Thursday, July 21, 2005

23peopl

23people.com is new photo service, still in beta. I just uploaded my first photo there.

Watch out

Making More Sense of the Web is my latest SuitWatch newsletter. Links: microformats, Tantek, gapingvoid, thingamy.

Close to home

The Next Revolution is Social is a talk I'll be giving on Monday, July 25, in Santa Barbara. Thanks to The Alliance for Creative Commerce for putting it together.

After I get back (sometime Friday) I'll put up a page with links for the event, which will be televised, blogged and podcasted.

Cracking the Nut

Phil Windley: Beating Hatch. Key point:

Techies been saying that the Internet is a great equalizer and this is our chance to prove it. Wouldn’t it be ironic to use the technology that Hatch is out to destroy to challenge and beat him?

I met Mark Cuban yesterday. Among other things, we talked about the prospects for getting rid of the DMCA. (Chance: zero.) A possibly achievable goal, he said, was ridding the Senate of Orrin Hatch — Utah's five-term Senator from Disney. I told Mark I have a friend in Utah who wants to do exactly that, and thinks it's achievable. I was talking about Phil, though I didn't know Phil had posted this the very same day.

Here's Phil's case:

Of course, you’d need the right Republican. Steve Urquhart announced today that he’s challenging Hatch and I think he’s the right Republican. I’m one of those who’s been urging him to run. He’s a party insider with a leadership post in the legislature, he’s smart, he’s conservative, and, most germane to this conversation, he gets and uses technology. His blog isn’t something he started because he was running for Senator. Steve’s been blogging since last November in an effort to communicate more widely and accurately with his constituents. This is a guy who can not only say “Technorati” but he knows what it is!

If Hatch were just bad for Utah, this might just be a Utah issue. But Hatch is bad for the Internet and this is a chance for Techies to show a little muscle and strike a blow for what they believe in. If you don’t like what Hatch is doing and are afraid of the influence he wields, then help defeat him.

How can you do that? First spread the word and link to this post to explain to people why they ought to help. Second, go to Steve’s site and donate. According to Federal Election Commission reports filed last Friday, Hatch has $1.72 million in cash in his main campaign account. Steve doesn’t need that much to beat him at convention, but still, it won’t be cheap—probably on the order of $750,000 to $1,000,000. How much should you donate? Any amount helps—just to show your support, but I’d suggest that you donate what you spend on your Internet connection in a year. Think of it as “Internet Insurance.”

On Steve Urquardt's blog, I find a post with this:

This morning, Rep. John Dougall and I were on KCPW talking about how blogs help legislators open the Capitol doors to constituents. But I've gotta tell you, John is bringing me down.

I've always known he has incredible energy, but John is setting an impossible standard for the rest of us to keep up with.

These are bloggers, in office, and runnning for office. Check 'em out and let's beat Hatch.

Not speaking of which, Jerry needs to blog more.

Summitry

Still at the AlwaysOn Summit, deep in the heart of Stanford University, where a movement is underway to name everything "Arrillaga," adding nomenclatural camouflage to the already confusing arrangement of building on the university's large campus.

Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems is talking right now. Jonathan speaks in final draft, with a deep calm voice. He's confident, articulate, and saying plenty of stuff that makes sense. But he's also putting me to sleep. I've seen Jonathan talk more times than I could begin to count, and he's still a young guy. So I think my observations are well-qualified, and that he's in a good position to act on good advice. Here it is: Start having some fun up there. Get animated. Tell jokes. Jump around. Be more like you are in panels.

I say that because Jonathan is now on the panel that follows his talk. He's argumentative, expressive, funny, quotable.

I'll be on the same stage an hour from now, on the "Open or Closed Web" panel. Marc Canter is moderating. Here's his prepping post for it.

Ross Mayfield covers the current panel. He'll have more trouble with the next one, which we're both on.

Bonus links: Bloglines, Blogpulse, Feedster, Icerocket, Technorati. Compare and contrast. And, of course, Steve Gillmor.

You can get on the live IRC chat thing from here.