Hell Yeah Bitch! .com

This is a follow up on a piece a wrote on December 1st, 2005 entitled “Adam Curry Likes Himself, What a Shocker”

I told you. I thought it was no secret that most people like themselves, but when I told that shocking truth on this very site not long ago, people responded with “I see your point” and nothing further. People were amazed and shocked that Adam Curry would have the gall to go and edit his own entry in Wikipedia. Here’s what I said before:

So you make a encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Very hippie, very peace and love, very cool…and also very dumb if you can honestly tell me that you never thought this would happen. Of course this is going to happen! This isn’t the first time, this won’t be the last time, and in fact, its probably happening right now. People are going to want to get themselves in the world-renowned Wikipedia, what a shocker, and if they are already in it, people will want to get a bigger piece of the pie. I thought this was known, I thought this was assumed, but for some reason, someone busted Curry editing the Podcast article a few times and now people are whining and making lame titled blog posts about it.

That part about how “it happens all the time” and “its probably happening right now”? It turns our that was more right that I, and my detractors, thought. It just so happened that the next person with their “caught” editing a editable encyclopedia was the founder himself Jimmy Wales. This according to Wired News:

Public edit logs reveal that Wales has changed his own Wikipedia bio 18 times, deleting phrases describing former Wikipedia employee Larry Sanger as a co-founder of the site.

Hmm. Interesting. To this I once again say: Who cares? Its an editable dictionary people! If it can be edited, it will be edited…and if there is an entry about you, you are probably going to want to go in and tweak it to your liking. No big surprise, no big deal. I don’t want to write my last article over again, but really. Why is everyone getting all pissed off about nothing? Anyone can edit it the thing…if its not what the community believes to be true, its changed back or to something else. Rinse. Repeat.

I’ll leave you with one last quote from the Wired Article:

While he said that Wikipedia generally frowns on people editing entries about themselves, there is no hard and fast rule against it.

Links:
Wired | Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio
Hell Yeah Bitch! | Adam Curry Likes Himself, What a Shocker

So Technorati has gone the way of Google and decided to release beta projects to the world at large. While I’m not a huge fan of this move, it does seem to be en vogue as of late and thats fine. The real issue I have with this step by Technorati isn’t the entire program in of itself (which they’ve oldly named “The Kitchen”), but with the Kitchen’s first course specifically.

“Explore” is what they are calling it and they are billing it with this short description:

Find out what bloggers are saying right now on any topic, organized by how many links their posts are getting. Think of it as a newspaper front page for any subject.

Now correct me if I’m wrong…but doesn’t that statement sound like what Technorati was supposed to be? Way before the stove was hot in “The Kitchen” or even before when “The Kitchen” was created, Technorati was billed as the site where one could go to see what was being discussed on the Web at any given moment. It was supposed to be a tracker in the on-going converstation of the (I shudder as I type this) blogosphere. I thought this was still the point of the site on the whole up until an hour or so ago when I found “The Kitchen”. Right? I couldn’t have been that misinformed right? Telling the world of the talk on the web currently was the point of even making Technorati to begin with right?

So what the hell happened? Somewhere along the lines Technorati decieded to take the purpose of their site and make it into a feature…or better yet…a beta feature! Its amounts to Google releasing a new beta program of Google Web Search tomorrow. Improving your site is one thing, but this is a whole new and strange level. Say Explore takes off, what is to become of Technorati? I really just don’t understand any of the reasoning behind this. Its sound like an upgrade but they are treating it like an added feature.

I’ll give them one thing though, it takes balls to take a failed goal and turn around and market it to your users as a brand new idea.

Hey everybody! Google has added an RSS reader to GMail. Now if someone can let me know why the hell anyone needs this, than you get the gold star for today. Like usual, when Google does anything new everyone starts creaming in their jeans, and this new “feature” Google has added to GMail is no different. Unlike most though, I’m using the term “feature” extremely loosely. Mainly because the term “feature” would imply that its a usefull addition, and adding a stupid RSS reader to a email interface is not a usefull addition. If I need to be checking my GMail and then with one click check the latest postings on my favorite sites, I don’t need Google to help me do that. I’ve been able to do that for a while now with tabs, or live bookmarks in Firefox, or an RSS bookmark in Safari, so why do I need another way to do this?

Google’s addition of an useless RSS reader is just a sign that Google really is going to be the next Microsoft. Microsoft is famous for adding useless features just so they can say that they’ve added a feature. Out of all those menus in Word, how many do you actually use? Thats what I thought. All that crap was added a little at a time, thrown in my programmers that had to show something to their boss and allowed them to pad their “New Features” list, all the while no one stopped to think if adding all these was even worth it in the long run. Very typical of big companies like Microsoft, and now, Google.

Whats next? A quick way to view videos from Google Video from my GMail interface? Or maybe a way that I can click on any word and it will search Froogle for the best price on it? All things you can do with a few clicks now, but if they continue things like that, all it will do is take a good thing that did one job suitably well (I’ve never really been a fan of GMail’s interface) and clog it up and stretch it too thin.

Please Google, just let GMail be an email client, and thats all.

Come to think of it, I use the POP access anyway, so I guess I don’t care after all.

No way! You mean to tell me that Adam Curry, former MTV VJ and one of the pioneers of Podcasting, was busting editing the Wikipedia entry on Podcasting to make himself look more important?! I know, I can’t believe it either! I think the real question here is: Why does anyone give a crap?! In fact, if there is a “side” to choose, I’m with Curry. Let me explain.

