Disqus - Friends of nicefishfilms

Re: Advertising for bloggers has to change

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:10:38 -0000

brilliant post. there also needs to be a focus on rss monetization in a real way, as well as sponsorship not tied to CPMs but engagement and audience value. we should bring this up as a topic this for weekend's show.

Re: Bitchmeme: Do blogs deserve ads?

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:15:25 -0000

I think that the bottom line is that if there's eyeballs of a serious amount in any web location, whether or not the site is providing original content or a simple regurgitation of the news, there deserves to be ads.

Where there is significant community engagement and a real sense of discussion that happens around news, then there deserves to be some monetization there as well. As of yet, we haven't found a way to really value that outside of the generic umbrella of 'sponsorship', but i'm hoping there's something there.

Re: louisgray.com: I Am a Google Reader Shared Links Ninja

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:06:07 -0000

That's actually the same reason I picked Ninja for my theme, too. :)

Re: Untitled Document

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:32:38 -0000

comment on this article.

Re: Untitled Document

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:32:45 -0000

test.

Re: Untitled Document

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:33:02 -0000

test number three!

Re: Untitled Document

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:33:42 -0000

will it nest?

Re: Untitled Document

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:39:44 -0000

yes it will. This is slicker than snot.

Re: Google Reader allows me to (surreptitiously) alter the text of any article.

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:36:48 -0000

What other bugs have you noted, Louis? I've noted my lack of ability to hit the notes feature with a hotkey, but that's relatively minor compared to this.

Re: It’s about respect

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:47:05 -0000

I understand all too well how irritating it is to be called out in public on your linking and editorial policy- Louis can directly attest to that. :-p

Given that, it's my policy that if I find something I disagree with, I send an email or some sort of private communication, until the issue is resolved.

Here's the thing, though (given that this issue has already been sent out for open discussion) - sending traffic to FriendFeed rather than the blogger, that's a low blow. It's more than being about the Google Juice - It's about the clickthru traffic. Separating the source from the referall by multiple click-thrus is putting barriers between potential readers and me. If Scoble really didn't want folks to get to the blogger, he should have just not linked him in the first place, via friendfeed or any other method.

I don't think that you'd be too pleased, Scoble, if ValleyWag, TechCrunch, Mashable and ReadWriteWeb collectively decided to stop linking you directly, and simply link to places on FriendFeed and Twitter where they see links to your site.

Re: Peace-Loving Angelina Loves Her Big Guns

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:49:49 -0000

If you were hoping not to have a debate, you probably wouldn't have posted this and mentioned the debate and your position.

Obviously, gun owners have a responsibility to secure their guns away from prying hands. Adults in families have a responsibility to protect their children and dependents. Someone in a high profile position like hers, doubly so. It is the height of responsibility to carry a gun, secure that gun and then broadcast to the world that you both have and know how to use it.

Jerkwads will think twice before invading a Brangelina home.

Re: ERTH raising $2 million for wastewater treatment

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:46:24 -0000

I did a double-take at the headlines. This is a company that may want to re-think their corporate name and branding.

I had dealings with Earthshell in the first half of this decade, a company with the stock-ticker name ERTH. Simon Hodson was their CEO, and was also heavily invested in by Essam Khashoggi. The company ran a very convincing take VC and run scam for a number of years before finally folding up shop.

There are so many disgruntled investors and creditors that Earthshell made it into the Urban Dictionary a number of times, with a number of very negative connotations.

Re: rizzn's personal blog: Todd Cochrane: Making Dumb Moves. Even For Him.

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:13:07 -0000

To allow for some interactivity at my blog, I've thrown on Disqus and Pat Hawk's FF comment display while I figure out how I'm going to finish the FF powered comments Quixotic mission I've undertaken.

Re: Making a buck is cool – Pissing me off isn’t

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:14:36 -0000

If I knew which blog this was, and I'm not saying I do, I'd say that there's a big disconnect between the editorial and business side in terms of what goes up on the site. In other words, I wouldn't blame the authors.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:22:37 -0000

If this was a company, what would I be manufacturing? Art doesn't have to answer (but he will anyway :-p ).

Re: What Comes After Post Modernism?

