In August 2012, when I was starting work on Fargo, I posted an idea on Medium, which was then a very new site. The piece was entitled We could make history. #

The idea was pretty simple. I wanted to be able to edit my stories in Fargo, but publish them in Medium. We hadn't yet developed the CMS for Fargo, and I was trying to see if we could just use Medium for that purpose. They never answered, so I guess the answer was no. #

Now I'm using Facebook much more than I used Medium, and had a similar idea. I'd still like to be able to use my editor to write my stories, but it would be easier for the people who follow me on Facebook if they could read the stories there. #

It should be possible to do this with a simple protocol. And if Fargo and Facebook supported the protocol, I think pretty quickly everyone else would too. #

It would be a great thing because it would allow new forms of content to develop alongside Facebook. Writers would be able to avoid tough choices. I think the innovation that would result from this would blow everyone away, because it's been so long since we've had that kind of opportunity. Big writing platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been sopping up most of the writing, because they deliver the most readership. But they aren't exactly innovating in writing or reading structures. #

But I think we can have our cake and eat it too. And today most of the growth would accrue to Facebook anyway, they're in the best position to deliver readers to writers. But like every other tech company, they need a steady flow of new ideas, and that's not so easy to come by. That's what I think the result would be. #

#

PS: As a demo, I posted the full text of today's Jeremy Lin piece to Facebook. Of course the synchronization link doesn't exist (yet!) so any updates will not appear on the Facebook side. But with a little technical glue, easy stuff really, the updates would flow.#

I loved the story of Jeremy Lin so much that it renewed my interest in the NBA. Until Linsanity, I had only been watching the NBA finals, occasionally going to a game at the Garden when I visited New York, mostly for the nostalgia rather than with any interest for the sport or the teams. I had been a Knicks fan in the glory years in the late 60s and early 70s. My grandfather worked near the Garden and had season tickets. Going to Knicks games was something we did together, so it was pretty special. #

Lin renewed my interest because of the story. Smart Harvard kid from Palo Alto, both places I have a connections with. I loved the idea of someone breaking the pattern and achieving success despite not coming up the normal way. Lin hadn't been anyone's pick for Rookie of the Year, or a featured college player. He wasn't drafted out of college by any NBA team. He was barely holding on, about to get rejected when he caught fire. It was the kind of story they used to make movies about. #

The racism Lin's success spawned was greater and more widespread than anything Donald Sterling said. It's so much more dangerous, because as has been pointed out by NBA commentators, the NBA is largely a black league. In that dimension the NBA is a model of people working together across racial barriers. But this was not so for Asians as was made very clear by the open and largely unpunished racism that Lin evoked, and the quiet and more subtle kind that's hard to prove.#

What was especially sweet about Lin was how he drew people of Asian background to the Knicks during the Linsanity period. There are a lot of Asians in NYC. My old neighborhood in Queens is now one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia. Today's Asian kids, people of Jeremy Lin's generation, accomplish so much in all areas, and now in athletics too. Their pride was wonderful to see. Again, the stuff of schmaltzy hard-to-believe movies.#

So when we fix the problems with the Clippers, maybe we can also have a look at the Knicks. Their owner, James Dolan, is very much still there, and unchallenged about what happened in that period. Why isn't Lin still on the Knicks? I would love to hear more about that, both as a Knicks fan, and as a human being. #

The Clippers problem for the NBA gets more interesting.#

Donald, the husband, suspended for life, fined, not allowed to attend games. #

But Shelly, the wife, isn't guilty of anything, and is part owner of the team, through a trust.#

She wants to keep owning the team. What can the NBA do about this, and why should do they do anything. She's not her husband. #

So not only is the Clippers story about race, it's also about gender.#

Update: Rights groups demand Shelly Sterling 'stand down' on owning Clippers.#