Morning Coffee Notes

A short test of Cinch, a product from BlogTalkRadio.

“A rare thing – a Dave Winer soliloquy – about the line between people who welcome WikiLeaks and those who fight it. And the distractions.” Dave’s thoughts on the ongoing WikiLeaks story and how it represents a “reformation of journalism”. He argues that there is a clear divide between those who are willing to use the leaked information and those who are not: Dave is firmly on the side of using the information. He criticizes the New York Times for not being more supportive of WikiLeaks and the First Amendment, and calls out the hypocrisy of companies like Amazon and PayPal for banning WikiLeaks while allowing other news outlets to cover the leaks. Dave believes the leaks could expose important information that the public needs to know, even if it makes some powerful people uncomfortable. Overall, Dave sees the WikiLeaks story as a pivotal moment that will reshape journalism going forward.

“Dave Winer on Twitter’s new @anywhere identity system extension. What is @anywhere? Here’s my best guess…” @Anywhere was a new feature announced by Twitter that allows websites to integrate Twitter functionality, such as displaying user profiles and enabling commenting, without users having to leave the website. This is Twitter’s answer to similar features offered by Facebook, where users can use their Facebook login to interact on other websites. Dave suggests that @Anywhere appears to be part of a broader trend of technology companies trying to extend their reach and integrate their services across the web, though the long-term impact and usefulness of such features remains to be seen.

Long polling is a technique used by Dave to receive real-time updates from websites that support RSS cloud or Pub/Sub/Hubbub protocols, despite being behind a firewall that prevents direct access. Instead of just getting the URL of the updated feed, he also receives the actual content of the updated item. This “fat ping” approach reduces the number of feed reads required on the server side, which is beneficial for sites with a lot of user-generated content.

“Megan had some questions about River2 which I answered in this brief podcast.”

“Second podcast of the day, comparing Apple’s and Google’s strategies.” Dave discusses his experience with the new Android device, the Motorola Droid, and how it compares to the iPhone. He notes that the Droid provides a more seamless integration with the web experience, extending features like Google Maps and Gmail in ways the iPhone had not. Dave observes that this reflects the broader competition and convergence between the technology ecosystems of Google and Apple, which could have progressed further had the companies collaborated. Overall, Dave is excited about the Droid and the potential for new technological advancements, despite some initial challenges in adapting to the device.

“Quick review of Motorola DROID just bought this morning. Recorded on the speaker phone. Great quality! Also a bit of baseball philosophy for the Yankees and Phillies.” Dave is testing out the first Motorola Droid phone (an Android device released in Nov 2009) and is impressed with the call quality and connection compared to his previous experience with AT&T, which he describes as the “worst phone company in the world” due to frequent dropped calls and poor call quality. He likes the Droid’s fast performance, clean user interface, and customization options. While the camera is not as nice as the iPhone’s, he was able to easily upload photos to Gmail and Facebook. Dave is considering moving away from the iPhone, which he feels has become too restrictive with its app strategy.

“I screwed up and lost this week’s Rebooting The News podcast. This brief 3 minute solo cast explains what happens and expresses apologies to Jay and everyone for this screwup. Sorry!!”

“We started out talking about the Kindle, turned to gadgets, the iPhone, the MIT Tech Review slam of me and Clay Shirky, and on to opportunities for the Palm Pre to zig where Apple zags.”

“Sidebar to last Sunday’s Rebooting The News podcast with Jay Rosen, relating the blogger assignment desk idea to Hypercamp, which is a more comprehensive blueprint for how blogging becomes the backbone of news in the future. Also a response to Kevin Marks.” Dave discusses the Hypercamp idea, where there would be a permanent newsroom as an open resource for the blogging community, allowing bloggers to collaborate and cover news events together. He envisions this as a way to apply the principles of amateur journalism and citizen reporting, cutting out the middlemen of traditional media. Dave believes this approach will lead to more direct access to sources and diverse perspectives, rather than the single viewpoint of professional journalists. He sees this as the natural evolution of how news and information will be shared in the future, enabled by technology and the willingness of people to contribute their time and ideas.