WinExtra Comments - Latest Comments in General

Re: http://www.winextra.com/2008/05/17/from-the-pipeline-51708/

MarkDykeman — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:19:24 -0000

Steven, there *were* a few moments when I thought "why the heck am I putting all of this effort into this list, especially now that there's the Social Media section of Alltop". However, although there's now a lot of overlap between the two lists, I have a number of blogs that aren't in Alltop, so perhaps that is worth something. Thanks for the link!

Re: Who is the sidebar for?

Chris Brogan... — Sun, 18 May 2008 10:17:55 -0000

Unless you've already done the work, I'd say that your sidebar is pretty well community-focused already. I like the Disqus community bar there, too. I haven't integrated Disqus into my blog yet, but yours might be the one that gets me to really think hard about it.

Re: Who is the sidebar for?

eng1ne — Sun, 18 May 2008 05:22:12 -0000

Steven, I have put some serious thought into going with a 1-column design if / when I update my blog's theme. Instead of having a sidebar, I'd have a limited set of widgets in a footer bar of some sort (sort of like this one.)

I just want it to be really clean, with the focus on the article and the comments. Most everything else is secondary.

Re: Disqus - the non-stupid version

CynthiaBlue — Sun, 18 May 2008 03:19:23 -0000

I will do that thanks. :)

Re: Disqus - the non-stupid version

StevenHodson — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:55:04 -0000

My very best advice is to contact help@disqus.com and ask Jason for the best practice for doing this as I haven't had any practical experience doing this but I imagine that they have.

Re: Disqus - the non-stupid version

CynthiaBlue — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:50:53 -0000

I want to export my comments from Disqus and import them into my self hosted wordpress blog... but when I export it in RSS, then import to WP, it imports them as posts, not comments. I am not sure how to import the Disqus comments back into WP as comments. Any advice?

Re: No sour grapes for this new desktop metaphor

microrahsheen — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:39:20 -0000

Ok, Steven. I'm confused. I thought you LIKED folders? :)

This is an awesome concept, though. Great article.

Re: No sour grapes for this new desktop metaphor

Corvida — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:05:42 -0000

Eye sex! :D

That's a really good concept though: "to do everything from within the desktop rather than having to dig down though multiple layers of folders." This is what the desktop should've been about from the get go. Folders should've been the option, not the necessity. I don't even show the icons on my desktop. For what? I never see it and I rarely use it.

Re: http://www.winextra.com/2008/05/16/from-the-pipeline-51608/

Aaron Brazell — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:41:13 -0000

Thanks for the read, link and comment. The RSS feed is autodiscoverable. Plug the domain name into your reader, and you can subscribe. :)

Re: Who is the sidebar for?

colinwalker — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:40:53 -0000

This is something I've been thinking about myself recently as I look to modify the appearance and impression my blog gives - it's a gradual process.

I have just removed the Clustrmaps map as I don't think it adds anything - it's essentially a vanity check for the blogger. It will be replaced with something else but I don't know what yet - was toying with the idea of a small bio a la Chris.

Re: A couple of suggestions for the Windows Live Writer team

StevenHodson — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:35:03 -0000

Jeber,

All I can say is that from previous experience with the Windows Live Team they have been pretty good at responding to things I have written about WLW in the past. I also know several other bloggers who they have responded to as well. So one can hold out some hope that they will see this somewhere along the way but in time to add the requests in as I don't think they are overly difficult ones to implement I think.

Re: The slippery slope of free

StevenHodson — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:27:03 -0000

The additional problem of freenomics being it takes away any initiative for independent developers to try and bring what they think will be a good solid alternative to "just good enough software". What is the point of shareware anymore when the next thing you know there is s free version of the same idea that can be added into yet another tab in your browser.

Re: $1 Billion to fight child pornography

StevenHodson — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:23:04 -0000

My biggest fear Dr. Kardasz is that this will become the next playground for vote getting; as we have seen happen before with internet related criminal activities. It would make me an extremely happy man to see some effective work come out of initiatives like this unfortunately though I have been around long enough and seen enough scare tactics that went away once the money was pork barreled and the election over. Nor do I want this type of thing to end up like some stupid ass show like Predator on Dateline.

I hope your faith in the initiative is well founded I really do.

Re: The slippery slope of free

Paul M. Watson — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:52:49 -0000

> attitude being that we are willing to accept products that just get the job done but don’t come with anything to make the
> product really stand out other than it is free

"Getting the job done" is a pretty stand out feature.

A good deal of for-pay software is bloated with "people are paying for this, we'd better throw in the kitchen sink" thinking. And in reality I am finding a lot of free software to be just what I need; GMail is the best email client for my needs. Google Reader is the best feed reader for my needs. Google Search is pretty darned good, I don't see any for-pay alternatives.

