post repeatedly, all the time, and a strange poularity contest I don’t have a name for yet.
For me, the intrigue of Twitter is the first thing I mentioned. Reading a blog post because it was pointed out to me. I never thought Twits would become so big in terms of *news* when it first started out. Considered it more of a way of sharing info, whether about a friend’s newest work stresses, or a webfriend’s fave links. Good grief, I am so glad I didn’t get the Iran messg, anywhere in my Twittosphere. Yes, I’d have had to fact check, and I’d have found out the truth. But the moments during which could have been blood pressure raising and headache causing and hair raising. A mislead like that is likely (has in the past) to lead me to defriend. Or in this space, stop following. That’s a big one.
With great power (followship) comes great responsibility. While I am not all behind a set of rules for posting on the Webs, I do hope for info honor here, partially because there are so many detractors. Why give them more fodder?
We are starting to get into a more of a trust based economy. Check out Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom for an example where trust/reputation replaces money.
As things continue to progress our individual trust/reputation levels will need to be closely guarded and nurtured. A bad reputation on the net is already affect peoples ability to get jobs (take down those embarrassing pictures from Facebook) and ability to sell things (don’t screw anyone on eBay).
Calacanis has a very high trust rating but now because of this mistake hopefully people will learn that they need to do some fact checking for themselves. Luckily this mistake is not as disastrous to Calacanis as it was to Dan Rather.
Trust but verify – even if the person you’re placing trust in is inherently an authority on a subject.
Twitter and microblogging is a great platform for impulsive but lively near-real time conversation. But it may also encourage or allow for not so well thought out statements. Keeping things short and sweet also means keeping things urgent and iterative.
Thanks for this – great idea.
Thanks for the post, I have been having the same problems.
wow, neil, thanks for that. made my day!
There is a similar ebook reader app for Java phones called Readmaniac. Not as elegant as the iPhone, but it can read large txt files. You have to convert ePub files to txt, though.
I like it. You tend to be really concise with really good ideas (even when you meander ever so slightly), and your passion for books in all their forms is obvious. The Awesome.
I’m guessing it’ll be a few eps before you decide whether or not it needs it’s own space… I think if you just tag all the posts the same way, then provide an RSS feed specifically for that tag, you can see how much subscription traffic it gets, then decide if you want to take the time to set up a separate blog for it. But that’s just what I’d do.
Also, you could consider some sort of partnership on this with the nice folks at Book Oven, given that you already guest blog with them from time to time, and it’s a good relevant space for what you’re talking about.
Thanks for DMing me the link, I look forward to the next ep!
I’ve always thought that was a depressing movie for the same reasons the NY Times article mentions. I’ve never understood the appeal of that movie as a sentimental holiday favorite.
Great idea for a podcast. Lately I’ve really found myself preferring smaller podcasts to longer ones. Probably it’s just because my commute time on the bus has dropped and many days I don’t even go out.
As for my opinions on e-readers vs. books. I vastly prefer paper books to ebooks. But 99% of those opinions are based purely in sentiment and my love for the full sensory experience that a book offers.
That said, I hope never to see e-books do to books what DVDs have done to videos or CDs have done to cassettes and vinyl. The reason for this is that we have a very good infrastructure (at least here in North America) for enabling people of all socioeconomic classes to access books. Anyone who wants to read a book can just walk into a library and grab one. If you can prove you live in the town you’re in, you can even take it home with you. No additional, costly hardware is needed. In a (dystopic IMO) if it costs money for some people to read books, we are likely to backslide in literacy levels.
Realistically speaking, though, I’ll be very surprised, though, if e-readers ever get to this point.
All that aside, I did download Stanza for just the same reasons you have it. Being able to have a stack of books in your hip pocket is a great thing as is being able to read a book on a crush-loaded bus with one hand holding on to the bar.
Looking forward to more eps!
