Internet News in 1981

1981. You have a computer and even a modem. You want to read the news. It takes you 5 hours to download the newspaper, and you pay 5 Dollars an hour for the honor.

News? On the computer? Nah, it will never catch on :-)

The state of the internet, 1981:

Well, Boo-Hoo, Michael Arrington

Oh no! Hold the press! Michael Arrington is (temporarily) leaving TechCrunch, because someone spat in his face. Gee, what would the internet do without Michael Arrington? How will we survive?!?!

I don't think that spitting on someone is an acceptable behavior. In fact, it's disgusting, rude and repulsive. If this spitting story is even true (assuming this is not a publicity stunt), then not even Arrington deserves it. Still, what can I say - you play with matches, you might get burnt. And in Arrington's case - you spit on people, you might get spat upon. That's life for you. I'm sorry, but I don't see a sad side to this story.

TechCrunch was a good thing when it started. But it got blown well out of proportion. Arrington became arrogant, the reports became shallow and unchecked, and the posts weren't interesting or news-breaking most of the time. Too much hype, too little substance. It's not journalism anymore, if it ever was. It's just a business, trying to make more business.

So, boo-hoo, Michael. Go cry yourself to sleep or something.

All in all - not a great loss. Perhaps Arrington could use the time off to deflate his ego.

And in the mean time, read more about Michael Arrington:

• Who is Arrington trying to bullshit?
• Michael Arrington Takes a Break After Death Threat and Spit Attack
• Vacation Time For Michael Arrington

The King of Digg

Watching The King of Kong really makes you wonder if it's a real documentary or science fiction. You sit there, see the movie, and find it very hard to believe that these are REAL people. An amazing movie, nonetheless.

The King of Digg, however, is a nice salute to the original. However, kind of makes you wonder - why do people still bother with Digg? Get with the program, people - Digg is going down. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe it's a little PR trick by Kevin Rose and his buddies - get Digg back on the right track, perhaps? I don't think that's going to cut it, boys. Try harder.

How Big is the Internet?

Seems like Google thinks it has the answers to everything lately. So, in that spirit, they also take the time to notify the world
how big is the internet.

According to Google, the web had a billion pages in 2000. Nowadays, Google claims the net holds over a trillion indexed page. That's 1,000,000,000,000 unique URLs for you.

I found this part in Google's post very interesting: "We don't index every one of those trillion pages -- many of them are similar to each other, or represent auto-generated content similar to the calendar example that isn't very useful to searchers. But we're proud to have the most comprehensive index of any search engine, and our goal always has been to index all the world's data".

So, basically, Google decide which pages you should see. All in the name of helping you, the stupid surfer, to find the info you need more easily.

Really?

I find it extremely annoying that Google thinks it should educate us on every step. I really dislike the fact that when I search for a specific word, Google show off by giving me results that include similar words. If I looked for the word VIDEO, I want results with that word, and that word only. Not VIDEOS, not CLIPS and not MOVIES. Just VIDEO, thank you very much.

Thank God for the Plus sign (+). Problem is, not many users know or want to utilize the advanced search options. So they rely on what Google gives them, and they get lazier by the day. After all, if it isn't in the first three results of Google - it ain't really THERE, right?

This is not about personalized search or natural search. This is about dumbing down the users, and making them more dependent on products like Google, to do the work for them. I think it's bad news to the internet and to the users.

Frank Herbert had it right: Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind. If we give up our thinking and let machines think for us - we won't be around for very long.

Tons of Fun at Kinner.net 2008

Kinner.net is a special event that takes place once a year, on the shore of the Kinneret - the sea of Galilee.

250 nerds, geeks and other creative people are invited to this happening, and they spend their time doing many cool, weird, freaky, funny and tasty stuff.

This was my first year in Kinner.net, and I had a lot of fun. I met a lot of interesting people, ate and drank like there's no tomorrow, played Rock Band all day and all night, broke my record on Galaga and enjoyed the company of my fellow uber-geeks.

I didn't take many pictures, mainly because I was busy doing other interesting stuff, but I have some pics on my flickr set. It's been an exhausting weekend, and if that wasn't enough, now I have to deal with TheMarker's internet convention, the all-famous COM.Vention. Life's tough, I know.

Here are my pics from Kinner.net 2008 (Click to see the whole set):

www.flickr.com

Flickr Video on its Way?

Reports and rumors around the net are talking about an upcoming Flickr Video service.

CNET reports that Flickr Video is due this April (Which is 2 weeks from now, mind you). Flickr Video is not supposed to replace Yahoo Video. So, is Yahoo/Flickr going to compete directly with YouTube? Can it be done via Flickr at all?

Flickr isn't just a photo-sharing site. It's a community, and a very vociferous one, as well. Will they accept the addition of videos, or will they bail on Flickr, looking for a quieter realm for storing their photos?

