Podcast: Possible opening for my ISOJ talk. If journalism is about democracy, then the role it has for citizens is too limited. Give us money. We have so much more to give. Approx 6 minutes. #

I watched Looming Tower on Hulu. Very nice. Alec Baldwin plays George Tenet, head of the CIA. Interesting to see that a good part of his Donald Trump imitation is actually Alec Baldwin being himself. #

I have an Electron app that I use every day. Something I wrote for myself. It runs fine, perfectly fast, the performance monitor doesn't indicate any problems. But if I don't reload the app every morning then it gets really slow. I thought I knew the reason, but then I fixed it and it still needs a reload. So maybe Electron isn't perfect, but it's a very good idea, and very useful. A combination of Chrome and Node. I've invested a lot of time in taming the programming model, so I don't want to hear about how Electron is like Flash. But if you think it's too slow, don't trash it, roll up your sleeves and figure out why and submit a bug report. #

Discourse is not Twitter's strength, not because of the thread structure, rather that it’s a write-only community of attention seekers. Most of what passes for discourse is thinly disguised spam.#

Poll: Do we need Bernie Sanders to run?#

I have news for Twitter. “News for you” is not for me.#

A Twitter thread that will become a blog post, about integrated software. I left out the conclusion. The answer imho turned out to be making the apps scriptable, and tying them together via a system scripting language. That's the software we developed at UserLand. #

CNN is like an opera. Wolf is the conductor. The performers have memorized their lines. He points his baton at each in turn. They sing. We admire or hate. He points at the next singer. Until we have to break. When we come back the opera will repeat.#

I love the Starbucks app cause the coffee is waiting for you when you get there. Now there needs to be an app for all the other places you can get coffee.#

There's been a lot of discussion Twitter lately about how it can become a better system to conduct an interview, after a hard-to-follow interview between Kara Swisher and Jack Dorsey. Maybe Twitter is a publishing medium and not a chat room. Every product has design choices built in, if you make it a great chat app you end up with something other than what Twitter is. No product is everything to everyone, a lesson learned when integration was a huge push in the software business. A better approach is to use Twitter tech to glue together a variety of apps, each with their focus on one aspect of networked communication and publishing.#

Are any researchers track the growth of blogs?#

Medium is doing something much like what I've been advocating news orgs do, only from the other direction. Medium is a "level playing field" platform where anyone can post and they're mixing in professional stuff. #

However, Medium hasn't been clear about the professional stuff and they should be. There are cases of paid-for pieces that appear to be free submissions. They're buying endorsements without being clear that's they're paid-for. The writers should insist, it doesn't look good for them either. #

Poll: If you work in the news industry, here's a question. In hindsight, would it have been better to ignore Craig's List in the 90s, or should at least some of you competed?#

I'm reconfiguring my CMS today so there may be some issues on scripting.com. Still diggin after all these years. 💥 #

Our campaign poster for 2020. #

I recorded a 6-minute podcast explaining "If it doesn't have a feed it isn't a podcast." Ken Smith, an Indiana English professor raised the question in this post. #

Can we agree if Trump shuts down the government again it's time to impeach.#

I ran a script that fixed all the broken links to radio.weblogs.com on blog pages on scripting.com. I got tired of all the broken images. Here's a list of the pages, and a zip archive of the original versions of the pages, as a backup in case anything went wrong.#

Klobuchar announces in Minneapolis. Quite an image. #

AOC is like Napster. In 2000, at its peak. People were talking about music in supermarket checkout lines and airports. Music hadn't been that exciting in decades. AOC is like that.#

A panel of elites tells journalism their business model for the future is raising money from philanthropy. Worthless advice designed to warm the hearts of the tech giants.#

