Your LIFE: NET WELL SOON ; ORDINARY PEOPLE ARE CONFESSING THE MOST INTIMATE SECRETS OF THEIR LIFE AND HEALTH ONLINE. BUT CAN BLOGGING GIVE YOU THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR?
25343
By MADELEINE BAILEY  FROM sex and health problems to movies and pot plants - and everything in between - someone somewhere on the internet is telling anyone who'll listen what they think about it.
387759
I just figured something out, and it's the kind of thing that's best said publicly, even though it's likely to: 1. Be misunderstood and 2. Upset some people. But since it's all about this blog it really is best to air it here. First what triggered the epiphany. I was over at Loic Le Meur's house in San Francisco yesterday having lunch with his family and friends. We were all drinking wine (very good wine of course), enjoying the view, and talking about this and that, when the subject turned to Mike Arrington. Loic said that Mike told him that we used to be best friends. I couldn't figure out what that meant, because our friendship was the business kind of friendship not the personal kind. What does it mean to best friends in that way? And how does that relate to having a blog? It never occurred to me that friendship meant that (here's the epiphany) that I would only say positive things about Mike's business. It didn't occur to me until I heard Loic's side of a blog-fight that I saw happen from a distance, with Sam Sethi, Mike and Loic.  Complicated? You bet. Too complicated. An unspoken deal that I never agreed to. When Mike was starting TechCrunch, I pointed to his blog all the time, with glowing phrases. Because I was truly impressed with what he was doing and because I wanted to encourage other people to do it too. I wanted people to write about technology products based on how they used them, not based on alliances, investment, posturing of execs, the crappy stuff that means almost nothing to users, and imho is just a substitute for actually understanding the technology. Mike was approaching products the way I felt they should be approached. Hence the praise. Fact is, my opinion of Mike, as a person, hasn't changed much in the last couple of years. He has a personal charm and charisma that not everyone finds appealing, but I do. I like hanging out with the guy. However, that doesn't mean that if my opinion of TechCrunch, his business, isn't uniformly positive (and of course these days it is actually fairly negative) that I will withhold it. But it's also part of Mike's way of dealing with people that he sees criticism as betrayal. I just don't see it that way. I've had the shit kicked out of me so many times, and as a programmer I understand that criticism is necessary to perfect a user interface, even to get the damned thing working, that even when it hurts, I have to push the hurt aside and listen to what people are saying, and try to respond to it. Professionalism demands it.  Anyway, one of the reasons I want to write this now is that I've written about Loic's business here a couple of times in very positive terms. I don't want anyone, esp Loic, to assume that this will always be so. If they get in the way of other creative people, or otherwise act as a poor example of entrepreneurship in technology, of course I will write about it, and will say what I think. I would expect Loic and people at his company to take what I write to heart, and consider it. My feelings won't be hurt if they don't do what I say.  Same as when I said Facebook sucks. Or when I criticize Techmeme. This isn't in any way meant to reflect on the quality of the people at Facebook (some of whom I know to be outstanding people of high principle) or Gabe Rivera who I know to be a very smart and competent and honorable person. It's possible to critcize someone's work and still admire the person. My epiphany is that a lot of people who thought were my friends, didn't understand this very basic thing about me.
481039
Talk about your communications revolutions -- at no time in history has it been easier to share ideas with the masses. A decade after "weblog" enters the cultural vocabulary, the web publishing phenomenon continues to grow and change.
130520
and who is MBL, DIGG and what-not anyway?Â  The MyBlogLog hype is pretty much over by now it is also not everything as peachy with them as it used to be. The issues with the security holes that were uncovered and theÂ banning of the user from the Network that uncovered them, privacy issues about data collected [...]
356581
Internet consultant Mary Hodder spends most of her life online. She has gone almost entirely digital. It may not be long before you do, too. Commentary by Adam L. Penenberg.
195153
By JADE WRIGHT  I'VE DEVELOPED a really bad habit. I sit wasting hours, when I should be in bed, in front of the computer poring (although thankfully not pawing) over pictures of strangers.   No, it's nothing untoward - I'm just hooked on the world of social networking sites.
258375
I found this news piece a bit interesting when sifting through the press wires this morning; Technorati Japan has worked on an amazing study which shows how Japanese bloggers are writing about and communicating with companies via their own personal blogs.  One fascinating aspect of the US and Japanese blogging markets is that there is [...]
658023
Readers opine about saving the world, animating pornography, spreading ideas on the net, and doing science in America. Plus: Links to our most commented-upon blog posts.
565638
What's the universe made of? Why can't we regenerate lost body parts? Wired magazine and top science thinkers tackle the quandaries others are afraid to touch.PLUS: Wired Editors Offer Smart Answers to Silly Questions
499602
NEARLY half of all young web surfers reveal all about their lives on social networking websites such as MySpace, researchers say.  They found 44 per cent of 16-34-year-olds share their innermost thoughts online.
253843
Tycho:  Months after it was necessary, Sony has thrown their blogging hat into the ring...  of blogging.  I've heard people compare it to Larry Hryb/Major Nelson's blog, but with a rotating "crew" of bloggers - like a public relations version of the Wu Tang Clan - it's more like Microsoft's Gamerscore blog.  Which, coincidentally, I never read because it is run by a rotating "crew" of bloggers, like a public relations version of the etcetera etcetera.  The mental image is that of a corporate hydra, the brand seared and scabbed upon its breast.
466761
Plus: Happiness is a warm electrode? Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.
606012
Yahoo Builds the Yahoo Search Blog  When I logged on this morning and checked my daily referral stats I noticed a multiple number of referring links from a domain that was not familiar - YSearchBlog.com. Not only one referral or a handful, but multiple multiple referrals.. my first thought - WOW, ...
293747
With the rise of user-driven content sites, Internet users have a say in what is news. A new study examines the differences between what editors think is newsworthy and what the public does.
425520
There is no question that the popular social networking site is taking over all aspects of our lives. As this new era dawns, it is important to keep in mind certain principles of etiquette. Firstly, Poke with caution and moderation.
605335
A conference about identity on the internet almost succeeds in squashing the sex-positive optimism that usually permeates Sex Drive. Commentary by Regina Lynn.
601418
Google added last Thursday a nice little video to their YouTube account without mentioning anything significant to their blogs as they usually do for announcements of new product features. Search Engine Roundtable noticed it on Friday and made a quick post, Lifehacker posted about it on Saturday.Â  The new feature is in my opinion significant and worth [...]