I have been a Flickr and YouTube user for a while. If Flickr launches a good video service, I might start using it instead of YouTube - but winning over the regular YouTube user isn't going to be easy. Users don't switch easily between services, even free ones. I wonder if pro-Flickr users are going to get some benefits, and how all of this is going to look.

In any case, it's always good to hear about new developments and new services. Keeps everything more interesting and dynamic. I guess I'll be following this subject as well.

Destroy the Sites you Hate

There are sites that can really annoy the crap out of you. I'm sure you all have sites you hate.

Netdisaster has a cool solution for you - destroy the sites you despise!

All you to do is enter the URL of your favorite hated site, choose the kind of disaster you wish for it (meteors, wasp attack, floods etc.), and sit back and enjoy the mayhem.

Top of the Top of 2007

2007 is almost over, and everybody is making top-10 lists that try to summarize the year. Here are some of the best:

A list of the most popular torrent sites in 2007, according to TorrentFreak.

Twenty Top 10's of 2007, by Lifehacker.

YouTube's top 10 videos of 2007.

Best pictures sent by viewers of BBC in 2007.

Top 100 Music Albums of 2007, according to Yahoo.

Top 25 Movies of 2007 - a list made by Slashfilm.

For the pessimists: Top 10 disappointments of 2007 - in video games, that is.

Top 100 Mods of the year 2007.

Top 10 Games of 2007, by Phillip Levin.

The top 10 Interesting Pictures of 2007.

Top 25 censored news stories of 2007.

Wired gives us the Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007.

For Linux lovers: Top 21 Linux Games Of 2007.

Worst food Trends of 2007, by Epicurious.

National Geographic's Top 10 News Photo Galleries of 2007.

Have fun in what's left of 2007 and Happy New Year!!!

Is the Internet becoming an Opium of the Masses?

Mashable published their own end-of-the-year summary, called "Trends that shaped the web". They put a lot of emphasis on social networks and the way politicians learned to use social media.

It's true that we are seeing a lot more political action and debate online, but I am wondering if that's a good thing. For one, politics is very one-sided in places like Digg. Only some of the opinions are represented, while other sides of the debate are shoved aggressively aside.

We are also seeing a lot of protests, causes and political "action" in Facebook. If you have a cause you want to promote, you simply create one in a few seconds, invite all your friends and maybe attract some interest. It's very easy to protest and demonstrate using Facebook. Which is exactly the problem - it's too easy and convenient. It makes a person thinks he is actually DOING something good, but in practice, all he did was click on a link and forget about it.

Facebook protests and causes, online petitions and social media politics don't make us more involved. They actually anesthetize us - they make us think we are contributing something to the world by raising awareness, but in truth, all those online "activities" make us less active. People are not going to demonstrations, because they "demonstrate" online. You don't write to your elected representative, because you clicked on it in Facebook! We sign an online petition and forget about it, because we think it's enough.

Some theories in the field of media studies, say that TV is the opium of the masses (as a reference to Karl Marx's saying, "Religion is the opiate of the people"). TV and mass media were used effectively for many years, to make the public either scared as hell or sleepy and indifferent. Anything to prevent the people from taking real action. Seems like the internet, an active medium as it may be, is starting to do the same thing.

There are a lot of good things happening online, but we shouldn't forget - many times, online action isn't enough. Facebook protests are not effective - they are way too easy for that. There's a real world out there, and in order to change it for the better - we need to go beyond keyboard action. Clicking on links is not enough.

Is Mixx the Real Digg Killer?

My opinion about Digg isn't a secret. I stopped using it because I think it's an abusive, violent, and boring site.

I tried and tested a few alternatives for Digg, but none was very satisfactory. I love the concept of a social site, where other users show me what's cool and hot on the net - but I couldn't find a site that really works.

Until I have discovered Mixx - probably the real Digg killer that we have been waiting for. According to TechCrunch, "Digg users, including top contributors, are showing an increasing amount of frustration with the Digg community, and many are leaving. Conspiracy theories that Digg auto buries stories with certain topics or linking to certain sites only compounds the problem".

So, I'm not the only one who thinks Digg is riddled with annoyances. Interesting.

Digg has a hard core of followers and zealots, who eagerly protect the site and its owners in any way they can. They attack in comments and they bury articles that point out the weaknesses in Digg.

The real power of the internet lies in the fact that every site has a replacement, and if you annoy and abuse your users long enough, they WILL leave and find another home. Nothing lasts forever - and on the net, nothing hardly lasts more than a few years.

Mixx seems like a very friendly site, with a lot of cool features that digg doesn't have. I agree with most of Link Bait Me's analysis of Mixx - and I think that Digg should be afraid.

