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31 Oct 2010 11:45

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Tech: Evan Williams learns he’s not the best guy to run Twitter

  • The thing I’ve learned that’s much different than any other time in my life is I have a team that is really, really great. I’ve been studying this stuff for a really long time, and I’ve screwed up in many, many, many ways in terms of managing people and product decisions and business, so I feel fairly confident at this point that it could scale pretty well.
  • Twitter co-founder Evan Williams • Explaining why he decided to step down from his CEO position last month. To put it simply, he’s a big idea guy, but a terrible boss. And in case you need any proof of that, consider three things: First, when Blogger’s business model weakened during the dot-com bubble and he couldn’t pay anyone, he ran the company by himself for a while. Second, when Twitter first became immensely popular, Williams’ first instinct wasn’t to hire more people to ensure the site was up all the time. And third, Evan Williams famously flopped during a speech at SXSW earlier this year. Idea guy he is. Steve Jobs he is not. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Aug 2010 00:36

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Politics: Is the root of the “Ground Zero Mosque” story Pamela Gellar?

  • She was one of the first bloggers to tackle it. Who’s Pamela Gellar? She’s a conservative blogger (owner of “Atlas Shrugs“) who is strongly anti-Jihad (not anti-Islam) in her political stances, and just today called President Obama an “antisemite president.” (In the past, she once suggested Malcolm X was Obama’s dad. No, really.) Now, we’re not super-familiar with her work, but Salon is making this claim that the whole negative vibe against the Park51 center started with her, and eventually was picked up by the New York Post. It worked like a virus from there, eventually wending its way all the way to Barack Obama, who certainly stepped in it. Can we go back to fighting about health care yet? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

12 Jul 2010 21:46

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Politics: A big up to our buddy Charles Apple, and his spiffy new site

  • Dear Daniel Hunt: Sorry we cut off your head. But seriously, folks, we’d like to congratulate our friend Charles Apple, who runs an awesome visual journalism blog, for his move to the American Copy Editors Society‘s site. Apple, a good friend of ours who’s offered tons of advice in the past, recently made a move from the warm confines of his VisualEditors.com home to a new home with ACES. It’s a meeting of the journalistic minds – the word people and the visual people are getting together for the first time ever. Ooh, scary. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2010 11:48

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Politics: Mickey Kaus: WTF is a Slate columnist doing running for Senate?

You’d think a California Senate candidate who wrote a political blog for Slate for over a decade would have nothing to say. But you’d be surprised. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2010 23:24

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Politics: Erick Erickson: Guy says dumb stuff, then gets job at CNN

  • “I probably shouldn’t have said that.” CNN’s new conservative contributor, Erick Erickson of RedState.com, has said a lot of crazy crap in his day, and when put on point by Reliable Sources guy Howard Kurtz (also of The Washington Post, and one of our smart people), he kind of falls apart, hilariously. He called David Souter a “goat #(&@(&@ child molester,” which he refers to as the “dumbest thing I’ve ever done.” You know, he might actually be an entertaining part of CNN’s programming.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2009 09:36

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Politics: Everyone’s a marketer: Why the FTC’s new blogging rules stink

  • Regulating every last one of us in our tiny, imaginary boardrooms (in my mind, mine is mahogany-paneled and has a Häagen-Dasz fountain) is as ludicrous as not skipping past the advertisements on one’s DVR.
  • TheAwl.com co-founder Choire Sicha • Discussing in the New York Times why the FTC’s blogger marketing disclosure regulations are silly. His argument? We’ve reached a point where everyone is a marketer without even realizing it. Really? We thought it was to keep these guys in check. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2009 11:07

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Culture, Tech: Anonymous blogger cattiness isn’t protected, a judge says

  • A blog named Skanks in NYC wrote this mean, biting statement about model Liskula Cohen: “How old is this skank? 40 something? She’s a psychotic, lying, whoring, still going to clubs at her age, skank.” Cohen saw it and got mad. source
  • Cohen sued a few months ago, and on Monday, the court ruled that she was allowed to sue the anonymous blogger for defamation. And worse: Google has to reveal her identity. Yikes. This is bad precedent. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 

22 Jul 2009 10:36

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Biz, Tech: TechDirt approaches blogging like tech-savvy musicians

  • If only we could do this. Then we’d truly be smart. TechDirt, a popular technology blog well-known for taking the music industry to task for its heavy-handed approach to technology, has gone out of its way to champion artists who have fully embraced the promotional tool technology can be, such as Trent Reznor and Jill Sobule. Now, they’ve gone a step further and used these very techniques as tools to promote the site. Give a donation of a certain amount, and you can become a member of the site’s music club or book club and get tons of amazing goodies. Give a bit more and the site will review your business model. Genius, kids. Genius. *golf clap* source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2009 21:39

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U.S.: Racist net dude Hal Turner arrested for threats to Chicago judges

  • Turner’s threats Turner, a white supremacist, radio host and blogger who’s claimed to be so far to the right that he makes Rush Limbaugh look liberal, said this in response to a recent court decision banning handguns in Chicago: “Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed.” source
  • Turner’s threats Turner, a white supremacist, radio host and blogger who’s claimed to be so far to the right that he makes Rush Limbaugh look liberal, said this in response to a recent court decision banning handguns in Chicago: “Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed.”
  • Going too far He also posted their vital information on his site, along with a picture of the courthouse mentioning where barriers were put up to prevent truck bombs. WTF man? The court in question is sensitive to threats, after District Court Judge Joan Lefkow’s mom and husband were killed in 2005. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

24 Jun 2009 20:52

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Politics, U.S.: Blogger Nico Pitney: Public enemy No. WHO FREAKING CARES?

  • That’s right. I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian.
  • Huffington Post blogger Nico Pitney • Being asked a question by President Barack Obama. Pitney is getting lots of criticism because apparently he knew Obama would be calling on him, despite the fact that, well, he asked a question that wasn’t pre-screened and was merely planned (from an Iranian citizen). Yeah. This is clearly as bad as the Jeff Gannon situation a while back. Nothing to see here, folks. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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