As you may know I'm shopping for a car. I'm using a number of car-rating sites, including Consumer Reports where I am a member. I wanted to use their pricing service, but they ask for a phone number before letting you in. This was a deal-stopper at first, but eventually I relented and entered my number. Immediately I was taken to a screen that said that a dealer would contact me by phone. No opt out. I was not warned this would happen. I assumed that because this was integrated with Consumer Reports website that it would treat me, the consumer, fairly. I just got a call from the dealer. I didn't take it. A waste of all our time, but most importantly a waste of CR's rep. They took a big hit here with me. Which sucks because trust is central to the service they sell. [Update: It's turning into a spamfest. The dealer, Bertera Subaru, has called twice, sent three text messages and two emails, so far. Another update. When I asked Andrew Luzio of Bertera to stop spamming me, he responded with more spam.]#

My blogging is changing back to the way it used to be. I have nothing in the game and nothing to lose. I owe the inspiration to AOC. If she can speak the truth, no matter what the trolls might say, then I can too. In my drama, Google and their trolls are the Repubs.#

I just completed a binge-watch of all six Sopranos seasons. One thing to note. The last season was awful. It was a total slog to get through all 21 episodes. I kept putting it down it was so bad compared to the other seasons. But the awfulness of the last season makes me think that the contentious ending of the last episode might have just been a punt by a writer's room that had clearly run out of gas. They didn't know how to end the series, so they didn't. BTW one of the great things about having a blog is that I can show you what I thought of the last episode at the time it aired. Basically I wasn't buying it: "The Sopranos was a mess, and it ended in an unsatisfying cop-out."#

The archive for June 2007 has lots of stuff about the end of the Sopranos.#

One thing I learned from a week of driving in upstate New York, both Google's and Apple's maps apps go crazy when the phone doesn't have an Internet connection. I had only experienced this kind of insanity once before, when driving in downtown Boston. There the phone doesn't know which level of road you're driving on. The major highways are all underground. This last week the apps kept changing their mind about which direction I should be going on a road. This not only made me miss turns, but it also drove me crazy because I never knew if I could rely on their directions. #

Owen Williams' sad tale of Google News reminds me of the scene in The Godfather where the undertaker Bonasera visits Don Corleone on the day of his daughter's wedding. Bonasera's daughter has been raped. He went to the police, they tried the rapist, but he got off with a suspended sentence. Bonasera seeks justice from the Godfather who gives his first great speech in the movie. "We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let's be frank here. You never wanted my friendship. And you were afraid to be in my debt." In Williams' tale of woe, the Godfather is the open web, other news orgs, his readers, and the legal system is Google. We have to work together Owen. The web made all you do possible, you can't go over its head to Google to get what you think you need. And though you disparage RSS in your piece, it, or something exactly like it, will be the glue that routes around Google and Facebook and eventually makes networked news work. BTW, the dialog is on Wikipedia and the video clip is on Youtube. #

There was a point in the development of RSS, after a few VCs invested in startups, that the consensus among them (the founders and the investors) was that RSS was theirs, and they told me to my face they weren't going to listen, because I was the old way, and they were the new. (Famous last words.) Even some people who thought they were friends did this, perhaps not so bluntly. Okay now fast forward, all the startups are gone, they were so stupid they failed for many other reasons, not just their arrogance and closed minds. Stupid people. Here's a better rule. Listen by default. Tech is filled with idiotic arrogance. It's a kind of narcissism. I am the only one who can think. Bullshit. Look at all you're building on. The people who created that not only had an idea, but they were right. That's a very rare combination. And until you have built something like that, you are not smarter. And once you have, you know other people are smart, because that's what you learn. #

New header image -- a snowy driveway. Previous: MLK.#

New York should just buy a team, coaches, players, owner -- the whole thing, and move it into the Garden. The other city can have all the rookies and draft picks. New York is the greatest city in the US. It should have the greatest NBA team. We can afford it. Failing that, if Bloomberg doesn't run for president, could he just fucking buy the Knicks and manage it in an interesting way? I don't know if he's a basketball fan, but somehow I think he might do better than Dolan. #

If it doesn't have a feed it isn't a podcast.#

When Pelosi kicks butt for America I cheer because the good guys are still here, have guts, and she proves with style and grace that ageism is an idea that losers latch onto out of fear.#

