Scott Adams: “Editors are the chefs of the Internet.”

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Scott Adams points to Newser to illustrate what he sees as the future of the Internet:

“Newser works, I believe, because somewhere in their back kitchen is an editor who has an uncommon feel for what stories to highlight, how to summarize them in a folksy voice, and in what order and combination they should appear. There’s some genius happening there. When I read news from other places, I often come away feeling deflated. When I read Newser, I always leave in a good mood. That’s why I return so often. It’s a mood enhancer masquerading as some sort of news site.

And that’s your future of the Internet. The cost of content, such as this blog, and my comic strip, will continue to approach zero. The art will happen with the editing. Others have made the obvious point that editing will be important for the future of the Internet. All I’m adding is the notion that most editors have skill, but few are artists. The world of print publishing is driven by editors who are exceptionally skilled. But they aren’t artists. Newser is edited by an artist. He or she isn’t giving me information; he’s adjusting my mood. That’s art. That’s the future.”

I don’t think I’ve ever visited Newser but I’m headed there now. Like thousands of others.

I’m back. And I wasn’t impressed by Newser but Mr. Adam’s point is a good one, nonetheless.

Readability

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I’m sure I’ve posted on Readability before but I keep running into people who don’t know about it and that’s just sad. Here’s an example of a web page:

…and here’s the same page, viewed with Readability…

You just click a little bookmarklet in your browser’s tool bar.

Facebook. One more time.

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Yesterday I created a Facebook account. This is the third, possibly the fourth, time I have attempted Facebook. I say “attempted” because I have never quite “gotten” Facebook. I think I understand social networks as well as the next person but this platform has just never been a good fit for me. So why give it another shot?

A couple of reasons. One, I’d like to better understand why FB is home to half a billion people around the world. Two, social networking has become a bigger part of my job and I can’t properly support clients without a feel for Facebook.

Connecting and communicating with people you know seems to be at the core of Facebook. I send you a “Friend Request” and, if you accept it, I can see some for all of what you’re doing on Facebook, depending on how you have your privacy settings configured. If you don’t accept, I’m blocked.

I’ve had lots of conversations with Facebook users in an effort to understand it (without actually using it). A common theme goes something like this:

Jane is miffed that Bill refused to accept (or ignored?) her friend request. He doesn’t want her to be part of his online life and she’s not happy about it. She thought they were, well, friends.

In the next breath, Jane is explaining why she is getting creeped out by the co-worker who keeps sending her friend requests. The irony is completely lost on Jane.

Some Facebook users deal with this by just accepting all friend requests and ignoring the stuff from the not-really-friends. Others just ignore the requests.

I don’t plan on spending any more time on Facebook than is necessary to understand how it works. I’ll auto post from my blog, YouTube, Twitter and all the rest. So, there will be no shortage of stuff on my “wall,” but it all originates from somewhere else where anyone can see what I’m up to. But that’s clearly less convenient that seeing all within the Facebook compound.

How will I handle “friend” requests (assuming I get any)? I’ll probably ignore them unless we already have an online connection (and I probably won’t give you a kidney, either).

So I’m headed off to Facebook with the same enthusiasm as for my first boy-girl dance party mom made me attend (on Bill Wicker’s patio). I didn’t dance there either.

Apple’s Magic Trackpad

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I almost remember my first computer mouse. The weird sensation of coordinating my hand movements with the cursor on the screen. And –once I got the hang of it– how wonderful to be able to click and drag and all the rest. From time to time, you had to take the little ball from the guts of the mouse and clean off the crud sucked up from the desktop or the mouse pad (remember mouse pads?).

I tried some of the early touch pads but found them klunky. So, when I got my first MacBook –which came with a touch pad– I made sure I had a mouse close at hand. But the more I used the Mac’s touch pad, the more natural it felt. In time, I left the mouse at home.

Apple recently began shipping the Magic Trackpad and I have to say I love it. It took a few hours to feel completely natural but I now find myself using all of my fingers to do lots of things that are much more difficult (if not impossible) with a mouse. And it all feels completely natural and ergonomic.

The AlphaSmart 3000

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I spotted this at a nearby table in the Coffee Zone last week. I couldn’t resist interrupting the gentleman to inquire. The AlphaSmart 3000 is a word processor with a tiny LCD screen. Just 4 lines of text. You can call up other documents using the gray keys. There’s a USB port for moving your stuff to another computer.

According to the owner, a few AA batteries gives him 700 hours of hunting and pecking. I’d really like to meet and interview the person who conceived of this device.

Last of the Mays Boys

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It was a family weekend for smays.com. My brother Blane is back in the states for a few weeks to get his second oldest son, Spencer, officially enrolled in college. He’ll be attending Liberty University in Lynchberg, VA. (I’m pretty sure they don’t know there’s a flaming lefty in the family)

Oldest son Ryan –a junior at Union University– drove over from Tennnesse and we all met up in Tulsa. The brothers hadn’t seen each other in a year-and-a-half so they had some catching up to do. [L-R: Ryan, Blane, Spencer]

I handed down my 15″ MacBook to Spencer as a graduation present and he immediately loaded Skype so he could talk with his sweetie back in Indonesia. I know they whispered sweet nothings for 90 minutes at one stretch, which would have been one expensive phone call. But those days are gone now.

It was miserably hot in Tulsa and the traffic was like nothing I’ve seen in a while. Bumper-to-bumper for as far as you could see.

During our time together, my brother pointed out that we were “the last of the Mays line.” At least our strain. And since Blane and I won’t be making any more humans, it will be up to Ryan and Spencer to keep the name in lights.

And it’s wonderful to be home again.

Scott Adams: Immortality

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“…we’re a simulated (programmed) world left behind by advanced humanoids that shed their bodies billions of years ago. Our simulated world is the closest they could come to immortality. They were romantics, much like ourselves, and couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from their loved ones for eternity. So in our programmed little world, when we feel a special connection to another, it’s because we knew that person when we were real, and the program allows us to feel it again as if new. Thus, when you meet your soul mate, it is a reunion of sorts. And it will happen over and over, in each subsequent life the program provides for you.”

Scott Adams concludes an interesting post on stress with this lovely take on reality.