I get that warm and cozy feel now.
PS: 'twas sarcasm, in case you didn't notice. Maybe, their hiring practices favoring ability over experience has something to do to with it?
Showing posts with label social networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social networking. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Oh, Google learns so fast
Breaking news: Slashdot reports that Google finally caught up to the phenomenon I mentioned back in February.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Google Reader Evolution
Let's face it: when you're "sharing" an item in Google Reader, you're not simply "sharing" it. You're making a statement that the item you're sharing is either, you think, probably interesting to the people you're sharing it with, or, that you agree with the point made in the item being shared and want to make it known.
In both cases, one pieces that is currently missing is a feedback. It's quite possible that the people you've shared an item with would like to comment on the item, but alas, currently they have no way to do so (other than "re-share with comment", but that's pretty lame).
All right, suppose they provide this ability. It now links the person that shared the item with the person that commented on the item - but further down, would it be reasonable to propagate the comment to all people the item was originally shared to? What about privacy controls? What about comments and privacy controls on items that were re-shared further? When does the propagation stop, and how far back does it reach?
Non-trivial questions to answer, but I'm sure they will be answered this or that way pretty soon. Mark my words.
In both cases, one pieces that is currently missing is a feedback. It's quite possible that the people you've shared an item with would like to comment on the item, but alas, currently they have no way to do so (other than "re-share with comment", but that's pretty lame).
All right, suppose they provide this ability. It now links the person that shared the item with the person that commented on the item - but further down, would it be reasonable to propagate the comment to all people the item was originally shared to? What about privacy controls? What about comments and privacy controls on items that were re-shared further? When does the propagation stop, and how far back does it reach?
Non-trivial questions to answer, but I'm sure they will be answered this or that way pretty soon. Mark my words.
UPDATE: As of March 11 2009, Google Reader supports comments on shared items. Less than a month - that's stellar response time :)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
I Don't Trust You
Time after time, I see new and new social networking services. I could've participated in a lot of them, except for one reason: they all say:
Trust me.
Every time I hear somebody say "trust me", I can't help but think of -
The most hilarious of them all was a request for the Social Security Number when all I wanted to get was a stroller for my 3 year old (granted, it was in almost rural Illinois back in 1997, but I still remember it).
Back to the topic, there's a wide range of information I do not want to share with -
This is nobody's business except the people I trust it to.
And not necessarily for legal purposes - was it Cardinal Richelieu that said "Give me seven lines written by the most honest person in the world, and I will find what to hang them for"?
I hate to invoke this rapidly becoming tired metaphor, but if your kid dies, crushed by the fallen garage door, you don't care much whether the installer had insurance.
If a social networking infrastructure gets hacked, you don't care much why your private data has leaked all over the Internet and is staying there forever - it's gone, too late to lock the barn door.
On the other hand, if it is you that defines where the information is kept, who has access to it and how it is distributed, you can be reasonably sure that it is within your control - as long as you trust in your abilities to understand what you're doing, and as long as the weakest link in the chain - the people you trust - remains trusted.
And another point - all these "trust me" services do, or will lock you in soon enough and start to do, charge for a service. Sometimes it is a little, sometimes not so little - but all of them, accumulated, will take a serious hit on your budget - and offer little or nothing of value in return. Oh, and you still have to trust them.
So, without further ado, introducing Clan Vault.
<Stay tuned>
Trust me.
Every time I hear somebody say "trust me", I can't help but think of -
- Read my lips: No New Taxes
- Trust me, there will not be a real estate crisis
- No, we're not going to downsize
- I just need your credit card information for verification purposes
- Don't worry, your personal information is safe with us
- No, we've never had a break-in
- <ad nauseum>
The most hilarious of them all was a request for the Social Security Number when all I wanted to get was a stroller for my 3 year old (granted, it was in almost rural Illinois back in 1997, but I still remember it).
Back to the topic, there's a wide range of information I do not want to share with -
- Where I am
- What am I doing at the moment
- How is my hardware doing (computers, home security, automation, you name it)
- How soon I am going to be home - and whether I *am* home or plan to be away for a while, for that matter
This is nobody's business except the people I trust it to.
And not necessarily for legal purposes - was it Cardinal Richelieu that said "Give me seven lines written by the most honest person in the world, and I will find what to hang them for"?
I hate to invoke this rapidly becoming tired metaphor, but if your kid dies, crushed by the fallen garage door, you don't care much whether the installer had insurance.
If a social networking infrastructure gets hacked, you don't care much why your private data has leaked all over the Internet and is staying there forever - it's gone, too late to lock the barn door.
On the other hand, if it is you that defines where the information is kept, who has access to it and how it is distributed, you can be reasonably sure that it is within your control - as long as you trust in your abilities to understand what you're doing, and as long as the weakest link in the chain - the people you trust - remains trusted.
And another point - all these "trust me" services do, or will lock you in soon enough and start to do, charge for a service. Sometimes it is a little, sometimes not so little - but all of them, accumulated, will take a serious hit on your budget - and offer little or nothing of value in return. Oh, and you still have to trust them.
So, without further ado, introducing Clan Vault.
<Stay tuned>
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