This applies to journalism and to tech too. We don't have to accept the mediocrity of Facebook and the big news orgs. There's something between that combines the best of both to make a news service that's much much much better than what we have now. We must stop accepting limits. #

Brent posted his roadmap for NetNewsWire in 2019.#

I guess podcasting was doomed when VCs started investing. This TechCrunch piece explains how they’re going to destroy the level playing field to line their pockets.#

Another idea. I'm staying in a rented house with Internet but no cable. I would like to watch a little news. It would be great if there were a web/app-only news channel, that competed with MSNBC, Fox, CNN, that was fully available over the web or Roku (or the like). It's ridiculous in 2019 that I am shut out from cable-style news just because I haven't paid Spectrum. Do we really still need them? (Note: I do pay them at my apartment in Manhattan, it's not like I'm trying to avoid paying them.)#

An idea for the EU. Why not offer personal membership in the EU to citizens of countries that withdraw from the EU. Benefits might include, they get to keep their EU passport. They can freely move between EU countries as before. They can vote in EU elections. Might lead to something interesting, like a new political party in the withdrawing country?#

Journalism should compete with tech. The tech companies were willing to give equal voice to users. They created a level playing field. Journalism still insists that only pros have a voice. They could create their own journalism platforms and mix things up differently.#

The Washington Post ad on the Super Bowl was an ad, and as such only presented one side of the story. Another view might tell of all of the lives ruined or destroyed by incompetence in American journalism.#

This is not only a function of the narcissism of American journalism, but of the corruption of Americans, all of us, people of color and whites, all sexual persuasions, boomers and milennials, all of us -- we're the Facebook of the world. As much as we despise and villify the current top dog in tech (Microsoft before FB and Google, btw) we are that, for the world. We are the privileged. We have collectively killed so many countries, millions of people, to maintain our control. We think of ourselves as the country we were taught about in school, but that was a bedtime story. We have done some awful shit, and the chickens may be coming home to roost real soon now. #

All the news sources are on the net, mostly on Twitter, these days, but Twitter is far from optimal. Any news org that wanted to compete, that actually had a strategy, would find there are openings in the market, big ones.#

A long-winded 16-minute podcast about CJR's bold experiment in trusting readers. Are there fewer blogs today than in the early days of blogging? I think there might be many many more. And I think there's more that CJR can do, and this is on the path to finding the journalism that's made possible by open networking. #

America got an up close look at the buffoonery of one billionaire, and extrapolated. Maybe the super rich aren’t rich because they’re so smart. Hmm.#

Idea: If you're selling a house, put it on the market by listing it on AirBnB. People who are interested in buying can stay there for a few days. Might get a better price if the house has features that are only appreciated with time. #

I’ve tested the Subaru Forester and what they say about how roomy it is is true. I get in and out without having to contort my body. Also the AWD is fantastic in snow. I actually got to test that too.#

Braintrust query: How do feed readers store their data?#

The Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingas (and Tim Hardaway Jr and Courtnely Lee) to Dallas. I don't know if it's good or bad. Hard to see how a star like KP fits into the current Knicks lineup. The Knicks got Dennis Smith Jr, DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews.#

If you want to see the items here that you've liked, they're on the home page of the server. #

I'm rewatching The Sopranos. The first few seasons were uneven, but by the end of Season 5 it was great. The last two episodes were magnificent. Dramatic, moving, with a lot of comedy (I hadn't remembered how many laughs there were in the show). Outstanding characters. The best writing. Virtuoso acting. #

George Will writes in the Washington Post that Amy Klobuchar may be best equipped to send the president packing. "If, however, [the country] would like someone to lead a fatigued nation in a long exhale, it can pick a Minnesotan, at last." It's observable that every president fixes the big problem with the previous president. Carter was a saint to follow Nixon's evil. Reagan projected strength to Carter's ineffectiveness. The next president, for sure a Democrat, will allow us to forget DC politics for a while and tend to other pressing business. #

