Random Tuesday observations

  I've been working hard on software, which makes it harder to write long blog posts.
  So here are a few thoughts.
  When I watch people on TV in Egypt and Libya I think I'm finally seeing people as dedicated to freedom as the founders of the United States were 235 years ago. There's a lot of people who pay lip service to being patriots for their countries, but until you're willing to lay down your life for freedom, you can't know. I've never done that so I'm not saying I'm anyone to look up to. But the people in Egypt -- that's another story altogether.
  Inside Job is coming out on DVD in early March. Get it and watch it and learn from it.
  Almost nine years ago I quit smoking. If I can do that I can get myself off Twitter. I plan to do it.
  Despite what some people say -- I did in fact develop the first blogging software. Wasn't copying anyone else. Original stuff.
    Even my friend and podcast partner Jay Rosen has trouble saying this.
    I don't know why people dispute it. Who was I supposedly copying?
    Never heard anyone jump up and say they did it earlier.
  Twitter and now Amazon are moving to protect their brands. I understand this, and I've been in their shoes, and have done the same. You put a lot into establishing a brand, a lot of time, money and persistence. When it comes to mean something is when other people try to take it. However it's always better to lay down the law earlier than later. It's much more fair.
  I keep reading that this or that is dead. Like the web, blogging and RSS. They are all facets of the same thing, the open web. If it's dead then we're dead. Work hard to make it not so. And to people who push the idea, your deflection is showing.
    Example: The NYT says blogging is fading. Their point of view is leading them to that. Perhaps the Times is itself fading?
    If I'm driving at 50 MPH and observe a car going 70 MPH, it looks different than when I observe the same car from a standstill.
    And when observing something as hard to observe as "blogging" -- what you see has a lot more to do with who you are than reality.
  And to people who say creativity is the province of youth, I'm fed up with that too. I'm now going through one of my most creative periods at age 55. I did all my work on blogging, podcasting and RSS in my 40s and 50s. All the Supreme Court justices are my age or older. Frank Gehry who is building the most astonishing apartment building in NY, a skyscraper, is 82. Great directors and film editors work as long as they want and keep doing better work and winning awards as they get older.
  I do creative work. I did some things I'm very proud of in my 20s and 30s. That work laid a foundation for the work I'm doing today. But please, don't forget -- there's a big picture. And that's what young people don't really have understanding of. Bottom-line as with everything is respect. Listen to everybody, whether you want to hear from them or not. And maybe listen to the people you don't want to a little more. There's some fear there, and if you go through it you'll be richer, happier and more accomplished -- in the ways that really matter.