The Most Social Guy Who Ever Wanted to Ditch Society
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For someone who revels in solitude in âInto the Wild,â Chris McCandless is remarkably good at making friends.
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In real life, you probably don't want to be friends with a guy   who once stole a car from a one-legged girl and faked his death in order   to break up with someone. But virtual social networking is another   story.
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A photo-sharing Fool considers becoming a shareholder.
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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.
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One of the biggest role models from the "I don't care" era has done a complete 180-degree turn.
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``Off the field, he did so much for so many people. He really reached a lot. of people. ... He was a great friend on and off the field.
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The social networking site that's more networking than social wants to go public.
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His innovative approach to psychotherapy made him one of the most provocative figures in modern psychology.
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Casual Male caters to a big clientele but has to overcome a hefty debt load.
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Schmoozing can be a trial for the shy, reclusive, and socially challenged. Even those who understand the power of networking sometimes quake at the thought of a roomful of strangers.
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A look at the life the Microsoft co-founder before the internet revolution
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Comment is free: Priyamvada Gopal:  Rushdie's knighthood is a reward for abandoning the anti-establishment stance he once espoused.
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Heath Ledger was serious and smart enough to be suspicious of deploying his charisma too easily or cheaply.
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Mark Zuckerberg is a reluctant poster child for the phenomenon sweeping the Internet known loosely as Web 2.0. Partly that's because he's shy.
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Tycho:  So there I was, at the San Diego ComicCon, sidling past the Penny Arcade table on my way to say hi to Scott Kurtz at the PvP Online booth, when suddenly this Tycho person grabbed me and pulled me aside to rant and rave. He had an idea, he said. A crazy idea.
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He had some Wheaties this morning for sure. My advice... 1. Remember to have fun. 2. We're all bozos on this bus. 3. We're all barking farting chihuahuas. 4. I make shitty software and so do you. 5. It's even worse than it appears. 6. You never learn anything hanging with the same people. 7. Thank heaven for little girls. (A repeat of #6.) 8. It's later than you think. 9. It's not like anyone gets out of this alive.
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By Paul Gromosiak  I must admit that I am a bit of a Luddite, but I have accepted my fair share of technology in my daily life. What concerns me is how rapidly technology seems to be taking complete control of our lives. Once our servant, I think it is now our master.