So you make a encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Very hippie, very peace and love, very cool…and also very dumb if you can honestly tell me that you never thought this would happen. Of course this is going to happen! This isn’t the first time, this won’t be the last time, and in fact, its probably happening right now. People are going to want to get themselves in the world-renowned Wikipedia, what a shocker, and if they are already in it, people will want to get a bigger piece of the pie. I thought this was known, I thought this was assumed, but for some reason, someone busted Curry editing the Podcast article a few times and now people are whining and making lame titled blog posts about it.

Isn’t the great Wikipedia able to handle this? What do you do if someone changes the Chicago Cubs page to read nothing but: “The Cubs suck!” (Well thats a bad example, being thats actually true and all.) ? You catch it and change it. That system goes on all the time everyday, and no one hears about it. This is no different. If the system is as great as everyone keeps telling everyone else, this should be a non-issue, a mere blip, nothing. Fix it, add Curry’s name to the list of millions of people that like themselves and go have a Coke.

So the guy tried to change a post. So what? I say good for Adam! He rolled the dice a few times and edited an article that pertained to him. If he did it and most people agreed with the changes, then they stay and until someone deletes that post and replaces with a picture of a girl with her top off get seems bigger and everything is fine. If no one likes his edits, then the big Wikipedia gods change it back and everyone goes on with our lives. Thats the way Wikipedia works: People change things, everyone discusses, actions are taken or not. You can almost here the Lion King soundtrack start to amp up…”Its the circle of life!!!” Curry rolled the dice and this time it came up craps. Oh well. Who cares. Let move on and let the Wikipedia guys worry about the kid in Tulsa that keeps editing things so that he co-stars in all of Hillary Duff’s movies.

Yeah Google Maps is pretty much everywhere these days. Some people just can’t stop making little sites based on Google’s popular mapping API that are clever at first, then annoying later on. Dammit that is getting old! Screw it, here’s another one: Celebrity Maps

It is what it sounds like. You click on a name, and the Google Maps interface wisks you there with a little baloon telling you the address. Seriously, what did stalkers do before this came out? Here’s a shocker: Its fun for a little bit, then it suddenly is boring and then you get hungry and need a nap, or at least thats how I felt.

Have fun and enjoy Celebrity Maps, but I’m pretty sure that link to Rodney Dangerfield’s house won’t net that much excitement.

Tom Green, everyone’s favorite utter-sucking, canceled MTV show host, has decided to post is personal cell phone number ( 1 (310) 717-1919 ) on his blog. From the post:

Okay, so I didn’t mention this. But I documented the moment that I lost my mind. On video. It was the moment I decided to post my blog. It’s neat, because you see how long it takes for the phone to start ringing. About two minutes or so after the post. It hasn’t stopped since. I’m not complaining. It has been awesome talking to all of you people around the world over the past 24 hours. If you watch this video to the end, you will see the first call I recieved. And me making some goofy faces, as I tend to sometimes do. You guys are awesome. Cheers Gang!

Very cool. I found this little nugget of internet greatness via Perez, and upon going to Green’s site, I have found that I love it. His blog is everything a blog should be: a little bit of life story, a little be of his thoughts, and a little bit of random weirdness. I love it. And the best part is he seems to actually keep it up rather well.

Nice work one the blog Tom Green, and your beard kicks ass!

Link: Perez’s article
Link: Tom’s Blog

I’m not that into Podcasts. I have one that I listen to regularly: This Week In Tech. And to be honest I really don’t do much in the way of exploring for new Podcasts because I feel like the pool has been too diluted with 16 year old Jimmy doing one about his Dungeons and Dragons games that it isn’t worth the effort to dig through the crap to find something good. Pretty much the same goes for Vodcasts (or whatever it is you call them), though to a lesser extent, I really don’t have the desire to go trolling around looking for stuff to watch. Now if the suggestion is made to go check something out that is known to be good, I will check it out. Such is the case when I read about DriveTime on BoingBoing the other day. I don’t know what it is, but I’m hooked on DriveTime.

What is DriveTime? Well, to quote the information in iTunes about it: “A video blog talk show produced during a driving commute through the streets of Boston.” It has guests that he picks up on his was to and from work and at times there is a co-host (his wife) when he picks her up and drops her off a work. Its exactly the type of fun little program that can come in a time where creating, editing and now publishing video content is something anyone with a desire can do.

Too bad I don’t live anywhere near Boston…it would be great to be a guest.

Link: DriveTime
Subscribe Via iTunes: Subscribe

Some wonderful person out there on the web has taken the time to recreate the awesomely lame After Dark screen saver, “Flying Toasters”. Better yet? Its available free for both Mac and PC. (I would include a direct download link, but UneasySilence forbids such craziness. You will have to go to their article to get the files.)

Download it and savor the 90’s flavor.

Via Uneasy Silence

CNet is buying in to the latest craze started by the CEO of the WIN blogging network and one of the newest AOL employees, Jason Calacanis. He called for a better list of the top blogs than the one and only (and crappy) list Technorati threw out at the time. Well now everyone is making lists, and CNet is the latest. Why does it sound like I don’t care? Its because I don’t. Everyone’s list is the same: BoingBoing, Engadget, Kottke…blah blah blah. Now if they put Hell Yeah Bitch! .com on there, then I would care. Oh wait, execpt for the fact that I really don’t like being considered a “blog”…it just feels too trendy. So I guess I really don’t care either way.

Note: I did notice Kevin Rose’s blog was on CNets list, which I find odd because he hasn’t updated since September 16th. Surely there must be a better blog to put on the list than his!

Link: CNet | News.com’s Blog 100

• An IPTV channel for old and new Apple videos. (Watch it with DTV)
• The Pat O’Brien Soundboard (Yes, its still funny.)
• Engadget visits the iPod family cemetery
• The beginnings of a flickr for your own server? Maybe.
• A GUI for OpenVPN on OS X; I’ve been using for work and its been great.
• Two skeletons kissing.