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:45:11 -0000

To say that the casino doesn't make anything valuable is in itself shortsighted, Amanda. It makes entertainment, which by looking at the US economy, is one of the most important chunks of the whole mess. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but aren't you in Marketing and Communications? Point to me what hard and concrete thing you create of value to your customers. Can you hold it in your hand? Is it real? Does that make it less valuable? No.

Money, as in currency, is worthless. Why do you think Bill Gates spent the first half of his life amassing his wealth and pledged to spend the second half giving it away? Because after a certain point, unless you're gold plating your commodes, you just can't spend it all in a way that adds value. Given he has a conscience (contrary to my Linux-using friends' popularly held beliefs), he decided that the best way to improve his quality of living would be to improve the world through charitable giving.

Speaking more directly to your criticisms of the Web 2.0's efforts to 'deprofessionalize business,' it makes the world more of a meritocracy. You put in the work and you have the ability, you get ahead - the market deems you more valuable. If you sit on your duff and your high-falutin' degree and collect a check, you get left behind.

Moreover, it de-centralizes business. In terms of efficiency of the organization, smaller focused companies rule the day. You don't need a team of thousands to put something in the hands of every man woman and child anymore. You can simply assemble a team of two, five, or ten and create something valuable enough that it will sustain itself as a business and the proprietors of that business in perpetuity. The interactive nature of virtual goods and service creation means that what you invent doesn't always mean what ends up in the hands of the consumer - and that's fine, because the engagement is the loyalty is the product is the value.

In short, the de-centralization,removal of hierarchy, and dis-incentives to elitism serves to broaden each of our slices of the pie by use of the free market without implementation of socialist policies of punishing achievement and rewarding slack. It functions philosophically on the same tenants that built the Internet itself and has served to make it the powerhouse it is.

Re: What Comes After Post Modernism?

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:50:00 -0000

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't.

Re: What Comes After Post Modernism?

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:58:06 -0000

Amanda, perhaps if you read the responses, you might find things you agreed with or found interesting. I might be wrong here, since I don't have a camera trained on you, but from your responses, you don't really appear to be responding to anything in particular except restating your opinion with various barbs meant to insult the very premises of not just folks' positions in writing, but positions in life.

The only thing intending to cause separation here is you. Unfortunately (for you, I guess), you're failing, as every bit of commentary and back and forth serves to create more loyalty as well as attention and community. There's a conversation happening, and even you are interested in seeing how it turns out.

You keep coming back and contributing. That's the definition of bringing people together. You're being brought back to this community in an attempt to engage the rest of us (albeit in a somewhat hostile manner).

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:32:44 -0000

Two folks asked me in IM already (that's why I have commenting now!) what crazy science things I mean. I'm an avid fan of trans-humanism, artificial intelligence and Ray Kurzweil, and am reasonably well informed on that arena. If that's of interest to my "fans" then I would love talking about it.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:53:56 -0000

Cool. Should I stick to those topics exclusively, or should I delve off into tangents? I guess that's the fundamental question I'm struggling with, behind picking a primary topic.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:56:50 -0000

Interestingly enough, I'm finding it easier to shoot video lately than do text. It's either my personal set-up or just the mood I'm in lately.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:21:31 -0000

I love talking politics, and I have a hard time not talking about them for extended periods of time. Given that I'm in the Web 2.0 sector these days primarily, my libertarian ideals tend to piss a lot of folks off, though, so I'm leary about focusing on it too much. Its a tempting area to go into again, though.

In terms of engagement, though, there's very little that gets people talking more than talking about politics.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:24:34 -0000

Yeah, I've actually got a post I'm working on that briefly delves into the news cycle and how that tends to end a lot of good discussions in the blogosphere. I like the fast pace of topics, but it kills off a lot of deeper analysis in the interests of time.

The science angle to tech is what I miss the most living inside the web 2.0 bubble. The closest we get to talking about real scientific advancements is 23andMe's genetic initiatives. I feel like we're missing out on a lot of really cool stuff, sometimes.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:38:07 -0000

Since the answer from everyone is overwhelmingly yes, I've got a video coming out in a few minutes. Stay tuned.

Re: rizzn's personal blog

Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:55:38 -0000

Hah. Yeah. I don't have it in the budget for puppets, anyway. :)