I agree with you, Neil. I have worked in the children/youth mental health field for over 18 years. I’ve worked mostly with programs that serve severely emotionally and behaviorally disturbed kids. Often professionals keep using the same techniques and treatment approaches again and again regardless of whether or not they work. Why? Because everyone else does it. “If your friends jumped off a bridge….?” Boring and often ineffective in the long run. But innovation means personal change and effort. A new learning curve can be humbling and challenging, but the payoffs for clients and self are sometimes immense. When I began using neurofeedback with clients at a treatment center, there were many nay-sayers. Even after clients were moved from special-ed to regular ed, people were quick to attribute the quick progress to something else. Like what they had always been doing, even though the status quo had never produced such lasting results previously. I don’t get it. Innovating and helping clients achieve better outcomes is so gratifying. I’m not saying throw out all the “old” stuff. (Yalom’s work is some of the best in the field when it comes to groups) But I would like to see increased curiosity and decreased defensiveness. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Neil, I always enjoy your writing and podcasts.
Annette,
Thanks for the comment. It is nice to see that there are other people out there who are willing to outnew ideas in the social service field.
I hope that you keep reading and enjoying the content here.
Take care.
-N
Nice post Neil!
FYI, Richard recently left Soft Skull, he’s flying solo now, not quite sure what he’s up to, but it’s not Soft Skull….
This smells like a paid ad, not a hack.
@Miles — I did not get any money for writing this. I’m just attempting to tell people about a way they can get some great books at a discount.
-N
Fantastic hack.
Thanks for sharing…
I have a book published with Kindle digital text format. List price is $2.99, sale price is $2.39. Of that $2.39 I recieve $1.05 per copy sold.
I have to agree that many books are over priced. I would never pay $9.99 or more for a digital text. I don’t think I would even pay $4.99 so I can understand why readers are so upset.
But I also know there are many good books listed that have a fair price.
I don’t think you’re being a snob.
I prefer Starbucks over pretty much everyone else’s brand (I grind and brew Sumatra at home and I go out of my way to avoid Dunkin’ Donuts), but I don’t think I would drink that.
Granted, I (thanks to my wife) almost always order a grande cafe mocha with soy, sometimes with an extra shot, but I never order iced coffee (can’t stand it, really), so I don’t know what that is at the bottom of the cup. Is it soy? If you empty the contents, can the white stuff be removed by washing out the cup? Is it part of the cup?
Regardless, sorry you had to deal with this, especially before work, and early in the day.
First off I would not drink that coffee. Second I don’t think you are a coffee snob for expecting good customer service. I’d expect if you run a store that does one thing, like Starbucks, they would make customer satisfaction their first priority. This reminds me of my recent experience at Blockbusters which was another epic fail in customer service.
I would approach this another way. The barista likely made it the way they were trained to, and they way they’re supposed to. Talking with the barista gets you a new drink, but also only fixes that one drink that one time. You can return another day and get the same problem from that barista or another one.
I don’t drink soy stuff, but would probably down the drink made for me, and then in the future either never ordered that drink from a starbucks again without expecting to deal with it, or when ordering would mention “can you make sure there’s no white gunk at the bottom, sometimes your iced soy stuff does that.” Say this entreatingly. If they still fail, the drink was never meant to be.
“Am I being unrealistic coffee snob?”
that’s a trick question- a coffee snob order that
I keed I keed….
no, something is wrong with the way they made that and you need to tell the barista the next time it happens, or the next time you go in. sbucks has great customer service and will re-do your drink and out here in SF will give you a refund frequently (or at least a thing for the next drink to be free)
and don’t worry about the line when you go back in- just go straight to the barista counter, they’ll be nice…
damn, I typo’d
I meant to write:
that’s a trick question- a coffee snob wouldn’t order that
Update: @starbucks on Twitter saw my tweets about this and shot me a message asking me to call an 800 number to talk about the drink.
I plan to give the number a call during my lunch break today.
More soon.
-N
The bigger question is why would you ever think that having a Starbucks coffee would in any way change your mood – other than make things worse. You need to simplify your life if you want a crack at happiness. Go to Tim Horton’s next time. Hang on – you can’t, can you? There’s your problem, mister! Move to Canada.
good length. love the format of your slice of life. Nice focus. you are a good storyteller dude, keep it up.