It's not about the features or the personalization, although these ARE important elements. It's about the atmosphere and usefulness of the site. If I glimpse upon Digg's homepage, all I see are Apple stories, stupid new-age articles and Bush-bashing stuff. It's always the same. And it's brutal and violent, dominated by angry mobs and users-who-bury-for-no-reason.

I stopped using Digg and I also removed the Digg buttons from my blog. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end here. A lot of users are seeking refuge from Digg's tyranny, and they might have just found it in Mixx.

Two Billion Photos on Flickr

Now, that's a number for you. Flickr has hit the 2,000,000,000 photos mark.

The uploader of the historical picture is a user named yukesmooks, and this is the picture (click on it to see the original):

It would have been nice if this picture had a more symbolic meaning, but you really can't control this kind of thing. That's user generated content for you.

I use Flickr, but not as much as I used to. I have a pro account and I am very happy with it. For me, Flickr isn't really a community or a social site - just a cool place to store my pictures. I used Flickr once to make very cool business cards (via MOO), and I might use other features - but the entire groups-contacts-comments thing never really caught on with me. I use the site mainly for storage, and to send links of my photo sets to my friends.

I know there are other great picture storage sites (like PhotoBucket), but since I'm cool with Flickr for the moment, I don't plan on switching.

So, congratulations to Flickr. See ya in the 3,000,000,000 photo!

Cool Blog of the Day - November 13th, 2007

Cool Blog of the Day

Name: Skelliewag
Categories: Internet, Blogging, Content
Author: Skellie
About: "Skelliewag is about creating content your site’s visitors will fall in love with. It’s about using simplicity to your advantage. It’s about being innovative, unique, and creating something worth talking about..."

Enjoy!

Are you stealing WiFi from your Neighbour?

Better re-think your actions. You might end up on a pink sign:

Cool Blog of the Day - November 12th, 2007

I am starting a new tradition here today (drum roll!): Cool Blog of the Day.

I see so many cool blogs on the net, I feel like sharing and spreading the wealth. So here we go.

Cool Blog of the Day

Name: Wild Yeast
Author: Susan
About: "What is Wild Yeast? One meaning is the yeast that makes sourdough, which I bake with often, but not exclusively. To me, though, baking with all kinds of of yeast, sourdough or not, is “wild:” outrageous, amazing, magical..."

Enjoy!

Why Digg Is Neither Relevant Nor Useful

I'm pretty sure what I write here won't be pleasant to read for some people. But that's OK - life is never perfect.

To start off my rant about Digg, I'll just point out that I have no argument with its success or popularity. I myself have used it on a regular basis - but no more. Digg is one of the net's most popular sites, it has a lot of users who enjoy it daily, and the idea behind it was pretty good to begin with. It's just that something got rotten along the way.

I'm not even talking about the "blog spam" or payed diggers that users are complaining about. I think they are marginal problems. Digg has bigger fish that smell bad.

So, why do I think Digg is irrelevant? Here are my reasons:

1. Slow: I don't mean the site is loading slowly (although that happens a lot, too). I mean to say that Digg is slow on picking up the hot news. If you want to stay updated in current events - like I do - you can't rely on Digg. It takes hours, usually, for am item to gain enough popularity to reach the homepage, and by the time it does, you've already read about it in your favorite news site or RSS feed.
   
   
2. Politics (External): Debating politics is good. Even excellent. It shows that you care about your country's future. The problem is, if you are not from the US - the debates in Digg are really irrelevant for you. Further more, seems like the top Diggs are very one sided and you don't get to see a myriad of opinions like you would expect in a social news site.
   
   
3. Politics (Internal): Digg has a large variety of users. Still, it seems like there are certain groups of users, banded together to help each other digg stories. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it means that it's a hell of a lot harder for a "regular" user to reach the front page. I have seen it many times - a user posts a great link for a great story and gets no Diggs. Hours later, a "power user" posts the same story, gathers his first 30-40 diggs quickly enough, and gets to the homepage of digg. That doesn't make any sense to me. It means the "friends" you collect around you are more important than the content you present. Which means a lot of shitty, old and duplicate stories can get to the homepage simply because a strong user has posted them. Where is the value in that? Which brings me to my next point:
   
   
4. Utterly uninteresting content: Stupid Top-10 lists, Idiotic New-Age advice, and not-very-funny videos are just a tiny example of the things that get to the front page of digg - and no one even knows who wants to read that. It's basically the same stuff over and over again, which gets to the homepage because of the very efficient cliques that help each other "Digg their stuff". Thus, the homepage of digg doesn't really represent the most interesting news according to the users, but instead it shows the news that the top users think are interesting. Kinda like editors in a regular content site, isn't it?
   
   
5. Bad Apple: Way too many news about Apple. In a way that makes you wonder whether there are other hi-tech company in the world. Yeah, OK, we get it - Apple is very co0l. We are just tired of the hype. Sometimes there are 3-4 Apple items in the front page. It makes digg look like a site for Apple freaks. Well, maybe it is.
   
