Posted by Nora Young under
Help Us Out!
I’m not great at keeping track of things, so tools that help me do that are a huge, uh, help. So, I should have been over the moon when I heard about Friend Feed. According to WIRED’s Compiler blog, the “idea behind FriendFeed is to make it easy for you to organize all your “social web” content in one spot — Facebook updates, Digg posts, del.icio.us bookmarks, Flickr photos, Last.fm music, Twitter posts or Tumblr blogs.”
Clearly, lots of people think these compilers of compilations are a good idea. FriendFeed joins iMinta, Spokeo, and Second Brain in the drive to create one organized hub for all the streams of information we have coming our way. How long before someone designs a service that combines all of them, so you have an aggregator of aggregators of aggregators.
Why did the idea of FriendFeed leave me cool? Maybe it’s that if I really need an aggregator for my aggregators, what that really means is that I have too much information in my life, and the answer is to have less of it, not more organized volumes of it. Am I really more likely actually to read all those RSS feeds, social networking updates if they’re aggregated, or does aggregating just encourage me to keep ever more flows of information coming my way?
On the other, trendwatching, side of things, these ‘aggregator aggregators’ appeal to an appetite for more elegant displays of information…ways of displaying it in an ambient way that I don’t need to pay close attention to until something jumps out at me that demands more attention.
So, here’s a question for you. What’s your preferred way of keeping on top of all the masses of information out there? Are you an RSS addict or a fan of the tattered Moleskine?
Posted by Dan Misener under
Episodes
Note: This is a repeat broad/podcast of Spark. It originally aired January 9, 2008. A brand new episode of Spark will be here next week.
On this episode of Spark:
This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:
Play the full episode below, Download the MP3, or subscribe to the podcast.
Original photo by cogdogblog.
Posted by Dan Misener under Uncategorized
Update: According to fire protection engineer Arie Friedman, putting ethernet cables in a clothes dryer is a potential safety risk. We suggest you find another way to tangle your cables.
Steven Schkolne on speedcabling:
“Everyone has looked at a bundle of cables, whether they’re a musician, whether they work with computers… and if you go back in time, to sailors and people that dealt with a lot of rope… it’s almost a fundamental human activity to untangle a knot.”
Yesterday, Nora interviewed Steven Schkolne, the “father of speedcabling.” The interview will air in edited form on March 5, 2008, but you can hear the full interview below or download the MP3.
And remember, there’s still time to show us your rat’s nest.
Posted by Elizabeth Bowie under
Uncategorized
Here’s a story we’re looking at for next week’s show. We’re hoping you’ll tell us what you think….
Last month, a high school student in Virginia called a school administrator, at home, to ask why the man had not canceled school that day. It had been snowing, and the student felt it should have been a snow day. He left a message, along with his phone number and his name.
The student’s call was returned, not by the administrator, but by his wife. And it wasn’t pretty. “How dare you call us at home” and “Get over it kid, and go to school” are a couple of key phrases.
Now, here’s where it really gets ugly.
The student created a Facebook page called “Let them know what you think about schools not being canceled,” and posted the message there for all to hear. The administrator’s work and home numbers also appeared on the page.
The man and his wife received many calls, and the message was posted to YouTube, where it’s had over 350,000 listens so far.
There are lots of questions at play here. The whole privacy vs public debate, the gap between kids and parents and technology and the idea of managing your reputation online, just to name a few.
So…what do you think? Did the student overstep his boundaries? Did the wife overreact? Post your opinion below and we’ll use it on the show.
Posted by Dan Misener under
Audio
A few weeks ago, we assigned sets of symptoms to Tammy Hillier and Ben Land. Their job was to diagnose themselves online.
Spark and White Coat, Black Art listeners played along, and today Dr. Brian Goldman revealed the true diagnoses.
Want to know what Ben and Tammy really have? Head over to the White Coat, Black Art website and listen to the answer.
Congratulations to the winners who correctly diagnosed both Tammy and Ben:
- Brock Skywalker
- Sarah Bonsor
- Mary
- Gentson Leung
- Anna Harju
- Bonnie Dirk
- Iris
- Peter
- Anne Chetwynd
Posted by Dan Misener under
Help Us Out!
Update: Nora has interviewed Steven Schkolne. Listen here.
Update 2: According to fire protection engineer Arie Friedman, putting ethernet cables in a clothes dryer is a potential safety risk. We suggest you find another way to tangle your cables.
Quick. Look behind your computer.
Do you see a writhing, disorganized rat’s nest of cables?
On Monday, Nora will interview Steven Schkolne, creator of speedcabling, which makes untangling those cables into a sport. You can check out video of a speedcabling match on YouTube.
As inspiration, we want to see the tangled web of wires beneath your desk. Email photos of your rat’s nest to spark@cbc.ca, or submit them to the Spark Flickr pool. One lucky listener will walk away with a spiffy Spark bag.
Original photo by gruzuk.
Posted by Dan Misener under
Updates
Google and the Cleveland Clinic have announced a pilot project that allows patients to store their health records online.
There’s a post about this on the official Google blog, and Steve Lohr, who Nora interviewed on the February 20/23 show, has more at the more NYT Bits blog.