Awesome story but, I’d like to see a picture!
I wish I had a job that I can love too. Sad reality is that we really can’t have it all. Haha. What an emo comment.
Anyway, I want to see the picture your student gave you. It sounds awesome in the audio.
Hi Neil,
I used to be a barista at a coffee shop in Elmhurst IL. called “The choc. moon” before Starbucks was making it big. I also worked at a espresso bar inside Good Sam. Hospital in Downers grove.
Starbucks owes you a cup of coffee! I have made mistakes- nothing like what you were served, but any good barista should be aware of what’s in the cup!
To me, it looks like frozen concentrate and syurp.
Hi Neil,
I think that you have a very good chance of controling your emotions, because you accept that you have them. I experience the very same thing often, mine are due to PTSD. Something will trigger a cascade of negitive emotions and my day or night will be on the verge of ruin. If it’s really intense, I have meds. Most of the time I sense that “feeling” I will focus on a empty wooden bowl (in my mind) and then imagine the bowl being filled with water. I let the sound of water calm me. You would be suprised how fast this works. A simple wooden bowl and water.
I think that if you asked someone from the New York Times if print was alive and well, he or she might not say no, but I think they will say anything but yes.
I think that companies and corporations tend to stick with the tried and true until they are forced to follow what the people have moved on to.
ON a recent episode of This Week in Tech they discussed this issue, which was really fascinating.
I have not picked up an issue of any newspaper, free or paid for, since I graduated college. I graduated in 2003.
I’ll give the print industry the label of “going through growing pains” because although they don’t have the same hold over their audience as they once had, technology also has to catch up with print, oddly enough.
The Kindle, e-ink, cell phones, etc, want to imitate the reading experience, but they can’t win over some of the people who enjoy the simple, tangible experience of holding a book or magazine.
Personally, I could care if print “goes away,” because the internet is superior in so many ways. We’ll always be printing stuff out, but my problem is not with printing, but when you compare a book with a computer, which is basically your digital brain, it’s lacking.
” Does the world change, or does the person, or do both? ”
Maybe its the person noticing that both have changed. I know that my perception on anything gets shaped by my experiences.
The only thing that is constant in life is change, and I think its important that people change. I think if you don’t change… then something is probably wrong. Think of periods in your life as almost like a shamanic death. The old things that no longer work for you get shrugged off and the new things take their place. Your mind starts to see things that you never really noticed before… and your like “hmm.. what the hell was I thinking?”. As far as relationships go, its important to find someone that can change and grow with you. Similar experiences, similar goals, and hopefully a similar end result… but even then… thats subject to change.
Hi Neil,
I found your blog because I googled “what is this stuff at the bottom of my soy latte cup?” I order tall, iced soy lattes all summer long and every now and then I get the same thing, like maybe 1 out of 10 will have this weird icky stuff on the bottom and I have no clue what it is. Did you ever talk to them and figure out what the deal was? It makes me think of curdled soy milk if that is even possible…
That’s real scary – even – or maybe especially – for someone on the other side of the border!
Neil, while I don’t disagree with the assessment, I think it’s absurd to think that it’s one sided. If Bush had said the sky was blue, an army of Dems would have formed to protest the obvious oppression against pink sunrises, orange sunsets, deep purple evenings, and grey winters. He’d have been ridiculed on night shows as having said that the sky can *only* be blue, and the highest trending twitter hashtag, #skyfail, would be dedicated to ridiculing Bush’s obvious ignorance and sky racism. “Bush Lied, the Sky Cried” would become a new rallying cry.
Vitriol, deserved or not, against the sitting president is nothing new. There are two problems exacerbating our political climate. The first is a news network that profits on creating conflict. Inflaming emotions captures viewers. The second is the anonymity of the web, which erodes the normal civility most of us display in person.
I just love the science fiction golden era pulp classics, a lot of which were first serialized in mags such as Amazing Science Fiction. It’s great to see how many out of print classics are now available in ebook format.
I’m gonna put that on my page.
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