   
6. Angry Mobs: The general atmosphere is the comments section of digg can get really scary. People are downright violent sometimes, and users are getting viciously attacked just for stating an unpopular opinion. Sure, there are trolls everywhere, but in digg they really reign supreme. Not to mention comment burying: it's not that rating is a bad thing - it's because people just can't help themselves. Put a civilized man behind a keyboard and give him anonymity - and you get an evil, stupid monster.

And that's really the bottom line - the assumption that many "editors" are better than one has been proved wrong. One man can be either smart or an idiot. The mob is always stupid and violent - and that's Digg for you.

Web 2.0 Porn sites - A comprehensive List

It's really very important to stay updated in this day and age. Staying up-to-date with the new sites of the net is nearly impossible. Web 2.0 sites are popping up faster than banners on a porn site.

Speaking of porn, here is a very good list of Web 2.0 Porn Sites - for academic purposes only, of course :)

And always remember - The Internet is for Porn!

Torrents for Geeks

Just saw this site for the first time - geektorrent.com.

The site features torrents that are for the nerdy crowd - programming related, sci-fi stuff and even math and physics torrents.

The activity in this site seems pretty low-key at the moment, but that could change in a hurry. So, if you are a Geek and enjoy torrents, this might be the place for you.

From the site:

"geektorrent is tracker/indexer for bittorrent files in any way related to "geeks". This is a rather broad term so if you consider your content "geeky" in any way, it is most likely OK. Feel free to upload programming screencasts, science documentaries, physics papers or why not some gaming speed runs"

Is PostSecret Dead?

It seems that PostSecret has gone off the air, with no apparent reason. All that's left of the site is a Blogger template, empty of all content. I have searched the net and found no official explanation or even a wild theory. Most of the bloggers simply assume that the site is dead. The headlines mainly read "what happened to PostSecret?".

Google Trends shows PostSecret and "post secret" to be the hottest searches of the last 24 hours, but amazingly enough, no blogger or news site has chosen to check the story out and to find the reason behind the weird occurrence. The only near-report I have found was in the Orlando Sentinel, where they assume (without really checking) that PostSecret "seems to be having some technical problems this morning".

So what DID happen to PostSecret? Does anyone know?

UPDATE, 19:51:

Now rumor has it that PostSecret was shut down over a "national security" issue. According to the Daily Kos, a postcard depicting president Bush is to blame:

"The postcard in question depicts President Bush in a boat fishing with his father, the former President, and scrawled across the picture is the phrase, "I miss the way I used to feel." On the reverse of the card and in the same handwriting are two simple sentences: "I made a horrible mistake when we envaded(sic) Iraq. I'm sorry"...".

A report by the Orlando Sentinel suggests that Blogger shut down PostSecret, because they have mistakenly marked is as SPAM. Hmmm. Might be a good idea to back up my blog, then? If this is true, then Google really ought to seriously examine their methods of operation. Come to think of it, there is nothing new about THAT.

I hope we'll see PostSecret up and running again soon. And thank you guys in the comments :)

UPDATE, September 17th, 2007: PostSecret is up and running again. Crisis over.

Small and Star Trek

Sometimes the net gets so dull, I could die. I sit, click, browse and skim - and there's nothing interesting on. Sort of like "57 Channels and there's nothing on" - only online.

On the other hand, there are days in which the net seems to be over-flowing with cool, funny, stupid and interesting stuff.

This morning has started well: I just laughed a lot reading this forum message - 45 things that have never happened on Star Trek. This one made me especially giggly: "A power surge on the Bridge fails to electrocute the user of a computer panel, due to a highly sophisticated 24th century surge protection feature called a 'fuse'".

This list is hilarious, especially if you are an avid Trekkie who has watched all of the 178 episodes more than once (that would be me, too, yes).

***

And now for something completely different - this sweet post is entitled "World's Smallest" and depicts, well, the world's smallest things - from cats to toilets. Cute as hell.

So, the net has provided this morning. This might just be a good content day!

The Internet in 1993

One of my favorite activities is indulging in computer nostalgia. Along with keeping up with the hottest, newest developments on the internet and in the computer industry, I boldly claim that the Apple ][e was the best PC ever made, I enjoy emulators very much and I miss the BBS days.

So, it was a great pleasure to encounter this particular video, which shows a news report about the Internet, way back in 1993. I must admit I wasn't connected to the internet in 1993. I was still struggling with busy BBS lines, chatting with 3-4 people maximum on the same time, and downloading files at 0.9 KB/s. Still, I was ONLINE, and it's wonderful to look back and see how it was 14 years ago.

Some of the things changed dramatically, but a lot stayed unchanged - we still chat and socialize, we download files and the trolls and flamers are still out there, in full force.

Enjoy:

The Internet In 1993 - Watch more free videos