Obviously we all have different needs and some people may find Outlook caters for their needs. But it doesn't make the "freeternatives" any less.

Re: $1 Billion to fight child pornography

Dr. Frank Kardasz — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:36:57 -0000

The Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007 will provide funding to combat Internet sex offenders in areas where support is desperately needed. It lends help for efforts at the local, state and federal levels.

Historically, the success of the DOJ, OJP, ICAC Task Force program has been due in part to the abilities of personnel at the local, state and federal levels to overcome egoism, empire-building, and jealousy in order to organize and cooperate towards the common goal of apprehending deviant offenders. Since the programs' inception, some quietly dedicated and talented people who possess steadfast resolve to protect children have done some amazing work, mostly in the shadows of cyberspace and largely unnoticed by the community. Administrators at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention played an important role in these efforts.

My thoughts about the Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007 are mixed. It represents bright hope towards progress in our difficult endeavors against clandestine cyber-sex enemies, foreign and domestic. If implemented, the Act will facilitate due process for those invisible child and teen victims who are marginalized; who have no political voice and who are unrecognized by traditional community based policing efforts. The addition of more federal agents dedicated specifically to this battle is sorely needed. Increased funding to the local ICAC Task Forces nationwide promises to permit more personnel, training and equipment to our understaffed, under trained and under equipped colleagues.

When the US Attorneys Office created Project Safe Childhood a couple years ago, I was pleased to see that added attention was being given to the problem of Internet crimes against children. The predictable result of the increased attention included some inter agency jockeying, bruised feelings, and political maneuvering - that happens at every level of government. After the fallout, the law enforcement soldiers in this battle will regroup and press forward.

The fine work of local, state and federal law enforcement over the past ten years has resulted in enough attention being drawn to the subject that serious consideration is finally being given to horrible cybercrimes involving children. Although our numbers and resources are still far fewer that those of the criminals, the present initiative, the Combating Child Exploitation Act (S.1738), offers our best hope to date of progressing from the stone-age to the horse-drawn-carriage age of cybercrime enforcement.

Assuming that the bill passes the house and is approved, I hope that whoever is chosen as special counsel will be a non-partisan supporter of local, state and federal efforts. The position requires a person of high character and determined resolve. The appointee should transcend political ladder-climbing ambitions and be someone deeply rooted in law enforcement. The appointee should remember that although the power-base will be Washington DC, some of the most effective law enforcement efforts are still being made at the state and local levels nationwide.

It is important to remember that federal law does not grant enforcement responsibility for "hands-on" contact sex offenses to federal agents unless there is some interstate nexus. Because many cyber criminals are also contact offenders the investigations must often be worked cooperatively between federal agents and local law enforcement. The important local, state and federal partnerships established through the DOJ OJJDP ICAC Task Force Program must continue.

I support the initiative and hope that it passes.

Dr. Frank Kardasz

see: http://kardasz.org/blog/2008/04/investigating_i...

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

Scobleizer — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:01:31 -0000

It was not photoshopped. That was me fooling around at a party at the first LIFT conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Re: A couple of suggestions for the Windows Live Writer team

jeber — Sat, 17 May 2008 06:39:24 -0000

Good points. Unfortunately it's Microsoft. Were it an open source project or startup those improvements would stand a chance of being implemented within the near future. I may be too old to blog by the time MS releases the next version of Live Writer.

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

vdegeorge — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:36:25 -0000

Yep, this is pretty much the end.

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

shey — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:28:33 -0000

Oh my goodness.

Scoble, please tell me that's photoshopped...

Re: The slippery slope of free

microrahsheen — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:19:34 -0000

Excellent post. Even though Charter is mentioned, I can definitely see Comcast getting in on something like this as well. They have monopoly pretty much in my entire state.

Only part I disagree with is "almost good enough as the stuff you pay for."

I guess it depends on where you come from as far as OS/Software choices.

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

StevenHodson — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:09:03 -0000

I had a mouthful of Pepsi when I clicked through to the page .. I'm still cleaning up the mess :)

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

Solacetech — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:06:44 -0000

It was only a matter of time...

Re: The end of the internet is at hand - seriously

Karoli — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:04:26 -0000

SNORT. I'm glad I had that last bite of ice cream before clicking through to this one.

Re: The slippery slope of free

StevenHodson — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:30:02 -0000

Me ... sarcastic?

:)

Re: The slippery slope of free

webomatica — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:20:20 -0000

Steven - I detect some sarcasm in this post. In my case I would never sign up for this deal. Would I take a free computer if the OS desktop was covered with ads? Heck no. Alternatively, I would actually pay good money, even extra, for an ISP that would guarantee they would stay out of my business and not sell my info to advertisers. There's a whole new revenue stream ripe for the taking.

I could easily see this backfiring though. The sort of person who goes in for free internet service is likely really on a tight budget - a demographic who is probably not going to click on ads and by the products.