I know the station this happened at. It's so many levels underground that I take the D or B train from Columbus Circle to get there, instead of walking, because I don't like all the stairs. #

One thing would improve political discourse enormously. Remembering that it's possible, even common, for two things to be true at the same time, that intuitively you might not think could be true at the same time. #

I accepted an invitation to speak at a future-of-news conference. Like all other such conferences it's sponsored by at least one big tech company. They get their name on the program, and presumably a booth in the hallway. Probably a session or two focused on their role in the future-of-news ecosystem. And they have a more insidious effect, their presence makes sure that speakers don't criticize them too much, because they're all hoping to get some of the money they've earmarked to support struggling news orgs. I am also the only non-professional speaker, the only blogger, the only user of news. My experience with these conferences is awful. People are polite enough when I speak, but nothing comes of it. I never get invited back. This morning I wonder why I accepted. #

Many years ago at a tech conference, either Stewart's or Esther's, I was seated at lunch next to the founder of a sneaker company that had either gone public or sold out leaving the founder very wealthy, in today's terms, he was probably worth billions of dollars. I had recently had my own liquidity event, so of course we were talking about money, and he volunteered that it was impossible to live for less than $20 million a year. I looked at him for a sign of irony or other form of humor but he appeared serious. I asked if he was serious, and he repeated the claim. I said, pointing to everyone at the table, "Every one of these people is spending less than $20 million a year." He was not impressed. I pointed to the waiters and said they're not spending $20 million a year. Nothing could dislodge his belief. To this day I wonder if it was some form of performance art or is it possible that so much money could make someone so detached from normal people that they actually believe something like that. #

I swore I'd never do another future-of-news conference.#

Over at Galley, which is a new community at CJR, they asked me what I thought Twitter could do to make things better. Of course I had an answer ready to go. BTW, this is what I've been talking about. Opening the door to your pub to non-journalists. Next step is to gather links to feeds people in the community read and join them together into a river. But this is an excellent first step.#

Om explains how digital media killed itself. But we have yet to take the turn dictated by the web create a hybrid pub that behaves both like the NYT and Facebook. A level playing field. Allow amateurs to compete with pros. Initially the home page is populated by the pros (much like what Twitter is doing, Jack and company obviously gets this), with the occasional piece by an amateur. Since each act of journalism is just an amalgram of source quotes, we would try to draw the most authoritative sources into our network. Over time, learn what part of the editorial process must be paid, and what part will be done by amateurs, out of love, out of civic pride, and wanting to solve the vexing problems that our species faces. We've run out of time to dick around. #

Also, Om's idea of what digital media is is not the same as mine. I never needed clicks to justify my writing. I didn't get paid for it, so no one could lay me off. There's lots of digital media that has nothing to do with emulating news orgs that predate the web. #

To AOC, who supports journalism as-is, but has also sounded the alarm that we have only 12 years left to save the species. The journalism you support will spend most of the time betw now and Election Day 2020 covering the horse race. That's about 10% of the 12 years, wasted.#

Podcast: I tweeted earlier that I don't agree with AOC about tech monopolies killing journalism. I believe they should have competed, created a news Facebook of their own, any one of them could, and until they offer the level playing field that tech offers, they can't get our help. There's actually a lot to this. I scratch the surface in this 15-minute rambling (sorry) podcast. #

Here's a picture of a plate of sushi waiting to be eaten. The best sushi I have ever had. If you have this sushi in front of you waiting to be eaten, you are the richest you can possibly be. It does not matter how much money you have in the bank. Or how long you will live. Or who likes you. You are about to eat the best meal possible. You can't be richer than that. BTW, the sushi is from Sushi Ran in Sausalito.#

Nixon begat Carter, Carter was followed by Reagan, who got us Bush I then Clinton etc etc. A billionaire idiot isn't going to be followed by another billionaire no matter how smart he is. The next one will be more like Carter. We have to pay for the sin of electing Trump.#